DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. John Rankin Alford was born in Tennessee in 1834, and by 1860 he had loaded up a wagon, brought along his wife Martha Ann — born a Malone — and rolled into Hamilton County, Texas, like a man with a plan. They settled along Honey Creek, and Alford wasted no time.
He started selling the goods he'd hauled in by wagon, got into the cattle business, and before long that little settlement on Honey Creek was sitting right on the mail route between Meridian and Brownwood. Now, a mail route means people, and people mean a community, and a community means somebody's got to step up and do somethin' about a post office. The folks along Honey Creek sent in a petition, and when it came time to name the place, Alford reached all the way back to his childhood in Calloway County, Kentucky, and named the town Hico — after the Hico he'd known as a boy.
Then he turned around and served as its very first postmaster. Man names a town after his hometown and then runs the mail. That's a particular kind of confidence.
Then the Civil War came, and Alford served in the second frontier regiment of Texas State Troops. He survived the battle of Dove Creek — which, if you know anything about that fight, surviving it was no small thing. He came home, and in 1875 he stood before an examining board of physicians in Meridian and became a doctor.
Not medical school, mind you — a board of physicians looked him over and said yes, this man qualifies. And once he was a doctor, he stayed a doctor, practicing medicine well into his eighties, remaining in good standing for the rest of his life. His personal life had its turns too.
His first wife Martha Ann passed, and in 1877 he married Lerona King. Between his marriages, John Rankin Alford fathered fourteen children. Fourteen.
He was also a charter member of the Hico Masonic Lodge and a founding member of the Hico Christian Church, the Disciples of Christ congregation. The man was building a town from the inside out. Then 1880 arrived, and with it, the railroad.
When the railroad came to Hamilton County, the citizens of Hico made a decision — move the whole town to sit beside the rail line. And Alford moved right along with it. At the new townsite, he established a drug store and kept on going.
He stayed in Hico for the rest of his life. He died at home on April 1, 1928, and he is buried in the Hico Cemetery, surrounded by his family and generations of the town's people. A man named a town, doctored its sick, helped found its church and its lodge, moved when the railroad moved, and then laid down roots so deep they're still growing.
That's John Rankin Alford of Hico, Texas.
What the marker says
John Rankin Alford was born in Tennessee in 1834, and he arrived in Hamilton County, Texas, in 1860 with his wife Martha Ann (Malone). The couple settled on Honey Creek and Alford began selling goods that he had brought with him by wagon and also engaged in the cattle business. The small settlement along Honey Creek was on the mail route between Meridian and Brownwood, and as the community grew, a petition was made for the establishment of a post office at the site; Alford selected the name Hico, after his childhood home of Hico, Calloway County, Kentucky, and served as the young town’s first postmaster. After serving in the second frontier regiment of Texas State Troops during the Civil War and surviving the battle of Dove Creek, Alford became a physician by standing before an examining board of physicians in Meridian in 1875, and remained a doctor in good standing for the remainder of his life, practicing medicine well into his eighties. Alford married Lerona King in 1877 after the death of his first wife. He fathered fourteen children. Alford was a charter member of the Hico Masonic Lodge and was a founding member of the Hico Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In 1880, when the railroad came to Hamilton County and the citizens of Hico chose to move the town to be adjacent to the rail line, Alford also relocated, and he established a drug store at the new townsite. Alford remained in Hico for the rest of his life, and he died in his home on April 1, 1928. He is buried in the Hico Cemetery, surrounded by his family and generations of Hico citizens who recognize his dedication and contributions to the town of Hico and its people.