Jowell, George Radcliffe, Sr. (1840–1912)

George Radcliffe (sometimes spelled Ratcliff) Jowell, Sr., cattleman, civic leader, pioneer, and Texas Ranger, was born on March 8, 1840, in Marion County, Alabama, to James Abercrombie Jowell and Tabitha Paralee (Jowell) Jowell. His mother belonged to a different branch of the Jowell family. The Jowells departed from Marion County in 1844 and moved to the Republic of Texas, where they established their residence in Rusk County for ten years. George’s father served in the Mexican War. In 1855 the Jowell family migrated from Rusk County to the Texas northwestern frontier and settled in what became Palo Pinto County and engaged in the cattle industry. In the mid-1850s many settled in present-day Palo Pinto County, and ranchers were attracted to the open land with abundant grazing. Jowell was raised in Rusk and Palo Pinto counties, and in the 1860 census, twenty-year-old George R. Jowell was listed as a day laborer living on his father’s farm. The region suffered from periodic raids by Comanches, Apaches, Wacos, and other groups, and on January 19, 1861, Jowell enlisted as a second corporal in Lt. Christopher C. Slaughter’s Ranger company. He served for more than three months before his discharge on April 23, 1861. Slaughter married Jowell’s sister, Cynthia Ann, in Palo Pinto County the following December.

During the Civil War, Jowell enlisted in Palo Pinto County on February 1, 1862, for a three-year term serving under David B. Cleveland, whose cavalry unit later became Company F of the Thirty-fourth Texas Cavalry. In 1864 Jowell was appointed brigade printer and served in Louisiana and Arkansas until the war ended in 1865. Some secondary sources suggest he was in the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, and he rose from private to first lieutenant, a rank he held upon returning to Palo Pinto County.

After the war, Jowell returned to Palo Pinto County and established the Joly Ranch. On Christmas Day in 1870, he married Leanna Tennessee Dobbs in Palo Pinto County. The couple had up to six children that lived to adulthood. They settled in a two-room log cabin on the ranch, fifteen miles from Palo Pinto town. Jowell Creek in western Palo Pinto County is named after G. R. Jowell. Jowell's ranch prospered, and he worked alongside other cattlemen to drive herds to Kansas and Missouri. Family stories tell of a trail drive to Kansas City in 1872 and that American Indians set fire to the cabin while Jowell was away. The cabin was destroyed, and, upon returning, Jowell decided to construct a stronger home for the safety of his family. While staying with neighbors (the Henry Belding family, George R. Jowell bought a 494-acre tract of land for $1,000 on September 16, 1874, to construct his new home and the Joly Ranch on Bluff Creek, situated sixteen miles northwest of Palo Pinto. He hired a stonemason to build a two-story stone house on his new property.   Using locally sourced limestone, imported sandstone, and other materials, they built a rugged structure that included rifle slits above the front door. The house allowed the family to retreat upstairs during attacks by providing a pull-up ladder for safety. A trapdoor in the first-floor ceiling offered a quick escape, and a wooden exterior staircase was later added. The Joly Ranch complex, which included the house, cooler, cisterns, and well, formed a self-sustaining compound.

In the 1880 agricultural census, Jowell recorded an inventory of 2,000 acres of unimproved land in Palo Pinto County, with ten acres around the ranch complex designated as improved or cleared. From the surrounding grassland, he harvested six tons of hay each year. His operation included four horses; two mules; farm machinery valued at fifty dollars; six milk cows; 500 beef cattle with an annual calf production of 100 head; thirty hogs; and twenty-four poultry. In 1880 he cultivated ten acres of corn, yielding 100 bushels.

Jowell sold the ranch complex in 1881, and it changed ownership multiple times. During the following decades, the structures fell into disrepair until the remaining building and ruins were donated to the Ranching Heritage Center (now the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech University) in Lubbock in 1973. To ensure accurate restoration, the stones were marked and tagged before disassembly, and additional stones and cedar from the local area were used to reconstruct the upper part of the house and roof. The historical Jowell House complex was dedicated on August 4, 1979.   

In 1882 the Jowells moved to Stonewall County to capitalize on the open range. Between 1886 and 1887 they were noted to be in Thorp Spring, situated in Hood County next to Palo Pinto. This information is derived from certificates issued by the United States Patent Office, which awarded Jowell’s farm convenience patents for an “Anti-Friction Wagon Slide” (No. 346,373) and a “Milk Cooler” (No. 360,808). In July 1887 he witnessed on behalf of neighbors Benjamin Cicero King and George Hamilton Boon regarding their patent for a “Grain Measurer and Tally” (No. 366,962).

In 1887 Jowell and his family relocated to Swisher County and then moved to Deaf Smith County where he established a residence along Terra Blanca or Castro Creek, five miles east of Hereford, in March 1888. He claimed several sections of premium land, most of which he sold, while retaining between four and five sections for his general stock-farming enterprise, thereby founding the Lucky HIT Ranch. Jowell became active in the public affairs of Deaf Smith County. He was appointed as the first county assessor, a position he held for three terms, and he subsequently served for several years as county surveyor. Historical records indicate that he played a foundational role in establishing the city of Hereford and introducing the first herd of registered Herefords to the county. He was also dedicated to securing quality educational opportunities and played a significant role in founding the public school in Hereford. Jowell donated 160 acres to his longtime friend, Randolph Clark of Waco, a co-founder of Texas Christian University, to assist in establishing what became Hereford Christian College. Jowell was a longtime member of the Masonic fraternity and belonged to the Palo Pinto Lodge No. 319, where he was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on July 8, 1870. He later was affiliated with Anson Lodge No. 575 in Anson, Texas, as a charter member on December 11, 1883. In 1900 Jowell was affiliated with Hereford Lodge No. 849 in Hereford.

Jowell’s wife died in Hereford in 1898. The 1900 census listed G. R. Jowell as a widower who lived with his son Conner. On November 29, 1906, Jowell married Ella Magnolia (Lowe) Coston, the widow of Brice B. Coston. The couple soon relocated to a ranch near San Luis Potosí, Mexico. George Radcliffe Jowell, Sr., passed away due to complications related to Bright's disease on his Mexican ranch at El Chote, near Tampico, on February 26, 1912. His gravesite is at El Chote in Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Mexico. His widow, Ella, died on May 7, 1930, at her daughter’s home in Breckenridge, Texas, and was buried in West Park Cemetery in Hereford.