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It’s
the early 1900s at Wallisville,
the county seat in Chambers County, and folks are trying to herd
hogs.
Something’s got to be done. Too many hog owners refuse to keep their
hogs at home, penned up. The porkers are out of control, wreaking
havoc, devouring crops and gardens, scattering garbage, and it doesn’t
matter where the property is private or public. The swine dine where
they please, and, I might add, their manners are disgusting.
By the way, if you plan to go to the courthouse,
better hire a body guard, preferably a big, muscle-bound hulk who
can run off the hogs and clear a path to the front door.
Beats anything I ever saw – hogs all over the place. We need to
change the name of the town to Hogville.
Oink … Oink … Look, there goes another one, heading toward a pretty
garden in someone’s yard.
Gawsh all mighty, it’s gobbling up everything in sight, edible or
not. Say, that’s an idea: “Here, hoggy, hoggy, have some poison
oak …”
Uh, oh. Lock the grocery store down the street. A piglet’s trying
to sneak in. Aww, but it’s so cute. Some kids are picking it up.
“This little piggy goes to market …”
While all of this is going on in Wallisville,
people over in Anahuac
are laughing their heads off. They’re saying things like, “Wallisville
can’t even control their hogs. They don’t need to be the county
seat.”
The people of Wallisville
know what needs to be done. A law needs to be passed to require
owners to pen their hogs. Simple as that.
Those in favor of calling an election for a pen-your-hog law say,
“Let’s make it strictly local. It’s none of Anahuac’s
business anyway.”
Those not so enamored with such a law say, “This should be a countywide
election. It’s not just Wallisville’s
problem.”
Well, it’s election day now, Dec. 28, 1906, all over Chambers County.
Looks like it’s going to be close … Hmmm. The hog law passes by
three votes.
Then, out of
the blue, not long after the election, another petition crops up
-- this one with a lot more at stake than hog pens. It proposes
an election for relocating the county seat to Anahuac.
What??
Here we go back to the polls. It’s election day April 11, 1907,
all over Chambers County for citizens to decide between Wallisville
and Anahuac.
Most voters in West Chambers County want to keep the county seat
right where it is. They claim it’s hard enough to get to Wallisville,
and a trip to Anahuac
to conduct county business would be even harder.
The results are in:
Anahuac wins
with 390 votes over 244 for Wallisville.
Wallisville,
Barbers Hill, Cedar Bayou and Smith Point vote in favor of keeping
the county seat at Wallisville
while Anahuac,
Double Bayou, Hankamer and Stowell vote for Anahuac.
Heated court battles follow but in the end, as you know, Anahuac
prevails. The last Chambers Commissioners Court meeting in Wallisville
will take place on Aug. 25, 1908.
That’s all, folks.
Oh, there is one more thing. If you ever get lost trying to find
the courthouse in Anahuac,
might stop in Wallisville
and ask for directions. They’ll tell you – and probably a lot more.
© Wanda Orton
Baytown Sun Columnist, August 4, 2014 column
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