texas – Page 21 – Texas History Notebook

James A. Brooks, Texas Ranger

Ranger James Abijah Brooks was one of the “Four Great” captains in Texas history, along with Captains John R. Hughes, William J. McDonald and John H. Rogers. Brooks was born in Kentucky in 1844 to Dr. John Stroke Brooks (1802 – 1862) and Mary Jane Kerr Brooks (1818 – 1912). His father was a doctor and a farmer. John Stroke Brooks died in 1862. In the 1860 and 1870 census forms, James was living in Kentucky with his family. He left Kentucky for Texas in 1876, settling in Collin County. There, he worked on ranches until he joined the Rangers in 1883, at the age of twenty-seven. Brooks enlisted as a private and over the years was promoted to corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant before being promoted from lieutenant to captain by Governor Sul Ross while serving with Company F in 1889.

Bonds-Fisher Feud

This disagreement evolved out of acrimonious campaigns for the office of sheriff of Bell County. The main individuals involved included Wiley V. Fisher (city marshal of Temple), Albert W. Bonds and John R. Bigham (at various times, both Bonds and Bigham served as sheriff of Bell County) and Monroe Fisher (Wiley Fisher’s son), all of Bell County.

Azellia and Hulon White

Hulon Lincoln “Pappy” White was a native Texan. He was born on December 10, 1912 to Henry White and Lela F. Askey White in Gonzales, Texas. He earned his pilot’s license in 1941 and between 1941 and 1945, he was a civilian employee of the Army Air Corps in Tuskegee, Alabama. At the Tuskegee Army Air Base, he was a mechanic and instructor for cadets, many of whom went on to serve in the 332nd Fighter Group, the “Tuskegee Airmen.”

Frederic Forrest

Frederic Fenimore Forrest, Jr. was born in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas on December 23, 1936 to Frederic Fenimore Forrest (1907 – 1966) and Virginia McSpadden Forrest (1907 – 1985). His family members were long time residents of Waxahachie. William Bird Forrest (1872 – 1931) came to the area from Arkansas and established a greenhouse out of which developed a floral business in a separate location. The greenhouse had 60,000 square feet under glass and for many years was the only floral supply house in north central Texas. Not even Waco, Dallas or Fort Worth had comparable facilities. Ads and promotional pieces in the local paper referred to “Bird Forrest, the Waxahachie Florist.” After Bird died in 1931, two of the sons, Fred and William Bird, Jr. took over management of the floral business.

Dr. J. B. Cranfill

James Britton Boone Buchanan Cranfill was born September 12, 1858 in Parker County, Texas. His father was a doctor, Eaton A. Cranfill, and his mother was Martha Jane Galloway Cranfill. The family lived in numerous places around Texas while he was a youth. J. B. studied medicine with his father, beginning when he was twelve and passed the Texas Medical Board examination when he was twenty-one. However Cranfill still enjoyed many of the typical experiences of other young men his age.