Texas Ranger, T.C. Robinson once described him, “He kills men just to see them kick. He can take two six shooters and turn them like wheels in his hands and fire a shot from each at every revolution.” Others have described Fannin . . . — — Map (db m128660) HM
The first influx of settlers into the area now known as Fannin County began in the early winter of 1836 when Dr. Daniel Rowlett brought ten families up Red River to a site about 16 miles northeast of present day Bonham. Because of the ease of river . . . — — Map (db m234067) HM
Probably the most colorful and altogether mysterious figure of the Red River Valley was a man named Thomas C. Bean. Bean's death in 1887 "about 70 years of age" set off untold numbers of lawsuits by bogus heirs to his estate, claiming literally . . . — — Map (db m234061) HM
Formed from Fannin County Created April 3, 1846 Organized July 13, 1846 Named in honor of Collin McKinney 1766-1861 Land surveyor Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence Member of Congress, Republic of Texas Member of the Texas . . . — — Map (db m171047) HM
In 1848, a young graduate of Indiana Medical College arrived in Bonham with his wife and young son, seeking new horizons and a place to practice his medical profession. Dr. Eli S. Penwell constructed a building on the south side of the Bonham square . . . — — Map (db m234078) HM
Even twenty years after the close of the Civil War, a certain lawlessness reminiscent of frontier days still prevailed in areas of Texas. This was the age of the western gunfighter and numerous Texas feuds. This nation seemed to be in a state of . . . — — Map (db m234135) HM
This area was first settled by Anglo - Americans who traveled up the Red River by steamboat in 1836. Fannin County was created in 1837, organized 1838, and named for James W. Fannin (1805-36), who was massacred with his soldiers at Goliad (March 27, . . . — — Map (db m96688) HM
Born in Fannin County, Texas, during the Republic of Texas period, John Parker Pennington (1840-1904), lived as a young man in Arizona territory. As a member of one of the first families to settle in the territory he survived several deadly . . . — — Map (db m201945) HM
Georgia native George Lawson Bledsoe (b. 1805), a carpenter and cotton gin builder, came to Texas in 1834. A veteran of the Texas Revolution and the Battle of San Jacinto, he received a pension for his military service and patented land grants in . . . — — Map (db m183376) HM
Longtime Bonham residents well remember that this corner (intersection of North Main & Fifth Streets) was for a time the most popular spot in Bonham. The corner became the focal point for riders on "Dummy" the affectionate nickname of Bonham's lone . . . — — Map (db m234140) HM
The oldest of Bonham's two premiere opera houses was constructed on this site in 1874. Home to many locally produced productions, this facility was also the site of many performances from the popular traveling companies of the era. One such . . . — — Map (db m234137) HM
Came to Texas 1836. Caused Fannin County to be created, 1837. Served as congressman, Republic of Texas, 1837-38, 1839-40, 1843-44. Helped (1840) organize Constantine Lodge No. 13, A.F. & A.M., and was its first Worshipful Master. Was most versatile . . . — — Map (db m234167) HM
Formally chartered in 1881, Carlton College began under the direction of Charles Carlton (1821-1902) as the Bonham Female Institute. Carlton, a native of England and a Disciples of Christ minister, had come to Bonham in 1867 to take charge of the . . . — — Map (db m306535) HM
Although the Civil War was raging far from the Red River Valley in 1863, certain events occurred to remind the citizens of Bonham of the blood being shed by many of its young men. The most compelling of the events concerned Captain William C. . . . — — Map (db m234136) HM
As the Bonham business community neared the end of the nineteenth century, nearly all the traces of its frontier past had disappeared. The arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1873 helped stimulate a diversity of retail enterprises around the . . . — — Map (db m234133) HM
Virginia native Edward Thomas Branch came to Texas in 1835 and settled in Liberty. As a First Sergeant in the Texas Volunteers, he participated in the Battle of San Jacinto, and remained in the army as a Second Lieutenant until October 1836. He . . . — — Map (db m243127) HM
Joseph Sowell In September 1836, Joseph Sowell (1804-1841) came to Texas shortly after the republic was established. Settling on his 1280-acre land grant just south of the Red River, Sowell made his home about 1.5 miles northwest of this site.
In . . . — — Map (db m119511) HM
In the 1850s, North Texas attracted settlers from border states like Kentucky with the promise of inexpensive land for farming and stock raising. One such man was Dr. William Dixon Lair (1814-1887), a pioneer physician, former Kentucky state . . . — — Map (db m309928) HM
In the mainstream of Texas history for more than a century, this area was, in 1837, the site of Colonel Holland Coffee's trading post, a landmark structure at the Preston Bend crossing of the Red River.
It was a focal point, beginning in . . . — — Map (db m73242) HM
The earliest settler in this area was George W. Smith, a native of Georgia, who moved here in 1844. By the early 1850s, a community had developed and a post office was established under the name Oak Hill. The first church, a Baptist congregation, . . . — — Map (db m307274) HM
Originally part of the Republic of Texas’ Fannin County, Denton County was established in 1846, when the first legislature of the State of Texas created and organized thirty-one new counties. Efforts to colonize the area eventually resulted in . . . — — Map (db m309101) HM
Organized at the former county seat of Warren on Nov. 3, 1840, this was one of the earliest Masonic lodges in Texas. Dr. Daniel Rowlett (1786-1848), Fannin County pioneer and Republic of Texas congressman was one of the first officers. The lodge . . . — — Map (db m234000) HM
Operating under a dispensation issued in 1853, this organization was formally chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1854. Wesley C. Walker served as the first Worshipful Master. The membership, like the general population of the area, was . . . — — Map (db m234203) HM
In the spring of 1838, Captains Robert Sloan and Nathaniel T. Journey led a group of about 90 northeast Texas frontiersmen on a punitive expedition against the Indians who had raided their homes in present-day Fannin County. The trail led them to . . . — — Map (db m75807) HM
A minister in the Primitive Baptist Church, the Rev. Henry Hurley came to Texas in 1844. His years in the state were spent organizing frontier churches and helping pioneers settle in new communities. He established churches in Hunt, Fannin and . . . — — Map (db m248536) HM
In 1837, Bailey Inglish moved his family to this area from western Arkansas, where he had been an influential leader of pioneer settlers. Here he was active in the formation of Fannin County, serving on the land board and later as chief justice. To . . . — — Map (db m128647) HM
In the cause of independence, raised company of 36 riflemen in his native Kentucky, starting for Texas November 1835. City of San Antonio was liberated by time they arrived. Although an officer, Tarleton fought in the ranks in the victory at San . . . — — Map (db m234166) HM
A native of Alabama, William Chamberlayne Jones migrated to Texas in 1852 and resided near the Monkstown settlement in northeastern Fannin County. Trained as an attorney, he sold his Red River plantation after the Civil War and began studying . . . — — Map (db m163234) HM
Alexander Buchanan (1796-1846), his wife Delilah (1806-1870), and their eleven children moved to the Republic of Texas from Illinois in 1844. They settled on a 320-acre farm at this site in January 1846. Alexander Buchanan died that same year and . . . — — Map (db m263802) HM
In the aftermath of the Civil War, plans were enacted for the Reconstruction of the Union with the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1865, and the passages of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. Texas would not . . . — — Map (db m282770) HM
Gideon Smith (b. 1815), a native of Alabama, moved to Fannin County in 1851 and purchased a 3000-acre tract. He deeded half of the property to his brother John C. Smith, who joined him in 1855. Gideon smith served one term in the Texas Legislature . . . — — Map (db m203438) HM
Commissioners’ Court first met at Jacob Black’s cabin on Feb. 26, 1836, before Fannin County was officially organized. In 1838 Warren (near present Ambrose in Grayson County) was named the county seat. The courthouse built there in 1840 was a . . . — — Map (db m128644) HM
Founded in 1844 in the Republic of Texas by a circuit rider, the Rev. James H. Graham (1815-1884), this church met first in a log cabin, which it shared with Baptist and Presbyterian congregations. Charter members included the families of Bailey . . . — — Map (db m234063) HM
County's oldest. Bailey Inglish donated plot near Old Fort Inglish (called Bois d'Arc. Later Bonham).
Pioneers buried here include 1838 Indian massacre victims Andrew Daugherty. Wm. McCarty; 1836 Fannin County colonizers Bailey Inglish and Daniel . . . — — Map (db m234162) HM
Significant for his contributions to the formative years of Bonham and Fannin County, Tennessee native John P. Simpson arrived in Texas about 1837. In that year he signed the petition to create Fannin County and began to farm his land in this area. . . . — — Map (db m233957) HM
Built 1894 by craftsmen
Martin and Krause for local
merchant, J.B. Haden, and wife
Elizabeth. Remained in Haden
family until 1963.
Cypress construction with
ornate gingerbread trim.
Interior has fine woodwork.
Late Victorian . . . — — Map (db m308527) HM
Tennessee native Thomas Lindsey (b. 1794) brought his family to this part of Fannin County in 1837. In the late 1840s, Lindsey donated four acres of his farmland for a school and cemetery. The first burial in the cemetery was for one of Lindsey's . . . — — Map (db m233951) HM
William (Bill) Woody (1824-1915), one of the first Anglo settlers in Parker County, was born in Roane County, Tennessee. While living in the eastern Tennessee hills bordering North Carolina, he married Elisabeth Lydia Farmer (1822-1879) in 1846. . . . — — Map (db m192530) HM
Early settlers, who came to this area from Giles County, Tenn., founded an academy at this site in 1859, hired fellow-Tennessean Thomas Hart Benton Hockaday (1835-1918) as the first teacher, and named the new school in memory of their southern . . . — — Map (db m311131) HM
Plans began in early 1941 for a U.S. Army Air Corps installation to be located in Grayson County. This 1,160-acre site was acquired in June, and Air Corps personnel began arriving in August. The base was to serve as a basic flight training facility. . . . — — Map (db m238003) HM
Founded in early 1850's. On Bonham-McKinney stage line. Called Lick Skillet; renamed, 1858 for J.P. Dumas Ranch. Site of Lee-Peacock feud, 1865-1871, between ex-Confederate Capt. Bob Lee with his gold and Union supporter Lewis Peacock. Although Lee . . . — — Map (db m256940) HM
Attracted to the area by its fertile soil, good water supply, and abundant building materials, pioneers from Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas, and Wisconsin settled here in the 1850s. Their colony, located on the Ben Rue Survey, was first . . . — — Map (db m246070) HM
This Monument Dedicated to the Men and Women Who Served Their Country So Gallantly. Particularly Those Who Went From Fannin County
Texas
They Served for a Righteous Cause
Operation
Desert Shield and Desert Storm
Vietnam War . . . — — Map (db m235964) WM
Designed as a military highway, intended to make linkage with United States military road built to the north of the Red River in the 1820s.
This was part of the national effort of Republic of Texas to open a good road system. Congress in . . . — — Map (db m303831) HM
Oldest bank in Fannin County, chartered December 12, 1883.
At that time, county had 25,000 people; farming and industry prospered; a new railroad was being built; seven schools and colleges and three newspapers were in operation.
Growth . . . — — Map (db m234071) HM
When General Henry McCulloch arrived in Bonham in 1863 to take command of the Northern Sub-District of the Confederate Army, one of his first charges from his superiors was to ferret out the large number of suspected army deserters and possible . . . — — Map (db m234139) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.