A Fannin County Fair Association was issued a charter by the State of Texas in 1887 to hold fairs and shows of live stock and poultry, agriculture, manufacturing and kindred phases of industry. This photo shows a Fannin County Fair Parade circa in 1947.

In the 1910 census this black man is listed as a grocery merchant who owned his house on Star Street in Bonham. An article in the Dallas Express in 1919 says that Jefferson "Dave" Johnson owned a general store that carried a line of staple and fancy groceries and dry goods. The store was on South Center Street opposite the Post Office.

The State Fair takes place in Dallas this year from September 28 - October 21. Many residents of Fannin County attend the Fair every year and enjoy it very much. The Fair began in 1887 and Fannin County residents have apparently enjoyed and participated in the Fair since the early days.

Harry Peyton Steger graduated from Bonham High School, was editor of the UT Cactus and became the editor and literary executor of O. Henry (William Sidney Porter).

Just over 115 years ago, while farmers and businesses were preparing for the State Fair of Texas, African-American Texans were participating in a celebration of their own, and this one was held in Bonham. Miss Adeline Williams of Denison was named Queen and won a scholarship to her choice of the six colored colleges in Texas. Runners up were Inez Stewart of Fannin County, Mable Raws of Denton County, Bissie Chiles of Cooke County, Gertrude King of Red River County, Miss Davis of Navarro County and Jennie Lindsey of Collin County.

Thomas Peyton Steger was born in Tennessee on March 15, 1852. In Bonham, he practiced law and served as the president of the Fannin County Bar Association. One of Thomas’s most famous cases was his representation of the unknown heirs of Tom Bean, a Fannin County lawyer and surveyor who had great wealth at the time of his death in 1887. Thomas managed Rayburn’s congressional campaign in 1912 when Rayburn first ran to represent the Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. photo courtesy of the Fannin County Museum of History

Members of the 52nd Engineers with a locomotive at Périgueux, France, during World War I. Courtesy Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. photo found by Chat GPT

Lucinda “Miss Lou” Rayburn balanced her tall, regal bearing and red hair with a warm personality, truthfulness, and a no-nonsense attitude. For her brother Sam Rayburn, who was a U.S. congressman from 1913 – 1961, Lucinda provided invaluable service as a confidant and voice of reason. During the Washington, D.C., social season in January, Lucinda attended formal gatherings as Sam’s official hostess. Unlike her other sisters, Lucinda preferred the social aspects of political life rather than the politics, and she maintained a diary and scrapbook about the events she attended. photo from the Fannin County GenWeb site

Financial institutions of Dodd City 1873-1941 -- 13th in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks

Zora Frances Greenway was born July 15, 1928 in Ladonia and raised in the New Harmony community, near Ladonia. She became a medical doctor and served as a Baptist medical missionary in Africa for 35 years while keeping ties with the Ladonia community.

John Neely Bryan and his wife Margaret. (Courtesy of dallaspioneer.org) In 1842 Texas was a republic, a country – not a state, and was only six years down the road from its fight for independence from Mexico, and a few years away from joining the United States. Folks of vision saw the chance to change the landscape. Among them was John Neely Bryan of Tennessee. In 1842 Texas was a republic, a country – not a state, and was only six years down the road from its fight for independence from Mexico, and a few years away from joining the United States. Folks of vision saw the chance to change the landscape. Among them was John Neely Bryan of Tennessee.

Roy McMillan received three Gold Gloves and played in two All Star games during his career. He was a member of the Professional Baseball Players Association and an inductee to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame, the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame and the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. A sportswriter noted that despite his low batting average "if fielding a baseball is an art, McMillan was a Picasso." At the time of his death, he held the Cincinnati Reds' team record for the shortstop with the most double plays, 129 in 1954, in a single season.

Back in 1928, the University of Texas gave its 1,200 incoming freshmen an English exam designed to divide the class into sections based on aptitude. Of the 1,200 first-year students, only 27 received a grade of 90 or above. No one should be surprised to know that Austin High ranked first in Texas with five graduates deserving of an “A.” But would you believe Bonham High School tied Dallas High for second place?

Walter Edward Potts was born January 9, 1892 in Denison, Texas, the son of William and Mollie Oliphant Potts. William grew up in Pottsboro and Denison and Mollie was from Ravenna, the daughter of Fountain and Patsy Oliphant. At the age of twenty-five, Walter was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as one of the Buffalo Soldiers during World War One.

A gift from the sky: Charles Holmes, (left) and Jesse Nowlin, right, thank former Navy pilot James Denton, center, for dropping the first fresh meat that they had in 44 months into the Japanese prison camp where they were held at the end of World War II. photo from the Bonham Daily Favorite enhanced by ChatGPT

"Marking the Battle of Nacogdoches provides an opportunity to remember the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary courage laid the foundation for Texas independence," said Ora Jane Johnson, President General of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. "The Battle of Nacogdoches reminds us that the road to the Texas Revolution began years before the battles of Gonzales and San Jacinto. By preserving these stories, we ensure that future generations understand the sacrifices made to secure the liberties Texans enjoy today."

Grace Dupree Ridings was born on December 18, 1881 in Ivanhoe, Fannin County, Texas, the daughter of J. E. and Amelia Deupree. Grace graduated from Ravenna College and became a schoolteacher in Fannin County. Hope Ridings was born on December 24, 1905, in Bonham to Grace Ridings and Dr. A. L. Ridings in a house the parents had rented from Dr. John Rayburn, Sam Rayburn’s brother.

(L-R) Joe Melson and Roy Orbison. According to Joe Melson's obituary in the New York Times, he was involved in the local music scene in Odessa where he knew Roy Orbison. They began a collaboration that would last decades, with Joe and Roy writing songs and Roy singing them.

Florence Fogle was born in Ivanhoe, TX, on September 23, 1916, to Fannie Blakey and Tim F. Fogle. Florence married Paul R. Keahey and had two children. She was a member of several groups including the George Blakey Daughters of the American Revolution, the D. Rowlett Chapter of Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Bonham Women’s Club, Iris Society of Texas, the Democratic Women’s Club of Fannin County, the Silver Haired Legislature, and local community groups. She was the Fannin County Treasurer for 28 years.

Joseph Deupree was born in Pickens County, Alabama on November 22, 1840. His grandfather Nathan Smith brought him to Texas in 1847, settling first in Harrison County. He moved with his uncles, Gideon Smith and Dr. J. C. Smith, to Fannin County in 1853. A good part of his youth was spent on the Smith farms on Red River.

Every year on July 8, there is a tradition that calls for the Declaration of Independence to be read aloud in the same place where it was first presented to the public on July 8, 1776. Fannin County Criminal District Attorney John Skotnik observed that same tradition by reading the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Fannin County Courthouse on July 4th, 2026, our nation's Semiquincentennial.

The son of Alice Edwards and James Denton, Joseph “Joe” Cravens Denton, Sr., was born on March 10, 1895, in Telephone, TX. After attending Bonham High School in Bonham, TX, Joe served in WWI.

Flight instructor Leonard Gerner (third from the left) and five of his trainees at Jones Field in the mid-1940s. Military pilot training ceased at Jones Field more than 70 years ago, but all the checks haven't cleared the bank. Gerner, one of the instructor pilots hired to train cadets to fly the Fairchild PT-19, discovered he still has one small check issued by Bonham Aviation School.

John F. Day was born in 1909 in Eden, Texas. He moved to Bonham around 1930 to work at the Bonham Cotton Mill, having just graduated from Texas A&M as a textile engineer. In 1934 he married Cile (Cornelia Lucille) Hackley, daughter of Dwight and Lucille Hackley, in Bonham. In 1940 he went on active military duty in the US Army, and he would remain on active duty for the next 30 years.
He sailed into Pearl Harbor on December 1, 1941, just six days before the Japanese attack. He went to Java and then to Australia. He became Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Headquarters Commandant and later served in New Guinea and the Philippines.