I'm posting this content of a Tyler, Smith Co. TX newspaper article of 1943-44, in hopes of finding more twigs on my family tree. I found the article in some of my grandmothers things, but it was scissored from the paper in a way that the name of the paper does not show.
Hopefully, this info may be of interest to those of you searching the Eagerton or Pollitt surnames.
There's an accompanying photo of Rebecca (Pollitt/Pollett) Eagerton, age 86, (I have no way to link) that was a sister to my g-grandmother, Susan (Sudie) Enola (Pollitt/Pollett) Human. The article is about their father and the city of Tyler.
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ENTIRE CITY BLOCK SOLD HERE FOR $5
A whole city block in the center of Tyler once sold for little more than $5.
The transaction was not recent, however. It happened 97 years ago, and forms a part of the reminiscences of Mrs. Rebecca Eagerton, 86 years old, who lives at 1527 West First street in Tyler.
It was in 1846 that her father, Edgar Pollitt, yielded to the city planners at Tyler 28 blocks of land that was to become the main part of town.
For that land, the records show, he received $150.
One foot of the same land probably could not be obtained today for what the 28 blocks sold for 97 years ago.
Records, as well as Mrs. Eagerton's remininscences, reveal her father did not want to surrender the land for the $150 but was compelled to yield the acerage through action of a special commission that was formed in Tyler to evaluate land that was sought in planning the future city.
The Pollitt land was much desired by city planners, with a result that a legislative act condemned the land and instructed the local commission to obtain it as part of the site for what was to become the city of Tyler. By authority of the legislature, the commission of five members condemned the land and paid Pollitt $150 for the 28 blocks.
That action left Pollitt with plenty of land, however, much of it in Smith County and a ranch of several thousand acres in Comanche County. Much of Pollitt's Smith County land was of the most fertile sort, located in the river bottoms.
Mrs. Eagerton's reflections on the past serve as a reminder that Tyler's 100th birthday is but three years away. Tyler will be 100 years old on April 11, 1946---appropriate period for beginning a centennial celebration here.
It was on April 11, 1846, that the Texas legislature passed an act which provided for the carving of Smith County and the selection of this city for the county seat.
By legislative provision, Smith County was created out of a portion of the territory known as Nacogdoches County and a group of commissioners was delegated to locate the boundaries.
The commissioners were W.B.Duncan, J.C.Hill, E.E.Lott, John Dewberry and John Loller. They were the ones who exacted the acerage from Pioneer Citizen Pollitt.
That April 11 act started Tyler and Smith County. The County was named for Gen. James Smith of Tennessee, who participated heroically in the Texas Revolution.
The city of Tyler was named for John Tyler, tenth president, who helped Texas become a State.
The first public action [sic] (auction) of lots for the city came on Dec. 21, 1846, and they sold from $10 to $100 each.
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Any info on these folks or events will be much appreciated.
Fred