Van Zandt News (Canton, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 35, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 5, 2014 Page: 4 of 14
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Page 4 —VAN ZANDT NEWS—Sunday, January 5, 2014
County Arrests
The Van Zandt County Grand Jury met, returning
the following indictments, all true bill unless oth-
erwise noted:
Donald Earl Batey, unauthorized use of vehicle.
Joseph Dalton Dodson, unauthorized use of ve-
hicle.
Joshua Brady Downey, possession of marijuana.
Shirley Fleet Elder, driving while intoxicated.
Daymon Gene Engert, burglary of habitation.
Frederick Scott Fannin, possession of controlled
substance.
Shawn Clifton Groom, possession of marijuana.
Brandon Lee Hammon, aggravated sexual as-
sault child.
Jimmy Ray Harris, driving while intoxicated.
Richard James Hinton, sexual assault.
Robert Joe Holderby, sexual assault.
Raymond Bernard Howard, possession of con-
trolled substance.
Diane Lee Kirkpatrick, driving while intoxicated
with child under the age of 15.
Aldon Dewitt Marty, robbery.
Cynthia Ann Massey, theft of property.
Exxavier Jaquondys McCoy, possession of con-
trolled substance.
Patrick Ryan McShan, possession of controlled
substance.
Terry Max Meade, credit card or debit card
abuse.
Philip Dwayne Morgan, theft of property.
Amber Marie Morris, theft of property.
Talib Mujahid, theft of service.
Landon Duane Musgrave, evading arrest deten-
tion with vehicle.
Shawn Nunez, possession of controlled sub-
stance.
Jeffrey Allen Overstreet, possession of controlled
substance.
Brandon Reed Pittman, burglary of habitation.
Peter Rodriguez, possession of controlled sub-
stance.
Will Don Rogers, two counts of injury disable
with intent to cause bodily injury.
Kenneth Michael Shepherd, fraud use/posses-
sion identifying information.
Brandon Wade Smith, possession of controlled
substance and tamper/fabricate physical evidence.
Eric Henry Sustaita, aggravated assault with
deadly weapon.
Dennis Mark Wagner, driving while intoxicated.
Sean Matthew Walters, possession of controlled
substance.
James Robert Welch, driving while intoxicated.
Jason Allan White, sexual assault.
Kendra Annette Williams, possession of con-
trolled substance.
Brian Scott Wilson, possession of controlled sub-
stance.
Preston Mitchell Wilson, possession of controlled
substance.
Steven Scott Wright, tamper/fabricate physical
evidence and possession of controlled substance.
Arthur Ybarra, possession of controlled substance.
County
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Coverage
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that the Historical Commission does for the county.”
Emergency Services commissioners
The commissioners designated three Emergency
Services commissioners to serve two- year terms and
two Emergency Services commissioners to serve a
one-year term for the Van Zandt County Emergency
Services District No. 3. The terms began Jan. 1.
ESD No. 3 commissioners area David Wilkerson,
C. J. Jones and Marvin Shaw (appointed to two-year
terms) and Scott Opitz and Sue Baugh (appointed to
one-year terms.)
In a related item, the commissioners also appointed
two Emergency Services commissioners for the
Emergency Services District No. 2 for the 2014-2015
term.
Commissioners appointed John W. Robinson and
William W. Routen, both of Grand Saline, to fill the
vacancies.
Emergency Disaster Relief Fund
Sue Baugh was treasurer of a local committee that
accumulated funds during the Hurricane Katrina and
Hurricane Rita disasters. Baugh recently notified the
court that there was $16,082.36 in funds that were
being held by the First United Methodist Church of
Canton.
According to Koches, “those disaster relief funds
that helped the evacuees have been on deposit from
some time.”
Baugh also provided the names of an approved
advisory committee to help the county in case of emer-
gencies. The committee is comprised of Baugh, Anna
McDaniel, Charles Branton, Annie Wilson and David
Fullers.
The court accepted the funds to be used only to-
ward emergency disaster relief. According to Koches,
“these funds will be set aside, and the next time we
have an emergency situation we will activate the ad-
visory committee and use those designated funds.”
Solid Waste Management Grant
“Van Zandt County was approved for a $30,000
grant for a nuisance abatement employee,” Koches
said.
Fire Marshal Chuck Allen said “the grant will now
enable us to have a second full time employee.”
The commissioners unanimously approved the
acceptance of the Solid Waste Management Grant
for a nuisance abatement employee for the fiscal year
2014.
In other business of the court, commissioners:
—Approved a resale request from the Kaufman
County Tax Assessor Collector to accept bids for the
sale of real property located in Mabank ISD. Two
bids were accepted; one for $1,500 sold to Wayne
and Kathy Groom; and $972 to WCP Web City Prop-
erties.
—Authorized Koches to submit an application to
the Historic Courthouse Preservation Program,
Round VIII grand funding;
—Approved a lease agreement with Michael L
and Marion Kirkpatrick for a one year term secur-
ing, mixing and removing oil sand for Precint 4.
VISIT US ON
rrte wee
vanz.andtnevis.60in
had a proposal from the
city of Canton that they
would offer that service
at no charge and that was
what the council ap-
proved at that time. We
also received a proposal
from the president of the
South Van Zandt Fire
Department, Tim
Meredith. Their pro-
posal, as of Jan 1, 2014,
was that a stipend of
$1,200 per month be
paid to the South Van
Zandt Fire Department,”
said County Judge Rhita
Koches.
The S VZFD proposal
was explained by
Meredith.
“The board of directors
of SVZFD and I sat
down and, since we are
under contract with ESD
No. 3 of Van Zandt
County, we felt that it
would not serve the pur-
pose of the people that
are paying taxes to con-
tinue to service an area
they don’t live in,
namely those people of
Canton who pay the tax,”
he said. “The total would
be $14,400 a year, which
would circumvent the
amount that our taxpay-
ers have to pay to provide
service to that area.”
Sanford said the CFD
was ready to service the
area. “Our offer stands as
it is and we will stand by
that offer,” he said. That
offer was for the city to
provide coverage to the
it’s ETJ in ESD No. 3 at
no extra cost.
Commissioner Virgil
Melton Jr. made a motion
to enter into an interlocal
agreement with the city
of Canton to provide ser-
vices to the ETJ begin-
ning Jan. 1, 2014, and
continuing for a one-year
period. Commissioners
approved the motion
unanimously.
But, according to
Wilkerson, the area in the
ETJ is still a no man’s
land, and the taxpayers of
Canton are being bur-
dened with fire coverage
taxes “they necessarily
should not be forced to
pay since they do not live
in these areas and the
area is outside the city
limits.”
Wilkerson said the “
taxpayers who do live
within the area covered
by the ESD No. 3 but are
in the ETJ, are not being
taxed at all for the fire
coverage, even though
fire coverage is given.
“I don’t think the
people of Canton know
that they are being taxed
for that fire coverage of
the ETJ. I don’t think it is
fair to the taxpayers. Ev-
eryone pays county fire
taxes, including those
within the ETJ, but only
those who live within the
city limits are paying the
city fire tax coverage for
the area of the ETJ. I think
the big issue here is to let
the people of Canton and
the ESD No. 3 people
know who is paying for
the ETJ fire coverage,
and that is the people of
Canton.”
Courthouse-
figure out ways to fix that. We are looking for help
and ideas on how to fix the problems without harm-
ing the memorial.”
The memorial is a full body replica of Isaac Van
Zandt and his wife. Isaac Van Zandt was a promi-
nent figure in Texas history and contributed from
Canton to Fort Worth and more notably to Harrison
County.
According to the Van Zandt Genealogical Society
website, “Isaac Van Zandt was born in 1813 in
Franklin County, Tenn. He married his wife, Louise,
in 1833, and joined in a mercantile business with his
wife’s brother-in-law. During the financial panic of
1837, Van Zandt and Brown lost the mercantile busi-
ness and Van Zandt was left with nothing. ‘Gone to
Texas’ was the cry in those days and Van Zandt up-
rooted his family. The Van Zandt family then went
down the Mississippi River and up the Red River to
Natchitoches, La., and then on to the abandoned
Camp Sabine, which was an Army camp during the
Texan Revolution.”
After fighting illnesses, Van Zandt and his family
landed in Elysian Fields in Harrison County. During
a debating society meeting, Van Zandt was encour-
aged to become a lawyer by General T.N. Waul.
Van Zandt was also a prominent figure in creation
of Marshall and contributed to naming the town af-
ter Chief Justice John Marshall.
“Isaac built a respectable law practice in Elysian
Fields and Marshall and soon moved his family into
Marshall. Van Zandt helped survey the town site of
Marshall in 1839.
During his time in Marshall, Van Zandt was en-
couraged to run for a congressional candidate, at
which he was elected and served from 1840 to 1842.
He was then appointed Charge d’Affairs in July 1842
by President Sam Houston. He worked tirelessly pro-
moting the annexation of Texas into the Union and
tried to get Washington to put pressure on Mexico to
stop sending military forces into Texas.”
After the annexation of Texas into the Union on
1845, Van Zandt served as a delegate to the Consti-
tution Convention and served on many committees.
Perhaps most notable during his time serving on
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the Constitution Convention was the creation of the
Texas’ “Homestead Law” and “The Community
Property Law.” The laws were included in the Con-
stitution of 1845 and were inspired by Van Zandt’s
experience during the Financial Panic of 1837, when
his family lost everything and many others in similar
situations sustained losses as well.
Van Zandt was campaigning throughout Texas for
the governor’s position and became widely popular
and recognizable. During the campaign, he caught
yellow fever and died in Houston on Oct. 11, 1847.
He was 34 years old.
He was remembered as a great statesman, a promi-
nent citizen of the Texas Republic, an able lawyer,
talented orator and also the minister of the Republic
of Texas to the United States. He represented Texas
in Washington, D.C, in negotiations for annexation
for Texas to join the Union.
According to VZCGS, “In 1846, Texas passed leg-
islation for the creation of more counties because of
the population increase. In 1848, one year after Van
Zandt’s death, the state cut off the north portion of
Henderson County and honored Van Zandt by nam-
ing the county Van Zandt County.”
Isaac Van Zandt also left behind a legacy that con-
tinued on with his five adult children. According to
the VZCGS, “Khebler Miller Van Zandt became a
major in the Confederate Army and a land agent for
T&P Railroad. Later in his life he became one of the
Fort Worth’s most progressive promoters and build-
ers. He also commanded the Confederate Civil War
Veterans’ Organization for many years until his
death.”
Van Zandt and his wife also were the parents of
the first child to be born in Texas.
“During his time at Elysian Fields, the Van Zandt’s
third child was born Jan. 5, 1840. He was named
Isaac Lycurgus and was the first child to be born in
Texas. He was called “Curgie” and went on to be-
come a great physician,” noted VZCGS.
Van Zandt’s other children, Mrs. Louisa B.
Clough, Maj. K.M. Van Zandt, Dr. I.L. Van Zandt,
Mrs. E. J. Beall and Mrs. Ida V. Jarvis were all promi-
nent citizens of Fort Worth until their deaths.
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Fisher, Donnita. Van Zandt News (Canton, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 35, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 5, 2014, newspaper, January 5, 2014; Canton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth868239/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Van Zandt County Library.