"The First Oil Well in Texas and the Southwest" gives an account of the drilling at Oil Springs by Lyne Taliaferro Barret in 1866. The paper includes a description of the drilling techniques and tells of negotiations for financial backing.

"Peter Ellis Bean--Man with a Story" is a biographical sketch of Bean.

"The History of Melrose" gives family histories of the Hardeman, Mast, Walling, Hall, and other families residing there. Accounts of businesses, schools and churches are included, as well as sketches on physicians and the earliest settlers. Parties, dancing, games, and horse racing are also described.