HEMPHILL, JOHN
(1803-1862)
John Hemphill, jurist and Confederate congressman, was
born in Blackstock,
He taught school for a while in
As a staunch advocate of states' rights, Hemphill edited
a
nullification newspaper in
In the summer of 1838 he immigrated to
In 1840-41 Hemphill joined several campaigns against the
Comanches, and in 1842-43, during
a period when the Supreme
Court did not meet, he served as
adjutant general of
the Somervell expedition. On
Governor James Pinckney Henderson appointed Hemphill to
a six-year term
as chief justice, and he was confirmed on
As a jurist he took a particular interest in cases
involving Spanish
and Mexican law, which he had studied intensively, as well as
those concerning
marital rights, divorce, and homestead and other exemptions.
He was noted for
the "liberal construction" he placed on married women's rights
and
for his championship of homestead rights. His decisions are
credited with
substantially shaping the "form and content" of community
property
and homestead exemption law.
Hemphill regretted the adoption of common law by the
Texas Congress in
1840 and managed, in his written opinions, to preserve
"something of the
liberal spirit of the civil law." He was called the John
Marshall of
In November 1857 Democrats, dissatisfied with Sam
In January 1861 he delivered an address expressing his
belief in the
right of states to secede, and on
As a member of the Provisional Confederate Congress,
Hemphill served on
the Commercial and Financial
In November 1861 he ran for a seat in the First Regular
Congress but
was narrowly defeated by Williamson
Never married, Hemphill was characterized as a private
and reserved yet
generous individual. Hemphill County, established on
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dictionary of American Biography. Reuben
Reid Gaines,
"John Hemphill, 1803-1862," in Great American Lawyers, ed.
William
Draper Louis (8 vols.,
Thomas W. Cutrer
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(1863-1945)
Harvey Edgar Hoover, lawyer, ranch owner, and
businessman, the son of
Harvey Nelson and Amanda (Rankin)
Early in 1885
Eager to participate in Panhandle development,
The terrible blizzards that winter froze
He ran unsuccessfully for the Lipscomb county judge's
seat. Although business
was good, he also wanted to practice law, so in January 1888
he turned the
store and post office over to Johnson and took his family to
He returned to Higgins, resumed his job as postmaster,
acquired an
additional job of teaching school, and practiced law on the
side. In 1890 the
The railroad-switch town of
With a knack for prose and poetry,
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
H. Allen Anderson
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HOPKINS, WILLIAM HARLEN
(1856-1933)
William Harlen (Bee)
Hopkins, Panhandle
pioneer and rancher, was born on
In 1878 they helped trail the Pollard brothers' cattle
to the Panhandle
to begin the
When J. V. Andrews bought the Horseshoe from Kerrick
in 1879,
Friction developed when Edgar Wilson, the syndicate's
general manager,
tried to get Hopkins to run off some neighboring farmers and
small stockmen who
had recently settled the area along the Gunter-Munson survey
strip. The foreman
refused to do so, and his threatened resignation was averted
only by a raise in
salary to twenty-five dollars a month.
They had two children; their oldest, Bessie Lorene, was
said to be the
first girl born in Canadian, a town that Hopkins and his wife
helped found in
1887. In 1892 Hannah's sister, Bessie, married Andrew Hopkins.
All three
At that time he purchased a portion of the Laurel Leaf
range and
subsequently developed his own ranch with the help of his
brother Hoos.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Millie Jones Porter, Memory Cups of
Panhandle Pioneers
(Clarendon, Texas: Clarendon Press, 1945). Glyndon M. Riley, The
History of
H. Allen Anderson
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HOWE, EUGENE ALEXANDER
(1886-1952)
Eugene Alexander (Gene) Howe, journalist, the youngest
of three
surviving children of Edgar Watson and Clara (Frank) Howe, was
born on
When his parents separated, Gene, then in his early
teens, remained
with his father and often accompanied him on trips to
At the age of sixteen, he left home after a disagreement
with his
father and made his way to
When the elder Howe decided to retire in 1911, he
offered Gene half
interest in the Globe if he could produce the money quickly.
Within two days
Gene had $25,000, and the deal was completed. He subsequently
became the
paper's managing editor. In 1911 he married Gale Donald of
In February 1924 Howe moved to
Howe and his associates began a daily column, "The
Tactless
Texan," written under the pseudonym of Kernal
E.
Rasmus (or Erasmus) Tack and
signed "Old
Tack," which became Howe's nickname. Carl Brown wrote the
first of these
columns, but Howe soon took over. He abhorred dullness, and
his editorials were
laced with humor, candidness, logic, and common sense.
Charles A. Lindbergh and opera star Mary Garden were
among the
celebrities who received scathing rebukes from Old Tack, who
caused national
controversy in the press. Howe often declared that he would
rather be a good
reporter than a famous publisher. Through his columns he found
homes for stray
dogs, named children, and brought marriageable couples
together. He often
referred to the
Many of his early editorials and witticisms were
compiled into a
four-volume series entitled Them Texans, published between
1927 and 1930.
During the lean years of the Dust Bowl Howe organized the Goodfellows
and helped raise tons of food for the needy. One of his most
famous promotional
stunts was his proclamation of March 5 as National
Mothers-in-Law Day in honor
of his wife's mother, Mrs. Nellie Donald. He wanted to make
amends for having
ruffled her feelings in a 1934 column.
For the occasion in 1938 Howe staged a parade that
featured the
"world's largest float," a block long and carrying 650
mothers-in-law. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was in Amarillo during
a lecture tour, joined
officials on the reviewing stand and was presented the
"world's largest
bouquet" of 4,000 roses, hoisted by a crane. Comedian Ben
Turpin, whose crossed eyes
inspired Old Tack's caricatured
countenance, was also present for the festivities.
Howe retained ownership of the Atchison Globe, and over
the years he
and his associates expanded their enterprise over three
states, adding the
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Dalhart Texan, Memphis Democrat,
Shamrock Texan, and
other regional papers to the Globe-News Publishing Company.
They also began the Plains Radio Broadcasting Company,
through which
they set up stations in
Some months later, S. B. Whittenburg
and
associates, who published the
From the time of his boyhood ventures on the
Howe's travels
and hunting
expeditions took him to wilderness areas throughout the
During his last years, Howe's eyesight began to fail,
and he was
stricken with a bladder ailment attributed to cancer. It was,
perhaps, his fear
of becoming an invalid in his old age that led him to commit
suicide on June
25, 1952. His death stunned the city of
Shelby M. Kritser, Howe's
son-in-law and a
grandson of R. B. (Ben) Masterson, became general manager of
the Globe-News
Publishing Company. Over the entrance of the Globe-News
building is inscribed
Howe's most famous slogan: "A newspaper may be forgiven for
lack of wisdom
but never for lack of courage."
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gene Howe, Them Texans (4 vols.,
H. Allen Anderson
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ISAACS BROTHERS
William C., Sam, and John Childress Isaacs, Panhandle
settlers and
ranchers, were the sons of Joseph C. and Mary (Jack) Isaacs,
who moved to
There Sam was born on
In 1883-84 he worked as an outside man for the Hashknife
Ranch under John N. Simpson in the Concho country around
In 1883 Will and John Isaacs were employed by the Apple
Ranch, located
at the junction of Quartermaster Creek and the Washita River,
in the Indian
Territory (later Oklahoma) about sixty miles from the Texas
border. The next
year Sam was hired by Mallalay
and Forbes, who were
also grazing cattle on
John Isaacs, after a brief stint with the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe Cattle
Company, worked on ranches in
In 1889 he drove the Mallalay-Forbes
herd to
Red Deer Creek near its junction with the
In January 1892 Will Isaacs married Mary K. Brainard,
Canadian's first schoolteacher and the sister of rancher
Edward H. Brainard. The next year
he and Sam purchased a 30,000-acre
ranch and 4,000 cattle, which bore their Circle and a Half
brand. In 1906 the
brothers helped establish the Canadian State Bank, with Ed Brainard
as president, Will as vice president, and Sam as cashier; Will
subsequently was
president for several years.
Their partnership lasted until 1912, when they divided
the property
among themselves and operated independently. Will continued
ranching until
1928, when he sold 8,085 acres to Lewis Webb of
Sam, whose ranch consisted of 13,371 well-stocked acres,
served as a
director of the
Sam was a charter member of the Panhandle-Plains
Historical Society and
was one of the founders of the
John C. Isaacs returned to the Panhandle from Arizona in
1890 and
worked two years for the T Anchor Ranch, earning the nickname
"T Anchor Kid."
After working briefly for the Frying Pan Ranch, he established
his own ranch in
1893 on Needmore Creek, east of
Canadian. He married
Viola Bloom of Medicine Lodge,
Along with his brothers, John helped organize the
Canadian State Bank
and the Canadian Building and Loan Association, both of which
he served for
years as a director. He also was a past president of the T
Anchor
He died on
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sallie B. Harris, Cowmen and Ladies: A
History of
H. Allen Anderson