History in Oil - Santa Fe Depot
Updated: May 2, 2021
FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE SETTLEMENT. GOATS ROW
In February 1844, there was no one living in the original townsite of 100 acres donated by Farral and Hurt; and there were few people residing in the settlement. In the
the rear of the Anthony hotel, outside of the townsite, was
the rudely constructed house in which Jesse Farral, James
Hurt and their families lived. Joseph Ralston's store was
north of this dwelling. Ralston owned a number of goats,
and as they were continuously around his place of business, the inhabitants dubbed the street "Goat Row," and it
was so known until its name was changed to Market, June
13, 1874. Adjoining Ralston's, and on the north also, was
a small log house in which the papers of the county were
kept by District Clerk J. D. Giddings, pending the building
of the courthouse.
A list of those living in the settlement, including the farmers who resided within a radius of three or four miles,
in the spring of 1844, as nearly as can be ascertained, is
as follows: Mrs. Arabella Harrington, whose league of land
was granted March 22, 1831, under the colonization laws of
Coahuila and Texas, and upon which the whole of Bren-
ham, and much of the surrounding country, is situated,
lived in the -most beautiful part of her possessions, i. e., on
the branch which runs past the home in South Brenham
of Mrs. Ida Dawson, and just a little removed from Mrs.
Dawson's present home. Dennis Harrell lived in the west on the left-hand side of the present H. & T. C. railroad bridge. Henry Higgins was at Fireman's Park, with James
McRea just across the branch from him. Billie and John
Tom owned the land where Mrs. Anna Hermann's home is situated. John Brown lived where Dr. S. Bowers resides.
Billie Norris' home was in the east on the branch which runs past Mrs. Ida Dawson's residence. H. C. Mclntyre settled on his farm in 1839. Dr. Payne, when he was not practicing medicine or farming, operated a grist mill on the branch which runs through Burney Parker's present farm.
L. P. Rucker and B. E. Tarver had farms to the north of
Brenham. Joseph Ralston's farm was on Ralston's Creek.
Jesse Johnson, or "Tub" Johnson, had a grist m