Peak Archives - grace grits and gardening

The following is a continuation from Part II – Oral History of Howard Peak – Visiting Our Grandparents. Click HERE to read Part I before the next section…

Captain Jefferson Peak's House. First brick house in Dallas, Texas.

Part II:

My! What a supper was spread for us tired and hungry visitors. There was a great steak from Neussbaumers, the Butchers, fried chicken with milk gravy, fresh eggs, vegetables of all kinds, cornbread, hot biscuits, butter and sorghum molasses, milk, tea, peach cobbler, etc.
The dining room adjoined the kitchen which set off from the main building, a great East portico between, and on this porch we would sit after supper and listen to Grand Pa relate experiences of the Mexican war, while Pa would in turn tell of Indian depredations in West Texas. Grand Ma in her cap and smoking her clay pipe would entertain Ma and the female contingent, whilst we boys would nestle around the Sires. A good nights sleep and morning would bring a much relished breakfast.
Here let me state that Captain Jefferson Peak and his wife (nee Malviny Reser) emigrated from Warsaw, Kentucky in 1855, coming direct to the Village of Dallas. At Warsaw, Captain Peak (he subsequently attained the title of Captain during the War with Mexico, 1846-47 being attached to General Marchall’s brigade of Kentucky Volunteers). Preceding the war he, with his brothers Willis and Jordan were merchants at Warsaw and also conducted a transportation business from Cincinnati to New Orleans. Captain Jefferson made many trips on flat boats down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, trading merchandise for mules and various commodities which they brought back with them to the North.
I also desire to impress the fact that both Grandparents were very aristocratic. Grand Pa being over 6 feet tall and slender, was always clean shaven and very neat in his person. Wearing as he always did a beaver (stove pipe) hat (he wore one on week days, keeping a new one for Sunday’s) a long Prince Albert Coat, with pleated shirt front and black tie, ever presented a distinguished appearance. Grand Ma with her silk gown and lace cap with her elegant manners presented ever a queenly appearance.
They were strict disciplinarians and most fervent worshipers, belonging to the First Christian Church of which they were pillars. Grand Pa never failed to give good advice to his children and ever admonished them to live upright and clean lives. He was morally clean and never had a vice-neither swearing, drinking or smoking.
Grand Pa lived to be 83 years old and Grand Ma 78. Both are buried in the old Burying Ground in the City of Dallas. Both having the respect and confidence of all who knew them.
Then the days pleasure and work would begin, for Grand Pa always laid out some work for us boys believing as he did that the vacation from school should be attended by more or less work. Our work consisted of a variety of performances. It may have been gathering fodder, hauling corn, shaking down red apples or Indian peaches or some other duties incident to a farm life.
One of our delights was to saddle Navajo, Mack and Ay the gray pony and ride over to the Butchers and get steak or ride down into the pasture and drive the cows to the pen for evening milking, then too, we would take old Carlo and the hounds and go down to the branch and hunt cottontail rabbits and on moonlit nights, go after coons and possums.
It was Grand Pa’s rule to require each person at the table to memorize and repeat a verse in the Bible at breakfast, as he was very religious. We would make an occasional visit to Aunt Sara’s where we would spend the day with cousins Ripley and Juliette and return by town where Grand Pa would give us red striped stick candy and a glass of lemonade without ice as a reward for the work that we had done.
Playing stick horse with Matt and romping with the dogs in the cedars, gathering pears and dew berries, swimming in the big tank, cutting hay and feeding the stock, with various other amusements and exercises incident to a boys life, enabled us to enjoy every moment of our two weeks visit and to mourn the hour, when our visit being ended, we had to dress early in the morning and pursue our way back home.

Howard W. Peak

Dallas County’s fifth courthouse. Designed in 1881,
burned in 1890.
(photo courtesy of Lost Dallas, Mark Doty, Nathan Payne)

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

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A Letter from Junius Peak

Throwback Thursday…

A few months ago I posted the oral history of Junius Peak as dictated to the Frontier Times (Bandera, Tx) on August 6, 1927… If you are interested in reading this post, click HERE.

The name Peak is likely familiar to East Dallas residents. Captain Jefferson Peak, a veteran of the Mexican War, donated much of the land for East Dallas roadways. Many streets within Munger Place and Peak Suburban Historic Districts were named for Captain Peak’s eleven children including Junius, Worth, Carroll, and Victor.

The following is a history provided by Captain Jefferson Peak’s grandson, Howard W. Peak, on the subject of “Visiting Our Grandparents”. This is a fascinating glimpse into life in the mid-1800s.

Born in 1856, Howard Peak was the first male child born in the ‘little settlement of Fort Worth’, bringing the population to sixty-eight. He worked as a traveling salesman and later owned H. W. Peak Safe Company in downtown Ft. Worth, selling the first safe to Bill and John Ward when they opened the White Elephant Saloon in 1884.

White Elephant – 2013

Howard Peak died in 1939. Since this history is lengthly I will present it (unedited) in sections. Unfortunately, the original source was not dated.

Part I…

In the late 1850s and up to the 1890s, it was customary for our family who was residing in Ft. Worth to make an annual visit to our Grand parents in Dallas.

The month of July was usually selected, for at that time we were well worn by the heat of summer, besides it was fruit and vegetable season, and the school vacation was on. Grand Pa had large gardens and orchards of most all kinds of these luxuries.

Captain Jefferson Peak and Malviny (the name of our Grand parents) lived in a brick house about two and one half miles east of Dallas, on an Estate of about 800 acres. Commodious out houses, pastures and fields, with stock of all kinds, buggies, carriages and riding ponies, served to make comfortable this estate.

The family consisted of the two heads, Grand Pa and Grand Ma, their children Aunt Sarah (Mrs. Harwood) husband and family, Aunt Juliette Fowler, a widow, Aunt Florence (Field) and Uncles Wallace, Jeff, June, Worth, Victor and Matt.

Our family consisting of Dr. Carroll M. Peak, and Mother, Sister Clara, Myself, Carroll Jr. and Everett (both dying young) and Sisters Lily and Olive.

Weeks before the day set for our pilgrimage – we children would discuss our anticipated trip and days prior to starting, mother would begin preparations for same, and long before daylight on the prescribed morning our horses would be fed, the hack greased, fodder in bundles tied on top of the trunk behind, and by sun up old Absalom would have the team in front of the gate where all of us would be ready for a “Sun Up” start.

Our way lay south east, where we crossed the Sycamore about where the Interurban track now crosses same, and we followed the Dallas road which led south of the Interurban track, crossing Village Creek at old Carter Cannons place card on to Johnson’s Station, which was the residence of Col. M. T. Johnson, a very wealthy planter and the original owner of the tract of land on which Ft. Worth is located. There we oft times stopped, unhitched our team and while it was feeding, we would lunch. After an hour of rest we would resume our journey, and by the middle of the afternoon reached the Goudsell’s, a French settlement near where the Interurban crosses Mountain Creek. Our route then deflected to the north east under the hill following the route now traversed by the Texas Pacific R.R.

The county was full of hog wallows and in rainy weather was very hard to travel over, the sticky mud congregating on the wheels of the vehicle. Taking a slow gait on account of the hot weather and heavy load it would be about sun down ere we crossed the Trinity over the old bridge at the head of what is now Commerce Street in the village of Dallas; a brick Court house and a few one story brick stores, and a two story frame hotel (the Crutchfield house) on the bank of the Trinity at the head of Main Street were about all to be seen of the now magnificent city of Dallas. Pursuing our journey east ward along the lines of what are now Elm and Main streets, for about two miles we emerged from the timber and on to a plateau which we traversed for a half mile and through the big gate, into the great yard of Grand Pa’s to the great delight of not only ourselves but, to those with whom we were to spend a fort-night.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO PART II

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.