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Note: (Note from Clovis La Fleur: Maude and her family lived in the Devil's Pocket region of Newton County around 1900. The following are comments and stories about this area of Newton County.) Comments about Devil's Pocket From Sue Owens, Newton County Web site coordinator Newton County History Commission "Rumor has it that Bonnie and Clyde hid out there at some point. It was known as local "badlands". It is located South of Old Salem community - off HWY 87 (between Newton and Deweyville). That is about as much as I can remember and totally unsubstantiated." <grin> Sue, You're right about Bonnie and Clyde....I am a sheriff's deputy with Jasper County and have been told several tales about it. I also believe they had relatives in Jasper and Newton counties, and travelled through here prior to their deaths. Mark Allen I talked to my 79-year-old brother about this, and he says he used to hear a place discussed by the "old-timers" which they called the "cane brakes," a considerable forest of almost impenetrable bamboo growth. He says it was somewhere south of Newton, and it was rumored that outlaws and "desperadoes" had hidden out in that area in previous eras. He never heard of Bonnie and Clyde hiding out there, however, and never heard it called the "Devil's Pocket." He says there was another outlaw couple who were gunned down in Louisiana, just over the river and not far from Merryville. Somehow there had been a rumor that they were in the area, and the sheriff of that parish set up a posse hidden in the underbrush. As the outlaw car approached, about 20 men filled the windshield with bullets, killing both of them. Anyone heard this story, or know who this couple may have been? Wilma Griggs Walters Here's what the HANDBOOK OF TEXAS has to say on Devil's Pocket: DEVIL'S POCKET. Devil's Pocket is seven miles north of Deweyville in the southeast part of Newton County (at 30�27' N, 93�44' W). It is a flat, pie-shaped area bounded on the west by Nichols Creek, which runs southeast into the Sabine River, the eastern boundary of Devil's Pocket. The northern boundary is Slaydon's Creek, which also runs into the Sabine. Settlers of East Texas were late in coming into the area, and in the nineteenth century it was known primarily for being the home of brush-loving longhorn cattle Later it became a noted hunting reserve. This land between the creeks was a maze of hummocks and swamps, and the cattle that lived there were wild and hard to gather. Local residents have at least three explanations for the area's ominous name. One holds that early settlers, already plagued by bad luck and poor weather, saw a meteor hit the earth in the dense basin forest. This meteor's impact is said to have formed a depression that became a small lake. A second version holds that outlaws and other unsavory characters used the area as a hideout. Still a third account argues that the Devil's Pocket derived its name from the large numbers of water moccasins that inhabited the stagnant pools left there by a change in the course of the Sabine River. Solomon Alexander Wright, recalling the area as it was in the 1880s, said that "it would be hard to find a country more desolate." He described it at the time he was working stock there around 1900 as "swampy, brush country, with some open pinewoods" where the cattle grazed and bedded down. He said that during the roundup the cowboys always worked the Devil's Pocket first because it was the hardest drive and "the very devil to work"-yet another possible source for its name. This part of Southeast Texas is still referred to as the Devil's Pocket, or the Pocket. Most of its inhabitants now live on a loop at the terminal east end of Farm Road 253, which circles an island of relatively high ground. The poorly drained bottomland is now dominated by eastern cottonwood and sweet gum trees, with understory vegetation that includes pine-hill bluestem, switch cane, and sedge. Here's the HANDBOOK OF TEXAS web site address: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ Vinita Cochran Turpin Outstanding. This is some great description about Devil's Pocket. My wife's great grandmother, Ina Inman (97), could not have described it better. She was from "Wolf Den," just south of Newton as well. Douglas Anderson La Porte, TX I, too, find the Devil's Pocket information interesting. My mother was a niece of Sol Wright and grew up in the Sheppard settlement just over the Newton County line from Buna. My dad teased her almost until his dying day about being from Devil's Pocket. Nell in Liberty Written by Clovis La Fleur to Newton County Mail list September 7, 1999 Hello All, Thanks for all of the feedback on the Devil's Pocket. I'll have some good stories to add to the second edition book I'm preparing for my family. Here's a few of my Grandmothers stories. She must have been about nine to twelve years old when these events occurred. They may also be "tall tells". Hearing her tell the stories was much better than I can write from memory, but thought the list might find them interesting. Alligators and bears I imagine lived in that area. Were there Black Panthers in that area? "When I was about your age, my family lived in a place called the Devil�s Pocket in Texas. It wasn�t far from Newton and close to the Sabine river. We didn't�t have automobiles in those days and had to walk or go by horse and wagon to go to school or buy food and supplies. We walked a lot because we didn'tt have no wagon or horse. We lived in a shack on a hill that stayed dry most of the time, since we were surrounded by swamp with only one road going to town. One year it rained so hard and so much we couldn't�t get to town for a month and no one could get to us. My sister Edna and I helped Mother with the chores and watched out for Edger and Arthur. William and Asa , being older, helped Father with his chores. We grew chickens and hogs and grew vegetables in our garden. Father and the boys did some hunting for game that graced our table many times. I especially liked squirrel when they brought these home. One day we all were busy with our chores when the dog begin to bark down by the edge of the swamp. We turned and saw Arthur, the dog, and the biggest alligator you ever saw. We ran as fast as we could yelling at the top of our lungs. Well, this must have really scared that alligator, seeing three screaming women running hard as they can at him, because he turned faster than you can wink and disappeared back into that swamp. One night, the dog, chickens, and hogs got into a uproar. Father and the boys went outside to see what all of the ruckus was about. There, not 30� from the chicken house, was a big black panther. He was as black as midnight and looking for a meal. He moved on off into the brush before Father and the boys could get off a shot at him. They stayed up the rest of the night in case he came back. Another night, we heard some noise from the shed where we kept some of our supplies. Father and the boys let the dog out and went to see what was making so much noise. Well, that dog ran right into the shed brave as could be. He was barking and then we heard him yelp like he was really scared. He flew out of that shed, back to the house, ran through the door by Mother and us girls with his tail between his legs and under the bed. Then we heard what sounded like a growl and saw Father and the boys making tracks for the House to. Then we saw a big black bear come out of the shed and wonder off into the woods. None of us got to much more sleep that night and that dog didn't come back out from under that bed till the next morning." Well, that s as well as I can remember 50 years later. Wish I could have written them down then. She had a lot of stories about living there and could keep us Grand kids entertained for hours. Again, I want to thank the list for giving me such good information. Clovis La Fleur Fredericksburg, Texas Longville United Pentecostal Church History In the earlier years of this century about 1913 to 1915 - there was a moving of the Holy Spirit among some of the people throughout this part of Louisiana. People were receiving a spiritual blessing that was unlike anything they had experienced before. It was accompanied by a language that they weren't familiar with. Instances of this movement was experienced first by Individuals. Soon the word would pass on to others - and then on to others. This would eventually lead to revivals and meetings held under tents and brush arbors and possibly cottage prayer meetings. In 1913, Sis. Maude Herrin pitched a tent in DeRidder and held a revival. Later on, this would lead to the establishment of a Church there. A mighty revival was held at Indian village in 1914. In January 1915, Brother Bennie Baggett and his helpers moved a tent to the Bear area for a revival - it would last nine weeks and 67 would pray through. A Church was established and Brother Baggett would then become the first Pastor. The Church is now known as the Ragley Pentecostal Church with Rev. Marcus Robinson, the Pastor. Brother Baggett would move on to other areas for revivals. A tent revival was held at the sawmill town of Longville - then on to Oretta - then on to DeQuincy. The word was spreading and many people were enjoying the "Upper Room Experience". Several ministers went to DeQuincy to assist Brother Baggett - two being Brother Oliver Fauss and Brother Robert LaFleur. Brother Robert LaFleur would become the first Pastor of the first established Pentecostal Church of DeQuincy. Sister Maude Herrin was now the wife of Brother LaFleur. If you look at the list of those that prayed through during the revival at Bear, many were from this area. Transportation In these days was by horse and buggy or wagon or horseback. If these means were not available, travel was by foot. There was a need for a Church in the area. Burl Jefferson Cooley had been ordained to preach the gospel in 1918. In 1920, Brother Cooley started holding church services In this community. Brush arbors were used, a tabernacle was built, and other buildings were used for a place of worship during the 1920'S. Some of the charter members of the church that was established were Burl and Julia Cooley, David and Hester Baggett, Ben and Lula Sellers, Lonnie and Eva Cooley, Hobbie Alston, Ida Brown and Rencie Phillips. Probably, there are other charter members, but there aren't any records to confirm this. In those days a road angled to the northeast toward Longville. Brother Cooley built a tabernacle of rough timbers across the road from his homeplace which was on top of the hill about a quarter mile from here. The spirit of the Lord must have been moving in their midst and blessed them greatly. Brother Leon Cooley told that the sisters would shout until their hair came down, and the hair pins and the bobby pins would fall through the cracks in the floor. The next day, he and the other children would crawl under the tabernacle and gather the hair pins for the ladies. The attendance at the church services would run between 40 and 50 people. The community was named Baggett Town after a local citizen and merchant, David Langston Baggett. The Church became known as the Baggett Town Church. In 1931, Brother Burl Cooley and his family would move to Sabine Parish.
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