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History of Hardeman County (From Texas Handbook Online)
The county was formed in 1858 from Fannin County and named for early Matagorda legislators Bailey and Thomas Jones Hardeman. Because of its isolation and the continued threat of Indian attack, however, the area remained unsettled during the Civil War and Reconstruction. After the Civil War a few buffalo hunters and ranchers moved to the region, but it was still only very sparsely settled when the county was organized in 1884. In the 1870s and 1880s rustling was among the principal industries, as thieves headed for Indian Territory crossed Hardeman County to reach the Red River. From 1881 to 1884 Wilbarger County administered Hardeman County's legal affairs, though its handful of settlers had few administrative needs. The 1880 population of Hardeman and Foard counties together totaled only fifty, but population increases in Hardeman County and adjacent regions justified organization in 1884 and a change in county lines some years later. Margaret, first called Argurita, was the original county seat. In 1885 the Fort Worth and Denver Railway made a survey through the area, and the site of Quanah was laid out. Since Margaret was across the Pease River from other settlements and from the railroad, an election held in 1890 made Quanah the county seat. As it was decided that a voter could establish residence by having his laundry done in a town for six weeks, all the railroad crews are said to have become citizens in time to vote for Quanah. In 1891 Foard County was formed from Hardeman, Cottle, King, and Knox counties, a division that left Margaret in Foard County. |
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