Sherman Democrat Centennial Edition
Section B
Page 11
Sunday, August 12, 1977
By Joan Ball

TOM BEAN - Like Nevada, Grayson County can lay partial claim to its eccentric, rich recluse in the man for whom the town of Tom Bean was named.
While Nevada's Howard Hughes is termed a billionaire, by today's standards Thomas C. Bean might have been as wealthy
- considering the thousands of acres of land he owned in Texas before the turn of the century.

THE MAN

Early records indicate that the man, Tom Bean, came to Texas in 1840 or 1842 as a surveyor, receiving land in return for
his services. He died in 1887 the same year that the town came into existence apparently having given the town site at an earlier date.
Tom Bean's obituary in Grayson and Fannin County newspapers was picked up by The Dallas Morning News and stated: "BONHAM - Mr. Tom Bean, the wealthiest and altogether the most eccentric man in Fannin County, died here yesterday, surrounded by the Negroes with whom he had lived for many years."
The eccentricy of Bean has been the cause of many stories about the bachelor which are still told around the town that bears his name. Although he is never known to have lived in the town itself he did live on land he owned nearby, moving back to Bonham before his death.

THE LEGEND

Bean is reported to have said that he had no family.
"I woke up one morning and found myself in a bean patch so I named myself Tom Bean," says the legend.
While Bean may have said he had no family, since his death almost 90 years ago, many persons have made inquiries into his real life and real estate holding in the hope of proving themselves heirs of the man who said he found himself in a bean patch.
Long-time Tom Bean residents tell of strangers knocking on their doors seeking information about their "ancestor" Tom Bean.
Legend says that Bean was generous although he lived in self-improved poverty and seclusion during his later years. His obituary adds that he would not sell of lease his land because he wanted to keep it unfenced "so poor people could graze their livestock on it."
Generous or not, Bean must have had an eye for business.

LOTS SOLD

Records in Grayson County show that from the 1890's until the early 1900's, lots in Tom Bean were sold by H.P.Howard
and J.L.Hume, administrators of his estate, indicating that Bean reserved hundreds of lots to sell when he gave the
town's site.
A story still told around Tom Bean concerns ladies who were urging Bean to attend what was called a "protracted"
meeting in those days.
Bean declined by saying, "Not tonight, not tonight."
"But Mr. Bean don't you want to go to heaven?" exclaimed one of the ladies.
"Not tonight, not tonight," replied the stoic Bean.
A rumor that has persisted through the years is that Bean came to Texas to escape a "shotgun wedding" with the daughter of a prominent judge. While unprovable, the Bean Family Association holds the story as truth and adds that young Tom left Sandwich, N.H. as a result.

MURDER RUMOR

Another rumor said that he was wanted for murder and changed his name when he came to Texas.
A Bean family in Alabama, claiming to be relatives, reports that Tom was the son of a Hessian soldier who fought against the colonists during the American Revolution.
Still another story says that Tom's mother was half-Indian, explaining his one blue eye and one brown eye and perhaps
his ____ about disclosing his early life.
More than 100 persons, including an Eastern woman who said she was his illegitimate daughter, tried to claim the Bean estate which included 25,000 acres of land in Grayson County alone.

Mystery Man

With that much land it may be true that Tom boasted that he could ride from Bonham to Austin and never get off his own land.
A mystery man to the end, Bean's Bible contained birth records but only for the Negroes with whom he lived.
The estate was still in litigation as late as 1938 and finally became the property of the state when no family ties could be established.


THE TOWN

The new town with its railroad attracted population from Whitemound which never regained its standing as a trade center.
The first general merchandise store in Tom Bean was operated by W.H. and H.A. Lackey of the Lackey family that first settled at Whitemound in 1849.
Other early business establishments were operated by J.H.Simmons, "Pap" Shively, W.W.Arnold, W.T.Francis, S.A.Frisby, H.H.Stark, Mrs. A.B.Firquin and Mrs. W.S.Baxter.
J.F. "Uncle Jim" Davis and his wife, "Aunt Nervie," operated one of two hotels for many years. Many traveling men of the day arranged their trips so they could stay at the Tom Bean Hotel to enjoy "Aunt Nervie's cooking."

DIFFERENT

A eulogy written about "Uncle Jim" at his death in 1921 at the age of 81 calls him a man "true to the Lord, His Word, His church."
A Davis son, also named Jim, operated a drug store in Tom Bean and was known to be "different", if not as eccentric as
the man Tom Bean.
Present-day family members recall that the druggist, a born practical joker and not always known as "true to the Lord," wore a coat all summer and went in his shirt sleeves all winter - just to be different.
His pranks were widely known but did not deter residents from depending upon him for relief of their illnesses.
Said a great-nephew, "He was as good as a doctor when we didn't have one."

BETTER PASS

A story told about Young Jim is that he once requested someone to "pass the biscuits" at the crowded hotel table. When no one heard him he slammed his six-shooter on the table and said loudly, "I said pass the biscuits." He got quick response.
T.C.Curtis published the Tom Beans Times, a weekly newspaper, until his death. Sam Bryant succeeded Curtis and the paper was published until the 1930's before bowing to the day's economics.
In the 1920's, Tom Bean was a trade center for a wide area with several grocery stores, a dry cleaners, a furniture store, a real estate office, a tire company, a gasoline and oil dealer, a cotton gin, several mercantile stores, a barber shop, an insurance office, a lumber yard, a blacksmith, a meat market, a grain company, a barber shop and a carpenter shop.

STILL OPERATING

The oldest existing business is the bank which was chartered in 1906 as the Tom Bean State Bank with Dr. William Jackson as president. The bank was nationalized in 1917 and is now know as the First National. It holds the record of being one of the few banks in the country that did not close during the big depression of the 30's.
Once reached by circuitous routes through Ida, Luella or Howe, Tom Bean is now easily reached from Sherman on State Highway 11 which lies over the Cotton Belt Railroad bed which was responsible for the town's being.
Businesses in Tom Bean have felt the "pinch" of progress as automobile travel has made larger trade centers such as Sherman, Denison, Bonham and Dallas ever easier to reach.
Essential services such as gas, oil and groceries are available but no general merchandise stores are now locate in Tom Bean.

OTHER LEGENDS

Although no longer a trade center, the town of Tom Bean, like the man, has other legends whether glamorous or not.
A man once asked the route to Tom Bean at a Sherman Business.
"I've been all over the world," he said "and every crap game' I've ever been in has included someone from Tom Bean -
I just want to see it."
Told the story, a latter day Tom Bean native added, "It's produced more "characters" per capita, including me, than any place in the world."
Perhaps it's the Tom Bean legend that must be upheld.