Deaf Smith County is located on the Texas - New Mexico Border and has a very interesting history. The county was named after Erastus "Deaf" Smith, a Texas scout, guide, Indian Fighter and participant in the battle of San Antonio and the Battle of San Jacinto. He was born in New York on April 19, 1787. Smith was "hard of hearing" at an early age which caused him "to remain silent and fond of solitude", this in turn, led him to become observant and get to know the land around him well. This enabled him to pass valuable info for the Texas Revolution. His monument says, "Deaf Smith, The Texas Spy". The county was created from Bexar Territory on Aug. 21, 1876 and was attached to Oldham County for law and court business with Tascosa as the county seat. Some of the early city officials were: Mayors, L.Gough, S.B. Edwards, J.H. Head. Aldermen: L.A. Stroud, R.N. Mounts, Judge J.R. Dean, Atty. F.C. Highsmith, County and Dist. Clerk C.W. Witherspoon and Sheriff, J.M. Cook. This information is taken from the Deaf Smith County History Book, The land and It's People, 1876-1981, by the Deaf Smith County Historical Society and was sent by Betty Bustos, Assistant Archivist, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum-Research Center.
Hereford (Source:wikipedia.org/)
Hereford is a city in Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,597 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated Hereford in the country. It is the county seat of Deaf Smith County.
Beef Capital of the World (Source:wikipedia.org/)
It is also known as the Beef Capital of the World because of the large number of cattle fed in the area (the city is named for the Hereford breed).
The actor Ron Ely, best remembered for his role as Tarzan on an NBC television series in the middle 1960s, was born in Hereford in 1938. Oliver C. Thomas (1914-2008), a World War II prisoner of war and Lubbock businessman who served as president of the Texas Good Roads/Transportation Association, was born in Hereford and reared near Dallas. Andrew Carnahan, offensive tackle for the New York Giants was born and reared in Hereford. Adam Gama-Madrid, star offensive tackle for Texas A&I University from 1986-1989 was born in Hereford. Gama-Madrid blocked for Johnny Bailey, three-time winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy.
This site is a genealogy website and is a part of the TXGenWeb Project.
County Coordinator, Deaf Smith Co., Tex.
(c) 17 Jan 2009
