by Texas
Even when the Cobb plantation was finished, the cousins would plant only a relatively few acres of cotton; the major part would be held in woods, or used for cattle and hogs. But as soon as that first small stand of cotton was planted, and before their homes were built, Reuben put all the slaves plus six hired men from town with their mules and iron sleds to work digging out to the depth of four feet an immense sunken area immediately adjacent to the river.
'Leave a dike wide enough to keep the water out,' he ordered, and as the depression deepened he worked as strenuously as any of the men, digging deeper and deeper and moving a huge amount of earth to be piled along the rim of the future lake. When everyone was exhausted, he gave the crew two days' rest, then brought them back to finish off the bottom and dig a six-foot channel from the river to the place where the future plantation wharf would be built.
The men dug this channel in an interesting way. The hired hands from town hitched their mules to a heavy iron implement
that looked like a very large sharp-edged dustpan, except that it had higher sides and two handles instead of one. When the mules strained forward they dragged this huge pan behind them, so that the man holding the handles could tip the edge forward and slice off a huge wedge of moist earth, which stayed in the scoop as the mules moved faster, dragging it aloft to the sides of the depression.
When the channel was well dug, wide enough to safeguard a boat coming in from Lake Caddo, Reuben announced: 'Now for the fun!' He directed the slaves to pare the top of the dike, which kept out the river, down to the very water's edge. He then dug holes in the remaining walls, filled them with explosives, and warned everyone to stand back. When he detonated the charges, the dike crumbled and waters from the bayou rushed in to fill the man-made lake and the channel leading to where the wharf would stand.
From the side of the slight hill on which the Cobb mansions would one day be erected, the women and children watched with delight as their lake came into being. 'How beautiful!' Petty Prue cried, and Millicent, less openly enthusiastic, agreed. It was a splendid lake, which would be even lovelier when the trees which Reuben proposed planting were established.
The Cobb men were not foolish. They never believed for an instant that two families as distinct as theirs, or two men as radically different as they, could own a plantation in common, and as soon as the purchases of the land were completed they consulted a Jefferson lawyer—there were three to choose from—who drew up a most detailed schedule of who owned what: 'Now, as I understand it, Somerset is to have the initial three thousand acres purchased from the widow, plus four hundred of the very fine acres of the Carver land. Reuben is to have clear title to all the four thousand acres bought from Mr. Adams, plus all the bottomlands from whomever.'
That's my understanding,' Sett said. 'And mine,' agreed Reuben.
'But the entire is to be called Lakeview Plantation?'
The Cobbs looked at each other and nodded: 'That's what we want.'
'Most unusual. Two plantations, one name.'
'Doesn't seem unusual to me,' Reuben said, and the lawyer coughed.
'Now, the lake, and ten acres of land about it, plus access to the river, that's to be held in common, owned by no one specifically, and with each of your two houses to have equal access and equal use, in perpetuity.'
'Agreed.'
'And that also includes any wharf that will be built there, and any cotton gin or storage buildings which might be called warehouses.'
'Agreed,' Reuben said. 'We'll build them with common dollars and have common ownership. But I wish you'd put in there not only the gin but also any other kind of mill we might want to operate.'
'And what kind would that be?' the lawyer asked. 'That's to be seen,' Reuben said.
So before even the wharf was built, or the family houses well
started, he was preoccupied, along with Trajan and Jaxifer, in
laying out the kind of mill complex he had long visualized. Because
no running stream passed through the land, he could not depend
on water power, and he did not want to go back to the old-style
gin operated by horses walking endlessly in a circle. Instead, he
i hired three skilled carpenters from the town—one dollar and ten
: cents a day, with them supplying all tools and nails—and working
i alongside them, he built a two-story gin building, traditional exi cept that on the ground floor he left only a small open space.
When Trajan warned: 'No horse kin walk there!' he explained: i 'Somethin' a lot better'n a horse,' and he had the slaves erect a rock-based platform on which a ten-horsepower steam engine s would rest; he would purchase this from Cincinnati, where it i seemed that all the good machinery of this period was manufact tured.
1 But the gin was only a part of his plan, for when a heavy leather s belt was attached to the revolving spindle of the engine, it ac-s tivated, on the upper story, a long master spindle from which [extended four separate leather belts. There would not be sufficient i power to operate all the belts simultaneously, but any two could function. One, of course, led to the gin, and it drew down little i-power; another returned to the first floor, where it operated the massive press which formed the bales that would be shipped down to New Orleans for movement to Liverpool. It was the third and e fourth belts which led to the innovations of which Reuben was so proud, and one might almost say that these accounted for the material growth of Lakeview Plantation. I The third belt carried power to an enlargement of the gin building that housed a gristmill, a massive stone grinder which revolved e slowly in a heavy stone basin, producing excellent flour when wheat , was introduced between the stones or fine meal when corn was used. )i The fourth belt powered a sawmill, and it required so much power that it could run only when the press and mill were idle.
Cotton was ginned and pressed less than half the year; the gristmill and sawmill could be utilized at any time, and it was these which determined the plantation's margin of profit. The gin, using less power than any of the other three, provided the great constanl in Texas commerce, the lifeblood, but with this assured, the quality of life depended upon what was accomplished additionally Only a few geniuses like Reuben Cobb realized this interdependence; the great majority of Texans never would—and from generation to generation producers and their bankers would believe in turn: 'Cotton is King. Cattle are King. Oil is King. Electronics is King.' And always they would be deceiving themselves, for it was the creative mix of efforts, plus the ingenuity and hard work of the men and women involved, that was really King.
The four combined mills at Lakeview Plantation constituted an early proof of this truism, and one aspect of the operation was< startling: after the buildings were constructed and the machinery installed, Trajan was in charge. He had mastered the technique oi mending the leather belts when they tore; he knew how to guard the water supply to the engine; he knew what types of wood to cut for stoking the engine; and he, better even than Reuben, ap-: preciated the subtle interlocking relationships of the four components. The building and its contents had been put together only by the ingenuity of Reuben Cobb, who had learned by studious apprenticeship in Georgia what was needed, but it was managed successfully by Trajan—no last name—who had that subtle feel foi machinery which characterized many of the ablest Americans.
The lake had been so judiciously placed that the Reuben Cobbs could build their home on a promontory overlooking it. while the Somerset Cobbs could place another house on their rise and obtain just as good a view. But in the actual construction ol the two houses, there was a vast difference.
The cousins had learned from the building of their slave quarters and the dredging of the lake that skilled workmen could be hired in Jefferson for around a dollar a day, and good husbandry advised the Cobbs to pay the fee and use these craftsmen. A good slave shack, caulked to keep out the rain, could be built by these artisans for less than fifty dollars, and an entire house, dog-run style for whi
te folks, could be put up for six hundred dollars. The Somerset Cobbs built such a house, hastily and with no amenities. fully expecting to tear it down and build a better in the years: ahead.
Reuben, with a keen sense of his position in Jefferson, did noi do this. Instead of the traditional four small rooms at the compass
points, he built four surprisingly large rooms, and instead of percn-ing them on piles of stone at each corner, he used slaves and employed townsmen to dig substantial footings, four feet deep, which he filled with stone and rubble and sloppy clay in order to establish a firm, unshakable base. It, too, was a dog-run, but the central breezeway was twenty-six feet wide and the roof was not thrown together; it was most sturdily built and covered with cypress split shingles hewn from Lakeview trees.
To everyone's surprise, Reuben paid little attention to the porch, accepting one that was both shorter and narrower than his cousin's, so that when the unusual house was finished, several people, including some of the workmen, said in effect: 'Hell of a big breezeway. Itty-bitty porch. It don't match.'
He did not intend it to, for as soon as the plantation began prospering he did three daring things: he boarded up the two open ends of the breezeway, paying great attention to the architectural effect of door-and-window; he built at each far end of the axis a stone chimney, tying the two halves of the house together, and he tore off the inadequate porch and installed instead a magnificent affair supported by six marble Doric columns shipped in segments and at huge expense from New Orleans.
The redheaded Cobbs, as they were called in the community, •now had a mansion which would have graced Charleston or Montgomery. It was clean, and white, and spacious, and the happy combination of the two stone chimneys and the six marble pillars gave it a distinction which could be noticed when one first saw it from the steamboat landing down on the lake. But what pleased Reuben most, when he surveyed the whole, was the developing hedge of Osage-orange that enclosed and protected his grand new home.
When the mansions were livable, Sett, as the steadier of the two Cobbs and the more experienced in managing a sizable plantation, cast up the profit-and-loss figures for their enterprise, and when he displayed them to his partners, the wives declared that with Reuben's sharp purchasing and Sett's good management, the family was on its way to having a very profitable operation:
10,200 acres bought at various prices, total cost $14,590
81 Carolina and Georgia slaves, less Hadrian stolen, plus 12 additional acquired en route means 92 at $425 per head, fair average 39,100
Cost of equipment for the slaves, plus cattle, hogs and fowl to keep the plantation running, at $62 per slave 5,704
Total investment $59,394
Counting all slaves, each slave produces .89
bales of cotton per year times 92 82
Each bale contains 480 pounds times 82 39,360
Each pound sells at 10.8* $4,250
$4,250 divided by $59,394 yields yearly
profit of 7.11%
'And remember,' cried Reuben when he saw the final figure, 'nine of us Cobbs had a good living from our land. Each year the value of our slaves increases. And I'm convinced cotton will sell for more next year when it reaches Liverpool.'
Cautiously, lest he excite too much euphoria, Sett added: 'We'll soon be showing substantial profit from our mills and gin,' andi Petty Prue burbled: 'Hail to Cobbs! Best plantation in Texas.'
While the Cobbs were establishing themselves so securely, Yancey Quimper was taking his own giant steps down in Xavier County, for at the moment back in 1848 when he learned of Captain Sam Garner's death on the uplands of Mexico, he thought: He leaves a widow, damned nice, and two children. With all that land, she's goin' to need assistance.
Actually, Garner had not acquired a great deal of land: six; hundred and forty acres because of his services at San Jacinto; some acres that his wife, Rachel, had managed to acquire; and a couple of hundred that he had taken over for a bad debt. Right in the heart of Campbell, the county seat, the Garner lands were worth having.
Keeping a watchful eye on the Widow Garner lest some adventurer sneak in ahead of him, General Quimper waited what was' called 'a decent interval' and then swooped in, his colors flying. Actually, in a frontier settlement like Texas where women were scarce, the decent interval for an attractive widow to mourn after the sudden death of her husband was anywhere from three weeks to four months. Men needed wives; wives needed protection; and orphaned children were a positive boon rather than a hindrance.
When Quimper first began speaking to Rachel Garner about her perilous condition, he stressed only her responsibility for the
rearing and education of her children, and in this he was not being hypocritical, for he liked the boys. 'These are children worth the most careful attention,' he told her, sounding very much like a clergyman.
But on subsequent visits he began talking about her problems with the eight hundred and forty acres with which she found herself: 'Today they're worth nothing, maybe a dollar an acre. But in the future, Rachel . . .' He now addressed her only as Rachel and always saw to it that one of her children was at his side as he spoke. He dwelt upon the difficulties an unmarried woman would face if she endeavored to manage so much property. He stressed the fact that the land lay half within the town, half out in the country, a division which trebled the complications.
On an April day in 1850, at the time the Cobbs were excavating their lake, he suddenly took Mrs. Garner's hands, her children being absent, and gazed at her as if overcome by a totally unexpected passion: 'Rachel, you cannot take care of a farm and two lovely children alone. Allow me to help.'
Everything he had been saying for the past months had made sense, indeed the only common sense she had heard for a long time. A preacher for whom she had little respect had mumbled: 'God always looks after the orphaned child,' but General Quimper had outlined practical courses of action which did not depend upon God's uncertain support, and she was now disposed to listen seriously to his next recommendations.
Having uttered the critical words, he retreated from her kitchen as if overcome with embarrassment and stayed away for two days, but on the third day he returned filled with apologies for his intemperate behavior during his last visit, and with great relief he heard Mrs. Garner say: 'No apologies are necessary. You were seized by an honest emotion, and I respect you for it.'
When the proposed marriage was announced, Rachel Garner was visited by an unexpected member of her community, a tall, shaggy, rough individual known unfavorably as Panther Komax, whom her dead husband had once described: 'An animal. Good with a gun, but an animal.'
Panther's message was blunt: 'Don't marry him, Mrs. Garner.'
'What are you saying?'
'He does nothin' withouten a plan.'
'What do you mean?'
'He plans to grab your land. He plans to grab ever'thin'.'
'My children need a father.'
'They don't need him.' In the silence that followed. Panther
studied the neat kitchen, then said: 'You're doin' all right as it is. Captain Garner would be proud of you.'
At the mention of her husband's name, Rachel frowned, as if Komax had been unfair in bringing into the discussion that fine man, that unquestioned hero, but since Sam had been brought into the room, she said, as if for him to hear: 'Sam would want his children to have a father. He would understand.' Then almost aggressively, she turned on Panther and demanded: 'What has General Quimper ever done to you?' Komax, not wishing to compound a mistake which he now realized he had made, replied: 'Nothin'. I was only comparin' him and your husband. And when I do I get sick to my stomach.'
Actually, Quimper had been doing a great deal to Panther, and as soon as the marriage to Rachel Garner had been safely solemnized, with her children in attendance, the general directed his attention to a business matter which had been concerning him for some time.
Like the rest of Xavier County, he had watched in disbelief when Komax returned
from Mexico in 1848 leading a chubby Mexican bootmaker named Juan Hernandez, who proceeded to make the best boots the men of the county had ever seen. They were pliable, yet so sturdy that mesquite thorns could not penetrate them, and when three different users reported that rattlesnakes, 'and damned big ones, too, thick as your leg,' had struck the boots without forcing the fangs through the hide, Komax Boots began to be discussed favorably wherever men appreciated good leather.
In fact, Juan's boots became so popular that Panther could not supply all the men who sought them, even when he raised his price to four dollars a pair. Therefore, in December 1849, when hordes of prospectors were pouring through Texas to reach the California gold rush via the overland route through El Paso, Komax was embarrassed by the number of gold-seekers who offered him up to forty dollars for a pair of Juan's boots.
But embarrassment soon gave way to enthusiasm, and Komax told his bootmaker: 'Go down to Matamoros or Monterrey. Find five or six good cobblers. Bring 'em here, and we'll make a fortune if these California men keep comin'.' But before Juan set out, Komax gripped him by the wrist: 'You promise to come back?' and the Mexican replied in Spanish: 'Amigo, I never lived so well. You are a man to trust.'
Soon Hernandez was back in Xavier with five Mexican bootmakers, who, under his and Panther's tutelage, began to turn out boots of such remarkable quality that even when the California
gold rush petered out, the demand Iroui Texas men continued to snap up all that Panther could supply
The price was now fixed at eleven dollars a pair, twelve if Hernandez himself decorated the upper part with the Mexican designs he liked. He favored the symbol of his nation, the valiant eagle battling the rattlesnake, but most Texans rejected this: 'Damned vulture eatin' a worm,' they called it, and they asked instead for the Lone Star with crossed pistols. Juan could do either.