Then Lita handed me a list of historical markers up to the year 2000 and their locations, plus a large binder of pictures collected by Mary Kearby. The thought came to my mind that I should publish some of the pictures in the big binder in homage to Mary.
In the meantime, I peruse the file on Joseph Hudson Barwise, a remarkable fellow.
The marker reads:
Joseph Hudson Barwise
(November 13, 1829 - January 11, 1927)
A native of Ohio, Joseph Hudson
Barwise brought his family to
Texas in 1877 and to Wichita
County in 1880. an astute business-
man and community leader, he
earned the nickname "Father of
Wichita Falls" after he donated
land to the Fort Worth & Denver
City Railway as an inducement
for the building of a rail line
through this area. He was instru-
mental in much of the city's
growth and development, and
served as county judge for three
terms. Married to the former
Lucy Handsell, Barwise was the
father of seven children. He is
buried in Riverside Cemetery.
(1991)
In 1979, Jodelle G. McCall revised a compilation written in 1979 by Louise Kelly. As I typed, I restrained myself from making corrections, and put parentheses around the numbers to the footnotes.
Joseph Hudson Barwise (1829 - 1927) (1)
This history was compiled and
written by our distinguished
local historian, Louise Kelly.
1979
Revised by Jodell G. McCall
1989
J. H. Barwise was called the "Father of Wichita Falls" (2) as he came to Texas before the county and town were organized (3) and "nurtured and developed the young community helped it through its early struggles, started it on its career." (4) From a hill that later became the site of his home, he had a vision of a great city. (5) He gave of his time and possessions to make that dream come true. He was a man of faith and gentle persuasion in selling his dream to others. Barwise was a great leader in civic, educational and religious matters. (6)
From the Wichita Daily Times, May 5 1912, Mrs. A. H. Carrigan's speech to the Federated Women's Clubs was printed. She describes Barwise's vision: "What do I see? I see before me a most magnificent city. A city that is set upon a hill and that cannot be hid. I see her sitting as a queen crowned at the very gates of this great Llano Estacado. I see her many beautiful homes, and her great business house (sic). I see her magnificent churches with their spires reaching heavenward, as if to invoke the Divine blessing upon this city of the great desert that is soon to bud and blossom as the rose.
Pointing to the East, he continues: "I can almost see the smoke of the great locomotive that messenger of civilization, that comes gliding over the hill. I can hear the rumble of the great mills and see the towering elevators that are kept busy storing the golden grain of the fertile valley. I see too the cotton as it is being transported to the gins of the country. I hear a great noise from the factories as they pump the life blood into the bosom of this 'Body of Commerce.'
"In the valley below, I see dimly outlined a net work of ditches--or--perhaps 'tis."
Barwise was named county judge three times which meant he was also head of the schools of Wichita county. (7) He gave land for the bonus to bring the railroad in to Wichita Falls. (8) He helped select the site for the Riverside Cemetery. (9) Barwise influenced the location of the Wichita county courthouse. (10) He helped select the site for the first bridge across the Big Wichita river which was opened and dedicated July 4, 1886. (11)
Barwise was a charter member of the First Presbyterian Church, serving as elder for 65 years. (12) he helped organize the Masonic lodge in Henrietta, Texas, transferring his membership to Wichita Lodge U. D., later called the Wichita Falls Lodge No. 635 A. F. & A. M. (13) His home was open to the community for boarders.
"Judge Barwise was admitted to the bar after serving as county judge," read his obituary in the Wichita Daily Times, Jan. 11, 1927, "but he did not practice law."
In April of 1845, Tom, Tom Jr. and Joseph Barwise went to Missouri to a farm near St. Charles. There the boys, joined by another brother Ed, raised a rent crop and logged some timber, rafting it to St. Louis. (16)
On Oct. 18, 1852, Barwise married Lucy Hansell (Sept. 20, 1832, Ind. - Aug. 10, 1903, Tex.) of St. Charles. He continued to farm and engaged in business. To them were born seven children but a daughter died in infancy. (17)
Missouri was divided between Union and Confederate sympathizers. Barwise was a staunch Union manx and joined Company A, 27th Missouri National Guard, at St. Charles. He had the rank of Captain. His instructions were to divide his time between farming and military service which consisted of training and drilling recruits. One of Barwise's friends overheard a plot to kill him and warned him, thus saving Barwise's life. He never say combat during the four years of was [sic]. (18)
In the mid-70s the climate along the Missouri lowlands was affecting Barwise's health. His doctor advised him to seek a healthier climate. A venture into marketing a wheat separator was not prospering, and friends who had moved to Texas were urging him to come down and join them. He made a trip south going as far south as Seguin, Texas. (19) In January 1877 Barwise, having sold his Missouri holdings, settled his family at Cedar Springs, Texas, near Dallas. After a short time there, he found the climate not to his liking and decided to look for a better place to settle. On his previous trip south, Barwise had met Col. Henry C. Dent, a former Missourian, who had extensive land in Texas. He offered Barwise half of the townsite of 160 in Archer county if he would develop the property. (20)
In June 1878 in a covered wagon with his wife and son Frank, Barwise made a six-week tour of the sites for a homestead--Dent's Wichita county site, then 20 miles west across the Big Wichita at the site of the falls and then south to Archer City, Texas. Malaria cut the trip short. (21) Later in casting lots for Wichita, Erath or Collin counties, daughter Lulu (later to become Mrs. A. H. Carrigan) drew Wichita. Again lots were cast, and Lulu again drew Wichita. So the decision was made. (22)
In December 1879 with effects loaded on wagons and cattle alongside, the family started for Wichita county. Christmas they spent in the Cross Timbers. The family arrived in January 1880. Among their effects was Lulu's organ, the first instrument of its kind in Wichita county. (23) On a previous trip Barwise had rented for $4 a month the Alexander Craig house on Ohio (Block 153, lots 11 and 12) later buying the place for $102 in notes. (24)
Page two of Louise Kelley's story on Barwise.
Barwise discovered a well on Ohio which he cleaned out to 12 feet and had water for the town of Wichita Falls. (25) Lulu Barwise Carrigan said in later years that her mother kept up the family's spirits and made a little shack cosy [sic] during those early days. Her mother had a pet Mexican goat and a pet antelope. Lulu and her brother, Joe, went to school across the street in Miss Harriet Seely's house. The family always had guests and/or boarders, such as R. E. Huff for a year and Joseph Kemp and Frank Kell for a month. (26)
Barwise had bought land north of the Big Wichita river where, as indicated in an 1889 brochure, he cultivated 270 acres, [sic] He raised wheat, oats, corn, barley and sorghum. He also raised cattle. A freighting enterprise to Gainesville, Texas, used six to eight oxen with Barwise, in his early 50s, walking most of the distance. When disease took all but one team of oxen, W. T. Waggoner told Barwise "to help himself" to whatever steers to needed [sic] and to break him for his own use. (27)
Barwise had bought a tract of land west of Indiana avenue and south of Eleventh street for $1 per acre. He gave up 55 per cent of this land as his share of the bonus for bringing the Ft. Worth & Denver Rialway [sic] to Wichita Falls. (28) One of the first shipments was a carload of lumber that Barwise used in the construction of his home at Eleventh street and Austin avenue.
Barwise became proprietor of the first in brick-making plant in Wichita Falls. He had experimented and found the river-bottom clay did not crack when baked into bricks. He acquired the necessary equipment second-hand and established the plant. Bricks were used to construct the Temple and Barwise buildings on Ohio, then called the Barwise block. (29)
He became justice of the peace in 1882. Later he was elected county judge. He served November 1886 - 88, September 1890 - December 1890 and November 1896 - 98. Until a superintendent was named for the county schools, Barwise oversaw them. On April 1894, he was named to the Wichita Falls School Board; in June 1900 he was elected its president. (30)
From 1907 - 1916, Barwise had a ranch near Dalhart, Texas, and dealt in grain in the Panhandle area. (31)
Barwise was a man of strong Christian faith. He told of arriving at Wichita Falls in 1879 and attending services the next day in a partly completed livery stable. He led the singing as he often did later. When the Methodists organized in March 1881, there were not enough Presbyterians to organize also. So he and his family worshipped with the Methodists until October 1882. At that times and largely through his efforts, Presbyterians organized in the home of James Miller. In March 1883 at the home of L. T. Miller, the Presbyterians selected Barwise as Sunday School superintendent. Lulu Barwise named organist. (32)
On Oct. 21, 1883, the Presbyterians held services in the first church building of Wichita Falls. Mrs. Barwise prepared unleavened bread for communion ofr [sic] all the churches. Barwise served as elder for 63 [65 stated above] years and was named elder emeritus by the Presbyterians after blindness and a broken hip incapacitated him. (33)
One of the business interests Barwise had was marketing the Barwise-Jalonick addition southeast [sic] Wichita Falls. (34)
Although never a man of waalth [sic], Barwise always believed in helping others. Perhaps no other family has left such an imprint in Wichita county. Some visible tracks of the Barwise influence include Barwise-Jalonick addition, Barwise Elementary School, Barwise Jonior [sic] High School, Carrigan Elementary School(,) later a vocational school, Pat Carrigan Post of the American Legion, Barwise Street, Carrigan Street (both in Wichita Falls). Barwise community is 12 miles north of Electra, Texas, in Wichita county. (35)
Barwise died Jan. 11, 1927, at the Carrigan home in Wichita Falls where he had lived for more than 20 years. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery, a site he helped select for the community. (36)
Survivors included Mrs. A. H. Carrigan, Myron, J. H. Jr., Frank, Thomas and Marshall Barwise. (37)
McCall's citations.
Standing in front of his home in 1904, Judge Barwise and Joe Carrigan. This photo was printed by the Wichita Falls Times.
The marker is located in front of the Wichita County courthouse, 900 Seventh Street 76301.
GPS coordinates: 33-degrees, 54' 43.3" -98-degrees 29' 40.2"
