DUANE
Duane's take
The marker in Hill County tells it this way, and I'm just passing it along. Somewhere around 1860, out in what would become Covington, a man named Colonel James Gathings and his brother Philip did something that takes a moment to fully appreciate — they founded a college. Not a schoolhouse.
A college. And it drew over two hundred students. Now, they also set up a military department to prepare young men for duty in the Civil War, which tells you something about what was coming down the road even in those early years.
When the war did come, it hit higher education hard across Confederate Texas. Twenty-five colleges were operating in the state, and most of them shut their doors — shortage of teachers, shortage of books, the whole enterprise grinding down under the weight of war. But Gathings College stayed open.
Just sat there, holding the line, while the rest fell quiet. Now here's where Colonel Gathings himself starts to look like something out of a story somebody made up. The man ran a flour mill.
A tannery. A shoe shop. A machine shop that turned out wagons, coffins, and farm equipment.
A brick kiln. A saddlery. That's not a man running a business — that's a man running a civilization in miniature.
And when the families of soldiers fell into need — which they did, because that's what war does to the people left behind — Colonel Gathings gave them flour, meat, and shoes. Gave it to them. Not sold.
And on top of all that, he mounted, clothed, and equipped army units entirely at his own expense. The marker doesn't make a fuss about any of this. It just lists it, plain as a bill of goods, and lets you do the reckoning.
Some men talk about what a community owes them. James Gathings seemed to spend his whole life paying what he figured he owed the community. That's a harder thing to do than it sounds.
What the marker says
Established about 1860 by the founder of Covington, Col. James Gathings, and his brother Philip. Over 200 students enrolled. A military department prepared young men for duty in Civil War. Many of the 25 colleges in Confederate Texas closed, due to shortage of teachers and books. But college here stayed open. Col. Gathings operated flour mill, tannery, shoe shop, machine shop (made wagons, coffins, farm equipment), brick kiln, saddlery. To needy families of soldiers he gave flour, meat and shoes. He also mounted, clothed and equipped army units free.