  Dayton
B. Steed, Grayson County Judge was born near Collinsville, this county,
about 1870. His mother died when he was two years old and his
father before he reached the age of three; and his early life was beset
with the hardships which attend the life of an orphan country boy
without either money or friends. His boyhood days were spent hard at work on the farm, and it was not until he was almost grown the he realized the necessity of an education, but when he did he at once set about to secure it and by his own efforts he made his way through the country schools and through Baylor University, and afterwards studied law and began the practice of his profession at Whitesboro in 1899. He was elected County Judge of Grayson County in November1914, and upon entering upon the duties of his office, he at once set about to practice the same business rules and economy that had enabled him to climb from a penniless country boy to one of the highest positions of honor and trust within the gift of the people amongst whom he had been raised and labored. Soon after Judge Steed was elected County Judge, the question of a system of county roads, requiring the expenditure of one million dollars, was brought before the people. He stood fore square on the proposition that if the bonds were voted the roads should be built so as to give full value for the money, and so satisfactorily has this work been done under the direction of the court of which he was chairman, that a large number of his friendsin all parts of the county are insisting that he should be retained in the county judge's office, and the present public road policy which he has inaugurated should be continued until all the roads in the county are put in first-class condition, and subdivided into sections, and each section put under the care of a competent man with a definite policy of maintenance. During Judge Steed's administration, a definite policy of maintenace for all the good roads of this county has been inaugurated and funds provided for the up-keep of these roads, and Judge Steed maintains that this same policy should be applied to all the dirt roads of the county as well as the gravel or macadamized roads, and if the citizenship shall see proper to maintain him in office he pledges them to do all in his power to give Grayson County the best system of dirt roads as well as good roads of any county in Texas, and Judge Steed insists that the present policy which his court has heretofore and is now pursuing will in a few years give these results without any greater expenditure of taxation than now prevails. While Judge Steed works early and late in his office on the business affairs of the county, he always has time to hear the calls and claims of the poor, the unfortunate and the needy, and the change that has been wrought at the county farm under his administration is a work in which all good citizens of this county are greatly rejoiced, and for which they render to him and the commissioners a sincere "well done, good and faithful servants." The office of County Judge is one of the most important in the county, and it has been the purpose of Judge Steed to fulfill the trust bestowed on him without fear, favor or prejudice, and it is only upon his record in the past, personal and official, that his friends are asking consideration for his services for the public in the future. Source: The Sherman Courier, August 15, 1917, pg.27 (Fiftieth Anniversary Edition) Attorneys Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |