Looking For Spies
When the United States entered World War I,
several committees were formed at local levels to
organize the war effort. One of those committees
was an Alien Enemy Committee and Cooke
County witnessed the creation of
one such committee.
Enemy Committees to
investigate alien enemies living within their
communities. In the summer of 1918, according to
newspaper accounts,
Sid Loving—City Marshall in
Gainesville—became chairman of such
a committee for Cooke County.
the city and county papers demanding that all
unnaturalized citizens from
any country” report to him immediately.
Loving was expected, as part of
his duties, to fingerprint and obtain information
about these men. These
individuals “were not permitted to leave
Cooke County without receiving
permission, stating the purpose of their trips,
and the date of their return.”
Apparently some seventy-five men were kept under
surveillance until the
war ended. Despite the suspicions, no evidence of
disloyalty was ever brought
against any of these men.
speaking population. As Herbert Meurer of
Muenster wrote: “All things
German were. . . {not} popular then, and the
people of German ancestry
were looked upon with some suspicion.” These
citizens remained totally
loyal but a tension developed within the county
that would only ease with
time and the end of the war.