1854-1857
The Homestead Law of 1854 was passed in Texas, declaring all unsettled land to be
a part of the public domain and open for preemption settlement. In that year the
first permanent settlers reached this section and our ancestor, Berry Lewis Ham,
was one of the first to arrive in what would become Jack County.

The land had undulating timber and prairie land with valleys traversed by the West
fork of the Trinity River and also by the tributaries of the Brazos River. There
was an abundance of water from surface shallow wells and artesian sources. The
prairie was covered with sedge and mesquite grasses, which made it a fine cattle
country. The mild climate made feeding necessary only in the midwinter months.
Timber growth was varied, with pecans furnishing a large nut crop and the soil was
very fertile. There were also extensive mineral resources such as coal, asphalt,
potter\u2019s clay, and limestone.

Berry Lewis and Dorcas Matilda Ham were born in Ellis County, near Ennis, Texas.
They grew up, were married and were the parents of eight children: six girls and
two boys. In 1854, B.L. moved to Jack County. In 1855 he brought his family there
from Ellis County. They lived six miles west of Jacksboro.

Berry Lewis was among the first commissioners who bargained for the Jack County
Court House, a crude building with a buffalo hide for the door. He was also among
the number voting in the first Jack County election in 1857. The Butterfield
Overland mail route\u2019s first stop was at Ham Springs, located near the Ham
residence and on Ham land and B. L. kept the Butterfield Stage Station. All eight
of the children grew up in Jack County, married and reared their families in Jack
County.

A number of Negro slaves were living in Jack County before their freedom was
proclaimed in 1863. B.L. Ham owned one of these slaves, a woman about twenty-five
years of age. She was furnished a log cabin room a few feet from the house. She
helped with the raising of the Ham children and was a highly regarded person by
the family.

Supposedly, B. L. Ham was buried in a graveyard near the Ham home and on
Lawrance (neighbors) land. The only way this graveyard is now discernible is by a
rock fence and piles of rocks where the graves were. Several members of the Ham
family and the Lawrance family were buried in there. Dorcas Matilda Ham was
buried in Oakwood Cemetery in 1909-1910.

The children of Berry Lewis Ham and Dorcas Matilda Ham were: Evie (married
John Simpson);Jeanette (married Colonel. H.J. Thompson); Elizabeth (married Jim
Jones); Martha (married J.W. Bailey); Jane (married Wyatt); Virginia (married
Arch Pascall); Jim (married Carrie Farrer); Abner Lewis (Married (1st Cherokee
Wilson, (2nd) Mary Susan Bryant).