The Randall County Story from 1541 to 1910 Page: 88

                                
Long, Belle Shotwell, Columbia Redfearn, Mary Wansley,
Dean McCue, Tom and Frank Wilson. In 1968 there were
138 graduates.
The first school had six pupils with one teacher. In 1968
the total enrollment 2,595 with 141 teachers and 28
employes. Gene Howe, - 305; Rex Reeves, - 986, - Jr.
High School, - 683; Senior High School, - 621. The
money for the first school in 1889 was raised by subscrip-
tion from the citizens and the T-Anchor cowboys. The first
teacher, Miss Emma Turner was paid $40.00 per month for
a six term school. The budget for 1968 is $1,653,755.00
The first school building cost "about $2,500.00". Bonds
were voted in 1968 for a new building to be erected at a
cost of $1,250,000.00
Canyon Public School Superintendents
1889-1895 - M. M. McGee
1896-1897 - Cyrus Eakman
1897-1902 - W. C. Lair
1902-1904 - A. N. Henson
1904-1906 - A. Ernsberg
1906-1907 - R. L. Templeton
1907-1911 - John L. Redus
1911-1913 - T. J. Yoe
1913-1917 - E. F. King
1917-1919 - J. E. Willis
1919-1922 - C. L. Sone
1922-1926 - A. D. Payne
1926-1928 - Jim Webb
1927-1946 - I. B. Carruth
1946-1952 - J. B. Spears
1952-1962 - Joe E. Gibson
1962-1966 - Huelyn Laycock
1967-    - Jerry Jacobs
Miss Emma Turner, the first teacher, taught from
1889-1892. Miss Kate Mills was the second teacher. She
married Dr. D. M. Stewart and both lived in Canyon until
their deaths.
JOWELL - MY COMMUNITY
By Helen Davis
As I begin to write the history of the Jowell community,
I am grateful that someone thought of having it done. Many
questions have come to my mind that cannot be answered
because those who knew the answers are forever silent.
Even in the past year, three of our "old timers" have
departed from us - J. L. Lovvorn, J. J. Leavitt, and Earl J.
Davis. With them, and the other departed ones, have gone
the answers to many questions regarding the early life of
our community.
I am grateful to those who have contributed information,
namely, Lawrence Renner of Wheatland, California, Mrs.
Lawrence Fulton (maiden name Julia Frary) of Wildorado,
Texas, and Otto F. (Dick) Meyers of Childress, Texas. All
of these lived at Jowell at one time. Others also have helped
in assembling these facts.
One of the others is Roy Jowell of 809 Lee, Hereford,
Texas, Box 303. He gave valuable information. His father,
Jerome Thomas Jowell, donated the land on which the first
Jowell school house stood. It was located on the northwest
corner of the now Si Elliott farm in the Jowell community.

The school was named for Mr. Jowell. Mr. Roy Jowell
believes that the schoolhouse was built in 1901 or 1902.
The first school sessions were held only in the spring and
summer.
The Jowell's left the community to go to Hereford in
1905. Mr. Jowell recalls that there was no school held in
1905-1906. This was probably due to a lack of scholastics.
His first teacher at Jowell was a Miss Lucile Duckworth
who lived in Castro County. He also recalls a Miss Laura
Hodges. He does not remember what year she taught or
where she was from. From other data collected, her term
would have been prior to 1905.
The house in which the Jowell family lived (the present
house on the Si Elliott farm) was built by carpenters Scott
and Rolland. Judge John F. Turner of Umbarger cooked for
these men while they were at work.
Mr. Turner was one of the old timers and well known in
this county. At one time he was arrested and convicted for
selling liquor. He was sentenced to one year at Huntsville.
He went to the penitentiary before the officers came for
him and told them he wanted to start serving his sentence.
The authorities there wired the Canyon authorities for
proper identification. He was admitted. While still serving
time there, the people of Umbarger elected him to fill the
office of Justice of the Peace.
Mr. Jowell told the story of a family who lived on the
place where Eugene Bonds now has his diary. They put up a
small shack and dug a well south of the building site there
now. I remember seeing the remains of the shack when I
went to school at Jowell. This family had a small boy who
fell into the dirt tank and almost drowned. The father got
him out, did what he could for the child, then got on his
horse and rode to Mr. Jowell's home for help. Mr. J. T.
Jowell went with him and the two sat up all night with the
child. They consulted a doctor book to find out what to
do. The child recovered. After he was grown, he went to
Colorado and was killed in a snow slide in the mountains.
Mr. Jowell could not recall the name of this family.
A wide lane known as the "10-mile lane" began at the P.
J. Meyers place (now the Tom Cope place) and ran north to
the old Harriot place (now the J. W. Spencer place). The
cattlemen, L. T. Lester, C. A. Keiser and others built this
wide lane to keep moving herds of cattle off their grass. I
recall huge herds of cattle passing by the school. It would
take them hours to pass by. One of the large herds was
owned by Judge Word. He moved them from the north
plains winter pasture to the pastures south and west of
Tulia for the summer.
Courthouse records of the rural schools of Randall
county have been destroyed. The only remaining school
records are in a book in which the certificates of teachers
have been recorded. This record shows that a J. W. Randall
was issued a certificate July 31, 1906, and it was registered
in Randall county September 16, 1907. A. J. W. Randall
taught at Jowell during the term 1907-1908.
Otto F. (Dick) Meyers, who lives in Childress, Texas,
informed me that his family, the P. J. Meyers, moved into
the Jowell community February 17,1907. He was six years
old at the time. The school was not attended then because
there were no scholastics in the district. This would have
been the 1906-1907 school term. The ranchers and home

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