Callaghan Memorial Library

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. Somewhere in Carson County stands the Callaghan Memorial Library, and the story behind that name reaches back to 1890, when a young A.A. Callaghan came to Texas with his parents, the J.R.

Callaghans. Now, that's not a dramatic arrival the marker romanticizes. It's just a family showing up, the way families did, ready to put down roots in Texas soil.

What happened after that, though, is the kind of life that gets a building named for you. After his father's death, A.A. Callaghan took over the family general store.

And if running a general store wasn't enough to keep a man busy, he apparently decided to hold just about every public office the city had to offer. Deputy sheriff. County treasurer.

County judge. School board member. Director of First National Bank.

Steward in the Methodist Church. The marker doesn't say he collected those titles all at once, but reading that list, you start to wonder if the man ever slept. The inscription says he was elected to almost every public office in the city, and that word almost is doing a lot of quiet work right there.

Almost. What was left, Callaghan? What slipped through the net?

We may never know. What we do know is that he won respect throughout the region. Now, the library itself was erected in 1970, made possible through the bequest of a local businessman named H.J.

Hughes, known to everyone as Friday, who lived from 1901 to 1968. Friday Hughes was A.A. Callaghan's son-in-law, and when he left behind that bequest, he made sure the Callaghan name got the memorial it deserved.

A pioneer family, a full life of public service, and a library still carrying the name. That's a legacy with some staying power.

What the marker says

Named in honor of renowned pioneer family of Asbery A. Callaghan. Erected 1970 through bequest of local businessman H.J. "Friday" Hughes (1901-1968), son-in-law of Asbery Callaghan. In 1890 A.A. Callaghan came to Texas with his parents, the J.R. Callaghans. After his father's death, he took over the family general store and was elected to almost every public office in city. Served as deputy sheriff, county treasurer, county judge, school board member, director of First National Bank, and steward in Methodist Church. Won respect throughout region.