James Harrison Parramore

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm proud to pass it along. James Harrison Parramore came into this world on August 13, 1840, born in Georgia to Rebecca and William W. Parramore.

He was nine years old when the family pulled up stakes and moved to Gonzales County in 1849, and from that point on, Texas had him. He attended Gonzales College, then left to join the Confederate Army. When the war was done, he married Mary Jane Goodson in 1866, and the two of them got to work the way Texans do, farming a hundred acres of land near Gonzales.

Now, a hundred acres is a respectable start. But James Parramore was not a man who stayed put at respectable. He formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Hugh Lewis, and that partnership launched both of them into careers as prominent southwestern ranchers.

After several years in Runnels County, Parramore made his next move, buying ten acres west of Hickory Street in Abilene in 1881. He had a large family to house, and he meant to house them right. Then in 1883, Parramore, Lewis, and a man named Claiborne W.

Merchant organized the San Simon Cattle and Canal Company. That company stocked vast ranches across Arizona and New Mexico with Texas longhorns, and it kept doing so for twenty years. Twenty years of longhorns moving west.

That is not a footnote, that is a legacy. Back in Abilene, J. H.

Parramore was active in local, state, and national organizations for cattlemen. He served on the board of trustees of Simmons College, and he donated ten thousand dollars for a dormitory there, a building named Mary-Frances Hall. The man was building things everywhere you looked.

His home stood at 810 Orange Street, a Victorian mansion with French Second Empire details, shared with his wife and ten children. After Parramore was gone, his heirs developed the surrounding area into what became known as the Parramore addition. That house, that mansion, all that history under one roof.

It was dismantled in 1960. James Harrison Parramore died on July 4, 1917. Born in Georgia, shaped by Gonzales, defined by open range, and planted in Abilene.

He stocked half the southwest with Texas longhorns and left his name on the map. Not bad for a man who started out farming a hundred acres.

What the marker says

(August 13, 1840 - July 4, 1917) Born in Georgia to Rebecca (Norwood) and William W. Parramore, James Harrison Parramore moved with his family to Gonzales County in 1849. James attended Gonzales College before joining the Confederate Army. He married Mary Jane Goodson in 1866; they began their life together farming 100 acres of land near Gonzales. Parramore formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Hugh Lewis, that launched their careers as prominent southwestern ranchers. After several years in Runnels County, Parramore bought ten acres west of Hickory Street in Abilene for his large family in 1881. The San Simon Cattle and Canal Company was organized in 1883 by Parramore, Lewis, and Claiborne W. Merchant. The company stocked its vast Arizona and New Mexico ranches with Texas longhorns for twenty years. J. H. Parramore was active in local, state, and national organizations for cattlemen. A member of the board of trustees of Simmons College, he donated $10,000 for a dormitory named Mary-Frances Hall. The home that J. H. Parramore shared with his wife and ten children was located at 810 Orange Street in the area later developed by his heirs as the Parramore addition. A Victorian mansion with French Second Empire details, the home was dismantled in 1960. (1998)