Tuesday, July 2, 2024
On Feb. 4, 1854, the governor of Texas, Elisha M. Pease, signed a bill delivered to his office from the Texas State Legislature that called for the creation of Coryell County from parts of Milam and Bell counties. The new county would encompass a 1,057 square mile area.
It was decided that the newly formed county would be named after Texas Ranger James Coryell, who was an early explorer of the region and was killed by an Indian attack in 1837.
Prior to the creation of Coryell County, the area was first inhabited by soldiers who were stationed at Fort Gates, which had been established to protect early settlers that had moved to the region. In return, the settlers furnished the troops at Fort Gates with corn, hay, and beef - along with other supplies that could be produced in the early-day settlement.
It was reported that the settlers’ houses were often built of logs with cedar poles for rafters, and that the roofs were built of river oak boards, and that the first trading station in the area had a roof made of bear skins.
The central figure in the creation of Coryell County has been accredited to Orville T. Tyler, a Texas colonist who came to this part of the state in the 1830’s and led the campaign that resulted in the creation of the county. Tyler would later become the county’s first chief justice. The role he played in the creation of the county later earned him the name of “Father of Coryell County.” After serving the new county well, Tyler was elected a member of the House of Representatives on the Tenth Legislature in 1863 from the 61st District, which included Coryell County.
Soon after Governor Pease signed the county into existence, the first election was held in Coryell County under a live oak tree to elect officers. J.C. Russell, who became the first County Clerk, wrote in his record book that O.T. Tyler would be the Chief Justice; John L. Montgomery, Thomas Tremier, James Hicks, and Aaron Flannery would be County Commissioners; John C. Russell would become the County Clerk; T.B. Pollard would become the District Clerk; John Turney would be Sheriff; David R. Franks, Assessor and Collector; Samuel Moore would become Treasurer; Samuel Carson and Thomas Caufield, the Justices of the Peace.
While Tyler is credited with pushing for the establishment of the county, Richard G. Grant is given credit for the founding of the county seat that later became known as Gatesville. It was written that, in the beginning, the fledgling county was so poor that its officials had to borrow $25 to buy record books and stationery. It was then that Grant stepped in and offered the new Coryell County $2,000 in cash, a site for a courthouse and public square, streets in each direction, and land for a burying ground if the county seat would be established on his tract of land near the Leon River.
Some of the more persistent settlers held out for the Old Fort Gates site, but they couldn’t come close to matching Grant’s persuasive offer. When the election was held on May 27, 1854, 37 of the 53 voters favored Grant’s property, and Gatesville was established as the county seat.
Grant’s next move was to stage an auction sale of town lots, and the crafty entrepreneur, before the sale started, rolled out a barrel of his home-brewed whisky along with a barrel of sugar and water. It was written that “he knocked out the heads of the barrels and passed out plenty of gourd dippers with a hearty invitation to everyone to wade in.”
Of Grant’s gesture to “wade in,” one historian reported that “it is to the everlasting credit of Coryell’s early settlers that not one man became intoxicated.” To all accounts, it was a highly successful sale, and Gatesville was on her way.
