William Thatcher Baker, Sr. 1830-1884
Ohio was named by the late William Thatcher Baker, father of Dr. Charles C. Baker, Sr., for his native state, Ohio. William Thatcher Baker was born 10 October, 1830, in Licking County, OH. On 10 August, 1877, William T. Baker purchased 320 acres of land nine miles south of Hamilton from A. E. Fort for $640. His two oldest sons, Jim and Francis, were sent to oversee the building of a new house to which the family moved. Mr. Baker also built a store.
James Artemas "Jim" Baker 1859-1917
When William Thatcher Baker was appointed postmaster on 4 May, 1882, and he named the post office Ohio. His salary as postmaster was $4.00 per year. Mail delivery was once a week to Mr. Baker’s store. Mail service improved to twice a week in 1883. William T. Baker died on 12 August, 1884, and Ramer Gooch purchased Baker’s store and moved the store and the Post Office of Ohio from the Plum Creek location three miles south to the village which had sprung up around James A. Carter’s mill on the Cowhouse and thence, the village at Carter’s Mill became known as Ohio. The Ohio Post Office closed 30 October, 1920, when mail service was moved to Evant. The second location of Ohio was 11 ½ miles southeast of Hamilton.
The picture of the Hogg Ranch House is from the July 22, 2004 issue of The Hamilton Herald-News. Sent to The Hamilton Herald-News by Elizabeth Grahame, of Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms. Grahame is the granddaughter of James C. K. Hogg.
In 1874the brothers, Archie and James C. K. Hogg, arrived in Hamilton County, TX, from Scotland and bought 4,000 acres of land on the Cowhouse. Before 1900 the Hogg Ranch was divided into smaller tracts and the brothers returned to Scotland.
Other early Ohio settlers were the families of Clint Owens, Wm. B. Ballard, James N. Billingsley, J. J. Ray, Sterling Gooch, Sam Stiles, M. N. Elam, Sr. and the Handys, Rhoads, Parrishs, Boyds, Hedgepeths, Blairs Hamptons and Pattersons. Sam Stiles purchased a 1500 acre ranch near Ohio in 1875. In 1879 Stiles built a nice home with lumber being hauled from Waco. The Stiles home then became the social center of the community.
From about 1886 to 1920 Ohio had a cotton gin, a flour and corn mill, a post office, drugstore, blacksmith shop, a woodsman lodge, and a few retail businesses. Electricity came to the Ohio community in the 1940’s. The general store at Ohio closed in 1943. Live Oak SchoolPlum Creek and Carter’s Mill on the Cowhouse opened in the 1880’s. Live Oak School was located on the property now occupied by Live Oak Cemetery. In 1871 Henry Jones Carter sold his property at Ohio to J. M. Owens and moved to Blue Ridge. located about half way between Ohio on
No traces of the village of Ohio remain. FM 1241 runs through the Ohio Community which was located east of the Live Oak Cemetery on County Road 424 and west of the Liberty Community at County Road 420.
Ohio Singing School, 1904 submitted by Norene Brian Walls
More About the Ohio Community
