Name: Murvaul, Texas
Address: Murvaul, TX

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Murvaul. The name itself rolls off the tongue like the slow current of the creek it’s named for, Murvaul Creek, that eventually finds its way to the Sabine. You wouldn't think a place so quiet could have a story to tell, but it does. Look close, and you can still hear the echoes. This land, a little higher than the lake, has always been about hard work, about the land providing. Cattle still graze here, hay bales dot the fields. But it’s also a place that’s touched the wider world.

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Murvaul. The name itself seems to whisper of East Texas history. Established around 1837, it grew up alongside Murvaul Creek, a waterway that snakes its way toward the Sabine, shaping the land and the lives of those who settled here. They say a stagecoach, heavy with money, was once robbed not far from the old general store, a reminder that even this peaceful place has seen its share of drama. It's a bit higher here, at 282 feet, just enough to give you a different perspective on the surrounding countryside and Lake Murvaul sparkling nearby. While life has always been tied to the land – cattle ranching and hay are still mainstays – Murvaul hasn't been untouched by the outside world. The Great Depression hit hard, like it did everywhere, and many families were forced to pack up and leave, seeking opportunity elsewhere. But even then, the spirit of Murvaul endured. And though Dallas is a good drive away, folks here remember the Cowboys winning Super Bowl XXX back in '96. You see, even in a quiet place like Murvaul, history keeps unfolding, layer upon layer, like the rich soil of the bottomlands. And don't even get started on the Shelbyville and Joaquin football rivalry – that's a whole different story entirely.

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Murvaul's always been a place where time seems to slow down, a welcome change for folks escaping the city. We still rely on the land here, mostly cattle and hay like generations before. It's quiet, but even here, things change. Born here, yes, but mostly forgotten. Then a few years back, a group from the Shelby County Historical Society started digging into his life. They pieced together stories from old timers, tracked down relatives, and even managed to get a historical marker placed near where his family's farm used to be, not far from Murvaul Creek. It wasn't a grand event, no big parade, just a simple ceremony. But it felt significant. It was like Murvaul was finally claiming its connection to something bigger, something that resonated far beyond our little corner of East Texas. It's a reminder that even in the quietest places, history is always being made, or in this case, rediscovered. And that a man born in Murvaul helped shape American music itself.

Webb, Walter Prescott

1888

(April 3, 1888 - March 8, 1963) The world-renowned American historian Walter Prescott Webb was born near this site. His parents were Casner P. and Mary Elizabeth (Kyle) Webb. C. P. Webb farmed and taught school. The family moved in 1893 to the edge of central West Texas. There a startling new terrain spurred young Walter to study the influence of the frontier on American history. Alternately studying and teaching, Walter Webb earned his B. A. Degree in 1915, his M. A. in 1920, and his Ph. D. in 1932, all at the University of Texas. In 1918 he joined the history faculty of the University in Austin, where he taught for 45 years. Visiting lectureships in the U. S. and abroad included a term as Harmsworth professor at Oxford University in England. An inspiring teacher, he molded a generation of historians and scholarly writers. "The Great Plains," "The Texas Rangers," "Divided We Stand," "The Great Frontier," and his other books are works of splendid vision. Recipient of many honors and offices, he was the first southwesterner to serve as president of the American Historical Association. He married (1) Jane Oliphant, by whom he had one daughter, Mildred (Mrs. W. B. Bugg), and (2) Mrs. Terrell Maverick. He is buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

Historical Marker → · 4.4 mi away

Deputy Chris Dickerson Memorial Highway

2019

Honors Panola County Deputy Chris Dickerson, Army veteran and volunteer Carthage firefighter, killed December 31, 2019, during a 2 a.m. New Year's Eve traffic stop on FM-10. Honorary segment runs FM-10 from Loop 436 in Carthage to Gary.

Historical Marker →

Tennessee Methodist Church

1857

This congregation traces its history to 1857, when a Union church was organized to serve Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian settlers in this area, many of whom migrated here from Tennessee. Named Mount Carmel, the church building was a one-room frame structure with log seats. It also served as a community schoolhouse. By 1871 the name was changed to Tennessee Church. About 1877 a two-story building was erected to replace the small church structure. The first floor was used for worship services, while the second story was used as a meeting hall by the local Woodmen of the World Lodge. The community school also continued to meet in the Union building. The three congregations finally divided in 1913, with the Presbyterians retaining the Union Church and the Methodist and Baptist congregations building new facilities. The Methodist Church building was a white frame structure, which continued to serve the members until it was replaced by a new brick building in 1952. A part of Shelby County history for well over a century, Tennessee Methodist Church continues to serve the community with a variety of programs.

Historical Marker → · 3.5 mi away

Neal, Margie Elizabeth

1926

Mary "Margie" Elizabeth Neal, first woman in the Texas Senate, was born near Clayton, Texas, on April 20, 1875. She was the second of four children of William Lafayette and Martha (Gholston) Neal. She lived in Carthage for most of her life. She attended but did not graduate from Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University). After a short teaching career in Panola County and in Fort Worth she returned in 1903 to Carthage, where her father bought the Texas Mule , a weekly newspaper. She became editor and publisher of the paper, which she renamed the East Texas Register, for eight years. In 1912 she sold the paper and took up caring for her mother full time. Neal became involved in the woman suffrage movement and served as the secretary of the Panola County Equal Suffrage Association and as the Eighth Senatorial District chairman for the Texas Equal Suffrage Association 's campaigns. She is thought to be the first woman to register to vote in Panola County in 1918. That year she was also the first women member of the State Democratic Executive Committee. After the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment prevented all states from restricting voting rights based on sex, Neal served in the League of Women Voters and was the only woman on the State Executive Committee of the Democratic party in 1920. She also was a delegate, along with Minnie Fisher Cunningham , to the Democratic national convention in San Francisco that year. Neal was the first woman member of the board of regents of the State Teachers Colleges of Texas (State Normal Schools) on which she served from 1921 to 1927. During her tenure, the board selected the site and president of the Stephen F. Austin Normal College (later Stephen F. Austin State University) in Nacogdoches. Neal's work on the board motivated her to run for the Texas Senate where she thought she could be more effective in pursuing education reform in the state. She announced her candidacy in March 1926 for the second senatorial district on a platform for better rural schools; increased education spending; a gasoline tax to fund an improved highway system; aid to farmers, labor, and capital; and fewer, better laws with improved enforcement. She won four of the five counties in her district and lost only her opponent's home county of Shelby. She served four consecutive terms. Working for prison reform, Neal served on a legislative inspection party that visited several prison farms in February 1927. She was chairperson of the Committee on Privileges and Elections. In 1928 Neal introduced the bill that established the State Board of Education (later replaced by the Texas Education Agency ), sponsored a bill that introduced public school physical education classes, and actively supported a bill that made the study of the state and national constitutions mandatory. She was instrumental in the passage of legislation that appropriated $1.6 million, the largest amount of funding for rural education in Texas at the time, for each of the next two academic years. Neal worked for higher standards for teacher certification while serving on the Senate Committee on Education Affairs, on which she served as vice-chair in 1927 and chair from 1929 to 1933. She also pushed the legislature to adopt an official state song and organized committee hearings in all senatorial districts. As a result, the Texas legislature adopted "Texas, Our Texas" as state song in May 1929. In 1929 she became the first woman to serve as Senate president pro tem (ad interim, elected at close of session) in Texas. She filled that roll again in 1933. In 1930 Neal ran unopposed and was reelected to the Texas Senate. She spent much of her next term battling Governor Ross Sterling , who called a 1931 special session of the state legislature to allow the state commissioners for the General Land Office and the Railroad Commission to contract or lease out the bed of the Sabine River for oil exploration and drilling. Most of the

Tsha Handbook → · 8.8 mi away

Knight, Raymond Lee

1945

Raymond Lee Knight, Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Timpson, Texas, on July 15, 1922. His family later moved to Houston, where he graduated from John Reagan High School in 1940. He entered the United States Army Air Corps at Houston in October 1942 and received his pilot's wings and commission at Harding Field, Louisiana, in April 1944. After further training in the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber, 2d Lt. Knight was assigned to the 350th Fighter Group, Twelfth Air Force, in Northern Italy, where he completed eighty-two combat missions. During his first year of combat he won the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts, and the Air Medal with five oak-leaf clusters. His most notable exploits, however, came in action against heavily defended German airdromes at Ghedi and Bergamo, Italy, in April 1945. On the morning of April 24 he led two other pilots, each flying a single-engine P-47 Thunderbolt, against the heavily defended airdrome at Ghedi. He ordered the other aircraft to stay aloft while he descended to low altitude through heavy antiaircraft fire and located eight German aircraft under heavy camouflage. After rejoining his flight, Knight led the attack and destroyed five of the enemy aircraft, while his teammates shot down two others. After returning to base he volunteered to lead a reconnaissance mission of three other aircraft to the airbase at Bergamo. He ordered his flight to remain out of range of enemy guns while he flew through the fire at low level. Although his Thunderbolt was badly damaged by intense ground fire he observed a squadron of enemy aircraft, heavily camouflaged, and led his flight to the attack. After this strafing, he made ten more passes over the field, and although hit by enemy fire twice more he destroyed six heavily loaded twin-engine aircraft and enemy fighters. He safely returned his damaged aircraft to base. He returned to Bergamo the next morning, April 25, 1945, with a flight of three and attacked an aircraft on the runway. Three more twin-engine aircraft were destroyed. His plane was heavily damaged and virtually unflyable, but he chose to attempt to return the valuable equipment to base for repair. He crashed in the Appennini Mountains and was killed. His gallant action eliminated enemy aircraft that were set to attack the Allied forces in their attempt to establish the first firm bridgehead across the Po River. He personally destroyed fourteen grounded enemy aircraft and led attacks that wrecked ten others. The Medal of Honor was presented to his widow, Johnnie Lee Knight, and his 2½-year-old-son on the stage at Reagan High School, where Raymond and Johnnie had graduated five years earlier. His remains were buried in Woodlawn Garden of Memories in 1949 and reburied in the Houston National Cemetery in a special section for Medal of Honor recipients on April 25, 1992.

Tsha Handbook → · 9.2 mi away

Rowe, James

1836

James Rowe, San Jacinto veteran, state legislator, and tanner, was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, on March 17, 1811. He was the son of Joseph and Nancy Ann (Murrow) Rowe. Rowe immigrated to Texas in 1834 and was a settler in the colony founded by Lorenzo de Zavala . On July 24, 1835, Rowe received a land grant of 1,085 acres from the Mexican government. He married Myra Miry Tippett on August 18, 1835. This couple had as many as nine or more children. Following news of the fall of the Alamo in March 1836, Rowe was elected first lieutenant under Capt. William Kimbrough , Second Regiment Volunteers, Eighth Infantry Company, which mobilized against the Mexican army. Rowe saw action with this unit at the battle of San Jacinto the following month. Rowe was living in San Augustine County by the late 1830s and, as a married man at the time of Texas independence, received a headright certificate for a league and labor of land in 1838. The property was surveyed in Shelby County in February 1838. As a reward for his service at San Jacinto, he received 640 acres of land in 1847. When Panola County was formed in 1846, Rowe was appointed as a commissioner to establish the county seat, which was eventually settled upon as present-day Carthage. In addition to his extensive landholdings, Rowe worked as a tanner. He was also a Mason. From November 3, 1851, to November 7, 1853, Rowe represented Panola County in the House of the Fourth Texas Legislature. He served on the Claims and Accounts Committee and the Engrossed Bills Committee. In 1856 he donated land to establish the Old Center Cemetery in Old Center, Panola County. On December 2, 1868, Rowe died and was buried at this cemetery. A Texas Historical Marker was erected in his honor in 1977.

Tsha Handbook → · 8.8 mi away

Murvaul, Texas

Music in Murvaul

Songs About Murvaul

Artists From Murvaul

Rivers & Roads in Song near Murvaul

History of Murvaul

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Murvaul, TX RoadyGoat

Webb, Walter Prescott

Deputy Chris Dickerson Memorial Highway

Tennessee Methodist Church

Neal, Margie Elizabeth

Knight, Raymond Lee

Rowe, James

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