The tome labeled "Johnson County History" is exactly that. An amalgamation of facts, photos, historical events, newspaper clippings, biographies and sketches of Johnson County, it's communities and citizens from inception to publication date, about 1958, The book is still listed on Amazon, available from other sellers for about $130.
Johnson County, measuring 734 square miles in size, is just south of Fort Worth (Tarrant County) and is included in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is named for Middleton Johnson, a Texas Ranger, soldier, and early politician. And it is "home" for my family.
My parents were born in Johnson County, and they are buried there. Their parents, and some of their grandparents lived there and are buried there. Countless uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws (and outlaws) that make up the Anderson/Bramblett family lines lived there. Numerous family members still do, along with folks named Boyd, Doss, Elliott, Hagler and Basham, to name a few.
Cleburne is the county seat, and in the early years was the dominant community in the county, in terms of population and commerce. But there were dozens of small communities scattered about that pop up regularly in the genealogical record; places like Bono, Cresson, Godley, Grandview, Rio Vista, Sand Flat, Watts Chapel and Stubblefield. In some cases, the community - or remnants of it - is still there, In other cases, there may only be an old cemetery, now on private property.
One such community was Stubblefield, located in eastern Johnson County. The Handbook of Texas History provides the brief history of the community:
"Stubblefield was initially settled by the John B. Westbrook family in 1857. Westbrook built the first steam mills in the county, which he eventually sold to John Stubblefield, for whom the community was named. In 1868 Stubblefield contracted with Christian Hudzietz, a German immigrant, to operate a sawmill and gristmill at the Westbrook site. A distillery was added later by Reavis and Files, Distillers, but was sold at public auction in 1876 to satisfy overdue taxes. The United States government leased the distilling operation in 1877. A post office was established in 1877, discontinued in 1889, reestablished in 1892, and discontinued permanently in 1900. At one time the community included-in addition to the mills and distillery-several stores, three churches, a physician, and a telephone exchange."
My mother and her 7 brothers and sisters were all born in Stubblefield, The telephone exchange mentioned above was located in the front parlor of the family home.
Most rural communities decline gradually as founding families age and children leave for the big cities, such as Fort Worth. Stubblefield went out with a bang, however. Literally. The distillery exploded in the early 1890s, killing two men and burning several nearby buildings, Including the general store. Stubblefield never recovered and by the time my mother started school about 1912, the community no longer existed.
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