Early Twentieth Century

Early Twentieth Century. Prohibition, First World War, 1920'S, also, People. In the nineteenth century, alcohol consumption in Hunt County was part of normal life. This practice came into question with the rise of the movement to ban the consumption of alcohol (the Temperance Movement). This, coupled with the growing popularity of Progressive ideals, began to change opinions. Carrie Nation, a famous Temperance Movement leader, came to East Texas Normal College in Commerce, Texas, on March 30, 1905. She did not brandish her notorious saloon-smashing hatchet. The Commerce Journal reported that she appeared to be a "calm, logical, yet eloquent speaker." Nation also addressed the physical and mental effects of tobacco, especially cigarettes. Nation then called for "girls to refuse the compliments of boys that use tobacco.", When the First World War began in Europe in August of 1914, Americans were neutral. By April 1917, the United States was at war with Imperial Germany. Public opinion changed in local newspapers from neutrality to patriotism overnight in early 1917 when Imperial Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare, and the Zimmerman Telegram offered former U.S. lands to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States., Young men were encouraged to enlist and later required to register for the draft under the Selective Service Act. Some joined Home Guards that were incorporated into the National Guard. Women in Commerce and Greenville both established their own Red Cross Auxiliary chapters. Local businesses provided workspaces, tables, sewing machines, pins, and needles to the local chapters so they could create hospital goods. By the end of 1917, Hunt County contributed $350,000 of the $5,000,000,000 raised nationally through one of the Liberty Bond drives., By October 1918, the influenza pandemic reached Hunt County. Local newspapers began running national and local articles briefing the public on who had contracted influenza and had died. Local businesses began to temporarily shut down and evening prayer meetings were canceled. On October 15, 1918, the city closed all public gatherings to try to prevent the spread of the disease. The Greenville Evening Banner posted a full page entitled 'Keep Well: How To Avoid Influenza And Other Sicknesses'., The 1920s also saw the arrival of the Big Rat Hunt in the county. In 1927, Texas launched a statewide effort to get rid of rats that were running rampant. Hunt County joined the effort with other counties in December on a four-week campaign to kill rats. Awards were offered to those who were killing the most rats. The state government, believing children would be more enthusiastic rat killers than adults, announced a program to pay schoolchildren a penny a tail in this public health endeavor. To prove that the rat had actually been killed, the students had to bring the tail in to school in order to receive their penny. In each school, a teacher was appointed as a rat tail counter which invariably ended up being the newest teacher on the job., Captions , (Photo #1) Troops leaving Greenville during world war one , Reverse Side , Henrietta Mayo , Henrietta "Etta" Booth Mayo was born in Tennessee on Dec. 20, 1869, and died in Greenville Sep. 4, 1918. She was the wife of William L. Mayo (1861-1917), the founder of East Texas Normal College (now Texas A&M University-Commerce). Mayo contributed to the university as a music teacher. She and her daughter were also involved in the local and national Women's Christian Temperance Movement; she even brought Carrie Nation to speak in 1905 about her concern for Commerce's saloons., Her passion included the rights of women, especially Women's Suffrage. On May 1, 1915, Mayo led a suffragist parade through Commerce. The marchers were all dressed in white, carrying banners in support of women's right to vote., In late summer of 1916, in an act of civil disobedience, Mayo, along with her children, Liebling and Aileen, and nine Boy Scouts walked seventy-five miles to Dallas. Her daughters wore Boy Scout Uniforms and were notified by a Probation Officer in Dallas that they were not to wear "trousers." It was against the law for women to wear male clothing. Mayo, strong in her beliefs, told the Commerce Journal "I believe that men and women should be on an absolutely equal basis. Intellect, capacity for work and play and the right to do as one pleases is a thing absolutely without sex.", Campbell Dowell Jr. , Campbell Franklin "Cam" Dowell was born in Lone Oak on Sept. 9, 1912, and died on Nov. 7, 2002. He graduated from The Terrell School and later attended Wesley College in Greenville and the University of Texas at Austin., Dowell was a longtime banker and rancher who trained under his father in the Lone Oak State Bank. He worked for the General Motors Acceptance Corporation from 1936 to 1940. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in the Philippines, he returned to Greenville, where he had an insurance and loan business. Involved in various banks in North Texas, he moved to Dallas and became chairman of the board and president of the Hillcrest State Bank. Dowell later founded and managed a group of affiliated banks in the Dallas area in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. He was chairman and founder of the Casa Linda National Bank, First National Bank of Euless, First National Bank of Irving, Northwest National Bank, and the Village National Bank. He was also chairman of the board of the Greenville National Exchange Bank. Dowell was appointed by Governor Dolph Briscoe to the Board of Regents of East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce)., Captions , (Photo #1) Madame Etta Badthe Mayo, 1907.