from Wheatheart of the Plains:
An Early History of Ochiltree County, pp. 68-69.

       In 1836 Texas won her independence from Spain and was established as a republic. Texas was admitted to the union in 1845 and on August 21, 1876 Ochiltree County was created as a county 30 miles square. It was added to Clay County for judicial purposes. In 1879, having been marked off on the map with boundaries, it was attached to Wheeler County. It remained a part of Wheeler County until it was officially organized in 1889.

      The town of Ochiltree was the county seat from1889 to 1919. On April 16, 1890, the County Judge was instructed to advertise for bids on a frame Court House, two stories high to cost about $3,000.00. On June 17, 1890, the contract was awarded to Mr. F. M. Stewart who submitted plans and a bid of $3,100.00.

      Ochiltree County was named in honor of a Confederate officer, Colonel William Beck Ochiltree, born October 18, 1811 in Cumberland County, North Carolina. He came to Texas in 1840. He settled at Nacodoches where he practiced law. He was one of the justices of the Supreme Court, of the Republic of Texas. Other significant dates and activities include:

• 1842 appointed one of the judges of the District Court, Republic of Texas

• 1844 appointed Secretary of the Treasury, Republic of Texas

• 1845 transferred to office of Attorney General and elected to constitutional convention of the State of Texas

• 1846 appointed judge of the District Court of Texas

• 1855-56 member of House of Representatives, State of Texas

• 1861 elected to State Constitutional Convention/Secession Convention and elected member of the Provisional Congress, Confederate States of America

        At the close of his service in the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy he raised an infantry regiment and went into the military service of the Confederacy, as Colonel, which position he resigned due to ill health in 1863. He died in December 1867 at age 56. For a period of thirty years his name was closely connected with the history of Texas.     

      The original home of the Ochiltrees was in Ayrshire Scotland. It was the habit in Scotland to designate people by their lands. This name originated with Lord Stewart of Ochiltree in 1542. It seems most of the Ochiltrees in the United States are descendents of those who arrived in 1739. Due to the original source of the name it seems that it is also safe to assume that all people bearing the name Ochiltree are related.
published in 1969

 
An Early History of Ochiltree County

Museums of the Plains
Hwy 83/ North
Perryton, TX 79070
806-435-6400