Winnsboro’s Raconteur Historian
Is A Trails Country Treasure
by
Joe Dan Boyd
“Bill Jones is truly a treasure!”
So said Becky Pickett in her introduction of Jones, Wood County’s eminent historian and 2007 honoree as Trails Country Treasure, a lifetime achievement award, now in its second year, presented Sunday, September 23, by the Trails Country Center for the Arts ( TCCA ).
Pickett also chanted an impressive list of memberships, validating Jones’ selection:
* Wood County Historical Commission for 25 years, 10 as its chair.
* Winnsboro City Cemetery Foundation, 20 years as its President.
* Winnsboro Rock Gym Preservation Committee.
* Long-time president of the Winnsboro Preservation League, responsible for the “green revolution” of historical markers describing memorable events and locations in and around Winnsboro.
Other Jones credentials include membership in the Winnsboro Heritage Society, Mineola Heritage Association, Friends of Governor Hogg Park in Quitman and the Native American Fellowship of Northeast Texas .
“Most of all, however, he is a storehouse of knowledge about our area, and he has written numerous articles to prove it,” concluded Pickett.
“Although Bill was born and grew up in Winnsboro, he lived away for a while, but I think his heart and soul have always been here,” added Pickett. “After he returned, Bill became an advocate for Winnsboro and Wood County .”
Jones personalized Pickett’s perspective in his own brief opening statement:
“When I moved back home, the concept in Winnsboro was to destroy anything that was 30 years old, and put a sign up saying, ‘make room for progress’,” he recalled. “Under that concept, we lost many of our most beautiful homes and buildings. But , I don’t think that could happen today.”
He assumes that many in Winnsboro would now rise up in righteous opposition.
Jones also credited the “new blood” input of relative newcomers, individuals and businesses, for much of Winnsboro’s progress, especially TCCA , Crossroads Coffeehouse & Music Company, the Winnsboro Bakery and the Winery. Those four, especially, he believes have helped to revitalize downtown Winnsboro as a center for bustling weekend activity.
In his capsule version of Winnsboro’s history, Jones emphasized several people, places and events that had already been lifted up in song during Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne’s majestic Crossroads Trilogy, itself a tribute to Jones’ eloquent expression of his own research.
“While we were writing this trilogy, our floor was covered with copies of the many historical articles that Bill had written for The Winnsboro News,” Adler explained. “So many of the words in this trilogy came from Bill Jones:
Giant virgin forests touched the sky
Where the red-tailed hawk loves to fly
The buzz of an old sawmill
A long day for a dollar
and my soul is all I own
In my East Texas pineywoods home.”
All three, Adler, Hearne and Jones, recounted details of the place known first, in 1854, as Crossroads, then, in 1855, as Winnsboro, named for one of its founders, John Winn.
The three described, with appropriate pathos and humor, the original and dangerous Market Street, now home to TCCA , but once known as The Bowery, when lined with rough saloons that helped precipitate a fatal 1907 four-victim shootout.
Jones quickly touted Winnsboro’s several eras of commercial prosperity after the railroad arrived in 1878: timber (25 lumber mills), cotton (up to 15,000 bales a year), truck farming (farmers produce market each Monday, Wednesday & Friday) and oil (which he says supported the area for a half century, beginning in 1943).
Jones then opened the floor for a free-wheeling half-hour Question-and-Answer duel, during which he never came close to being stumped:
Q--What were the dates of the Moonshine Era?
A—I don’t think it’s over yet!
Q—Why did Bonnie and Clyde spend time in Winnsboro?
A—They had a hideout here.
Q—Who was Elizabeth Suiter?
A—She was Judge Will Suiter’s daughter who became a successful attorney, member of the Texas Legislature and Mayor of Winnsboro.
Q—What famous people have visited Winnsboro?
A—Lyndon Johnson landed in downtown Winnsboro via helicopter when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Gabby Hayes and Wild Bill Elliott came here during a War Bond drive in the 1940s.
Q—How did the street called Smokey Row get its name?
A—That was Franklin Street , which was home to three or four blacksmith shops.
Q—Did Elvis really date a girl in Winnsboro when he was performing regularly on the Louisiana Hayride?
A—Yes, and I knew the girl, but I don’t think this is the place to discuss that.
Q—Who were your primary sources for historical research?
A—Judge Will Suiter, Tubby Smith, Carl Gilbreath and Skeen Smith, among others.
Eventually, Jones received two plaques from TCCA , awarded by Treasure Committee members Joe Dan Boyd , Becky Pickett, (pictured here with Jones) and Helen Burlingham. The plaque was signed by TCCA President Cindy Fisher and inscribed:
“To commemorate a lifetime devoted to the preservation of Trails Country history, with an emphasis on the discipline of the written word and a unique ability to sustain public interest in our common heritage through meticulous research, ceremonial celebration and the permanence of detailed historical markers informing and inspiring both present and future generations.”
