USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 53
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LIPSCOMB COUNTY is situated in the extreme northeast corner of the Panhandle, being about four hundred miles from Fort Worth; its population by the last census, 790. The surface is somewhat broken in the southern part, while the north is flat for miles in succession. The soil is a sandy loam in the southern half, while the northern part is of black, rich soil. There is little timber. Wolf creek is the principal stream of the county, having, in its course from west to east, about thirteen small tributaries. The under- ground water supply is unlimited. Agriculturally the county has been little developed, the most successful yields having been obtained from Kaf- fir corn and the sorghum crops, and most of the land is still devoted to pasturage. The Pecos Valley line crosses the southeast corner of the county, and Higgins is the principal station and shipping point. Lipscomb, the county seat, is lo- cated near the center of the county.
ROBERTS COUNTY, in the second tier of counties from the eastern line of the Panhandle, has like- wise experienced the development resulting from railroad building in this part of the state. Its population in 1900 was 620. The surface of the county is composed of both breaks and plains. The soil varies but little, with sand enough to cultivate well. The Canadian river crosses the county from west to east, and there are numerous creeks and also lakes on the plains, which alto- gether furnish an abundant supply of pure, freestone water. All the tmber is along these
streams. Agriculture has been developed to a considerable extent, and good crops of wheat, oats, corn, Kaffir corn, sorghum and similar grains and forage are obtained. Cattle-raising: has been the chief industry. The Pecos Valley line of the Santa Fe crosses the southeastern cor -. ner of the county, and on it is located the thriving: town of Miami, the county seat and only commer- cial center.
DONLEY COUNTY, in the southeastern quarter of the Panhandle, traversed by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, has an area-of 900 square miles and had a population in 1900 of 2,756. The general surface is an elevated plain, and grad- ually breaks off into small hills of moderate size, with small and large valleys between. The soils. range from a black waxy, chocolate, black sandy and red clay sandy to a special soil known as the. Donley county loam, a dark gray soil, which is. mellow, deep and always moist. Native timber is limited, but thousands of trees have been planted and grow so well that in every direction the eye sees pleasing verdure. North Fork of Red river flows through the county from west to east, there are several small streams and Lelia lake, with an area of two hundred acres, always has. water in it. Surface springs are in great number, and the underground supply is inexhaustible. Most of the land is devoted to stock ranching. The prin- cipal agricultural crops are cotton, corn, sorghum, Kaffir corn, millet, oats, potatoes, melons, and fruits. Besides the Fort Worth and Denver City there is also on the north border the Choc- taw, Oklahoma and Gulf. Clarendon, the county seat, situated at an altitude of 2,700 feet above. sea level, 279 miles from Fort Worth, has a pop- ulation of about two thousand, has good town im -. provements, several industries and business en- terprises, schools and churches, and is one of the growing centers of this part of the state.
HALL COUNTY, in the lowest tier of Panhandle counties, had a population in 1900 of 1,670. The. Fort Worth & Denver City crosses the northeast corner of the county, and on this line is located Memphis, the county seat and shipping point and principal commercial center. The surface of the county is varied and the character. of the soil ranges from a dark sandy to a red or-
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
chocolate loam. There is no timber except scat- tering mesquites on the prairie. The main, or Town, Fork of the Red river passes through the county centrally from west to east, but the stable water supply is underground at convenient depths and is inexhaustible. Cotton, Kaffir corn, and forage crops are the dependable yields, and fruit also does well. The immense ranches are being gradually broken up and enclosed for farming purposes.
CARSON COUNTY, located about the center of the Panhandle, had 469 residents at the last cen- sus, but the past five years have seen much change in conditions and population. The county is mostly a level prairie, traversed by the East, West and Middle Dixon creeks and by Antelope and chicken creeks. There is no native timber, and the soil is dark clay, covered with mesquite grass. Agriculture is making considerable headway, al- though stock ranching is the principal industry: Oats, wheat, Kaffir corn, millet and sorghum have all vielded fair crops. The county is con- nected with the outside world by three railroads, the Pecos Valley line running diagonally across the county, and the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Texas and the Fort Worth & Denver City also entering the county at the southern boundary. Panhandle is the county seat. The county has good schools and churches, indicating a permanent and sub- stantial class of settlers.
POTTER COUNTY, whose county seat, Amarillo, is practically the commercial center of the Panhan- dle country, has had a remarkable era of growth during the last few years, so that the population of 1,820 indicated by the last census gives little idea of conditions in the county at this time. Amarillo now claims a population of about five thousand. The surface of the county is generally level, broken now and then with branches and small canyons, along which is considerable tim- ber. The altitude is about 3,500 feet, and cli- mate mild and equable. The cattle industry has flourished for quarter of a century, but the large ranches are being divided and stock farming is taking the lead as an industry. Agriculture is proving satisfactory, the soil being very fertile and always producing a good crop of forage for stock, such as milo maize, Kaffir corn, sorghum,
etc. The vine crops and fruits are cultivated with profit. Amarillo, on the south border of the county, is an important railroad center, being at the junction point of the Fort Worth & Denver City, the Pecos Valley line of the Santa Fe, and the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Texas. Amarillo has many natural advantages and municipal improve- ments and institutions which class it among the leading cities of northwestern Texas, and the general development of all this part of the coun- try, will tend to increase its prestige and impor- tance.
RANDALL COUNTY, just south of Potter and lo- cated entirely within the area of the great Staked Plains, had a population in 1900 of 963. The sur- face, except where cut by the canyon or depressed by the valleys of the Palo Duro and Tierra Blanca creeks, is a nearly level prairie, covered with mesquite and other grasses. The Palo Duro can- yon is one of the picturesque features of this por- tion of Texas, and along its sides is consider- able timber. The streams run water all the year, and at an average depth of 70 feet abund- ance of pure water may be obtained. Irrigation has been used only locally and in small plants. The soil is mainly a rich black loam. The land has been mainly devoted to large ranches, but the acreage in forage crops is yearly becoming larger, and many of the grain crops can be pro- duced. The Pecos Valley line runs diagonally across the county. Canyon City, at the head of the Palo Duro canyon, is the county seat and the principal business center, having about a thou- sand inhabitants.
DEAF SMITH COUNTY, named after the famous. scout of the revolution, is situated on the western edge of the Panhandle, and its population of 843 in 1900 has increased rapidly since then. The surface of the county is smooth prairie sufficiently undulating to furnish drainage, and the soil is rich loam covered with mesquite and gama grasses. The Tierra Blanca is the only perennial stream, while underground water is accessible for all purposes. By local irrigation vegetable and fruit crops are raised, and farming enterprise in recent years is being directed from stock ranching as the main industry to the rais- ing of various grain and forage crops and even
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
cotton. The Pecos Valley line cuts the south- eastern corner of the county, and upon it is lo- cated the county seat, Hereford, which, one of the new towns of the Panhandle, has grown rapidly and now claims two thousand population. It has the distinction of being the greatest ship- ping point for range cattle in the United States.
DALLAM COUNTY, in the northwest corner of the Panhandle, is now one of the flourishing counties of this section, its development having taken place for the most part since the last cen- sus, at which time the population was but 146. The surface of the county is generally level, broken along the south line by the Rito Blanco canyon. The soil alternates from a brown sandy loam to a hard land known as "tight land" or "mesquite land." There is no timber, and the only water of any importance is Buffalo spring, on the north line of the county, the water supply for all purposes being drawn from a depth of from two to four hundred feet, where it exists in en- exhaustible quantities. A large part of the land is in the famous Capitol Syndicate ranch, though this is being gradually broken up into small stock ranches. Agriculture is making steady progress, and the grain crops, cotton and fruit have been grown. At Delhart, the county seat, the Fort Worth & Denver City and the Rock Island lines intersect, making the town a conspicuous ship- ping point for a large area. Dalhart, established about 1901, now has electric light plant, water works, business and industrial enterprises, and both as a railroad point and a trade center is surpassing many older towns in substantial growth, having now about two thousand inhabi- tants.
HALE COUNTY, in the southern part of the Pan- handle, was organized in 1888 with a population of 250, and by the census of 1900 had 1,680. Plainview, the county seat, is about 75 miles south of Amarillo. The surface of the county is level. The only running stream is White river, water breaking out in numerous small springs in the draw soon after it enters the county, and after flowing about fifteen miles the stream disappears into the ground. An underground lake, however, affords water at a depth from 25 to 75 feet. The water is pumped into earthen tanks for farm and
domestic uses. There is no native timber, but the settlers have planted large acreages of various trees, both for shade and for fuel. Grain and forage crops have been successfully grown with- out irrigation, and cotton is also a crop. Plain- view and Hale Center are the principal towns.
LUBBOCK COUNTY, just south of Hale, both of these counties being as yet uncrossed by railroad, had a population in 1900 of 293. The surface of the county is level, with occasional shallow basins, generally dry. One of the branches of the Brazos crosses the county, but the dependable water sup- ply is obtained at depths of 60 to 125 feet. Kaffir corn, milo maize and sorghum are the principal crops, and the county is perfectly adapted to stock farming. The county seat is Lubbock, which is the home of a small but enterprising population.
TOM GREEN COUNTY is on the southern border of the great region treated here as West Texas, San Angelo, the county seat, being 238 miles from Fort Worth, and the present western ter- minus of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe road. The population of the county in 1900 was 6,804, but this has increased considerably since then. The surface of the county is broken in character, although there is much prairie land. The soil is fertile and much land hitherto devoted to graz- ing has been subjected to successful tillage. Mes- quite is the principal timber growth. The Con- cho river with its various tributaries is the prin- cipal watercourse, being a perennial stream and furnishing water for a large future system of ir- rigation. Stock ranching is still the principal industry, and San Angelo is one of the largest shipping points for live stock in the state, as also the largest interior wool market. Since it has been found that the land will yield the regular agricultural crops much attention has been given to farming, and cotton, corn, oats, wheat, milo maize, sorghum and other forage are raised in large quantities, while fruits are also being grown to an increasing extent. Besides the Gulf, Colo- rado & Santa Fe, the line of the Orient Railroad will traverse the county, passing through San Angelo. San Angelo is the largest and richest town in a large section of the state. It has all the modern improvements-water works, electric
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
lights, telephone service, various industrial and commercial establishments, three national banks with over a million dollars deposit, a seventy-five. thousand dollar court house, and many other city improvements and advantages. Other towns in the county are Knickerbocker and Water Valley.
SCURRY COUNTY is comparatively out of debt, owing a few thousand dollars on the court house and jail, and roads and bridge bonds not to ex- ceed ten thousand dollars. The scrip is gener- ally quoted at par. The roads are in good con- dition and the streams well provided with bridges. The population of Snyder is from twelve to four- teen hundred, while that of the entire county is about ten thousand.
Snyder independent school district has a six room two-story school-house and in addition a small frame building for the primary department. There are twenty-four other school districts in the county. There are three hundred and eleven children enrolled in Snyder independent school and eleven hundred and eighty-nine in the county outside of Snyder district. The schools are sup- plied with good teachers, well attended by the children, and in a good prosperous condition, with - five to six months' school throughout the country districts and nine months in the Snyder district. The per capita of each child in the county from all sources, not including the special or local tax, is five thousand six hundred and forty-five.
The elevation of Snyder is about twenty-two hundred and fifty feet. It is a strong church town having four churches, Baptist, Methodist, Pres- byterian and Christian, and is an absolutely pro- hibition and law abiding community. There are very few criminal prosecutions, only a few mis- demeanors, and not a great deal of litigation of any kind.
The county was organized in 1883 being for- merly a part of Young district, but was attached to Mitchell county for judicial purposes. The soil is a red and black sandy loam, the middle south and western part of the county being strictly agricultural while the north and northeast is a grazing country. The greater part of the county has an inexhaustible supply of pure water at a depth of from twenty to one hundred feet beneath the surface. The Colorado river runs through
the southwestern part of the county and there are a number of other streams that run during cer- tain seasons of the year and there are always large holes of standing water. The health of the county is very fine and the climatic conditions are good for pulmonary diseases.
EDGAR I. FLYNT. Since the days of the establishment of the now flourishing city of Quanah Edgar I. Flint has been influential in its development and gradually increasing pros- perity, liberally contributing to the establish- ment and maintenance of its institutions and to the best interests of the public in general. He is now well known to the residents of the vi- cinity as the county surveyor, abstracter and real estate dealer. He is a native of Madison county, Alabama, and a son of Amasa and Ma- riah W. (Clark) Flynt. The father had his nativity also in Madison county, where the Flynts were an old established family, the grandfather of Edgar I. having located there from North Carolina in the early part of the nineteenth century, becoming one of the hon- ored early pioneers of Madison county. Amasa Flynt was a Confederate soldier during the per- iod of the Civil war, and after its close came with his family to Texas in 1868, the home be- ing established in Burleson county, in the part which has since become the county of Lee. There they resided for two years, on the expir- ation of the period removing to McLennan county. Two years later a removal was made to Erath county, and from there in 1877 Amasa Flynt was called to the home beyond. His business career was devoted to agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Flynt is a native of Lincoln county, Tennessee, and is now living at Ver- non, Texas.
In Erath county, this state, Edgar I. Flynt grew to years of maturity and gained his edu- cation in the schools of Stephenville, in the high school of which city he made a specialty of mathematics with the view of later taking up the profession of surveying. In 1886 he came to the new town of Quanah, Hardeman county, which was organized in 1885, and al- though a young man he is thus numbered
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
among the city's pioneers. He has surveyed . McClelland, representing the southern branch land all through this county, thus becoming of the family of which the great Civil war gen- eral was a member. Major McClelland was a very wealthy planter, with a large estate in Nelson county and a winter home in Richmond. On the outbreak of the war he joined the Con- federate army as a member of the Richmond Howitzers, and received an appointment on the governor's staff with the rank of major. He lost his life in the second battle of the Civil war. His wife, also deceased, belonged to a Virginia family, one of whom was Bishop Otey of the Episcopal diocese of Tennessee. thoroughly familiar with the lands of this and surrounding counties, and in 1890 he was elect- ed to the office of county surveyor, at that time his jurisdiction including what is now Foard county (now a separate county) until the or- ganization of Cottle county, to which position he has ever since been re-elected, and at the present time is surveyor of Hardeman coun- ty. He has the honor of serving in a public capacity longer than any other man in the county save one. Mr. Flynt has the only set of abstract books in Hardeman county, these having been compiled by himself, and he is also extensively engaged in the real estate busi- ness. During the past ten years he has been the agent for all railroad lands in the county, there still being about seventy thousand acres for sale, and in addition represents a number of individual land owners. He is the owner of a ranch of two sections in Hardeman county, nine miles northwest of Quanah. He has in every way proven himself a public-spirited citizen; and possesses the public confidence to a remarkable extent.
J. BRUCE McCLELLAND is a member of the well known real estate firm of McClelland Brothers (the other brother now deceased, see following sketch), the longest established real estate operators in the Panhandle, and their record of business transactions during the past twenty odd years covers a wider range and more extensive interests than that of any other similar firm. Mr. McClelland is a popu- lar, representative southern college-bred gen- tleman, as was also his brother, and their high executive and business ability gained them a leading place of influence in all financial cir- cles of the Panhandle.
The parents of the McClelland brothers were Major J. B. and Nannie (Otey) McClelland. Their grandfather, T. S. McClelland, married a Miss Cabell, a member of the same family as that of General Cabell, of Dallas, Texas. Major J. B. McClelland was a native of Nelson county, Virginia, and was a cousin of General
Mr. J. Bruce McClelland is a native of Nel- son county, Virginia. He received a liberal education, and throughout his life has been a representative of culture as well as of busi- ness ability. He is a graduate of Norwood College and of the University of Virginia. He studied law in the latter institution, then passed the examinations and was admitted to practice by the supreme court of Virginia, but has never employed his legal skill in active practice on account of the more inviting opportunities open to him in the real estate business. In 1884 he came out to Donley county, Texas, to join his brother T. S. McClelland, who had arrived in the old town of Donley as early as 1878-a date in ancient history in the Panhan- dle-and engaged in the real estate business. The firm has subsequently been known as Mc- Clelland Brothers. They prospered greatly and both became men of wealth. The firm car- ries on an extensive business in buying and sell- ing ranches and farms and in attending to the affairs of non-resident land owners, represent- ing numerous large interests. They also have a large ranch in Donley county.
Mr. J. Bruce McClelland was married at Birmingham, Alabama, to Miss Kate E. Winn, daughter of Dr. A. C. Winn, of that city. They have two children, J. Bruce and Lila. Mr. and Mrs. McClelland are both active mem- bers of the Episcopal church.
T. STANHOPE MCCLELLAND, the other member of the firm, whose death occurred Oc- tober 28, 1905, at Clarendon, was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, where he
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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
took a post-graduate course in civil engineer- ing. Coming out to Texas in 1875, he became surveyor and engineer for the well known firm of Gunter and Munson, and thereafter was closely identified with the activities of the Pan- handle. He did a great deal of surveying all through this country in those days, and was the official surveyor for a large scope of coun- try now comprised in numerous counties. When the old town of Clarendon was estab- lished on Salt Fork, five miles north of the pres- ent site, he went into the real estate business there in partnership with Judge G. A. Brown, now of Vernon, Texas. When J. Bruce Mc- Clelland arrived in January, 1884, Judge Brown retired and was succeeded in the firm by the former.
T. S. McClelland married Miss Lucy L. Winn, also a daughter of Dr. Winn, of Birmingham. They were members of the Episcopal church, and had two children, T, Stanhope, Jr., and Henry.
The place as man of affairs in his communi- ty made vacant by the death of T. S. McClel- land is indicated by the following quotations :
"The deceased was born September II, 1853, at Montezuma, Nelson county, Virginia. He was educated at Norwood School and the Vir- ginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia, and was a civil engineer by profession. He moved to Missouri in 1873, and from there he came to Texas in 1875. He came to the Panhandle with Gunter and Munson on the first survey made in locating the land certifi- cates along the Canadian river, and finally set- tled at the county seat of Donley county, the old town of Clarendon. In 1880 he was elected district surveyor of the Donley Land District, which at that time comprised twenty-eight counties. In 1882 he formed a law and land partnership with the Hon. G. A. Brown, which was dissolved on the first day of January, 1884, and the well-known real estate firm of McClel- land Bros. formed, with which he was con- nected until the date of his death.
"He was one of the best known and respected citizens of West Texas. When he came to the Panhandle the bison and the wild Indians
roamed alone on its broad prairies. He saw it develop into a prosperous and civilized coun- try with thousands of the Anglo-Saxon race and the wild prairies converted into farms and . happy homes.
"We can say that no man has done more for the development of the Panhandle than the de- ceased. He was always for law and order and on the side of right and justice. He was a consistent member of the Episcopal Church for years."
IRVIN L. HUNT, cashier of the Canyon National Bank of Canyon City, Texas, where he is a prominent citizen and successful busi- ness man, was born in Hardin county, Iowa, June 24, 1871. He is practically a product of the plains, having lived in that section of the country since he was thirteen years old, and he has raised himself by his own efforts to his present high standing in the esteem of the com- munity.
Mr. Hunt's father, George M. Hunt, is one of the leading citizens of Lubbock. He was born in Ohio, came west with his family in 1864 and located in Hardin county, Iowa, whence about seven years later he spent a year or so in Colorado for the benefit of his wife's health, and then made his home in Kansas until he came to Texas in 1884. He located in Crosby county, this state, being a member of the Quaker colony organized in that county. He has lived continuously in this plains coun- try since 1884, being one of the earliest settlers. Previous to coming to Texas his occupation was mainly teaching, and he spent altogether one hundred and sixty-seven months in that profession-a notable record. In Texas he took up surveying, and has surveyed a great deal of the land in this section. He laid off the town of Plainview, the county seat of Hale county. He was the first county surveyor of Crosby county upon its organization in 1886, and later he was county surveyor of Lubbock county for six years. He was the first justice of the peace upon the plains. He conducted the hotel at Estacado, the county seat of Crosby county, for some time, and also the hotel at
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