Throckmorton County, Texas

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Formed

• 1837, the Republic of Texas created Fannin County, including the area Throckmorton area.

• 1858, Throckmorton County was formed from Fannin in 1858 with Williamsburg as county seat. When the county was organized, 1879, and Throckmorton,Texas became the county seat^[1]

History/Timeline

sculpture.

The county was named in honor of Dr. William E. Throckmorton, an early Collin County settler and the father of James W. Throckmorton, who later became governor of Texas. ^[2]

1786 -Spanish explorer Pedro Vial passed between the Clear Fork and Main Fork of Brazos River in search for route between San Antonio and Santa Fe. ^[2]

1837, the Republic of Texas established Fannin County, which included Throckmorton County. ^[2]

1849 Captain Randolph B. Marcy, commander of a U.S. military escort expedition led by Lieutenant J. E. Johnson, passed through the county.^[3]

1854, Captain Marcy searched for places for a reservation for Texas Indians. He surveyed and established the tract of land that became known as the Comanche Indian Reservation, is adjacent to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in the county. The reservation consisted of approximately 18,576 acres (75.17 km2) of land extending well out from both sides of the river. The location was ideal because it provided plenty of running water and hunting opportunities. ^[2][3]

1855 Sanado and Tecumseh of Comanche leaders met with Marcy and began moving to the reservation. ^[2]

Jan 1856, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston established Camp Cooper (named after Samuel Cooper) on the banks of the Clear Fork to protect the reservation. ^[2]

Apr9, 1856 -July 22, 1857 Captain Robert E. Lee served as commander of the camp. ^[2]

1859--Throckmorton County was originally part of the Red River Municipality under the Mexican administration. Organization was delayed until the removal of the Comanche Reservation in 1859 and the Civil War.

1859, people living on the Comanche Indian Reservation were uprooted and moved to the Oklahoma Indian Territory.

1847- Civil War settlers moved near Camp Cooper. When the camp was abandoned, most of the settlers moved east into a line of forts that offered protection from the Northern Comanche Indians.^[2]

Plowing painting

1858 Butterfield Overland Mail stage line began operating with two relay stations in Throckmorton County. Franz's Station and Clear Fork of the Brazos station on E bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, above its confluence with Lambshead Creek, in SW Throckmorton County. Throckmorton County was officially established. Williamsburg was designated as county seat. ^[2]

1861, a few months before the start of the Civil War, Camp Cooper was abandoned by federal troops in due to political tensions between north and south.^[2]

1867 post Civil War, Fort Griffin was re-established along the Clear Fork of the Brazos River S of Throckmorton/Shackleford Co. line. Settlers returned with presence of federal troops to protect them.^[2][3]

1879 County was organized and Throckmorton Texas was named the county seat.^[2]

Settlements along the Clear Fork, where wildlife was abundant. Vast herds of buffalo romed in the areas, with buffalo hunters being headquartered at Fort Griffin. ^[2]

Cattlemen were first settlers who used the open range at will and moved cattle N along the Great Western Cattle Trail. Later, farmers moved into the survey area to homestead on small tracts of land.^[2]

1880 68 ranches or farms operated with 32,000 cattle, 7,000 sheep and 900 acres corn in the area. Cattle ranching was the mainstay of the economy.^[3]

1881 Federal troops abandoned Fort Griffin,the end of the region's frontier era.^[2][3]

Glenn Reynolds was the first sheriff of Throckmorton County, Texas. Later, he moved to Arizona and was elected sheriff of Globe, Gila County, Arizona. ^[2]

Nov 2, 1889 Reynolds and Deputy Sheriff Williams Holmes, were overpowered outside of Kelvin, Arizona and killed by Apache Indian Prisoners on the way to Yuma State Prison. One of these prisoners was the infamous Apache Kid.^[2]

former jail

1900 almost 47,000 cattle , 4,000 sheep were reported with 5,000 acres planted in corn, 3,000 acres in cotton on 272 farms/ranches which encompassed 635,000 acres.. ^[3]

brands.

1925 - Oil was discovered^[3]

1930;s Great Depression -Farmers and ranchers suffered during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Market prices for beef fell, and small ranchers were forced to borrow money for feed or sell the cattle to the government for slaughter. ^[3]

1940 only 18,000 cattle were reported in the county, Crop farmers, who did not own their own land, were hammered. (9,000 acres in the county was planted in cotton; overall, cropland harvested in the county declined from (53,000 acres in 1929) to (25,000 acres by 1940) and farms declined to 572 by 1940, and of these 218 were operated by tenants. These problems were offset to some extent by petroleum products.^[3]

SMS Ranch

One of the most important ranches in the area, the SMS Ranch , was put into operation during the late nineteenth century. Swante M. Swenson gained railroad and other lands in parts of Throckmorton, Jones, Shackelford, Haskell, and Stonewall counties in 1854. His sons, E. P. and S. A. Swenson, began fencing and running cattle on the lands in the early 1880s. It took years of investment and work to improve the ranches and the cattle breed, but by 1902 when Frank S. Hastings became manager the "breed-well . . . feed-well" practice was paying off. The Swensons had 25,000 cattle on 350,000 acres, and Hastings began sending range-bred calves to be matured at feed lots in the Corn Belt. Hastings remained manager until his death in 1922.

Government Offices

Throckmorton County has had 2 courthouses: 1879 and 1891, both in Throckmorton. (Williamsburg was the first county seat, but when the county was officially organized in 1879, the county seat was moved to Throckmorton and the first courthouse was built there.)^[4]

1st Courthouse, 1879 no image

2nd Courthouse, 1891 Martin, Byrne and Johnston designed this 1890-91 courthouse built by J.L. DeWees and Jacob Rath. The two-story Italianate-style building features polychromatic walls of quarried sandstone, quoins, pilasters, horizontal bands, arched doors and windows and a Mansard roof with brackets, pediments and a square cupola. A matching annex was built in 1938.Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2008 Marker is property of the state of Texas.^[4]

1891 Courthouse.

1891 courthouse.

• Note - During the 2014 restoration, the square cupola was replaced by a reconstruction of the original cupola and the west side annex was demolished.

The courthouse was restored with about $2.4 million provided through a grant from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program and approximately $2.8 million from the county. The courthouse was rededicated on March 12, 2015.^[4]

1891 courthouse

Geography

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hct05 Throckmorton County is in north central Texas.

Center of the county - 33°10' north latitude and 99°10' west longitude

Throckmorton, the county's seat of government and town, is 58 air miles SW of Wichita Falls.

The area was named for William E. Throckmorton, an early settler on the north Texas frontier.

Size is 915 square miles of rolling country with red to black soils drained by the Clear Fork and Salt Fork of the Brazos River;

Elevation 1,200 to 1,800 feet above sea level.

Hills are prominent in the SW sections.

Type vegetation in the Rolling Plains vegetation region

Vegetation - bluestem, gramas, wildryes, and wheat grass, along with some mesquite trees.

Annual rainfall averages twenty-six inches.

Temperatures minimum of 29° F in January to maximum of 98° in July.

Growing season lasts 220 days.

Transportation network are U.S. Highway 380, U.S. Highway 283, and State Highway 79, which crosses through the NE part of the county to the town of Throckmorton.

Mineral resources in the county include limestone, sand and gravel, petroleum, natural gas, and bituminous coal.

Adjacent counties

• Baylor County (north)
• Young County (east)
• Stephens County (southeast)
• Shackelford County (south)
• Haskell County (west)
• Archer County (northeast)
• Knox County (northwest)

Protected areas

Fort Griffin

Demographics

• Throckmorton County is one of 22 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.

Cow Sculpture.

In 2000, there were 1,850 people with a population density of 2 people/sq mi. The racial makeup of the county was 92.11% White, 0.05% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 5.57% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. 9.35% of the population were Hispanic.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,277, and the median income for a family was $34,563. Men had a median income of $22,837 versus $19,485 for women. The per capita income for the county was $17,719. About 11.40% of families and 13.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.60% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.

Local hunting and fishing and by historic sites such as Camp Cooper and Camp Wilson. The town of Throckmorton hosts an Easter Egg Hunt and Festivities event each year in spring, Pioneer Days in June, and a Christmas Parade in December.

Highways:

• U.S. Highway 183
• U.S. Highway 283
• U.S. Highway 380
• Texas State Highway 79
• Texas State Highway 222

Politics- voters of Throckmorton County supported the Democratic candidates in virtually every presidential election between 1880 and 1968; the only exception occurred in 1928, when Republican Herbert Hoover carried the county. Republican candidates carried the county again in 1972, 1984, and 1988, but Democrats won in 1976, 1980, and 1992.

• Dry counties

Cities/Towns

• Throckmorton (county seat)

• Woodson

• Spring Hill
• Lusk
• Elbert

Formed From

1858--Throckmorton County was created 13 January 1858 from Fannin Land District and Bosque County.

County Resources

• local hunting
• fishing
• Camp Cooper historic site
• Camp Wilson historic site.
• The town of Throckmorton hosts an Easter Egg Hunt and Festivities event each year in spring,
• Pioneer Days in June
• Christmas Parade in December.

Census

1860 --- 124 —

1880 --- 711 —

1890 --- 902 26.9%

1900 --- 1,750 94.0%

1910 --- 4,563 160.7%

1920 --- 3,589 −21.3%

1930 --- 5,253 46.4%

1940 --- 4,275 −18.6%

1950 --- 3,618 −15.4%

1960 --- 2,767 −23.5%

1970 --- 2,205 −20.3%

1980 --- 2,053 −6.9%

1990 --- 1,880 −8.4%

2000 --- 1,850 −1.6%

2010 --- 1,641 −11.3%

Est. 2015 --- 1,579

Notables

William Throckmorton

Resources

• http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/throckmorton/throcktoc.htm Cemeteries, Genealogy, Land grants, history]
• Texas genealogy, vital records

Cemeteries

• FindaGrave cemeteries
• FamilySearch genealogy
• Throckmorton county cemeteries
• [http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/Wtx/Throckmorton/ListThrockmorton.html Cemeteries,

Sources

1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/throckmorton-county
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throckmorton_County,_Texas
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hct05
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/Throckmorton-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm