Elected in 1852: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton; District Clerk, A. H. Abney; County Treasurer, D. F. Brancroft; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco.
Elected in 1854: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.
Elected in 1856: Judge, J. M. Simpson; Sheriff, Alexander Earp; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.
Elected in 1858: (Same as in 1856).
Elected in 1860: Judge, J. M. Simpson; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Surveyor, W. W. Corrie; Assessor-Collector, James R. White; Sheriff, Leander J. Daniel.
Mr. R. G. (Gus) Warren, who was the father of the late Judge Jim Warren, served Upshur County as county clerk, longer than any other man ever served as county officer in this county. Many of the other men mentioned above have relatives here yet. In 1857 there were about 2,300 Negro slaves in Upshur County and they were valued at $1,130,960.00, that is, they were worth about $500 each. A Negro between the ages of 18 and 25 sometimes brought from $1,000 to $1,500. Negro girls were worth more than boys. They were bought and sold more often than boys. The girls were bought more as wives than the boys were for husbands. The country was new and was being settled rapidly and slaves were hard to get and were therefore very valuable.
At the same time, there were only 465 poll taxes paid in the county, which shows that the slaves probably outnumbered the whites. Money on deposit then was $22,275.00. How does that compare with three or four million at the present time? They did not have automobiles then, and did not need much money.
Postoffices in Upshur County in 1857 were at Coffeeville, Earpville, Gilmer, Calloway, Hopewell, Pinetree, Pittsburg and Red Rock.
Some Early Settlers of Gilmer
W. Boyd and A. B. Denton, brothers-in-law, came to Texas in 1840. They first settled down near the Sabine River, but later moved to a location on Hoover Spring Branch about ten miles south of Gilmer. Sometime during the Civil War they moved to the little town of Gilmer. Mr. Boyd put in a beer and pool hall somewhere about the southeast corner of the present square. This is where Mr. Boyd got his start in business. His business grew with the town, however, and he became one of the leading business men of Gilmer, and remained in business till his death. Mr. Denton also played an important part in the development of Gilmer and Upshur County. Mrs. Fannie E. Mitchell, a widow, Tom Mitchell’s mother, came to Upshur County from Alabama in 1866 and settled in Gilmer. Her father, J. B. Norman, was already here teaching music, and she came to assist him in this work.