County of House: Deaf Smith County
Location of House: 515 Union Ave., Hereford
Marker Erected by: Texas Historical Commission
Date Marker Erected: 1979
The People:
"ALEX O. THOMPSON, 1902
"Meet 'Mr. Hereford'
"To many people in Deaf Smith County and throughout the High Plains area, Alex O. Thompson was "Mr. Hereford." Indicative of the universal appeal of his cherry personality was that he was known simply as Alex by everyone, ranging from his own grand-children to the community's most staid citizens.
"His father, Alex J. Thompson, had bought land 16 miles north-east of Hereford through a brother-in-law, J. F. Morris of Gainesville, in 1901. In May 1902, young Alex O. Thompson and a friend, Bill Hill, started for the Panhandle in a covered wagon pulled by a span of mules. They arrived on June 13, when "no two of the wooden sidewalks in four-year-old Hereford were the same height and Main Street was a maze of wagon ruts and chug holes."
"An attractive member of the first Hereford High School class presented diplomas on formal graduation rites in May 1906, was Audrey Argo. Young Alex Thompson took note of the young lady who had come here the year before with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Argo. A short time later they were introduced during the ride by special train car to the annual reunion of old settlers in Canyon.
"During the following school year, both young people shared the community, church, and school activities high-lighted by the Friday evening "literary society" programs at the college, where they both were enrolled. Refreshments were served in the girls' dormitory following the program; then couples and groups strolled home talking of songs by Louella Howard and elocution by Lela Gregg.
"Audrey Argo and Alex O. Thompson were married in the home of her parents on Thanksgiving Day, 1909. During the years when they were rearing their two daughters - Margaret (Mrs. A. J.) Schroeter and Ruby (Mrs. Troys) Carmichael - the couple shared the Thompson family home with his mother, "Aunt Jennie" Thompson, and his aunt, "Aunt Jessie" Morris. They built their own home in 1948.
"Thompson served as Sunday school superintendent at the First Baptist Church here for 39 years; he was awarded a certificate for having served in that capacity with one church longer than any other man in Texas. He was a charter member of the Lions Club and served as president of the school board at one time. He served as county clerk from 1914 to 1921 then operated the A. O. Thompson Abstract Company from 1925 until his death in 1956. The business still is operated by members of his family.
"As recognition of his work in helping establish each of five Baptist missions in the county, the Mexican mission bears his name.
"Mrs. Thompson, the two daughters and their families also have been active in many phases of the county's cultural life. Mrs. Thompson is a charter member of the Hereford Music Study Club, and she and both daughters are past presidents of the club. Both Mrs. Thompson and Miss Morris were awarded 50-year pins of Eastern Star.
"For 37 years Audrey Thompson has been arranging flowers for the Baptist Church, raising many of them herself. She served as superintendent of the intermediate department for 10 years and the young people's department for 22 years in the First Baptist Church Sunday School. She is the only charter member of the Hereford Garden Club who has held continuous membership since its organization.
"Eliza Jane Morris was born Dec. 6, 1857 in Collin County, Tex., and was married to Alex J. Thompson in 1871 in Cooke County, Tex. He died at Hereford in 1907, and she died in Amarillo on June 3, 1955. Their son Alex O. Thompson, was born Feb. 5, 1883, in Gainesville. An older son, Edwin Morris Thompson, remained in Gainesville, where he died a few months before his mothers' death.
"Miss Jessie Morris, a sister of "Aunt Jennie" Thompson, came to live here with the Thompsons in 1905 and devoted her life to making others happy. She died in April 1962." ~ Genealogy Trails
"The following year Alex Thompson (1883-1956) bought the house and then sold it to his mother Jennie Thompson in 1908. Thompson, his wife Audrey (Argo), and their two daughters lived here with his mother and her sister Jessie Morris." ~ Historic Marker Text
The Place:
"Aunt Jennie" and "Aunt Jessie" nursed patients and helped deliver babies in this home until a hospital was erected in 1924. District judges, court reporters, students, Baptist preachers and singers boarded here. The Thompson family were leaders in church and community affairs." ~ Historic Marker Text
This house is a two story frame with side gables. 3 bays wide in the front and 3 bay deep. There is one dormer, and a brick foundation.
The porch is quarter front of house, with shed roof, and three brick based square wood columns to support the roof. The front door has a glass storm door outside the main entrance door, which is wood. The front elevation displays two 1/1 windows. The first floor window being larger than the upper. On the porch is a small 1/1 window with all three having wood sills. The side elevation is eclectic. The rear shows an addition that does not fit smoothly in the frame.