Ballard Wohlford: Texas Farmer and State Representative (1849–1908)

William Ballard Wohlford (who went by his middle name Ballard), farmer, stockman, and state representative, son of John Louis Wohlford, a Mexican War veteran, and Louisa A. (Coose) Wohlford, was born in Grainger County, Tennessee, on November 23, 1849. The Wohlfords moved to Texas in 1859. They first settled in Kaufman County, then Ellis County, and finally Henderson County. Ballard Wohlford had four younger brothers, John J., Robert B., James A., and George H. S. Wohlford. Wohlford’s father died in 1864, and the family relocated to Hood County (then part of Johnson County). In 1867 his mother married Robert P. Crockett, son of Texas hero David Crockett. On November 5, 1871, at the age of twenty-one, Wohlford married Margaret Elizabeth Hiner, a native of Navarro County, Texas. Together they had eleven children—nine sons and two daughters.

 By 1872 Wohlford had established himself as a landowner in Hood County. He became a farmer and stock raiser. Wohlford was interested in developing better roads for Hood County. In 1891 he petitioned the county commissioners’ court for a change in a local road. By 1892 he had been appointed road overseer, in which capacity he opened a new road from Granbury to Cresson. In 1892, at the age of forty-two, Wohlford received the Democratic nomination for House District No. 80, a floterial district composed of Hood, Parker, and Tarrant counties. During the Democratic primaries, he supported James S. Hogg for governor over George W. Clark. In the fall general election, he defeated People’s (Populist) party candidate Abe Harris. Wohlford apparently did not consider the Populist too serious a threat; two months before the election, he had claimed that he was “too busy on his farm” to campaign. When asked after the election for his position on various issues, Wohlford’s noncommittal answer was that he would have “time to think of such things when I reach Austin,” adding “we have a very good code of laws and need but few new ones.”

In the Twenty-third Texas Legislature, Wohlford served on the committees on Public Lands and Land Office; County Government and County Finances; Mining and Minerals; and Insurance, Statistics and History. During his time in the legislature, he proposed three bills—house bills 235, 289, and 486, none of which passed. H.B. 235 related to the taking of depositions in cases involving corporations or joint stock companies. H.B. 289 proposed to ban minors from public billiard and pool halls. H.B. 489 provided that county taxes levied for road and bridge purposes could not be used for other purposes. Wohlford’s term ended in 1895, and he chose not to seek re-election. He participated as a Hood County delegate to the 1894 Democratic district convention to nominate a candidate to succeed him as representative, with Burrell W. Morris securing the nomination.

In 1895 in Hood County Wohlford, a supporter of the temperance movement, helped organize a county-level local option campaign organization. He also served as a member of the Democratic Executive Committee of Hood County, and in 1896 he voted to indorse the plan of the State Democratic Executive Committee, headed by James G. Dudley, to hold a primary referendum on the free coinage of silver. In 1898 Wohlford again announced his candidacy for state representative, although he withdrew prior to the floterial district convention. In 1900 he ran for Hood County sheriff and tax collector but lost the election to James L. Sandlin. Wohlford was a leading member of the Acton Masonic Lodge No. 285. He was a trustee and member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Wohlford continued to live in Hood County until his death due to “serious illness” on January 21, 1908. He is buried in the Acton Cemetery.