Newton, Lewis 1983-09-13
Lewis E. Newton reviews development of oil and farming around Ranger, Texas and Brownwood, Texas.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Lewis E. Newton
Additional Parties Recorded: None
Date: September 13, 1983
Location: Cross Cut, Texas
Interviewer: Richard Mason
Length: 60 minutes
Abstract
Tape 1, Side 1: Oil activity before World War I,
Crew from Pennsylvania, lease at 25 cents/acre,
Found oil under the hill from Cross Cut,
1st producers were east of Cross Cut,
Paul Gilman also came in and leased,
His offset well sold to Conway Brothers,
Local people were slow to accept oil-field workers,
Town boys didn’t like country boys either,
Conway Brothers were Catholic from Pennsylvania,
Working in the oil patch,
After the drought of 1917-18, jobs were needed,
Main production was after WWI,
10-15 barrels a day needed to run a well,
Sinclair Company built a pipeline,
Pump station built on the creek,
He never saw a “ditcher” in this oil field,
Lines were 6 feet deep,
Gas line run from Pioneer, Texas to Cross Cut,
Fry came in with a ditcher,
Pioneer, Texas,
Bigger oil boom due to deeper field,
Ranger, Texas and Hogtown, Texas came in first, about 1919,
Ranger and Desdemona during boom,
Travel by horseback and country wagon roads,
He saw the 1st well at Pioneer, description,
He would not sleep at Pioneer due to “wild place after sundown”,
Post office and school when drilling started on the town-site,
Bryson well started the boom,
Production in Cross Cut,
Aiken well,
Pioneer (again),
Oil was 2,000 feet down, in Cross Cut 1,300 feet down,
Best Cross Cut oil was on east side, and shallower by 100 feet,
Oil was in channels, use of off-set wells,
Oil quality was 42-43 gravity, a good grade,
His brother used some of the crude in his Farmall tractor,
Plowed for about a week, then gummed up the engine,
Gas refinery at Pioneer,
Stealing drip gas,
Putting sugar in gas to freeze up engines,
His father had oil leases, but was always in debt,
Father was 15 years older than mother, 40 years older than Lewis,
Lewis was born at the old house near the cemetery,
Father had 265 acres there, but kept buying and selling land,
This place Father bought from his brother-in-law,
Depression times,
Father bought 400 acres, but bankers had no money,
Bank in Brownwood worked with them,
They hauled produce in wagons to Brownwood,
Bank allowed $25/day withdrawal,
His father was named Jim,
They ran cattle and farmed,
While Lewis E. Newton was in the service, they shipped cattle,
Cattle to Lampasas County, also to Granbury area,
People stealing their cattle and drought,
His father’s father came to Brown County in 1876,
Old Settlers Reunion,
Anderson Newton family settled July 1876,
Frost ruined corn that year in ?July,
They came from Temple, Bell County,
Lewis had thought they came from Wise Count,
Settled near Cross Cut, land still in Newton family,
Nine children, all married,
Settlers picked sites based on water availability ,
Better crop land passed up if no water there.
Tape 1, Side 2: When he was a boy, every 40 acres of cotton had a family on it,
Boll weevils came in,
Land in front of his house,
Cattle drives in this area,
First school about 1900 in the area, moved 3 times,
His children graduated from Cross Plains Consolidated,
Two older boys,
He had a chance for college but was a country boy,
In military service,
Five children, 3 boys and 2 girls,
His wife was Ina Chambers,
Her family came here from Georgia,
Her ancestor came from ?Carolina with ?17 boys,
They came before the Civil War?,
Early farms of 40 acres, 90% cotton with some corn or hay for livestock,
Landlords would furnish a cow, 50-70% were renters,
Old home place,
He had 400-500 acres,
End of cotton due to the boll weevil,
He bought one of 1st tractors,
Traded some of his 8-10 head of horses,
Bought tractor at Higginbothams in Cross Plains,
Cost was $900-1100 including plows,
He bought 1st rubber tires in this end of county,
Goodyear tire agent in Brownwood,
Wet harvest in wheat, so they tested rubber tires,
50 acres of wheat,
He sold team binder for a power binder,
His brother-in-law helped, but they lost wheat and burned it,
Cotton gin on edge of Cross Cut on west side of road,
Ginned up to 2,000 bales,
First manager was Kaufman of Cross Plains,
His uncle, L. A. ?Willis later ran the gin, also store and post office,
Uncle was real estate man in Abilene, killed by train 6 years ago,
Trading at Brownwood,
Dad got a saddle when Lewis was 4 years old,
Mom ran out of vinegar, Lewis rode to Cross Plains for ½ gallon vinegar,
He was born October 22, 1894,
He bought tractor in 1930’s,
Money at banks in Cross Plains and Brownwood,
Brother-in-law had grocery business in Cross Plains, Lewis loaned him $1,000,
Never got repaid, so Lewis got free groceries for a long time,
Lewis sold ?oats, they had a garden and chickens to get by,
Farm co-operative were in area but Lewis did not join,
His daughter teaches school, and he has to go to doctor to at ?Eastland,
Dr. Howard of Cross Plains,
Newton’s mother was in bad health for several years,
Dr. Howard lived in house just north of cemetery,
He got water from cistern at Newton’s house,
Son Robert Howard,
10-11 years old when they moved to Cross Plains,
Dr. Howard’s personality- he was well-read and enjoyed children,
He let kids dance, other adults were upset,
Mrs. Howard was a quiet person,
Robert Howard wrote stories,
Lindsay ?Tyson of Cross Plains knew him best,
Newton’s older sister.
Range Dates: 1860 - 1983
Bulk Dates: 1910-1940
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