© 2009-2012 Bob Shrader

ScrantonTexas.org has been my labor of love since 1998, when I put it online for anyone to see and, hopefully, enjoy. This updated version which you're reading now was in the works for almost two years. It was my intent to take advantage of advances in web programming to place a greater emphasis on pictures in this new version. Competition for my time and some of the labor-intensive work involved delayed the project. But it's now online even though I will be adding new material from time to time. To begin this venture back in 1998, I relied on previously written materials including Eastland County Cemeteries (Cawyer, 1974), Eastland County: Gateway to the West (1989), Eastland County Texas (Ghormley, 1969), The Handbook of Texas Online, I Remember Callahan (1986), History of Eastland County (Cox 1950), and History of Eastland County, Texas  (Langston, 1904). I Remember Callahan was of particular importance because it was a comprehensive preservation of oral histories of pioneer families throughout the county, including the Callahan County side of the Scranton Community. There was much more documentation on the Scranton Academy available from family and private sources. This included actual academy catalogs and many pictures from that time. When I was piecing together the story of Scranton schools after the academy, I made a public records request to the Cisco Independent School District (which absorbed SISD when it closed) to access the trustee minutes and other records of Scranton Schools. However, the district superintendent produced records that would fill no more than two file folders, saying he could not find any more Scranton records. It is a tragedy if disregard for the history of a community has resulted in permanent loss of those records. I hope to be able to pursue this issue at a later date. I spent time in the Texas State Library here in Austin where records of pre- twentieth century schools in Callahan County are housed. A review of those records provided valuable insight into not only schools of the period but also early settlement of the western part of the Scranton Community. Early Eastland County school records remain to be reviewed, but I have yet to pinpoint where those old records are stored. I certainly hope this is not another case of caretakers failing to protect these public documents of history. The United States Census records were an invaluable tool to assist in

plotting family migration and in identifying just who lived in Precinct 6, Eastland County and Precinct 8, Callahan County, the two precincts in which Scranton is located, in the years prior to 1930. The Internet is the source of choice today for cemetery records, but most of the online inventories for cemeteries in Eastland County are old, dating back to the 1970s, and very little appears to have been done to get the cemeteries online in Callahan County. My wife and I have actually inventoried all of the active cemeteries in the Scranton area and any updated information is reflected on this website. In addition I am now photographing all the tombstones in the Scranton area, placing them online when processed. My special thanks to Mary Bob Leveridge, Evelyn Couch Bailey, Helen Ray Brashear, Lewis Morgan, David Boland, Don Starr, Bobbie Spink Taylor, Dave Ledbetter, Gerald Parks, Mark Ray, Morrell Ray, Robert Gattis, Thelma Sellers, Ed Stuart, Marie Starr, Lee Starr, Richard Purvis, Ruth Ray, Ruby Stuart Reep, James and Jackie Reese, Don Slatton, Ruth Ledbetter Snoddy, Gladys Ledbetter Andrews, Goldie Starr, Ruthie Mae Ledbetter, Lynn Reese and many others, who over the years, have provided documents, pictures or fodder for the stories reported here. I grew up during a time when the population of Scranton was continuing its decline because the economic model on which its growth was centered no longer applied. Successful farming practices were moving away from the small, family-based farm to a large agribusiness with thousands of acres of land and a multi-million-dollar capital investment. Despite our problem of a declining enrollment when I was in school in Scranton, we continued to have caring teachers who could inspire and challenge. My Scranton heritage included knowing the importance of keeping my word, of working harder than the competition, but also treating people with respect. I left here with a natural curiosity tempered with a bit of skepticism that has served me well in my career as a broadcast journalist and educator. I'm proud to call Scranton home. -- Bob Shrader 2011