Along this lane, the families settled, Ackers, Hoeber, McNeeley, Hooker, and Hurns they were.
Crossing the ragged road was Long Creek, marked by a wandering line of trees meandering across the prairie.
A mile up Long Creek lived the Millers, on whose land a big gas well would run wild in 1905. In the place I know as the farm, the Ackers family lived. That original home burned, but the well survived, dug deep by hand and lined with stone.
But most of these settlers moved on.
Cattlemen and cowboys came. In 1889, the Parker County School Land, a large tract of 17,000 acres, arranged for surveying by Mr. R. W. Watkins. Mr. Watkins hired a boy of 9 as driver for his hack, to carry stakes and equipment. That boy grew to be my grandfather, Frank Hurn.
The boy’s father, William Hurn, bought 200 acres in December, the first buyer from the tract, and the remainder was opened for settlement in 1890, at a price of $6.25 per acre. Settlers from all parts began to arrive. Wanting a community center, William persuaded the Gent & Fuller firm to donate two acres for a church and school.
The Post Office was a knottier problem. Several names (for the community) were sent to Washington. All were rejected, because for every name there was already a community in Texas with the same name! One day, after a second round of this disheartening news, Col. Bill Squires of the Henrietta Post Office, said to William Hurn, “The heck with it! You go home and forget it. I’ll send in a name that they’ll take.”
He sent in ‘Hurnville’, so Hurnville it was.
Mr. Luther Kelley of the Kelly Brothers firm in Henrietta built a store in Hurnville, but only three families ever lived in Hurnville itself, though the surrounding rich farmland was thickly settled by 1896. At that time, Hurnville sported the general store, a blacksmith shop, a barber shop, a short-order and cold-drink stand, two churches, a cotton gin, the Literary Society’s weekly newspaper, a one-room school, and Dr. Finley’s office.
William Hurn’s son Joe taught the Hurnville school, a three month school, for the lump sum of $75. This was the high point, and soon after, settlers began pulling up stakes to move further west. Rural Free Delivery replaced the Post Office. The growing nearby town of Petrolia drew away the Baptist Church. Hard times took the Methodist Church, and the tiny school was consolidated into Henrietta, the county seat.
When I was a child, my grandfather told me that he once carried the mail in a wagon up into Oklahoma Territory, where it went on to be delivered as the Pony Express. However, the dates don’t match up worth beans, so either he was a-woofin me, he was speaking of his father, or I disremember exactly.
The Pony Express, a remarkable feat in the American West, was in service only from April 1860 to November 1861, delivering mail and news between St. Joseph, Missouri, and San Francisco. My grandfather would have been born too late to be carrying mail for the Pony Express.
The 1890 Oklahoma Territory census still exists. Nearly all other old census records were destroyed by fire in 1921. This census was ordered in June of 1890 by Governor George Steele, the first territorial governor of Oklahoma. Oklahoma attained statehood on November 16, 1907, as the forty-sixth state. So I reckon my grandfather carried the mail up to Oklahoma, but not for the Pony Express.
In November of 1959, my grandfather wrote of these events. At that time Hurnville had a resurrected Baptist Church and Dan Oster’s filling station and grocery store. And as my grandfather wrote, “a community where all are friends and would welcome anyone who might come to join us.”
Of the original settlers of the Fort Sill tract, the descendants of only three still held title to land in 1959, those three being Bud Frey, Frank Hurn, and the descendants of F. D. Stine.
In 1972, I visited Dan Oster’s store with my friend, writer Barbara Austin. The church was gone, and Dan Oster was old. With the death of my grandparents, my mother had purchased the farm. Later, when she died, the farm was purchased by my cousin Nancy and her husband, rodeo champ Perry Lee, and they raised a family there. In some recent year, they sold the farm, and moved into town. I don’t know who owns it now. I wonder who lives in that place I knew so well.
In my uncle Eugene’s book “A Pictoral History of Clay County”, photographs can be found of the Hurnville that was, of William Hurn and of my young grandfather. You will find a copy in the Henrietta Library, or through the Henrietta/Clay County Historical Society.
In 1999, an acquaintance named Bob Hampton and his wife moved from Wichita Falls to a red brick house about 3 miles north of my grandparents farm, not far from where Dan Oster’s store once stood.
A cemetary remains. A concrete marker identified the location of the old school, but the marker vanished in the dust of a road-widening project.
There now remains the road, and memory.
I have been to your grandparent’s farm when my good friend Dean Pace owned it and as we walked the fence line there I stumbled along this headstone which bears the name B.T.(?) Francis Hurn born 1864 and died 1887(?) son of William & Mary Ann. I have a photo of it. This headstone lead my to discover Hurnville, the town that no longer exists. I always wonder what happened to this young man back then.
Thanks, this is great to know. I’m wondering why I never came across that headstone.
As I recall, my grandfather Frank told me William was his father, and I suppose the timing could have worked out. If so, and if a son of William named Francis died at age 23, then it would seem like my grandfather had a brother, and the two of them were named very similarly. And it would be very odd, because ‘Frank’ is sometimes a nickname from Francis. So this is a bit of a mystery.
May I ask .. where exactly was the section of fencing where you found this marker?
And also, tell me about Dean Pace, and when did he own the farm, and to whom did he sell it (if he owns it no more). I’d be very curious to know.
— Arthur Cronos (grandson of Frank Hurn)
Thank you for your reply. I’d love to show you a picture of the headstone. As best I can tell from the photo, it appears to read B. T. Francis Hurn. The front door of the home faces south so the fence line I’m referring to would be on the east side of the house. The headstone would be on the fence line out a ways from the front door. It’s been 17 years now so I can’t recall just how far but it’s in the home’s front/side yard. Also, the inscription says son of William & Mary Ann Hurn so there’s no mistaking it.
If you’d like to send me an email I’ll be happy to share the photo with you!
Done. Looking forward to see it.
I just took a drive up farm to market road 1197 using Google maps. I found the farm, the creek, the mounds, the farmhouse, the pecan trees. So much looks different, but 50+ years can do that. Thanks so much!
I forgot to add that the headstone is flat and not noticeable unless you stumble on it, although it is quite a large slab of rock with hand carved lettering, from what I could tell and remember. Dean Pace sold the place around 2002, I believe, but I don’t know who the latest home owners are.
Thanks. That is interesting. Since I’ve been over every inch of the property (for many hundreds of hours) I’m surprised I never saw it, but maybe it was underground or beneath something, or I suppose it’s possible that I saw it as a child and registered nothing. (Though I can recall clearly the shapes of trees I climbed to the left and right of the front door, large trees which are long gone. I sent you the email and I’m sure you saw it. I’m looking forward to seeing the photograph. You are very kind. God bless you.
Richard, I can update you on the present owners of “the farm”. A wonderful family named Chris & DeeAnn Littlefield purchased it from Dean Pace . They train world class roping horses. Perry built a really nice horse barn and indoor arena while we lived there and Chris trains in that facility.
As for the headstone, it has always been there ……located in line with the front porch on the fence line that adjoins the old garden and “ the lot”.
Hi, Nancy, thanks for the info, and it’s nice to hear from you. I assume you and Perry live in town now? Yes?
I find it amazing that I never notice the headstone, unless it was when I was so small it didn’t register. Maybe it was grown over or beneath a bush once upon a time. Did you ever notice it when we were children there?
— Arthur/Richard
My grandfather, Rev. Paul Hintze, supplied two churches in the Hurnville community during the 30’s. Hurnville Baptist. The first church burned. Another was built just south of Dan Oster’s store. Upon my grandparents return to Clay County in the 50’s they bought the parsonage and church then sold it in the late 60’s and moved into Petrolia where they had several rent houses. I remember the Oster and Moser families and my mom and aunt talked a lot of their wonderful time there. There was another family there, the Grafs, they were particularly fond of including Arnold Graf whom my mom and aunt sang to as he lay dying at a young age. Hurnville holds special memories for my cousins and me during our summertime visits to our grandparents. It was sad to see the church moved away. Only leaving the foundation and wildflowers. I haven’t visited in years there. Time to take a sentimental journey up the road from Henritta to Hurnville.
Matt, so good of you to take the time and share these memories and a bit more “tiny history.”
I remember one Christmas, I was hardly more than a toddler, and my mom and grandparents Hurn went to the church on Christmas Eve. All the children got a present. I wondered how they knew I’d be there.
Have you relatives still in the Henrietta area? Where do you live now, and what’s your vocation?
–the Bloggard (was Richard Hurn French, now Arthur Cronos, living in Northern California with Texas in my heart)