Hemphill County

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the words carved on the official marker, so here's the story as the record gives it to us. Now, out here in the Texas Panhandle, the land has a way of making you feel like time moves different. And the story of Hemphill County is proof that some things worth havin are worth waitin on.

The county was formed from Young and Bexar territories. Two great stretches of Texas ground, carved up and reshaped into something new. The legislature created Hemphill County on August 21, 1876.

That's the birthday. But here's the thing about birthdays out on the frontier: just because something's created doesn't mean it's ready. The county sat there, official on paper, for nearly a full decade before anybody got around to organizing it.

July 5, 1886, that's when Hemphill County finally stood up and got to work. And the name on the county? John Hemphill.

Born in 1809, died in 1862. Now, that is a name that carried weight in Texas. He served as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Texas.

The first. He was the Adjutant General of the Somervell Expedition. He stood in the room at the first State Constitutional Convention as a member.

And if that weren't enough, he went on to serve as a member of the United States Congress. The county seat is Canadian. Sitting out there where the Canadian River cuts through the rolling plains, keeping watch over a county that carries one of the weightiest names in Texas law and history.

John Hemphill, 1809 to 1862. Hemphill County, created 1876, organized 1886. The land remembers, even when the rest of us forget.

What the marker says

Formed form Young and Bexar territories. Created August 21, 1876. Organized July 5, 1886. Named in honor of John Hemphill, 1809-1862. First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Texas. Adjutant General of the Somervell Expedition. Member of the first State Constitutional Convention. Member of the United States Congress. Canadian, the county seat.