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The Golden Triangle" When James Price starts thinking about growing-up around the Dobbin area he tells many tales of the makeshift ball games with homemade balls and bats, but he says the games didn’t last long because there would be a disagreement, one side or the other and right or wrong somebody would quit. The almost daily pastime which did not cause occasional arguments was the visits to the popular swimming hole which was wither a wide place in the creek or the water hole under the railroad trestle, here James tells of one occasion when prominent Dobbin citizen George Herzog, Sr. was along and the incident which happened when somebody dived off the railroad track and there was a spectator sitting on a cut-off post watching the diver. I can’t repeat what happened, but I’m sure George will remember it! I want to throw in the adventures of one Joseph Hoffpauir, better known as plain "Joe" Hoffpauir. Joe began his early life in the south Houston area, but his summer vacations were spent with his grandmother Mrs. Julia Stephens. The Stephen’s, Reed’s and Barrett’s were all related one way or another and Mrs. Stephen’s home was the site of those well-known natural springs where several generations of people have found arrowheads, evidence of an Indian campground before Texas was settled. Joe remembers his grandfather putting curbing in one of the springs to have cleaner water and in another spring he fashioned a shelf in the curbing a foot or so below the top of the flow and his grandmother put her milk and butter in jars on the shelf to keep them cool and sweet. His memories are about the years of his life up to or about 1943. There was no electricity in most of the homes in Dacus, but "Doyle’s Store" up the road a piece from Mrs. Stephen’s home. Joe and his running mates made many trips there in the summer to buy soda water, Joe said they would make the long hot, dusty mile or more to drink one bottle of Pop then walk back, ending up just as hot and thirsty as before. Joe’s "partners in crime" were Donald Barrett, John Laverne Cunningham and Marcus West, all Dacus, Pinery citizens. One of the great attractions to these boys was the water tower tank for the train depot at Dacus. This water provided water for the train as well as the depot and railroad crew, the boarding house and commissary for the workers and any family living within several miles of the water tank. Naturally, the thoughts of those boys turned to the possibility of swimming in tat water. Joe recalls that he was inwardly afraid of their proposed secret swim because he had heard of a tragedy involving boys secretly swimming in a train water tank while at home in Houston. The story said that several boys were happily playing in the tank’s water and did not realize a train had come for water and the valve was opened below the tank to let water into the train tank the force of suction drew the boys to the bottom of the holding tank and they had drowned. Joe knowing this and also knowing there would be dire consequences if they were caught, still could not resist the thought of that wonderful swimming pool. They didn’t get caught and none drowned, but Joe laughs when he thinks about the fact that water from the tank was the only water John Laverne’s family had, and his father came regularly with a mule, a slide and barrel to get the family water. So John Laverne had to go home and drink the same water he was swimming in, as well as his family and their food was cooked in the same water. Only John Laverne knew and couldn’t tell. Another "crime" the three boys committed when John, Donald and Marcus came to visit Joe (here on vacation) they found themselves without adult supervision. They decided they would all take a taste of Joe’s grandpa’s blackberry wine. He remembers that his grandpa used the wine as a "tonic" and when he would take the occasional drink he always made a wry face as though it was bitter. After the boys had all taken their "swig" they realized that the bottle was much less full. They had a conference and decided to fill it back up to its former contents with water. Joe worried quite awhile waiting for his grandpa to take a dose of the wine, dreading what he would say and fearful that he would figure out the boys prank. Much to his surprise and relief his grandpa literally smacked his lips and announced, "this is a lot better wine than the last bottle I bought!" He remembers a sort of road or trail that the black citizens of Dobbin used which followed an old pipeline bed that crossed his grandparent’s property, passing close to the natural springs and they always stopped awhile being friends with the Stephen’s. These black families were on their way to visiting the black community in Dacus, still being a strong substantial group of people today. Joe was taught the basic steps of playing the piano in his Houston home and as he grew into a teenager he and one of his friends were drafted play the piano for the Baptist Church in Shiro just up the line from Dacus. The boys would flag down the "Dinky" a one car passenger train, get off at Shiro, attend the Church, flag down the train to get back to Dacus. Joe and his friend found girlfriends at Shiro, which helped a lot. Joe found some musicians (the Martin brothers) who taught him how to play the guitar. He remembers that the Martin’s played a lot of the "Blues" and black folk’s songs. Joe played and sang the "Milk Cow Blues" which became a famous blues recording. During another one of the visits the four buddies were still running around together, Joe’s folks had to go out of town for a few days and suggested Joe invite his cronies over to stay with him. After they had quickly eaten up the food left for them, the boys decided to kill and cook a chicken. The result was a badly burned piece of chicken on the outside and raw meat on the inside. Joe and his family finally moved to the Dobbin-Dacus area. Joe married Mary Agnes Stinson, who’s father Joe Stinson was one of the first and largest business men in Dobbin. The building where the present day Dobbin Community building stood (until the new one was built a few years back) was built by her father. Joseph Hoffpauir is alive and well today, a master gardener and a true gentleman. |
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©Montgomery
County News, 2004 |
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