King's Fort

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about King's Fort, out there in Kaufman County. Now, the year was 1840, June of 1840, and the Republic of Texas was still a young, raw thing, with frontier pushing out in every direction. A survey party rode into that country under the lead of Warren A.

Ferris, who was serving at the time as Nacogdoches County surveyor. Backing the whole expedition, financially and in person, was a man who'd come a long way to stake his claim: Dr. William P.

King, out of Mississippi. And when that party stopped and set down roots, they built something. Four cabins.

A stockade. They called it King's Fort. Now, you might think a fort sounds like the kind of place people rush to settle around.

But not here. Not yet. See, that land sat square on a favorite hunting ground for the Indians of the area, and the fear of attacks held settlers at arm's length for several years.

King's Fort found its purpose as a way station, a place of refuge for travelers passing through country that wasn't exactly welcoming to strangers. William King didn't give up on the place, though. He kept buying land in the area, kept working to lure settlers in, right up until shortly before his death in 1841.

He never got to see what came next. What came next took a few more years to arrive. Between 1844 and 1846, colonists affiliated with Charles F.

Mercer began showing up in the vicinity, and King's Fort grew into something bigger: the center of a dispersed community that took the name Kingsborough. Then 1848 came, and Kaufman County was formed. You'd think Kingsborough, being the beating heart of that community, would've walked right into the county seat without a fight.

You'd be wrong. It lost the bid in 1848. Lost it again in 1850.

But in 1851, it won the election that mattered, the crucial one. And with that victory came a change. State law required a new name, and Kingsborough became Kaufman.

Now, turning a frontier settlement into a proper county seat takes more than an election. It takes land. And that's where Frances Tabor enters the story: William King's widow.

Her legal claim to the title was disputed, the marker is careful to tell us that, but she is credited all the same with donating one hundred and fifty acres of the Kingsborough tract to serve as a townsite for that new county seat. A fort built in a single month of 1840, on ground contested and dangerous, grew into a community, fought for its place twice and won on the third try, and a widow with a disputed deed gave it the ground to stand on. That's Kaufman County, and that's where it started.

What the marker says

An early frontier fort of the Republic of Texas, King's Fort was built in June of 1840 by a survey party led by Warren A. Ferris, then Nacogdoches County surveyor. Dr. William P. King of Mississippi financed the expedition and accompanied Ferris. Because the fort was located on a favorite hunting ground for area Indians, settlement was delayed several years by fear of attacks. The fort, with its four cabins and a stockade, was used primarily as a way station and place of refuge for travelers. William King continued his efforts to lure settlers to the area, buying area land until shortly before his death in 1841. When Charles F. Mercer's colonists began to arrive in the vicinity between 1844 and 1846, King's Fort became the center of a dispersed community known as Kingsborough. Kaufman County was formed in 1848. The town lost its bid to be the county seat then and in 1850, but won a crucial election in 1851. The name of Kingsborough was changed to Kaufman according to state law. Though her legal claim to the title was disputed, King's widow, Frances Tabor, is credited with the donation of 150 acres of the Kingsborough tract to the county seat for a townsite. (1997)