Terracotta Bricks List

Major Hugh Hudson Calvert was born in 1805 in Abbeville, South Carolina.  He married Louisa Pearson in 1843.  The Calverts came to Burnet and were enumerated on July 6, 1850.  The 1860 Census declares that Mr. Calvert was engaged in stock raising.  However, the 1870 Census states that he was operating the Calvert Hotel in Burnet, which was housed in the house now known as the Galloway home which is located a block south of the public square on the corner of South Pierce and League Streets.

Major Calvert served the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1846.  He was appointed the Post Master of Burnet on Jan 23, 1866.  H. H. Calvert took the oath of office for Registrar of Burnet County on December 23, 1870 until September 23, 1872.

Mr. & Mrs. Calvert had two children, both were born in Austin County, Texas.  Louisa Caroline first married Redmond R. Kelly.  After Kelly's death she married James W. Taylor.  John Wardlow married Mary Jane Carruth and they lived in Burnet on South Pierce Street in the little house between the former 1st State Bank building and the Galloway home.  John was shot to death in mysterious circumstances on the front porch of that little house when his youngest son, George Carson Calvert, was only two years old.  The widow of John Wardlow Calvert, Mary Jane, later married Dr. George Jackson McFarland.  George Carson Calvert at one time owned granite works in Burnet and lived on North Main Street near the old Guthrie home.

Mr. and Mrs. Calvert are buried in the Old Burnet Cemetery.

Further information may be found in the Burnet County History books Volume I and II.
Information submitted by the Burnet County Historical Commission

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

The development and promotion of historic preservation was established as a program and function of the City of Burnet, Texas. The name of the organization and program is the "City of Burnet Historic Board" (Board). The Board has establish by-laws that are consistent with the precept of this ordinance.
Goals and Purposes
The City Council of the City of Burnet hereby declares that as a matter of public policy the protection, enhancement, and perpetuation of landmarks and a district of historical and cultural importance and significance is necessary to promote the economic, cultural, educational and general welfare of the public.  It is recognized that areas of the city, including but not limited to the historic downtown area, represents the unique confluence of time and place that shaped the identity of generations of citizens, collectively and individually, and produced significant historic, architectural, and cultural resources that constitute their heritage.  This section is intended to:
• Protect and enhance the landmarks and districts which represent distinctive elements of Burnet’s historic, architectural, and cultural heritage;
• Foster civic pride in the accomplishments of the past;
• Protect and enhance the city of Burnet’s attractiveness to visitors and the support and stimulus to the economy thereby provided;
• Ensure the harmonious, orderly, and efficient growth and development of the city;
• Promote economic prosperity and welfare of the community by encouraging the most appropriate use of such property within the city;
• Encourage stabilization, restoration, and improvements of such properties and their values.
Board
The Board shall consist of five members; one of which shall be a member of the City of Burnet staff, one shall be a member of the City Council or a City staff member appointed in their stead, and three at-large members.  The at-large members shall be appointed by the City Council.  For the initial terms, two at-large directors shall serve two year terms and one shall serve a one-year term after which all terms for at-large members shall be two years. In the event a director leaves prior to the expiration of his/her term, the City Council shall appoint a director to fill the un-expired term.  All at-large Board members shall have a known and demonstrated interest or knowledge in historic preservation. 
Officers of the Board shall be the President, Vice-President and Secretary and shall be elected by and from the members of the Board annually.  The Board shall be subject to the City of Burnet Code of Ethics.   


-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society
in recognition of the monetary support given to our Plaza of Honor project.

The purpose of the Burnet County Historical Commission (BCHC) is to preserve, protect and promote history within the County.  To accomplish that purpose, the Commission makes recommendations and placements for historical markers; recommends to the County Commissioners Court for property acquisition which is of historical significance; accepts, whenever feasible, artifacts and other museum items in the name of the commission or the county; and supports, whenever possible, the programs of the Texas Historical Commission.

Commission members, appointed by the Burnet County Commissioners Court, all bring a love of history to the mission. They also have a strong desire to protect historical sites and stories as well as a willingness to share those with others.

Commission members log volunteer hours, including working at Fort Croghan in Burnet and Falls of the Colorado Museum in Marble Falls. Commission members also facilitate placement of historical markers in Burnet County, advocate for cemeteries and complete oral histories of citizens. The Commission also hosts an annual Citizen of Note event where residents past or present are recognized for their contributions to Burnet County.

While the state mandates counties have these historical commissions, not all of them — including ones in larger counties — are as active as the Burnet County Historical Commission. The state has awarded the Distinguished Service Award to the Burnet County Historical Commission several times. According to Texas Historical Commission Executive Director Mark Wolfe, “County historical commissions are the backbone of historic preservation and education in communities across Texas.”

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society
in recognition of the monetary support given to our Plaza of Honor project

The Commissioners Court is the general governing body of Burnet County. The Court is comprised of the County Judge who is elected countywide and presides over the full Court, and four County Commissioners -- each elected from one of the County's four precincts. The four County Commissioners have both countywide and precinct responsibilities. Each commissioner is responsible for construction and maintenance of county roads within his or her precinct. Some Commissioners maintain offices both at the Courthouse-On-The-Square and within their precincts. They are responsive to the particular needs of people living within their areas of the county. Despite the name, Commissioners Court is not a judicial court but the general governing body of the County. 

Primary duties of the Court include: 
• Set the tax rate and adopt the County budget; 
• Appoint County officials and hire personnel; 
• Fill elective and appointive vacancies; 
• Establish voting precincts, appoint precinct judges and call County bond elections; 
• Let contracts and authorize payment of all County bills; 
• Build and maintain County roads and bridges; 
• Build, maintain and improve County facilities, including jails; 
• Provide for veterans assistance; 
• Manage all County facilities; 
• Oversee the Burnet County Library System; and 
• Provide for information technology and the archival needs of the County.


-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society
in recognition of the monetary support given to our Plaza of Honor project

October 1805 earliest recorded information:
“Three-fourths of an acre of land ‘on the old Florence to Lampasas
public road southeast of Briggs on or near the county line’ was
deeded to the Missionary Baptist Church from H.M. and A.L Bennett.”

• 1896--Church building moved to Briggs from Burnet and Williamson County line. Rev. J.J. Thompson first pastor preaching every fourth Sunday.

• July 1908--Known as Missionary Baptist Church. Brother A.H. Jenkins called as half-time pastor.

• First revival June 28. Closed July 12, 1908. 49 added to church.

• November 1910--Church first called Briggs Baptist Church.

• The still-standing tabernacle first mentioned August 1918. February 1937 work on platform under the tabernacle. June, extended cordial invitation to all other denominations the use of the tabernacle for their revival meetings.

• June 1959--first record of VBS. 58 enrolled.

• May 1961--Memorial Library started.

• September 1977--Brick work began on outside of church.
Briggs Historical Marker Unveiled.

• 2002--Wheelchair ramp and rails built. Steeple and chimes added.

• August 2003--Membership software purchased.

• 2007--New fellowship hall with large kitchen built.

-donated by Briggs Baptist Church

Daniel Boultinghouse, born December 8, 1795 in Ohio, came to Hickory Creek section of the Smithwick community with his family in 1852 or 1853.  He was first married to Sarah Brown who died in 1846 in Scott County, Arkansas.  She was the mother of his first five children.  He married c. 1847 in Scott County, Arkansas to Mary Frances “Fannie” Shelton Williams.  She and Daniel had nine children.

Upon the arrival of the Boultinghouse family in Burnet County, Daniel homesteaded 160 acres of land on Hickory Creek in what was later to be known as the Smithwick Community.  A nearby mountain was named Boultinghouse Mountain after him because he killed so many bears there in the early days.  Fannie died on December 7, 1867 and Daniel died the next day, December 8, 1867, and they are both buried in the Smithwick Cemetery.

The children of Daniel Boultinghouse would marry into families of other early settlers and provided many grandchildren who would leave their mark on the county.

Mary Elender Victoria (daughter of Nancy) married Andrew (Andy) Mather, who was an early Ranger and Indian scout in Central Texas.

Sarah Emily “Sadie” (daughter of James) married Charley W. Lewis and they were the grandparents of the Burnet County Sheriff, Wallace Riddell.

Further information may be found in the Burnet County History, Volume II.
Information submitted by the Burnet County Historical Commission

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Jody Bunch served as the fort blacksmith on Fort Croghan Day and Christmas at Fort Croghan for almost 20 years, entertaining and informing the public. His nephew, Kaleb Chester, followed in his footsteps taking up the blacksmithing trade like his uncle.

Over the years, they were often called upon to perform repairs around the fort and for the creation of needed tools just as blacksmiths did when the fort was first established.

-donated by Crista Goble Bromley

My 3rd great grandfather, Samuel M. Bingham, was born in 1797 in North Carolina.

He and his wife, Mary Ann Curry and their 10 children left the area of Bell Buckle, Bedford County, Tennessee in the fall of 1851. They settled on 320 acres of land off of County Road 333, where the headwaters of the San Gabriel subdivision is now located.

Samuel, Mary Ann, most of their children and his 2nd wife Nancy Hart Bingham are all buried in the Old Burnet Cemetery along with a few other descendants.

Samuel M. Bingham came from a family of stone carvers. Many of the beautiful headstones they carved in North Carolina are still standing.

Most of Samuel’s descendants stayed in Burnet County. Becky French’s father was Vaughan Bingham, 1937-2011. He graduated from Burnet in 1956.

-donated by Becky French

As a result of the 1914 USDA's Home Demonstration Program for rural areas, the Oakhill/Bethel Home Demonstration Club was organized in 1935 in the Bethel Community. After years of name changes, the Bethel Extension Education Club of Burnet County thrives.  It meets at the Bethel Community Center building, purchased by the Club in 1964, and is located at the intersection of FM 2340 and FM 963. *

In addition to monthly meetings and educational programs, the Bethel EE Club has hosted community events, precinct voting, bereavement dinners, 4-H Clubs, Bethel Cemetery meetings, family/school reunions, ice cream socials, Opening Day of Deer Season lunches and local family Thanksgiving dinners. Club members, some of whom are second and third generation members, conduct monthly business meetings, community potlucks and continue their tradition of learning together.

We follow the TEEA Creed written by Mrs. R.M. Almanrode in 1950.
• We believe in the sanctity of the home.
• We believe in the home as the place where love, faith, trust and devotion must be lived each day, where obedience and reverence grow, and where God is known.
• We believe those within its walls should be taught to work, to play, and to have compassion for those less fortunate.
• We believe sharing responsibilities is necessary and that from the fireside will come the citizens who will uphold the best ways of life. 

*NOTE: On May 9, 2020 a fire severely damaged the Bethel Community Building resulting in demolition. The Bethel EE Club now meets in the Agrilife Building in Burnet.
--donated by The Bethel Extension Education Club

Donna Ollene Blackwell Bell and Cody Mood Bell, Jr. of Upton County, Texas, purchased a ranch on Burnet’s County  Road 108 in 1966 from Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Nored. Donna, one of six children, was born in 1936 in Ranger, Texas, to Bertha  Leola McGlothin and John Earl Blackwell, Sr. In 1955, the Blackwell’s moved to Crane, Texas for Earl to work in the Oil  Patch. It was there that Donna and Cody met while she worked after school at the local drug store soda fountain. While  attending Ranger and Crane High Schools, Donna was a champion baton twirler (an amazing feat as she suffered from  Osteomyelitis in one leg as a child). Receiving a scholarship to Ranger Junior College upon her high school graduation,  Donna won beauty and twirling contests, graduating Summa Cum Laude. 
Cody was born in 1934 to Beulah and Cody Mood Bell Sr. of Upton County, Texas. As a youth, the family lived all  over Texas, in California and Arkansas. Sometimes his parents left him in successfully in charge of livestock for weeks at a  young age without supervision. Cody Jr. rebuilt engines, raced cars, tooled leather, ranch welded, was handy with  electricity and excelled at hunting and shooting. Later in life he obtained his pilot’s license, flew private planes, had a 
gyrocopter, and rode his motorcycle to Canada and back. Drafted into the US Army in 1956, Cody Jr. was stationed in  Korea as a medic. He traveled to China during leaves and was discharged in 1958. Donna and Cody Jr. married in 1958 at  Ranger and moved to San Angelo. While living in San Angelo, Donna attended the Church of Christ and was a member of  the Beta Sigma Phi International Sorority. Eventually, three children joined the Bell family: Cody Mood Bell III, John Wiley  Bell, and Kristen Elizabeth Bell. Wherever the Bell’s lived, Cody Jr. was able to repair anything, using the materials her had  at hand, and improving the surroundings. 
After San Angelo, the Bell’s moved to Cody Sr.’s Eldorado Ranch. The distance to town was challenging for the  young family, so they decided to move to Crane. While preparing for the move, Cody Jr. proceeded to dismantle the TV  antenna. Standing on a ladder, he started to lose his balance and his thumb got caught between a wrench and metal  bracket. It was cut to the bone and hanging by a ligament. Cody Jr. calmly wrapped his hand in his handkerchief and  drove himself to the hospital in Eldorado, with Donna as a passenger. The Eldorado Hospital indicated he needed to  proceed to San Angelo. On the way to “Angelo” he was stopped for speeding. The patrolman took one look at the thumb  and sent Cody on his way, radioing ahead so they could get to Shannon Hospital in record time. After the Bells moved to  Crane, Cody welded a custom horse trailer with the bandaged thumb. 
In June of 1966, Cody Jr. purchased a ranch on County Road 108 from Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Nored. Donna and the  kids immediately moved into the vintage white frame ranch house and immersed themselves in the Lampasas and Lake  Victor communities. A favorite family story is about Donna driving a young calf from the Bell Weatherford Ranch to the  Burnet Ranch in the back seat of the Bell’s new white Chrysler Imperial. Cody traveled between Burnet, Parker, and Upton  Counties assisting his dad with ranch management, upkeep and livestock management.  
The Bells moved back to Upton County in 1968, the where the whole Bell Family built their own two story Spanish  style rancher overlooking the Rankin Community Golf Course. The Bells were actively involved in both their children’s and  grandchildren’s school, 4-H, sports, golf and dirt biking activities. Donna was a dynamic community volunteer, a member  of the Rankin Church of Christ (teaching Sunday School) and helped establish the Rankin Museum. She survived a stint with breast cancer in the 1980’s. Son, Cody III, attended Southwest Texas State University, became a professional  photographer, television cameraman, world class fly fisherman and now manages the Burnet T Lazy T Ranch. He married  Julia Hopson (retired educator) and they live in Palmer, Texas. Son John obtained a degree in Petroleum Engineering from  Texas Tech, and worked overseas and in Texas for numerous oil companies. He married Celeste Oetken of Houston and  they have one daughter, Mary Celeste Bell, and reside in Plano, Texas, spending free time golfing. Daughter Kristirodeoed  in high school, ranched at an early age, and married Denson Reid (volunteer fire fighter/ems). She is a Rancher, Master  Gardener, was a 4-H Volunteer and Leader, supported her children at Rankin High sports events. The Reid’s have twin  children, Allison Dawn and Kevin Wayne, and love to play golf. All of the Bell grandchildren attended and/or graduated  from college or technical training schools. Married for 63 years, Donna passed away on August 9, 2021, leaving a legacy  of community service and putting family first. Cody Jr. continues to oversee his Upton and Burnet County ranches and  cattle, living in their family home overlooking the Rankin Golf Course. Submitted  by Niece Glenna B
Submitted by Niece Glenna Bell Orman-Wilson 10.30.21

It was the Texas drought of 1953 that brought Beulah and Cody Bell Sr. to Burnet County. Beulah was returning  to her “roots.” She was born on a ranch located near Jollyville on Bull Creek in 1898. Her family moved to a ranch in  Glasscock County, near Garden City. Beulah started her own herd of cattle as a youngster from local rancher donated  bottle fed doggie calves. After high school graduation, she worked at the Texas State Mental Hospital, then moved to  Alpine where she attended Sul Ross State Teacher’s College. Becoming a ranch family teacher in West Texas, she met  Cody Sr. at a West Texas rodeo. Marrying in 1925, Beulah brought her own herd of cattle to the union, and throughout  their marriage, she would supplement their income selling milk and eggs. The years that followed, she kept in constant  contact with her immediate and extended family, writing many post cards and letters, no matter where they lived or  traveled. 
One of five children, Cody Sr., born in 1894, broke and sold horses and helped his mother with her ranch, and  worked for neighboring ranchers, including the famous Midland Scarborough Family. Talented with the rope and bull  whip, Cody Sr. entertained many with those skills. Beulah and Cody Sr. married on January 18, 1925 at her parent’s Garden  City ranch, with Beulah wearing a unique grey satin dress she created. Then the Bell’s set off on the adventure of a lifetime. 
Beulah would travel with Cody Sr. and “set up housekeeping” where ever he landed. Two children were born  to the Bells, first a daughter Lillie Elizabeth in 1928, then a “son” Cody Mood Bell Jr. in 1934. Beulah owned a hat shop in  Crane until her children were born. After the 1937 untimely death of Cody Sr’s mother, Mary Seleda Bell, at her Upton  County ranch, Cody Sr. moved the family to San Angelo, Christoval and then to a small ranch near El Cajon, California.  Beulah loved the Santee area, the weather and especially La Jolla Beach. She planted gardens, sold milk and attended nearby Santee Methodist Church. The Bell’s invited soldiers stationed at nearby Camp Gillespie to experience ranch life  and ride horseback. Cody Sr. leased a stable near the Mexican border and served as a member of the US Air Force Civil  Defense Ground Observer Corps until 1944, when it was disbanded. 
In 1947 the Bell’s purchased a small ranch at Brightwater, near Rogers, Arkansas. After joining the nearby  Methodist church, Beulah sold milk to the Bentonville Kraft Cheese Company. A talented seamstress, Beulah created  clothes from feed sacks and crocheted thousands of doilies, scarves, hats, potholders and afghans for family and friends through the years. Cody Sr. worked for a local Rogers real estate company, frequently traveled back to Texas to check on  his properties. The Bell’s home was spared during the 1947 Brightwater tornado which leveled the town. Cody Jr. tells  the story of refusing to get out of bed because he thought the noise was a train. When his mother asked him what time  the train goes by. He realized the noise was not from the train, and promptly hopped out of bed to join his family in the  root cellar. After Lillie Beth’s graduation from Rogers High School, the family moved to San Angelo, Texas.  
The CR 207 Sage Ranch was home to Lillie Beth and her three year old daughter, Glenna Bell, who joined the  Bell’s in 1953. They joined the Bethel Home Demonstration Club and Burnet Methodist Church, where Lillie Beth sang in  the Adult Choir. She became a 4-H Adult Volunteer, joined Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, then married and moved to Fort  Worth in 1955. The Bell’s son, Cody Jr. enlisted in the US Army in 1954 and served as a medic in Korea. In 1958 he married  Donna Olene Blackwell of Ranger and Crane. The Bell’s had five grandchildren: Glenna Bell Orman, Cody Lee Orman, Cody  Mood Bell III, John Wiley Bell and Kristin Elizabeth Bell.  
Leaving Burnet in 1956, Cody purchased Beulah’s lifelong “dream house,” a large Austin Stone ranch style home  near San Angelo State University. Many family holiday events were celebrated. The Bells bought and sold property in  Burnet County, including some lots on Lake Buchanan. Beulah passed away in Midland in 1976 after 51 years of marriage.  After Beulah’s death, Cody Sr. spent his last years living intermittently living with children, short periods staying at the  Midland Scarborough Hotel, and at a small ranch he purchased east of Bertram on Highway 29. Cody Sr. passed away in  1981 in Midland at the age of 88 and is buried with Beulah at Fairview Cemetery in Midland. 
 Submitted by their Granddaughter Glenna Bell Orman-Wilson 10.30.21

John Barton was born on February 21, 1821 in Tennessee.  He married Mary (Polly) McFarland on September 4, 1845 in Johnson, Missouri.  They had four children during their marriage, the first two were born in Missouri and the last two in Texas.  

John and Mary (Polly) McFarland Barton along with their children moved from Missouri  to Texas in 1849 and in 1852 settled in Burnet County in the Mt. Zion Community.  They were members of the Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church and were considered to be one of the mainstays for their pastor and church.  The census states that they were in agriculture and farmed several hundred acres of land.

He served in the various military groups of Burnet County.  In 1861 he was a Private in the Lone Star Guard of Burnet County, enlisted at J. Bunions Spring, 3 miles NW of Burnet.  Also in 1861, he was a 2nd Corp. of the Burnet Guards under Capt. W. H. Magill.  In August of 1861 he was a Private under Capt. Christian Dorbandt of the Burnet County Minute Men. January 27, 1864 he enlisted at Oatmeal as a Captain during the Civil War.  Later in 1864, he is a Private; 3rd Class under Capt. D. M. Jackson at Camp McCulloch.  

Their son would eventually move west while all three daughters married into families of early settlers and remained in Burnet County for the remainder of their lives and today (2020) there are still descendants in the county.

Further information regarding the Barton and McFarland families may be found in the Burnet County History, Volume II.
Information submitted by the Burnet County Historical Commission

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

The history of the Hispanic people in Burnet County is a hard one to track down, as most families at the time were migrant workers. These families would scatter across Texas chasing the annual crops or hop from ranch to ranch shearing sheep for the thriving wool market.

The Baladez family was one of these families. For over 100 years, this family has called Burnet County home. Working local farms and ranches, they settled in the Bertram area.

Donated by John Baladez

This brick honors the oldest antique store in Burnet County.

-donated by John and Carol Will

The Altman cabin was reportedly built by Lonthan Jordan Altman (1825-1862). The initials “LJA” and the date “1861” are carved into rock on the chimney. Altman was a soldier in the Confederate Army and died in action in 1863 during battle in Loiusiana.

The Altman cabin remained as the land changed hands and eventually was abandoned for a larger modern house. In 1193, The log cabin was donated to Fort Croghan by Norma Brown Wrubel and her brother Lee Phillips. According to Doris Glimp Lewis, relative of Mr. Altman, the Wrubels “were not kin to the Altmans”. They just owned the property at the time it was donated.

The cabin is a “dog run” or“dog trot” style which is really two cabins (one for cooking, one for sleeping) built side by side with a common roof over both structures. The open area between served as a shelter for animals, equipment or wagons. Visitors could bed down in the wagon for “guest room” accommodations.

According to an October 7, 1993 article by Sara Wartes, when the Wrubel and Phillips donated the cabin, “one side of the cabin had fallen down, its cedar logs piled haphazardly.” Tommy Glimp and Doug Newton carefully rebuilt the cabin on Fort Croghan grounds. A city “cherrypicker” was called in to raise the topmost logs.

NOTE:
Lonthan Jordan Altman was the brother of Doris Glimp Lewis’s great-grandfather, John Israel Altman,.(1841-1911).

References:
Fort Croghan Museum Files --docent notes
Lewis, Doris Glimp Interview August, 19,2021
Wartes, Sara, Dog-Run Cabin is Reconstructed , October 7, 1993

-information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Samuel Stevenson Alexander was born in North Carolina and died in Burnet County, Texas at age fifty-eight. He eloped/married Thurzy Ross in Crawford County, AR, in 1826. She was born in April, 1810 in Warren County, TN. They had eleven children. They lived in Washington County, AR in 1829. Samuel was very active in civic affairs. He was JP in the township of Cane Hill, Washington County, AR in 1829. In 1830, Samuel was commissioned as 2nd Lt., 3rd Co., 2nd Btn, in the Washington County, AR territorial and state militia.

Samuel was a member of the Friendly Society, Inc. He had a certificate givng him the right to prepare and use in his family--The Medicine & System of Practice secured by Samuel Stevenson Alexander by Letters of Patent from the President of the USA dated 1-28-1823. He was an entrepreneur in Arkansas and Tennessee. They helped organize the Christian Church in AR.

They tried three times to come to Texas and finally did in 1848 to Williamson County, TX with nine of their children. Samuel was partners with a man named Davis, and they mined salt on the Colorado River in Llano County, TX. He was the 1st Treasurer of Williamson County, TX. In 1853, Samuel’s family settled by Mesquite Creek, Burnet County, TX with a 200 acre deed by a patented land grant. They built a home, rock granary, rock fences and established the Alexander Cemetery on their land.

Samuel died in 1863 in Burnet County, TX from an accident with a wagon. He was buried in the Alexander Cemetery. Thurzy died in 1889 in Burnet County, TX and was buried in the Alexander Cemetery.

NOTE: Thurzy’s sister was China Ross, who married a man whose last name was Black who had Black’s Fort in Burnet County, TX.
-submitted and donated by Betty Chaney

Lewis and Gladys Dotson Alexander met at Normal School in San Marcos, Texas. She studied Home Economics; he took Shop courses.

Lewis was born in 1901 to Ed and Alice Alexander on the ranch in Pebble Mound Community. The Samuel Alexander family had moved to Burnet County from Arkansas after Texas became a state.

Gladys was born in Oklahoma, in 1900. Her ancestor George Washington Smith fought at San Jacinto in 1836.
donated by Dr. Jane A. Knapik

In his half century, Yellow Wolf witnessed astonishing change in his life and in the life of his people. He was born c. 1800 into a warrior class of the Penateka Comanche band. He was sharpened by the competitive companionship of an alter-ego cousin (Buffalo Hump) and made comfortable by the Comanche domestication of the mustang. He grew up in confident freedom and power. Along with Kiowa allies, the Comanches enjoyed vast hunting reserves, pushed Apache and Tonkawa out, plundered enemy horses, took captives, scalped and killed with impunity.
But unchallenged dominance slipped as the Texas Revolution ended (1836) and the new Republic of Texas, with the help of its Texas Rangers, invited Irish, German and Americans to settle grants further west (1840’s). In 1840, a group of Comanche chiefs, meeting under a truce agreement, were murdered. Comanches considered this incident a betrayal. Retribution was in order. Hundreds of warriors swept down from the high plains like an infamous tornado to terrorize Victoria and to sack the port city of Linville. Yellow Wolf, no doubt participated. Raids and captive-taking continued.
A year before Texas’ annexation, Yellow Wolf was severely injured in a fight with Rangers John Hayes and Ben McCulloch. Comanche losses were serious, recovery difficult. By 1845, Yellow Wolf, eclipsed as top military leader by cousin Buffalo Hump, nonetheless influenced negotiations with the enemy. He marked, as “Savaheit”(translated “Small Wolf”) an 1850 treaty at Ft. Martin Scott near Fredericksburg. Unfortunately, Texas legislators, representing voter interests, failed to ratify the treaty.
As Texas annexation spread a cordon of defensive forts from the Red River to the Rio Grande (one such was Ft Croghan) federal presence did not bring peace. Instead, it often created conflict among military leaders, Indian agents, Texas state officials, settlers and land speculators.
During the Mexican War (1846-48) Comanche raids increased into northern Mexico. Because the US was then at war with Mexico, little was done to prevent the raids. After the war Texas created an 18- acre Comanche Reservation along the Clear Fork of the Brazos. In practice, the reservation was unacceptable to both settlers and Comanches. It was particularly objectionable to Yellow Wolf. He wanted a secure, near-sovereign Comanche territory (Comancheria), with definite borders, off limits to American settlers, enforced by federal authority.
Uncompromising in diplomacy, yet accommodating in person, he changed his approach. As a gesture of good will, (and perhaps a degree of personal vanity) he sat for a portrait by Croghan Commander/artist, Arthur T. Lee. A copy of the work can be found in the Ft Croghan Museum. Its original is in Rochester, NY where Lee retired from military service. Another evidence of good will (also at Ft Croghan museum) is a small cast-iron pot given by Yellow Wolf’s daughter, to Vandeveer’s daughter.
In November,1854, Indian Agent, Robert Neighbors, persuaded Yellow Wolf’s comrades (Buffalo Hump and others) to consider permanent settlement on the 18-acre reservation. Yellow Wolf refused to consider it. He left the meeting. He had fought; He had negotiated; He had extended friendship, but he would not compromise on the vital core of Comanche self-determination. Within a week he was killed by a party of Lipan Apache enemies somewhere in Nolan or Coke Counties. A tributary called Yellow Wolf Creek, bears his name in lieu of a marked gravestone. But it is not difficult to imagine his spirit riding on full moon, across frozen steams or Summer grasslands, pursuing his warrior’s vision and purpose.

More information: Fehrenbach, T.R. Comanches; Richardson, R. Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement; Thomas, S. Ft. Davis and the Texas Frontier; TSHA: Handbook of Texas articles: Walker Creek Battle; Fort Martin Scott Treaty; Wallace, E. Comanches: Lords of the Plains; Wilbarger,J.W. Indian Depredations in Texas; Wikipedia articles: Arthur _Tracy_Lee; Yellow Wolf_(Comanche_); Yellow_ Wolf_ Creek;

Written and submitted by Jeff Townsend


Preface to Yellow Wolf
Yellow Wolf was not, by our standards, a Burnet County resident. Residing was not his lifestyle, moving was. Yet lore and early recollection place him in Burnet County at times of reflection and friendship. He took a chance on personal diplomacy with Ft Croghan Commander, Arthur T. Lee, hoping, perhaps, that the spirit of peace would also provide security for his people.
Since Jamestown and Plymouth, European settlers and Native-Americans have killed, tortured, plundered, taken captive, and waged relentless war against each other. But they have also since Squanto and Sequoyah, learned, borrowed, traded, cooperated, and lived peacefully with each other. Opinion pendulums saw the Native-American as either an unconscionable, savage or a tragic victim, whose nobility and humanity was subjugated to cultural genocide. Both views ignore the complexity of the long relationship between the two.
Early in our national history, Indian tribes, skillfully played French, Spanish and English intruders against each other. And when Natives could not secure their lands and heritage by treaty, they resisted by force. No doubt their resistance, however cruel and costly to both peoples, promoted strength of character and honor to both.
Americans viewed Indians as citizens of separate nations, people with whom treaties were appropriate. Yet as treaties became hollow tools of treachery, their violations stirred rage on both sides. And what of common ground? The example of Cherokee assimilation to American culture was remarkable. Indian contributions to early fur trade, to navigation as guides, to geographic place names, to artistic expressions, as inspiration for naming American sports teams, and as subjects of American legends and literature, all speak of undeniable contributions by Native-Americans.

Sitting on Perry Goble’s front porch, listening to stories of Yellow Wolf and his times, I understand why he should be honored for his presence and influence in the Burnet County story. History is written by the winners, but it is shaped by the resistance of the defeated. Good history considers contexts of war and peace and the attitudes of both sides as the final chapters of Indian resistance approached.

Perry Goble, local historian and son of the late Carole Ann Goble is a storehouse of information on Texas Hill Country history.

For more information see: Thomas, Stephen. Ft Davis and the Texas Frontier; Weatherford, Jack. Native Roots: How Indians Enriched America; Weatherford,Jack. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World;

Major Phillip St. George COOKE (1809-1895)
• U.S. Army, West Point graduate, 1823
• Reported to TX in 1852
• Served as Brigadier General for the Union Army
• Commanded troops at Washington D.C. during War Between the States
• Father-in-law of J.E.B. Stewart, a Confederate General during the was

Lieutenant Newton C. GIVENS (1823-1859)
• U.S. Army, West Point graduate, 1845
• Cited for gallantry and meritorious conduct during Mexican War
• Assumed command of Co. A 2nd Dragoons on Oct. 28, 1850
• In command at Fort Croghan off and on during 1852 and 1853 until the Fort was abandoned in Dec. 1853

Major Albert Sidney JOHNSTON (1803-1862)
• U.S. Army, West Point graduate, 1826
• Resigned his commission because of dying wife, then enlisted in Texas Army as a private
• Served as Paymaster at Fort Croghan
• Appointed as Brigadier General of the Texas Army and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas
• Served as a Confederate General, second in command of the Army under Robert E. Lee
• Led the troops at Shiloh and was killed there (highest ranking officer killed in the war)

Captain Arthur T. LEE (1814-1879)
• U.S. Army, West Point graduate,1838
• Career soldier who was also an artist, musician, author and architect
• Popular among the soldiers and townspeople
• Played the fiddle for dances at the Fort
• Lobbied Congress for an old soldiers’ home and completed his career as commander of the one in D.C.

Captain George PICKETT (1825-1875)
• U.S, Army, West Point graduate, 1846
• Served during the Mexican-American War
• Served on the Texas frontier and in the Washington Territory
• Served as Major General in the Confederate Army
• Led the famous “Pickett’s Charge” at Gettysburg

Major Henry Hopkins SIBLEY (1816-1886)
• U.S. Army, West Point graduate, 1838
• Commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the 2nd U.S. Dragoons
• Served as Brigadier General in the Confederate Army
• Commanded the New Mexico Campaign to control the Santa Fe Trail
• After a visit to a Comanche village, he invented the conical Sibley tent


References:
Darrell Debo, Burnet County History, Vol. I, pp.1-25
Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association(TSHA)

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

The Vandeveer cabin was built for Logan Vandeveer about 1850. It is a two-room stone building with double-thick walls, windows with glass and two doors. Logan Vandeveer issued beef from this building which was originally located at 502 S. Water Street near the present-day Dairy Queen. It was eventually the home of Mary Vandeveer, Logan’s daughter.

Mr. Vandeveer was a man of many accomplishments. He was a settler who came from Kentucky and enlisted in the Army of the Republic of Texas. He was wounded in the Battle of San Jacinto and after the war was a Ranger and Indian fighter. Like many others who served the Republic of Texas, Vandeveer was given land as payment for his military service. He was the first Postmaster of Burnet, established the first school in a log cabin in South Burnet and hired the first teacher. Logan Vandeveer was one of the three men who were appointed by the Texas Legislature to organize Burnet County. In September 1855, he drove a herd of cattle to Louisiana where he contracted yellow fever and died at age 40.

This cabin was moved to the Fort Croghan grounds in 1973 by the Burnet County Historical Society. The porch is paved with stones from an early Burnet County Courthouse. The stone exterior, ceilings and glass windows are testaments to Vandeveer’s wealth.



References:
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 318-319
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes
“Meet Logan Vandeveer”, www.texashillcountry.com
“Vandeveer”, Texas State Historical Association, www.tshaonline.org


-information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Since a great number of pioneer men of the county were members of the Masonic Lodge and these men were influential in the formation and development of the county it, was thought by the Brick Committee, we should include the Masonic Lodges, in the History of Burnet County. Many of these lodges are still very active today and many men in the county are still members.
It is interesting to know that Freemasonry was founded in England and was brought over to America when members migrated to America. Masonry was brought to Texas by men who received their work in other states and then came to Texas for various reasons.
The first Lodge in Texas were formed in East Texas near Houston. In 1836, representatives of three lodges met and formed “The Grand Lodge of Texas, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.” From the beginning the Fraternity has grown to more than a thousand Lodges. Men are not asked to join a Masonic Lodge, but must ask to be a member.
There have been nine Masonic Lodges in Burnet County. Mount Horeb Lodge No. 137 is located in Mahomet and was chartered January 21, 1854, making it the oldest Lodge in the County. The other Lodges in Burnet County are: Valley Lodge, Burnet; Ruthvan Lodge, Rock Valley; Henry Thomas Lodge, Smithwick; Robert E Lee, Shady Grove; Bertram Lodge; Lake Victor; and Naruna Lodge.

References:
The material on the Masonic Lodges of Burnet County was largely taken from a compilation termed “Masonry in Burnet County, Texas research by W. H. Dodson, July 1976” and on file in the Herman Brown Free Library.
Burnet County History Book, Volume I, pages 263 - 265.
The origin of Freemasonry on the Internet.
+ write up about Logan Vandeveer

The Trailblazer Grille formerly known as Tea-Licious is a homey, rustic restaurant on the Historic Square in Burnet, Texas featuring weekly live music and karaoke. Trace and Liz Catlin are the owners and operators.

The Trailblazer Grille is known for their chicken pot pie, their meatloaf and incredible salads, but in 2016 its hamburger was ranked one of the best 10 burgers in the country by Parade Magazine. The Trailblazer is also known for its Murder Mystery dinners. The four-course menu for October 29, 2021 included an appropriate dessert called “Death by Chocolate Cake”. Trace and Liz Catlin enjoy giving adults something fun to do around Halloween!

According to the City of Burnet Historic Board’s Guide to the Historic District, the present Trailblazer Grille building in the past housed Carson’s Ford Agency, Dickens and Elliott Garage, Earl Sawyer’s and Gus Zimmerman’s Reed Store, and Blankenship’s Variety Store.

-donated by Trace & Liz Catlin

Jeff Townsend moved to Burnet County in 2010 to be near Austin grandchildren and cousin, Judy Lightfoot, a long-time Burnet resident.

Jeff served as deacon for the First Baptist Church of Burnet and has served as treasurer for the Burnet County Heritage Society from 2020-2022.

A 40-year veteran of public education, he taught 25 years of that time in the Round Rock and Austin Community College systems. He served as an archival and teaching assistant at Texas Tech University from 1972-1974. He authored a study on rainmaking and public policy: Making Rain in America, a History, Texas Tech Press, 1974.
-donated by Jeff Townsend

Texas Hill Country’s pink granite has a special connection to the Capitol in Austin.

“Texas Pink” is an intrusive igneous rock that formed underground from slowly cooling magma. The slow cooling process allowed crystals to form giving a shimmering appearance to the pink granite. The pink or red color comes from large amounts of orthoclase feldspar, and some Texas “pink granite” is known as “sunset red”. When the surrounding limestone weathers away, the granite is exposed. Granite Mountain and Enchanted Rock west of Marble Falls in Burnet County both formed in this manner.

Originally the plan for the Texas Capitol was to have an exterior of made from limestone. Because of the high level of pyrite in the limestone that was chosen, there were concerns about rusting in the moist air.

The owners of Granite Mountain, Lacy, Westfall and Norton, donated the granite for the Capitol in exchange for a 60 mile rail line from Austin to the quarry in the Hill Country. A narrow-gauge railway was constructed from Austin to Granite Mountain; four thousand train flatcars transported the “sunset red” granite to the Capitol.

Besides its use in the Texas Capitol, granite from Granite Mountain has been shipped to Houston, Port Isabel, Los Angeles, New York City, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Francisco.

Accordimg to Darrell Debo, author of Burnet County History, the first building stone from the county went to Washington, D. C, to complete the Washington Monument. The stone was donated by Samuel E. Holland and was moved by 20 oxen to Austin where it was loaded on a train and shipped to Washington.

References:
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. 1, pp.50-57
Hessong, Athena, “Texas Pink Granite: Its Formation and Use in the State Capitol”


-information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

John Solis established his masonry company in 1986.  John said he grew up helping his father with sheep shearing.  When asked if he liked that job, he laughed and said,"No!" "That's why I decided to have a masonry and concrete company."

The company is managed by three generations of the Solis family.  The projects involve building stone fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, patios, walls, and concrete work.

John grew up in Bertram, and fondly remembers the time his class visited Fort Croghan.

-written by Tommye Potts

This brick has been donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society
in appreciation to John Solis for his dedicated work installing the
Plaza of Honor on the Fort Croghan grounds.

The history of the Smithwick Cemetery dates back to 1854 when 18-year-old Rebecca Chambers passed by this beautiful place. She asked her family to bury her on this beautiful flower-covered hillside. When she died, her wish was granted, and she became the first burial here.

Since that time, many of her family members and other families from Hickory Creek, Cow Creek, Elm Grove, and Smithwick’s Mill have buried their people here.

The Smithwick Cemetery Association was formed in 1970 and continues to oversee the care and maintenance of this place that many of us hold dear in our hearts.

-donated by The Smithwick Cemetery Association

Roy Smith came to Burnet as manager of Hoover Building Supply, Inc., November 1, 1985. He first came to Burnet County 46 years ago, as manager of National Building Center in Marble Falls, a positon he held for over ten years

Roy was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, as well as both sets of grandparents.  Roy had the advantage of German being spoken in his home, and when he started school, the teachers didn't mind that English was not spoken.  Roy's friends did not learn German in the home, so they are not fluent in the language.

Roy has always been a friend of Fort Croghan.  When the Plaza of Honor project began, John Potts asked Roy if the etched granite centerpiece and the bench could be drop shipped to Hoover Building Supply, Inc.  Roy had no problem with that, and kept the items in the storage yard for almost a year.  When the time came for the centerpiece and the bench to be installed, Roy sent them on a truck with a forklift, and they were unloaded at Fort Croghan.  When paver pallets were to be unloaded, Roy and the forklift driver were at Fort Croghan to unload the pavers.

Roy Smith, the man with the soft-spoken German accent, has been a definite asset to Burnet County.
-written by Tommye Potts

-brick donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society in appreciation for his support

My grandmother’s family deeded an acre of land to be used for a school in the Council Creek area in 1912.
-Linda Swinney

Many early sheriffs served Burnet County. The following are among the most noteworthy:

The first sheriff of the newly organized Burnet County was J. C. Bradley. He served as sheriff from 1852-1854. Bradley was a good friend of Logan Vandeveer. Bradley was the foreman on the now famous cattle drive to Louisiana in 1855. Bradley came back to Burnet County, but Vandeveer died of yellow fever while in Louisiana.

Joseph Frederick Pangle was born November 16, 1844 in Tennessee and died February 2, 1919 in Burnet County, Texas. His funeral was held in the Burnet County Courthouse because of the large crowd in attendance.

Pangle came to Texas in 1866. He served Burnet County for 30 years in public capacity as sheriff, tax collector and commissioner. He was never defeated in an election. While riding with a group searching for marauding renegades, Pangle’s gun was accidentally discharged requiring amputation of his leg. He continued an active life; his handicap did not restrict his duties and service.

In late August of 1881, Sheriff Nimrod Johnson Miller, 37, left for Paul’s Valley in Indian Territory (modern day Oklahoma) in search of a man named W.P. Brown, who was wanted for a murder that occurred in Burnet County in February 1876. Sheriff Miller was last seen on September 1, 1881, in the Denison and Sherman, Texas area headed to Indian Territory. Shortly after that, reports of his death in Indian Territory were received, but his body and circumstances of his death were never discovered. In August of 1882, there was an unsubstantiated report of a man named Sam Paul, who was in the Fort Smith jail, stating that he witnessed the killing of a Sheriff Miller in Chickasaw County by a man named Sam Wood.

Wallace William Riddell was born December 4, 1890 and died February 11, 1978. He is buried in the Post Mountain Cemetery, Burnet County. He married Rachel Estella (Essie) Hollingsworth on September 8, 1920.

Wallace was a stock farmer, ginner and trucker. He served as sheriff of Burnet County from 1939-1978, the oldest and longest serving Texas sheriff at the time of his death. He was Burnet’s first Honor Citizen. Wallace Riddell Park is named in his honor.

On July 18, 2016, a bronze statue of Sheriff Riddell on a granite pedestal was relocated from the County Courthouse lawn to the grounds of the old Burnet County Jail on the Historic Square in downtown Burnet. The Riddell family residence was on the first floor of the Jail, and Mrs. Riddell cooked meals for the prisoners. Burnet County Judge James Oakley recalls that Sheriff Riddell “would deal with troubled youth, sit down and talk with them, sort of Mayberry-style and would alter their lives in a positive way without them having to go through the system.”
The old Jail is currently being restored as a museum and will open for tours.

References:
Daily Tribune, July 18, 2016
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. I, p.33, Vol. II, p. 239. 259
Find a Grave.com
-information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-brick donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Paul and Peggy Shell have been strong supporters of Burnet,
Burnet County and the Burnet County Heritage Society for many years.

Peggy was vice chair of the very FIRST Fort Croghan Day and has supported it from its inception. Paul has supported the Heritage Society with his time, money, expertise and care.

Their families are old Burnet County families and their hearts are in the care and upkeep of Fort Croghan.

-donated by Joy Taylor

I have decided to honor my father, Millard Shell, because he grew up in Burnet County, Texas. He left to serve his country in Vietnam.


--donated by Derek Shell

The immigrant Schlomachs should be remembered for their struggles and achievements in a troubled, post-Civil War Burnet County frontier. Louise’s brother, master stone mason, C.F. Andres, built many of Burnet’s first stone structures.

Second generation Schlomachs, Johan Gottlob and Trinnie, continued to farm and to bring domestication and stablility to Burnet.

Third generation, Carl Schlomach, helped to establish and to pastor many area Baptist congregations in the early and mid-20th century.

Schlomach family posterity still live and work in Burnet County.

Bob and Ruth Sandlin moved to Burnet County in 1976. They enjoyed 20 years of Hill Country retirement fishing on Lake Buchanan, hunting deer, and supporting Burnet’s Main Street Bethlehem project.

Bob, often recognized in the Burnet Bulletin for his fishing catches, (largest being a 60 pound blue cat) enjoyed providing fish dinners for family and friends.

Bob and Ruth were devoted members of First Baptist Church as were their daughter, longtime Burnet cosmetologist Judy Lightfoot, and their granddaughter, Bobette, who proudly wore her granddad’s name.

Donated by Judy Lightfoot

Sophia Sampson was affectionately known as “Aunt Sophia” by everyone in the Burnet community. Her remarkable story intersects with the early history of Burnet where she spent 70 of her 92 years of life.
Her obituary from the November 20, 1924 Burnet Bulletin describes her life in the language of the time:

Last Saturday evening, November 15, 1924, Aunt Sophia Sampson, (colored), Burnet’s oldest citizen died. Her remains were interred Sunday in the Old Cemetery, just as the rays of the sun were hidden behind Post Mountain, near where she had resided for an average life-time. There were more white people at her burial than people of her own race, and as earth fell upon her casket the solemnity of occasion was keenly felt by everyone present. Her grave was almost covered by beautiful flowers placed thereon by white friends.

Aunt Sophia was born in Columbia, South Carolina, January 18, 1832, making her at the time of her death 92 years, 9 months and 29 days of age. It is thought that she moved to Burnet in 1854, which would make her a resident of this place for 70 years. She was the oldest citizen of Burnet and had been a resident of this place longer than any other living person. Perhaps she resided in Burnet longer than any person ever has. She was about the last of the old-time Negroes born in slavery, of this section, and she had numerous white friends who keenly regret her death. For one of her age, her memory was remarkably keen and she could recount many things of interest connected with the early history of Burnet County. She is survived by several relatives in Burnet, who deeply mourn her departure.


U.S. Census Reports from 1870, 1880 and 1900 list Sophia Sampson as married to Robert Sampson since 1860 with 10 children, 8 of whom were living. Aunt Sophia’s occupation was listed as “washerwoman” and noted that she could not read or write. The 1900 U.S. Census Report lists Sophia and Robert as homeowners. The 1920 U.S. Census Report verifies that Sophia Sampson owned a home, mortgage free.

This home was the original Fort Croghan Hospital purchased from Zerilda E. Eubank as a place of residence by Sophia and Robert Sampson on November 4, 1870. According to documents on file at the Fort Croghan Museum, “they lived there for many years, having moved there before purchasing it. Aunt Sophia survived Uncle Bob several years.” In 1922, Sophia moved from the place and had the old hospital demolished. Since her death in 1924,”numerous heirs have owned the property among them, her daughters Aunt Sue Johnson, Beaulah Ezell and her granddaughter, Hester Jacobs of Burnet.”

Even though Aunt Sophia Sampson lived and died five years before Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, it is not hard to imagine that Dr. King would smile upon hearing Aunt Sophia’s story! Sophia Sampson was most certainly “judged by the content of her character”. She has a place in Fort Croghan’s Plaza of Honor.

References:
Burnet Bulletin, November 20, 1924
U.S. Census Reports
Fort Croghan Museum files

-submitted and donated by Cheryl J. Henderson & family

Ami G. and Martha Rutledge lived in Burnet County since before 1900. They lived in the Bachelor’s Peak, Naruna, and Lake Victor areas. They are buried in the Warner Cemetery by Lake Victor. Descendants still live in Burnet County today.

-donated by Elizabeth Johnston

Rotary, the world’s first service club, was founded on February 23, 1905 so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful lifelong friendships. The club was named “Rotary” to describe the practice of meeting at members’ various places of business.

Rotary is a global network of neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who work together to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene, save mothers and children, support education and grow local economies. Rotary began and remains committed to fellowship, integrity, diversity, service and leadership.

This brick is dedicated to the memory and service of T. L. Henderson,
a thirty-five year Rotarian in Iowa, Colorado and Texas.
T.L. exemplified Rotary’s motto: Service above Self.

James Dancer (J.D.) Riley was born in Travis County, Texas, November 25, 1851, to parents William McKendree Riley and Clementine Dancer Riley. He married Lumima Vaughan of Burnet County, Texas, in 1875. They had eight children. Lumima’s parents settled at Cedar Mills near Oatmeal in Burnet County in 1852. J.D. Riley died November 11, 1901, shortly before his 50th birthday.
J.D. Riley was a business partner with his wife’s brother Thomas Davis (T.D.) Vaughan at the Village of South San Gabriel in Burnet County about two miles south of the present town of Bertram. J.D. Riley was also postmaster at South San Gabriel and served as the first postmaster in the town of Bertram. He and T.D. Vaughan were partners in the grocery business.
When the railroad was built T.D. Vaughan provided land for the new town of Bertram. The Rileys, Vaughans, and other residents moved their businesses and homes by oxcart from the Village of South San Gabriel to the new town of Bertram in 1882.
James Dancer Riley’s father William was a Texas Ranger and served in the Mexican-American War 1846-48. William’s parents settled the Riley Mountain chain in Llano County in 1852.  James Dancer Riley’s mother Clementine was the daughter of Rev. Jonas Dancer who was killed by Indians in Llano County in 1859.

-Written by Milli Riley Williams, great-granddaughter of James Dancer Riley 

Jess and Winifred Rhoden moved to Burnet County in 1958. Mr. Rhoden, owner and operator of Rhoden Feed Mill, served on the Burnet I.S.D. School Board.
His wife Winifred was a teacher and librarian almost thirty years in the Burnet School System. After retirement, Winifred served fifteen years with Friends of the Library.

James K. Reeves was a seventh generation Texan.

His ancestor, Nathan W.G. Allen, was a member of the 1836 Texas Home Guard. Allen was at Gonzalez and probably knew Noah Smithwick.

Jim was also related to Jonathan Lindley, one of the fallen at the Alamo. This connection was through Elijah Collard Tolbert’s marriage to Lindley’s half-sister, Mahala. Tolbert’s grandfather, Elijah Collard, was a member of the 1836 Legislative Council.

Jim was a Texas living history reenactor and a member of the Burnet County Heritage Society.

--donated by Sara Reeves

In 1823 Stephen F. Austin announced he would supplement the Mexican government patrols with his own force of ten men, whom he paid out of his own pocket. On August 24, 1823 he wrote the order thus, the Rangers were born.
Unsatisfied with the protection the Mexican government provided, the Rangers were to protect the men and women living in his colony. Patrolling the roads and wilderness around the colony for thieves united with Indians. Many of the men who volunteered as Rangers lived in Austin’s colony and hoped their service would help protect their own families from attack from Indian raids from the West, Northwest, and South of the Rio Grande.
When the war with Mexico over the annexation of Texas erupted the following year, most of the Rangers were inducted into the Army and were part of the forces which invaded Mexico. After Texas won independence from Mexico, the Rangers continued to function in much the same way. Groups of volunteers were needed to patrol and protect the frontier, then disbanded when specific missions were done. Their departure left the Texas frontier practically and largely unguarded.
When Texas joined the United States in December 1845, the federal government assumed responsibility for guarding against Indians. It was this that brought about the recruitment of nine companies of Texas Rangers. They were stationed at intervals in an irregular line from near present-day Gainesville on the North to near Corpus Christi to the South.
One of these companies, commanded by Captain Henry E. McCulloch, was stationed about three miles south of the present city of Burnet on the John P. Rozier land grant. The site became known as McCulloch’s station.
Ranger records show that the site was occupied December 31, 1847. Although these Rangers were state forces, their salaries were paid by the United States government.
On March 20, 1848 the two houses of the Texas Legislature, by joint resolution, voted for legislators to establish a cordon of military forts to be located between the settlements to the East and the Indian country to the West. There were eight forts to be built. Fort Croghan was one of the forts.
Many men who are well known in Burnet County History were volunteers in the Rangers. To name a few: Vandeveer, Magill, Smithwick, Holland, Dorbandt and Covington.

More information can be found in Volume I, Burnet County History Book, page 9
Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Tommye Dorbandt Potts was born a century after her great-grandfather, Captain Christian Dorbandt, was stationed at Fort Croghan, as a 2nd U.S. Dragoon. She was born on the east side of Hamilton Creek, at Allen Clinic and Hospital, in Burnet, Texas, and now resides on the east bank of Hamilton Creek, in a house that her husband John built overlooking Hamilton Creek.

1n 1959, the Burnet County Historical Society, held an event at Fort Croghan, where Tommye was invited as a descendant of a pioneer.  From that moment on, she became aware of her heritage.  Tommye's mother, took her to the rock house on Highway 281, where the Konvicka family lived.  Captain Dorbandt built  the house in 1853, when he retired from the Army.  His daughter, Henrietta Dorbandt, was the first white female born in Burnet County, December 27, 1853. The house that Captain Dorbandt built for his wife, Ann, a native of Ireland, still stands outside of Bertram.  Tommye has been a member of Burnet County Historical
Commission over thirty years, as well as Burnet County Heritage Society, where she is a life member.

John Potts was born on the west side of Hamilton Creek at Shepperd Memorial Hospital.  He now resides on the east side of Hamilton Creek, in a house that he built overlooking Hamilton Creek, on land owned by his great-grandparents, the Ligons.  John lived with his grandparents, Winnie and V.H. Potts of Bertram, when he was a young child.  His grandparents owned V.H. Potts Grocery.  His great-grandfather, Robert Burns Potts owned Potts & Ater Bros. Merchantile in Bertram.

John joined the U.S. Army in 1964, and was stationed in Berlin, Germany, where he served as an honor guard at Spandau prison, where the only prisoner was Rudolf Hess, a war criminal.  In 1970, John purchased a sign company at Buchanan Dam, and later moved the company to Burnet.  He pioneered sand-blasting of wood and stone for signage.  The company manufactured all types of signage, including hand-painted billboards, electric signs, stone and wood sandblasted signs. He worked for Mr. Norman Hurd, the original developer of Horseshoe Bay.  John manufactured and installed signage for many resorts and subdivisions and shipped a 
sign to Saudia Arabia and to the State of Washington.  Working all over Texas, John lettered gold leaf signs for banks and attorney's offices.  John lettered and installed many signs for Fort Croghan, at no charge.  Judge Tom Ferguson valued John's friendship. John has been a member of Burnet County Historical Commission for over thirty years, as well as Burnet County Heritage Society, where he is a life member.
-written by Tommye Potts

-brick donated by the Henderson Family in recognition of Tommye & John’s service to Burnet County

Prior to 1916, R. B. Potts, V. H. Potts, L. D. Ater and A. J. Ater, a partnership, began a general mercantile business in Bertram. They advertised themselves as merchants and bankers.  It operated under the firm name of Potts and Ater Brothers with an unincorporated bank as a part of its business.  The business, including the bank, was located in a large brick building situated on Block 9 in Bertram. The business did a wide variety of business.  It advertised that they bought cotton, wool, grain and all kinds of county produce, everything the farmer needs.  

When the principal partner, Robert Burns Potts passed away in October, 1926, and all the accounts were settled later that month, the other partners Levi D. Ater, Virgil H. Potts, and Allen J. Ater were adjudged bankrupt, thus ending their banking endeavor. 

But that is not the rest of the story, in 1928 Virgil H. Potts and Mr. Cox became partners and ran a General Store. They continued business until about 1948 when Mr. Potts bought out Mr. Cox. Virgil Potts continued to run the store until his retirement in 1961.  

Several of the Potts and Ater families are buried in the Bear Creek Cemetery near Bertram. 

More information can be found in the Burnet County History Books, Vol. I & II.

-donated by Polly Krenek

What were the chances? A 28 year old bachelor Assistant County Agent from Floydada and a 27 year old single  mom, both members of the Methodist church and raised in humble circumstances, would meet at a 1955 State 4-H  Meeting, fall in love and marry in Burnet nine months later? That was the beginning of a combined life of community service and a deep, abiding love. 
Born the last child of four to Minnie Alice and Percy Lee Orman, Macyl lived on a small cotton farm 20 miles near  Floydada. At 16, when his mother died, he and his dad moved into his grandparent’s home in Floydada. Macyl’s best  friend, Fred Martin, asked his parents if Macyl could move in with them because the elder Ormans didn’t have room. The Martins were a successful farming family that owned the local John Deere dealership. Living with them, Macyl learned to drive new big tractors, combines and fly a crop duster. He was Student Body President his Senior Year and Captain of the football team. Working after school with his dad at Piggly Wiggly’s Grocery, or on weekends at the movie theater (fueling a lifelong love of movie going) his summers were spent driving farm equipment and farming the Martin’s land. One summer he actually vacationed at Buchanan Lake after driving farm equipment with two other youth and the generous Floyd County farmer. 
Lillie Beth was born in Big Spring and spent her life moving, as her father purchased small ranches and/or houses, repairing and improving them. She lived in West Texas; El Cajon, California; graduated from the Arkansas Rogers High  School; and then attended Business School in Oklahoma City, followed by courses at the San Angelo Hair Dressing School.  Marrying in 1948, she moved to Crane becoming a hair dresser, and had her daughter, Glenna Bell. Two years later, she divorced; she and Glenna Bell moved to Burnet with her parents to start a new life in 1953. 
Macyl enlisted in the US Army after high school graduation, served two years, and then enrolled at Texas A&M on  the GI Bill. He was a member and high ranking officer of the B Battery Artillery Unit. When he graduated with a degree  in Agriculture Education, he became a Veteran’s Ag Instructor in Hale Center. Then he enlisted in the Korean War and was  stationed in Germany. After his return, he attended Texas Tech and received his Masters degree in Agriculture. After  marrying Lillie Beth, Macyl started working as the first and only Agricultural Agent for the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad  and became a lobbyist a few years later. Their son, Cody Lee, was born in 1957 and Lillie Beth excelled in her role as a “stay at home” mom, cooking, sewing, and knitting. She was a member of the Methodist Women’s Circle and the Orman’s  helped the Westcliff Methodist Church grow and expand to a large congregation. Starting in 1957, Macyl would travel to  Burnet, sometimes with the family, and manage the Sage Ranch. 
In 1966, Macyl used his GI Loan to purchase a small ranch just outside Burnet on Texas 29 East. Two years later  the Orman’s purchased Sherrard Four Oaks Ranch from Glenda and Jack Fry. Shortly thereafter, they purchased a house  on North Water, to live in while remodeling the historic 100 year old stone, two story house on the Four Oaks Ranch. 
After 15 years with the railroad, Macyl took a position for 21 years as the Chief Appraiser for the Texas Land Board.  As soon as the Orman’s moved to Burnet, Macyl was elected to the Board of Directors for the Burnet County Farm Bureau,  the Burnet County Fair and Rodeo Association, served many positions at the First United Methodist Church, sang in the  FUMC Joy Choir, and helped start the Hill Country National Bank. Macyl survived two bouts with cancer and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army Reserve and was an integral part of the lives of his family. 
Lillie Beth was a 4-H Foods and Clothing Leader, sang in the FUMC Joy Choir, prepared numerous dishes for church  dinners, Bethel EE Club, and Pen Chat Club luncheons. Her kids and grandkids were the hit of the Burnet County Stock  Show, sharing “Grandma’s” homemade treats. The Ormans were proud grandparents of four, Nathan Orman, Crissy  Orman, Jessica Orman Kates, and Dustin Orman; seven greats joined later; one they never met, Macyl Kade Orman, born  in 2021. Both Cody Lee and his daughter graduated from Tarleton State University, and grandson Dustin, started his own construction business managed from the Four Oaks. Glenna Bell graduated from Christ for the Nations Institute and spent a lifetime in the ministry and lay ministry. After retiring, the Orman’s traveled in the US, Canada and Europe. As Lillie Beth aged, she became incapacitated and Macyl became her full time caregiver. Lillie Beth passed on in 2008, after 53 years of marriage. Macyl continued to live at the Four Oaks until his death from cancer in 2017. His private library of over 3,000 books was donated to Texas A&M University-Central Texas Library. He and Lillie Beth are buried at Lakeland Hills Cemetery.

Prepared by their daughter Glenna Bell Orman-Wilson 10.30.21

My first memories were at three year old of age on the Bell Sage Ranch, CR 203 near the Bethel Community. I  raided my grandmother’s chicken house of eggs to make “egg shampoo” at the nearby rock cattle water trough. I also  remember the time my grandmother, Beulah Bell, was driving me to Sunday church. The passenger door flew open and I  started sliding out the door on my stomach. She grabbed my arm, holding me still and pulled the car to a stop at the curb. Sunday mornings I would stand on the wooden pew next to her at the Burnet Methodist Church and sing at the top of my  voice out of the Cokesbury Hymnal. Never mind that I couldn’t read! I got my first horse when I was three, Bimbo, a half  Shetland half Quarter horse and a saddle that just fit me. She was my “babysitter” as I would ride her for hours every  day. My single mom, Lillie Beth, and my grandmother knew I was safe and out of trouble if I was on Bimbo. 
In 1955, Mom met a single Assistant Count Agent from Hale Center, Macyl Keith Orman, at a State 4-H Meeting in  Kerrville. When the meeting was over, he followed her to Crane, Texas to pick me up. Nine months later, “we” got married  at the Burnet Methodist Church. We immediately moved to Fort Worth, as my dad had been hired as the first and only  Agricultural Agent for the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad. My little heart broke as I left behind Bimbo. In 1957, when my  brother Cody Lee was born, my mother was gifted the Bell Sage Ranch by her dad. The following years, we made numerous  weekend trips to the Burnet Ranch to check on livestock, and visit our dear neighbors Anne Mae and Arlyn Glimp. 
I was very shy and didn’t have many friends in school. We attended Westcliff Methodist Church and I was a member of the MYF. Cody and I got horses when I was a sophomore at Paschal High School and we joined the Crowley  Riding Club, riding in the Ft. Worth Stock Show Parade and competing in weekend Playdays. Then we joined the Citywide  4-H Club and showed Registered Rambouillet sheep in state stock shows. My junior year at R.L. Paschal, my amazing Home Economics teacher, Mrs. Butsky, placed a teen cook off entry blank on my desk as she walked by, saying, “Glenna,  why don’t you enter this.” So, I took it home, and my mother and I put our heads together, tweaking one of her best  friend’s church cookbook recipes, Apple Nut Pudding with Rum Sauce, which was Sunny Allen Tackett’s recipe. Four  months later, with my picture on the front page of the Fort Worth and Dallas newspapers, I was the Grand Prize Winner  of the 2nd Annual Adam’s Extract Teen Bake Off. Two week long trips for two to Mexico and Acapulco, one for Mrs. Butzky  and one for me was the prize. 
Our family moved to Burnet in the summer of 1967. Representing Burnet County in the Farm Bureau Queen’s  Contest and Talent Find, I won the District Talent Find, going to the state competition playing the organ. That summer I  also played the organ at the State 4-H Roundup at Texas A&M. Attending Southwest Texas State University (now Texas  State University) I was one of the first women to major in Agriculture. My sophomore year I was nominated for Texas  A8M’s Cotton Queen, and was the A&M Veterinarian Club’s Sweetheart, my picture being displayed in the Aggie yearbook. 
Fast forward…my life has been like an adventure novel! I’ve worked in Mexico, traveled the world, graduated from Christ for the Nations Institute and was a Minister. Thirteen marvelous years were spent in Montana where I co pastored a church and served as local and state Chaplain for the Montana Jaycees (1992 Top Three Chaplain Award). I  was the lead act in the Butte Junior League Extravaganza fundraiser and then I worked seven years in the D.C. area. In  2002, my dad developed cancer and I moved back to Burnet to assist in caring for my parents. Working for numerous  businesses, I volunteered at many non-profits: VP and Muster Chair of the Highland Lakes A&M Club, VP of the Highland  Lakes Family Crisis Center, VP of the Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association, Adult Volunteer - Burnet County 4-H  Horse Club, Secretary for both the Burnet County Fair & Rodeo Association and Secretary of the County Fair, President Bethel Extension Education Club with 2 years as “Song Leader” at TEEA State Meetings. Hosting four international  students kept me young at heart, and I volunteered musically at numerous community events like Christmas at Old Fort  Croghan and singing in Burnet and Lampasas Community Choirs. Weekends, I usually worked as a church organist/music  director in the area, and in 2019 I underwent chaplain training. A life-long dream of riding in the Fort Worth Stock Show  Rodeo Grand Entry was achieved in 2020. It’s hard to believe that I was a small church organist/pianist/choir director  for 52 years! Following the internet dating trend, I was blessed to meet a compassionate retired teacher/coach/horse  trainer, Chuck Wilson, who lived in Republic, Washington. We were married in September 2021 and the thrill of a new  life now energizes me! “Happy trails to you, until we meet again!”
Glenna Bell Orman-Wilson 10.30.31

The Oatmeal Home Demonstration Club was originally organized in Burnet County in 1935. The first county yearbook (1936) documented fourteen clubs in the county. Officers for the newly organized Oatmeal Club were: Mrs. Granville Knox, President; Mrs. Agatha Lanier, Vice President/Council Delegate; Mrs. Dora Massey, Secretary/Treasurer; Miss Mildred Lester, Reporter; Mrs. Carrie Gilcrease, Wardrobe Demonstrator, and Mrs. Sallie Reed, Home Food Supply Demonstrator. 

Meetings were held in members’ homes with only their finest dinnerware being used at refreshment time. Members always dressed in their Sunday best and it was not unusual for them to wear hats and gloves.  In later years the club often met at the Oatmeal Community Center where they quilted and made ceramics.  They were very supportive of the Oatmeal 4-H Club.  The club was documented as inactive in 1989. 

In October 2013 the Oatmeal Extension Education Club reorganized and is a very active addition to the Burnet County group.  Meeting at the Community Center the club supports the local Oatmeal Festival, the Burnet County Fair, and hosted the first Oatmeal Community Christmas dinner similar to those that were held over 50 years ago.  Membership of the Club consists of several third-generation members of the original members in 1935. 

-donated by Oatmeal E.E. Club

Oatmeal is not, nor has it ever been a town. It is a rural community, the second oldest settlement in Burnet County.

A German family named Habermill arrived in the vicinity in 1849 in an ox-drawn wagon. The family whose name in English purportedly meant “Oatmeal,” spent a season or two in the vicinity on the head spring of what is now known as Oatmeal Creek. They soon left for parts unknown and were never heard of again. Sometime after the pioneer Habermill family moved on, a resident (James C. Hill) of the section sent his sons out to look for straying livestock. He instructed them, “First, look for them around Oatmeal Spring, then go down the creek.” From that day until the present, it has been Oatmeal Spring, Oatmeal Creek, and Oatmeal community.

When Burnet was created by the Texas Legislature in 1852, Oatmeal and Burnet were the principal contenders for the county seat. John R. Scott, Jr. was elected the first Chief Justice of Burnet County (the office is now known as County Judge), and was an outstanding citizen in the early days of the county. Scott and his family were some of the earliest settlers at Oatmeal. A post office was established at Oatmeal on December 13, 1853 with John R. Scott, Jr. as the first postmaster. The post office remained until 1876. The first orchard in the county was located at Oatmeal, and the first and only cheese press in the county operated there.

The first Oatmeal school, a log structure, was built about 1858. It was on the Robert Lewis homestead alongside Oatmeal Creek. By 1869, the community had outgrown the school. A rock mason was hired to build a new bigger school on the top of the hill above the first school. The man was paid $65 and given a gun for building the structure. It was used for a school and a church and still stands today (2021) and is the meeting house for the Oatmeal Church of Christ. The story goes that the building was put on top of the hill so the teacher could watch for Indians. The only known brush arbor in the area (erected in 1903) is found just south and across the road from the Oatmeal Church of Christ. Many gospel meetings were held there over the years. At the far eastern edge of the property donated for the school, lies Oatmeal Cemetery. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Burnet County. A third school was built in 1924 and existed until the spring of 1948 when it consolidated with Bertram. The building still stands and is used as a community center (2021).

George Nagiller built a gin in the 1870s. It served as a local landmark until 1907. The Nagiller gin served the Oatmeal community and neighboring communities. It was later sold to Emanual Schnell.

After the Civil War, a colony of former slaves settled in the eastern part of the community. They built homes along a straight lane, constructed a building for use as a church and school, and established the only all-black cemetery in the county. The settlement, known as Stringtown, ceased to exist by the 1920s.

Further information regarding Oatmeal may be found in the Burnet County History , Volume I.

Oatmeal Church of Christ is the oldest Church of Christ in Texas.  The Church has been meeting there since the rock building was built in 1869 as a combined school and church.  It was actually the second school as the first school built in 1858 was soon out grown. Oatmeal is the second oldest community in Burnet County being founded in 1849.  

The limestone building was built by Tom Woodard, a stone mason, for $65 dollars and a gun. Because of the scarcity of money, he was paid by script in which he had to cash at the general merchandise store. 

Not only was the building used as a school and church but it also used as the post office. Oatmeal had a post office from 1853 to 1876.  It was said that the building was put on the hill so teachers could watch for Indians. 

Burnet County Historical Commission placed a historical marker on the building in 1968.  The rock building looks very muchly like it did when it was built. Of course, new windows and wooden floors have been added as new paint and plaster on the walls covering the carved initials left by many young people.  

Many of the congregation today are third and fourth generations of a family to attend church services. Members of the congregation have come into the church on Sunday morning to find a note, and sometimes cash, left by someone who happened by during the week and visited the old building. It has memories seeping from the walls. 

Many young preachers began their careers in that congregation and went on to become great teachers and preachers in their time.  Services have been held nearly every week to the present day except when there was a lot of illness among the members, or the weather bad enough to keep everyone home.

The men of the congregation built a brush arbor, just under the hill in 1903 for summer church services and summer revival meetings, with lunch on the grounds. The arbor is still standing today and is said to be the only one in the United States. 

The Church of Christ in Oatmeal dated back even before the rock building in 1869. Services were conducted in an old tabernacle in a pasture for several years. People came in wagons, buggies, and on horseback, gathering usually on Friday evening and camping together until Sunday night. 

More information can be found in the 1968 Burnet Bulletin. Burnet County History Book, Volume I, pages 126 and 127.
-donated by Joyce Edwards & Carolyn Smith

Roy Howell Oakley was the second child born to George Albert Oakley and Caroline Mallett in northeast Burnet County near the Bethel Community. Both of his parents were born in Burnet County. They lived on what was then known as the “Mallett Place”. It is still standing and is located near FM 963. In 1936, his father was penning the farm animals during freezing weather, developed pneumonia and died on February 7th and is buried in the Dobeyville Cemetery. 
 
Roy’s paternal grandparents were George Monroe Oakley and Frances “Fanny” Watson. They were married in Richardson, Texas, moved in 1891 and lived near Bluffton on Fannie’s old homeplace. It was located on the creek which resulted from the waterfall at White Bluff, and the site is now under the waters of Lake Buchanan. All of the graves on the Watson place were moved to the new Bluffton Cemetery in Llano County.
 
Roy says can remember Lake Buchannan before it was filled with water. He thinks he was about 5 or 6 years old. “They cut all the trees down and burned all the brush. The lake filled up in just a few days instead of a few years as expected. He stated that he had seen 17 of the 32 floodgates opened at Buchanan Dam.”  
  
After his father’s death, his mother, Caroline, was left to raise two young sons under the age of eight. The year before her husband’s death, the Rural Electrification Association (REA) had been established by the Federal Government. She was hired as one of the first bookkeepers for the newly formed Pedernales Electric Cooperative. At first the small family had a frame house behind the office. The company would help pay for employees to move, so the Oakley’s moved from Lampasas to Burnet to Johnson City and then back to Lampasas.  
 
Roy graduated from Lampasas High School in 1950, he was the first male cheerleader for LHS. On June 5th of that year 75,000 members of the North Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea, thus started the first military action of the Cold War. Roy realized he was probably going to get drafted, so he got a job with the City of Lampasas installing transformers on electric poles. Since he was, “…good at climbing.” He changed out light bulbs on big antenna towers, earning $5.00 for each level of lights. Roy had a second job earning $3.00 for 12 hours of work on Saturday at Otto Lang’s grocery store. 
 
For three weeks that summer he also teamed up with five buddies, built a camper bed in the back of a 1950 pickup and took off to the west coast, then up to Canada. His part of the trip cost him $100. At the end of the summer, he received his draft notice. He spent two years in Germany.Prior to graduation, he had gotten a chauffeur’s license and learned how to type, so the Army wanted him to drive a semi-truck or work in the office. Roy declined both positions. He was finally placed in the signal corps running communication lines. In the summer he worked at a camp in the Black Forest for American dependents. 
 
He was interested in chemistry and was offered a chance to go into a business, so he earned his pharmacy degree in 1959 at the University of Houston with his GI Bill. He returned to Burnet to be near his mother. Roy went into business with his partner, who had bought out Roy Fry’s Drug Store on the west side of the square in Burnet. The new Drug Store was named Albritton & Oakley and later moved to 107 W. Polk Street, just a half a block from the intersection of US 281 and TX 29 and later known as A&O Drug Store.  The store on Polk Street was not only a pharmacy. It had a soda fountain, with tables, booths and stools around a table high serving bar. It was a great place to meet and socialize. One could not only get a soda and Ice cream, but coffee, great vanilla Coke’s and the best pimento cheese sandwich in Burnet. Customers could also buy a large variety of gifts, greeting cards and different sundry items. 
 
Roy remembers that a guy came in one time and got a bowl of chili at the counter and pulled out $1000 bill. “That’s all I got” he said, obviously a part of a scam. The guy asked if anyone in the store could change it. A Burnet County resident from out by North Morgan Creek stood up, pulled out a wad of bills from his overalls and made change for him.  
 
In 1963 he met and married Norma Sue “Pokey” Gibbs Snider. She had been raised in Burnet, but was a widow, whose husband M.L. Snider, had been killed in a private airplane crash. Pokey had moved back to Burnet with her three children, Eddie, Sue, and Alan, to be close to her family. After marrying Roy, they had two sons, George and James. Roy and Pokey’s first date was attending a Burnet High School football game.  In 1966, the family moved from town where the dwelling had won “yard of the month” to a new bigger house on acreage out on the Old San Saba Road.  Roy planted an irrigated pecan orchard there and had to hire a drill truck to dig the holes. 
 
On March 11,1973, a tornado hit Burnet about 4:30 AM. The Oakley home was spared, but not the business in town. It took out all the glass at the pharmacy, but contents of the store were damaged and the building was not secure from the possibility of looting. At first Roy took a shotgun down to the store and guarded the inventory. National Guard units, the Highway Patrol, Army detachments from Fort Hood and state wildlife officers took over Protecting Burnet. Later the town was sealed off by the police to prevent looting of shattered shops.
 
Roy served on the Burnet School Board for 12 years.  He was on that board when the tornado hit. The Junior High School building, which had been the old High School building on Brier Street, was totally destroyed. The Federal Government provided funds for a new building, but a bond election had to be called to rebuild and relocate the school after the tornado. Two years earlier Burnet and Bertram had consolidated, and the Bertram campus had two buildings that were not being used. The structures were re-opened and all 6th, 7th & 8th grade students in the new Burnet Consolidated Independent School District attended classes in Bertram until the new structure could be built on the grounds next to the High School on Main Street, north of TX 963. 
 
Roy also served on the Burnet City Council, President of the Burnet Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the Salvation Army for nearly 20 years. While serving Burnet as an elected official he helped open the Kate Craddock Airport and other building programs for the city. He also served on the Seton Hospital Board and was there for the new hospital that was built on US 281.  
 
After their children were grown, they sold the store.  Roy said the license was #15 in the state of Texas and the number had been transferred from owner to owner. That number was retired by the state when he sold the business.  The couple traveled around the country and did some foreign cruises with friends. He continued to fish, play tennis, and golf and then graduated to pickle ball. After Pokey passed away in 2012, he met and married Freddie. Roy says, “Freddie is quite the lady and keeps me going now.”
 
Roy Howell Oakley is a man who has very deep roots in Burnet County. He was raised by a woman who, when left as a widow to raise two children, decided it was up to her to do the job, because she had to. He has taken that drive and determination with him thru his entire life. He cherishes and respects the past, has done what he could for the present and just keeps going forward. He is a person who deserves to be a “Citizen of Honor”, in Burnet County.
 The Family of
JUDGE JAMES OAKLEY
ROY OAKLEY INTERVIEW NOTES 
My grandmother and grandfather first came to Burnet County in 1891. They had nine children and my grandfather had a thrashing business. The house where I was born in 1932 was in Burnet County and is still standing. My father was a farmer and animal raiser and our place was on what is now FM-963  near Bethel. It was part of the Mallett land, which is my mother’s side. He was penning animals in wet freezing weather, caught pneumonia, and died in just a few days when I was 2 years old.   He died leaving mother with two children, myself, and older brother Albert, and is buried in the Dobeyville Cemetery.  
 
My mother became a bookkeeper for PEC. It was common practice back then to help move employee’s furniture with their line worker trucks. At one point, we lived in a small frame house, right behind (south side) the PEC offices. The house is gone now, but mother could walk out the back door and right into the offices without crossing a street. They moved us from Lampasas to Burnet to Johnson City and back to Lampasas. This was in the 1940s. It was slow going at first coming out of a depression, things were plenty tough.  During the war they used to have scrap metal drives. An aluminum can got you a ticket into the movie house. 
 
I saw Lake Buchannan before they filled it. I was about 5 or 6 years old. They cut all the trees down and burned all the brush. The lake filled up in just a few days instead of a few years as people expected. I’ve seen 17 of the 32 floodgates opened at Buchanan Dam.  
 
During my teenage years, I lived in Burnet County but went to school in Lampasas and graduated in 1950. I was the first male cheerleader in Lampasas High School, we had a lot of fun. Upon graduation, I knew I was going to get drafted into the Korean War soon. With that letter looming, I got a job with the City of Lampasas putting in transformers on the electric poles. Since I was good at climbing, I also changed out the light bulbs on the big antenna tower. I got $5 for each of the 3 levels. I also worked at a grocery store owned by Otto Lang for 12 hours every Saturday for $3 a day.
 
A group of 5 of us that ran around together in high school, got a 1950 pickup and built a homemade camper for the bed. We took off to El Paso, then to the west coast and up to Oregon and crossed over up into Canada. We traveled for three weeks, 10,000 miles, just camping out.  Cost me $100 for my part of that trip. Another time we took a 5,000 mile trip. We ran an average of 400 miles a day.  
 
Eventually that summer, I was indeed drafted into the army and spent time in Germany. Before I graduated high school, I had gotten a chauffeur’s license. The army saw that I could drive anything, so they wanted me to drive a semi-truck, more commonly known as a “deuce and a half” into Berlin. I didn’t want to do that, so I declined. I could type so they wanted me to work in the office, but I didn’t want to do that either. Finally, I got into the signal corps running communication lines. I also worked at a summer camp in the Black Forest for American dependents (families of the officers). A friend of mine and I were in charge all summer. I was the same age as the counselors, so we had a good time. After three months, I got paid more than the company commander. Spent two years in military and got to see a lot of Europe.  
 
I got interested in chemistry and had a chance to get into a business so got my pharmacy degree with the GI bill in 1959 from the University of Houston. I returned to Burnet because I wanted to be near my mother.    
 
The pharmacy was on the west side of the square (Originally called Fry Drugstore). With the pharmacy hosting a soda fountain, it was a fun social place, like a coffee shop. We changed the name of the store to Albritton & Oakley, and it became known as just A&O to most folks. Pharmacy business changed when insurance companies got involved. Clyde Debo was my accountant for years and years along with Jo Hammond working retail and Lois Tippie running the soda fountain. We moved from the square to our new store at Highway 281 and Highway 29. It also had a soda fountain and counter with stools. A guy came in one time and got himself a bowl of chili at the counter and pulled out $1000 bill. “That’s all I got” he said, part of a scam. Said, “Can anyone change it?” One of the Fry’s from out by North Morgan Creek stood up, pulled out a wad of bills from his overalls and made change for him.  
 
I met and married Pokey (Norma Sue Gibbs) in 1963. Our first date was a Burnet High School football game. She was widowed as her husband, M. L. Snider, had been killed in a private airplane crash. She had three children, Eddie, Sue, and Alan. After marriage, George was born in 1964 and James in 1965. In 1966, we moved from town where I’d won “yard of the month” to a new bigger house on acreage built by Darrell Leech out on the Old San Saba Road.  I planted an irrigated pecan orchard there. I hired a drill truck to dig the holes. 
 
In 1973, the tornado hit Burnet about 4:30 in the morning. It took out all the glass at the pharmacy, but it was mostly fine. I took a shotgun down with me to control inventory. That store license was #15 in the state of Texas and the number used to transfer from owner to owner. That number was retired by the state when I sold the business.  
 
I was on the Burnet School Board for 12 years.  While on board, we had a bond election to rebuild the school after the ‘73 tornado tore it up.  The government gave us emergency money, but we couldn’t build bigger than the old building. So, we got creative and put an open air plaza in the middle of what is now the middle school, that was enclosed in later years. They also  didn’t want us to upgrade to carpet, so we explained how the old building had hardwood oak floors. The adjuster quickly changed his tune to allow the carpet “upgrade.” We did the consolidation with Bertram schools, a rival. We made a deal with them that required two representatives on the board, so we had a new school board election.  
 
I was on the Burnet City Council for several years and was President of the Chamber of Commerce in ’64 - ‘65. We had just opened the Kate Craddock Airport. It was moved from the end of Kerr Street near the old rodeo grounds. Hill Street was the old air strip. We had several building programs. I was the chairman in the Salvation Army, did that for 15-20 years. We had a cashbox for transients and offered overnight stay in the jail, but no one took us up on that offer.    
 
I also served on the Seton Hospital Board and was there for the new hospital and support offices construction. Over the years, John Hoover & Jim Luther could sure make things happen around town and it was good to work with them on projects. 
 
After selling the store, Pokey and I traveled around the country and did some foreign cruises with friends, etc. I continued to fish, play tennis, and golf and then graduated to pickle ball. After Pokey passed, I met and married Freddie. Freddie is quite the lady and keeps me going now.

Lorenzo (Ren) Nichols was a Burnet native—and Vivian (Halsel) Nichols got here from Devine, Texas as soon as she could. In addition to his work life, Ren was active in Boy Scouting, the Red Cross and most notably in the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department—a 50 year+ member.

Vivian had her own business (Vivian’s Beauty Shop) for decades, starting at two locations
“on the square” as they say—then later on Pierce Street.

Both were active in the Burnet County Heritage Society.

Donated by Winifred Rhodes

Cranz and Elizabeth (Rhoden) Nichols were both Burnet High School products. Elizabeth went on to Texas A & M while Cranz went to UT in Austin.

Elizabeth was a talented and award-winning elementary school teacher for decades in Burnet. She left quite a legacy. Cranz taught physics and later did laboratory work in metallurgical and petrochemical labs.

They were glad to get back to Burnet County in retirement. Both the Aggie and the Longhorn were proud of the contribution to Burnet by both families (Nichols and Rhoden).

Donated by Winifred Rhoden

Ernest C. Newton Sr. married Lillie Grace Pogue on May19, 1919 in Burnet. Ernest served in World War I and passed away October 31, 1921 while in active duty.

Lillie Grace was a member of the First Baptist Church of Burnet.

Ernest and Lillie had two sons, Douglas and Ernest.

Donated by the children of Ernest and Audrey

Ernest C. Newton married his English bride, Audrey Grimwood April 18, 1945 while stationed in England serving in World War II.

They returned to the U.S. to make their home in Burnet where Ernest’s family lived. While employed by LCRA, he was Field Engineer for projects on Buchanan Dam and Max Starkey Dam. He retired in 1985 after 35 years with the Texas Highway Department.

Audrey was a homemaker and active lifelong member of the Episcopal Church of Burnet. Ernest was a member of the First Baptist Church.

Ernest and Audrey had four children.

Donated by the children of Ernest and Audrey Newton

JoAnn was a familiar face and voice in Burnet County. She was a woman of many interests, deep beliefs, strong opinions, and a deep love of her family.  She took these and took action, involving herself in many community groups  including the Burnet County Genealogical Society, Friends of the Herman Brown  Free Library, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of the American  Revolution, Burnet County Historical Commission, Burnet County Heritage  Society, and Crime Stoppers. An active participant in all of these, her organizational skills, honed by years of working in the Civil Service and serving  as a military wife, will be greatly missed. 
Born in Harrison, AR, JoAnn graduated from Grapevine High School in  Grapevine, TX, and Draughn’s Business School in Dallas. A few months after  graduation, she married Robert Mack Myers, Sr., in Ft. Worth, TX. Bob’s Air  Force career took the family all over the United States, and even to Torrejon,  Spain for three years. Returning from Spain, they lived in Idaho for two years  and then ended up in San Antonio, TX, where they lived until retirement in 1997,  moving then to Burnet. 
Here they built their family home known as “the Deer Camp.” It was a  busy retirement, filled with family, friends, and volunteer activities. JoAnn  cooked, sewed, crocheted, and made memories with her children and  grandchildren. Her family history was important. She believed knowing your  history, where you came from, was just as important as where you were going,  so she worked diligently to preserve Burnet’s history and to make it available to  the community. Her presence is felt at the Library and here at Ft. Croghan, the  site of this Plaza of Honor. Her brick is proudly donated by the Friends of the  Herman Brown Free Library. 

Writing this, I can tell you that I will miss JoAnn’s smile, her green crocheted  poncho (I never learned how to make one!), and her insistence on proper policies  and procedures….we are working on them, JoAnn! Sleep in peace.         

Submitted by Linda Dyke   

William Taylor “Brack” Morris joined the Texas Rangers in 1881. In 1896 he was

elected Sheriff of Karnes County. He served half of his life as an officer-of-the-law.

While serving his third term as Sheriff of Karnes County, “Brack” was shot and

killed by notorious outlaw Gragorio Cortez on June 12, 1901.

Burnet County historian, Darrell Debo, recorded in his comprehensive work: “…it should be noted that of the 79 signatures on the petition to create Burnet County, dated December 17,1851, some 45-48 of those names are from the Mormon colony.”  Responding to the petition, the Texas legislature passed a bill creating Burnet County, on February 5, 1852. The colony, known as the “Mormon Mill” community, had become indispensable to the creation of a civil government on the Texas frontier. Yet the strands of events, leading Mormons to Texas, belong to a larger story.  
Among the significant chapters in America’s western migration, one tells of a religious congregation called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).  These amazing people, both devout and practical, communitarian, authoritarian, yet preserving their individualism and American identity, followed the prophetic visions of Joseph Smith who led them toward a western Zion.  Unlike many pioneers, the Mormons were pushed West on occasion by persecution. Those who disagreed with their practice of polygamy, (multiple marriage) expelled them from many states East of the Mississippi River.
When Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844, the congregation scattered into foreboding diaspora.  The most successful of these movements was led by Brigham Young, but there were others.  Lyman Wight, a high-ranking member of the church’s Quorum of Apostles, eventually led his band of believers to Texas. After several failures to create sustainable grain and lumber mills along unpredictable Texas rivers, the community settled along Hamilton Creek in 1851. 
While initially cautious in negotiating with earlier settler, Noah Smithwick, they soon created a village of craftsmen, merchants and farmers who energized the economic and social life of the frontier they helped to domesticate. From the mill came processed food and lumber for building.  From its shops came manufactured furniture, washtubs, baskets and other needful products. 
Yet by 1853, this industrious community, laboring under familiar prejudice, debt, and marauding Indians, followed Wight in his decision to sell the property and to move further west on the Medina River. In March 1858 Lyman Wight died. Some of his community moved away.  Others such as the patriarch’s sons, Lyman and Levi Wight, remained in Texas, enlisting later with Confederate forces as Civil War seized the nation. 
The mill continued to operate under new ownership, until abandoned in 1902.  Today, the site is little more than a graveyard, located on private property, closed to the public except for limited access to those whose ancestors are buried in the Mormon Mill cemetery.  But now also, a piece of the Mormon settlement lives. Part of its stone walls were used in constructing a model log cabin, standing today in Houston’s Herman Park, testifying to the threads of the Mormon story woven into the fabric of Texas’ story, perhaps most prominently in Burnet County.
By Jeff Townsend

  For more information see: Debo, Burnet County History; Smithwick, Evolution of a State.
  
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Members of the Minton family were some of the early pioneers in Burnet County, first settling in the Dobyville community in the northern end of the county.

Sam Minton with his younger brother John, two sisters and four young sons came to the Dobyville area and established a home. They had left their native state of Tennessee and stopped on the way in Missouri where the youngest son Charlie was born. Sam Minton was the first recorded Minton to be born in Burnet County in 1880. 

The Minton family has been farming and ranching since they settled in Burnet. They have made many contributions to the growth of Burnet County--from the Candy Store in old Lake Victor to a Gift and Flower Shop on the Square in Burnet. And today their descendants are bringing high-speed internet to the Hill Country. 

Many Minton's have served in the military. Charles D. Minton served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He was a Purple Heart and Silver Star recipient.  Harold D. Minton, his brother, served and retired from the U.S. Army as well.

The Minton family continues to contribute to Burnet County's growth through entrepreneurship and looks forward to the future.

-donated by Austin W. Minton

Carroll Winfred McCoy, a sixth generation native of Burnet County, was born 24 October 1929 at his Grandparents' Wood's home in Lake Victor.  He was the only child of Leslie Traweek and Annie Mae Wood McCoy.  Carroll graduated from Briggs High School in 1947 and then attended Texas A&M College where he participated in ROTC and obtained a bachelor’s degree in agriculture in 1951.  He received a few demerits while in ROTC for being out of uniform, since cowboy boots were not seen as proper foot attire to wear with a uniform.  As the saying goes, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” After graduation, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force. 
Carroll married Juanice Reavis of Oakalla in March 1952 prior to leaving for active duty in April 1952. Carroll and Juanice had two children, Carolyn and Doug.  With Carroll being in the Air Force, the family lived numerous places, but Carroll’s favorite assignment was to Izmir, Turkey for three years where he was the Detachment Commander and handled personnel and administrative issues.  Carroll loved learning about other cultures and took the family on visits to Athens, Greece, Germany and the Holy Lands. He also joined a hunting club in Izmir to help kill the wild boar that were destroying gardens and orchards in villages.  Carroll’s most stressful assignment was the four years he spent at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. where he was assigned to a phase of war planning and readiness.   During his military career he received three Commendation Medals and three Meritorious Service Medals among other awards.   His last assignment was in Lubbock where he discharged as a Lt. Colonel from the Air Force after 23 years of service on 30 November 1975.
Carroll and Juanice built a country home on McCoy family land in 1976 and began ranching full time.  They enjoyed raising Red Brangus cows and later also Black Angus/Red Brangus mix.  They also raised wool sheep and then later switched over to hair sheep (Barbados and Dorpers). At one time they raised pigs.  Carroll plowed pastures and harvested hay.  They grew some of their own vegetables in their own garden like their parents had done.
One day a lightning strike set one of the pastures on fire.  Carroll tried to explain to the Burnet Fire Department where the fire was but they couldn't find it so the pasture burned.  After that incident Carroll decided to run for County Commissioner.  He served 12 years in Pct. 2 from 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1998.  He was implemental in getting all the Burnet County roads numbered so emergency personnel could locate their callers.
Carroll served on and supported many community organizations.  He continually offered financial support to the Oakalla and Briggs Fire Departments.   For a while, he was President of the Briggs Community Association and also Burnet Farm Bureau.  He had been the head deacon of the Joppa Church for about thirty years.  He was a member of the Burnet County Historical Commission and had been given Emeritus status.  Also, he had helped with cleanup of the Oakalla Tobey Cemetery and worked with Juanice to get a historical marker for that cemetery.  He served as Director of the Cauble Cemetery Association and as President of the Bethel Cemetery Association.  He was the longest serving president of the Watson Cemetery Association serving 33 years from 1981-2014. 
 In 2004 in Austin, Carroll and Juanice were among other Texans, including a few from Burnet County who received recognition through the Texas of Agriculture Family Land Heritage Program for continuing to farm and ranch on family land that had been passed down through the generations for at least 100 years.   They both worked hard on the land and like Carroll’s ancestors, they realized the importance of conservation.  Carroll and Juanice’s son and daughter are carrying on their ranching tradition raising livestock and being good stewards of the land.
Juanice passed away in April 2006, after a long battle with cancer lasting for over 20 years. A year later in 2007, Carroll married Patricia Walter, a church friend whose husband died the same weekend as Juanice.  They continued to live on the McCoy Ranch.  Carroll was on his tractor doing what he loved when he passed away on 4 June 2020 at the age of 90. 
Carroll strived to be like his dad, Leslie, who was his hero as he thought he was the most honest, hardworking, wisest, Christian man he knew.  A dear friend and neighbor had this to say about Carroll:  “Carroll enjoyed helping others and contributing to his community. Of all his many positive traits, his friendship spoke the loudest to me. He was a wonderful conversationalist and his storytelling always captured an audience. If he had any enemies (and I don't know of any) he would certainly have found ways to end any aggression or controversy. He was a peacemaker at heart. He was always available to help a neighbor mend a fence or capture a rogue cow. He was independent to the final days of his long life. But he was also so very appreciative of help from his friends when he needed it. Our little comer of the county was a better place because of Carroll McCoy.”  
Submitted & donated by Carolyn McCoy Liles

Jim Leslie Luther Sr. was an optimist whose life exemplified service to others. Jim willingly accepted challenges throughout his lifetime and did so with an uncanny sense of humor.

Responding to challenge began early for Jim Luther. He was born in 1928 during the Depression and the son of a postal clerk. He grew up in the 1930’s in Fort Worth, Texas where as a young man he delivered newspapers, won a city-wide yo-yo contest, and was named Texas Middleweight Golden Glove boxing champion.

When “Big Jim” was 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Because of his experience as a lifeguard, Jim volunteered to be trained as a Navy Frogman, which later became known as the Navy Seals. According to Jim, training consisted of “five miles of running BEFORE breakfast and swimming thirty to forty yards AFTER breakfast”. Luther could hold his breath three to four minutes underwater, and he recalled that he often would lie on the bottom of the ocean because “if you were four to five feet deep, the bullets wouldn’t kill ya!” The challenges for Jim Luther kept coming. He told of a storm that cut off the main engine of their ship, the USS Mt. McKInley, and caused loss of fuel. Jim and another Frogman made several successful dives with shafts of broken wood to plug up the holes in the fuel tank.

After the Navy, Jim Luther Sr. accepted more challenges and began a long line of projects modernizing his Burnet community through political friendships and government grants during the next five decades. Working first as a lineman for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, Jim eventually became a communications engineer. He later became head of sales of the NW division of SW Bell in Fort Worth. In 1954, Jim and another engineer accepted the challenge of buying the telephone company in Burnet. He went on to expand and modernize the telephone system in central Texas, and at one time owned between fifteen and twenty telephone companies. On one occasion while announcing the exciting news regarding the modernization of the telephone company in Burnet and no more party lines, Jim recalled a woman standing up the telephone meeting and emphatically lamenting, “I want you to know, Mr. Luther, that you just ruined my social life!” During this successful telephone expansion, Jim became friends with politicians like Congressman Jake Pickle, Governor John Connally, and President Lyndon Johnson.

The telephone company expansion led into the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when Luther began to shape Burnet by buying the Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealership in 1969. Jim Luther served as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sheppard Hospital. He was able to obtain government funding for a new annex to the original hospital.

He helped sell stock and obtained a matching government grant to build the Highlander Inn during the mid 60’s. He produced a movie for the Highland Lakes Tourism Association which was distributed all over the United States to advertise the Highland Lakes in Texas.

Still looking for new challenges, Luther bought the local theater and leased and managed Longhorn Caverns. To add to his many accomplishments, Luther was named to the Aeronautics Board and later as chairman, and in 1970 issued the first permit to Southwest Airlines.

Later Luther obtained government funding to build Kate Craddock Field which would open as Burnet Municipal Airport in 1985. Many other ventures benefitting Burnet County included Deleware Springs Golf Course, the Burnet County Fairgrounds and the Burnet County Industrial Complex.

In 1980, there was money to be made in raising ostriches and emus, so naturally Jim Luther decided to “give it a go”. Luther started an embroidery company now known as Stitch America Plus, and to top it off, Jim became director of the Hill Country Crime Stoppers.

“Big Jim” Luther continued to accept challenges throughout his lifetime in his pursuit of service to his community. Through it all, he maintained his sense of humor and an optimistic way of looking at the future. His advice always was to “KEEP WORKING TOGETHER”!

-written and submitted by Cheryl J. Henderson


Jim Leslie Luther was honored posthumously at a Burnet County Citizen of Note luncheon on July 2, 2019 sponsored by the Burnet County Historical Commission. The direct quotes and facts in this biography are based on a primary source interview recorded on November 17, 2017 by Judy Lively and Cheryl Henderson with “Big Jim” at the Luther Ranch.

-brick donated by Jim Luther, Jr. & family

Bob Lively was the Shepherd Memorial Hospital Administrator from 1970 to 1979 and was Texas’s youngest hospital administrator. Judy was the owner of the Pet Stop and later president of the Burnet County Heritage Society.

--donated by Judy Lively

The Herman Brown Free Library began as the Burnet Free Library on September 17, 1948. The Commissioners Court voted to adopt the constitution and bylaws of the library, establishing its purpose “to make available to every individual within the county and to the public generally, the free use of books, manuscripts, etc.” The library’s first home was on the second floor of the Burnet County Jail on the North East corner of the Square, in a room that served as a home guard arsenal during WWII, and began with $500 worth of books and 1,000 books on loan from the Texas State Library. 
A new building was constructed on the lot next door to the jail and the library moved into its second home in 1951. This gave the library room to grow, however, the need to expand came in just a couple decades and the current 9,200 square foot building on E. Washington was opened in 1978. Gavin Garrett of Lampasas donated the lot where the Herman Brown Library now sits and funds were raised for a new building. The Brown Foundation of Houston granted $218,000 for the new library and it was named the Herman Brown Free Library in honor the foundation founder. Other donations were received from Maurine Goodrich, HEB of Burnet, Epsilon Pi sorority of Burnet, Pen Chat Club, and many Burnet citizens. 
Groundbreaking began in August of 1976 and the sale of the former library to the Burnet Presbyterian Church made it possible to add the mezzanine. A donation from the Moody Foundation of Galveston made it possible to install the elevator. Maurine Goodrich donated additional funds in honor of Robert D. Goodrich, for whom the meeting room is named. A grant and bequest from the J. Frank Dobie Foundation made it possible to begin the genealogy and local history collections located in the room bearing his name. 
Many updates have been done since 1978. In 2015, with the help of a grant from the Tocker Foundation, new carpet was installed throughout the building, furniture and shelving were updated, and the wooden beams that stretched across the ceiling above the circulation desk were been removed to provide an open feel. The most noticeable change would be the addition finished in the fall of 2017 that was funded by the Friends of The Herman Brown Free Library, the heirs of Elizabeth Van Gorkom, and a grant from The Tocker Foundation. This 2,800 square foot space houses the Elizabeth Van Gorkom Genealogical Research Center, new restrooms, and the Computer Room/Reading Room. The original genealogy room, The J. Frank Dobie Room, has been re-purposed to expand the children’s area.

-donated by Friends of the Herman Brown Free Library

I want to honor my parents, Virgil and Avis Lewis, for their dedication to the promotion of the history of Burnet County.

Interested in Burnet County history from an early age, Virgil found his calling with other like-minded citizens who formed the Burnet County Heritage Society.

Early activities included canvasing Burnet County cemeteries. Virgil and Avis were involved in this. They worked as volunteers keeping the Thrift Shop open and raised money to purchase some of the original
Fort Croghan site.

Virgil was always available to conduct tours of the Fort and to help researchers, including local newspaper reporters.

--donated by Janet Crain

Calvin Austin Lewis and Doris Glimp were both born and raised in Burnet County, Texas.

Ancestors for both migrated to the county in early years as farmers and ranchers. Each provided for their large families as well as sharing fruits and vegetables with their neighbors.

Calvin’s Great Grandpa Henry W. Hall would cut a wagon load of wood to sell to the county court house each winter. The Glimp boys were known for raising registered Delaine sheep.

Both sets of ancestors believed in improving their lands as nice homesteads, schools and communities.

-donated by Calvin A. Lewis

There are signs on Highway 29 directing you to the Historic Square of  Burnet. There you’ll find our relatively modern Courthouse and an assortment of old buildings housing various offices and retail businesses.  If you enter on Pierce Street, you’ll drive by the Old Jail. Turning right into the Square, you’ll go by the Herman Brown Free Library, a truly amazing  resource for genealogists, readers, and people needing internet access or a quiet few moments with a newspaper or magazine. Turn left onto Main Street and just before you exit the Square, look to your left, and you’ll  catch a glimpse of Wedding Oaks Winery and the vacant lot across the street from it. Don’t stop….there are probably people behind you. Just keep going down Main Street, passing the historically marked Masonic  Lodge on your left. Keep going, and when you get to Pecan, take a right.  You’ll see the Library Thrift Store on your left. You might want to stop; the merchandise is interesting, the prices are low, and the profits made go to  the Library!  
But this isn’t about the Library or the Thrift Store. It is about Alice Leech, a remarkable woman who in the early 1980s worked with several of  her friends to establish the Library Thrift Store, a nonprofit enterprise that has had several locations (most mentioned above!) through the years and that has contributed more than a million dollars to the Library. 
Alice was born in 1931 in Falls County, Texas. When she finished  high school, she attended Central City Commercial College in Waco,  finishing with an Executive Secretarial Certificate. This led to a job with Barnes-Jones Lumber Company, which eventually led her to Austin, where  she met Darrell Leech, a Navy veteran and fellow employee of Barnes Jones. They married, and in 1959 they moved to Burnet. By this time, they had two children and Alice was busy being a wife, mother, and part-time bookkeeper for her husband’s lumber/construction business.
The Friends of the Herman Brown Free Library was a very loosely organized group in those years, but in 1983, Alice lost her daughter to diabetes, and she and several other young mothers got more involved. The Library Thrift Store came into being. The original location was in Billy Joe Fox’s real estate office. Through the years, it has moved from the Old Jail to the Masonic  Lodge to the Old Burnet Hotel building and finally, a building of its own at 105 W. Pecan where the Thrift Store resells items donated by the citizens  of Burnet. Until recently, Alice was there almost every day as Manager, supervising the handling of merchandise and scheduling employees and volunteers.
The Friends of the Herman Brown Free Library take pride in contributing a brick in her name to this Plaza of Honor. Visit the Ft. Croghan Museum and you can see some of Alice’s handcrafted doll on display! 
I met Alice in 1985 when I started volunteering the first Saturday of every month at the Thrift Store. When I started teaching in 1992, Alice made sure that any bookcases and children’s books were brought to my attention for my classroom. Many kids through the years got coats from the Thrift Store, courtesy of Alice. Many thanks, friend! 

Submitted by Linda Dyke

The KIncheloe cabin belonged to one of the first families to settle in Burnet County. It was built in about 1850 by H.C. Allen out of hand-hewn oak logs and was located south of Jennings Creek (South San Gabriel River) on land owned by John Jennings.

In about 1866, the cabin was sold to Lewis C. Kincheloe. The Kincheloes were originally from Wales, then Virginia and then Texas. The cabin was moved from Brushy Creek (now Leander-Round Rock) to the Mt. Zion neighborhood in Burnet County. It is reported that Mrs. Margaret (Bowman) Kincheloe rode on horseback to the new location carrying her
six-month old son, Ed, in her lap. The Kincheloe family raised eleven children in this cabin. In later years, the cabin was moved farther west, and the land was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. D.B. Roach. The Roach family donated the cabin to the Burnet County Historical Society in 1963.

The cabin has been restored on the Fort Croghan grounds to include many original artifacts. There is a handmade bed with a corn-shuck mattress and springs of rope made by a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto as well as bed clothes and a spinning wheel. A Feb. 24, 1870 marriage photo of John Tate Chamberlain and Martha Jane Kincheloe is still in the cabin. The windows have no glass because usually glass was not available on the frontier unless it was imported.

References:
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 180-181
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes

--information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

William Holland “Gene” Johnston was born in Burnet County, June 29, 1929. He graduated from Burnet High School and Abilene Christian College. He came home weekends to preach in some rural churches of Burnet County.

He met his future wife, Glenda Glover, at the Lake Victor Church of Christ. He preached almost 50 years in Burnet County, other Texas towns, and in Portales, New Mexico. He loved studying the Bible and serving others. He also served his country during the Korean War.

Gene left this earthly life to be with Jesus March 8, 2009. He was buried at the Warner Cemetery in Lake Victor.
Donated by Elizabeth L. Johnston

William Benjamin (Buck) Johnston was born August 20, 1829 in Virginia and died January 4, 1911 in Burnet County, Texas.

W.B. Johnston came to Burnet County with the J.W. Fry family, Alexander (Zan) Fisher and others by wagon train. They arrived at old Fort Croghan on Christmas Day in 1855.

Buck married Mary Elizabeth Fry (1841-1883), daughter of John Waller Fry, on September 15, 1857 in Burnet County.

In 1861, Johnston enlisted in Captain McKee’s Company B and served with the Confederate Army for four years. He was in the 3rd Battalion of the Arizona Brigade and was stationed at Eagle Lake in Colorado County, Texas. Details of Buck’s wartime experiences are preserved in a September 12, 1974 issue of the Burnet Bulletin. When Johnston returned home in 1865, he discovered that all three of his children had died of diphtheria.

Johnston settled in the Council Creek community of Burnet County and lived there the remainder of his life. The Johnstons were members of the Church of Christ at Council Creek where Buck served as elder.

Buck Johnston left a long line of descendants. W. B. had seven children with his first wife, Mary Waller Fry and two with his second wife, Susannah Catherine King. Descendants of W. B. Johnston still reside in Burnet County.

References:
Burnet Bulletin, September 12, 1974
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 174-175
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

The lumber yard, Hoover Building Supply, was first located on Highway 281 in Burnet.  In 1965 John Hoover and Sam Daniel formed a partnership, and according to John Hoover, he was the working partner. 

Hoover Building Supply, Inc., located at 500 E. Polk Street, stocks lumber, plumbing supplies, hardware, shingles, paint, flooring, cooking utensils, cast iron skillets, gift items, anything you need for the home and garden and much more.

Roy Smith has been the manager since November 1, 1985.  Ownership remains with the Hoover Family, Vivian Hoover, Dennis, Dana, Dixie and Debra.

-submitted by Tommye Potts

Eddie “Ed” Peden Holley was born in Emory, Texas in 1949, as the only child of Eunice and Robert Holley. Their families were early residents of Rains County. Ed’s mother was a dedicated teacher and his father was a barber, working in his dad’s Emory barber shop. Like all small town Texas country boys, Ed loved riding his bike and later motor scooter, hunted, fished, played Little League baseball, and attended all the local church vacation Bible schools in the summers. In high school, Ed excelled in math classes, played the trumpet and marched with the band. He was a member National Honor Society – barely, but still a bona fide member. The Holley Family were dedicated members of the Church of Christ.  When Ed was in sixth grade, the Holley family moved to Terrell, Texas. Ed’s dad worked for the Texas Highway Department and his mother taught sixth grade and later Junior High reading and spelling. As a junior in high school, Ed started taking flying lessons and obtained his pilot’s license. He also received his “dream car,” a 1965 Ford Mustang. After Ed graduated from Terrell High School, his parents stayed in Terrell until their passing. 
The University of Texas was Ed’s college of choice and he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business. Upon graduation, Ed moved to Dallas where he worked for a freight line company and joined the US Naval Air Reserve, serving for six years. Ed moved back to Austin to attend the University of Texas and obtain his Master’s Degree in Community and Regional planning. After receiving his Master’s, he took a position in Tulsa, Oklahoma working for an economic  consultant. The company moved their office to Dallas, where Ed continued to work for them. Later he worked with a house remodeling company for a few years and then became a real estate appraiser. A friend suggested and helped him obtain a position with the Dallas County as a Right of Way Appraiser. In his free time he exercised his part Afghan sibling dogs, danced with a Dallas C&W Dance Club, and attended International Right of Way Association meetings. 
As the city of Dallas grew, Ed explored small communities where he could move and get back to his ”country  roots.” He followed the advice of a college friend who had relocated to Burnet, and made a trip to explore what the Burnet area had to offer him. All it took was one visit, and Ed purchased a home and started a remodeling business in Burnet. Then a position opened as an Appraiser with the Burnet County Appraisal District Office, which he took. After a while, a lucrative position as a West Texas Land Man caught his eye and he applied. After he was hired, Ed traveled weekly to West Texas and later to Fort Worth, researching land deeds for numerous oil companies. After five years, Ed retired and spent time volunteering at the Highland Lakes Squadron - Commemorative Air Force Museum at the Burnet Municipal Airport. He worked to help the Squadron purchase and maintain the C-47, the Bluebonnet Belle. 
When Ed first arrived in Burnet, he occasionally volunteered at the Commemorative Air Force Museum. As the years progressed, his involvement increased and he worked at least 18 years of the annual Bluebonnet Air Show. At the same time, Ed’s lifelong interest in motorcycles evolved to owning a dune buggy, as a more prudent 4-wheeled motorcycle,  and most recently, a bright yellow 2001 Jeep Wrangler. Ed has a heart for wildlife and keeps feed and water in his backyard for wild birds, hummingbirds and other “wild critters,” plus he supports local animal rescue operations. Ed still flies occasionally, lovingly cares for house plant “friends,” especially his 30 year old Norfolk Island Pine and Schefflera plants.  Ed has an extensive art collection and his house is filled with inherited family and purchased antiques. In the summer months, you’ll find Ed picking and preserving figs, presenting many jars to friends and relatives. 
Ed is a good friend to many Burnet County citizens. He goes the extra mile, has a huge heart and always lends a hand when summoned. We are glad that he decided to revisit his “country roots” and call Burnet his home.  
-written and donated by Glenna Bell Orman-Wilson 10.30.21

T.L. (Tom) and Cheryl J. (Rickers) Henderson were born and educated in Iowa, spent their careers in agricultural lending and teaching in Iowa and Colorado. They have always maintained a love of history and the lessons it can teach.

Since retiring to Texas in 2014, they have become active participants in the Burnet community. They are members of the Burnet County Historical Commission and the Burnet County Heritage Society. T.L. is a Rotarian and Cheryl is a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter JP.
They volunteer at Fort Croghan Museum and Grounds and enjoy helping visitors connect the past with the present and often discuss how that understanding can affect the future.

The Henderson’s two sons, Ty and Cole and their families live and work in Austin.

NOTE: On the early morning of October 27, 2019, T.L. “mounted his black horse and rode to heaven” to check the pastures before dawn.

--donated by
The Henderson Family who believe in the power of education

Love lives on from Billie Joe and Carole Ann Goble through children, grands and greats. They served as a military family for over twenty years before returning home in Burnet County.

Billie Joe fulfilled his talent for leadership as a frequent volunteer, VFW officer and Mayor of Burnet. Carole Ann, likewise, was a community leader, honored many times for her work as a volunteer, nonfiction writer, and published author.

Their hopeful passion for family, history, music, art, and community, and despite being transient on military posts far away, bonded their large family with an everlasting love for home.

-donated by Crista Goble Bromley

The Billie Joe and Carole Ann Goble family volunteered at the fort for more than four decades. From moving cabins in and restoring them to restoring the cannon, to demonstrating long lost skills such as quilting, rope making, hand sewing, crocheting, and many others.

In addition, the Goble children brought their music and voices each year to entertain at Fort Croghan Day and Christmas at Fort Croghan for almost 20 years.

This brick is to memorialize their many efforts.

-donated by Crista Goble Bromley

Ralph and Ima Glover spent the first half of the 20th century in Burnet County and most of the rest in Lampasas County. Two of their three children were born in Burnet County and the third was born in Lampasas.

The Glovers had close ties with northern Burnet County communities like Naruna and Lake Victor.

They were faithful members of the Church of Christ.

Ralph and Ima were buried at the Warner Cemetery in Lake Victor, Burnet County.

-donated by Elizabeth Johnston

Maurice Altman Glimp, 1906-1970, lived his life as a Burnet County native.

He played football for Burnet High School and trombone for the Burnet Municipal Band. He could also play the piano.

As an adult, he was a successful farmer and rancher raising livestock and feed crops. He was one of the first in Burnet County to make use of a tractor and combine for farming.

He always enjoyed life. He raised four children and had eight grandchildren.

-donated by Doris Glimp Lewis

Hazel Haynes Gatliff was born in Round Mountain, Texas to Clifford and Alberta Haynes on August 21, 1924. Hazel was the oldest of four children and was brought up like she was the oldest son. She could round up cattle, break horses, do plumbing, prepare taxes and change flats.

After high school, Hazel moved to San Antonio to attend business school, she then went on to work at Kelly Air Force base during WW2 where she met her future husband. Hazel and Mike Gatliff were married on March 17, 1944 and the next year welcomed their daughter, Patricia.

After the war, the Gatliffs moved to Burnet Texas and Hazel worked for the Agricultural Stabilization Service as a secretary for the Burnet County Agrilife Extension office. After retirement, Hazel joined many clubs including the Historical Society of Burnet County, TEEA, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas-Jane Wells Woods Chapter. She also volunteered at Texas Agrilife, The Library Thrift Shop, and at Pen Chat where she wrote letters to soldiers in the war. In 2000, Hazel was named Burnet County Woman of the Year, an honor she was most proud of. She was a long time member of the First United Methodist Church of Burnet and also served on the board of the Bluebonnet Preschool.
Hazel enjoyed spending time with her family most of all.

Hazel passed away January 24, 2020; she was 95 years old. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. A meal was never complete without her delicious "grandma rolls", or her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and a jar of jellybeans was always kept in stock. Her constant example of grace, strength, and kindness will never be forgotten.

-Memorial donations to Burnet County Heritage Society

Haldon Fry was born in 1922 in Burnet,Texas to LLoyd and Hazel Fry. 
He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Fry ("Fry Cabin") and Dr. and Mrs. Asa Keele, both from Burnet.

During high school, he moved to Uvalde,Texas, eventually serving in the Air Force during WWII.  After the war, he married the love of his life, Ruby Fry, started a successful business, and had four children. 

His entire life has been dedicated to loving God and serving others. He is still living in Uvalde at 99 years old and has 16 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

-donated by Jimmie Sue & Jerry McKeller

John Waller Fry was born January 31, 1816 in Kentucky. He moved to Illinois following his father’s death and moved back to Kentucky where he married Mary Carlysle in 1834. John took his new bride back to Illinois where nine of their ten children were born. Seeking a warmer climate friendlier to John’s lung trouble, John and Mary made the long journey from Illinois to Burnet, Texas. It is said that John Fry carried $100 in gold with him but kept it a secret because of the prevalence of outlaws and desperados. The Fry family arrived in Burnet County, Texas on Christmas Day 1855 and stopped at Fort Croghan which had already been abandoned by the troops who had moved westward.

John Waller Fry started a wheelwright business in Hamilton, whose name changed to Burnet in 1858. This wagon-building business was probably one of the first in this section of Texas. John later purchased ranch property on Council Creek in western Burnet County, but the family remained in Burnet away from Indian raids. The Fry children attended school in Burnet and after Indian raids became less frequent, the family moved to their property on Council Creek where John and Mary built their log cabin home. They would reside there for the remainder of their lives. After Mary died in 1871, John married Eliza Jane Weatherford.

John and Mary raised ten children, one of whom was Aaron who inherited the “Fry Cabin”. Aaron married Melissa Evelyn King and lived in the one-room Fry Cabin when their first child Roy was born in 1878 (Roy later became the first chairman of the Lower Colorado River Authority). Aaron and Melissa raised eleven children and added a second room with a fireplace to the original cabin.

This Fry Cabin now is on the grounds at Fort Croghan. It was donated in 1962 by the Othal Davis family who then owned the land where the cabin was located.

References:
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 100-103
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

John Waller Fry and Mary Carlysle Fry built their log cabin on Council Creek in Northern
Burnet County and raised ten children there. One of those children was Aaron Carlysle Fry who married Melissa Evelyn King. Aaron inherited the family’s cabin and after several children were born, he added a second room with a fireplace because he thought the girls needed a separate bedroom. John Waller Fry, who was known as ”Grampa” or “Uncle Johnny” came to live with Aaron and his family. A log room was constructed in the yard for “Grampa”.
John and Mary raised 10 children in the Fry cabin. Aaron and Melissa raised 11 children, so in total 21 children were raised in this cabin!
Eventually the cabin became a part of the Othal B. Davis Ranch. In 1962, The Austin Statesman reported that “a cabin that once housed early settlers named Fry has been moved from the Othal B. Davis Ranch “ to the Fort Croghan grounds.
Through the years, many relatives of the Fry family have come to the Fort to see the cabin, sit outside on the bench, and share their memories and stories about this historic home.

References:
“Burnet History Society Restoring Fort Croghan”, The Austin Statesman, August 3, 1962
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 100-103
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes

-information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Oscar J. Fox, composer of western songs, was born on a ranch in Burnet County, Texas, on October 11, 1879. He was the son of Bennie and Emma (Kellersberger) Fuchs and grandson of Adolph Fuchs. Oscar’s mother died five months after his birth, and he was reared in the home of an uncle, Hermann T. Fuchs. He attended school in Marble Falls until 1893, when he went to San Antonio and began to study music.
In 1896 he was sent to Zürich, Switzerland, by his grandfather, Getuli Kellersberger, to study piano, violin, and choral direction. After three years in Switzerland, he studied in New York City for two years before going to Galveston in 1902 as choirmaster of the First Presbyterian Church and later of St. Mary's Cathedral. He resigned in 1904 to accept a similar position at the First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, where he served for ten years. He was conductor of the San Antonio Choir Club (1913–15) and director of the men's and girls' glee clubs and the University Choral Society at the University of Texas (1925–28).
Fox was a member of the Texas Music Teachers Association, the Sinfonia Fraternity of America, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, the Composers–Authors Guild, and the Sons of the Republic of Texas. He published the first of his more than fifty songs in 1923. He never wrote lyrics but set existing poems to music. He first achieved fame through setting to music the cowboy songs collected by John A. Lomax. He drew strongly on his Texas background, as his best-known compositions illustrate: "The Hills of Home" (1925), "Old Paint" (1927), "The Old Chisholm Trail" (1924), "Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along, Little Dogies" (1927), "Will You Come to the Bower?" (1936), and "The Cowboy's Lament" (1923).
Fox married Nellie Tuttle in 1905; they had three daughters. The last fifteen years of his life he taught voice and was organist and choir director at Christ Episcopal Church, San Antonio. He died on July 29, 1961, while visiting in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was buried in Mission Burial Park in San Antonio. On May 27, 1962, the state honored him by placing a red granite marker a mile south of Marble Falls on Highway 281. Inscribed on the marker beneath his name is the first line of "The Hills of Home," his own favorite song and one that has continued to be popular around the world.
S.W. Pease , Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

In 1851 a group of interested citizens petitioned the State Legislature to create a new county with the county seat to be located on the league of land known as the Hamilton league on Hamilton’s Creek, near the center of the new county, provided the owner would grant the land. The partition was dated December 17, 1851 and was signed by eighty petitioners.
The fourth legislature acted promptly and on February 5, 1852 passed the bill creating Burnet County. The act was signed by Governor P. H. Bell, officially defined the boundaries and appointed acting commissioners and defined their duties.
Logan Vandeveer, William H. Magill (misspelled in the petition as McGill) and R. H. Hall were appointed commissioners to organize the county, holding an election as soon as possible. The local government became a reality in 1852 with the election of the first officers. John C. Scott, Chief Justice (later changed to County Judge); John Jennings and William T. Chesser, Commissioners; J. C. Bradley, Sheriff; A. G. Horne, County Clerk; William D. Reed, Tax Assessor Collector; Samuel E. Holland, Treasurer; George Joy, District Clerk and Justice of the Peace.
The location of the county seat became a bitter issue among the citizens and the first candidates for county office were elected or rejected on the issue. Peter Kerr opposed the courthouse being anywhere except Hamilton. He deeded 100 acres to be county property and appointed Vandeveer his attorney and special agent, giving him his power of attorney and authority to transfer the land to the county. Acting on this authority, the transfer in consideration that the county seat being located upon the Hamilton League. The Chief justice and Commissioners accepted the land and the courthouse was located in the town of Hamilton.
With the creation of the county in 1852 it was officially named in honor of David G. Burnet, first provisional president of the “Republic of Texas”. There is no authentic data as to why he was honored by naming a county for him. It was thought that it was because several prominent men taking part in the founding of the county had participated in the Texas War of Independence.

For more information on the founders and the names of the men who signed the petition can be found in Burnet County History Book, Volume I on pages 31-34.

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Alexander (“Zan”) Fisher, son of R.A. Fisher, was born February 9, 1835 in Pebble County, Ohio and died July 2, 1922 in Burnet County, Texas.

“Zan” Fisher came to Burnet County in 1855 traveling by wagon train with the J.W. Fry family, the “Buck” Johnston family, the James Boyles family and others. They arrived in Burnet County on Christmas Day at Fort Croghan, which had been abandoned by the troops who moved westward. The Fishers settled with the Frys and the Johnstons in the Council Creek community.

In 1857, “Zan” married one of J.W. Fry’s daughters, Sarah Jane Fry (1838-1919). “Zan” and Sarah had nine children and reared several others. The couple is buried in the Odd Fellows’ Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher were members of the Church of Christ.

References:
Debo, Darrell, Burnet County History, Vol. II, pp. 93-94
Fort Croghan Museum Files—docent notes

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

First Baptist Church Burnet has been loving Jesus and serving our community since 1877.

On Sunday, August 12th, 1877, a few followers of Jesus, “touched by the Holy Spirit”, decided to establish the Congregation and held their first worship service.

Four years later, in 1881, they held revival services led by well-known evangelist Major Penn, resulting in 75 baptisms.

They built their first building at their present location in 1884 and although the property and buildings have expanded, the Spirit has remained the same-- loving the Lord, loving our neighbors, and making disciples for Jesus Christ.

-donated by The First Baptist Church Burnet

Thomas Campbell Ferguson was born in 1906 to William Marion and Martha Ann (Harvey) Ferguson near Roswell, New Mexico. He arrived in Burnet, Texas with his family when his father acquired the Burnet Telephone Company. He graduated from Burnet High School at the age of 14, and then began a newspaper career in Liberty Hill, Blanco and as publisher of the Burnet Bulletin.  

He studied law under the guidance of R. E. Johnson, District Clerk, and Capt. T. E. Hammond, taking the Board Examination and passing in October 1928.  He then served the City of Burnet, arranging for the financing and assisting in construction of the Waterworks System, the Sewer System, the first paving program of the City, and acquisition of the equipment for the volunteer Fire Department.

He was also Special Counsel to the County of Burnet, and worked in securing financing for the new Courthouse and in securing financing, designations and right-of-way for the highway program in Burnet County.

He served as a member of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, representing Burnet and Williamson Counties

He was appointed as one of the original Board of Directors of the Lower Colorado River Authority and made the first trip to Washington with then Senator Wirtz to secure Federal funding and later wrote the first draft of memorandum used as the basis for expanding the program from one dam (Buchanan) to a series of dams.

He served as Mayor of the City of Burnet –1939--1942

He served in the U.S. Army  1942-1945, attaining the grade of Master Sergeant

He served as Chairman and/or Board Member for Burnet Chamber of Commerce, War Bond Sales in Burnet County, County Treasurer for USO, County Chairman for the Red Cross, Post Commander of the American Legion.

He served Valley Lodge 175 A.F.& A in all capacities and received the Golden Trowel, the highest local award.

He served in many functions and offices of the Boy Scouts of America and was awarded their Silver Beaver award, the highest honor the Boy Scout Council can confer.

Perhaps his greatest and most enjoyable service was as a member of the First Christian Church of Burnet and filling the pulpit of every denomination in Central Texas with honest, down to earth, from the heart and Bible talks.

His next greatest enjoyment was supporting the Burnet County Heritage Society donating land for the Fort grounds, and eventually, donating the building that now houses the Ft. Croghan Museum.  He loved history and was a great repository of Burnet and surrounding areas of history, people, bloodlines and near and dear relatives.

-submitted by Joy Taylor
- brick donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Jordan Everett Jr. was born in 1833 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Then he lived in Twiggs County, Georgia. His father died and Jordan had to support his family at a young age. His mother died in the mid 1850’s. In 1856, Jordan married Mary Jane Steadham, and they had seven children.

In 1862, Jordan Everett Jr. joined Company E. of the Fifty-First Regiment of the Georgia Infantry of the CSA (Confederate States Army). He served under the command of General Robert E. Lee until the war ended in 1865. Jordan was captured and wounded in that war.

In 1873, Mary Jane and two children died of measles. On November 29, 1875, Jordan married Missouri Jane Kirksey (28 years of age) in Terrell County, Georgia, and they moved to Colorado County, Texas. They had seven children. In 1884/1885, they moved to Burnet County, Texas. In late 1923, while tending his livestock, Jordan fell into a small ravine causing a serious injury from which he never recovered. On September 17, 1923, he died of nephritis and was buried at Bethel Cemetery near Lake Victor in Burnet County. Missouri Jane died December 21, 1932 in Burnet County and was also buried at Bethel Cemetery.

-submitted and donated by Betty Chaney

First organized in 1891, The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany was admitted to the Diocese of Texas as a mission in 1893. The name Epiphany was chosen by Bishop Coadjutor Kinsolving in honor of his former parish in Philadelphia. Priests from Austin and Lampasas visited intermittently. From 1935 to 1946, Episcopalians went to Lampasas or Llano for communion and for observance of Special Days. 
In January 1947 Epiphany was readmitted by Council as a Mission. In April 1947 an Army barracks building used as a chapel at Camp Swift was obtained and moved to a temporary site on Hamilton Creek in Burnet. In May of that same year it was dedicated. In 1951 a Rectory was constructed. 
A 1956 article in the Texas Churchman states, "The mission is situated near the Central Texas Highland Lakes in dry, rough, rocky, rugged, cactus-laden ranch country suffering the worst drought in recorded weather history, where rain is extremely vital and inordinately scarce." 
Four acres of land within the City of Burnet were purchased and on January 5, 1958 parish house and educational wing were dedicated. 
In 1973, a parish was formed by the yoking of the two Episcopal missions in Burnet County: Trinity Chapel, Marble Falls and Epiphany Chapel, Burnet. The new parish became St. Paul's of Burnet County. This joined relationship continued for sixteen years until 1989 when Trinity became a parish on its own and Epiphany once again became a mission tended by short-term interim clergy 
In 1994 a bi-vocational priest was assigned to Epiphany and the mission began to grow. In 2002, with help from the Quin Foundation, construction of a church building and renovation of the old parish hall began and were dedicated by Bishop Payne on Epiphany Eve 2003. Full-time ministry began in 2004. In February 2005 at Diocesan Council, Epiphany Church regained parish status. 

-brick donated by Jim & Linda Dyke

Education has been vitally important to the citizens of Burnet County since its beginning. Obviously, over
the years, hundreds of educators have had a positive influence on thousands of individuals in Burnet County.
The three early educators honored here definitely left significant legacies.

The first school in Burnet County was called the “Collegiate School” and was a private one started by Logan Vandeveer. It was a one-room log cabin located approximately where the current Chicken Express operates. The first teacher in 1852 was William H. Dixon, a graduate of Oxford University. Students studied Latin, French, geography, history, philosophy, mathematics and elocution. Three of Vandeveer’s daughters were enrolled. In a letter Logan Vandeveer wrote to his sister, Anna Baber in Missouri, he proudly reported results of an examination given December 23, 1852:

We have a splendid school. The exam took place on the 23rd of last month, which was the most interesting thing I witnessed. There were a great many people there; some of them came 40 miles. My second daughter, Mary Ann answered 900 questions and missed none. Eliza and the next two best pupils were tied, missing three questions each.

The Dixon model was followed for many years. Later classes were conducted “in a building across Hamilton Creek from town”, probably referring to the old stone building on Fort Croghan grounds known as the “Powder House” wherein remnants of a crude blackboard appear. In 1866, the “Burnet Male and Female Academy” opened as a military school in “Rocky Rest”, the old Adam R. Johnson house built in 1860 , later the home of Dr. Shepperd. In 1872 the school was moved to the John S. Churchill house and later in 1872 and 1873 the school was in Hagerlund’s Store on S. Main St. of Burnet. (See Burnet County History, Vol. I, pp. 147-198 for more information regarding Burnet County schools and educators.)

The second educator honored is Professor R.J. Richey who started as a teacher at the Burnet Public School in 1888 and served as superintendent from 1890 until 1904, at which time he established a private school, the Robert E. Lee High School. Robert James Richey was born in Tennessee. He received his BA and MA degrees from Washington and Lee University in Virginia when Robert E. Lee was its president. Richey was an honor student and was an honorary pallbearer at Lee’s funeral. Because of Richey’s admiration for Lee and his desire to provide opportunities for young people, he established Robert E. Lee High School in Burnet in 1904. This school continued serving the community until 1917 when Richey moved to Austin to serve on the State Board of Education until his death in 1920. R.J. Richey Elementary currently serves grades 3-5 for the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District.

The third educator of significance is J.W. Edgar who was born in Briggs, TX, Burnet County on September 17, 1904. James Winfred Edgar attended Howard Paine University and earned a doctorate at the University of Texas, Austin. In 1950, J.W. Edgar became the first appointed Texas Commissioner of Education, a position he held for twenty-four years. Before his appointment, Edgar was superintendent of the Orange, TX schools (1939-1947) and superintendent of the Austin Independent School District (1947-1950).

References:
Darrell Debo, Burnet County History, Vol.I, pp. 147-198.
J.W. Edgar Biography Collection, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin

• Information compiled by Cheryl J. Henderson
• brick donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Euphie Bowman Dorbandt came to Burnet, Texas in 1935 as the first Burnet County Home Demonstration agent.  She was born February 3, 1907 in Board, Texas, Navarro County and was a graduate of Mary Hardin Baylor College.

 During her time with the Extension Service, the one thing she remembered most, was the time they made mattresses during the Depression. The government gave cotton to needy families and around 1,000 mattresses were made.

The creed of the Extension Homemakers Club, sums up how she felt about life.

We believe in the sanctity of the home.  We believe that the home is where love, faith, trust and devotion must be lived each day; where obedience and reverence grow and where God is known.  We believe those within its walls should be taught to work, to
play and to have compassion for those less fortunate.  We believe sharing responsibility is necessary, and that from the fireside will come the citizens who will uphold the best way of life.

Euphie worked as a Home Demonstration Agent until her marriage to Ballard "Judge" Dorbandt.  Euphie and Ballard lived on the Dorbandt Ranch, along with Euphie's mother, Maggie Bowman, and Ballard's faithful border collie, "Old Queenie." 

Euphie was very proud of the Dorbandt name.  She was a member of First Baptist Church of Burnet, and a member of Burnet County Historical Society.  Euphie died October 5, 1994 and was buried beside her husband Ballard, in Post Mountain Cemetery.

-submitted and donated by Tommye Dorbandt Potts

Miss Mittie Depew was born at Burnet, Texas, March 29, 1874, and spent her entire life in Burnet.  Mittie was a descendant of Logan Vandeveer, one of the founders of the town of Burnet.  She was also a member of the Methodist Church. She suffered a fatal heart attack and died at the Shepperd Memorial Hospital on April 16, 1959.

MIttie Depew was a Charter Member of the Burnet County Historical Society, having served as Treasurer ever since its organization.  On May 15, 1956 interested citizens met at the Burnet County Courthouse for the purpose of organizing the Burnet Historical Society. At a meeting on February 26, 1957 the name was changed to Burnet County Historical Society so as to include the entire county. Dues were $3 per year. Officers were as follows:
• W.C. Gallloway, president
• Alta H. Gibbs, vice president
• Mrs. Robert Miller, secretary
• Miss Mittie Depew, treasurer

This Society received donations through dues, memorial donations, and a rummage sale operated for many years by the ladies of the Society beginning in 1958. Miss Mittie Depew organized the rummage sales. The sales ran each Saturday at various locations near the Square in Burnet and continued until 1977,
It was by these means that the Society was able to buy a 1.7 acre tract of land on the old Fort Croghan site. Various vintage buildings have been added to the grounds. Because of Miss Mittie Depew’s untiring efforts in those early days, the Society has survived and grown.

NOTE: In later years the name of the Society changed to its present name—Burnet County Heritage Society.

References:
Burnet Bulletin, April 23, 1959
Debo, Burnet County History, Vol. 1, p. 18

-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Darrell Debo was born on September 15, 1931 to William Clyde and Lucille Atchison Debo. He was a member of a Burnet County pioneer family and lived most of his life in Burnet County.

Darrell was valedictorian of his Burnet High School class and graduated summa cum laude with Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Divinity degrees from Texas Christian University. He was an accomplished pianist and worked as a journalist, election judge and preacher at numerous Churches of Christ. His hobbies included genealogy, maintaining historical records of Burnet High School football and basketball games, reading, playing piano and fiddle and visiting historical sites across the nation including historical battlefields.

Darrell was known as the Burnet County HISTORIAN authoring the award-winning Burnet County History Vol. I and Vol. II. He served as president and vice president of the Burnet County Historical Commission after joining in 1977.

Darrell Debo was named Honor Citizen of Burnet in 1989. The Burnet County Commissioners Court honored his community service by proclaiming September 11-17, 2011 as Darrell Debo Week. He was also awarded the Jefferson Davis Medal by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1984 for his help in locating Burnet County graves of Confederate soldiers.

Darrell Debo passed away April 21, 2019 and left a legacy as an award-winning historian and valued citizen of Burnet County, Texas. The Burnet County Heritage Society is forever grateful for his significant financial support.


--donated by Billy Wall & Burnet County Heritage Society

Dorothy Ellen Riley, affectionately known as Mi Mi, was born May 7, 1945 in New Braunfels, Texas to Homan Windell Riley and Alva Lee Schooley Riley. She was known as Dot and attended schools in Burnet, Texas where she graduated in the class of 1963. After high school, Dot attended Mary Hardin-Baylor College in Belton, Texas and the University of Texas at Austin. Dot married Frank Daughtrey Creasey.

She was employed at the Burnet Central Appraisal District for 39 years. In the earlier years, she was a Tupperware dealer where she earned a car through her sales work. Dot invested her time and talents in a number of organizations, including Burnet County Historical Commission, Burnet County Heritage Society, Burnet County Genealogical Society, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Daughters of the American Revolution. She was an avid photographer.

Dot is survived by her son Frank, Jr., her grandson Hunter Creasey and two granddaughters, Haley and Hannah Creasey. She is also survived by three brothers, Bobby, Joe D., and Jimmy Riley and sisters, Milli Riley Williams and Ruth Riley Warwick.

-Memorial donations to Burnet County Heritage Society

William Bryson and Simruda Catherine Holland Covington were part of a group, which included her two brothers, Samuel Ely and John Benjamin Holland, bound for Texas and the frontier in 1840s.  They became some of the first settlers in Burnet County in 1848.  William B. Covington was a member of the Ranger force of Captain Henry E. McCulloch, which established a station at a site some three miles south of present-day Burnet on December 31, 1847.

Covington was discharged from the Ranger force on December 8, 1848, with the coming of Company A of the 2nd Dragoons under Lieutenant C. H. Tyler.  His brother-in-law, Samuel E. Holland, had purchased 1280 acres of land and the Covingtons lived for a time within sound of the soldiers' camp.  They later moved northeast of Burnet and still later to Lampasas County where Covington died in 1862.  His wife, Simruda, returned to live in Burnet County after his death.  She died (September 27, 1906) on a trip to Wyoming where she was visiting some of her children.

William B. and Simruda Covington were the parents of seven children with little known about some of them.  Their second son Asa Johnson Covington married in Burnet County in 1867 to Malinda Eveline Nicks.  Asa Covington went up the trail with a herd of cattle for the first time in 1881, taking the heard to Wyoming.  He returned south to Texas, but later went back to Wyoming to make his home.  Asa and Malinda Covington were the parents of 13 children with the majority of them being born in Burnet County.  Their oldest child, Mary Catherine (Mollie), was born in 1869 in Burnet County and was married in 1886 to William Samuel Schooley.  They were the parents of ten children with only the youngest (1905) not being born in Burnet County.  There are many Schooley descendants in Burnet County.


Further information may be found in Burnet County History, Volume I and II.

Information submitted by the Burnet County Historical Commission.



-donated by the Burnet County Heritage Society

Ramsey Clinton was born February 24, 1925 in Waco, Texas – a fourth generation Texan. Ramsey served his country in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific before graduating from the University of Texas where he met Emmy Jane Tittle, the love of his life for the last 62 years. They have three children, 14 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren. A family man in every sense, Ramsey went to be with the Lord on May 24, 2014.
Upon graduating from the University of Texas, Ramsey joined his father to operate a quarry in Burnet, Texas, on behalf of Citizens National Bank of Waco. That began their 29-year business partnership until Sam Houston Clinton Sr.’s death in 1977.
Ramsey moved to Marble Falls in 1948 and then to Burnet in 1949 where he owned and operated Clinton Trucking Company, hauling limestone aggregate from his father’s rock quarry operation on the B. Pogue ranch. Ramsey bought into the quarry operation and he and his dad formed a partnership - Houston Clinton and Company. When Houston Clinton and Company sold the rock quarry operation, the partnership purchased the adjacent Murchison Ranch and started a registered Hereford cattle operation. Later the cattle operation was sold for a registered quarter horse operation. A National Cutting Horse Hall of Fame inductee sign for their cutting horse Alice Star still stands at the quarry entrance.
Ramsey once observed that he specialized in holes in the ground – the quarry that later moved across Hamilton Creek to the HR Ranch, Inner Space Cavern of which he was one of the four founding owners and Lakeland Hills Memorial Park on Park Road 4 near Burnet.
Believing that it was the duty of every citizen to support a family, to provide jobs for others and to make a difference in his community, Ramsey was proud to be named Burnet’s Honor Citizen in 1970. He held numerous civic posts and served, among others: Burnet Rotary Club (a founding member and first president); Epiphany Episcopal Church (lay reader, often substitute preacher, Sr. Warden); Burnet School Board member, President); Burnet City Council (Mayor, City Councilman, Planning and Zoning member, instrumental in success of Burnet Airport, Galloway & Hammond City Park (now YMCA) and recently named Houston Clinton Rodeo Arena; Burnet Chamber of Commerce (President); Highland Lakes Tourist Association Board of Directors (Chairman of Bluebonnet Trail and Operation Clean Scene); Burnet County Hospital Authority (President); Burnet Swim Team Parents (President); Valley Lodge #175 Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons (Worshipful Master, 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, District Deputy Grand Master); Fort Hood Civilian Advisory Board; Austin Admirals Club (charter member); Capitol Area Council of Boy Scouts of America (lifetime member and supporter); Hedonia Club of Waco; Home State Bank of Marble Falls (Director); The University of Texas Chancellors Council.
Ramsey was a life-long Burnet Bulldog sports fan and supporter of the Texas Longhorns. His three children graduated from both Burnet High School and the University of Texas and Ramsey had a very deep affection for both institutions of learning. He started hiring young men from the Burnet Public School system - “Ramsey’s Boys” as the mother of one called them. Ramsey had an involvement in the lives of these young men throughout their years in high school and college and beyond.
Ramsey lived his life consistently with the words of St. Francis of Assisi - "Preach the gospel constantly…Use words if necessary."

Reference:
Dignity Memorial, May 24, 2014
-donated by Houston Clinton Company

Houston Clinton served as Mayor of Burnet for two terms. He was a life-time member of The National Cutting Horse Association and his horse, Alice Star, was elected to the National Hall of Fame. Houston participated in and won all the major cutting horse shows in the United States and Canada. He was a past president of the Central Cutting Horse Association and had been a breeder of registered quarter horses and registered Hereford cattle.

Houston Clinton was a local businessman who began a successful crushed limestone operation in 1948 between Burnet and Marble Falls. His son Ramsey joined him in 1949.

The year 1975 marked Houston’s 50th year as a Master Mason. He was a member of Valley Lodge No. 175 AF&AM in Burnet and of Fidells Lodge No. 1127 AF&AM in Waco. In 1956, he served a District Deputy Grand Master of the 49th District Grand Lodge of Texas, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

In 1975, Houston Clinton was given the Outstanding Conservationist Award for the Hill Country Soil and Water Conservationist District.

Clinton, formerly of Waco, resided in Burnet for twenty-five years and was a member of the Burnet Presbyterian Church.



Reference:
Burnet Bulletin, April 13, 1977


--donated by Houston Clinton Company

Emmy Jane Tittle Clinton, a fourth-generation Texan, was born on July 22, 1925, in New York City, to Dr. and Mrs. Guy Amsden Tittle. She entered into the Cloud of Witnesses on June 23, 2018. The "dash" between the year of her birth and the year of her death cannot begin to describe the full life she lived.
Emmy graduated from Highland Park High School in 1943, Hockaday Junior College in 1945, and the University of Texas at Austin in 1947 where she was an active member of Pi Beta Phi. She met Ramsey Clinton shortly after her arrival at UT, and they married in April of 1952. Their sixty-two year marriage was filled with fun, travels, zany escapades, small-town living in Burnet, Texas, and many, many years of Burnet Bulldog and Longhorn football games. Never declining an invitation, they participated in every activity possible with their three children and 14 grandchildren. Emmy lived to know and to love her 19 great-grandchildren. Ramsey went to be with the Lord on May 24, 2014. We know that Emmy could hear him calling her to join him.
Following Ramsey's death, Emmy moved to Dallas and resided at the Belmont Village. Mexican food and margaritas, wine and cheese happy hours, bidding and making a grand slam, being with her children and their friends, watching a football game, supervising ranch round-up. These were a few of her favorite things.

Reference:
Austin American-Statesman, Jun. 27, 2018.

-donated by Houston Clinton Company

Brothers, John and Henry Churchill came to Burnet in 1883 from Shelbyville, Kentucky. They opened the first hardware store on the south side of the square.

John served in Company K-15th Kentucky Infantry, Union Army during
the Civil War.

Both raised families in homes owned on opposite corners of Pierce and East Post Oak Streets.

Churchill Bros. Hardware stayed in the family until the 1940’s.

-donated by Margaret Lange

The engraved names on this brick are mother and son, part of the long-time Castillo family in Burnet County.

Alice was a widely-known and respected cosmetologist.

Gilbert grew up in Burnet and continued residence in Burnet as an adult. He loved the Burnet community and had many stories and memories of early families. He was a gardener and frequently was care giver to Burnet County historian, Darrell Debo.




-donated by Jeff Townsend