Description of Burnet County
1874


Source: Burnet Bulletin, 10 Oct 1874
Transcribed by JoAnn Myers, 5 May 2010


<>To: J. R. Robertson, Esq., Houston, Texas
July 16, 1874

     Pursuant to the request of the Police Court of Burnet County, that we comply with your circular in getting up such statistics as you desire, we have the honor to make the following report.  And for fear that the interest we feel in the welfare of our county might influence us in framing this report, we have decided to give the statement of hard-working men, who are tillers of the soil, whose honesty and veracity cannot be questioned.

  • David R. Banta, Negro Head Valley, ten miles west of Burnet says:
    • I came to Burnet county in 1856; myself and family were all sick, we have lived here since that time and my family now numbers thirteen.  I have never had a death in my family, and we have enjoyed excellent health since a few months after our arrival here.  I have raised as good crops as I ever saw in any country.  Last year my cotton yielded one bale per acre, and this year it is far superior to last; my corn crop is already made and will yield forty bushels per acre.
  • T. A. Faubion, at mouth of Hamilton's creek, 15 miles south of Burnet says:
    • I have raised five crops on my present farm; four years out of the five, I have averaged one bale of cotton and forty bushels of corn per acre.  My crop this year is the best that I have ever grown.  My own and my son-in-law's family numbers fifteen, and we have never paid a Doctor's bill during the five years.
  • Mr. Yett, living in the southern portion of the county, says:
    • My crop last year of eighty five acres yielded me over one bale per acre.  My corn and cotton this year is excellent.  I never have known any country where people were more healthy.
  • Dr. Yett,  Double Horn post office says:
    • That he thinks this is certainly one of the most healthy counties in the State.
  • Elias Jackson, Hickory Creek states:
    • That he has thirteen in family--has lived in this county eighteen years and has never paid a Doctor's bill in all of that time.
  • Richard Barton, living twelve miles east of Burnet says:
    • My cotton crop yielded me last year three-fourths of a bale per acre.  This year my cotton is much superior; I think my corn will yield forty bushels per acre; my wheat crop is poor on account of frost; my oat crop and that of my neighbors is very good.
  • John M. Wood, Backbone Valley, says:
    • I have raised six crops on my present farm, five of which have averaged me three fourths of a bale of cotton per acre; my present crop is the best that I have raised.  I think the average yield of corn in this valley will be forty bushels per acre.
Aside from these gentlemen, we have conversed with Messrs. Berry, Harris, McCarty, Frank Thomas and other farmers in the immediate vicinity of the town of Burnet, all of whom state that they have excellent crops, and are ready and willing to testify that this county is most remarkable for its health.


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<>Soil of the County
Black mulatto, red sandy loam.

Products
Cotton, corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet and hungarian grass.

Timber
Cedar, post-oak, pecan, black-jack, and elm.
Timber and prairie equally divided.
Price of land - from $1.50 to $2.50 per acre, unimproved.
Proportion of land in cultivation, one-fifteenth of the land in the county.

Terms of Rent
Land can be rented at four dollars per acre, or for one-third of the corn,
one-fourth of the cotton, wheat, oats, etc.

Minerals
Silver and lead mines have been opened on Beaver Creek,
sixteen miles west of Burnet town, but are not worked to any extent.

Water Power
No county in the State has the same amount of good water power as Burnet,
including the great Marble Falls on the Colorado River.

Schools and Churches
The county Superintendent states that there are twenty-five organized schools in the county
and all of these school houses are used as places for Divine worship.

General Information
The numerous beautiful streams that interlace this county, make it one of the best watered counties in the State.
The magnificent building rock is an inducement to settlers to make substantial improvements,
while the immense cedar brakes scattered over the county affords rails that never decay.

At least four-fifths of the population came here as invalids,
and the robust and healthy appearance of the settlers and their off-spring
gives undeniable proof of the health of the county.

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Hoping that this report may be satisfactory, we are, sir,

Yours Respectfully,
Johnson & Hammond
Land Agents, Burnet, Burnet County, Texas
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