Harden A. Douglass
Muleshoe vicinity, Bailey County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Aug. 20, 1885 - Feb. 24, 1955) Born in Bosque County. Came to this area in 1904. Elected first sheriff and tax collector of Bailey County, 1919; he served in this capacity until 1930. Married Maudie Ellen Vaughn and had two sons and four daughters. Recorded - 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Harden A. Douglass came to the newly settling plains of West Texas in 1904, part of the wave of homesteaders who filled Bailey County in the early twentieth century. When the county formally organized in 1919 he was chosen its first sheriff and tax collector, an office he held for more than a decade during the raw frontier years of ranching and dryland farming. His long tenure helped bring order and civic structure to a county still finding its footing.
Why it matters
First county officers like Douglass turned raw frontier settlements into governed communities, a quiet but essential chapter in the American West's transformation from open range to organized life.
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Related people
- · Harden A. Douglass
- · Maudie Ellen Vaughn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bailey County Cemetery
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