Longview, Gregg County
At this site, 1861-65, settler Joseph M. sparkman manufactured shoes for the Confederate Army. A victim of arthritis, he lay on his cot and ran the shop, while "Uncle Ben," a skilled slave shoemaker who had come with him from Georgia, supervised and taught young boys and old men who made the shoes. Both Joseph M. Sparkman and "Uncle Ben" are buried in the family plot on the estate, near here. Their work during the Civil War typifies the gallant spirit of volunteers who mined salt, made cloth and clothing, hunted the woods for medicinal herbs.