Benjamin Stuart Walcott

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Benjamin Stuart Walcott, founder and developer of Honey Grove, up in Fannin County. Now, some towns just happen. A crossroads, a creek, a little luck.

But Honey Grove had something a little different going for it. It had B. S.

Walcott. Walcott was a native of New England, and whatever drew him southwest, he arrived in this area in 1846. He wasn't the kind of man who sat around waiting for a town to show up.

When he got here, there wasn't much in the way of a proper store. So he opened one anyway, right there in Samuel Erwin's log cabin. That's where it started.

A log cabin, a man with a plan, and a corner of Texas that didn't know yet what it was about to become. In 1848, two things happened. The town was laid out, and Walcott married Elizabeth, known as Betsey, Gilmer, born in 1815.

When that town got its shape on paper, Walcott was already building, putting up the first frame store building right as the ink was drying on the new layout. That's not coincidence. That's the kind of man he was.

But he wasn't just in it for commerce. In 1853, he erected the first school building. Think about that for a moment.

A community needs children who can read, and Walcott made sure they had a place to do it. Then in 1856 he gave land for a Union Church. Gave it.

Not sold. Gave. Betsey Walcott, born 1815, passed in 1865.

Walcott himself had come into this world on October 17, 1809, and he carried this community forward until November 22, 1878. The marker notes that his two sons also became community leaders. Of course they did.

That's what happens when the man who founds your town is also the man who builds its school and gives away land for its church. Some things run in the family because they're taught, not just inherited. Honey Grove had B.

S. Walcott. And Walcott had work to do.

What the marker says

(October 17, 1809 - November 22, 1878) Founder and developer of Honey Grove, B. S. Walcott was a native of New England. He came to this area in 1846 and in 1848 married elizabeth (Betsey) Gilmer (1815-65). Walcott opened the first store here in Samuel Erwin's log cabin and constructed the first frame store building when the town was laid out in 1848. He erected the first school building in 1853 and gave land for a Union Church in 1856. Walcott's two sons also became community leaders.