howeenterprise.com
Hall of Honor
Monday, January 19, 2015
Page #2
Continued from Page #1 location of A.M. Ferguson Park (named in his honor), which the land was donated to the city by the Ferguson family for strict use of a city park.
Mame Roberts (1883 - 1976) lived her entire life in or near the community of Howe. Largely selftaught, she worked as a substitute teacher in the lower grades at the Howe public schools in the early 1900's before turning to her life's workpromoting civic improvements and beautification. As the writer of a weekly column in the Howe Messenger, Mame Roberts promoted her hometown and encouraged its beautification. Her campaign to make Howe the "Prettiest Little Town in Texas" motivated other small Texas towns to take similar action. A series of articles in the Dallas Morning News provided step-by-step instructions for carrying out beautification efforts, and she was in great demand as a speaker at garden club gatherings Mame Roberts' beautification project had Howe featured in numerous magazines and throughout this part of the state. Mame's work newspapers in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Photo from The Rotarian, June 1940. attracted the attention of Life magazine and Reader's Digest, and she was named "Woman of consecutive terms spanning from 1913-1949. Jabez Haning (1827-1883) came to Grayson the Day" on May 14, 1949, on Eleanor and Anna More research could prove more re-elections. County with his family in 1846. In the 1850s Roosevelt's National Radio Program. Her Jabez Haning obtained a grant of 320 acres of Every two years, Thompson would say he leadership positions included: President of the wouldn't run for mayor again, but the citizens land from the Peters Colony. His land was Grayson County Federation of Women's Club; re-elected him anyway. located about nine miles south of the town of President of the Texoma Redbud Association, Sherman. Harriet Campbell (1834-1880) and which urged the planting of Redbuds along Alexander McGowan Ferguson (1874-1955), a Jabez Haning were married in 1854 and highways in Texas and Oklahoma; and founder professor at the University of Texas wrote a established a farm. In 1873 the Houston & and president of the Howe Sesame Club. Her Texas Central Railway established a line south book called Elementary Principals of work, which spanned the decades before and Agriculture which became the accepted of Sherman. The route went through the after World War II, is a significant part of the textbook in public schools in 30 states for 12 Haning property, and they donated land for a civic history of Howe and of all the towns that years. He moved his company called Ferguson town site in 1876. That town later became put her lessons into action. Seed Farms to Howe in 1931 and shipped known as Howe. between 70 and 100 cars of seed daily by train. Charles R. Thompson (1910-1996) dedicated his Walter Pratt Thompson (1876-1959) was voted Howe was known as the seed capital of Texas. continued on Page #3 The former seed farm was located at the mayor of Howe for at least nineteen
