DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker on Hattie Barnes Adkisson has to say, and friend, it is worth every mile to hear it. Now, Hattie Barnes came into this world on January 2, 1886, right there in Jewett, Texas. Around 1908, her family packed up and moved to San Marcos, where Hattie did something a lot of folks in those days didn't get the chance to do — she graduated, from the Coronal Institute, no less.
Then on May 12, 1910, she married James Thedford Adkisson, and the two of them turned right back around and headed home to Jewett, where they raised two sons and dug their roots in deep. Hattie stayed busy — active in the community, active in the Presbyterian Church, the kind of person a town leans on without always knowing it. Now here's where the story shifts.
On June 28, 1919, Texas women were granted the right to vote. That was the spark. And then 1920 rolled around, and the citizens of Jewett — disenchanted, that's the word, disenchanted with their city officials — decided they'd seen enough.
So they elected Hattie and five other women to run the whole show. Mayor and aldermen, every seat, women. Jewett became one of the earliest female-governed towns in the entire nation.
Let that settle for a second. One of the earliest in the nation. During Mayor Adkisson's two terms, many improvements were implemented in that town.
And Hattie didn't stop there — she was ultimately appointed to serve on state and federal civic work committees. Born in Jewett, educated in San Marcos, married and returned, and then — quietly, steadily — helped change what a Texas town could look like. That's Hattie Barnes Adkisson.
What the marker says
Hattie Barnes was born January 2, 1886, in Jewett. Her family moved to San Marcos around 1908 where Hattie graduated from the Coronal Institute. Hattie married James Thedford Adkisson on May 12, 1910. They returned to Jewett and had two sons. Hattie was active in the community and Presbyterian Church. Texas women were granted the right to vote on June 28, 1919. In 1920, Jewett citizens, disenchanted with city officials, elected Hattie and five other women as mayor and aldermen. Jewett became one of the earliest female-governed towns in the nation. During Mayor Adkisson's two terms, many improvements were implemented. Hattie was ultimately appointed to serve on state and federal civic work committees. (2016)