Antebellum Jefferson, Texas: Everyday Life in an East Texas Town

20. Earliest Merchants

276 Merchants were people who sold goods and therefore included the wholesalers and retailers and the receiving, forwarding, and commission merchants insofar as they expanded into such operations. Merchants and their employee clerks constituted by far the largest occupational listings in the 1860 census, indicating the degree to which Jefferson was a mercantile town. All merchants sold retail to the local population and people who came to town. Many sold wholesale to interior merchants and planters, providing one of the features that was integral to Jefferson’s unusual status as a commercial center. First Advertisement The first extant advertisement for a Jefferson business is for the druggists Alexander & Chrisman and appears in the June 17, 1846, Clarksville Northern Standard (Fig. 20-1). The firm was composed of the partners Alexander Alexander (his name according to the deed records ) and John Chrisman. The advertisement announces a desire to close the business and to sell the small stock of drugs and medicines along with equipment such as specie jars, tincture bottles, and drawers . That Jefferson had a drugstore at such an early date is not surprising because drugs and medicines were imported and sold to interior druggists. What is surprising is the dissolution of this firm shortly after it was started. The reasons remain unknown. 20. Earliest merchants 277 Earliest Merchants Alexander & Chrisman began purchasing lots in Jefferson along with the firm of Stanley & Ward (composed of Charles Stanley and Mortimer Ward) from Berry Durham in January 1846. They also independently purchased from Durham Lot 4 in Block 5 on Dallas Street between Marshall and Market for $225 in January. If this firm owned their place of business, it was probably located on this lot. However, the advertisement does not mention a location. The 1846 Cass County tax rolls list the firm as owners of three lots in Jefferson along with a $500 stock in drugs. In November 1846, Alexander relinquished to Chrisman his interest in three unidentified lots owned by the firm. Chrisman purchased a lot from James Durham in March 1847 and another from Berry Durham and Urquhart in May 1847 and gave power of attorney concerning his properties to Stanley & Ward during the same month until his return to Texas. Chrisman purchased two half lots from Mortimer Ward in January 1849. This was the last time that he appears in the deed records , and neither man is in the 1850 census. The Alexander & Chrisman stock was purchased by Samuel Garey , as stated in an April 4, 1847, Northern Standard advertisement. This was the third advertisement for a Jefferson business, having been preceded by William Perry’s advertisement for the Soda Lake Hotel in Fig. 20-1. Alexander & Chrisman Advertisement. Source: June 17, 1847, Northern Standard 278 Antebellum Jefferson, Texas December 1846. Garey operated under the sign of the Golden Mortar and advertised fresh supplies of drugs and medicines in addition to those obtained from Alexander & Chrisman. Fresh supplies would be received every three months, and the advertisement was directed to interior dealers in drugs and medicines. Garey is shown in the 1847 Cass County tax rolls as owner of seven lots in Jefferson and stock in trade valued at $1,300. Merchants through 1850 The Rev. John McLean visited Jefferson as a boy in 1846 (or perhaps 1847) and remembered “two or three stores” and “three or four stores and shops of different kinds.” Among the earliest merchants, McLean remembered Speake & Willard, Perry Graham, and Jeptha Crawford. In June 1847, the Houston Telegraph reported 13 stores in Jefferson. Edward Smith visited Jefferson in May 1849 and reports “several large well supplied stores.” The March 14, 1850, Marshall Texas Republican reports “nine or ten large mercantile establishments at Jefferson.” The best source of information on Jefferson’s earliest merchants is the county tax rolls. Bowie County taxes are included in the Red River County tax rolls, but they contain nothing of interest. The Cass County tax rolls begin in 1846. The taxes were on a wide range of properties for people throughout the county who owned property. Property owners are not shown by location; but if a person owned lots in Jefferson, the number is indicated along with the value. Merchants are not identified as such, but are indicated through a column showing value of merchandise on hand as of January 1 of the tax year. Some known merchants in Jefferson do not appear as lot owners in the tax...