The following was prepared by Glenda Brown Scarborough:
"Wheatville was indeed the true beginning of present-day Naples, Texas.
It received its name from the William Wheat family sometime before 1852.
William Wheat received a Land Grant for 20 labors of land by the Board of
Land Commissioners for Red River County on the 27th. of April, 1838. By
using the classification of land grants and references to the location of homes,
it is felt that William Wheat was living in the Morris County area as early as
1836. Wheatville was located west of the Daingerfield and Stephenson's Ferry Road
and south of the old "Clarksville Road". It would have been about three miles northwest
of Naples, and at that time situated in Titus County, Texas. Later, in 1875, when Morris
County was created from Titus County, Wheatville could claim Morris County as its final
location. The little town was also described as being on a road that led from Fulton, Arkansas to
Sulphur Springs and that it began to develop and grow sometime in the 1840's. Mr. B.R. Watts, one
of the early citizens of Wheatville, in his later years wrote of the beginning of the town as he
remembered it: 'Before the immigration of railroads to Texas, Jefferson, at the head of Red River
Steamboat navigation, was the market for all the Northeastern part of the state. Farmers from the
prairies a hundred miles west went there to sell their cotton, buy their supplies, and meet their
North Carolina kinfolks. The main road to the prairies was the principal thoroughfare of the country.
Old settlers say that one could rarely cross the road without seeing a wagon or two. The wagons had to
camp out, and naturally selected places where wood and water could be had most conveniently. As such
places became known, they were more frequented, and the wagoner would regulate his day's drive to suit the
chosen grounds. At one of these camping places, forty miles west of Jefferson, an old farmer built a log
house, stocked it with canned goods, cheese, and whiskey, and called the combination Wheatville. His trade
was pretty good. The surrounding country was settling up. Wheatville became a post-office, two other stores
were opened up and the place began to put on city airs.'
Reverend Samuel Morris, a preacher from Alabama, moved to Titus County in 1852 and probably contributed, to a
large extent, to the growth of Wheatville. Upon his arrival, he found four small communities without a school or
church, among which was Wheatville. He helped build a house for school and worship purposes in each community. In
Wheatville where he lived, he built a gin, grist and flour mill, threshing and winnowing machines, and established
tanning vats and brick kilns. Though it is evident that Wheatville was founded before 1861, this is the earliest date
recorded in deed records concerning land transactions. On October 12, 1861, R.S. Wheat sold a lot to J.B. Meadows situated
in the town of Wheatville, Titus County, Texas. Some lots around the Public Square were 25 feet by 100 feet and sold for
one hundred dollars in 1861. Some of the early merchants of the town were: J.B. Meadows, George M. McDonald, W.B. Wright, C.A.
Hinnant, James Murphy, and R.S. Wheat & Co. John L. Sheppard also had a mercantile business known as Sheppard and Olive. From
the above information, it would appear that the Wheatville school was established at a fairly early date. However, the only deed
record found concerning the school is dated November 4, 1870, in which it appears the Trustees of Wheatville Academy are purchasing
one acre of land described as, 'being thirty-five yards in all four directions from the center of the school house, the school being
on the center of the said lot, and including the school house well.' Wheatville did not lack for medical attention as there were a
number of doctors practicing there through the years. Among these were Dr. J.B. Prewitt and Dr. W.C. Beals. Still another was Dr.
John Patterson who came from Jefferson. At one time Wheatville was stricken with a meningitis epidemic. Dr. Chesley Page Forsyth was
more successful than other doctors of the area in treating the illness and the citizens of the town convinced him to come to Wheatville
to practice medicine. Dr. Henry Farrier, a native of Alabama, was also among those to settle in the community. During the years of the
Civil War, Wheatville accepted its share of responsibility to the Confederacy. In July 1861, a reserve company was organized at Wheatville
with its headquarters at Scott Springs in Beat No. 11, with Wiley Ledbetter serving as Captain. This Company consisted of 109 men. Another
unit, The Titus Rangers, an active company -- Infantry or Cavalry --(Headquarters Wheatville), was organized August 10, 1861, with W.B. Sheppard
as Captain and a muster roll of fifty men. Mail delivery in the early days of Texas was, quite often, very uncertain and irregular. However,
Wheatville did establish a post office on December 7, 1868 with William L. Murphy appointed postmaster. C.D. Heard was named to the position on July
22, 1873, John L. Sheppard was appointed on May 13, 1874, and William B Wright on April 8, 1875. Oliver P. Boyd became the fifth postmaster on April
1, 1879 and the first one appointed after Morris County was created. Berry B. Watts was assigned the position on January 5, 1880 and continued to hold
the office after the town moved to its new location and was renamed Station Belden. As all towns and communities, Wheatville was not without entertainment.
John L. Sheppard maintained a race track on his farm. This track was built around a pond and the pond was thereafter referred to as "Race Track Pond".
Perhaps Wheatville can be best remembered for some rather important political contributions. John Sheppard, an early citizen, was elected to the United
States House of Representatives. One of the most notable among its citizens was United States Senator Morris Sheppard. Senator Sheppard was born in Wheatville.
In the late 1870's, the construction of the Texas and St. Louis Railroad began in Morris, Titus, and Bowie Counties. As fate would have it, the railroad by-passed
Wheatville about three miles. Merchants began to move their stores to the railroad siding and of course this meant the slow decline and eventually the end of the
little town. In time, Wheatville, like many other towns of its era, ceased to exist."
A photo of the old Sheppard house.
Another shot of the Sheppard house? Looks like a different house from
the one above, but then they may have moved. I know they moved to Pittsburg, Daingerfield, and Texarkana.
Wheatville Graveyard "Wheatville Cemetery is located
about three miles northwest of Naples, Texas, and is in the general area of the old townsite. To reach the cemetery, travel north on Highway 67 through Naples to the junction
of State Highway 77. After going under the overpass, turn left onto SH 77. Travel west on SH 77 (for about a mile) until you reach Wheatville Road, County Road No. 4315, and turn
right. Continue down Wheatville Road to County Road No. 4316 and turn left. The cemetery is located at the end of this road. At present the cemetery lies on property owned by Mr. Jim
Vissering. However, through research, it appears the land for the cemetery was conveyed to the town as Wheatville Graveyard, thereby having no ownership by any particular person or group.
There is no cemetery association or other governing board at present, and upkeep to the cemetery is maintained by private individuals. Though the cemetery was probably in existence in
the 1850's, the earliest documented burial is that of John Samuel Sheppard who died August 13, 1863. John Samuel was the son of W.B. and M.E. Sheppard. His father, W.B. Sheppard, was Captain
of the Titus Rangers, a unit organized in Wheatville during the Civil War. According to information taken from the book History of Titus County Since 1860 by Norman Calvin
Russell, the first Confederate Company of soldiers in Titus County was organized on the 16th. day of July, 1861 with its headquarters in Wheatville. The roll of names were certified and recorded
on August 10, 1861. W.B. Sheppard died or was perhaps killed in the war and his widow later married R.S. Wheat. R.S. Wheat was a widower and a member of the family from which the town received
its name. The couple and their families later moved to Grayson County, Texas. Civil War veteran T.B. Whitecotton is also buried at Wheatville. Mr. Whitecotton served in Company D of the 23 Texas
Cavalry, Confederate States of America. The cemetery is still used, with the latest burial in June 1997. A grim evidence to the harsh times of the era, about half of the burials are of infants, young
children, and young adults under the age of thirty. According to dates on markers, only thirteen of those buried there reached the age of seventy or beyond. Descendants of families buried at Wheatville
still live in the area. These include descendants and relatives from the families of Whitecotton, Pope, Mathews, Bolin, Wright, Heard and others."
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