Texoso

Tex Erwin, Major League Baseball Player

Ross Emil “Tex” Erwin was born December 22, 1885 in Forney, Texas to Hiram P. Erwin and Laura Ann Boles Erwin. Tex’s father Hiram was a farmer and carpenter according to various census and newspaper reports. Hiram was also once tried and acquitted of the charge of murder in 1899. The charge was related to a downtown Dallas shooting which had occurred in 1898. Hiram had testified that the victim had threatened him on numerous occasions, which might have had an impact on the verdict. In addition, the victim had previously also had stood trial for murder and had been acquitted. During Hiram’s trial, some of his testimony was apparently used to implicate him in a somewhat related arson case, for which he was also tried. In the latter case, Hiram was convicted, received a new trial and was again convicted in the second trial. There are no other mentions in Texas newspapers of legal issues other than these. Hiram died in 1927. Laura survived him by more than thirty-five years until she died in 1964. She and Hiram are buried in Dallas.

Swenson Ranches

Multiple sources credit Svante Magnus Swenson as being the first Swedish immigrant to come to Texas. He was born February 24, 1816 in Sweden to Sven Israelsson Swenson and Margareta Andesrsdotter Swenson, both of whom lived their whole lives in Sweden. He left his family and his home in Sweden when he was about twenty years old and came to America. S. M. briefly lived in New York before he relocated to the South. After he worked in New York as a railroad bookkeeper for a while, S. M. traveled to Galveston from New York in 1838. According to a biography of Swenson written by A. Anderson, the ship he traveled in experienced a shipwreck as it arrived in Texas, though the details are unknown. Swenson survived the ordeal and operated a mercantile business for a few years. It appears that for some time, he remained in the coastal area working for his own account before later joining in a partnership with a Dr. Long from Fort Bend County.

Richard Clayton Ware, Texas Ranger

Richard Clayton “Dick” Ware was born November 11, 1851 near Rome, Georgia to Benjamin Franklin Lafayette Ware and Mary Jane Price Ware. Ware is the Texas Ranger traditionally credited for giving outlaw Sam Bass his fatal gunshot wound in Round Rock, Texas in July, 1878.

Southwestern University

Southwestern University stakes its claim to be the oldest university in Texas. It is the product of the combination of four church related institutions including Rutersville College which received its charter from the Republic of Texas on January 24, 1840. The other schools were also chartered long ago: Wesleyan College of San Augustine (1844), Soule University of Chappel Hill (1856) and McKenzie College of Clarksville (1860). Southwestern’s charter was approved February 6, 1875 to be the combination of the four earlier institutions.

Horton Foote

Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was born March 14, 1916 to Albert Horton Foote, Sr. and Harriet Gautier Brooks Foote in Wharton, Texas. His name Albert is a Foote family name and the name Horton was his grandmother’s maiden name. Horton was in third generation of the Foote family to be born in Texas. His great grandfather S. D. Foote had come to the state in the 1800s.