| |
| | Goodnight
Vintage Photos
Courtesy
Lance
Ingham Sloan, (decendent of the Vaughan's of Goodnight) and (GGGG-nephew of Charles
Goodnight) |
| History
in a Pecan Shell
Named for famed cattleman Charles
Goodnight, who settled here, the first building in town was reportedly Goodnight's
ranchhouse, built in 1887.
The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway soon came through and established
a depot. The post office opened in 1888 and the former JA Ranch blacksmith opened
a shop that same year.
Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight, with the help
of the Goodnight Baptist Church opened Goodnight College (1898 until 1917).
Charles
Goodnight died in 1929, but up until his death he was, for all intents and
purposes, the town of Goodnight. His house and his buffalo herd remain. |
Herd
of Buffallo,
Good Night Ranch, Goodnight Texas
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
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| | The
graduating class of Goodnight College 1899 - 1900
Photo courtesy Lance Ingham Sloan | |
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| | Goodnight
sign
Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, 2006 | |
|
Goodnight
had a population of 300 for the 1940 census. As Claude's
star rose, Goodnight's declined. In 1963 the Paul Newman movie Hud was filmed
in Goodnight and the post office closed six years later.
Besides the
Goodnight Ranch facilities, only two churches and the cemetery remain today.
The population in 1990 was the same as the 1969 estimate - 25 persons. |
|
| Photo
courtesy Lance Ingham Sloan, 2007 |
| | Charles
and Mary Ann Dyer Goodnight Marker
Photos courtesy Marlee Goodnight Dickerson,
October 2003 | |
|
 |
Goodnight,
Texas ForumSubject:
Goodnight, Texas
Dear TE, Around 1950 or 1951 I was six years old an enrolled in the first grade
at Goodnight school. My mother was hired to teach the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.
I remember my first girlfriend, Becky, (she was an older woman). She was in the
second grade and sat in front of me through 6th grade. I remember driving out
to the canyon and seeing trunks and other discards left by wagons that had going
through just forty or so years earlier. A lot of clothing and household effects
were still in the trunks - just as they were packed all those years earlier. I
remember riding hogs, calves, and catching turtles from a pond. I remember going
to the funeral of an old man I remember as Mister Goodnight. I still question
my memory as to who he really was but the whole county turned out. I remember
getting hit in the back of the head with a base ball bat playing catcher at recess.
No questions there. I so yearn for days like those again. I would like to hear
from others from Goodnight of the same time. - D D Durbin, Corpus Christi,
Texas, November 22, 2007, ASKDAL@aol.com , November 22, 2007
Subject: Goodnight
Cemetery
Dear
TE, My grandfather, Henry Louis Hodgin, worked for Captain Goodnight as a ranch
hand. The story is that Captain Goodnight sent him to school; I don't know for
how long he worked for the Captain or any other information on that. I do know
that my great grandfather, William Sterling Hodgin, is buried in the Goodnight
Cemetery and was buried by Captain Goodnight. A marker is on the grave. In the
registry for the cemetery, it only denotes that the father of Louis Hodgin was
buried in the plot.
I do have a photo of that grave, but my question
is if there is any way that I could get information on this grave or the history
of more of the ranch hands on the Goodnight ranch during the early 1900's? (I'm
guessing here at a date, my grandfather was born in 1893.) Since my grandfather
was half Cherokee, he was always very quiet about his heritage because he didn't
want his children to be called "Half-breeds."
My mother is now 85 years
old and the oldest of her siblings. We are having a reunion at her brother's house
outside of Post, Texas this summer. Her brother is the baby of the family at the
age of 73. We've always been curious about the history of Goodnight because of
this connection and the lack of information in the family. If anyone can be of
any help to us in finding more sources on the history of Goodnight or the ranch
hands please send it in. - Kay Strickland, kay_strcklnd@yahoo.com, Edgewood,
Texas, July 02, 2007
Subject:
Goodnight Texas
Dear TE, I have attached a few more photographs
of family from the glory days of Goodnight, Texas. Quite a few of them are buried
in the Goodnight Cemetery. - Lance Ingham Sloan, (decendent of the Vaughan's
of Goodnight) and (GGGG-nephew of Charles Goodnight), May 12, 2007
Dear
TE, My name is Marlee Goodnight, now Marlee Dickerson. My family and I came through
Goodnight, Texas and stopped at the lovely museum in Claude
in 2003, what a wonderful trip... I have photos that turned out nicely. Charles
Goodnight was my fathers great uncle. I will dig out those photos. When I was
in Claude they had some lovely photos, the one I really liked and would love to
have is the one with Charles and Mary sitting together on a white settee in front
of the house.
During my research last night I came across a website
talking about a fundraiser for the homestead. Have your heard how it went? I would
love to be able to come back, we were talking about going for the reunion this
summer.
Its funny but Goodnights seem to have the innovative spirit.
Whenever I am confronted with a problem, I just decide to make it work, reinvent
it, IE the chuckwagon. I think it is best summed up with we don’t like being told
NO! you can't do it, that won't work. For me it’s a battle cry! - Marlee Goodnight
Dickerson, Santa Rosa, California, February 18, 2007
Dear
TE, I have in my possession some photos of residents from Goodnight, Texas including
a class photo from Goodnight College 1899 - 1900. I have attached the photograph
and one of my GGGrandparent's and their home in Goodnight. - Lance Ingham Sloan,
Santa Rosa, California, February 09, 2007 | |
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