Judge Fox Became "Walking History of Moore County"
Ezelle Fox
An immigrant train brought Ezelle Fox and his family to Moore County when he was only six weeks old. He remained to make Moore County his home for 77 years and became a "walking history" of the county.
Ezelle was the oldest son of J. W. and Myrtle Fox who came to Moore County in 1903 on an immigrant train from Falls County, Texas. The families' household items, farming equipment, wagon and teams were all loaded in one car and the family traveled in a passenger car.
They settled on land west of Dumas. Wylie Fox, a brother of J. W.'s was already in Moore County and in the early 1900s was a Moore County Tax Assessor. He was in the horse and cattle business in a partnership with John Geary. He also worked for the LIT Cattle Company and later as sheriff and Dumas postmaster.
An article in the News Press in 1972 referred to the "attraction of the fertile, low-priced Plains land" that brought many settlers. Much of the land was still open for filing and up to four sections could be claimed. A number of large Moore County land holdings started this way. The family lived in a dugout (built by someone else), then built a two room house connected to the dugout. Both the dugout and the addition had dirt floors.
When Ezelle reached school age, he attended a Dumas school located in the 200 block of Dumas Avenue on the west side of the street. J. W. and Myrtle moved to Floyd County in 1920 and lived there for 10-12 years before returning to Moore County.
But after a few weeks, Ezelle left the family at age 16 and returned to Dumas in the summer of 1921 when he heard about a new two-story school being built. In the early part of the summer, he worked for a harvest crew for J. H. Gruver who owned several sections of wheat land. The town of Gruver was named after J. H. Gruver.
Later in the summer, he hitched a ride from Gruver back to Dumas where he found a job as a mechanic for Tom Snell. According to Ezelle, "Mr. Snell was a thorough mechanic. Everything had to fit just right in the engine we worked on." Snell also sold some cars and his garage sold gas and air for tires.
A trucking job in Oklahoma attracted Ezelle for a few months, but he returned to Dumas where he and Fannie Ruth McFarlin were married in June of 1925. Fannie died almost four years later, leaving two small daughters, Betty and Anna.
Ezelle worked for several years for Earl Thompson and Company, a general store. Moore County had about 3,000 residents at that time. The county had a growth surge in the late 1920s with the discovery of some natural gas. The Santa Fe railroad was making plans to extend its route through Moore County and a bridge was being built over the Canadian River between Dumas and Amarillo.
Ezelle was the oldest son of J. W. and Myrtle Fox who came to Moore County in 1903 on an immigrant train from Falls County, Texas. The families' household items, farming equipment, wagon and teams were all loaded in one car and the family traveled in a passenger car.
They settled on land west of Dumas. Wylie Fox, a brother of J. W.'s was already in Moore County and in the early 1900s was a Moore County Tax Assessor. He was in the horse and cattle business in a partnership with John Geary. He also worked for the LIT Cattle Company and later as sheriff and Dumas postmaster.
An article in the News Press in 1972 referred to the "attraction of the fertile, low-priced Plains land" that brought many settlers. Much of the land was still open for filing and up to four sections could be claimed. A number of large Moore County land holdings started this way. The family lived in a dugout (built by someone else), then built a two room house connected to the dugout. Both the dugout and the addition had dirt floors.
When Ezelle reached school age, he attended a Dumas school located in the 200 block of Dumas Avenue on the west side of the street. J. W. and Myrtle moved to Floyd County in 1920 and lived there for 10-12 years before returning to Moore County.
But after a few weeks, Ezelle left the family at age 16 and returned to Dumas in the summer of 1921 when he heard about a new two-story school being built. In the early part of the summer, he worked for a harvest crew for J. H. Gruver who owned several sections of wheat land. The town of Gruver was named after J. H. Gruver.
Later in the summer, he hitched a ride from Gruver back to Dumas where he found a job as a mechanic for Tom Snell. According to Ezelle, "Mr. Snell was a thorough mechanic. Everything had to fit just right in the engine we worked on." Snell also sold some cars and his garage sold gas and air for tires.
A trucking job in Oklahoma attracted Ezelle for a few months, but he returned to Dumas where he and Fannie Ruth McFarlin were married in June of 1925. Fannie died almost four years later, leaving two small daughters, Betty and Anna.
Ezelle worked for several years for Earl Thompson and Company, a general store. Moore County had about 3,000 residents at that time. The county had a growth surge in the late 1920s with the discovery of some natural gas. The Santa Fe railroad was making plans to extend its route through Moore County and a bridge was being built over the Canadian River between Dumas and Amarillo.