TX BIOS:  Mrs. Walter Emmett Hunnicutt
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
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   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
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   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   FOLKLORE - White Pioneer
   
   Miss Effie Cowan, P. W.
   
   McLennan County, Texas.
   
   District No. 8
   
   No. of words 2,250
   
   File No. 240
   
   Page No. 1 Reference
   
   Interview with Mrs. Walter Emmett Hunnicutt, Marlin, Texas.
   
   "My husband, Judge Walter Emmett Hunnicutt, was born June 11, 1865,
   and he passed away in December 1936. He was Judge of Falls County for
   fourteen years, at different times. He was the son of Winfield S.
   Hunnicutt, who came to Texas in 1849 and established his rural home in
   the Blue Ridge community where he continued to reside until his death
   in 1908. Mr. Scott Hunnicutt was a member of Company B, of Waller's
   battalion, General Hardeman's brigade of the Confederate Army. He was
   a native of Tennessee before coming to Texas.
   
   "The pioneer record for large families was almost broken by Judge
   Hunnicutt's father and mother, above mentioned. There were seventeen
   children, my husband being among this number. I married Walter
   Hunnicutt on December 12, 1894. My maiden name was Miss Mattie Keyser
   and I was the daughter of W. D. Keyser a pioneer stockman and farmer,
   and business man of Merlin, Texas. My father and mother came to Texas
   from Alabama.
   
   "Judge Walter Hunnicutt was reared near the place of his birth in
   Falls County and there his education began. He spent some time in
   Southwestern College at Georgetown, Texas, and two years in the school
   of Mr. Chamber's in Kossee. For two years after leaving his school
   work, he devoted his life to farming but was not content and a long
   cherished idea of joining the legal profession caused him to enter the
   office of Goodrich and Clarkson, one of the most noted firms of that
   day of the Brazos Valley. 00022"Judge Hunnicutt was admitted to the
   bar at Marlin before Judge [Scott,?] being examined by Messrs Swan,
   Harlan and Boyles. Before he completed his preparation for the bar, he
   had the honor of being elected District Clerk of Falls County, and
   held this office for two years. He then began the practice of law in
   Marlin and pursued it for four years, then he was elected County
   Judge, and was re-elected at different times for this office, in all,
   serving fourteen years.
   
   "He was Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge #152 at Marlin, and
   also a member of the [Moccabees?] and Woodmen of the World. For his
   church affiliations he was a Methodist. Our children are Emmett Jr.,
   who resides with me and who married Miss Josephine Merriman of
   Lockport, New York, where he resided for twenty years before returning
   recently to our home in Marlin, where he is doing work for the
   government. Horace T., died in 1919, at the age of eighteen, these two
   boys were our only children.
   
   ["Before he completed his preparations for the bar, he had the honor
   of being elected District Clerk for Fall County and held this office
   for two years, then began the practice of law in Marlin and for four
   years followed his profession. Then he was elected County Judge; he
   served in this capacity for fourteen years.?]
   
   "During Judge Hunnicutt's life as Judge there were many interesting
   things which happened in our county and town. He lived to see it grow
   from a small village to the present [??] where many come for the
   healing benefit of the Marlin hot water. Judge Hunnicutt died in
   December of 1936.
   
   "I will try to tell you about some of the first families of the Blue
   Ridge community where Judge Hunnicutt's father settle in 1849, and the
   way they lived at that time. The Forbes family came to the 00033[?]
   from Tenneessee. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Forbes arrived in the early
   fifties. His son, Dr. L. D. Forbes, graduated from the New Orleans
   school of medicine, and practiced both on the Ridge and in Marlin. The
   older Forbes built their home on the spot where Mrs. Forbes lives
   today. They built in the fifties, long before the Civil War. Aside
   from his practice of medicine, Mr. L. D. Forbes invented a mechanical
   cotton gin, where the feeders automatically carries the cotton to the
   gin-saws or units. Near the Forbes and Barclay homes there was located
   a mule-driven gin. This gin was across the road from the Swinnes
   place, owned by Bill [?] and later, by Ed Vann. It was moved down near
   Big Creek and used until discarded for a newer [?] model.
   
   "Another early family to settle on the Ridge was the Barclay family
   whose [?] was known as the "Squire" and they lived in a log house on
   the spot a few hundred yards north of where Hancock's store stands
   today. Farther north east on the Ridge the Garretts lived. They came
   from Tenneessee about 1849. The old home, with some improvement,
   stands today, a silent reminder of those early days. The family
   history is one of [?], destiny and accomplishment. The original head
   of the family was Thomas Garrett. His children were Jasper, Mary
   Elizabeth, Cynthia Ann and Catherine, Jim, [?], Sarah, Tome and
   Rennie. All are linked with history and development of this section of
   the country.
   
   "As we follow the Ridge in the location then of what is now Stranger,
   the next old home place is that of the Brothers family. Jesse Brothers
   with his wife and children came from Tenneesee to Texas in the late
   fifties. They brought their slaves with them. Like so many of their
   00044neighbors, they sought new fortunes in the land [?] their former
   fellow-[?], Sam Houston, and found a lot. They also sought relief from
   the troubled question of slavery; the Brothers family, with their
   slaves, camped under the big oak tree that stands today in the middle
   of the road as you approach the Ridge in the section now known as [?].
   They settled near the Barclay family who kindly [???] stock for meat
   for the family. [?] men went as far as [?] County looking at the
   country; they returned to the Ridge an' bought land on the [?] hill
   overlooking Big Creek and began to build their homes. Grandpa Jesse
   Brothers served in the Civil [?], returned [?] on a furlough and died
   before the war ended. He left several sons, among them William, [?],
   and Jesse, Junior. His sons and grandsons followed farming for [?]
   occupation.
   
   "[?] South, along the Ridge, lived [??], [?] son, Joel, was supposed
   to be the first official [??] in the community [????]. [?] is [?] by
   the older settlers [?] the [????] a quiet friendly old lady with a
   wealth of lore concerning early days of Texas. We came to this section
   in the early days with [??] family, her relatives. The old [?] log
   house is still standing, but has been covered with weather-boarding.
   
   "One of Granny Moffett's daughters married Quinton [?]. Vann who
   farmed with [?] on the Little Brazos River. There are many descendants
   of the [?] family, whose head was William [?]. They came to the Ridge
   in an early day and William Erskine married Miss Mary Elizabeth
   Garrett. They built near the little church-school house where the
   present Methodist church is at Stranger. Frank [?] lives in the
   spacious old Erskine home in Stranger. 00055"Still farther south-west,
   on the Ridge, is the old Eddins' home. John Eddins and family came to
   Texas from Alabama in 1860; and, after a short stay in Marlin, bought
   a farm lying close to Big Creek, in a valley between a ridge of hills.
   The farm now belongs to the Jesse Brothers' estate. Jasper Garrett
   persuaded Eddins to build his home up on the Ridge about the time the
   Civil War began. Eddins bought sufficient ground from the Garretts to
   build the home. Mr. Eddins and his sons had to walk a mile across the
   sandy ridge to get to his farm, leaving his wife and daughter, Kate to
   keep house.
   
   "Near the Eddins home was the home of Hodge and also of Swinnes. And
   nor far away was the pioneer home of Allen Morrell, a son of the
   Baptist preacher, Rev. Z. N. Morrell. Two years ago, all that remained
   of the Morrell home, a heap of logs, was moved to the Falls County Old
   Settlers Association grounds and there were built into a log cabin in
   remembrance of those early pioneers. This old Morrell home stood on a
   spot later occupied by the home of Bill Fannin; then Grady Blair
   bought the place. It stood on top of the Ridge, overlooking Big Creek
   Valley and from it could be seen one of the most picturesque views in
   the county. For miles one could see the farms, dotting the
   countryside, with little spots of grass land and trees scattered
   about. Through this country runs old Big Creek which flows into the
   Brazos River. East of this Morrell home is the town of Marlin.
   
   "Mr. W. T. Fannin came to the Ridge in 1875 and bought the Moffett
   home; later it was sold to the Blairs. On the Ridge, southwest of the
   Moffett home was the home of the Prices. W. A. Price, Junior, a son of
   the pioneer lives in the old Price home today. 00066In 1882, Dr. and
   Mrs. J. C. Shaw came to the Ridge to live and settled east of the
   Price home. Dr. Shaw served fifteen months in the Alabama Calvary of
   the Confederate Army. He was a native of Alabama and his wife, Miss
   Nannie Sypart, was a Tennessean. Dr. Shaw practiced on the Ridge for
   many years, then moved to Marlin, where he died. His son, Dr. Frank
   Shaw succeeded him in his practice.
   
   "About a mile south of the Stranger store, [?] Rogers and John Marlin
   settled a few years after the battle of San Jacinto. The Rogers family
   settled on the Ridge, while the Marlin family settled at a place known
   as [?], a few miles south of the present town of Marlin. The Rogers
   and the Merlin families came from Tennessee, following the footsteps
   of Sam Houston.
   
   "The Kay home and store were built where old Mrs. Gertrude Hancock
   lived and was south east of Stranger. Mr. Kay was a farmer and devoted
   church worker. He organized the first Sunday School at Stranger and
   was superintendent until his death. He was an un-official post master
   before the rural mail service was established. On business trips to
   Kosse, he would call for the people's mail and bring it to his store,
   where they came to get it. Mrs. Kays' son, by a former marriage, was
   Hollman Hancock. He married Miss Gertrude Garrett, daughter of the
   pioneer family of Garrets, of Blue Ridge. [?], Sanford Hancock, still
   owns and operates the store at Stranger on the Ridge.
   
   "It is difficult to give the dividing line between Stranger and the
   Reagan community. The Stranger community on the Ridge can be seen for
   miles from the Waco-Marlin state highway. In fair weather, there is
   always a deep blue atmosphere over it, hence the name of Blue Ridge.
   The old Hunnicutt home stands overlooking the valley on the Ridge
   stands today just as it stood when Winfield Scott Hunnicutt located
   00077there in 1849. Additions have been made to the house and the logs
   covered with weather-boarding lumber. Two of his sons still live in
   the old house.
   
   "You may stand on the Ridge and look westward where you can see the
   broad valley as it abruptly drops down below you with a ravine between
   the Ridge and the valley. Farms, farm houses and the green woods of
   Big Creek, dot this valley. In the fall of the year cotton pickers can
   be seen swinging to and fro, gathering the fleecy staple. Tall trees,
   sloping hill and beautiful prairies form a never-to-be-forgotten
   picture. About ten miles to the west can be seen the tops of buildings
   in Marlin, and a few miles beyond Marlin, one can see the trees which
   border the Brazos River.
   
   "The Ridge gradually slopes south west to the little town of Reagan.
   Here is a small creek, named Salt Branch and on its banks many of the
   early settlers sleep the last sleep, unmindful of the changes wrought
   by Father Times since they came, in their ambition to build new homes,
   to the new state of Texas.
   
   "To the east, lies the town of Kosse, where the Houston and Texas
   Central Railroad came through in the seventies. Some of the early
   Ridge settlers moved over to Kosse for the benefit of the railroad
   facilities. Among them was Dr. Toland, who came to the Ridge as a
   young doctor. He, like Dr. Poindexter, boarded at Granny William's.
   They could tell many a story of those early days. I remember one story
   that they loved to tell. All the people met at the little church to
   pray for rain. One woman came with her coat and umbrella, prepared for
   an answer to their prayers. They brought their lunch and spent the
   day. Alone in the afternoon, the sky [?] over-cast and by late
   afternoon, it began to rain and what a rain fell! It rained so hard
   that all the creeks got out of banks and the crowd 00088had to spend
   the night in the little school-church house and they spent the night
   giving thanks for their answer to prayer. But only one came prepared
   for an answer to their prayers. It was one of the oldest members of
   the flock and she declared that in time gone by, the way to receive an
   answer to prayer, was to have the faith to be ready for it.
   
   "The Pools and the Bells were other families whose names are indelibly
   written into the history of the Blue Ridge settlement. The Bell family
   came from Tennessee in the [?]; they had a large family and took an
   active part in the affairs of the community. Two sons served in the
   Civil War and one had lost his life in the war with Mexico, along with
   fifteen other men from [?] county. Other prominent early families were
   the Arnetts, Mayes, Herron, Nichols, Vann, Hickman, Darden, [?],
   Saxon, Clawson and many others who lived farther south on the Ridge.
   About 1870, two single men came from Tennessee; they were Henry Clay
   [Cowan?] and Jim Owens. Mr. Cowan married Miss Laura Wyche, who was
   teaching school near Bremond. She was a daughter of Dr. George Wyche
   who settled in the settlement known so Bedias, near Anderson, Texas,
   in the days before the Civil War. Jim Owens married Miss Betty
   Robertson, who came from a large family who lived on the lower Ridge.
   The Owenses made their home at Reagan, where they reared a family. The
   Cowan family, with others from the Ridge, moved in the early seventies
   to what was then known as Willow Springs, and is now the town of Mart.
   
   "It is difficult to give even a brief sketch of those early settlers,
   but the Stranger settlement dates back to the days before the Mexican
   War. The Hunnicutts, the Barnes, Cornelisons, Williams,
   00099Mitchells, and others who settled on Blue Ridge at Woodland, had
   a definite part in the building of the Stranger community. There were
   other communities on the Ridge, and all are [?] linked with the
   history of Falls county. In this outline, mention only is made of
   those who lived nearest the place where the school and church were
   held. It was many years later that the place secured a post office and
   was given the name of Stranger.
   
   "Dr. Forbes had a gin a few hundred yards from his home. Later, Thomas
   Kerchain built a store and another man built a blacksmith shop. So, to
   a spot near the [??], came the first essentials of a community center,
   i. e., a doctor, a gin, a blacksmith shop, and a store. Kay's store
   was located where the present Hancock store stands today. Kerchain and
   others saw the advantage of having a post office up on the hill, and
   they wrote the government for blanks on which to make application for
   a post office. Kerchain received those blanks, worked out all the
   detalils and then they made their way to the nearest place to receive
   a hearing, probably Waco or Marlin.
   
   "According to local history, the hearing was favorable and the need
   for a post office was established. And, the story goes, that the name
   the applicants suggested did not meet with the approval of those who
   held the hearing and that one of the officials, with some impatience,
   turned to Kerchain, who spoked English brokenly, and said: "Come,
   come! Can't you think of a suitable name?" To which Kerchain
   hesitantly replied, "Well, I don't know. I'm just a stranger in the
   community." To this the official replied, "Well, that will do--
   Stranger," and he wrote the word "Stranger" upon the application blank
   which went to Washington and was approved. So this is the story of how
   Stranger, on Blue Ridge, got its name.
   
   00101
   
   "My parents, Mr. & Mrs. W. D. Keyser emigrated to Texas before the War
   Between the States, and settled in Falls , County , where they reared
   their children to maturity. On the 12 th day of December 1894 I
   married Walter Emmett Hunnicutt , who was also born in Falls county
   June 11th, 1865. He was a son of Winfield Scott Hunnicutt who settled
   on Blue Ridge in 1849, emigrating from the state of Tennessee, where
   he was widely known as a surveyor. He was also a member of Company B.
   of Waller's battalion, General Hardeman's brigade of the Confederate
   army.
   
   "The pioneer record for large families were almost broken by this
   family of Winfield [DEL: cott :DEL] Scott Hunnicutt, father of my
   husband , Walter Emmett. There were seventeen children in all and all
   lived to reach the age of maturity. My husband Wlater Emmett, received
   his preliminary education in the Blue Ridge public school. Then
   attended the Southwestern College at Georgetown Texas. And previous to
   this was a pupil of a Mr Chambers of Kosse. After finishing school he
   devoted his time to farming for two years. [DEL: ot :DEL] Not being
   content with this life he entered the law office of Goodrich and
   Clarkson at Marlin and began reading law. He was admitted to the bar
   by Judge Scott of Marlin , after standing his examination under Messrs
   Swan, Harlan, and Boyles , attorneys of Marlin.
   
   "before he completed his preperation for the bar he had the honor of
   being elected District Clerk for Falls[,?] county , and held this
   office for two years, then began the practice of law in Marlin and
   pursued it
   
     NOTE: [??????]
     
   00112for four years , then was elected [DEL: [?] :DEL] County Judge
   and was [DEL: [?] :DEL] re-elected at different times for this office,
   serving in all fourteen years. He was Worshipful Master of the Masonic
   Lodge NO. 152 at Marlin and also a member of the Maccabees and Woodman
   of the World. For his church affiliation he was a Methodist. Our
   children are Emmmett Junior who resides with me and married Miss
   Josephine Merriman of Lockport, New York, where he resided for twenty
   years before returning recently to Marlin where he is now doing
   government work. Horace T . our other son, passed away in 1919 , at
   the age of 18 years. These two boys were our only children.
   
   "During Judge Hunnicutts life as Judge there were many interesting
   things which happened in our county and town. He lived to see it grow
   from a small village to the present notable health resort where many
   are brought here for the benefit of the Marlin Hot water. Judge
   Hunnicutt died in December of 1936.
   
   "I will try to tell you of some of the first families of the Blue
   Ridge community where Judge Hunnicutt's father settled in 1849, and
   the way they lived at that time. First there were the Forbes family.
   The Forbes family came to the Ridge from Tenneessee. Dr and Mrs Robert
   Forbes arrived in the early fifties. His son Dr L. [DEL: [?] :DEL] D.
   Forbes graduated from the New Orleans school of medicine , and
   practice both on the Ridge and at Marlin. " The elder Forbes built
   their home on the spot where Mrs Forbes lives today, this was in the
   fifties , long before the Civil War. Aside [DEL: [?] :DEL] from his
   practice of medicine Dr L.D. Forbes invented a mechanical cotton gin
   where the feeders automatically carries the cotton to the gin saws or
   / units. 00123"Near the Forbes and Barclay home was a mule driven gin
   located across the road from the Swinnes place , owned by Bill Erskine
   and later by Ed Vann , where it was moved down near Big Creek and used
   until discarded for the newer model.
   
   "Another early family was the Barclay family. The head of the family
   was known as "Squire" and they lived in a log house on the spot a few
   hundred yards north of where [DEL: [?] :DEL] Hancock's store stands
   today. Farther north-east on the Ridge were the Garretts , who came
   from Tenneessee about the year 1849. The old house with some
   improvement stands today, a silent reminder of those early days. The
   family history is one of romance, destiny and accomplishment. The
   original head of the family was Thomas Garrett His children were
   Jasper, Mary Elizabeth, Cynthia Ann, and Catherine, Jim, Rhoda, Sarah,
   Tom and Fennie. All are linked with the history and development of
   this section.
   
   "Following the Ridge in the location of what is now Stranger, the next
   is the old home place of the Brothers family. Jesse Brothers , wife
   and children , came from Tenneessee in the late fifties , bringing
   their slaves with them. Like so many of their neighbors they sought
   new [DEL: fortune :DEL] fortune's in the land where their former
   fellow Tennessesan, Sam Houston, had found a place. Also they sought
   relief from troubled times over the slavery [DEL: [?] :DEL] question
   preceding the War Between the States. The Brothers and their slaves
   camped under the big oak tree that stands today in the middle of the
   road as you approach the Ridge in the section now known as Stranger.
   This was near the Barlcay home and these good people were kind to the
   00134Forbes family furnishing them stock for meat for the family [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] and their [DEL: [?] :DEL] slaves. They finally , after
   looking around as far as Leon County, returned and bought land on the
   high hill overlooking Big Creek and began their lives in this section.
   Grandpa Jesse Brothers went to the [DEL: [?] :DEL] War between the
   States in the sixties and returned home on a furlough , where he died
   before the war ended. He left several sons, William, Boog, [DEL: an
   :DEL] and Jesse, Jr. who extended their farming interest to succeeding
   generations. Mrs Brothers married W.H.W. Williams and their only
   daughter married A.W. Eddins of San Antonio, Texas. " Farther south
   along the Ridge lived Granny Moffett, whose son Joel was supposed to
   be the first official mail carrier ( for the community of Stranger )
   on the Ridge. She is remembered by the older settlers of the Ridge and
   Marlin as being a quiet friendly old lady, with a lore of stories of
   the early days of Texas. She came to this section in the early days
   supoosedly with the Hodge family , since they were near relatives and
   lived close by. The Hodge home stands today built of logs, but the
   logs have long since been covered with weather boarding.
   
   "A daughter of Granny Moffett married Quinton H. Vann who [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] was associated with the Erskines in farming on the Brazos
   (Little) bottom. There are many descendants of the Erskine family
   whose head was William [DEL: [?] :DEL] Erskine, who came to the Ridge
   and married Miss Mary Elizabeth Garrett and they made their home near
   the first school and church combined, on the site of the present
   Methodist -Presbyrterian church. [at Stranger?] There are the Frank
   Erskines who with their children have lived for many years in the
   spacious old Erskine home, a familiar sight to all who pass thro' the
   town of Stranger. 00145"Still farther south-west on the Ridge is the
   Eddins place. John Eddins and [DEL: familu :DEL] family arrived from
   Alabama in 1860 and after a short stay in Marlin , bought a farm lying
   close to Big Creek , in a valley between a ridge of hills . The farm
   now belongs to the Jesse Brothers estate. Jasper Garrett persuaded Mr
   Eddins to build his home up on the Ridge about the time the War
   between the States began. He bought sufficient ground from the [DEL:
   arretts :DEL] Garretts to build the home and there he built the old
   Eddins home. Mr Eddins and his boys walked a mile across the sandy
   ridge to the farm and the mother and daughter, Kate, kept house and
   prepared the meal .
   
   "Near the old Eddins home stood the Hodge and the Swimnea [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] homes. These families names [DEL: re :DEL] are linked also with
   the early settlers of the Ridge. But I must hasten on with these early
   settlers families. Not far from the above mentioned homes was the
   former pioneer home of Allen Morrell, a son of the pioneer baptist
   preacher Rev. Z.N. Morrell. Two years ago all that remained of the old
   Morrell home was a heap of logs which was moved to the Falls County
   Old Settlers Association grounds and built into a log cabin in
   remembrance of those early pioneers. This old home stood on the spot
   later to be the Bill [DEL: [?] :DEL] Fannin, then the Grady Hair
   place, on top of the Ridge overlooking Big Creek Valley, and here is
   one of the most [DEL: [?] :DEL] picturesquis views in this country.
   For miles one can see the farms, dotted with a little grass land and
   trees, through which runs, old Big Creel on its way to join the Brazos
   River, and over to the east lies the town of Marlin. [DEL: "On the old
   Morrell home site has since stood the Hair, the Fannin, home also. The
   Hair family were from Alabama. :DEL] 00156"The Fannins had owned the
   Hair place buying from the Moffets. Mr W.T. Fannin came to the Ridge
   in 1875. Following the ridge south-west- was the Price home where the
   son Mr and Mrs W.A. Price Jr. live today , carrying on the work in the
   same place where the elder Price cast his lot with his young wife , (
   who after a career filled with romance and adventure in the Civil War
   times and reconstruction days ), located here and reared their family.
   
   "East-ward from the Price place in 1882 came Dr and Mrs J.C. Shaw to
   live. Mr Shaw was from Alabama , serving fifteen months in the Alabama
   Calvalry. Confederate Army. His wife was a Tennessean a Miss Nannie
   Sypert. Dr Shaw [DEL: [?] :DEL] practiced medicine many years and
   later moved to Marlin where the elder Dr passed on to his reward and
   their son Dr Frank succeeded him in his practice.
   
   "About a mile south of the Stranger store, came Larkin Rogers, and
   John Marlin , a few years after the battle of San Jacinto. The Rogers
   family settled on the Ridge while the Marlin family settled at the
   place known as Bucksport, a few miles south of the present town of
   Marlin. The Rogers and Marlin families came out of Tennessee,
   according to the records , out of admiration for their fellow
   Tennesseean and friend, Sam Houston. The story of John Marlin and the
   Indian Massacres on the Marlin family and the naming of Falls county
   is another story.
   
   "The [DEL: ay :DEL] Kay home and store were located where the old Mrs
   Gertrude Hancock home south-east of where Stranger store stands today.
   Mr Kay was a farmer and devoted church worker. He organized the first
   Sunday [DEL: [?] :DEL] School at Stranger 00167and was superintendant
   until his death. He was a sort of un-official post-master before the
   rural mail service came this way. When on his business trips to Kosse
   he woud call for the people's mail and bring it to his [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   store, where they came for it. Mrs Kay's son by a [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   former marraige was Hollman Hancock , who married Miss Gertrude
   Garrett, a daughter of the pioneer family of Garretts of Blue Ridge.
   Mrs Hancocks son, Sanford, still owns the store at Stranger on the
   Ridge. " It is difficult to give the dividing line of the Ridge and
   just which part the families lived [DEL: [?] :DEL] farther south in
   the Reagan community were a number of early settlers which I will give
   you later perhaps. The ridge where the Stranger community is can be
   seen for miles from the state high way to [DEL: [?] :DEL] Marlin from
   Waco, Texas. In fair weather it is always a deep blue atmosphere ,
   hence the name of Blue Ridge. [DEL: [?] :DEL] The old Hunnicutt home
   stands overlooking the valley on the ridge today just as it stood when
   Winfield Scott Hunnicutt located here in 1849, with the exception of
   the additions which have been made and the old logs covered with a
   modern weather / boarding lumber. In it there still live two of his
   sons.
   
   "You may stand on yhe [DEL: [?] :DEL] Ridge and look westward. See the
   broad valley as it abruptly drops down below you with a ravine between
   the Ridge and the valley. See the farm houses dotted here and there[?]
   The green woods [DEL: [?] :DEL] of Big Creek valley and in the fall of
   the year see the cotton pickers as they swing to and fro' gathering
   the fleecy staple. Tall trees-- Hills -- and prairie forming a picture
   to remember. While over about ten miles to the west see the tops of
   the buildings of the town of Marlin , and a few miles beyond Marlin
   one can see the trees which border the Brazos river, 00178"To the
   south following the ridge as it gradually [DEL: [?] :DEL] slope's
   south-west towards the little town of Reagan [DEL: on :DEL] one can
   see the old Salt Branch , a small creek , near by many of the early
   settlers sleep the last sleep unmindful of the changes which Father
   Time has wrought since they first came in their ambition for [DEL:
   omes :DEL] homes in the new state of Texas.
   
   "To the east lies the town of Kosse where the Houston and Texas
   Central came through in the seventies. Some of the early [DEL: idge
   :DEL] Ridge settlers moved over to this town for the benefit of the
   rail-road facilities. Among them was Dr Toland now living at Kosse who
   came to the ridge as a young doctor and he , too , like Dr Poindexter
   boarded at Granny Williams. [They?] could tell many a story of those
   early days. One I remember of how they met at the little church and
   prayed for rain, one woman came with her coats and umbrella prepared
   for the answer to their prayers. They brought their lunch and spent
   the day.
   
   "Along in the afternoon the sky became overcast with clouds, and by
   late afternoon it began to rain and did it rain? Well it rained so
   hard the creeks all were up so the crowd had to spend the night in the
   little school- church house and there they spent the time giving
   thanks for their answer to prayer. But only one had the faith to come
   prepared, and it seems that it was Granny Williams or perhaps Granny
   Cornelison or [?] Moffett[,?] Any way it was one of the oldest members
   of the flock, who declared that in time gone by the way to receive
   answer to their prayer was to have the faith to be ready for it.
   00189"Other families whose names are indelibly written in the history
   of the Blue Ridge settlement are those of Bell, who came from
   Tennessee in the fifties and the Pools. The bells had a large family
   and they had much to do with the building of this community. Two sons
   served in the Civil War and one lost his life in the war with Mexico
   along with fifteen others from Falls county. Others are the Arnetts,
   Hayes, Herron, Nichols, Vann, Hickman, darden, Loggins, Saxon, and
   Clawson and many others who lived farther south on the [DEL: idge
   :DEL] Ridge. About the year 1870 two single young men came from
   Tennessee, they were Henry Clay cowan and Jim Owens. Mr Cowan married
   a Miss Laura Wyche who was teaching school near [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   Bremond. A daughter of Dr George Wyche who settled in the settlement
   known as Bedias, near Anderson , Texas , in the days before the Civil
   War. Mr Ownes married a Miss Betty Robertson, from a large family of
   the lower Ridge and they made their home at Reagan, Texas where they
   reared a family. The Cowan family with others from the Ridge moved in
   the early [DEL: senties :DEL] seventies (70's) to the then Willow
   Springs community, later known as Mart. " It is difficult to give even
   a brief sketch of those early settlers, but the above settlement date
   back to the days before the Mexican War. The Hunnicutt's the Barnes,
   Cornelisons, Williams , Mitchells and others who settled on Blue Ridge
   at [DEL: [?] :DEL] Woodland -- had a definite part in making the
   Stranger community. There were other communities on the Ridge and all
   are inseperably linked with the making of Falls county. In this
   outline , mention is made of those who lived nearest the place where
   the school and church was held, and it was many years later that the
   place secured a post-office and the name of Stranger given to it.
   001910"As I mentioned before [DEL: [?] :DEL] Dr Forbes had a gin a few
   hundreds yards from his home. Then a man set up a black-smith shop and
   another built a store near by. His name was Thomas Kerchain. So to a
   spot near the Forbes home came the first essentials of a community
   center, a doctor, a gin, a black smith shop and a store. Kay's store
   was located where the present Hancock store stands today. Up on the
   hill Kerchain and others saw the advantage of a post-office and wrote
   the government for blanks for making the application for one. He
   received them and worked out all the details of filling them out. They
   then made their way to the nearest place to receive a hearing,
   probably to Marlin or Waco.
   
   "According to the story the hearing was favorable and the need for a
   post office was established. And the story goes that the name the
   applicants suggested did not meet with the approval of those who gave
   the hearing and one of the officials with some impatiens turned to
   Kerchain who spoke broken English and said" Come, Come[!?] Cant you
   think of a suitable name? To which Kerchain hesitated and replied
   "Well, I dont know. I'm just a stranger in the community". To this the
   official replied, "Well that will do-- "Stranger" and he wrote the
   word , Stranger , upon the application blank which went to Washington
   and was finally approved. So this is the story of how Stranger, on the
   Blue Ridge , got its name.

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