Terrell, the county's largest town, is thirty miles east of Dallas. The county comprises square miles of the Blackland Prairie region of Northeast Texas.
The terrain is predominantly level to gently undulating, with an elevation ranging from to feet above sea level. The county is on the divide between two large rivers, the Trinity and the Sabine. It is located in the Trinity River watershed and is drained, in its western half, by the East Fork of the Trinity River and its tributaries, and, in its eastern half, by Cedar Creek and its tributaries, which flow into Cedar Creek Reservoir in the southern part of the county.
Prairie grasses and mesquite, oak, pecan, and elm trees grow along the streams of the county. The soils are slightly acidic, with dark to light loamy surfaces and clayey subsoils. Mineral resources include limestone, sand and gravel, oil, and gas. The climate is subtropical-humid. Rainfall averages thirty-nine inches, and the growing season averages days each year.
Various Indians, Caddoes and Cherokees prominent among them, inhabited the territory that is today Kaufman County long before American settlers arrived. By the time of the coming of these first settlers, in , the Cherokees had been driven by the Caddoes into East Texas. The Americans placated the Caddoes with jewelry and trinkets and consequently experienced few Indian problems.
The first Kaufman County settlement was started in by William P. King and a group of forty pioneers from Holly Springs, Mississippi, who had purchased certificates for headrights from the Republic of Texas. The group built a fort and named it King's Fort in honor of their leader.
Because of readily available land grants and because the land had been praised in eastern towns, the area around King's Fort, or Kingsboro, or Fort de Kingsboro, attracted settlers rapidly. On July 27, , after the annexation of Texas by the United States, King patented the survey that included King's Fort with the new state government. The territory was at that time part of the recently organized Henderson County.
Kaufman County was drawn from Henderson County, established in February , and named for David Spangler Kaufman , a diplomat and member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas , the legislature of the state of Texas, and the Congress of the United States. King's Fort was renamed Kaufman and became the county seat in March , after four elections. The county's northern boundary was reduced by the establishment of Rockwall County in , and its limits have since remained unchanged.
Kaufman County was settled predominantly by natives of the southern United States, particularly Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. Though slaves were brought to the county, slavery was never widespread here, perhaps because cotton culture remained minimal until after the Civil War.
The census counted slaves 15 percent of the population. In , by a three-fourths majority, Kaufman County's citizens voted in favor of the state's secession from the Union. During the four years of the Civil War, the county contributed several companies of soldiers, most of whom fought in Elkanah B. Greer 's regiment. In terms of actual combat, the war did not come to Kaufman County, although it was felt, as slave patrols were established in each precinct and the tax dollars of the citizens went to purchase supplies for county companies in the war and to arm the county.
The end of the Civil War brought Reconstruction. Although the requirements of congressional Reconstruction were unpopular in the county, the period passed with few incidents of violence against either freedmen or White Unionists, perhaps because of the small Black population. Black citizens, however, found that freedom did not bring significant educational opportunities. From to Kaufman County retained its antebellum rural and agricultural character.
During this fifty-year period, the population almost tripled, growing from 15, to 40, The county's Black population more than doubled between and , rising from 13 percent to 29 percent of the total. The number of farms more than tripled, rising from 1, to 5,, the latter again an all-time high.
Corn, which had been the county's main crop before the Civil War, continued a steady growth in production until , when the harvest reached a high of , bushels; production declined thereafter, to , bushels in The county's cotton crop, which had shown steady growth since , reached an all-time high of 57, bales in , and wheat production, which had varied drastically since , reached a maximum yield of , bushels in The number of beef and dairy cattle raised in Kaufman County, which had increased from to , fell drastically between and and declined to a low of beef cattle and 7, dairy cattle in By the late s, Kaufman County enjoyed a relatively good transportation system.
The Texas and Pacific Railway was completed through the northern part of the county in , when it was linked with Longview to the east and Dallas-Fort Worth to the west. The T-M, which had been purchased by Hetty H. Green in and was run by her son, Edward H. Green , established its shops and offices in Terrell, thus bringing an important industry to the county. The nonagricultural economy expanded slowly from to Fifteen manufacturing establishments employed only workers in In the county was chosen as the site of the state's second hospital for the mentally ill.
In that year a state committee purchased a acre site near Terrell, and in , Terrell State Hospital was opened. Knapp to advise Kaufman County cotton farmers on methods of combating the boll weevil , which was then spreading across Texas. The major result of Knapp's visit was the establishment of the nation's first privately owned and operated demonstration farm just north of Terrell. Farm value fell by 56 percent between and , and the number of farms decreased by more than 1, Unemployment rose from 2 percent in to more than 16 percent in In , 1, workers were on government relief in Kaufman County.
By , workers were employed by government works programs, while 1, workers were unemployed. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp near Kaufman employed young men in soil-conservation and erosion-control projects, and the National Youth Administration maintained a machine shop in the town. The barking of a watchdog gave the men a warning of danger.
They saw about thirty Indians riding rapidly toward the gate. The gate was shut just in time, and the Indians wheeled around, rode a short distance, and held a discussion. They then galloped back for an attack, but Terrell shot the lead horse in the forehead. As the rider fell, and Indian companion pulled him up on his horse.
The Indians then gave up the attack, but stole the four horses belonging to the men in the fort. To the surprise of the men seemingly now stranded, seven horses stolen by the Indians at an earlier time in Red River County were left grazing nearby. They were quickly driven into the fort, and thus a profitable exchange was made. On another day July 17, , a party of twenty-five Indians, supposedly Comanches and Ionies, dashed by the fort in this manner; but, finding they could not frighten the brave men who defended it, they retreated, taking with them the horses belonging to the garrison.
A few of them rode by the pickets. It is worthy to remark that this fort was situated within fifty miles of the largest Indian encampment east of the Brazos, so that the danger was both real and continuing. This location, also known as Kingsborough, represents what is said to be the first permanent white settlement in the area about the Three Forks and the Upper Trinity River Basin and has never been abandoned.
During the summer of , Dr. King took Judge John H. Martin, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on a tour of his property. Judge Martin was so favorable impressed with the country that he decided to join Dr. King and settle in Texas. King and Judge Martin started for Mississippi. King to visit his family at Holly Springs and to prepare for their removal to Texas, and Judge Martin to Vicksburg to arrange for the family to move to Texas also.
However, both men contracted yellow fever on their journey and died within a few days of each other, some time during the week of September 18, , at Vicksburg. Adolphus Sterne of Nacogdoches wrote in his diary, Friday the 8 th October. King the founder of Kingsborough and Judge Martin, who lately visited this country, died at Vicksburg or on the River Mississippi of yellow fever - this is a great loss to this part of Texas.
King was an enterprising man and the country near the Three Forks of the Trinity will be thrown sic back at least five years - unless some very strong effort is made by his heirs or successors to carry on the work which he began. Settlement continued in the area, mostly around Kingsborough and to the southeast. However, Robert Terrell noted that prior to there were about only six or seven families in present Kaufman County.
He commented that during , and a good many families settled east of the Trinity River in what was called Mercers Colony. In the latter year, Henderson County was separated from Nacogdoches County and included the present Kaufman County as part of it.
We find references to the laying out of roads - one going through the Kingsborough Prairie. Kaufman County was formed in and was named after David S. Kaufman, a noted Texas patriot who in was elected as one of the first members of the Texas Delegation to the United State House of Representatives.
John H. Reagan, then a member of the state legislature, introduced the petition in order to honor his friend Kaufman. The county seat, when selected, was also required to bear the same name. The northern part of the county included the present Rockwall County and the eastern part included some of the present Van Zandt County, but the southern boundary was only about two miles south of Kingsborough.
In February , new adjustments were made in the eastern and southern boundaries of Kaufman County. Despite the fact that Kingsborough was the only settlement of any real size in the new county, it was not initially the county seat.
An election held in to select the location of the county seat chose the geographical center of the county, and another election held after the shift in boundaries chose the new geographical center Center Point on acres to be donated by R.
Center Point was about three to four miles north of Kingsborough. A petition was subsequently submitted to the Texas legislature calling for another election, and in March , Kingsborough was selected: 93 votes for Kingsborough, 90 votes for Center Point. With that vote, the name of the town was changed from Kingsborough to Kaufman in accord with the legislation.
In April , Frances A. Tabor, the widow of Dr. King, deeded acres of land for the new county seat, reserving only 12 lots for herself. This land included the site of the old fort, and included much of what became the city of Kaufman.
The work of the county government was then transferred there in November of
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