Cotton Industry in Ellis County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the cotton industry in Ellis County, and friend, this is one of those stories that just keeps growing. Now, cotton didn't become king overnight. By 1852, Texas had already climbed to eighth in the nation among cotton-producing states.

But Ellis County itself? In 1860, the whole county scraped together just 359 bales. Three hundred and fifty-nine.

You could almost count them by hand. Then something happened. Actually, a few somethings happened.

The land here was always ready. The Texas Almanac for 1858 described Ellis County soil as, and I'm reading this close because the words are worth it, rich black, stiff and loamy, undulating rolling prairie, finely adapted to the culture of all kinds of small grain, as well as cotton and corn. The Blackland Prairie, they call it, a grassland region stretching from the Red River down through north and central Texas.

The dirt was practically begging for a seed. What it needed was a way to get the harvest out. And the railroads answered that call.

The Houston and Texas Central arrived in 1871. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe came through in 1882. Those rail lines connected larger cities and towns while running straight through some of the most productive farmland in the state.

You lay iron track through ground like that, and things start movin. By 1870, Ellis County cotton production had jumped to 2,960 bales. By 1880, it had reached 18,956.

Those numbers aren't coincidences sitting next to those railroad arrival dates. By the 1890s, the county was planting more acreage in cotton than it had labor to work. Advertisements went out, actively enticing people to relocate to Ellis County.

Come on down, there's more cotton than there are hands. Gins went up in virtually every part of the county, not just in the towns but out in the rural stretches too. On Pecan Springs Ranch near Chambers Creek, a man named Wilson Dabney Sims, born in 1824 and gone by 1892, owned 2,800 acres in 1890.

A thousand of those acres were cultivated by tenant farmers, and Sims ran a cotton gin he opened for himself and his tenants both. And then the related businesses started arriving: cotton compresses, cottonseed oil mills, textile mills. Each one feeding the next, each one locking cotton deeper into the identity of this place.

By 1900, Ellis County cotton production totaled 91,298 bales. That's a long way from 359. But the county wasn't finished.

In 1912, Ellis County set a record: 187,449 bales. Between 1895 and 1915, Ellis County frequently ranked first, not just in Texas, first in the entire nation in cotton production. First in the nation.

Out of that blackland soil that the almanac called loamy and undulating and finely adapted. The crop remained a critical part of the local economy well into the twentieth century. Some stories end with a bang.

This one ends with deep roots, planted in rich black earth, and they held.

What the marker says

IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES, COTTON BECAME AN INCREASINGLY VALUABLE CROP IN THE STATE'S ECONOMY. BY 1852, TEXAS RANKED EIGHTH IN THE NATION AMONG COTTON-PRODUCING STATES. IN ELLIS COUNTY, PRODUCTION TOTALED JUST 359 BALES IN 1860. THE ARRIVAL OF RAILROADS LOCALLY AND ACROSS THE STATE HELPED PROMOTE COTTON CULTURE, AS RAIL LINES OFTEN CONNECTED LARGER CITIES AND TOWNS WHILE RUNNING THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE FARMLAND. ELLIS COUNTY IS PART OF THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE, A GRASSLAND REGION FROM THE RED RIVER THROUGH NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS. THE TEXAS ALMANAC FOR 1858 DESCRIBED ELLIS COUNTY LAND AS "RICH BLACK, STIFF AND LOAMY, UNDULATING ROLLING PRAIRIE, FINELY ADAPTED TO THE CULTURE OF ALL KINDS OF SMALL GRAIN, AS WELL AS COTTON AND CORN." BY 1870, ELLIS COUNTY COTTON PRODUCTION HAD INCREASED TO 2,960 BALES, AND TO 18,956 BALES BY 1880, REFLECTED IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOUSTON & TEXAS CENTRAL (1871) AND GULF, COLORADO & SANTA FE (1882) RAILROADS TO THE AREA. BY THE 1890s, COUNTY ACREAGE PLANTED IN COTTON EXCEEDED THE LABOR SUPPLY, AND ADVERTISEMENTS ENTICED PEOPLE TO RELOCATE HERE. GINS WERE BUILT IN VIRTUALLY EVERY PART OF THE COUNTY, NOT JUST IN TOWNS BUT IN RURAL AREAS. ON PECAN SPRINGS RANCH NEAR CHAMBERS CREEK, WILSON DABNEY SIMS (1824-1892) OWNED 2,800 ACRES IN 1890, WITH 1,000 ACRES CULTIVATED BY TENANT FARMERS AND WITH A COTTON GIN HE OPENED FOR HIMSELF AND HIS TENANTS. EVENTUALLY, RELATED LOCAL BUSINESSES SUCH AS COTTON COMPRESSES, COTTONSEED OIL MILLS, AND TEXTILE MILLS HELPED COTTON'S IMPORTANCE TO THE AREA GROW EXPONENTIALLY. IN 1900, ELLIS COUNTY COTTON PRODUCTION TOTALED 91,298 BALES, TOPPING OUT AT A RECORD 187,449 BALES IN 1912. BETWEEN 1895 AND 1915, ELLIS COUNTY FREQUENTLY RANKED FIRST IN THE STATE AND THE NATION IN COTTON PRODUCTION, AND THE CROP REMAINED A CRITICAL PART OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY WELL INTO THE 20TH CENTURY.