Hi, my name is Junie Jones; I am the official Town Historian for Nomocotton Texas. Let me tell yall a little bit about myself, I was born in 1949 in Van Horn Texas. My Daddy was the County Judge and my older Brother was the County Sheriff. I graduated from Van Horn High in 1966 and took a job at the local diner. I met Enoch in Jan of 1967, he swept me off my feet and I came back to Nomocotton with him.

5 civil war veterans and their families from Fayette County, Alabama, founded Nomocotton, Texas back in 1866. They were Abner Trayweek, Daniel Bullen, Osco Beddingfield, Joshua Ramsey and Horatio Jones. The Legend has it that the 5 of them were taking their families to meet up with other southern vets relocating south of the border and Horatio Jones lost the map. Now personally I don’t believe this cause Mr. Jones was my Enoch’s Great Great Great Grandfather and you know how smart Enoch is. The name of the town comes from the famous quote of Daniel Bullen " I don’t know what will grow here but --------NO MO COTTON---------- for us ever.

The town really didn’t start growing till the late 1870’s when German John Abrahamson opened his General store. I still don’t know why they called him German John since his name was Doug but the store is still open today on the Town Square. It’s right across the street from Ephrum Ramsey Memorial Park.

During the 1880’s Nomocotton became a major starting point for cattle drives going north to Kansas. Those were exciting times with lots of growth and action. In 1887 there was a famous gunfight in front of Maudel’s "Boarding" house between Ephrum Ramsey and Wyatt Lunsford, a member of the infamous Lunsford gang. The newspaper story of the event said it was over a "soiled dove" named Beatrice that was supposed to marry Ephrum. Apparently Ephrum expected Beatrice to "retire" after he proposed and when he discovered her "doing business" with Wyatt things got out of control. They met in the street at High Noon June 12th, 1887. Now Wyatt was a fast man with a gun but was known far and wide as a man with an odd sense of humor, and a real soft spot for Beatrice. Beatrice, unlike some of the stories you may have heard, was not a sweet misguided girl she was just plain dumb as a doorknob. Some folks say she only agreed to marry Ephrum because she had been drinking but I won’t repeat those rumors. Anyway, Beatrice apparently wanted to make sure that Ephrum won the fight so she put Goose grease all over his holster and didn’t tell him. When Ephrum pulled his gun out, his hand slipped on the grease and he threw his gun 40 feet down the road. I guess Wyatt thought this was funny cause he cracked up laughing and threw his gun. The two of them stood there in the middle of Main Street laughin so hard they couldn’t think. They never did finish the gunfight and remained best of friends until 1895 when Sheriff Ephrum hung Wyatt for rustling. Beatrice ended up marrying Wyatt then she married Ephrum after he hung Wyatt.

In the summer of 1903 two major events came to Nomocotton, one of which would shape the town for the next 40 years. The first was the railroad coming to town and the second, which shook the town to its core, was the election of Brother John Bullen as Mayor. Brother John had been the fire & brimstone preacher of the "Lords a Coming" Baptist church and a devout Prohabisonist (That means he didn’t drink and didn’t want anyone else too either). His brother Big Tommy Bullen owned the saloon and had supported Frank Trayweek in the election. On his first day in office Brother John ordered the saloon and Maudel’s "Boarding" house closed. Sheriff Ephrum made his famous speech in front of Maudel’s that day on the very spot where is park is now. He stood there with a beer in one hand and his gun in the other (I assume after making sure Beatrice hadn’t been at the Goose grease again). He told Brother John "My Daddy and your granddaddy founded this town 37 years ago. I’ve lived here since I was 15 years old; I grew up with your Daddy Big John. We both had our first flings in Maudel’s and spent many a night playing poker in Old Osco Beddingfield’s Saloon before your brother won it in that poker game, and yes I still think your brother had a ace or two up his sleeve. Now I know your Daddy died 3 years ago in a gunfight in Maudel’s but that aint no reason to close it. The only way you gonna close these two landmarks is by firing me and appointing some nitwit like Jim Dodson or George Jones as Sheriff."

That’s the day my Enoch’s Grandpa George became Sheriff and Great Uncle Jim became deputy of Nomocotton. I still think it was Ephrum’s rousing endorsement that got them the jobs. They put up the nice statue of Ephrum holding the beer mug and his gun in 1928, right after Mayor John Bullen retired.

I guess that’s it for this week expect to point out that some of the folks yall know are kin to these legends. Big Bobby Bullen is the son of Big Tommy Bullen, Hiram Trayweek is the Grandson of Frank Trayweek and of course my Enoch is the Grandson of George Jones.