Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas. Page: 20
180 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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FIRST COURTHOUSE
Cook County I think It should not be done as our
county lines has bin run and was laid of by the verry
men that is now at work to accomplish that very object
at the exspence of the menny for the benifitte of the
fiew we have little land anofe and cook has a plenty
as Such I think this county Should stand as it is . . .
If there should be attempted by anney of the under
plotter of our County to make the presant location of
Sherman the legal County Seat of this County I like
for ybu to eather oppose It or add one amendment to
the bill that is provided It is in three miles of the
center of said County . . . I am not attall opposed to
that place no further than anney other person but I
am infavour of the writes of all alike as the people has
bin Shamefuley treated in that matter and I do hope
that Justice will overtake them and Justice be delt to
all...,
I am yours truley,
James G. Thompson
Shannon immediately busied himself making a
metropolis out of what had been a thicket. He cut
down a giant pecan, hitched six yoke of oxen to it, and
tore a passage through the brambles by dragging this
primitive bulldozer where he intended the streets to
be. To his twelve-year-old daughter Julia he gave the
honor of naming the streets. The names she chose were
Mulberry, Pecan, Houston, Lamar, Jones, Cherry, Walnut,
Travis, Crockett, Rusk, and Elm. Years later the
first street south of the original city limits was named
King after Julia Shannon's second husband.
Shannon also took over a part of the financial loss
incurred by the moving of the town. He purchased the
original courthouse and moved it to his farm north of
town. In later years the same materials were moved to
"new" Sherman and composed a part of a house-on
North Travis.20
The first log courthouse on the new site was constructed
on the east side of the present square near the
intersection of Lamar and Travis. It was close to the
famous old pecan tree which figures in many of the
annecdotes of early Sherman life. Under this tree business
was transacted and court was held in good weather.
Some stories tell us that the tree even served as post
office, the postmaster stuffing the letters into the pockets
of an old coat which he hung from one of the
branches. The story is also told that farmers and
merchants coming to town would leave considerable
amounts of gold in their saddlebags unattended beneath
this tree with full assurance that nothing would
be taken.
The county square was not cleared of thicket for
some years; and when G. A. Dickerman first ran for
office in 1857, he tells us that there was a row of saplings
all around the square.
Across the street in the middle of the block on
Lamar between Crockett and Travis was a small log
cabin which housed the County Clerk's office and was
originally used as the post office before a separate
building was put up on the east side of Travis Street
half a block south of Lamar.
A jail was built on the corner of Travis and Jones
Streets. This jail was constructed with logs and was of
ingenious though faulty design. There being no windows
or doors, prisoners were let down through a trap
door in the roof. It was, however, no very difficult
trick for the prisoner's friends to remove him again as
soon as darkness fell.
As for accomodating the crowd that came to the
first court held in the new location, Julia Shannon King
has this to say:
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Grayson County: An Illustrated History of Grayson County, Texas. (Book)
An illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas with numerous photographs and a pioneer name index (p. 120).
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Landrum, Graham. Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas., book, 1960; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24647/m1/24/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.