Hall, Dr. Clyde

Tindall, Lora W

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East Texas Historical JournalVolume 40 | Issue 1 Article 113-2002The Dugan Family: Its Contributions to EarlyGrayson County HistoryLora W. TindallDr. Clyde HallFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethjPart of the United States History CommonsTell us how this article helped you.This Article is brought to you for free and open access by SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in East Texas Historical Journal by anauthorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact cdsscholarworks@sfasu.edu.Recommended CitationTindall, Lora W. and Hall, Dr. Clyde (2002) "The Dugan Family: Its Contributions to Early Grayson County History," East TexasHistorical Journal: Vol. 40: Iss. 1, Article 11.Available at: http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol40/iss1/1152 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONTHE DUGAN FAMILY:ITS CONTRmUTIONS TO EARLY GRAYSON COUNTY HISTORYby Lora Whiting TindaLL and Dr. Clyde HallThe Dugan family, consisting of Daniel and Catherine (Vaden) Duganand seven children, was the first family to settle and remain in that area of theRepublic of Texas later designated as Grayson County. Dugan and his twoadult sons qualified for land grants. Their league-and-labor featured acreage ofprairie, cedar and oak forests, Mill Creek, and clear springs. The Duganssuccessfully met the challenges facing pioneer &ettlers, including Indianatrocities and epidemics of disease. In 2000, Dugan descendants continued toreside on the original homeplace on the banks of Mill Creek. Many others livein Grayson County and continue to have an impact on their communities;others have scattered. Some lie in the cemetery on the homeplace.Grayson County was created in March 1846 by the first legislature of theState of Texas. During the days of the Republic the area that became GraysonCounty had been a part of Fannin County. Previously it had been within theundefined "Red River District," periodically under the flags of Spain, France,or Mexico.Red River, though by no means a dependable navigable waterway, wasimportant in the initial settlement of Grayson County. Indian Removal hadoccurred prior to settlement and opposite Grayson County. The north bank ofthe river was occupied by the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. The first personto sink settlement roots in the county wa~ Holland Coffee, an experiencedIndian trader who established his trading post at the confluence of the Red andWashita (Faux Ouachita) rivers in the mid-1803s. Soon, Able Warrenestablished another trading post downstream approximately twenty miles fromCoffee and only few yards east of Grayson County. Warren located near theconfluence of Red River and Choctaw Creek. 1On the Texas side of the Red River, this river-creek junction featured anextensive, relatively flat delta, commonly referred to as Choctaw Bayou. Westand south of this delta was an arc of forested rolling hills through whichflowed Choctaw Creek and its spring-fed tributaries. Tn Grayson Countysouth, southwest, and west of the ring of hills was a blackland prairie. 2 By1837, when pioneers began to reach the area, the northeastern quadrant ofGrayson County beckoned to potential settlers with its fertile prairie,predominantly oak forests, multiple springs, rieh delta, proximity to the RedRiver, and an "on the divide" trail to the east.The first pioneer family known to arrive in Grayson County was that ofDaniel Montague, who settled close to Warren's trading post in November1837.1 Within two decades, Montague moved his family beyond the "EasternCross Timbers" to Cooke County; as a surveyor his work took him into thearea to the west of Cooke County, leading to the naming of Montague CountyLora Whiting TIndall i~· a Dugan family descendant who lives in Wichita Falls, Texas. Dr. ClydeHall i.~ with the Grayson County Historical Cnmmission, Shemum, Texas.EAST TEXAS mSTORICAL ASSOCIATION 53Above: GeneralLimdGrant Office, AustinLeft: Fall of1993, photoofHaynes W Dugantaken at rededication ofRives family cemetery atBonham:~Landing,Caddo Lake.54 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONfor him. So far as is known, there is no branch of the Montague family that hasmaintained residence in Grayson County since pioneer days.The second pioneer family to arrive in Grayson County was that ofDaniel and Catherine Dugan, and their four boys and three girls. Havingemigrated from Missouri, and after having tarried a while on Bois d' Arc Creekin Fannin County, the Dugan family settled in Grayson County in 1838;~ Thefamily selected a large land area that included the prairie, rolling hills withtheir forests plentiful with wild game, and the spring-fed Mill Creek, atributary of the Choctaw. Dugan received his patent for a full league of landfrom the Republic of Texas on December 1, 1845. Unlike the Montaguefamily, the Dugan family remained in Grayson County and Dugan descendantscontinue to reside on land where the Dugan family first settled and arerecognized as representatives of the oldest pioneer family with continuousresidence in the northeastern quadrant of Grayson County.As it evolved, the Dugan homeplace featured a sturdy, sizable, dog-trotcabin, built with protection as well as comfort in mind.~ While the homeplaceserved as the focal point for raising a large family, it also made majorcontributions to the early history of northeastern Grayson County. As therewere no churches in the area during Republic days, Dugan welcomed itinerantpreachers who arrived periodically and conducted worship services. A trail,with a southeast-northwest axis, extended from the pnririe to the ChoctawCreek bottomlands, passing by the homeplace; word would spread of animpending worship service and other settlers would follow the trail to theDugan homeplace. In time, the trail became known as Dugan Chapel Road, acounty road that has carried that name for more than a century and a half. Ayear or so before statehood, the Virginia Point Methodist Church was foundedapproximate]y three miles east of the homeplace and became the gatheringplace for community worship.~ Among the organizers were Dugan familymembers, and in 1846 a member of the family was baptized there.7 Thus didthe Dugan family contribute to the religious life of early settlers.During the Republic period, northeastern Grayson County sometimes hadto survive a less than peaceful relationship with Indians. s The Duganhomeplace, with its solidly constructed cabin and outbuildings, provided agathering point where settlers could come for protection and Dugan familymembers exercised a leadership role in the effort to reduce tension. Dugan alsoset aside a portion of his land as a cemetery for burial of Dugan familymembers and others who were killed in those troublesome times. For morethan one hundred and fifty years, the cemetery has been maintained as a burialground primarily, but not exclusively, for Dugan descendants. In 1840. Duganserved on the first grand jury convened in the Republic's Fannin County.9Several next-generation Dugans also made contributions to the history ofGrayson County. In 1849, Catherine Dugan married B.W. Taylor, a Methodistminister and an educator. After their marriage, they settled in Sherman andopened what is believed to be Sherman's fIrst school in 1851. Children ofseveral pioneer families attended this school. 10EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 55George C. Dugan, the eldest Dugan son, also married in 1849, Whileretaining his land, he soon moved to Sherman where he became highlysuccessful with mercantile and real estate interests. Tom Bomar, writing in1894, stated that "Mr. Dugan '" accumulated quite a fortune previous to thecivil war,"ll Among his contributions to the county's early history was hissetVice in 1846 as a commissioner, appointed by the first Texas legislature, todetennine the location of the county seat for Grayson County.The town of Bells was, for much of the latter half of the nineteenthcentury, a small settlement located on Dugan land; it was known then asDuganville or Dugansville. With expansion of railway systems in GraysonCounty, George C. Dugan provi.ded land for the construction of a side trackand depot "at or near the Town of Duganvil1e, Grayson County '" "on April12, 1878.12 Also in 1876, he donated to Austin College a full section of land infulfillment of his pledge to the effort of Shennan to entice the college to movefrom Huntsville "in consideration of the location of the Austin College withinthe incorporated limits of the City of Sherman, State of Texas, GraysonCounty, which I herein acknowledge has been done by the trustees of saidCollege in full compliance on their part '" I, a.c. Dugan ... do . _. conveyunto the said Trustees ... the following. _. 640 acre tract ...."13Other members of the Dugan family were also influential in thedevelopment of Bells (Duganville). In 1882 and again in 1886, William P.Dugan and Daniel D. Dugan provided two acres plus two lots for the MethodistEpiscopal Church, South. Trustees of the church were free to use the land for"church, parsonage, and other church purposes."l4 Additionally, Daniel D.Dugan was active as an elected official in Sherman's city government as analderman and chainnan of the ''utilities'' committee for several years. ISEmily Dugan, a teenager when the family settled in Texas, marriedFrederick P. Whiting and had one son, George Dugan Frederick Whiting. Emilyand her husband both died when their son was an infant. The son, G.D.F.Whiting, was raised by the Dugan family and was also influential in thedevelopment of northeastern Grayson County and Bells (Duganville). In 1895he donated one and one-half acres for the establishment of Grayson CountySchool District #112 to Grayson County. This acreage was located "on thewaters of Choctaw Bayou being a part of the survey originally granted toDaniel Dugan ... ."16 J.N. Dickson, former County Judge of Grayson Countyand author of a manuscript "Grayson County Common Schools," "District No.,112; Name: Dugan. Derived from: Named for the Dugan family. Location ofSchool: School district bounded on north by Cherry Mound, South by Hebron,west by Choctaw Bayou. School house is in Daniel Dugan Survey No. 327."17Additionally, Whiting provided land in Duganville for the IndependentOrder of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias lodges. Tn 1895, he conveyedone-half of lot #1 of block of the Town Plat of Duganville to the trustees ofRidgeley lodge #275 IOOF;18 in )896 the other one-half interest of this lot wasconveyed to the Knights of Pythias Lodge #209. 19 In 190 I, he provided anoth-er lot to the two organizations jointly "to the trustees of the Ridgeley Lodge50 EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION#275 lOaF and trustees of the Bells Lodge of Knight so Pythias #209 ... inthe town of Duganville (now Bells) Grayson County, Texas.H2oWhile not a direct contributor to the early history of Grayson County,another Dugan descendant, Haynes Webster Dugan, has continued the associa-tion of the family with the preservation of its history. He was instrumental inobtaining an official Texas Historical Commission marker for Webster/Blocker Cemetery at Mimosa Hall in Harrison County. He also served asdivision historian of the Third Armored Division, U.S. Arrny.21 [0 recent years,Grayson County members of the Dugan and Whiting families have served onthe boards of the Bells Independent School District and of Frontier Village ofGrayson County. Finally, linking the county's early history and its presentemphasis on historical preservation, a Dugan descendant was an activeparticipant on the Grayson County Millennium Committee.In the history of Grayson County, and particularly its northeasternquadrant from Choctaw Bayou to modem Bells, fonnerly Duganville, theDugan family has made notable contributions. In the early pioneer period,while primarily concerned with surviving nn the frontier, the family provideda meeting place for worship services, joined in the founding of the firstorganized church in the area, led in the effort to resolve Indian problems, setaside land for a cemetery, provided a commissioner for locating Sherman asthe county seat, and provided a member of the area's first grdIld jury. Thefamily contributed land for the establishment of a county school in ChoctawBayou and in what is now Bells and for the Methodist church, the lOOFLodge, the Knights of Pythias Lodge, and for a railway siding and depot.Additionally; as a leading businessman in Sherman, a family member donatedland to Austin College upon its move to Sherman. Yet another member servedin Sherman city government for several years. Younger members of the familycontinue to serve in leadership roles in a variety of county organizations. TheDugan family, as much as any other pioneer family, has contributedsignificantly to the history of Grayson County.NOTES'Mattie Davis Lucas and Mita Holsapple Hall. A Hi.~tory of Grayson County. Texas(Shennan, Texas, 1936). pp. 14-43.'Fred M. Bullard, The Geology of Grayson Count)~ Texas (Austin, Texas, 1931), p. 12.'Graham Landrum, An Illustrated History of Grayson County, Texas (Fort Worth, Texas,1967), p. 10.4Landrum, An Illustrated History nfGrayson County, Texas, p. 10. For a far more extensivedescription of the Dugan family, its composition, and its westward migration, see Grayson CountyFrontier Village, The History of Grayson County, Texas (Winston·Salem, North Carolina, 1979).v. t p. 276-278.~Mary Dugan Shearer, "Reminiscences of Pioneer Ufe in Grayson County," LucasCollection (Sherman Public Library, unpublished manuscript, Box 1, Folder 24), hereinafterLucas Collection. In 1885-1886, Shearer,..,granddaughter of Daniel and Catherine Dugan, authoreda series of papers on this topic. A copy of these papers has been retained in the Lucas Collection.('Sherman Public Library Vertical File. "Churches," Shemum Daily Democrat. August 2, 1929.EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 57'Sherman Public Library Vertical File, "Churches," Shennan Daily Democrat, August 2,1929.~e relationship between pioneer "Grayson County" families and Indians ha~ been wellchronicled elsewhere. Lucas and Hall, A History ofGrayson County. Texas, pp. 66-67; Landrum,pp. 10- 14; Lucas Collection, folder 41, 42.'Landrum, An JUustrated History of Grayson County, Texas, p. 10.IOLucas Collection, "AutohiOb'Taphy of Jesse P. Loving," p. 16.IITom Bomar, "Glimpses of Grayson," Lucas Collection, Box 6, Folder 140. For a lengthy,detailed description of his estate, see Deed Records ofGrayson Count)~ Texa~,Volume 59, pp. 10-29.12/Jeed Records afGrayson Count}~ Texas. Volume 38, p. 503.11Deed Records ofGrayson County, Texas, Volume 35, p. 153.14Deed Records of Grayson County. Texas, Volume 55, pp. 102, 103; Volume 69, pp. 135,136.\>Luca!i Collection, Box 6. Folder 139, "Scrapbook of Clipped Biographies," p. 4, undated.approximately 1920.16Deed Records ofGrayson County. Texas, Volume 110, p. 243."J.N. Dickson, Gray.wn County Common Schouls, p. ~O.1ADeed Records of Grayson County, Texas, Volume 115. p. 362.\9Deed RecortJ:.,· ujGrayson County, Texa.<;, Volume 119. p. 229.'"Deed Records of Grayson Counl)~ Texl1.s, Volume 143, p. 241.2JThe University of lllinois has a center for Third Armored Division studie!i; for referenceto Dugan as division hislorian see http://www.library.uicu.eduJahx/3rdarmor/Holdings.htm.Altogether, five generations of Dugan descendants have served in U,S. military forces.

The Dugan Family: Its Contributions to Early Grayson County History

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The Dugan Family: Its Contributions to Early Grayson County History

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