DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Salem, Newton County — so hold on, because this one's got some mileage on it. Now, before there was a Salem, Texas, there was a Seth Swift. Born in 1789, this man had already lived a life before he ever set foot on Texas soil.
Up in Massachusetts, he and his partner Paul Gardner were running a whaling business — which, if you know anything about that trade, you know it was not work for the faint of heart. But then Gardner died in 1835, and something shifted. Swift packed up his wife Lydia, their five children, their household goods, and the materials for an entire frame house, and they pointed themselves toward Texas.
Now think about that for a moment. Not just furniture. Not just trunks and trunks of belongings.
An entire frame house. In pieces. They loaded all of it onto a boat and pushed it up the Sabine River until they hit Big Cow Creek, and that, right there, is where Seth Swift decided: this is the place.
And it wasn't a bad pick. The road to Opelousas, Louisiana — the very road over which cattle were driven all the way to New Orleans — crossed right at that spot. Swift set up a trading post, and he named it for Salem, Massachusetts.
He ran a ferry there, a point of entry into Texas, and that ferry continued to operate for a hundred years. A hundred years. Riverboats came through unloading lumber, cotton, all manner of goods.
The post office started up during the Republic of Texas, and Swift ran that too. There were no churches, but circuit riders came through. There was no schoolhouse, but Swift wasn't the kind of man to leave a problem unsolved — he brought Martha Percival to instruct the children.
Whatever Salem lacked in formal institutions, Seth Swift had a workaround. And when he died in 1869, he was buried near his home — in the pink marble casket he had brought all the way from Massachusetts. The man planned ahead.
You have to give him that. But Salem's story didn't end with Swift. In 1892, the Cow Creek Tram Company established a logging camp about two miles south of the original settlement, and that camp became known as Old Salem.
The post office picked up and moved to the new location. Salem was never incorporated, and as transportation improved and settlements moved inland, Salem — quietly, without ceremony — disappeared. A hundred years of ferry crossings, cattle drives rolling past, riverboats easing up the creek, a pink marble casket carried all the way from New England… and in the end, the road just moved on.
Salem moved with it as long as it could, and then it didn't.
What the marker says
Before Seth Swift (1789-1869) founded the settlement of Salem, he and his partner, Paul Gardner, operated a whaling business in Massachusetts. After Gardner's death in 1835, Swift, his wife Lydia, and five children immigrated to Texas. They brought household goods and material for a frame house up the Sabine River to this location on the Big Cow Creek. The road to Opelousas, Louisiana, over which cattle were driven to New Orleans, crossed here. Swift named the trading post for Salem, Massachusetts. Swift owned a ferry which was a point of entry into Texas and continued to operate for 100 years. Riverboats unloaded lumber, cotton, and other goods. Although there were no churches, circuit riders came here. There was no schoolhouse, but Swift brought Martha Percival to instruct the children. Swift ran the post office that started here during the Republic of Texas. He was buried near his home in the pink marble casket he brought from Massachusetts. In 1892 Cow Creek Tram Co. established a logging camp (2 mi. S) which became known as "Old Salem". Salem Post Office moved to the new location. Never incorporated, Salem disappeared after transportation improved and settlements moved inland.