Colonel James A. Stinson  12-23-06

Col. James A. Stinson came to Wood County in 1868 and first settled near the community of Forest Hill. He had served in the Confederate Army and, according to his great grandson, Dr. David L. Stinson of Mt. Vernon, Texas, his great grandfather came to Wood County from Georgia at the end of the Civil War.

Col. Stinson’s grandfather was a brother of Governor Gabriel Johnston of North Carolina. Stinson bought extensive timber and farm land in the eastern area of Wood County, about 14 miles east of Quitman, the county seat.

The beautiful spacious home he built, probably in 1869, was still standing as of 1967. He was known as an early day scientific farmer and both prosperous and respected. Stinson was gentle in character and devoted in his religious beliefs. He at times served as a Methodist minister.

Stinson operated a large sawmill by water power, which he enclosed with a tall, solid slab fence to protect his workers from cold north winds. He was noted as a very progressive thinker and was a great scholar of government. His daughter Sallie married James Stephen Hogg at the Stinson home on April 22nd, 1874.

Historians credit Stinson with having a great influence on Gov. Hogg’s approach to good government. He was an active county and state judge, often holding grange meetings in his home.

After the Civil War, in the Reconstruction period, all levels of Texas government were controlled by republicans, largely northerners, and in the opinion of the Texans, scalliwags and scoundrels. Col. Stinson was one of the Grange leaders. Through this farm organization, he was instrumental in the process of wresting control of government from these people and returning it to the people of Texas.

These facts concerning Col. James A. Stinson were researched from various sources by E.A. Spacek, Chairman – Wood County Historical Survey Committee – Jan. 1967.