Early Settlers of Eastland County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the early settlers of Eastland County, and friend, there's a whole lot of story packed into that stretch of Texas prairie. The first known inhabitant of the Eastland area was a man named Frank Sanchez, who died in 1867. Before the county had a name or a courthouse or even much of a road, Sanchez was out here in the 1850s, grazin herds across this land.

Just him and the grass and whatever the horizon had to offer. Now, the frontier in those days was not exactly a welcome mat. So in 1853, the United States established Army posts at Fort Phantom Hill, over in what is now Taylor County, and Fort Belknap, in what is now Young County.

Those posts were put there to give the frontier some protection against hostile Indians. And that protection, modest as it may have been, cracked the door open. Families started coming.

Families with names like Bell, Birden, Birt, Blair, Ellison, Fitzwaters, Flannagan, Gilbert, Herring, Highsaw, McGough, Mansker, Melburn, Oliver, Owens, Richards, Shirley, Singleton, Upton, and Wyatt. They came from the old states, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. A whole chorus of surnames rolling west across the map.

In 1858, the county was created. Not organized, mind you. Just created.

There's a difference out here. The U.S. Census for 1860 counted 99 residents.

Ninety-nine people trying to hold onto something in a place that wasn't quite official yet. Then came 1861. Texas seceded from the Union, the Army garrisons withdrew, and just like that, the protection those posts had offered evaporated.

Many pioneers left. Others didn't go far. They took refuge at Blair's Fort, tucked into the southeastern part of the county.

Sometimes the safest thing you could do was gather together and wait. The Civil War passed. Settlers came back and new ones arrived.

Among them was a man named Dr. Edwin Daniel Townsend, who rode in from Kentucky in 1871 and became one of the leaders of the post-war community. The county finally got organized through an election held on December 2, 1873.

Merriman was designated the county seat, though, and here's a detail the marker does not let slide quietly by, that designation was in violation of the very legislation that had created the county in the first place. Not exactly a clean start. It didn't last.

By 1875, the government was moved to Eastland, a town founded that same year by an investor named Charles U. Connellee, born in 1851, who would live until 1930. From Frank Sanchez grazin cattle in the 1850s to a county seat that had to be relocated because somebody didn't read the law carefully enough, Eastland County earned every year of its story the hard way.

What the marker says

First known Eastland area inhabitant was Frank Sanchez (d. 1867), who grazed herds here in the 1850s. The United States in 1853 established Army posts at Fort Phantom Hill, in present Taylor County, and Fort Belknap, in present Young County, giving the frontier protection against hostile Indians. This opened a modest influx of settlers, including families named Bell, Birden, Birt, Blair, Ellison, Fitzwaters, Flannagan, Gilbert, Herring, Highsaw, McGough, Mansker, Melburn, Oliver, Owens, Richards, Shirley, Singleton, Upton, and Wyatt, from "old states" of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. The county was created, but not organized, in 1858. The U.S. Census for 1860 showed 99 residents. When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, and Army garrisons withdrew, many pioneers left or took refuge at Blair's Fort, in southeastern part of the county. Post-Civil War settlers included such leaders as Dr. Edwin Daniel Townsend, who arrived from Kentucky in 1871. The county was organized in an election held Dec. 2, 1873, with Merriman designated county seat (in violation of legislation creating the county). In 1875 the government was moved to Eastland, founded that year by investor Charles U. Connellee (1851-1930). (1972)