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History in
a Pecan Shell
Buchanan was
named for the U.S. President (before he was elected) and replaced
Wardville (another ghost) as the
Johnson County
seat of government in 1856. Buchanan was chosen for its more central
location. A post office opened there in 1857 and a log courthouse
heard trials and dispensed justice. A jail was in place the following
year.
Buchanan served
for slightly more than ten years. The town had insufficient water
and in 1866 an agreement was reached with the new (adjoining) county
of Hood. Johnson
County gave land to Hood, causing a readjustment of the county
center.
With Buchanan no longer within six miles of the center, in March
of 1867, an election was held and Buchanan felt the pain it had
inflicted on Wardville.
Voters chose Camp Henderson (which was to eventually become Cleburne),
the population relocated to the new seat and the post office closed
its doors in 1868. A few diehard residents remained but by the 1890s,
Buchanan was deserted.
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Buchanan Chronicles
The
July 29, 1878 Solar Eclipse in Texas
by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales" column)
In Buchanan, a small community in Johnson County, a man who had
not known of the coming astronomical show thought the end of the
world had come when it started getting dark. He killed his child
and himself. "He had always been regarded as a fanatic on the subject
of religion," the Austin Daily Statesman reported on August 8, "but
was an industrious, sober [person]."... more
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