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Another of Newton County communities that has had two
names is that of Mayflower. It acquired the name of Mayflower because
its first name of Surveyville was the name of another town in Texas that
had become a post office before this community applied for a post office.
Mayflower is in northern Newton County and was first known
as "The Survey" because the first known surveying in the county
began there in William Williams League. A post office was established
in 1903. Robert Joiner was the first postmaster, and the office was in
his home. In 1936 Mayflower had a school and church. There are two houses
still standing there over 100 years old. They arc known as the Mattox
House and Bush Home, formerly known as the Trotti House. Three cemeteries
are named for families of people who lived there: the Mattox, Rogers,
and Mitchell.
The Mayflower church was built as a Methodist church in
1889 and is still owned by the Texas United Methodist Conference. It has
been used, however, by various denominations and for different types of
meetings as school, homecomings, singings, and revival meetings.
It is located in the Survey Community which is also known
as the Mayflower Community. It is located in the northern part of Newton
County in the William Williams League of land. Settlers coming from the
East could know what land they were getting because it had been surveyed,
a fact that was important to settlers and was not a widespread practice
at first. The community first got a post office under the name of Surveyville,
but upon finding there was another community of the same name in Texas
with a post office, the name was changed to Mayflower and Mayflower was
the post office name although the community was often referred to as "The
Survey." It is on State Highway No. 87.
The land for the site of the church was donated by J.
W. Mattox and his wife, M. E. Mattox. The church was built in 1889 but
the deed was not fixed until November 1893. One and one-half acres was
given for the sum of$l to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Later
on in 1953, J. F. Newberry and his heirs deeded three acres which adjoin
the site to the Survey Methodist Church for the sum of $10. Various Methodist
preachers (circuit riders) preached at the church and held meetings in
it. The one that is most often referred to as the first, or one of the
first is Robert M. (Dock) Stewart. Another early preacher was a Rev. Short
(no reference to his given name). The building was used as a school building.
Hayne Booker, now a retired 83-year-old man in Newton, Texas, says that
he attended school there. He started in 1898 and went through the 5th
Reader after which he moved to Newton. He says the teachers were Rufus
Windham, Ira Bean, Monroe Casey, Drew Miller, and Rob Good. It was a one-teacher
school and used the church long benches as student stations. The sessions
of school were timed so as not to interfere with farm work for the boys
and girls.
The Survey Community has its annual homecoming on the
third Sunday of September each year. At its homecoming on September 19,
1975, the community dedicated an Official Texas Historical Marker which
reads: William Williams, an early 1800s Sabine Valley pioneer, obtained
a large land grant in 1834 from the Republic of Mexico. His surveyed land
attracted settlers, who called the location "The Survey." In
1847, Wade H. Mattox (1800-1863) built the first frame house in the settlement,
using lumber hauled from Alexandria, La., by a Neighbor, Ezekiel Cobb
(1825-1864). By the 1850s, The Survey had settlers named Booker, Bush,
Cade, Clark, Collins, Conner, Droddy, Garlington, Hardy, Joiner, Jones,
McGee, Mitchell, Smith, Trotti, and Weeks. The economy was based on farming
and (later) lumbering. At least sixteen Survey community residents fought
for the Confederacy in the Civil War (1861-65).
In 1889, the Methodists built a church on land given by
Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Mattox. The building was also used for school purposes.
Surveyville Post Office opened in 1903, was soon renamed "Mayflower."
Population shifts starting in the 1940s caused the school
to consolidate with Burkeville (1949), the post office to close (1951),
and the church to disband (1961). Public facilities, including the church
building, Mattox Cemetery, and several other burial grounds arc now maintained
by the Survey Cemetery Association.
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