DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every good Texas story starts with somebody heading west, and this one's no different. Back in 1885, Joseph Thomas Hamilton and Laura Letha Franklin were married in Franklin County, Texas.
Joe had been born in 1856, Laura in 1867, both of them natives of the southern United States. Together they started a family, and when the time came, they did what a certain kind of Texan does: they packed up, pointed west, and kept going. By 1902, Joe and Laura and their first three children had settled right here in what would become Terry County.
Settled here before Terry County was even organized, mind you. Before there was much of anything to organize. Then in 1907, they put down something more permanent, a home, right near this very site.
Now, Joe Hamilton was not a man who did one thing. Stock farmer. Carpenter.
Mail carrier. Livery worker. The man kept busy.
And here's where the story picks up something extra: Joe was one of three men contracted to build Terry County's first courthouse. Three men. That's not a crew, that's a conversation.
And they built a courthouse out of it. Meanwhile, Laura Hamilton was doing her own kind of heavy lifting. She managed a large household, and on top of that she regularly helped her neighbors, serving as nurse and midwife to the community growing up around her.
The marker standing here today calls this site a link to the early pioneers who built Brownfield and the communities surrounding it. Joe Hamilton, born 1856, passed in 1932. Laura, born 1867, passed in 1936.
Two people who showed up before the county had a name, and helped give it one worth keeping.
What the marker says
In 1885, Joseph Thomas Hamilton (1856-1932) married Laura Letha Franklin (1867-1936) in Franklin County, Texas. Natives of southern U.S. states, the couple moved west with their first three children and settled here in 1902, before Terry County was organized. In 1907, they established a home near this site. Joe was a stock farmer, carpenter, mail carrier and livery worker, and he was one of three men contracted to build the county's first courthouse. Laura, in addition to managing a large household, often assisted neighbors as nurse and midwife. Today, ths site is a link to the early pioneers who built Brownfield and surrounding communities. (2005)