Foard Co

Foard Co. Est. Feb. 21, 1891. Mr. J.G. Witherspoon has been called the Father of Foard Co., for he was the governing force which led the organization of a new county. Through his acquaintance with people in several surrounding counties, he was able to acquire the 700 sq. miles of land to create a new co. , , On Feb. 12, 1891, John H. Stephens of Vernon introduced the bill to call the new co. “Beaver”. However, another senator had a law partner he wished to honor. Senator Townsend struck out the word “Beaver” and substituted the name “Foard”. The bill was passed on Feb. 16, 1891 and signed on Feb. 21, 1891. , , Crowell and Foard City both vied for the co. seat honors. An election was held on Apr. 27, 1891. When the votes were cast and counted, Crowell was the new co. seat with 183 votes while 106 were cast for Foard City. , , According to the hands of the clock in the dome of the badly wrecked court house, the twister struck that building at 8:40 pm (April 28, 1942) tearing out all the clock mechanism and leaving only the dial facing the east intact. , , The twister had left 11 dead, 125 injured and over 1500 homeless, Ninety percent of buildings (business and homes) were destroyed or damaged. Fire wiped out one business block. , , Residents were helped by 200 Civilian Conservation Corps workers in the cleanup. The Red Cross and National Guard troops provided meals and drinking water to the beleaguered citizens in days following the disaster. , , With World War II hardly five months old, building materials were hard to obtain as most of the material was going to the military as the nation prepared to fight Germany, Japan and Italy.