The Ethics of Horsetrading

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The Ethics of Horsetrading
By Hal Haralson, Austin

Not much happened in Haskell County, Texas during the year 1900.

The "Watkins" man came by the farm with Watkins Liniment. He came often enough that the name was given to the Haralson boy born that year: Delma Watkins Haralson.

He was called Delma. Tragedy struck his first year. He fell out of a chair into the fireplace. The story goes that the family dog pulled him out of the flames. He was left with severe facial scars he would carry the rest of his life.

He told me he didn`t think he would ever marry because the right kind of woman would not have him with scars.

I`m glad he changed his mind. Otherwise I would not be writing this article. Delma Watkins Haralson was my father.

He attended Centerpoint School near Haskell, Texas. He graduated when he finished the eighth grade. This was the end of his formal education.

Thanks to the computer research of his grandson Brad, Delma was located in the 1920 census working on a farm near Haskell.

He next appears in Abilene, Texas, as the owner of a Texaco filling station at 2nd and Hickory. He seemed to be doing well: playing golf regularly and driving a Ford Roadster.

Delma was not impressive physically. He was about 5`6" and never weighed over 135 pounds.

It was during this time he crossed paths with "Uncle John" Roach. Mr. Roach lived on Ambler Avenue across from University Baptist Church. He took a liking to Delma.

"Delma, I`m going to teach you to be a horsetrader. I know where there is a herd of sheep near Moran. We can buy them for $250 and bring them to Abilene and sell them for $500. We`ll be partners."

"I can`t be your partner. I don`t have $125."

"I know you don`t. I`ll put up the money and you`ll sign a note for $125 and pay off the note when we sell the sheep." (I have the check for $125 dated May 16, 1931, made out to John Roach.)

Papa said it was the easiest money he ever made. So began many horsetrades between the old man and his understudy.

There were some rules that were always observed in Horsetrading:

Always let the other man make the first offer. He may not know how much his livestock is worth.

When it is your turn to talk, make your offer . . . shut up. Nothing creates pressure on the other side like silence.

An offer made one way is good the other way.

Your word is your bond. Never go back on your word. Honesty and integrity are the trademark of the horsetrader.

Then one day the unlikely happened. At 35 years of age Delma fell in love with a 28year-old schoolteacher. Her name was Adah Barber. She was my mother.

Adah lived near the Hardin-Simmons campus and taught school at College Heights Elementary. Her family came from Mitchell County near the towns of Colorado City and Westbrook.

Delma announced before a wedding date was set that they were moving to the country as soon as they married. He said he had no intention rearing his sons in the city. (What sons? They were not even married!) Adah was not enthusiastic about moving to the country. She liked her life as a schoolteacher and city girl. But move they did. The sons were born in 1935, 1937, and 1945.

Delma looked until he found the farm he wanted-400 acres, eight miles north of Loraine, Texas. There was no house, no fences, no well. They rented a room from the neighbors. There was not enough money to purchase the farm outright, so Delma went to Colorado City to talk with Dell Barber, his brother-in-law.

Dell was a lawyer, cattleman, and a pretty good horsetrader himself. He agreed to put up half of the money to buy the farm. The two men became partners.

Two years passed with Adah wanting to move back to Abilene. Many nights the rented room was filled with sobs as she expressed her desire to return "home" where her mother, sister, and five brothers lived.

Delma worked early and late putting the farm in a productive condition. Fences were built; 200 acres of the land was planted in cotton and maize. The rest was left as pasture where cattle grazed.

Delma never liked the idea of having his brother-in-law as partner. After two years of making improvements and working the farm, he went to Kirk Taylor, President of the First State Bank of Loraine.

He told Mr. Taylor he was considering buying the farm outright. Since he didn`t know what Dell`s half would cost, it was agreed that Taylor would cover his check and a Note and Deed of Trust would be completed after the transaction was finished.

Delma went to Colorado City to the law offices of Dell Barber. He told Dell that his sister (Adah) wanted to return to Abilene. "The farm has few improvements and we are still renting a room from our neighbors."

"I am considering selling my half of the farm. I don`t know for sure what I am going to do, but I would like to know how much you will give me for my half if I decide to sell."Dell thought for a while. He wrote some figures on a piece of paper and pushed it across the desk to Delma. The offer was ridiculously low.

Rule 3: An offer once made is good both ways.

Delma looked at the offer and then at Dell. "If my half is not worth any more than that I think I will buy your half." He wrote a check for the amount Dell offered.

They lived for 30 years on that 400-acre farm. Three sons spent their formative years fulfilling Delma`s prophetic statement, "I want to raise my sons in the country."

He never prayed in public. They were faithful members of the church in Loraine and later of First Baptist Church in Abilene.

My mother finally got her wish to return to Abilene. In 1967 they realized none of the sons wanted to return to work the family farm. Delma answered an ad in the Abilene newspaper for a Farm/Ranch Real Estate salesman. The ad said "Don`t apply if your are over 35." He was 57. He got the job.

At his funeral, Dr. James Flamming said, "When I really wanted to know the truth about something I went to Delma Haralson. He was the most honest man I knew."

Rule 4: A man`s word is his bond.

I never heard him use profanity. I heard him ask men who did, not to do so around his sons. They always honored that request.

He spent much of his time with his sons. He would take us on his horsetrading excursions.

With a trailer behind his pickup he drove into a farm or ranch and asked if they had something to sell. It might be a horse or a cow or a sow and litter of pigs. They "traded" until Papa felt a good deal was made. He then took the animals to the "sale" at Colorado City and sold them. I never knew him to lose money.

His punishment of my brother and me was usually swift and appropriate. Once when we were at the sale, Papa went inside and left Dale and me up on the catwalk above the cattle. We waited until he was gone and pulled out a chew of Days Work chewing tobacco. This was strictly forbidden, but these early teenage boys really felt like men when they spit tobacco juice down on the backs of the cattle.

Papa`s voice told us he had returned sooner than we thought. Our choice: swallow the tobacco or take the punishment. We swallowed.

He had to stop the pickup several times on the way home and let his sons relieve upset stomachs. He told us later he didn`t think that further punishment was needed.

He was my first model in ethics. The most honest man I`ve ever known. He served as deacon at First Baptist Church of Loraine (population 750) and First Baptist Church, Abilene. His ethical standard made him equally at home in either church.

I am not sure what constitutes "greatness" in a man: Honesty. Faithfulness to wife and family-Faith in God. My father had all three.

What I know about ethics, I learned from a "Horsetrader.