ELD. JAMES SANDFORD MUSE
Courier
July 8, 1936
By His Grandson, James
M. Muse
"James Sandford
Muse, second son of Thomas and Ann (Wrenn) Muse, was born in Pittsylvania
County, Va., on the 31st day of Oct. 1804."
The words quoted
are from the family Bible of my grandfather, Elder J. S. Muse. The book came
to me by the will of my step-grandmother, Margaret M. Muse, and the entries
are in his handwriting.
There were
seventeen children in that Blue Ridge mountain home, and my grand father was
the second son of my great grandfather by his second wife. The old house of
my great-grandfather Tom Muse is still standing, though much dilapidated. I
went back to Virginia in the summer of 1935 and took a kodak of it.
The hardships
which my grandfather had to undergo in his early years have been very
vividly described to me by my father the late Thomas H. Muse of McKinney,
Texas, who told of my grandfather plowing that rough mountain land when he
was in his teens, clad only in a linsey-woolsey short, a one-piece garment
made after the pattern of a sack with holds for the head arms; and he said
the rocks would fall back in the furrow on my grandfather's bare feet.
It is almost
impossible for me to conceive how a boy or young man, reared under such
circumstances, could obtain an education. And yet my grandfather became a
Latin and Greek scholar, well versed in all the learning of those times
familiar with the history and mythology of all ages, a great student of the
Bible and an influential and eloquent man.
I again quote
from the entries in his Bible:
"James S. Muse,
son of Thomas and Ann Muse, was married to Jane Slaughter by Albert Anderson
at Johnathan Graves' in Orange County Va., on Wednesday the 28th of May
1834.
"James S. Muse
and Margaret M. Slaughter were married by Elder R. Palmer at John Graves' in
Lafayette County, Mo., on Wednesday the 17th of April 1849."
About a year and
a half after his first marriage he moved from Virginia to Scott County, Ky.,
and afterwards to Lafayette County, Mo., where his first wife died.
Something over a year later he was married to Margaret M. Slaughter, who
survived him.
I have no
records by which I can tell the exact time when my grandfather became
identified with the Christian Church. I have an idea that it was sometime in
the 1840s while he lived in Kentucky. At that time I am informed that the
Christian Church movement was rather active in that section of the country.
I have heard of McGarvey and also Alexander Campbell eating at my
grandfather's table. I remember one occasion that I have been told about
when Campbell was so old and helpless that a young negro boy stood beside
his chair and waited on him—practically fed him.
Negro slavery
existed in this country at that time, and my grandfather became the owner of
quite a number of negroes. I have a special reason for being quite sure they
did not come to him from his father, though they may have come by reason of
one or both of his marriages.
At the time he
lived in Lafayette County, Mo., the growing of hemp was a money making
industry, and he was able to accumulate money and property rather rapidly.
About 1856 or
1857 he decided to sell his real estate holding and move to Texas., His
reasons for so doing, as reported to me by my father, were that he had
accumulated a sufficient private fortune, largely by mean of the labor of
the negroes in the hemp fields; and he wished to move to a place where they
did not raise hemp so the negroes would not have to work so hard, and the
climate would be more suitable for them, not being so cold and rigorous as
that of Missouri.
There were no
railroads serving this part of the U. S. A., so it was a long journey over
land. The caravan moved by easy stages, slowly. My grandfather and family in
the large family carriage and the remainder of his entourage in wagons, with
some on horseback to keep the drove of horses and cattle in line and serve
as a lookout and guard in case hostile Indians were encountered. It makes me
think of Abraham moving across the country and grazing his flocks and herds
along the way.
About a year ago
something occurred which threw what was to me a rather interesting sidelight
on that trip. An old darkey, who used to belong to the Smoot family, and
who, as was their custom, took the name of Smoot, approached me on the
street and said:
"Mr. Muse, when
we was comin' to Texas yo' granpa an' his wagon train overtook ours. I was
jus' a lil bit uv chile. It was hot an dusty an' we wuz all tired and mebbe
bawlin'. I ‘member he druv his kerridge up erlongside uv us an' said: Give
dem chilluns something to eat!"
The trip ended
at what was then the little frontier town of McKinney, county site of the 11
year old County of Collin. He purchased 320 acres of land lying about one
mile north west of the centre of the town, and one a beautiful hill on the
south side of the tract of land, in 1857 he began the erection of a large
two-story colonial house, with a two-story L larger than the front, with a
ten foot porch all around it upstairs and down. It served him as a home for
the balance of his days, and also serve to house the Old Muse Academy, one
of the earliest schools in this part of Texas, during the time that it was
in existence.
I have been
unable to learn just when he began his active ministry in the Christian
church, but I am sure it must have been some time before he came to Texas.
On reaching McKinney he promptly identified himself with the First Christian
Church. He never held a regular pastorate, but preached at this church at
any and all times when no other minister was available. He also fille
preaching appointments at various places over the county that were in reach
by carriage and horses; and organized churches. He never received a cent of
salary or other compensation in his work as a minister of Christ. He
believed that those who devoted their times to this service should be
compensated; but, as for himself he felt that he did not need to be paid,
and might be able to do more good without it. According to the statements of
old times, upon which most of this article is based by the way, he was a
most eloquent preacher, used beautiful language and was most powerful in
exhortation.
At the outbreak
of the Civil War his feels were on the side of the south, but his judgment
was that secession was unwise. However, his two older sons, James Martin
Muse and Thomas Henry Muse, immediately volunteered and marched away to war
on the side of the Confederacy; and James Martin (for whom I was later
named) was killed at the battle of Shiloh. When slavery was abolished
several of his negroes would not leave him, so he employed them and paid
wages to them for a number of years afterwards.
The Old Muse
Academy.
In this new
country there were almost no schools and churches, many of the pioneers were
very illiterate and their children were growing up without an opportunity to
obtain even the rudiments of learning. My grandfather, in building his
house, designed it so that it could be used for school or church purposed.
By employing folding doors in place of partition walls, he arranged ti so
that four large rooms could be thrown into one. He established a private
school in his home with a course of study covering from the primary grades
up to and including Greek, Latin and higher mathematics—in some respects a
higher curriculum than many of our high schools have today.
In this school
work he was assisted by his two daughters, Miss Millie and Miss Mary Ellen
(afterwards Mrs. Sam R. Berry), both graduates of Daughter's College,
Harrodsburg, Ky. Later through the kindly offices of Dr. Rufus Burleson of
Waco and Judge T. J. Brown (who was afterwards for a number of years Chief
Justice of the Texas Supreme Court) he obtained the services of Miss Mary
Belle Bently, who held degrees from Daughter's College, and also fom Waco
Female Seminary, and the Burleson school which afterwards became Baylor
University. She assisted in the school for a number of years, and afterwards
was married to the returned soldier son, Thomas H. Muse, and became my
mother. There were a number of other teachers in the school but I am not
able to give their names at this late date.
He continued to
carry on this school work, as well as his church work so long as he was
physically able to do so, and up to about the beginning of the public free
school system of Texas.
The school,
being the only one of such grade in this part of North Texas, was very
generally patronized, not only throughout Collin county, but by residents of
adjoining counties for a good many miles around. Nearly all the old pioneer
families of this county sent to his school, such as the Boards, Newsomes,
Emersons, Stiffs, Waddils, Bounds, McDonalds, McGarrahs, Lovejoys, Harris',
etc.—to such an extent that there was a time within the memory of the writer
when almost any prominent citizen of pioneer stock would tell you that he
was a former student of this school. The Harwoods and Peaks of Dallas County
patronized it. From Decatur, Wise county the cattleman Dan Waggoner sent his
son Tom (the late W. T. Waggoner multi-millionaire in cattle and oil of Fort
Worth, Texas) Gip Brown attended and was later Chief Justice of the Oklahoma
Supreme Court. One of his younger sons, Philander B. Muse, got his entire
education in his father's house, and afterwards became a great lawyer, an
eloquent orator, and Judge of the District Court of Collin and Grayson
counties.
It is impossible
at this late day to get a list of the students, and no attempt is being made
to do so; but I will mention a few things related to me by elderly persons,
most of whom are now dead, just to show the far-reaching influence and
effect of the school and of my grandfather's personality.
A country boy
living north west of McKinney (Rev. R. c. Horn) attended the school, and was
also baptized and received into the Christian Church by my grandfather. He
then went away for his theological training, and came back to Collin county
where he remained and preached the gospel until his death at the age of over
ninety years—having served in the ministry of the Christian church 67 years.
His life and work are known among our people.
I am told by
those who claim to know that Addison and Randolph Clark, those two wonderful
preacher brothers who had such far-reaching influence upon the religions and
educational development of Texas, attended the Old Muse Academy. In addition
to their evangelical work, they founded Add-Ran College which, as is well
known, later evolved into Texas Christian University at Fort Worth.
Back to
Pittsylvania county, Va. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Thomas
Chattin use, a brother of my grandfather, lay dying in the one-story brick
home of another brother, Robert Muse. His had only one son, James Archer
Muse, quite a young lad, and before he passed away requested that his boy,
his only offspring, be committed to the care of his Uncle Jim (my
grandfather, Jas. S. Muse.)
So after the
death of Thomas Chattin Muse, my great-uncle Robert Muse, took little Jimmie
and journeyed to Lafayette County, Mo., for that purpose; but when he got
there he found that my grandfather had already moved to Texas. So he took
the boy back to Virginia.
Later however,
but before he attained his majority, Jimmie Muse came to Texas, lived in the
home of my grandfather, attended the Old Muse Academy, and afterwards went
back to Virginia. In those ox-wagon days communication between distant
places was slow and difficult. James Archer Muse dropped out of the picture
so far as we Texas Muses were concerned.
In 1931, while
taking an auto trip through the North and East, I paused in Pittsylvania
county, Va., long enough to try to locate the old home of my great
grandfather, "the original Tom Must," where my grandfather Elder J. S. Muse
was born, and from which place he moved away nearly 100 years ago—also to
located and become acquainted with such of my relatives as might still
remain in that part of the country.
Near Callands a
two-story white frame house was pointed out to me; and I felt before they
told me that somehow I and my family were relate to that house—there was
something so familiar about it. They said:
"That is the
home of James Archer Muse, where he lied, reared his family and taught his
school. No one was more loved and respected. The most prominent citizens of
our county obtained their education through him."
I saw at once
the paralellism of his life to that of my grandfather, and I thought how
true it is that "God works in a mysterious way his wonders to
perform:—through men, as well as in other ways.
I have heard of
only one trip that my grandfather made back to Virginia. That was after the
death of his father, at which time I am informed that he waived his right to
share in his father's estate in favor of his sisters, because, as he said,
he did not need it and they did. The only time he received from his father's
estate was a negro boy named John Sandford, who was of no value except as a
keepsake or heirloom being so badly crippled that he could hardly walk and
unable to talk distinctly enough to be understood. I was raised with John
Sandford. He was a curiosity.
My grand father
died in 1878. The occasion of his burial is one of my earliest
recollections. I was a child not yet six years of age. I remember that my
father carried me in his arms, and the fact that there were tears in his
eyes made a lasting impression on my young mind. The funeral cortege passed
out from the house on foot through the big double doors on the east front;
thence to a little family burial ground north of the house a short distance
where a clump of cedars remained for many years.
After it became
evident that the City of McKinney was going to spread over the land, my
father had the graves moved to Pecan Grove Cemetery south of McKinney.
My grandfather's
monument is a plain marble slab, as long and as wide as the grave, and laid
flat upon it, with his name and the date of his birth and death cut upon it,
and, at the head, a small open Bible in marble. Except for this last detail,
it is as simple and very similar to the one that marks the last resting
place of Benjamin Franklin in the church yard of Old Christ Church,
Philadelphia.
My grandfather
was a man of great dignity, even to the extent of sternness when occasion
required. I have been told that if there were the least tendency to rowdyism
or unnecessary noise in any part of the house, all he had to do was to clear
his throat and everything would be a quite as a mouse. And yet he was a
devout, good man, loved and respected by all, and his emotions were so
easily affected that it was impossible for him to conduct a funeral service,
and he would faint at the sight of blood. He took great pleasure in
performing the marriage ceremony for young couples, and in bringing new
members into the church. His home was headquarters for the pioneer preachers
who came to this part of the country in those days.
It seems to me
that the religious work which eh did, and also the educational work, was of
a missionary nature in those early days. The spirit of the volunteer ran
through it all—"Here am I Lord, send me."
Muse Academy
