Hale County, TX Newspaper Gleanings

Hale City, Aug. 20 – Hale county has just enjoyed a copious rain, and newcomers and prospectors are well pleased with the country. School land is going fast, and now the settlers are hurrying to the vacant land in the western part of the county, of which there are several thousand acres that can be homesteaded in 160-acre tracts. Mr. Tolbert and some other gentleman from Vernon visited our town yesterday and were well pleased. They went out to the southwest part of the county to look at a large body of Sabine county school land with the view of purchasing and colonizing it. (Fort Worth Daily Gazette, August 25, 1890, transcribed by Peggy Thompson) Hale City, Aug. 20 – Hale city is a new town in the center of Hale county and is rapidly coming to the front. Messrs. Pierson & Hudgins have opened a general merchandise store, Mr. Allen a blacksmith and woodwork shop, Messrs. Highsmith & Bro. of Chillicothe will open a dry goods store, W. P. Blake of Arlington has a newspaper outfit here and will as soon as a building can be erected, publish a newspaper, Mr. C. H. Marshall, a lawyer of Dallas, will open a real estate office and several other branches of business are in prospect. (Fort Worth Daily Gazette, August 25, 1890, transcribed by Peggy Thompson) TRAGIC DEATH OF S. C. PARKER AT HALE CITY Said to Have Relatives in Waco But Nobody Seen This Morning Knew the Young Man The Hale Globe of August 3, published at Hale City, contains the following account of the tragic death of S. C. Parker, a young man who is said to have lived in Waco, although a News reporter could ascertain nothing about him or his people this morning. Yesterday evening about 3 o’clock eight miles northwest of Hart’s Camp, S. C. Parker, a young man about 20 or 21 years of age, was killed. He has been working on Elwood’s ranch about a month and was somewhat inexperienced and in cutting an animal from the herd dashed into the bunch full speed, and his horse collided with a cow and fell rolling over the man two or three times. When the horse regained his feet Parker was hanging by the left foot in the stirrup on the opposite side of the horse. The horse started to run but only made a few jumps when Parker’s shoe pulled off and he dropped to the ground. Mr. Norfleet and several of the boys gathered around him and finding him not quite dead, one started for the doctor and one went to camp for the buckboard, to bring him to town. Dr. Harp met them about seven miles from town, about 10 o’clock last night, but the man breathed his last about a minute before the doctor reached the wagon. But little is known of Parker’s history. He worked some time for G. O. Baker before going to a ranch. His parents have been dead since he was a small child, but it is thought he has an aunt near Abilene. He was unconscious from the time of the fall, his skull being crushed near the temple and his right leg thigh badly broken besides being otherwise badly crushed. He will be buried today in the graveyard near town. If young Parker has any relatives in Waco, Mr. W. E. Lynch of Hale City, desires them to communicate with him. (The Waco Evening News, August 4, 1893, transcribed by Peggy Thompson) HALE COUNTY METEOR SENT TO THE EAST Plainview, Tex., June 29 – B. C. McWhorter has shipped to Philadelphia the remaining portion of the meteorite which fell on his ranch in Hale County, about three miles from the Lubbock County line, in the year 1880. When this meteorite fell it broke in two pieces and Mr. McWhorter sold the larger piece about seven years ago for $500. The two pieces weighed about 875 pounds. This meteorite had the distinction of being the only rock ever seen on the surface of Hale county that was not transported here by the hand of man. Through Jas. R. DeLay, Messrs. S. P. Gordon, and E. J. Dodson have each bought 640 acres of land located several miles northwest of Plainview, L. M. Faulkner has also purchased 160 acres a few miles west of town at $42.50 per acre, which he plans to develop by irrigation at an early date. A. E. Harp Irrigation company sold this week to a northern party a fine tract which will be irrigated. Some very large land deals in Hale County are pending and will be announced soon. (El Paso Herald, June 29, 1912, transcribed by P. T.) HALE COUNTY HAS BIG HOG RANCHES J. O. Crockett of El Paso, President of Largest Porker Breeding Concern in State of Texas An El Paso man is president of the largest hog growing company in Texas. J. O. Crockett has just returned from Plainview, Texas, where he was selected to head the Hale county, Trading company, the purpose of which is to breed and raise hogs for the Fort Worth market. The company’s ranches are in Hale County near Plainview and are divided into five ranches of 160 acres each and one 200 acre ranch. There are already 1000 hogs on these ranches and the newly organized company expects to produce 60,000 hogs each year. Jersey Reds and Poland Chinas are to be the two standard breeds and alfalfa Breeding pens, feed houses and alfalfa runways are being built now for the big hog ranches. Hale county, Mr. Crockett says is the largest hog producing county in the state and has topped the Fort Worth market 42 times this year with its is H. I. Miller, vice president of the Pearson interests in the southwest and a number of other capitalists. An expert hog raiser has been employed to take charge of the ranches and these will be made models for the entire Plainview country. (El Paso Herald, June 5, transcribed by P. T.) HALE COUNTY SCHOOLS MAY HAVE EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS Plainveiw, Tex., Dec. 20 – A demonstration plot for every school house in Hale County is the plan of Dr. R. F. Hare county agent. This plot will be farmed by the farmers of the community who will use the most approved methods of cultivation and accurate costs will be kept on operations. It is hoped that this will stimulate interest in the county in the better kind of farming. Experience of farmers in one section of the county will be given all others, the county agent acting as an intermediary. (El Paso Herald, December 20, 1916, transcribed by P. T.) PLAINVEIW BUSINESS LEAGUE ELECTS OFFICERS Plainview, Tex., Dec. 20 – New officers have been elected for the ensuing year to serve the Plainview Young Men’s Business league. L. R. Pearson is president; J. M. Waller, vice president; H. S. Hilburn, publicity man; T. Stockton, secretary. Plainview will entertain in annual convention next spring the associated young men’s business organizations of Texas. (El Paso Herald, December 20, 1916, transcribed by P. T.)