James Harrison Parramore
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(August 13, 1840 - July 4, 1917) Born in Georgia to Rebecca (Norwood) and William W. Parramore, James Harrison Parramore moved with his family to Gonzales County in 1849. James attended Gonzales College before joining the Confederate Army. He married Mary Jane Goodson in 1866; they began their life together farming 100 acres of land near Gonzales. Parramore formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Hugh Lewis, that launched their careers as prominent southwestern ranchers. After several years in Runnels County, Parramore bought ten acres west of Hickory Street in Abilene for his large family in 1881. The San Simon Cattle and Canal Company was organized in 1883 by Parramore, Lewis, and Claiborne W. Merchant. The company stocked its vast Arizona and New Mexico ranches with Texas longhorns for twenty years. J. H. Parramore was active in local, state, and national organizations for cattlemen. A member of the board of trustees of Simmons College, he donated $10,000 for a dormitory named Mary-Frances Hall. The home that J. H. Parramore shared with his wife and ten children was located at 810 Orange Street in the area later developed by his heirs as the Parramore addition. A Victorian mansion with French Second Empire details, the home was dismantled in 1960. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
James Harrison Parramore came west after the Civil War with a Confederate record behind him and cattle on his mind. From a hundred rented acres near Gonzales he built, with his brother-in-law Hugh Lewis and partner C. W. Merchant, the San Simon Cattle and Canal Company — stocking vast Arizona and New Mexico ranges with Texas longhorns for two decades. Settling his large family in Abilene in 1881, he became a fixture of the cattle business and a benefactor of Simmons College, and the grand French Second Empire home he built survived until 1960.
Why it matters
His life traces the arc of the open-range cattle era, when Texas longhorns and Texas ranchers spread across the Southwest and helped knit the frontier into the national economy.
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Related people
- · James Harrison Parramore
- · Hugh Lewis
- · Claiborne W. Merchant
Themes & tags
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