Shackelford Co., TX - Newspapers - The Albany Echo - Saturday 2 June 1883 *********************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Dorman Holub Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************** The Albany Echo Saturday – 2 June 1883 Vol. 1, No. 2 Train schedule To Our Friends: About five months ago we opened out the Echo in this place, issued one number – and as most of our home people know, we then went to bed sick. Under the charge of aggravated assault, Esquire Sammons held Mr. [James] Melton, proprietor of the Albany house, under a $2,000 bond this week, for his appearance at the next term of the county court. The county commissioners’ court gave Messrs. Harris & Co., contractors for the building of a new court house, until the 10th of this month to make their bond. The office of the district and county clerk was moved Monday from the old court house to the Keener building. Rev. Trimble was tried by a court of his ministerial peers having been accused of defrauding and falsehood. They found him guilty and suspended him from the ministry and membership in the church until the next annual conference. 12th Judicial District T.B. wheeler = District Judge J.H. Calhoun – district Attorney County Officers J.L. Fisher – County Judge Sam Spears – District and County Clerk D.G. Simpson – Sheriff and Tax Collector H.C. Jacobs – Surveyor L.M. Keener – County Treasurer Henry Palm – Tax Assessor John Jones – Inspector Deed Rye – County Attorney W.W. Sammons – JP Pct 1 J.L. Thorp 2 A.C. White – 3 J.A. McAmis – 4 Henry Herron Constable 4 T.H. Barre – Commissioner Pct 1 C.H. Philbrick – 2 R.A. Elliott – 3 F.[Frank] E.[Eben] Conrad – 4 Churches M.E. Church South – L.H. Trimble Baptist – W.B. Long Presbyterian – S. Ezell Historical and Descriptive Shackelford County is situated in northwest Texas about 450 miles from Galveston, 150 miles from Dallas, and on the Texas Pacific Railway. Its organization: By act of 1 February 1858, the boundaries of the county were established. By act of the legislature of 14 Feb 1860, it was attached to Palo Pinto County for Judicial purposes and on 1 May 1874, a similar enactment attached it to Jack county. An election was held for all officers in 1874. The first meeting of the County Commissioner’s Court was held at Fort Griffin on 28 September 1874. By proclamation of Gov. Coke, dated 12 Oct 1874, Fort Griffin was designated as the county seat pro tem. An election for the permanent location of the county seat was held 8 November 1874, and resulted in the choice of the northeast quarter of section one of the Blind Asylum surveys, on which Albany is now built. Albany – the County seat Albany, the county seat, is situated on the north prong of Mill Creek or North Prong of Hubbard, Creek, as it is most generally called, and is three miles east of the geographical center of the county. An election was held 31 December 1875, to move the county seat to Griffin, but the latter place failed to receive the necessary two-thirds of the vote polled. The first term of the District court held at Albany was 15 November 1875, Shackelford County begin then in the old 34th Judicial district, J.P. Osterhout, judge. Then the only buildings were the residences of Henry C. Jacobs, sheriff and the court house; and not only were they the only houses in the town, but for several miles around. Albany is now the terminus of the Texas Central Railway. The first sale of town lots occurred in August 1875. The court house square is 420 feet square; all the streets are 100 feet wide and are intersected by alleys 20 feet wide. The Town of Fort Griffin This town took its name from the fort which is adjoining. It is situated in a mesquite valley, on the south bank of the Clear Fork of The Brazos, about 16 miles northeast of Albany. The fort was established in 1867 and named after Brigadier General Griffin, of the U.S. Army, at that time stationed in Galveston, and was abandoned by 1881. The town started shortly after the fort was established, but did not assume more proportions until 1874. The first term of the District Court for Shackelford County was held here 7 June 1875. The grand jury found 37 bills of indictment at this term, principally misdemeanors, for gaming and keeping disorderly houses; this character of offenders being in the majority in all towns continuous to frontier posts. The palmy days of the town, may be dated from the fall of 1875 to 1878, during the flourishing times of the great buffalo hunt. One could see 50 hunters at a time on the streets, all in with wagons for supplies and ammunition. It is true desperate characters made their headquarters at Griffin, and plied their nefarious callings. Since the abandonment of the post the town has decreased considerably in population and business. There are two good stores, a drug store, a saloon and a post office. It will be the trading point of southern Throckmorton and part of the Clear Fork valley always. There is a good school and a Masonic hall. Lt. Chandler, J.S.A., is stationed there in charge of the Tonkawa Indians, whose camp is near Griffin. There is a hack line and daily mail from Albany. The public buildings owned by the county are the jail and court house. The court house was built in 1875 of cedar posts at a cost of $800 and was weather boarded and repairer at various times. The jail of rock, two-story high, with chilled iron cages in upper story. The contract for building was let to Thomas and Werner of Fort Worth on 24 September 1877, $800; 1 January 1878, $1,200; balance in bonds. The county owns four leagues of land in Motley county, but as this is a donation from the state, for educational purposes 22 December 1882 G.W. Robson Editor and Proprietor of the Albany Echo