The Queen of Yesterday
Old Coffield Home is Razed
Wichita Falls Daily Times, February 8, 1962
By Mrs. Julian Bowman
One of the oldest (and most fashionable in its time) homes in Bowie is being torn
down to make way for a modern new brick home which will be owned and
occupied by Charles Coffield and his family. Coffield is the grandson of the
original owner and builder. The home is located on Coffield Street, which was
named for the prominent Bowie family.
The old home, of the early “gingerbread” architecture of the era, was a twostoried house complete with cupola on the front. It had eight very small high
ceilinged rooms, three fireplaces and was the classiest job of its kind in town
during its era.
The house was built in 1893 by W. T. (Capt.) Coffield. Its exact counterpart was
built next door by John B. Hunt son-in-law of Coffield. The same plan was used
for both houses with the exception that is was reversed. The front room or
“parlor” in one house faced the other. What was north in one house was south in
the other. Otherwise they were identical. The once handsome twins stood sideby-side for many years.
Contractors and builders of the homes were Gilliland and Bradfield. At that time
workers on the houses received a daily stipend of $1.50 for a sun-up to sundown
day. The houses were completed in about three months’ time.
T. Roy Coffield son of the original owner and his family later occupied the house
for many years. Then Mrs. Margaret Martin, granddaughter, lived in the home for
some time. After Mrs. Martin moved to Dallas, Charles Coffield and family moved
into the property.
The house has largely been occupied by bankers of the community. W. T.
Coffield, builder, was in the grocery business with Mr. Hunt but he was also on
the board of directors for the bank. Mr. Hunt served as bank president and later
on the board of directors until recently. T. Roy Coffield was president of the bank
and is now the chairman of the board of directors. Charles Coffield has made
banking his life work and is now president of First National Bank Bowie.
Mr. Hunt sold his house and adjoining acreage in 1956 (or 1950?) when he felt he
could no longer see to drive his car safely. He moved into property he owned
within walking distance of the town. Though 96 years young his last birthday he
still makes a trip or two to town daily. His half of the twin houses was torn down
and replaced with a brick home several years ago.
Demolition of the last of the twins will probably bring a touch of nostalgia to the
hearts of ______________ the _________________ and how much they _______
to the distinction of Bowie’s residential section. To ________________ it will
p__________ of joy ____________________ home __________________.
https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-feb-08-1962-1072398/
The Bowie News published an article on July 24, 1958 about Mrs. Dollie Calaway
and her husband Dr. William Calaway. It appears to be based on an interview
with her and reads in part:
“Always looking for the Promised Land and in hopes of getting away from malaria,
Dr. and Mrs. Calaway bought a section of land four miles west of Bowie, on the
Vashti road and built a house there. This was in 1890. Covered wagons, wagons
of cotton, thousands of cattle passed their gate. While on shopping and banking
trips to Bowie many old timers remember stopping for a drink of water.
A few year later, a house was built in Bowie, where Mrs. Calaway still lives – 62
years. She recalls seeing the first lumber being hauled to build the John B. Hunt
and Captain Coffield houses and the old Turner house, the finest in town. She
would like to write some true “shoot ‘em up” stories for television about early
Bowie on Smoky Row.”
https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jul-24-1958-1072430/
CCV notes:
I have not identified the Turner house referred to above or the owner.
Raborn & Coffield later owned commercial property on Smithe Street, the street
called Smoky Row because of its propensity for gunfire. There were a several
saloons on the street which were ultimately outlawed in an effort to clean up the
town.
Thomas Coffield Vetterling inherited the Raborn-Coffield property after his
grandmother, Martha Irene Raborn Coffield died in 2008. I don’t know what
block had the sobriquet of Smoky Row; the Raborn-Coffield property was at the
corner of N. Smithe & W. Tarrant, not on main street by a block but in the heart of
downtown Bowie. I think it is likely that the saloons were in this block.
Bowie News, May 20, 1949, page 10:
FOR SALE – The 2-story residence on large lot known as the W. H. Coffield place.
See J. A. Coffield or T. R. Coffield at First National Bank.
https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-may-20-1949-1073042/
CCV Note:
I have not determined the location of Walter Coffield’s house.
610 Coffield Street by CCV:
I lived in this old house for several years – maybe as many as 10 – until it was torn
down as described in this article.
I don’t recall a lot about this house. The car was usually parked on the side of the
house (off Lively Street) and we went in the kitchen door which was on that side.
I also recall that the front door was “sticky” and hard for me to open when was
young so I avoided it. I have the same problem with a door in my house in 2019
which the grandkids cannot usually work by themselves; I should get that fixed so
that a sticky door will not be their memory!
All the bedrooms were upstairs. I don’t recall how many there were or the layout.
I think that Cathy and I shared a room. I don’t remember where Charlene slept.
For couple of years our cousin Susan Paschall lived with us and she had a room of
her own. Downstairs I mostly remember the kitchen, which of course was
adjacent to the dining room and living room. One thing that I would guess is that
my parents thought they did not have enough storage space because they put
storage galore in the new house (and still more than filled it). The one oldfashioned black rotary phone was in the hallway downstairs.
We moved into this house around 1952-1953 near the time that Cathy was born,
when the house would have been about 60 years old. I believe construction was
completed and we moved into the new brick home in the fall of 1962. My 12th
birthday party was one of the first events in the house. The address of the home
at that time was 610 Coffield Street. Many years later (probably in the late
1990’s), the city renumbered several homes on Coffield Street (to make the
numbers consecutive for fire department and possibly mail purposes) and the
home’s “new” street number is 808 Coffield St.
The new house was custom built by Thurman Price and he called it the Coffield
Motel while he was designing and building it, because it was a sprawling,
relatively large home for that time in Bowie. It was about 2200 square feet.
While the new house was being built we lived in a house across town that my
parents owned and had been renting out. I think that Cathy and I shared a room
there also. Again, I can’t place where Charlene slept. I think it might have been
on London St. but I need to see if I can verify that.
The new house had central heating and air which not all homes at the time did.
The air vents were in the floor rather than the ceilings for efficiency. Although I
don’t remember the reasoning, I expect that it was for winter considerations
rather than summer – like not cold floors in the winter. There were storm doors
and windows to keep the winter heat and summer air conditioning in. The house
had very deep eves and high placed windows so that it would not get excessive
sun heat. The roof was silver/white shingles to reflect the sun.
It had four bedrooms – the master suite plus a separate room for each daughter.
There was also a large, formal living room/dining room combo and a large
den/breakfast room/kitchen combo. There was a built-in desk in the kitchen for
my mother and a built-in desk in the den for my father. The den is where the one
TV was located – in a built-in cabinet.
This was a big project for my parents and clearly one that they loved – their
dream home. They made decisions on every detail of the house. My parents,
who were both very handy (and extremely hard workers), did as much of the
work as they could themselves to save money. I don’t think they did any of the
construction work, but they did a lot of the finish work including at least some of
the brick laying and finishing of the interior paneling. The kitchen cabinets,
bedroom built-ins and bathroom cabinets all had the same fruitwood finish. The
interior paneling and built-ins were rubbed smooth with steel wool until they
were as smooth as glass. The paneling was still in excellent condition when my
mother died. Most probably my mother did the interior painting but I don’t recall
that for sure.
Believe it or not, I helped with those tasks in the ways I could at that age like
handing bricks to my mother and using steel wool to smooth the paneling in the
den and hallways. I only qualified for the early passes with steel wool as it took
the “expert” to make it as smooth as my mother wanted. At some point I stepped
on a nail in some construction debris which necessitated a tetanus shot.
My mother selected all of the kitchen and bathroom fixtures and each item
received much research to be sure it was the best available and that she found it
at the lowest price possible. I expect all items were purchased wholesale. She
must have flushed 100 toilets in showrooms in Dallas/Fort Worth to find which
was the quietest. There was a built-in vacuum system, decided on, of course, by
her. My son Tom must have inherited his consumer research talent from her.
There was not an automatic dishwasher initially but one was added later. It came
one Christmas and was labeled a Christmas present for my mother, for which my
father received unending grief from his extended family over the years. However,
since he was not a regular helper with the dishes, the label was probably
accurate.
In between the open kitchen/breakfast room/den was an island range with
storage on both sides. I remember that very early in our occupancy of the house
they realized that the height of the range hood over the electric stove was too
low. It was probably installed at standard builder height and my father at 6’2”
bumped his head on it when serving himself from the range. Likely there were
other items that they might have changed in hind sight but this is the only one I
recall them talking about as the problem endured forever.
We made a buying trip to North Carolina to purchase new furniture for the house.
The trip was part vacation (one of our road trips) otherwise no one would take
three young children (ages 11, 9 and 6) that far for furniture shopping. We went
to a number of trade-only showrooms courtesy of Uncle Walter Scott who owned
Scott Bros., a furniture/hardware store in Saint Jo. We, of course, were buying at
wholesale prices through him. I learned at that age the approximate mark-up on
furniture (which I recall today as 40% or more). I don’t recall exactly what pieces
were acquire on that trip but definitely most everything in the living room and
den/breakfast room were acquired then and perhaps some bedroom furniture.
Charlene has (in storage) the breakfast room set.
The master suite had a private bath with a shower/tub combo, a toilet and one
lavatory; separate, roomy closets for mom and dad; and a sliding door that exited
to a concrete “patio” that sat atop a storm cellar and led to the back yard. The
patio looked out over a long rose garden. Opposite the door to the back yard,
was a window overlooking the front yard.
The storm cellar was used when there were tornado watches. Sometimes we had
relatives or neighbors join us in there. Is was not large and was usually dank but
we lived in tornado alley and that was a precaution that was taken in those days.
The stay was not long and we usually played games while we waited. I don’t
recall the mode of lighting. It may have been wired for lights but we would have
had battery-operated lanterns in case the electricity went out. I believe we used
a transistor radio to monitor the status of the forecast.
Each of the three girls’ rooms had one wall with floor-to-ceiling built-ins with
drawer and cupboard storage, eliminating the need for freestanding dressers. In
this wall in each room was also a vanity/desk with a kneehole for sitting and a
mirror over the counter-desktop. These were used much more for make-up and
hair than for study. There was also closet spanning the length of one wall in each
room. We had lots of storage. In each room, one wall was closet, one built-ins
and two free for furniture. In addition to beds and night stands, there were
various other pieces in the rooms from time-to-time including a sewing machine
in a cabinet, chairs, and sometimes other desks and cabinets. Looking back that
seems like a lot of furniture for moderate-sized rooms.
Cathy, Charlene and I traded rooms from time-to-time, although I can’t recall
much reason for this. When that occurred furniture was moved along with
clothing and personal possessions. I’m sure our parents looked forward to those
exchanges.
The house had two bathrooms, the one in the master bedroom and another in
the hall near the other bedrooms. This second bathroom was usually the one also
used as the guest powder room. There was also a laundry “chute” through one
wall of this bathroom to the adjacent laundry room so that we could more
conveniently, and hopefully more reliably, get our laundry into the laundry room.
The house is situated on a large corner lot with big front and back yards. The lot
included the home, a one-car detached garage that was moved to the back of the
lot and turned into a playhouse for myself and my two sisters. The playhouse had
some built-in cabinets and a countertop constructed across the back wall.
Otherwise, it was filled with various toys including some doll furniture built by my
father. I still have the hutch and bed that he built and my granddaughter and
grandson use them in the basement of my current home.
My father also had a very large workshop, perhaps double the size of the
playhouse that was on the other side of the back yard. He had all sorts of shop
equipment and although I don’t recall all the things he used the shop for, the doll
furniture in the playhouse was built by him in that shop.
Midway across the back yard there was a garden shed that housed yard
equipment (about half the size of the playhouse. Between the house and the
playhouse my parents had a large, rectangular rose garden for many years. There
was a rectangular path through the garden for admiring the beautiful roses, roses
where in the center and around the entire perimeter of the path. There were
vines on the fence to the next door neighbor’s year.
All of the outbuildings above were along the back fence line which separated the
house lot from the “back lot”, which was another equally large lot which was
mostly “pasture” that had a horse shed and tack room for our Shetland ponies
when we kept them at home (as opposed to some of the pastures we had). My
parents later planted pear trees along one boundary of this back lot.
I am not positive where the twin home owned by John B. Hunt was because it was
gone by my time. I expect that it was on the property next door to us where the
Roberts lived for all of the time we lived there. The home they lived in was a
small brick house with large yards like ours. The Roberts were: Bernie, a
veterinarian, wife Mickey and four daughters Cynthia, Jennifer (Jenny, about one
year older than I), Linda (Cathy’s age) and Susan (possibly about Charlene’s age).
There were often old cars parked on the property.
We and they were essentially across the street from the large Bowie water tower.
Uncle Roy and Aunt Vivian lived about a block away. My grandparents Raborn
lived a block in the other direction and were directly across from North Ward, my
elementary school.
Gilliland and Bradfield – Per the above article, the Queen of Yesterday was built
by the firm of Gilliland and Bradfield. From my research, I think this Gilliland is
James Killibrough Gilliland of Wise County, from whence the Coffields came
before their move to Bowie and in which they appear to have continued business
dealings. JKG was listed as a carpenter in Decatur, Wise County in the 1900 US
census; before and after this he was elsewhere as a blacksmith and farmer.
James Killibrough Gilliland was the uncle of Frances “Pie” Gilliland who married
James Theodore Hunt, one of the sons of John B. Hunt and Buena Vista Coffield.
John B. Hunt is the owner of the twin home in this article.
First National Bank –
Caroline and Bill tried to move to Bowie and continue in the banking tradition of
the Bowie Coffields; however, Joe Probst the current president of the bank would
not interview him for a position in the bank. CWC was chair of the board at the
time. It was clear that Joe did not want a possible successor in house.
https://www.legend-bank.com/about-us/our-story
https://www.legend-bank.com/a-legendary-history
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7QZ8_First_National_Bank_of_Bowie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowie,_Texas
On July 22, 1881, Bowie was incorporated as a town in Montague County, Texas. (There is also
a Bowie County, which includes Texarkana in northeastern Texas.) The town began to expand with
the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway in 1882.[3] In 1884, four men robbed the First
National Bank of Bowie and allegedly left with over $10,000 in gold coins. Townspeople gave chase
and eventually captured the robbers, who were hanged for their crimes.[4] By 1913, the town had a
population of more than 5000, and included the Bowie Commercial College.[5]
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the town on his train on July 11, 1938. He ceremonially
purchased biscuits from businessman Amon G. Carter of Fort Worth, who had grown up in
Bowie.[6] On August 19, 1941, Rex Beard, Jr., robbed the First National Bank of Bowie and was
captured in December of that same year.[7]
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-legends-texas/51525-first-national-bank-robbery-bowietexas-1894-a.html
In 1894, four bandits held up the First National Bank in Bowie. They thought the job
would be a cinch, but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with them and neither did the
law.
The robbery ran smoothly for about 15 minutes. The bank clerk filled canvas bags with
$10,000 in 20-dollar gold pieces and $18,000 in currency. But two of the robbers
panicked when more bank employees entered the bank and started firing. Although the
robbers grabbed the loot and ran for their horses, the townspeople heard the gunfire.
Several citizens fired at the fleeing robbers, but they rode out of town unharmed.
However, a posse quickly organized and headed to the likeliest escape route, north to
the Red River.
The robbers fled toward Indian Territory, the promised land for outlaws in the 1900s.
They were dismayed to see that the Red River was badly flooded from spring rains and
impossible to cross. The outlaws camped on the south bank of the river at Rock
Crossing and planned to cross the river in the morning. They had no inkling that a
posse was hot on their heels and worse trouble to boot.
Sure enough, by morning the level of the river had gone down some. Before they left,
the robbers split the currency from the robbery but left the gold coins tied up in canvas
bags. They saddled up, but one bandit decided the weight of the gold coins might
prevent their escape. He quickly dug a hole by a large tree at the campsite, deposited
the sacks and hurriedly covered the plunder.
But crossing the river, they saw the Bowie posse. The fleeing outlaws plunged into the
turbulent river, swimming beside their horses and barely surviving. They came out on
the other side gasping and exhausted, never dreaming they were swimming toward
their worst nightmare — federal marshals. A marshal in Bowie had telegraphed Lewis
Palmore, a U.S. deputy marshal that was in Indian Territory. Palmore guessed that the
robbers could only cross the flooded river at Rock Crossing, and he was right.
The federal marshals arrested and manacled the desperados, who seemed destined to
be caught from the first gunshot at the bank. The four carried $18,000 in paper money,
but not a single gold coin. Palmore treated the robbers well and talked with them as
they rode to Fort Sill, Ark. But none confessed where the remaining loot was hidden.
The unlucky crooks came under the glaring judgment of “Hanging Judge” Isaac Parker
at Fort Sill. They were pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang immediately. Right
before their joint execution, one man told Palmore that the gold was buried at their
final campsite on the south bank of the Red River. However, he said this with a wink.
Palmore returned to the popular campsite at Rock Crossing, but he never found any
buried gold. Later, he told the tale to his son, who also searched the site with a metal
detector. His son, Frank couldn’t find any coins either. Accumulated research points to
the treasure resting where the Red River and Little Wichita rivers converge (between
Highway 81 and the mouth of the Little Wichita River).
Frank Palmore believed that to find the coins, the treasure tracker had to visualize the
way the flooded river was in 1894. He advised getting the help of local people to
determine factors such as the river’s water level, the riverbanks’ location and the old
Rock Crossing site,
Researchers believe the $10,000 in 1894 gold coins has not been recovered — any
other speculations about locations are theories waiting to be proven.
Suggested resources: Wilson, Steve. Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales. Norman,
University of Oklahoma Press, 1976 and Jameson, W.C. Buried Treasure of Texas. Little
Rock, Ark.: August House Publishers, Inc., 1991.
http://www.grahamleader.com/news/get...g=get-news.asp