Maypearl, Texas

Everything Maypearl is known for

2 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

Music in Maypearl

Songs About Maypearl

City Limits Signs
Bart Crow
25%
I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
6%
"Maypearl"

Artists From Maypearl

B
Bart Crow
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Maypearl

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Maypearl.

Interstate 35 43 songs Interstate 45 8 songs Chisholm Trail 8 songs Interstate 20 13 songs Brazos River 42 songs Trinity River 11 songs

Musical Heritage

The Bluesman From Maypearl RoadyGoat

Ray Reed, a bluesman from Maypearl, played the clubs of Fort Worth in the nineteen sixties with his sister, Lady Pearl, and her guitarist husband, Clarence Pierce. Then he stepped away from music for years. Late in life he came back, and in two thousand eight he released his first album, called Where the Trinity Runs Free.

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History of Maypearl

Shot in the Vault RoadyGoat

At about ten minutes after noon on the tenth of May, nineteen thirty nine, the president of the bank in Maypearl, Willis Wilemon, was alone when a young man walked in with a pistol. The man had driven through town the two days before, getting to know the place. He took about seventeen hundred dollars, sent Wilemon into the vault, hit him over the head, and when Wilemon started to get up, shot him in the back. Neighbors found him lying in the vault. When his wife came, he told her, Lila, watch my insurance. I have got them paid up to the twentieth. He died that night. The next day, officers found Burton Franks in a hotel in Denison with money under his pillow and hacksaw blades sewn into the lining of his shirt, and he showed them where more of the money was buried at his mother's home in Bonham. Franks was convicted and sentenced to death, and in June of nineteen forty he was executed. There's a sad echo here: the nineteen oh seven burial of the banker's father on his own farm is what got Maypearl to start its town cemetery.

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Shotgun on Main Street RoadyGoat

In nineteen twenty seven, a farmer named Olin Mercer had married the divorced wife of a man named Grover Tirey, and there was bad blood. The day before the shooting, Tirey's cousin, Bobbie Maxwell, drew a pistol on Mercer. The next day Mercer came to Main Street in Maypearl with a pump shotgun, and when Maxwell went into the building that held Hooser's Drug Store and the post office, Mercer opened fire. Maxwell, wounded, left a pool of blood and his pistol behind and fled out the back door, limping and dragging one leg. Mercer reloaded at his car, ran down Main Street past three buildings to a hamburger stand, and found Maxwell hiding behind an iron barrel behind the building next door. He hit him with the gun and killed him with a pistol. Mercer claimed self defense. The jury gave him thirty five years, and the appeals court upheld it.

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The Night the Brick Block Burned RoadyGoat

On a Wednesday night in December of nineteen fifteen, a small fire broke out in the office of a dry goods store on Maypearl's Main Street, twenty minutes after the manager and some friends had left. It spread into Smith's grocery, where a big tank of oil exploded, and then the flames went over the wall into the post office building. Maypearl had no water system. Waxahachie's motor fire truck was called, but without water it would have been useless, so it wasn't sent. A bucket brigade fought the fire for two hours, and men set off charges of dynamite in one building to stop it on the north side. Up in Waxahachie, people climbed to the top of the Hotel Rogers to watch the glow, and twenty five or thirty of them drove the rough road down to help. Five of the town's most substantial brick buildings were lost. One owner said, We had expected to have the wooden buildings burn, but thought the bricks would surely escape. Of course we will try to rebuild.

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Maypearl Cemetery

1907

The community of Maypearl was established on the International and Great Northern Railroad line in 1903. The 1907 death of landowner William P. Wilemon and subsequent burial on his farm led Maypearl citizens to discuss the establishment of a cemetery for the community. Wilemon's widow, Minnie, sold four acres of land, including the burial site of her husband, to trustees J. P. Claunch, A. W. Dowd and Isaac Griffith for that purpose. The Maypearl Cemetery stands as a testament to the people who lived and worked in the community, including doctors, business owners, teachers and farmers. Members of various fraternal organizations rest here as well. Tombstones mark the graves of military veterans, including those who served in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam. In the latter part of the 20th century, the descendants of William and Minnie Wilemon and Betha Jackson donated additional land for the graveyard. As a reflection of the community's heritage, the Maypearl Cemetery is a significant reminder of the history of this part of Ellis County. (2001)

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Jackson Cemetery

1852

While moving to Oregon in 1852, North Carolina native and medical doctor Henry L. Jackson and his wife, Nancy Ann (Holland), were in route to visit her family in Burnet County, Texas. They made a stop at Fort Gates, in Coryell County, Texas, an area prone to Indian raids, and Jackson joined efforts to recover stolen property. During an expedition in 1853, Jackson learned of Nancy Ann’s death. Later that year, he moved to Ellis County, where he wed sixteen-year-old Mary Presley. Jackson had nine children from each marriage. 	In June 1856, Jackson received title to this property and established his homestead. The family began a cemetery here when Mary E., daughter of Henry and Mary, died January 23, 1864; hers is the first marked grave. Neither of Jackson’s wives is buried here, where he is interred. He died December 19, 1880 at age 70, and his is the last marked grave. Large stones indicate several unmarked burials. 	The Jackson Cemetery and surrounding property have remained in the family for five generations. It now serves as a link to the area’s early settlers. 	Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003

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Ozro Cemetery

1858

In 1858 J.P. Gilmore and Richard D. Graves gave land for Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, south, and for this burial ground. The earliest marked graves date from 1870. J.H.L. Jackson donated additional land in 1895. At that time, the cemetery served Nation Town, a thriving community with several stores and a school. The village was renamed Ozro in 1898, when that post office opened. After the International & Great Northern Railroad reached this area in 1902, many residents moved to Maypearl, and Ozro declined. Today the cemetery is the only remnant of its past.

Historical Marker → · 3.0 mi away

Brindley, Paul

1896

Paul Brindley, pathologist and professor, was born near Maypearl, Texas, on December 27, 1896, the last of the seven children of George Goldthwaite and Mattie (Hanes) Brindley. He acquired his premedical education at the University of Texas, Austin. He received his M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1925 and did postgraduate work at the Mallory Laboratory of Boston City Hospital and the Mayo Clinic. Brindley became instructor of pathology at UTMB in 1925 and was promoted to associate professor in 1927. In 1929 he was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology, positions he held until his death. For twenty-five years he also served as a consultant in pathology for St. Mary's Hospital and the United States Public Health Hospital in Galveston and at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Brindley was responsible for establishing the Galveston chapter of the American Cancer Society and in 1948 was the society's first president. During his career Brindley published over twenty papers in his specialty, many focusing on his interests in aneurysms, malignant diseases, and Madura foot, a tropical disease. After World War II the surgeon general of the Army invited Brindley to visit several Central American countries, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, as a teacher and consultant on Madura foot. Brindley was preceded at UTMB by his brother, George Valter Brindley , who graduated in 1911. Over the years that Paul Brindley taught at UTMB, eleven of his nephews graduated from the medical branch, ten of them as M.D.'s and one with an M.S. in anatomy. Their presence on the campus led to his being known fondly as "Uncle Paul" among his students. Brindley married Anne Ammons on July 2, 1929. They had no children. Brindley, an accomplished photographer, recorded many of their travels through Mexico, Canada, and the United States. He died in Galveston, while reading in bed, on December 28, 1954. Brindley became a fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1934 and of the American College of Pathologists in 1947. He was twice president of the Texas Society of Pathologists, which posthumously awarded him its first Caldwell Memorial Award in January 1955. After his death, the sophomore class of 1954–55 erected a plaque in his honor in the Keiller Building at UTMB. In 1982 his wife established the Paul Brindley Distinguished Professorship and Scholarship Fund in UTMB's Department of Pathology. Income from this fund enables the department to bring outstanding pathologists, of whom many are UTMB graduates, to the campus for a week of lectures and seminars with faculty and students.

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Venus, TX

1888

Venus, formerly known as Gossip, is on State Highway 67 some twenty miles east of Cleburne in eastern Johnson County. Though a number of families settled in the area in the late 1850s, a community did not develop there until the late 1880s. At that time J. C. Smyth purchased eighty acres in an abandoned cornfield and laid off town lots. He named the new community Venus in honor of the daughter of a local physician. In 1888 a post office branch opened, and by 1890 Venus had ten residents and was at the junction of the International-Great Northern and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroads. By the mid-1890s Venus was one of the most prosperous towns in Johnson County, reporting thirteen businesses, thirty-one houses, a number of churches, a grade school, and Burnetta College. During the next decade three banks opened, a weekly newspaper named the Venus Express began, and the town voted to incorporate (1903). By the late 1920s its population had surpassed 800. But the Great Depression and the growth of the nearby Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex led to its decline. By the early 1940s it consisted mostly of empty buildings, with one drugstore. When the drugstore threatened to close, Venus residents, fearing for their town, donated five dollars each to keep it open. By the late 1940s, however, the town had recovered somewhat, and reported 300 residents and nearly twenty businesses. In 1990 the population of Venus was 977, and the town had expanded into Ellis County. The population was 910 in 2000.

Tsha Handbook → · 9.4 mi away

Nelson, John Byron, Jr.

1945

John Byron Nelson, Jr., professional golfer, was born on his parents' cotton farm in Long Branch, Texas, near Waxahachie, on February 4, 1912. He was the son of John Byron Nelson, Sr., and Madge (Allen) Nelson. Nelson is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest American golfers of all time. He grew up in Fort Worth since he was the age of eleven and, at the age of twelve, became a caddy at Glen Garden Country Club. He dropped out of school when he was in the tenth grade in 1928, briefly worked with the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway , and took up golfing full time in 1929. As a teenage caddy, Nelson worked alongside Ben Hogan , who also became a legendary golfer, lifelong friend, and professional rival. In 1927 Nelson beat Hogan by one shot after a nine-hole playoff in an annual caddy tournament. While he transitioned to a full-time tournament fixture, Nelson worked as a golf professional between 1932 and 1940 at courses in Arkansas, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He joined the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) in 1932. In 1934, while working as a golf pro in Texarkana, Arkansas, Nelson met Louise Shofner, who would be his wife for fifty years. The two were married on June 24, 1934, in Louise's parents' living room. Called "Lord Byron" for his gentlemanly qualities, Nelson won the Vardon Trophy in 1939. He played on two Ryder Cup teams, in 1937 and 1947, and was non-playing captain in 1965. Nelson was a two-time winner of the Professional Golfing Association championship in 1940 and 1945, the U.S. Open in 1939, and the Masters Golf Tournament in 1937 and 1942. Nelson was exempted from military service during World War II due to a blood clotting disorder. He spent much of the war giving exhibitions to raise funds for charities. During his professional career, golf clubs evolved from wooden to steel shafts, and Nelson was the first golfer to adjust his swing accordingly, modifying his stance and incorporating the use of his legs to add distance. This fortuitous timing helped Nelson become known as the father of the modern golf swing. In 1945 Byron Nelson accomplished an eleven-tournament winning streak that had not been broken as of 2021. That year, playing in thirty-five tournaments, Nelson finished with eighteen victories, including eleven straight; finished second another seven times; and established a record for the lowest scoring average (68.33 for eighteen holes), which remained untouched for fifty-five years until broken by Tiger Woods in 2000. His 1945 season is widely considered the greatest single year by a player on the PGA Tour and, as such, one of the greatest in the history of the sport. He was twice named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, in 1944 and 1945. With his win at the 1946 Columbus Invitational, Nelson became the first player to reach fifty career PGA Tour wins. This feat has since been matched by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, and Tiger Woods. His fifty-two career wins ranked sixth overall as of 2021. After 1946 he reduced his schedule but continued to make appearances at the Masters Tournament as a competitor, played occasional PGA events, and played several overseas tournaments. Nelson retired officially at the age of thirty-four-much earlier than his peers Hogan and Sneed, both of whom were born in the same year as Nelson-to become a rancher, buying a ranch at Roanoke, Texas. He also gave paid golf exhibitions, later became a television golf commentator during the 1960s and 1970s, and regularly made appearances at PGA events. Nelson appeared as himself in the 1953 Jerry Lewis-Dean Martin movie, The Caddy , along with fellow players Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Julius Boros. Nelson was a coach and mentor to Ken Venturi, Tom Watson, and Marty Fleckman. He was influential in the careers of such golfers as Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. In Jack Nicklaus's 1978 book On and Off the Fairway , Nicklaus wrote that Nelson was the "straightest" golfer h

Tsha Handbook → · 11.5 mi away

Everything Near Maypearl

454 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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