This week’s article is about ports and ferries especially along the Sabine River and their importance in the early history of Shelby County. The newspaper article was written by Greg Rowe for the Light and Champion. The exact date of the article is unknown but is estimated to have been written in 1990.

Throughout the early days of settling East Texas, ports and ferries were important stopping points for immigrants. Not only did these ferries and ports serve as supply depots for those trekking further into the state (or republic, depending on the year), but they were also important to the commerce of the region in a broader scope.

While there were other ports and ferries along other Texas rivers, the Sabine River ports and ferries were often the entry points for settlers from all over the world. Unless an immigrant floated down the Red River from Louisiana to Texas, or crossed it north, settlers had to cross the Sabine.

Perhaps the most substantial economic impact of these ports and ferries during the era of riverboat shipping became the dominant mode of transporting goods  and people from place to place. Because rivers were something of natural approaches to places without adequate roads, these “thoroughfares” were used instead. Steamboats on the Sabine River were important to East Texas commerce until the early 1900s, longer than any Texas river, mostly because of the timber and lumber industries in the regions. Some 30 billion board feet of timber were sent to mills at various locations along the river. In addition, an estimated 500 thousand bales of cotton were floated down the river in the era of the steamboats. Along the way, those riverboats stopped off at the ports and ferries in Shelby County, contributing to its early economic growth.

With that in mind, let’s roll down the river and find out a little more about the ferries and ports of old Shelby County.

The largest and perhaps most important of the Shelby County ports was East Hamilton. Located in the southeastern corner of Shelby County, East Hamilton was, at one time, known simply as Hamilton, but a conflict with another community in the county with the same name made the directional designation necessary. “East” was added in 1847 when the city was granted a post office by the government.

The settlement was started by Alexander and Mary Hamilton of Perry County, Alabama around 1830, though it is suspected that there were settlers in the area as early as 1818. No, not the Alexander Hamilton of dubious fame in early United States politics, but this Alexander Hamilton would establish a port and ferry that would play a key role in the development of Shelby County specifically and Texas in general.

After building a one-room log dwelling, Mr. Hamilton traveled back to Louisiana for supplies to stock a trading post at this cabin location. He invited several individuals to return with him, and posted the word……” that settlers would be welcome on the banks of the Sabine.”

Even before the town of East Hamilton was established in 1837, the settlement was growing due to the traffic of riverboats through the tributary. The Velocipede was the first steamboat to trek the river north  from Sabine Pass upas far as Sabine Town (near present day Hemphill), but residents were in a heated effort to utilize the river to its fullest potential even then. One published report of the time indicated that riverboats were 1840.

Even prior to this time, the city of Hamilton had been formally incorporated (1839), but before that, efforts were being made to establish some semblance of city living in the area. In 1838, a school was opened, and is noted as the first school organized in the Free State of Tenehaw (former name of the Shelby County region). In 1837, Elder William Brittain built a chapel on a location in East Hamilton Cemetery, and in 1846 formally established the Hamilton Baptist Church. A water-powered sawmill had been established as well. Finally, Hamilton was incorporated as a city, with the six investors each receiving $50,000 in common stock. Sam Houston is listed among the six incorporators.

Through all this time, riverboats were still coming down the river transporting goods to ports further on and bringing them to all the ports along the river. The ferries that operated out of most ports were bringing people from Louisiana and the United States across the river to settle in all parts of Texas.

Riverboats were in the habit of turning around in the river, in the widest spots available, due to the large number of obstructions in the river. As boat captains became more familiar with the Sabine, they would push further north. For a period of time, until captains were more familiar with the Sabine, Hamilton was the turnaround, or the “head of navigation”, for steamboats because of the river’s width at its location.

By the 1840s, East Texas farmers were raising cotton crops, and two steamboat captains, Steadham and Van Dusen, were running cotton down river to Galveston. Both Steadham and Van Dusen based their boating operations at Hamilton . In 1840 alone, the two recorded cotton shipments somewhere around five thousand bales.

Soon after, timber operations began cutting logs in the county. At first, all the sawmills were located in the coastal areas of Texas. Logs were floated down the river from many of the ports along the way. While timber was a growing industry, riverboat captains had to contend with navigating around these floating logs in an already obstruction-choked Sabine. Over the years, this caused several accidents and boat sinkings in the river. Most notable was the Uncle Ben. In 1857, she snagged and sank near Hamilton and the only part of the boat salvaged was her bell, which hangs in the yard of Center Elementary School, near Nacogdoches St. (Note: The bell is now owned by the local chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. There are plans to hang the bell by the DRT building on the courthouse square.)

As more settlers entered by way of the ferry at East Hamilton, the economy of the city grew. Five general merchandise stores, a warehouse operation, a saloon and a grist mill were all operated in East Hamilton at its height of prominence.

East Hamilton all but died during the Civil War. The Union had blockaded the port of Galveston, thus causing river traffic to slow to a trickle. But, as the war ended, the riverboats began running again. This brought life back into the community again. East Hamilton became a frequent port of call for the boats traveling the river.

East Hamilton was a lively city in its day, and some of the happenings of the area make for some interesting drama. One story tells of the Regulator-Moderator ruckus, and how it got out of hand at a wedding in East Hamilton. It seems a fellow named Wilkerson, a confessed Moderator, took the opportunity to exact revenge on as many Regulators as possible. The guest, which included a few Regulators, ate cakes laced with arsenic. At least six people are known to have died in what has been termed as “one of the most gruesome mass murders ever committed.” (Note: the exact number of died is not known but is suspected to be more than six.) There is also a tale that Jean Lafitte, the pirate, deserted a boatload (literally) of captives of Spanish ancestry near East Hamilton.

The actual location of the old city of East Hamilton is now under the waters of Toledo Bend Reservoir The area is home to several marinas and state-maintained boat lunches serving one of the best fishing lakes in the world.

In addition to East Hamilton, there were two other minor ports and ferries in the county. Haley’s Ferry located 31 miles upriver from East Hamilton was one of those ferries. Not much is recorded about its early history, but in recent years it has been the site of a great deal of improvement. (Note: the ferry was owned and operated by Richard B. Haley, who came to Texas with other family members – father, John R. Haley, his grandfather, Richard Haley, his uncle Richard Haley and various siblings and Allen Haley, cousin.) Currently, a state recreation park is being built in the area. Myrick’s Ferry, or Myrick’s Bluff, 16 miles upriver from Haley’s Ferry was another. These ports are thought to have served the local needs and smaller shipping operations to larger ports like East Hamilton.