Owen Lowak answered correctly first with his remarks of "Dewees Brothers."
Steven Raabe added interesting facts, "John and Tom Dewees started buying land in 1870. In 1881 James Thornton became an equal partner in the ranch. The ranch was 90,680 acres in 1884. The next year it grew to 111,172 which included a combination of owned and leased land. On July 7, 1885 the ranch was partitioned between John Dewees (24,252 acres), Tom Dewees (45,192 acres) and their partner James Thornton (41,828 acres)."

*Martin Poore answered correctly first!

Wilson County Texas .......  was cut out of Bexar and Karnes counties by an act of the legislature on February 13. 1860. The county was organized, officers were elected, and Sutherland Springs was selected as the first county seat. The county judge was called "chief justice." William Sutherland was the first chief justice. In 1866, the judge's title was changed to "county judge."

Nancy Davis correctly guessed, "A peanut oil factory in the early 1900s.  I think 1909, but I could be wrong." As

the first commercial production of peanuts began according to written records in Wilson County in 1909. At that time, only one peanut-oil mill existed in the county, the Floresville Oil and Manufacturing Co.

 

It was Sutherland Springsite, Joe T. Sheehy who in 1916 experimented with peanut farming and introduced it as a viable crop to the farmers of Wilson County.

Izzy Moy knew Manuel Jesus Ximenez was the person's name.
 

Manuel Jesus Ximenez, Wilson County sheriff, son of Esteban Ximenez and Theresa Haby G'sell de la Garza, was born in Graytown, Texas, on December 25, 1857. At an early age he moved to Lodi, one of the oldest settlements in Wilson County. His early formal education was limited, and he was mostly self-educated. His public career began around 1880. Ximenez served as tax assessor and collector, county clerk, deputy sheriff, and United States marshal in Wilson County. In 1890, 1892, and 1898 he was elected sheriff of Wilson County. Ximenez was a sheriff cut in the traditional pattern of most country lawmen, but he was ahead of his time when it came to moral and social issues. Before being elected sheriff he had labored for a more humane jail for the prisoners, and by the end of 1887 the new jail was completed. He brought reform to the area when he abolished the practice of lynching in Wilson County, and he ensured continuity of his philosophy in the department by surrounding himself with competent people whom he trained and advised. At the turn of the century Ximenez joined in the capture of Gregorio Cortez Lira for the murder of sheriffs from Karnes and Gonzales counties. In 1898 he assisted Theodore Roosevelt in recruiting and training the First United States Volunteer Cavalry (the Rough Riders) in the San Antonio area prior to Roosevelt's departure to Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Years later Ximenez was a guest of President Roosevelt at the White House. As a civic leader, Ximenez contributed to the Floresville Academy and also succeeded in having the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway pass through Floresville. Ximenez's first marriage was to Serafina Jacoba Olivares; they had six children. After Serafina's death, he married Josefina O. Lopez on November 3, 1893; they had two sons and four daughters. Ximenez died on January 11, 1911, and was buried at the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Floresville.
 

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COURTESY/ Texas State Historical Association written by Gloria X. Gregory.

FROM: ADMINISTRATOR   Sheila Cantrell  answered correctly!

Dr. Ella Ware was born May, 13, 1870, in Wilson County, Texas, near Stockdale. She was the eldest of sixteen children.  She knew what she wanted and medicine was her interest in life.  She was thirty years old when she began her journey toward graduation from medical school. Upon graduation, she was offered a full professorship at the University Of Texas Medical School in Galveston.  She was grateful for the offer, but Dr. Ware elected to return to her home in Wilson County.  This is where she was born and these were the people she loved. A woman doctor was rare in those days and life may have been easier for her in a large hospital in the city.  But Dr. Ella Ware wanted to be a country doctor, and that is what she became. She returned to Wilson County to practice medicine. Her profession as a medical doctor seemed to fulfill her life, for she never married. ( Wilson County Historical Society   )

FROM ADMINISTRATOR: Thomas Garza was correct!  An unique project, formally known as The Pandora Quail Management Project began in 1946 in Wilson County in the Pandora and Union Valley Area. Its intent was to repopulate the native quail in this area and secondly to provide a cash producing venue for the local landowners. By providing for increased quail population with adequate nesting areas and native food, the area could be leased to bird hunters for their sporting enjoyment.