If Your Family Lived in Erath County, Texas . . .

I wrote in a previous post, if your family lived in Texas, you should be continually looking for them at The Portal to Texas History. This is especially true if your family lived in Erath County!

The Portal to Texas History is a fabulous FREE website created and maintained by the University of North Texas Libraries. Enjoy the searchable newspaper collections published in large cities and small towns. You will find yearbooks, photographs, maps, personal and community records, bank notes, city directories, county histories, and much, much more. New information is continually added. 

If your family lived in Erath County, you currently have 47 collections to search. My current favorites are the newspapers. The Dublin Progress and The Stephenville Empire reported important genealogical information - marriages, deaths, and births. However, some of the trivial information reported in those newspapers gives us such good insight into the lives of our ancestors. 

A few weeks ago, when I realized the Stephenville Empire was available to search, I found the following facts about my great-grandfather, Terrell Bryan. 

- In 1883, Terrell Bryan purchased a New Home Sewing Machine for his wife, Harriet.

- That same year, he managed and lived at the county Poor Farm. He was known to have managed the Poor Farm until at least 1886.

- In 1888 he was a member of the Cleveland and Thurman Democratic Club.

- In 1891, Terrell Bryan reported marrying 21 couples as Justice of the Peace. 

Terrell and Harriet Albritton Bryan - before 1909

- He was on the committee of Masons arranging the corner stone ceremony of the new courthouse in 1891.

- Terrell opened a Feed and Wagon Yard in 1891. It was advertised in the Stephenville Empire in 1892, but not seen following that year. 

- In 1892, he won an election to serve another term as Justice of the Peace.

- Terrell supported preachers of the M. E. Church South in Stephenville by donating funds in 1893. 

- In 1893, Terrell received a new set of teeth (both upper and lower). 

- Terrell Bryan was the banker for the Woodmen of the World membership in 1894. 

This is just a small sampling of the items I found in Erath County newspapers. And, there is plenty to look forward to as all historic Erath County newspapers are not yet online. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 


Diana

© 2017

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn. 

New Home Sewing Machine Co. Our clothes are made on the New Home sewing machine New Home Sewing Machine Co. 1870-1900 (approximate). Print. Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department Rights: No known restrictions.

Quinn, Diana B. Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: If your family lived in Texas. Blogger.com., 21 June 2016. Web. 30 Jul. 2017. <https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/if-your-family-lived-in-texas.html>.

The Portal to Texas History. University of North Texas Libraries, 2004. Web. 30 Jul. 2017. <https://texashistory.unt.edu/>.