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Thomas Wadlington
Cotten
Vintage photos courtesy Brent Brownfield |
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Nathaniel T.
Guest, who had settled at the site in 1869, built the first wood
house in 1876. A post office was established on June 6, 1877 with
William G. Hightower as the fist postmaster; he also ran the general
store. The Walthall Methodist Church was organized in the Archibald
Beniah Hutchison home in 1879. The Colorado Baptist Church was organized
on December 29, 1878. The latter group worshipped in the Walthall
schoolhouse with the Rev. J. T. Averetta being the first pastor.
In 1879 Rev. Thomas Wadlington Cotton was chosen pastor and remained
with the church until 1884. On January 12, 1880 a petition was signed
by 158 qualified voters of the area to organize a new county. On
January 12, 1880 the Coleman County Commissioners Court approved
the petition, sectioned the new Runnels County into four precincts,
and ordered an election of county officials to be held on February
16, 1880. The first commissioners were William Moses Guest, W. G.
Preston, P. M. Pemberton and P. S. Turner , with W. W.Copeland as
clerk. Sylvester Adams was made county judge; John McEwen Formwalt
was made the first sheriff; and Jacob Benjamin Cotten was made the
tax assessor-collector.
The Commissioners
Court met for the first time on March 10, 1880 and selected Walthall
as the temporary county seat with the home of Rev. Thomas Wadlington
Cotton as a temporary courthouse. Later, an election on April 14,
1880 made Runnels City the new county seat. The first schoolmaster
at Walthall was John Nichols Winters. The last postmaster was Nathaniel
T. Guest who closed the office in 1881. When Camp Colorado was closed,
there was no need for the telegraph station and Walthall declined.
In a few years it was a ghost town. All that remains today is the
cemetery."
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Thomas W. Cotten
and Catherine S. McComb Cotten
Vintage photos courtesy Brent Brownfield |
Walthall,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Walthall, Texas
My great grandfather, Thomas Wadlington Cotton, is buried in the
Walthall Cemetery. The GPS coordinates for the cemetery are 31.693238,-99.890605,
and in the satellite views you can see where the cemetery is in
a clump of trees within a field that is being farmed. There are
two historic markers in this cemetery, and one is for Thomas Wadlington
Cotten. I have attached a couple of photos.(See above) - Brent Brownfield,
September 11, 2013
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1882 Map showing
Walthall
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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