Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-09-23
PIONEER MAIL RIDER.
The Postofice Was Named After Den
Wheeler, but He Thought His Mule
WNs Entitled to- the Honor.

The P0stOflice Was Named after Uen
Wheeler, but He Thought His Mule
Was Entitled to. the Honor.
In the southeastern part Of Van Zandt
county there is n prosperous village and
pnstoffice called Ben Wheeler. 1t is an odd
name forS a. postoffice and many persons
have wondered how it came by its name
and who was Hen Wheeler, says the Dallas
News. FL
The man it was named for still lives near
Bottoms switch in Van Zandt county. He
belongs to the pioneer period of Texas de-
yelopment ard has seen the state grow
from country infested by rowing Conan
ches and Kiowas and border desperadoes to
the great blossoming commonwealth it now
is. For the past twenty years he and his
old mule Nellie have been familiar figures
in that is, section b. and he is universally known
Uncle Ben" was born in Adair county,
KY. in 1S1s and is now nearing his SOth
pr Ee left home and q began ga to rustic M
on the Mississippi as Il raftsman, then be-
came a flatboatman and then ran on the
steam packets which ruled the river and
Western commerce in the 40s.
He relates u startling incident, or acci-
dent which occurred at nearly every land
ing from New Orleans to st. Paul or from
Cairo to Pittsburg. Those were great days
ION. the river" Every gentleman was ed
ucated in the code and dueling and gam
bling went hand in hand.
Them We're good old days, said Uncle
Ben. You got good, pure copper distilled
for a bit a quart and the waves of pros
When l was 2S years old Texas was .ad-
mitted to the Union, and I had got tired
of high life on the river, and came out to
Texas. The same year the county of
Dallas was created by an act of the iegis-
lature, and four years before the pres
ent city of Dallas was made the county
..I got contract to carry. the United
States mail from Tyler to old Buffalo,
DIttff init yiy-
There wasn't any civil service to bother us
in them days. All we had to do was to
write to Horatio King. who was postmaster
We would charge the government to carry
it, and he would send us a contract to
sign. If there wasn't a hat full of mail car
pay at the end of every quarter Just the
same. and no civil service commissioner
MY route ran through the. territory
which is now Van Zandt county, and all
the mail was carried on horseback. Mail
was serace in them days. A a carrier carr could could
Of thread he would deliver along his route
and eoua hts ba pMoad
bead like honey could be had at every post
office for 10 cents a flask.
on horseback in Texas for, twenty-seyen
years, beside being knocked out for FIVE
years by the blarsted war. voted for Nc
b sy aad W Sc be taa
times like we had then.
There's my old mule, Nellie; look at her;
I've carried the mail as many miles on Mel
lie as there are applicants for appoint
ment under the Mckinley administration.
and she amt nothin' but a colt yet. was
carrying the mail on Nellie from Canton
to Edom, in Van Zandt, in 1S.S; That's
about twenty-five years ago, That year
they established a new postottice at George
Clough's place and named 1t Ben Wheeler.
'.I made no kick about it being named
after me, but Nellie thought she was en-
titled to the honor. And now, since the
office has grown to such large propor-
tions as to be bone of contention be,
tween State Chairman Greene and National
Committeeman Grant in the distribution
of federal patronage. I think myself the
mule could have stood it better than l can.
1.-The public never seemed to appreciate
Nellie's services, and those naming post
offices overlooked her, so In 1852 gave up
contracting for the mail service and took
her home, where / have kept her ever
since. She is supple as any 5-year-old mule
you can start. and / think that If PROSPER
ity ever comes again and new ,postofilces
are opened Nellie will be properly remem-
bered. aIE.-S.
gotten to congress. that as soon as his oid
gray mule had been looked after, Nellie $
case would have been ia ken up and she
would have been properly honored."