Gene Autry was born on September 29, 1907 in Tioga, Texas in Grayson County. There is some sentiment for him having been born in a neighboring county, since Dr. Eugene Ledbetter, who delivered Autry, gave nearby Cooke County as where Autry was born. Autry’s biography lists Tioga as his birthplace.
Tag: texas
Denison, Texas
The town of Denison, Texas (located at 33°44′59″N 96°33′27″W) in Grayson County was founded in 1872 by the Missouri, Kansas City and Texas (the Katy) Railroad as it pushed its way southward into the state. It was named in honor of Katy Railroad Vice President George Denison. The town no doubt owes its success to the railroad. The Interurban also started here, eventually connecting the 70 miles to Dallas and on another 100 miles to Waco.
Clarence Scharbauer, Sr.
The Scharbauer Cattle Company is well known in West Texas. Clarence Scharbauer, Sr. was born August 18, 1879 in Albany County, New York to Christian and Jennie Scharbauer and was also the grandson of Ferdinand Scharbauer who had come to America from Holland. Christian’s brother John had come from New York to Eastland, Texas in 1880 where he established a sheep ranch. A few years later, John moved further west to the Abilene area and then in 1884 he moved again to Mitchell County in the general vicinity of Colorado City. His sheep business prospered but John became interested in raising cattle, purchasing his first bulls and cows in 1888. Encouraged by his success, by the mid to late 1890s, he had shifted his production entirely to cattle and become one of the leading cattlemen in the state.
Continue reading Clarence Scharbauer, Sr.Benjamin, Texas
Benjamin, Texas (coordinates 33°35′00″N 99°47′36″W) is the county seat of Knox County. Benjamin Bedford was the son of Hilory Green Bedford (1840-1927) who founded the town in the 1880s. Little is known about the town’s namesake Benjamin Bedford, other than the fact that he was killed by a lightning strike when he was about 19 years old in 1878.
Ray Hamilton and the Cedar Hill Bank Robbery
Ray Hamilton grew up in the same Dallas, Texas neighborhood as Clyde Barrow, which is where they are thought to have become acquainted. He is mentioned in several crimes with Barrow including the August 5, 1932 gunfight in Stringtown, Oklahoma in which Deputy Sheriff Eugene Moore was killed. Moore and Sheriff Charles Maxwell had become suspicious of the youths at an outdoor country dance. Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow and Hamilton were sitting in a car drinking moonshine when the officers tried to investigate and were fired on by the trio. Moore was killed; Maxwell would survive six gunshot wounds and Parker, Barrow and Hamilton would escape unharmed.
Continue reading Ray Hamilton and the Cedar Hill Bank Robbery
Texas History Notebook 