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Ellis County is located in north central Texas. Waxahachie, the largest town and county seat. Acting on a bill sponsored by Gen. Edward H. Tarrant, the state legislature officially established Ellis County on December 20, 1849. It was drawn from Navarro County, organized in February of the following year, and probably named for Richard Ellis, president of the Convention of 1836.
Ellis County found itself deeply embroiled in the secession crisis. Waxahachie citizens formed a chapter of the Knights of the Golden Circle, and in the fall of 1860 rumors of slave insurrections in Waxahachie and in nearby communities led to the lynching of a number of blacks and allegedly antislavery whites. When the Nineteenth Regiment of Texas Cavalry was formed, Ellis County men formed companies A and C. The Confederate government operated a powder mill in Waxahachie and a hat factory near the site of present Italy during the Civil War.
The area began the change from a cattle range to an agricultural region in 1872 with the coming of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. After the Panic of 1873 the heavy immigration from the Old South cotton areas prepared the country for its future leadership in cotton culture.
Cities & Towns Bardwell Cedar Hill (small southern portion) Ennis Ferris Grand Prairie (Far south areas) Glenn Heights (Southern portion) Mansfield (South areas) Maypearl Midlothian Ovilla (Southern) Pecan Hill Red Oak Waxahachie Alma Garrett Italy Milford Oak Leaf Palmer Venus Unincorporated area Telico
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