First Settlement in Knox County / L - Ranch - Benjamin - TX - US

First Settlement in Knox County / L - Ranch (HM1JH0)

Location: Benjamin, TX 79505 Knox County
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Country: United States of America
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N 33° 35.003', W 99° 47.571'

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Inscription

First Settlement in Knox County
Hilory G. Bedford, Founder
R.P. Dimmitt · Rufus Browder · G.B. Stewart · L.W. Ricketts · J.W. Hinton · S.T. Cooper · T.G. Stewart · Ed W. Bedford · H.L. Hayes · A.E. Brannin · R.D. Goree · H.C. Thompson
     To assure these families church and school privileges, H.G. Bedford started the town of Benjamin in 1885, naming it for his eldest son. He gave 640 acres for a townsite, reserving 40 acres for a public square. He sold the remainder to thee families at $5 per tract.
     In 1886 he was instrumental in organizing the county with Benjamin as the county seat.

"See Other Side"

L- Ranch
     In 1884 H.G. Bedford formed the Wichita and Brazos Stock Company to own and oeprate the L Bar Ranch. Retaining 51% of the stock, he became president. R.P. Dimmitt was secretary. Many of the first settlers of Benjamin sold their land and cattle to the company and became stockholders.
     The company maintained a herd of some 8,000 cattle on open range between the Wichita and Brazos rivers. Headquarters were 4 miles N.E. of the Narrows near the center of the present John Ed Jones Ranch. The company brand was S on the neck and L- on the left side.
     The ranch prospered until the winter of 1886 when severe drouth, overstocked range and blizzard conditions (referred to as "The Big Die of the 80's") caused the loss of many cattle. This combined with sharp drop in prices caused dissolution of the company and disposal of the ranch in 1887.

Erected 1966 A.D. in tribute to H.G. Bedford and other first settlers by their descendants
Sponsored by Miss Lenoir Dimmitt and Knox County Historical Society

Details

HM Number	HM1JH0
Tags	Early Settlers, Agriculture
Marker Number	1865
Year Placed	1966
Placed By	Leonoir Dimmitt and Knox County Historical Society
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Sunday, March 8th, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT -07:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	14S E 426425 N 3716245
Decimal Degrees	33.58338333, -99.79285000
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 33° 35.003', W 99° 47.571'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	33° 35' 0.18" N, 99° 47' 34.26" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	940
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal Address	At or near TX-6, Benjamin TX 79505, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap