This is the first in a lengthy weekly series of articles on the History of Van Zandt County.
Have you ever gone somewhere and stood in the same place a famous person once stood, or walked on the revered ground of a battlefield and been thrilled by the idea that hundreds of years ago something very special happened there affecting your very ability to be standing there?
If you were to consult your family, friends or neighbors on just how much they know about the ground they currently stand on, or this county they live in, what would you expect to hear back? I expect the answer would probably be – very little to nothing. How about our young people, are they learning about their home? Well, this series of articles on the history of this great county is an attempt to help reduce our fast depleting memory of where we live and how it became what it is today.
Most, if not all of the information being shared about the history of Van Zandt County, has been extracted from a fascinating little 237-page book entitled “The History of Van Zandt County” written by William Samuel Mills (1868-1950, shown in this article), and published after his death in 1950 by Irby Mills, Administrator of W.S. Mill’s estate. The book offers a wonderfully thorough accounting of the various aspects of the history of Van Zandt County. However, just as with any reporting of history based on someone’s personal research or memory, there may be inaccuracies that conflict with some other written reports and/or personal recollections. Hopefully the readers of this and future articles will accept the possibility that some information may be somewhat distorted from their understanding of the facts and will hopefully not get disturbed by finding such issues. If you should be disturbed, please accept my apologies in general but specifically to any local historians or genealogists whose professional ethics are challenged by this writing and may be dismayed by the sharing of what they may consider unauthenticated information. Incidentally, we have a wonderful award-winning genealogy library located in Canton, in the Courthouse Annex, so if you are interested please give it a visit.
The forward in Mill’s book gives credit to the following for their significant input into his work: Manning’s “Some History of Van Zandt County,” “South Land Magazine” of Waco, the “Grand Saline Sun,” the “Wills Point Chronicle,” Jack Campbell of the “Canton Herald,” B.H. McKinnon, Hut Cauthron, L.L. Murphrey, A.M. Wilson, R.E. High, R.E. Blackwell, H.C. Geddy, Alton Mills, E.A. Ennis, Dr. D. Leon Sanders, Mrs. Fred Daugherty, Mrs. Sally Sullivan, Charley Burnley, Fred Watner, “Norwegian Migration to American” 1825-1860 by Theodore C. Blegen, and others.
Sensing his impending death, Mr. Mills gave these very pungent parting words in his book’s forward:
“This author is now posting his eighty-second mile on life’s highway, and must soon pass from this stage of action, cross over the riverand rest under the trees. He will soon then be numbered with all the forgotten men on earth; only to be remembered briefly by a few personal friends and admirers but never to be known by the masses of earth.
He is loath to go without leaving a few footprints upon the sands of time to warn the hurrying masses that a sturdy race has passed this way before. We would warn the present generation of prosperous, happy, liberty loving souls that the privileges, freedom and pleasures they now enjoy have not been brought to them without the shedding of sweat, blood and tears.
The foregoing pages are dedicated to the memory of those pioneer souls who fought poverty, privation, and destitution to bring to us the Van Zandt County we enjoy today, to those now living who reverence the names of those heroes gone before, and those who are patriotic enough and appreciative enough to want to preserve to posterity a true record of the achievements of our forefathers.
Should we be able to inspire such feelings in the hearts of the present and future generations, we shall feel amply repaid for our efforts in getting out this little volume.”
So, without further ado let’s start our history review with a quick synopsis of the following:
An Act to Create the County of Van Zandt – March 20, 1848
“On March 20, 1848, just a little over two years after Texas became a State, it was enacted that all the territory that made up what had previously been known as Henderson County and any territory outside of Henderson or Kaufman County be made a new county called “Van Zandt.” And that what was then known as “Jordan’s Saline,” later to become “Grand Saline,” until otherwise enacted, be the temporary county seat of said county. Prior to this, Henderson County had been created out of the Nacogdoches Municipality which included the territory of the present counties of Henderson, Rockwall, Kaufman, Wood and the major portion of Raines. The act of creating Van Zandt County out of Henderson included what is now Wood and most of Raines County. But by 1850, Wood and Raines counties were cut from Van Zandt, leaving Van Zandt County with a creation of 854 square miles.”
As we progress with this series, we will visit topics such as how we became known as a “Free State,” who were some of the wonderful people who built our county, what towns and communities first made up Van Zandt County, what influence did local Indian tribes have on our development, how did First Monday get started, and many more topics of interest. In our next article we will discover how, and from whom, Van Zandt County got its name. Stay tuned!