biography – Page 3 – Texas History Notebook

Brad Johnson, Actor

Brad William Johnson (1959 – 2022) was an American actor. His parents were Grove Johnson and Virginia Scala Johnson. Brad was born to the couple on October 24, 1959 while the family was living in Tucson, Arizona. It has been suggested that he graduated from high school in Dallas but most likely, he graduated in Grants Pass, Oregon. Online genealogy sources note that he was in the school yearbooks when he was in the 11th and 12th grade. Also, he appears to have attended but did not graduate from college.

Dawson Murchison, Texas Game Warden

The December 21, 1938 issue of the McAllen Daily Press carried the sensational headline “Game Warden Slain By Hunters,” describing the incident in which Dawson R. Murchison was murdered in a confrontation with a group of poachers that he was investigating.

Padgitt Saddle Companies of Texas

It may be difficult to imagine today, there was a time when personal transportation (besides walking, of course) relied on horses and mules, buggies and coaches. For decades, local saddle makers enjoyed a thriving business.

Two such companies were Padgitt Bros. of Dallas and Tom Padgitt, Inc. (also known as Tom Padgitt Company Wholesale Saddlery) of Waco. James Robert Padgitt and Mary Jane Bond Padgitt had three sons who lived to be adults. They were Tom (1846 – 1926), William Clinton (1849 – 1909) and Jesse David (1851 – 1948).

Bill Moyers

Billy Don “Bill” Moyers was a journalist who served in the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations. He was well known in media for his political observations. Moyers was born June 5, 1934 in Hugo, Choctaw County, in southeastern Oklahoma to John Henry Moyers and Ruby Jewell Johnson Moyers. The couple had two sons, Jim and Bill. By the time the 1940 census was recorded, the family had moved to Marshall, Texas. Both Jim and Bill graduated from high school in Marshall. Jim earned a B. A. degree from University of North Texas (then known as North Texas State College). Bill attended North Texas for two years before transferring to University of Texas at Austin.

William Hittson

William Bedford Hittson was born October 14, 1834 in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee to Jesse J. Hittson (1801 – 1861) and Mary Ann Beck Hittson (1798 – 1879). His father, Jesse J. Hittson, was born in Virginia but came to Texas with his family in 1855. The Hittsons were a farming family but began raising cattle after settling in Texas. The family consisted of the parents, Aaron H. Hart (possibly a child from a previous marriage of the former Mary Ann Beck). The couple had two sons of their own, John Nathan Hittson and William Bedford Hittson. Both John and William were married by the time that the whole family moved to Texas. Jesse and the families of Aaron, John and William were all living in Palo Pinto County at the time of his death in 1861 at around the age of 60. No cause of death is noted.

After Jesse died, son John is said to have managed the cattle operation for their mother. None of the immediate family appear to have actively served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War though William Hittson was apparently on the roster of a local militia.