Memorial and biographical history of Ellis county, Texas ... Containing a history of this important section of the great state of Texas, from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; with full-page portraits of the presidents of the United States, and also full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of the county, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers, and also of prominent citizens of to-day ... Page: 79
573, [1] 123, [1] p. incl. 23 port. front., 2 pl., 28 port. 28 x 22 cm.View a full description of this book.
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HISTORY OF ELLIS COUNTY. 79
house to have a door on each side three by
six feet; said doors to be faced and furnished
with clapboard shutters; said shutters to be
hung with wooden hinges; said house to be
covered with three-feet boards nailed to good
ribs; the said house to be built for fifty-nine
dollars. Whittenberg, to meet his contract,
bought a cedar log church and schoolhouse
which was moved to Waxahachie by Elbert
Newton and Newton Laughlin with ox teams,
having, I believe, a load apiece. ( There was
only one door to the house when Whittenberg
bought it, and as he failed to put a door
in the other side and a window in one end,
the question arises, would it not be expedient
for the present Court to try and recover
damages for failure of contract ?)
"' The courthouse was finished in due time,
and in October, 1850, the first District Court
was held, Judge 0. M. Roberts presiding by
exchange with Judge B. H. Martin. The
following are lists of the first Grand and
Petit Jurors: The Grand Jury were William
Young, Guy Stokes, J. H. Witherspoon,
Josiah P. Woolsey, Thomas Bell, Robert
Mayfield, Norman H. Whittenberg, J. P. Apperson,
Benjamin Monroe, Jas. J. Clayton,
Harmon P. Crum, Samuel P. Billingsly,
Evan R. Balch, Henry Harrold and Nathaniel
L. Douglass; Hamon P. Crum was made foreman
and R. M. Berry bailiff. The following
were the Petit Jury: Jas. P. Laughlin,
Richard Parker, James L. Kelley, Archibald
Greathouse, Wm. J. Boyd, Malcom Johnson,
Wallace Siever, Elias McKey, John Nugent,
Win. Berry, Richardson Newton, George
Younger. At this term of court, four truebills were found. I would also state in this
connection that at the sscond tertn two bills
were found, at the third term one, and at the
fourth term four, all for trivial causes. This
shows the moral status of the county at that
time.
i" The first dry-goods house in Waxahachie
was opened by H. D. Marchbatiks, in a little
log cabin that stood on the lot now occupied
by the Ellis House. The advent of that little
stock of goods was an important event in the
history of Waxahachie, and created as much
excitement as the arrival here of the largest
stock of goods in Galveston would to-day.
The first frame house was built by Harvey
Young, and now forms a part of what is
known as the Aldridge House. Other business
houses were put up shortly after Marchbanks'.
Whittenberg, Baker & Secrest,
and Killough are remembered as among the
early merchants. The town steadily increased
in population and wealth, until within a few
years, and is still as live a place as almost
any inland town, with a fair representation in
every department of business and trades.
"' Marvin College* forms an attractive and
interesting feature in the description of the
town, it being one of the finest college buildings
in the State. It is situated on a gentle
eminence some half mile from the Square,
and has a campus of four or five acres under
good fence. The building itself is of brick.
twenty-eight feet high, and fifty by seventy
feet. The upper story is the chapel, eighteen
* Mr. Hawkins' account of this institution is retained
in his article, although it has passed away and the
high school has taken its place, as a means of show.
ing what it once was.-[EDITOR.Hr8OR OFELrS OUTY
79
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Memorial and biographical history of Ellis county, Texas ... Containing a history of this important section of the great state of Texas, from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; with full-page portraits of the presidents of the United States, and also full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of the county, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers, and also of prominent citizens of to-day ..., book, 1892; Chicago. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth33018/m1/81/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Public Library.