County Government
Cochran County, Texas
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Cochran County Government
Cochran County was created on August 21, 1876 but remained unorganized (no county government) for nearly 48 years. On May 6, 1924 Morton was elected the county seat of Cochran County and the county’s first commissioners, judge, sheriff and clerk took office.
After the heirs of C. C. Slaughter dissolved the C. C. Slaughter Cattle Company in 1921, some began to sell their land. Minnie Veal, C. C. Slaughter’s eldest daughter, began to colonize her portion of the land, which was the northernmost portion in the area of present-day Morton. Morton Joe Smith was Mrs. Veal’s selling agent.
Morton J. Smith and his wife of 5 years, the former Emlea Bruce, moved to Lubbock in 1910. Smith acquired land and cattle holdings in Dawson, Bailey and Cochran counties, but suffered a reverse in finances. He spent his last $25.00 paying his lawyer to draw up a contract to sell Minnie Veal’s land. The contract called for around 20,000 acres to be sold for $20.00 per acre; from that amount Smith was to pay Veal $12.50 per acre.
In 1922 Smith selected the site for a town to be called “Morton” that he envisioned as the future county seat. He would proudly show the site to prospective buyers who came to view the farmland. The townsite would not be surveyed until 1923.
Other Slaughter heirs were anxious to get a railroad built across their holdings in the hope to designate a town of their own that would eventually be named as the county seat. C. C. Slaughter Jr. selected a location for their townsite four miles south of Morton townsite. The new townsite would be named Ligon. The townsite of Ligon was surveyed and platted in March 1923 and a general store, school and gasoline filling station were established in the town in that same year.
The building of Ligon started a rivalry between the Slaughters and Smith, with each side wanting their town named as the county seat.
A petition containing a hundred signatures of Cochran County voters was presented to the Hockley County Commissioners Court on February 3, 1923 asking that Cochran County be organized. The petition was accepted and on February 12, 1923 Judge John H. Doyle ordered an election be held to determine whether or not Cochran County should be organized. The following day Charles A. Pierce, attorney for the Slaughters, requested Ligon be placed on the ballot in the special election as location for the county seat. Morton J. Smith requested Morton, likewise, be placed on the ballot as location for the county seat. Both requests were granted.
The election was held on March 17, 1923. The Hockley County Commissioners Court met on March 19, 1923 to canvas the returns of the Cochran County election. Upon convening, the members of the Court were served with a writ of injunction from the Hockley County District Court. The writ, styled “E. Dick Slaughter and Bob Slaughter versus John H. Doyle and other” restrained the court from declaring the results of the March 17th election.
The Slaughters charged that some of the voters were not qualified to vote as they had not lived in the county long enough and that some did not live in the county at all, and that some of the women had registered their names incorrectly on the voting lists. Morton J. Smith decided not to fight the charges. The results of that election showed 52 votes favoring Morton and 13 favoring Ligon.
Morton J. Smith and Lee Secrest staked off the Morton townsite in the spring of 1923. The 704 acre site of Morton was mapped, platted and registered with the Hockley County Clerk on June 5, 1923. Smith donated the town square, streets, and alleys to the county. He built a small office on the east side of the square that stood as it was built for over 40 years. A general store was established on the southwest corner of the square.
On February 12, 1924 two groups of men, one led by Morton J. Smith, the other by Charles A. Pierce (on behalf of the Slaughters) met with the Hockley County Commissioners Court. Smith presented a petition to Judge John H. Doyle asking that an election be held for the organization of Cochran County. 75 signatures were required for the petition, Smith had 87. Pierce challenged 13 of signatures, leaving Smith one short of the required 75. An arguement ensued between Smith and Pierce until Judge Doyle adjourned court until February 16th, giving the two sides 4 days to settle their differences. What transpired between Pierce and Smith in those 4 days is unknown but when the court convened on February 16th, Smith’s petition with 85 valid signatures was unopposed by Pierce and approved by the court.
On April 25, 1924, Judge Doyle ordered a second election to be held for the organization of Cochran County. The election would be held on May 6, 1924. This election would also subdivide the county into precincts, choose county officials and determine the location of the county seat. Smith was confident Morton would win county seat. Upon leaving the Hockley County Courthouse on April 25th Smith made the following comment:
”I’m a rough old cowboy, but I’ve got ‘em throwed and they know it. Put ‘er down that Morton wins the county seat – no need to wait around till vote’s counted – and tell ‘em we’ll have a gin, a school, and a church. Tell ‘em the Slaughters is all right, Charley Pierce’s all right; but old Mort Smith’s goin’ to get the county seat. Charley’s got the land but I’ve got the votes.”
Pierce had no statement concerning the election but warned Smith that they should not fight or neither town would get the railroad.
99 votes were cast on May 6, 1924; 72 voted Morton as county seat while 20 voted Ligon. Richard T. Campbell won county judge with 60 votes, Presley Barrett Penney won sheriff with 64 votes. Rupert McCasland won county clerk with 65 votes. Lee Cooper won county tax assessor with 38 votes and Maurd M. Jones won county treasurer with 51 votes. G. H. Mathews won Commissioner, Precinct 1 with 65 votes, H. T. Boyd won Commissioner Precinct 2 with 8 votes, D. P Earnest won Commissioner, Precinct 3 with 3 votes and Lem Shipmen won Commissioner, Precinct 4 with 23 votes. R. J. Smith won Peace Justice, Precinct 1; and Eugene Cornelius won constable of Precinct 2.
The Cochran County Commissioners Court convened for their first official meeting on May 7, 1924. Court was held at Winder’s General Store on the southwest corner of the square. The store was designated the temporary courthouse. Judge Campbell, Commissioners Mathews and Shipman, Sheriff Penney and County Clerk McCasland attended the first meeting. After Judge Campbell finished taking his oath of office, Morton J. Smith let out a resounding “Amen!”
The court met again on May 10th with Commissioners Boyd and Earnest present, as well as the other officials. They set salaries for the county judge, clerk, and sheriff. Littlefield State Bank was chosen as temporary depository for county funds and L. G. Tucker was hired as Sanitary Livestock Inspector. They also accepted plans for a temporary courthouse to be placed on the west side of the square. The Morton School was selected as a temporary courtroom and Tom T. Main was hired as county attorney.
In June 1924 Charley A. Pierce filed suit in the Hockley County District Court against Judge John H. Doyle and the Cochran County commissioners on behalf of the Slaughters, seeking to have the organization of Cochran County set aside; stating the ranchers feared the organization of the county would cause the tax valuation of their land to rise. The Hockley County District Court declared the organization legal and dismissed the case. Following the suit, the county progressed more smoothly. The temporary courthouse was completed and the county officials moved into the new building on June 20, 1924. In July of that same year, the commissioners ordered public roads be laid out from the courthouse to the county line in all directions, joining existing roads in adjoining counties.
On September 8, 1924 a special bond election was held to build a permanent courthouse for $60,000. 60 voted in favor while 47 voted against. The court soon learned a new courthouse could not be had for $60,000.
A general election was held November 12, 1924, and with it came more problems for our young county. A newcomer to the county, J. D. Caldwell, challenged R. T. Campbell for county judge. Caldwell received 72 votes while Campbell received 57. Campbell protested the election, stating Caldwell had not resided the required six months in Cochran County and was not eligible to run for public office. Campbell refused to issue a certificate of election to Caldwell. All commissioners were re-elected.
Commissioners Shipman and Mathews were already at odds with Campbell and issued the certificate of election to Caldwell on November 14, 1924. Commissioners Earnest and Boyd were not present at the November 14th meeting and a feud quickly developed among the members of the court with alignments falling in to the rancher versus farmer conflict. Boyd and Earnest backed Campbell who all backed the Slaughters in the county seat rivalry and Shipman and Mathews backed Caldwell, who all had sided with Smith during the rivalry.
A suit was filed by the Slaughter interests at the Hockley County District Court to disqualify Caldwell as county judge, but the court did not declare him ineligible.
On January 1, 1925 the Cochran County officials gathered in the temporary courthouse to begin their first full terms in office. Campbell, Earnest and Boyd sat on one side of the room while Caldwell, Mathews and Shipman sat on the others. Some were armed with pistols. Between the two groups sat a Texas Ranger armed with two six-shooters. Upon entering the room, Rupert McCasland, county clerk, was asked by Sheriff Penney which side he would serving, to which McCasland replied “those whom the people have duly elected”. McCasland had the election certificates issued by the state government in his possession. Not happy with McCasland’s reply, Penney left the courthouse and went to the school and brought back “Prof” W. E. Angley, who was sworn in as Campbell’s clerk while McCasland was sworn in as clerk for the Caldwell group. Commissioners Boyd and Earnest refused to take their oaths of office, file their bond requirement or sit on the same court as Shipman and Mathews. Cochran County had two sets of officers.
Both sides would met as the legal government of Cochran County for several days and during that time, Commissioners Earnest and Boyd came to the courthouse to secure certified copies of the minutes of meetings from the Caldwell group. Commissioners Shipman and Mathews suspected Earnest and Boyd might attempt to seize county records and set up a courthouse in Ligon. Shipman and Mathews guarded the courthouse with guns any time Boyd and Earnest came to the courthouse.
On January 12, 1925, Judge Caldwell and Commissioners Mathews and Shipman met for the regularly scheduled Cochran County Commissioners Court meeting. There they stated Richard T. Campbell was illegally assuming to be the county judge and had been meeting with two former county commissioners and asserted this was a menace to the peace of Cochran County. Campbell and his group were ordered to stop meeting as the Cochran County Commissioners Court. Sheriff P. Barret Penney, who had sided with Campbell, was ordered to stop Campbell, Boyd and Earnest from meeting and use force if necessary. Caldwell asserted that since Boyd and Earnest refused to take their oaths of office, file bonds or sit on the Commissioners Court, the seats of Commissioner for Precincts 2 and 3 were vacant.
At the February 10, 1925 meeting, Caldwell appointed T. W. Bennet as commissioner of Precinct 2 to replace Boyd and appointed W. A. Herridge as commissioner of Precinct 3, replacing Earnest. During this meeting Caldwell, Shipman, Matthews, Herridge and Bennet voted to build a three-story courthouse and jail. Notices were placed at the temporary courthouse, Morton school, Minnie Veal school, Bull Camp school and at Ligon. The commissioners accepted the bid from W. R. Kauffman, architect, and the W. M. Rice Construction Company. Total cost of the new courthouse, as described in the contract, would total $126,000.
Construction of the new courthouse began soon after. Deputy M. G. Mathews, son of Commissioner Mathews, was assigned the task of the guarding the building materials at night after rumors arose that those who sided with the Slaughters vowed the walls of the courthouse would never get ‘as high as a man’s head’. The Rice Construction Company agreed to accept $54,000 in county bond as partial payment for the building. Those who opposed the building of the courthouse unsuccessfully sued to prevent the Commissioners Court from issuing and selling the $54,000 worth of bonds.
Another suit filed by David M. DeVitt, co-owner of Mallet Land and Cattle Company, was filed in U. S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas in Amarillo as DeVitt v. J. D. Caldwell to restrain the commissioners from building the courthouse in Cochran County. U. S. District Judge James C. Wilson issued the temporary restraining order and just weeks after construction had begun, it stopped. During this time W. M. Rice, owner of Rice Construction Company died and the courthouse was tied up in the settlement of his estate.
A compromise was made with the Rice Construction Company for the work already done and on August 15, 1925 a new contract was awarded to the Sampson Construction Company for $73,000 and construction resumed immediately. The E. L. Steck Company was awarded a $25,513 contract to furnish and equip the courthouse and jail.
The new courthouse was inspected and officially accepted from the contractor by the Cochran County Commissioners Court on April 24, 1926.
In November 1926 a completely new set of officers was elected to the Cochran County Commissioners Court.
If you know of an official that is not listed here, or if you have photos, maps, documents or stories you would like to share, please, email me!
Sources: Texas' Last Frontier: A New History of Cochran County by Elvis E. Fleming and David J. Murrah; Cochran County Legacy Vol. 1, Cochran County Historical Commission
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