The Fortson Family

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Fortson family of Navarro County. Now, some families pass through a place and leave barely a footprint. The Fortsons were not that kind of family.

They came out of Mississippi and put down roots in Navarro County back in the 1840s, and they kept building from there, generation after generation, like they had something to prove to the Texas soil itself. Civil War veteran James T. Fortson married Ida Clayton in 1867.

Ida came from another pioneer family already planted in the area, so you might say the Fortsons were doubling down on Navarro County. By 1872, James and Ida had moved to the Rice area, and that's where the story really starts to grow. Their son, Joseph Benjamin, known to everybody as Joe B., and his wife Lyda built their home at this very site in 1904.

Now, Joe B. was not a man who sat on a porch and watched the world go by. He and his brother John went to work acquiring large landholdings across the area for farming and ranching. They didn't stop there.

They established a cotton gin operation. They opened a mercantile. Then, because apparently two major business ventures weren't quite enough, they opened the First State Bank of Rice.

Joe B. also served on the school board and, alongside his brother, began levee improvement districts to help local farming take hold. One family. One corner of Navarro County.

A cotton gin, a mercantile, a bank, levees, and a school board seat. The marker says the Fortsons are remembered for lasting contributions to the area's history. Friend, that is what understatement looks like carved in stone.

What the marker says

Members of the Fortson family came to Texas from Mississippi and settled in Navarro County in the 1840s. Civil War veteran James T. Fortson wed Ida Clayton, daughter of another pioneer area family, in 1867, and they moved to the Rice area in 1872. Their son, Joseph Benjamin (Joe B.), and his wife Lyda built their home at this site in 1904. Joe B. and brother John acquired large landholdings in the area for farming and ranching, and established a cotton gin operation and a mercantile. They also opened the First State Bank of Rice and began levee improvement districts to aid local farming. In addition, Joe B. served on the school board. The family is remembered for its lasting contributions to the area's history. (2005)