Judge L(ysius) Gough (1862-1940)

When he died in November 1940, "Judge L. Gough" was described by his hometown newspaper, the Hereford Brand, as "a great leader, a true pioneer, and friend to all."[1] To this day one of the thoroughfares in the old section of Hereford, Texas, is Gough Street.

Lysius Gough was born in 1862 in Lamar County, Texas, his parents having moved there from Kentucky. As a teenager, he moved on his own to West Texas where he got a job working as a cowboy on the T-Anchor Ranch. Several times he worked a cattle drive, guiding a herd of thousands all the way through present-day Oklahoma to the rail head in Kansas. Having grown up in a strict Disciples home, he refused to drink, smoke, or swear. Noticing this, his fellow cowboys named him "Parson."

In the years that followed, Gough established himself as a community leader, serving as a lawyer and judge, and working in the cattle, farm, and real estate businesses in Castro and Deaf Smith Counties.[2]

Gough and his wife, Ida Etta Russell Gough, who died in 1904 at the age of 35, helped to establish the Christian Church in Hereford in 1899.[3] He was one of the founders of Hereford College and Industrial School in 1902.

Notes

[1] "Final Tribute Paid to Judge L. Gough in Services at First Christian Church Here Tuesday," Hereford Brand, November 7, 1940.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Christian Church, Hereford, Texas (Hereford, TX: First Christian Church, 1949), 5.

Additional Source

Article on Lysius Gough in the Handbook of Texas Online:
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgo20

Reuben Harrison (R. H. or "Rube") Norton (1860-1944)

This brief biography is part of a project designed to acquaint myself with the people who founded Hereford College and Industrial School in Hereford, Texas, in 1902.

Reuben Harrison Norton--who went by R. H. or Rube--was born in Johnson County, Texas, in February 1860. He was married to the former Lou Alice Corbett, who was seven years his junior. The couple made their first home in Stephens County, where she had grown up. In 1891, the Nortons began moving west. Rube was setting out to establish himself in the cattle business. The couple's first stop was Quanah, Texas, where they lived until 1896. Another move took them to Amarillo, where Rube owned and operated a grocery store. In 1898, the Nortons moved to Hereford even before the town was established. There in Deaf Smith County, Rube became a successful stockman. He built a reputation for raising some of the best cattle in Deaf Smith County. At its peak, the Norton Ranch covered more than 5,000 acres.[1] R. H. and Lou Alice Norton were charter members of the Christian Church in Hereford, established in 1899.[2] Having lost his wife in 1915, R. H. was a widower for nearly thirty years. He died at his daughter's home in Amarillo in 1944. The couple lie buried next to one another in West Park Cemetery in Hereford.[3]

Notes

[1] Bessie Patterson, A History of Deaf Smith County (Hereford, TX: Pioneer Publishers, 1964), 55-56.

[2] The Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Christian Church, Hereford, Texas (Hereford, TX: First Christian Church, 1949), 5.

[3] Patterson, A History of Deaf Smith County, 55-56. See the photo of the couple's gravestone at the following URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143191489/reuben-h_-norton#view-photo=117535885

Samuel Shipman Evants (1846-1921)

S. S. (Samuel Shipman) Evants was born in Pope County, Arkansas, on July 31, 1846. At the U.S. Census of 1900, Evants was nearly 54 years old, had been married to Haskie McElroy Evants for 30 years, and lived in Hereford, Texas. A "stock raiser," he owned property outright in Deaf Smith County.[1] Evants had come to Hereford just a year before, in 1899, having previously lived in Marietta, Indian Territory, and Gainesville, Texas.[2] He was one of nine founders of Hereford College in 1902. Although he is not listed as one of the founding members of the Christian Church in Hereford, his daughter-in-law, a Mrs. W. R. Evants, was part of the Women's Missionary Society affiliated with the church.[3] Later in life, Evants moved further west. He died in 1921 at the age of 74 at his home eight miles west of Casa Grande, Arizona. He lies buried there in the Mountain View Cemetery.[4]

Notes

[1] Brandy Miller, ed.. Dawson, Deaf Smith, Denton and Martin, Texas Census, 1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

[2] Deaf Smith County: The Land and Its People (Hereford, TX: Deaf Smith County Historical Society, 1982), 119.

[3] Ibid., 538.

[4] Find A Grave memorial for "Samuel Shipman Evants."
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21982074/samuel-shipman-evants