History of the Courthouse — Fannin County Historical Commission

Fannin County Courthouse History

The following history was written by Tom Scott in 1984. Portions of the history were published in the Bonham Daily Favorite.

1838 - Jacob Black's Cabin

When the Congress of the Republic of Texas created Fannin County on December 14, 1837, it ordered that the first court of the county be held at "the residence of Jacob Black on the last Monday in January 1838." The Congress further ordered that at the first term the county court appoint two commissioners from the lower end. two commissioners from the upper end. and one commissioner from the center of the county, "whose duty It shall be to locate the permanent seat of justice for said county; and said commissioners after being sworn, shall proceed to locate the same as near the center of said county, with a view to future divisions and the constitutional size of the same, as a suffiency of water, timber, and other conveniences may be found."

At the time this act was passed, Fannin County had no settlements of any size near the center of the county and in fact only three sites could even remotely be considered as settlements. In the northeast corner of the county, the Jouett brothers, John and Thomas, had established a small general merchandise store on the banks of Red River opposite the mouth of the Blue River. Perhaps with an eye toward future growth or perhaps only with pride in their ancestral heritage, the Jouett brothers named the small settlement Raleigh, after Raleigh, North Carolina, the home of their forebears.

Near the confluence of Peppercamp Creek and Red River, Dr. Daniel Rowlett and his son-in-law Richard Locke had established a settlement named Lexington. Both Rowlett and Thomas Jouett were to later petition the county for licenses to establish ferries across Red River at the site of their settlements in the hope that ferry service would serve to provide easy access to the northern part of the county.

Probably the largest settlement In 1837 was around Fort Warren, some eighteen miles further upstream from Lexington. In late 1835 or early 1836, Abel Warren had established a trading post near the central point of the large southward bend formed by Red River. Several businesses were well established at this point including a blacksmith shop owned by Stephen Westbrook, a general merchandise store operated by Montague and Henderson and Joseph Sowell's tavern.

Most of the other settlers were scattered along the thirty or so mile length of Red River as it bordered the northern edge of the new county. Only a very few settlers had moved into the interior of the county. By the time the county was officially sanctioned, Bailey Inglish had already built his fort and stockade near the banks of Bois d'Arc Creek but as yet there was no evidence of the settlement that was to become Bonham.

The exact site of Jacob Black's cabin is unknown but it was probably five or six miles upstream from Lexington located on the survey that was later patented by John Black. Nor do we have any description as to the construction or size of the cabin. Of necessity, it would seem that the building must have been sizable, judging from the number of participants who attended the various meetings of both the county court and the probate court. At any given time there were at least twelve members of the court in attendance, plus all the citizens who had some business with the county authorities. Certainly during the winter months the weather would have precluded any shade tree courts so the cabin itself must have been large enough to handle the official proceedings.

The first meeting of the county government to be held at Black’s cabin was the probate court which convened on February 28, 1836. The commissioners court also sat as the probate court with John Jouett, Chief Justice presiding as probate judge.

The Commissioners Court met for the first time, at Black’s cabin, on April 9, 1838. This court appointed a commission composed of Wiley B. Merrill, William R. Baker. John G. Stephens. Sr., William R. Caruthers and Andrew Thomas to select a permanent site for the county seat. There is no record of the commission's investigation, but obviously a site had been selected when on January 9, 1839, at the meeting of the court, plans were drawn up for the construction of a new and first courthouse building.

The specifications for this new structure were as follows: "a post oak or cedar log body 18 x 24 feet, one and one half stories high, the lower floor of rough plank, the upper floor to be dressed, and a wooden chimney, two doors and four windows of 12 lights, with shutters; one flight of stairs, the upper apartment to be divided into two rooms of equal size and one alley; to be covered with good
oak boards three feet long nailed to good rafters with one foot to the weather; to have a shed room at the opposite end from the chimney fifteen feet wide which is to be of the same material and covered in the same manner as the body of the building; to have a good rough floor, with a door and window in each end of it and each end of said shed room to have a small wooden chimney; all to be furnished with a Judge's bench with sufficient room for commissioner's court, a bar ten feet long and four benches with backs eight feet long, a clerk’s table with a large drawer and a lock and key."

1839 - Warren
The last session of the commissioner’s court met at Black's cabin on April 8, 1839. Evidently the new courthouse was in the process of being constructed, at the new county seat of Warren, during the summer and autumn of 1839 for the commissioners did not meet again until the first term on January 8, 1840. The District Court had not met from the county's organization in 1838 until it sat in its first session, at Warren, on April 8, 1840.

An interesting bit of history concerning the fate of the Warren courthouse is to be found in an anonymous article titled "Fannin County's First Courthouse.” published in Frontier Times, August 1924. The article describes a pile of logs on the courthouse square as the sole remains of the first Fannin County Courthouse. The article goes on to describe the logs as being oak (answering the question as to whether the building was oak or cedar as prescribed in the specifications) and that the builder was a man named Dugan whose grandaughtcr resides in Bonham.

After it was abandoned as a courthouse, it was moved a mile and a half from its original site and used as a residence until a storm unroofed it about 1909. It sat abandoned until the county commissioners had the structure taken down and logs transported to Bonham. The author further states that the building will probably be re-erected in Simpson Park and it has been suggested that the building be turned over to the Boy Scouts for safekeeping.

Some long-time citizens of Bonham who remember the logs being transported to the courthouse grounds report that after some period of time the timbers were moved to old Pace Park, near the Texas and Pacific depot, where they were left to rot for several years before being finally hauled off and burned.

1843 - Bois d’Arc (Bonham)

On January 16, 1843 Congress ordered that the seat of justice for Fannin County be moved from Warren to the town of Bois d’Arc, a small settlement that had sprung up near Fort English. Two early settlers, John P. Simpson, and Bailey Inglish, both of whom served as Chief Justice of the county court, had donated large portions of their headright surveys to be used for the establishment of the new town site.

The last court met at Warren in April 1843 and the next session on July 3, 1843 was convened at Bois d’Arc. In that same year an attempt was made to change the name of the settlement to Bloomington. But before Congress could enact the bill making the name change, a petition was received at Austin requesting that the town be named Bonham after James Butler Bonham, hero of the Alamo. On December 22, 1843, Congress enacted the bill naming the county seat Bonham. The new name was first used in a special term of the county court on February 25, 1844.

Curiously, the commissioners records make no mention of any plans or specifications for a courthouse at Bois d’Arc. John P. Simpson donated a tract of land to be used for a courthouse square and early day historians indicate that he had a log structure built at his own expense. This building was probably too small for the beginning for at some point another cabin was built and connected to the first by a breezeway.

W.A. Carter in his 1885 history of Fannin County says that only two buildings existed in Bois d’Arc at the time the county offices were moved from Warren. One building was south of the square and the other “behind where the opera house now stands.” Carter’s reference to the opera house does not refer to the Steger Opera House on Center St. which was not built until 1890, but probably refers to the Ewing Opera House which was located on the second floor of the Ewing building on the east side of the square. This would place the building, referred to by Carter, about where the present fire station is located.

By 1847 the population of the county had grown to such proportions that the log courthouse was the scene of many legal actions and the county officials were hard pressed to find adequate room for the various county offices and courts. On October 11, 1847, the court ordered that “the revenue from town lots in Bonham be appropriated for the erection of a courthouse in Bonham.”

At the same meeting a commission to superintend the building of the court house was appointed consisting of B.L. Davis, James W. Doss, John Shaffer, A.E. Pace, and Bailey Inglish. The court ordered that “the commissioners take charge and manage all the appropriations and to study the court adopted plan for a courthouse, submitted by M.H. Dixon and Benjamin Priddy; which general plan the commissioners are instructed to follow using their judgements in the porportions and size of the different parts. General dimensions of the building to be of stone 40 feet square, two stories high, two offices on the lower floor, one on each side of the front door separated by an arched passage of 15 feet x 12 1/2 feet, offices to be 12 feet square. The committee is to report to the court at its next regular term.”

The commission made no report to the next term of court. In fact, no further discussion of a new courthouse is mentioned until August, 1848. On April 10, 1848, the court authorized the payment of $48 to January 17, 1849 for the rent of a house occupied by the county and district clerks. Evidently by this time both offices had outgrown their spaces in the log structure.

At the August term, 1848, the court ordered the alteration of the plan for the courthouse “to require the same to be 40 feet square, constructed of brick with a stone foundation of suitable dimensions. The entire lower story to be appropriated for a court room and the upper story for clerk’s offices and a jury room. There is no mention of why the court ordered the changes but it is possible that the changes were the result of recommendations from the special courthouse commission.

John Shaffer and A.E. Pace resigned from the special commission in November and were succeeded by Miller H. Dixon and Lemuel Blanton with Joseph Harrison added as an additional member of the commission. These resignations seem to fortell what may have been a long term dispute over the construction of a proper courthouse for the county.

On February 19,1849, the court made new provisions for housing the district clerk’s office. That day a payment of $8.65 was authorized to Samuel A. Roberts for rent for the clerk’s office. It is likely that this space was in the building housing Robert’s law office located in the middle of the north side of the square.

The problems facing the special commission continued to mount when on November 19, 1849, Bailey Inglish and James W. Doss resigned. At that time an entirely new commission was appointed consisting of B.I. Davis, M.H. Dixon, Lemuel Blanton, R.S. Hunt, William Crenshaw, and J.G. Thomas. The new group was ordered to dispose of the brick “now on hand and and the proceeds to be applied to the building of a frame courthouse of the same size as the former plan.”

An interesting observation concerning this brick was made by Dr. Edward Smith, a British physician, who toured the northeast Texas area in 1848. Smith had come to Texas looking for a location suitable for the introduction of a colony of English immigrants. On a visit to Bonham he noted that the brick which had been secured for the building of a new courthouse was of inferior quality and not suitable for the purpose for which it was intended.

Whatever disagreement there was concerning the new structure came to a head on May 22, 1850 when the entire special commission submitted its resignations to the commissioners court. The next day the court appointed M.H. Dixon commissioner to superintend and manage the building of “a courthouse to be frame instead of brick.”

The court continued to rent space for use by the clerk’s offices. In February 1851 they approved the payment of $60 rent to S. Peaks for the clerk’s office for one year ending March 17, 1852.

Next the court addressed the problem of financing the courthouse construction. In May, 1851, they ordered that “with the exception of an amount sufficient to supply the district and county clerk’s offices with books, stationary, etc. and to pay all special appropriations made by this court and allowances made in conformity with former orders of the court” the entire amount received for county taxes for the year 1851 was to be appropriated for the purpose of assisting in the building of the courthouse “now in progress in the town of Bonham.” In addition the court ordered that the treasurer pay these funds to the superintendent for construction.

At the September term of court, M.H. Dixon reported that he had paid out $557.18 and had received $545.96. The court ordered Dixon to “erect as soon as possible, under the present contracts, the courthouse.” No contracts exist in the court records and it is possible that Dixon, a general superintendent, was subcontracting the construction. The court records for May 17 ,1852 note that Dixon was indebted to the county courthouse fund for $282.28 which was improperly paid to W.B. Crocker, contractor for the building of the courthouse.

To what extent the construction was completed is not matter of record, but the entire project was abandoned on February 17, 1852 when the court stated that “all orders relating to the plan, description, appropriation, and erection of a courthouse in the town of Bonham are rescinded except such orders as relate to the commissioner appointed to superintendent the building of said courthouse.” It was further ordered “that the commissioner proceed to sell at public auction all the lumber and building materials, which cannot be securely and profitably recovered, heretofore purchased for building a courthouse. Said sale to be on a credit of six months and after giving ten day general notice of the same. It is further ordered that P.W. Titus be paid by said commissioner out of the proceeds of the sale the amount due him for furnishing lumber.”

One puzzling aspect of this attempt to construct a frame courthouse has to do with the actual construction site. Although it is known that in John P. Simpson’s donation to the town of Bonham a parcel of land in the middle of the town square was reserved for use by a courthouse, it is not known whether the log structures erected by Simpson were actually located on this property. It is reasonable to assume that they were, but if so, were they located in the center of the property or off to the side? It seems reasonable that Simpson, with an eye to the future, would construct the log buildings to the side of the property so that the center could be reserved for the later construction of a more permanent building. But if this were not the case, then it would seem that the frame building was actually being constructed off center. Throughout the history of courthouse construction, the commissioners court always auctioned off the old courthouse buildings in preparation for new construction and on May 17,1852, the court issued an order to the sheriff to sell “the old courthouse.” Nothing in the records indicates which building is indicated, but since there is no record of any earlier sale it seems reasonable to assume that the reference is to the log cabins.

After the order cancelling the construction of the frame building, the court wasted no time in making plans for a new structure. On April 28, 1882 the commissioners determined that a courthouse 40 feet square was to be built on the courthouse square and they ordered that the taxes for the years 1852 and 1853, in addition to allowances previously made, were to be appropriated for the building. The court also requested Thomas C. Bean to make an architectural drawing for the building “to be two stories high and in proper proportion.” One month later the court ordered that the proposals for building the new courthouse be published in the Northern Standard, (a Clarksville newspaper). At the same time payment of $15 rent was authorized for Wilson Gilbert for a room for the district clerk for the spring term.

At a special colled term on August 3rd, the court examined the bids and found that David Barnett of Grayson County had submitted a bid to do the brick work for the building for $190 and William R. Baker had submitted a bid for $1950 to do the wood work. Both bids were accepted and approved by the court. They also approved payment of $20 to Thomas Bean for preparing the architectural draft of the building.

Barnett and Baker filed their performance bonds on August 16, 1852. Specifications for the masonary construction are detailed in Barnett's bond. The building was to be 40 feet square, two stories high, the first story fourteen feet high from the bottom of the foundation to the bottom of the second floor joists.

The second floor was designed to be twelve feet high from the bottom of the second floor joists to the top. The first story was to be eighteen inches thick and the second story thirteen inches. Barnett was to furnish all materials and labor and was to complete construction on or before August 16, 1853.

Baker's bond specified that he was to do the woodwork, to make and pane up the windows and pannel (sic)i doors according to the plan. He was also to cover the building with good shingles, to lay the upper and lower floors tongue and groove and undressed, to build a stairway from the first to the second floor and to erect four wooden columns, as per the plan, to extend to the top of the building for support of the roof. He was also to do all other carpentry work "except the cupola, judges seat, bar ceiling and partition." Evidently Bean's plans had called for the construction of a cupola, but since this is the only reference to such a structure, it evidently was eliminated from the plans before construction was begun. Baker was also to furnish all materials and labor and was to complete the job within twelve months from the date of the bond.

At the December term it was reported that Barnett had agreed to build two chimneys in the courthouse with one fireplace in each below and one in each above. The court agreed to pay Barnett an additional $500 for the work.

In August, 1853 the court requested that the floor of the courthouse "now under construction" be changed from plank to brick. Baker agreed to put in brick instead of the plank specified in the contract for which the court allowed him $29.66 extra. The court also gave Barnett a stove belonging to the county as remuneration for the extra labor involved in constructing the chimneys.

The court held a special meeting on August 16, 1853 to examine the construction done on the building. The brick work completed by Barnett was adjudged completed in a workmanlike manner and accepted. Evidently some difficulties prevented the completion of the new building for Baker had not completed the wood work by the date of his bond. The records do not make any further mention of the construction until May 15, 1854 when the court examined the construction and found that Baker had not executed the terms of his contract. At that time he was given until the fourth Monday in June to make settlement with the court and show why he had not complied with the terms of his contract. On June 26 the court ordered that payment of courthouse bonds to Baker be stopped since he had not lived up to the contract.

The construction must have been completed in some fashion and the building put to use by the autumn of 1854. On November 20th Sylvanus Howell was appointed a special commissioner to procure lumber to put up a Judge's seat and bar for which $40 was appropriated.

Over the next several years the court paid out differing amounts for repairs to the courthouse. These accounts indicate that much of the repair work centered around cracks that appeared throughout the building in addition to frequent repairs to the roof. By 1859 the building was in a dangerous and unusable condition. On February 21, 1859 the commissioners ordered that the building be sold at public auction on March 19th. At the sale William McDonald was high bidder in the amount of $338. He posted bond in the amount of $100 and was ordered by the court to have the building removed by August 1.

1859 - Bonham

Sylvanus Howell was appointed draftsman to draw up plans for a new building at the meeting of the court on March 21, 1859. After Howell submitted his plans on March 31st the court adjourned until the April term, when, at that time they ordered that sealed proposals for courthouse construction were to be received until May 31st. The new building was to be 60 feet square and constructed of either stone or brick

Five bids were received by the deadline and on that day the court examined each bid. All contractors had a bid on a brick building but only two had submitted bids for stone construction. The bids were:

Hartsfield $13,000 for brick $16,000 for rock
WP. Seitz $11,149 for brick
Cook & Maddrey $12,000 for brick 15,900 for rock

J. C. Forces $14,419 for brick

Donoho $12,900 for brick

After agreeing that Seitz and Cook and Maddrcy were the lowest bidders, the court was unable to make a decision as to which type of structure was to be built. They adjourned until June 7th at which time the final decision would be made.

At the June meeting William P. Seitz's bid was accepted for a brick structure and the next day Seitz filed his bond. At the same time the court continued to make temporary arrangements for the various county functions. They approved payment of $50 to the Baptist Church for using the church to hold court for one week by the district judge.

Detailed specifications for the construction were spelled out in Seitz's bond. The foundation was to be 27 inches thick, three feet under ground and one foot above. Bois d'arc and oak timbers were to he used for all the major support systems with pine used only for interior walls, ceiling, doors, door frames, and windows. Stairways were to be constructed of dressed pine except for the handrails
which were to he walnut. The plan also called for a cupola and "observatory” with the roof to be covered with a good grade of wooded shingles.

Howell also planned for some architectural Interest for the building by designing four entrances with double paneled doors and sidelights.
The exterior doors were to be "mahoganized" but all other exterior trim was to be painted with three coats of good white paint Heating was provided by four chimneys with one fireplace above and one below for each chimney.

Although the specifications provided for the exterior to be square "on each side" some latitude was evidently allowed the contractor for an old picture shows that a portico was constructed over each entrance with a white picket railing on top of each portico. Above each entrance the roof was constructed in such a manner as to provide a steep gable with a small porthole window immediately below the peak of the gable.

On December 26, 1859 Seitz and Stansell petitioned the court for two months additional construction time "because of the unusual cold and dry weather." The same petition also requested that the county pay the $1000 due them, by contract, when "the joists of the first floor are laid." The court approved both requests. On June 27, 1860 an additional $1000 was paid to Seitz for "completion of the walls of the courthouse."

A special building committee composed of Samuel A. Roberts, Sylvanus Howell, and A.E. Pace reported on October 10, 1860 that the courthouse was completed with some minor exceptions. The committee also reported that additional work was done by the contractor with the approval of the committee. In laying the foundation it was found to be necessary to dig deeper than had been specified. The contractor also built the building two feet higher and increased the height of the cupola by five feet and placed "spine and balls" on the top of the cupols. Additionally the fireplaces were constructed of stone and a walk way was constructed around the building. The committee recommended the payment of an additional $779.15 for this work, but they also found that weights and pulleys had not been attached to the windows and recommended the deduction of $174.10. After accepting the recommendations of the committee, the court took possesslon of the building and as the next order of business ordered that the county clerk and the surveyor move their offices to the courthouse.

Additions to the building were made over the next several months. On November 19, 1860 the court approved the expenditure of $73 for lightening rods to be Installed. In May, 1661 Samuel Galbraith was authorized to "employ some mechanic to make eight benches, such as are now in the courthouse, if they can be made for $3.50 each. Galbraith was also allowed $70.50 for expenses paid to Jolly for repairs to the cupola. The same building committee was appointed on August 19, 1861 to superintend a contract for building a bar for the district court room.

One unusual aspect concerning this 1860 courthouse was the use of the building and grounds authorized by the county officials over the next twenty years. Soon after completion of the building, the court rented a northwest room to T.L. Green for $6 per month for use as a law office. In February 1861 the southwest upstairs room was rented to J.B. Davis for $6 per month to be used as a law office and in 1862 R. H. Lane paid $6 per month for the use of another room. Probably the most unusual rental was in 1862 when T J. Gates rented a room at $2.50 per month for use as a shoe shop "except in time of court'" A Captain Benton rented a room in 1864 but its use was not specified in the records.

Bonham had no newspaper during the years of the Civil War and immediately after, but late in 1866 B. Ober, a newspaperman and minister came to Bonham and established a weekly publication called The Texas News. In January, 1867 the court rented a northwest corner room to Ober use as a printing office. This may well have been one of the few, if not the only, newspaper ever to be published a courthouse. Ober later sold the paper to the Ragsdale brothers and sometime in the early 1870's the name changed to The Bonham News.

The spacious grounds surrounding the courthouse must have also been a temptation to the county officials possible source of revenue. In January, 1868 the court authorized W H. Locke to build a markethouse on the southwest corner of the grounds and to occupy it for a period of five years.

By 1868 the court was renting rooms in the courthouse on a one year basis. From June 1,1860 leases were given to Charles D. Grace for $18 per month, William M. Woods for $16.50 per month, and F.D. Piner for $15 per month. By 1870 the fees had been raised and Grace and Piner paying $20 per month each. H. W. Lyday rented a large northwest corner room upstairs for $50 per month.

1870 - Bonham

In June, 1870 the court ordered that M. A Knight, presiding justice “be empowered to lease the several corners of the courthouse square to such persons as will build offices in said corners, the buildings to be built alike and leased for fifteen years, at which time the buildings become the property of the county." The records do not indicate any construction of this type until October, 1871 when James K. Blair was appointed a special commissioner to contract with Peter B. Maddrey for the construction of a market house on the northeast corner of the square.

On March 3, 1870 R. M. Lusk and James O. Chenoweth were given permission to construct offices on the grounds. Lusk's office was to be located on the northwest quarter fronted on the west by Main Street and on the north by Front Street (present day 5th Street). Chenoweth was allowed the southwest corner, fronted on the west by Main street and on the south by State Street (present day Sam Rayburn Drive). The court specified that each building was to be 28 feet by 16 feet and 9 feet in height with weatherboard exterior and shingle roof. There were to be six windows and the buildings well painted inside and out. From two years of the date of the construction agreement a substantial portico was to be constructed on the front of each building. Both men were also ordered to plant and cultivate a sufficient number of shade trees "to render the grounds pleasing and attractive to the view.” The lease further stales that both men were entitled to ownership and enjoyment of the premises for the next fifteen yeaars and at the expiration of the fifteen years the property shall become the property of said Fannin County. ”

The commissioners continued to make improvements to both the building and the grounds. In April 1876, J. H. Lyday was contracted to build a fence around the lawn. The photograph of the courthouse shows a white picket fence about three feet high surrounding the building on all four sides. In earlier records there is the mention of a public well on the southeast corner and at the April 1876 meeeting $5 was authorized for E. W. Thornton to provide a pump "for the public well in the courthouse yeard. "

In February, 1877 Smith Lippscomb was appointed a special commissioner to have a "water closet" built on the courthouse square for the good of the public. At that same meeting F. F. Ely was paid $1000 for building a fireproof room in the courthouse.

Maintenance and repair problems plagued the court from the late 1860s into the 1880's. At almost every term of court bills were approved and orders issued for repairs. In November, 1868 $500 was appropriated for repairs. In March 1869 Thomas Williams was appointed agent to repair the roof and walls of the courthouse, “the roof giving way and injuring the walls of same. In June. 1870 James K. Blair was appointed agent to have damages repaired “to the courthouse occasioned by the late storm."

By early 1877 the building was in need of extensive repairs and at the May term the court requested that S. B. Haggart draw up plans for remodeling the courthouse “roof, windows, etc. " At the next session a contract was awarded to Cameron and Moore of Sherman on a low bid of $6,280. The work was to be completed by January 1, 1878. An additional contract was awarded to Samuel Charles for plastering the brick walls inside the building for $540. In December the court ordered that all the fireplaces were to be closed and they also authorized the purchase of 6 stoves from Charles Davis at a cost of $87. At the February, 1878 term it was reported to the court that Cameron and Moore and Charles had completed the work on the building.

By early 1881 one of the more serious problems facing the commissioners was the lack of adequate space in the courthouse. In March of that year the court ordered the construction of an annex to contain the offices of the county and district clerks. On June 13, 1881 the court entered into an agreement with Ritenour and Wood of Sherman, architects, to draw plans and specifications for the building. In August the court authorized payment of $75 to the firm for the architectural drawings and at the same time awarded a construction contract to Powers and Davis for the sum of $6,390.74.

The specifications and plans for the building are not recorded in the records of the court but a photograph of the building shows the structure to be a two story affair placed diagonally across the northeast corner of the courthouse square. A part of the second story and cupola of the courthouse can be seen in the background. The building appears to be constructed of stone with tall arched windows and a large arched entryway. The roof is a semi mansard style with smaller arched windows running the entire width of the building.

In February 1882, the court allowed Davis and Powers $1000 for materials and part payment "for the clerks office now being built in the courthouse yard. At the April term, the building committee (unnamed) reported that the building had been finished according to the plans and specifications and that there appeared to have been some additional work performed in the amount of $707.28. The court ordered that the additional payment as well as the unpaid balance, due on the building, be awarded to Charles Davis for completion of the building.

Although the problems of space seem to have been solved with the construction of the new annex, the old courthouse continued to deteriorate. At the March, 1884 meeting of the court, W. D. McClellan was appointed a special commissioner to appoint a suitable "number of" skilled mechanics to examine the courthouse and report whether the same is in a safe condition and if unsafe to make recommendations." There is no report of the commissioner's recommendations in the court records and nothing else was done until March 1887. At that meeting of the court it was ordered that advertisements be placed in the Fort Worth Gazette, The Dallas News and other papers for submission of plans by architects for a new courthouse in Bonham.

One month later the court ordered that the old courthouse be advertised for sale and sold to the highest bidder. The day of the sale V.A. and J.H. Ewing were listed as high bidders and the court ordered them to remove the building before July 10, 1887 . Tradition says that much of the brickwork from this building was used by Ewings in the construction of some brick buildings on the east side of the square.

1888 - Bonham

Evidently the Ewings had lived up to the terms of their contract and removed the old courthouse by July, 1887. At the July term of court the commissioners authorized the payment of rent (amount unspecified) to David Rhine for the use of a room for the court. Rhine's store was located on the north side of the square and he probably rennted the second floor to the court.

Dodson and Dudley, architects, of Waco, were paid $2401 for drafting the plans for the new building at the August term of court and two days later the commissioners opened the submitted bids-on August 11th. The four bids received were

Aubrey, Solon, Laude $81,084.00
Ellis Moody & Co. 78,500.00
Kane & Cormack of Lampassas 77,000.00
Hood and McLeon 78,795.00

Hood and McLeon withdrew their bid and the contract was awarded to Kane and Cormack at which time they posted a bond in the amount of $30,000.

To finance the construction the court on August 13, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $75,000 at $1,000 each for a term of 15 years. The court ordered the county judge to fix the interest at the lowest rate.

The specifications of the construction were not entered as a matter of record, but the court ordered the county clerk to file them separately. Unfortunately these specifications have been lost although some of the blue prints are extant.

The building was three stories high surmounted by a tower and cupola. Arched doorways were on each of the four sides and above each door was a portico featuring a gabled roof supported by two stone columns on each side of the gable. These columns extended from the second floor to the roof line. From the ground to the second floor the columns were supported by large blocks of limestone. The windows on the first and second floors were rectangular with four to six lights while those of the third floor were topped with an arch and keystone. A stone block with the date 1888 was set just underneath the point of the gable over each door. Wrought iron railings ran across the portico at the base of the columns on the second floor. The tower supporting the cupola featured two stone columns at each corner supporting a stone pediment and encased at the bottom by a carved stone balustrade. Two arched windows were on each side of the tower.

The cupola was octagon shaped topped by a fish scale shingle roof. Between the tower and the cupola dome a clock face was installed on each of the four sides with the clock mechanism tied into a bell in the tower that rang on the hour and half hour. All the stone for the building was quarried southeast of Bonham near the community of Gober. Each block of the stone was hand dressed at the quarry before being transported to the construction site. The Bonham Daily Favorite reported that all the masons were imported from Scotland and greatly amused the citizens with their brogues, manners, and bagpipes!

The commissioners wrote to Constantine Lodge #13 in December, 1887 and requested that the lodge lay the cornerstone for the new building. The Bonham News of May 11, 1888 reported that the cornerstone had arrived earlier in the week and was being readied for the installation. The block of polished white marble weighed 3,300 pounds and was engraved with the names of the commissioners court, J.H. Kincaid, T.J. Patillo, G.W. Truss, P.P. Ridings,E.D. McClelland, district judge, R.M. Lusk, county judge, J.P. Moble, county clerk, J.W. Evans, sheriff, Dodson and Dudley, architects, and Kane and Cormack, builders. A photograph of the ceremony shows the stone being swung into place while a large crowd of spectators look on.

While the building was under construction the court still found it necessary to house the various bounty offices at different sites around the square. In February, 1888 rent was paid to Henry Levine for the use of a room in his building for the court and the county judge was also requested to contact the officials of the city f Bonham for permission to use the city hall for the commissioners court for the next term, "providing it can be used free of charge."

At that same meeting W.C. Bigham was appointed the local superintendent for the counrthouse construction and R.M. Lusk was authorized to sell the three office buildings in the courthouse yard. Bigham later resigned as G.W. Truss was appointed superintendent in his place.

Since the architect's plans called for the inclusion of a clock and bell in the cupola of the courthouse, the commissioners passed a resoultion at the August 1888 meeting that a suitable clock would be purchased as soon as funds were available. They solicited the help of the city government and the citizens of Bonham and received a pledge of $500 toward the purchase. Nine months later the records indicate that a contract for the installation of the clock and bell had been completed by the N.A. Williams Co. and the Seth Thomas Clock Company. A local jeweler, J.E. Murchert was hired to wind, oil, and regulate the clock for one year at $35.

Kane and Cormack appeared before the court in November, 1888 and asked for an extension of time to complete the work since adverse weather had slowed the construction. The court granted an extension to July 15, 1889. P.O. Riding was then appointed local superintendent of construction.

W.A. Bramlette, George W. Blair, and J.P. Noble were appointed as special commissioners to secure the necessary seats, fixtures, furniture, etc. at the February, 1889 term and the court authorized the issuance of an additional $10,000 in construction bonds for a total of $90,000 to complete the building. The court also requested the Constantine Lodge to plan the dedication ceremonies once the building was completed.

Early in May the court ordered that the clerk's offices on the northeast corner of the square be torn down and the material used to construct walks around the new building. On May 27th the court met to inspect the new courthouse. One hundred dollars was withheld from the contract until the terracotta tops for the chimneys were installed and they deducted $250 for the concrete flooring not being completed according to the contract. The building was then accepted and the contract settled.

The next several months saw expenditures in varying amounts for the purchase of such items as waste, baskets, cuspidors, bulletin boards and stoves. In November it was ordered that an electric light of 60 candle power be placed in the hallway of the lower story at the "commercial 10 o'clock rate." Just a few weeks before this order was issued, the Bonham Electric Light and Power company had completed the installation of its power generating plant and was in the process of wiring the town for electricity. In February, 1890 the court ordered that $61.78 of the courthouse fund be expended in purchasing a chandelier and electric light fixtures and having them installed in the courthouse. They also ordered that the sheriff have charge and control of the fixtures and keep a record of the burning time of the fixtures. In August $82 was paid to the Bonham Electric Light and Power Company for "lighting up the courthouse."

1930 - Bonham

The 1888 courthouse served the citizens of Fannin County well for forty years, but on December 29, 1929 a fire started in the cupola and quickly spread throughout the tower and the roof. In short order the entire top of the building was engulfed in flames and once the support timbers of the cupola had burned through the clock mechanism and bell crashed through to the lower floors.

An emergency called session of the court convened on January 1, 1930 and the court immediately set about finding new locations for the various county offices. The Spotts building was rented for $30 per month for one year to house the office of the tax assessor/collector. The second and third floors of the Russell and Semple building at the corner of 5th and Center streets were rented for $100 a month for as long as need to house the district court, the petit and grand jury rooms and offices for the sheriff and county judge. Arrangements were made for the commissioners court to meet in the Bonham city hall until otherwise ordered. At that same session a special resolution of thanks was issued thanking the fire departments of Paris, Honey Grove, and Leonard for their assistance in fighting the fire.

On January 25 the court ordered that a proposition be submitted to the voters of Fannin County for the issuance of construction bonds in the amount of $290,000 for the erection of a new courthouse and jail. The bond election was set for March 1. The court also ordered that Wyatt C. Hendricks, Inc. of Dallas be employed as architect for a 5% of construction cost fee to plan a new building. This contract was conditional on the acceptance of Sparger and Peters, of Bonham, as associate architects.

The canvass of the bond election was conducted on March 10 with a vote of 869 persons for the issuance of the bonds and 2191 against. Judge C.A. Wheeler was also authorized to settle the claim on the fire insurance in the amount of $45,000 and further ordered that the present courthouse be remodeled.

Bids for the remodeling were opened on May 12 and the following bids accepted:

Allen and Bragg for general contract $33,490

Morgan Electric Company for wiring and fixtures 1,176.70
W.F. Keithley for plumbing and gas 954.30

The contractors were given 100 working days to complete the contracts.

In June the court advertised for bids for a clock and bell system to be installed according to the architects specifications. On July 14, 1930 the bid of the Seth Thomas Clock Company,in the amount of $3914.30, was accepted as per the plans of Sparger and Peters, architects. Sparger and Peters were paid $890.50 as part of their fee as supervising architects.

The court inspected the building on November 10 and accepted the remodeling project without exception and also issued a resolution of thanks to the contractors for their speedy and efficient work.

The remodeling greatly altered the external appearance of the building. Gone were the cupola and clock tower, the steep gables and supporting stone columns over the porticos were removed and the roof was flattened. A slightly arched section of the roof line was positioned over each entrance and a clock installed in each arch. The exterior of the building was painted white. Some of the landscaping had been destroyed in fighting the fire although the decorative lights installed in 1916 and the Confederate monument erected in 1905 were undamaged. In February the court contracted with E.D. Haden to beautify the courthouse grounds with flowers and plants and to remove the old bandstand from the grounds.

In 1964 the commissioners decided that the 76 year old building was in need of modernization and a contract was awarded to B-F-W Construction Company of Temple for the remodeling procedure. All the windows and doors were replaced with aluminum and glass units and the exterior was sheathed in a neutral colored Lueders stone with green panels inserted beneath each window unit. All the original hand dressed stone and architectural details were covered to produce a squat boxy building with no distinguishing architectural features. Remodeling of the building cost just slightly under $500,000.

A dedication ceremony was held on October 20, 1966 with a special address given by John Connally, Governor of Texas.