Harden A. Douglass

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to give it the telling it deserves. Harden A. Douglass.

Born August 20, 1885, out in Bosque County. Now, a man born in Bosque County in 1885 had a whole lot of Texas ahead of him, and Harden Douglass was the kind of man who intended to cover some of it. He came to this area, out in Bailey County, in 1904.

Came, settled in, and made himself at home in a place that didn't yet have much in the way of official anything. See, Bailey County was still finding its feet. And when a county is finding its feet, it needs somebody to stand on them first.

In 1919, the people of Bailey County elected Harden A. Douglass as their very first sheriff and tax collector. First one they ever had.

That is not a small thing. That is the kind of job where you are writing the rules as you go, because there is no one before you to ask. He took that office, and he held it.

Not for a year, not for a couple of terms, but all the way through 1930. Eleven years as the law and the ledger for Bailey County. Along the way, he married Maudie Ellen Vaughn, and together they raised two sons and four daughters.

A family, a county, a life built on ground that wasn't easy to build on. Harden A. Douglass passed on February 24, 1955.

But out here in Bailey County, the record of who stood up first is not easily forgotten.

What the marker says

(Aug. 20, 1885 - Feb. 24, 1955) Born in Bosque County. Came to this area in 1904. Elected first sheriff and tax collector of Bailey County, 1919; he served in this capacity until 1930. Married Maudie Ellen Vaughn and had two sons and four daughters. Recorded - 1968