Charles Malcom McGregor is my maternal
Grandfather. He was born in Waco Texas, the son
of Dr. Gregor Carmichael McGregor, and Ana
Portia Fortran of Industry, Texas.
The McGregors were Scottsmen who migrated to
North Carolina and then to Texas. Dr. McGregor
graduated from a New York Medical school and
then came to Texas where he met and married Ana
Portia Fortran. Through his work as a physician
as well as inheritance from his father he was
able to buy various pieces of land in
Texas. The town of McGregor is named after him
since he bought land in that area. In Haskell
County he purchased land, (approximately 2,400
acres) in the far north west part of the county.
His son, Charles Malcom, who was a wonderful
artist, went to Royal Bavarian Art Academy in
Munich Germany to study art. There he met and
married Juliana Hoover. After Dr. McGregor's
death in Waco, Texas, Charles Malcom received
word that he should return to America to claim
his inheritance which included the Haskell
County Ranch/Farm.
Charles came to Haskell with his wife Juliana in
about 1898. Assuming the role of land owner he
began to make many improvements on the land so
that it could be properly farmed. He built 13
houses and divided the land into small workable
tracts for many tenant farmers who would work
the land for portions of the crops raised. Each
family had a cow, pigs, chickens and other
things needed to sustain them as they farmed
their part of the land. They plowed with mules
or horses until the advent of the tractor and
had to depend strictly upon rainfall for
watering their crops of corn, cotton, and maze.
Charles and Juliana built their own home on the
ranch and had to use a horse and buggy to come
to Haskell or one of the other small towns that
sprang up, to buy supplies.
Juliana had already had the first of her five
children (Karl) while still in Germany. Knowing
that Karl would not have access to schools and
speaking German, they decided he would stay with
Juliana's parents until he was out of school.
Coming to Haskell was certainly a
shock for Juliana, a refined European city girl.
My mother, Irene McGregor, was the last child
born to Charles and Juliana, born in a home that
was standing on the edge of the canyons of the
Salt Fork of the Brazos River. A family
picture of that young girl shows her sitting on
the porch of their ranch home. She had but her
dog, Gravy, and chickens to play with since her
brother, six years older, was sent away to
school. My mother wrote a book, "My
Little Mom", containing many of her thoughts and
the adventures she experienced during her early
years, and focused on the hardships that her
mother Juliana endured as a pioneer wife and
mother in Haskell County. When Irene became of
school age, the McGregors moved from the ranch
home to one in the town of Haskell.
This house is still standing and has been
renovated in recent years.
Click here to see a picture of
Charles and Juliana standing in front of their
house in Haskell.
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