DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just gonna pass it along to you straight. Now, every good story in Texas starts with somebody moving. And the W.O.
Rowden family moved from Gurley, Alabama, all the way to Van Zandt County in 1895. Three years later, in 1898, they moved again — this time to the H.H. Carmack place, right out at the outer edge of Wills Point.
And here's where it gets interesting. Carmack had received a cotton boll from a friend down in Florida. Could've set it on a shelf.
Could've forgotten about it entirely. Instead, he gave it to Rowden. Rowden planted nine seeds that following April.
Nine seeds. From those nine seeds, he pulled twenty-five pounds of seed cotton. Now, most folks might've called that a fine enough result and left it alone.
But Rowden didn't leave it alone. In the spring of 1899, he planted half an acre. Half an acre yielded eleven hundred and thirty-three pounds of seed cotton.
He added three hundred pounds of another type of cotton to make a five-hundred-and-forty-nine-pound bale. The buyer looked it over and said it was one of the finest bales he had bought all season. All season.
That's not a polite thing somebody says to make a farmer feel good — that's a buyer talking, and buyers don't flatter for free. Rowden Cotton was formally introduced in 1900. Then in 1902, Rowden's brother, W.A.
Rowden, came to Texas, and the two of them formed a partnership. A successful one. Four years after the introduction, they brought Rowden Cotton to town to be weighed, and this is the number that makes you set down your coffee.
The cotton picked from forty-four bolls weighed one pound. Forty-four bolls. Other varieties of cotton took fifty-two to fifty-six bolls to reach that same one pound.
That's not a small difference. That's a whole different conversation about what a cotton plant can do. A firm over in Stephenville put it plainly in writing: Rowden Bros. have directly benefited the planters of Texas hundreds of thousands of dollars by their improved seeds.
Seed dealers regularly sold out of Rowden Cotton seed. It ranked second among the best varieties planted under the same conditions and sold on average four to five cents more than other cotton. Four to five cents more.
Per pound. Across the South. The reputation of the Rowden seed was well known across the South, and especially in Texas.
Now, the cotton industry in Van Zandt County did eventually decline — allotments were established that regulated how much cotton a farmer could plant, and that changed things. But before that decline, the Rowden brothers had already done something that outlasts a regulation. They showed farmers how to improve the variety of their cotton seed.
How to develop any type of cotton that they wished. All of it started with a single boll, passed from a friend in Florida to a man named Carmack, who handed it to Rowden, who planted nine seeds in the April soil of Van Zandt County. Some gifts are like that — small enough to fit in a hand, big enough to change a whole region's farming.
What the marker says
ROWDEN COTTON THE W.O. ROWDEN FAMILY MOVED FROM GURLEY, ALABAMA TO VAN ZANDT COUNTY IN 1895 AND, IN 1898, THE FAMILY MOVED TO THE H.H. CARMACK PLACE JUST AT THE OUTER EDGE OF WILLS POINT. CARMACK RECEIVED A COTTON BOLL FROM A FRIEND IN FLORIDA AND GAVE IT TO ROWDEN. HE PLANTED NINE SEEDS THAT FOLLOWING APRIL WHICH YIELDED 25 POUNDS OF SEED COTTON. IN THE SPRING OF 1899, HE PLANTED ONE-HALF ACRE GATHERING 1133 POUNDS OF SEED COTTON AND ADDED 300 POUNDS OF ANOTHER TYPE OF COTTON TO MAKE A 549-POUND BALE. THE BUYER OF THE BALE SAID IT WAS ONE OF THE FINEST BALES HE HAD BOUGHT ALL SEASON. ROWDEN COTTON WAS INTRODUCED IN 1900. ROWDEN'S BROTHER, W.A. ROWDEN, CAME TO TEXAS IN 1902 AND THEY FORMED A SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP. FOUR YEARS LATER, ROWDEN COTTON WAS BROUGHT TO TOWN TO BE WEIGHED. THE COTTON PICKED FROM FORTY-FOUR BOLLS WEIGHED ONE POUND. OTHER VARIETIES OF COTTON TOOK 52 TO 56 BOLLS TO WEIGH ONE POUND. A FIRM IN STEPHENVILLE WROTE, ������ROWDEN BROS. HAVE DIRECTLY BENEFITED THE PLANTERS OF TEXAS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BY THEIR IMPROVED SEEDS." SEED DEALERS REGULARLY SOLD OUT OF THE ROWDEN COTTON SEED WHICH RANKED SECOND WITH THE BEST VARIETIES PLANTED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS AND SOLD ON AVERAGE OF 4 TO 5 CENTS MORE THAN OTHER COTTON. THE DECLINE OF THE COTTON INDUSTRY IN VAN ZANDT COUNTY WAS DUE TO ALLOTMENTS ESTABLISHED THAT REGULATED HOW MUCH COTTON A FARMER COULD PLANT. HOWEVER, BEFORE THE DECLINE, THE ROWDEN BROTHERS SHOWED FARMERS HOW TO IMPROVE THE VARIETY OF COTTON SEED, DEVELOPING ANY TYPE OF COTTON THAT THEY WISHED. THE REPUTATION OF THE ROWDEN SEED WAS WELL KNOWN ACROSS THE SOUTH AND ESPECIALLY IN TEXAS.