Lamar Family

Duane's take

The way this marker tells it, here's what I know about the Lamar family of Crosby County. In 1892, a family packed up from Tarrant County and made their way out to Crosby County, settling onto a 160-acre homestead. Among them was young William Percy Lamar, born in 1889, and that West Texas land would shape the rest of his days.

He grew up, and in 1912 he married Sarah Elzina Henson, born in 1892. Together, Percy and Elzina built something. Farming, dairying, stock raising, business.

They didn't just work the land, they worked everything the county had to offer, and they prospered doing it. Now here's where the story gets interesting. Percy passed in 1946, and you might think that's where the tale winds down.

But Elzina, born 1892, gone in 1963, she had something else in mind entirely. In 1957, she established the Percy and Zina Lamar Foundation. That foundation started giving, and it didn't stop.

The Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum and Community Center, built and continuously supported through the foundation, stands as a tribute not just to the Lamar family, but to all West Texas Pioneers. A Masonic Hall. Donations to Methodist charities.

Gift after gift, woven into the fabric of that county. One family, one homestead, 160 acres to start. And what they left behind covers a whole lot more ground than that.

What the marker says

In 1892 William Percy Lamar (1889-1946) came with his parents from Tarrant County to Crosby County, settling on a 160-acre homestead. He married Sarah Elzina Henson (1892-1963) in 1912. They prospered through farming, dairying, stock raising, and business. In 1957 Elzina established the Percy and Zina Lamar Foundation. Gifts to the community include building and continued support of Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum and Community Center, a tribute to the Lamar Family and all West Texas Pioneers. Other gifts include a Masonic Hall and donations to Methodist charities. (1980)