Taking The Reins

First elected Officials

by Tammy Kubecka

We often take our personal freedom for granted, and don’t really think about how our county and cities operate. They just do. In that respect, we also take an important part of our history for granted. When Burleson County was officially formed, who was willing to oversee the area? When Caldwell, Somerville and Snook became established towns, who took the reins?

Imagine the historical task our ancestors had organizing a whole county, establishing a whole town, and figuring out all the guidelines needed, and who would see to it that those rules were implemented. It was new ground for everyone.

Burleson County started getting a scattering of settlers in the 1820s, and after independence from Mexico, the new Republic of Texas enjoyed steady growth. In 1838, the land north of El Camino Real, or State Highway 21, was Milam County. Land south of the Camino, or Old San Antonio Road, was Washington County, and part of the western section was Lee County. With more people in the area, and a little town growing on Davidson Creek, the settlers of the area started talking about establishing their own political entity. With a petition signed by 87 men, they petitioned the second Congress of the Republic of Texas to form a new county. It would be called the “County of Texas.” Nothing became of the effort and in 1839, with 112 signatures, a new petition from mainly settlers south of the OSR was presented to the Third Congress asking that a new county NOT be formed! The Congress also ignored that request. Burleson County wouldn’t become a county until after Texas became a state.

Texas obtained statehood on December 29, 1845, and by an act of the First Legislature, Burleson County was officially formed on March 24, 1846. The author of that act was George B. Erath. Named for General Edward Burleson, the act set out the metes and bounds for the county and stipulated that Caldwell would be the county seat, since it was already the temporary county seat of Milam County. Milam County officials would govern affairs of the new county until new officials could be elected. The constitution of 1845 declared that all county officials would be elected, and the government would be administered by a Chief Justice (now the County Judge), four commissioners, a county clerk, tax assessor, sheriff, coroner, surveyor and justices of the peace.

The first elected Chief Justice was John W. Porter who, by then, was a long-time resident of the area. Unfortunately, he passed away before he ever took office. A called meeting for the county took place August 10, 1846, with James G. Wilkinson presiding as Chief Justice. Also present were Commissioners Peter Jackson and William White. The other two Commissioners were Adam Lawrence and James A. Prewitt.

John A. Hood had been elected Clerk of the County Court but was represented that day by his chief deputy William J. Hill. The main topic of that meeting and many to come was the maintenance of roads. But they also became aware that they were responsible for levying and collecting taxes, establishing schools, paying for teachers, providing for the sick and indigent care, and until 1891, they also administered the affairs of the county seat of Caldwell. At an October 1846 meeting, William Hill was also appointed commissioner to sell lots for the City of Caldwell. He also served as the first District Clerk. The first sheriff elected was William A. Chance.

Caldwell first elected city officials in 1891, with B.G. Rowland voted in as Mayor. Aldermen were H.H. Darr, R.E. McArthur, A.W. McIver, Thomas Kraitchar, and Edward Reeves. The new City Marshal was C.W. Curry. Two years later, J.R. Heslip would become the City Attorney. Down the road, Somerville had been established as a railroad town in the late 1800s, and in the early 1900s, had two failed attempts to incorporate. Finally, in March 1913, area citizens voted to incorporate and a city government was formed. Casper Landolt became the first mayor, with City Commissioners R.A. Brantley Jr, and R.L. Meeks. The first City Secretary was W.H. Lynch.

Boasting a population of nearly 400, Snook voters approved incorporation on February 12, 1972, and the City of Snook was officially organized, even though the community had been around for nearly a hundred years. The first City elections were held in May 1972, with Rayfield Slovacek being elected Mayor. The first aldermen were Frank W. Jakubik, E.J. Ptacek Sr., John W. See, Harold Shelfer and Ruth Kovar. Betty Hubenak was City Secretary and the City Judge was Herbert J. Sebesta. For the first two years of their existence, the Snook city council met at the Snook Baking Company. A City Hall was completed in 1975. Attending current meetings of County Commissioners Court, or any of our City Councils, is seeing history in action. Reading past minutes of these meetings is part of our local history, and it helps us understand how local events interact with state history. It’s something else we take for granted….a true account of local government leaving behind a historic trail.

1. Eleven teens die each day because of texting while driving. Maybe it’s time to raise the age of Smart Phone ownership to 21.

2. If gun control laws actually worked, Chicago would be Mayberry, USA.

3. The Second Amendment makes more women equal than the entire feminist movement.

4. Legal gun owners have 300 million guns and probably a trillion rounds of ammo. Seriously, folks, if we were the problem, you’d know it.

5. When JFK was killed, nobody blamed the rifle.

6. The NRA (National Rifle Association) murders 0 people and receives ($$$$ 0) nothing in government funds. Planned Parenthood kills 350,000 babies every year and receives $500,000,000 in tax dollars annually.

7. I have no problem with vigorous background checks when it comes to firearms. While we’re at it, let’s do the same when it comes to immigration, Voter I.D., and candidates running for office.

8. Folks keep talking about another Civil War. One side knows how to shoot and probably has a trillion rounds. The other side has crying closets and is confused about which bathroom to use. Now tell me, how do you think that would end?

There’s more logic and common sense expressed here than probably anything you have seen on the news lately.