McLennan County Towns -- Company A 15th TX. (pres. march) message board.

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Date Posted: 19:13:07 02/14/04 Sat
Author: Cody Farrell
Subject: McLennan County Towns

Some more info on McLennan County. The following are three towns in the county at the time.

Waco, Tx: The town of Waco was established on an ancient agricultural site for the local Native Americans. Around the year 1830, a group of Cherokee Indians moved into the area pushing out the local Wacos. Later after Texas won its independance from Mexico, Fort Fisher was built in 1837. The Ranger outpost was the first white settlement in the area, but would later be abandoned a few months after its construction. In 1844, George Barnard began operation Torrey's Trading Post No. 2 which was located on a small tributarty known as Tehuacana Creek (eight miles south of the town of Waco.) A year later in 1845, Neil McLennan moved to land on the South Bosque River. In 1846, a log smith was erected by Jesse Sutton a local blacksmith. 1848, Gen. Thomas J. Chambers sold two-league grant of land which included the old Waco Village site. These grants were sold to John S. Sydnor of Galveston.
Sydnor made a deal with land agent Jacob De Cordova to divide the property and sale it for a dollar an acre. George B. Erath, a former ranger stationed at Fort Fisher was one of De Cordova's surbeyors. Erath urged for the new townsite to be placed on the site of the former Indian Village. In 1848, the tract was sold to Nathaniel A. Ware and Jonas Butler both of which were former resedents of Galveston.
On March 1, 1849, Erath laid out the first block and divided it up into numbered lots which were sold for five dollars with "farming lots" selling for three to four dollars each. The property owners had earlier chosen Lamartine as the name for the new town. But Erath was able to pursuad them to call it Waco Village. When McLennan county was organized in 1850, Waco Village was delared the county seat after De Cordova donated free lots for public purpose. The first court host was built later that year. De Cordova was very succesful in persuading important citizens to move to Waco Village. Capt. Shapley P. Ross, a famous ranger and Indian fighter established and operated a ferry across the Brazos River. Ross also owned the towns first hotel and served as its first postmaster. (Ross was famous for frequently carrying letters inside his beaver hat.) By 1852, both Baptist and Methodist Churches were established. In 1854, George Lambdin began publishingthe Waco Era, the towns first newspaper. The year 1856, Waco Billage became incorporated as the town of Waco, and a new court house was built later that year. The town continued to grow as its cotton culture quickly spread along the Brazos. In 1859, it was estamated that nearly 749, people lived in Waco. Many citizens of Waco sympathized with the Southern cause. Waco's Barron's Mill, part of Waco Manufacturing Company produced cotton cloth throughout the War.

Bosqueville, Tx: The Bosqueville settlement was weel under way by the 1850's. In 1850, Little Berry White donated ten acres for a school and a cemetery. In 1854, the Bosque Academy was established by Cumberland Presbyterian minister John C. Collier. by 1860 the school had nearly 180 students and two institutions. Bosqueville Academy for Boys and Seminary for Young Ladies. The school was closed when the War started but later re-opned and reorganized which became the country's first coeducational institution. A town was later laid out in 1858. The Bosqueville post office was established in 1860 with Cornellius P. Petit as the first post master.

Bould or Bold Spring, Tx: Small settlement started by Carey Boulds prior to 1852. Boulds established a post office in 1852. In 1856, the Walter Bennett family moved to the area and took over the post office. The 1860's census recorded a population of 311.

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