Editing Midlothian, Texas (section)

==History==
[[File:Tonkawa chiefs.jpg|thumbnail|Tonkawa chiefs]]
[[File:Kickapoo, Babe Shkit, Chief and Delegate from Oklahoma - NARA - 523854.jpg|thumb|upright|Kickapoo Indian]]
[[Image:MidlothianSSSign20070127.jpg|thumb|Midlothian's current motto]]
[[Image:MidlothianSign20070127.jpg|thumb|Midlothian's old motto]]
In the early 1800s, settlements began to take place in the area that became Ellis County, but full colonization of this area was slow until 1846, when [[Sam Houston]] finalized peace treaties between several of the indigenous inhabitants of the region and the [[Republic of Texas]]. The earliest inhabitants of this area were the [[Tonkawa]] people, but other tribes also hunted in this area, including the [[Anadarko people|Anadarko]], [[Bidai]], [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]], and [[Waco tribe|Waco]] peoples.

The future Ellis County area of the young Republic of Texas was known as the [[Peters Colony]], named for a [[Louisville, Kentucky]]-based land grant company consisting of English and American investors. The young Republic empresario grant program encouraged settlements in North Texas in 1857. The few settlers who lived in this region trapped animals and sold their pelts, and traded goods with the natives. The majority of Ellis County's original settlers came from the southern half of the United States. They arrived with their cultural and educational traditions, their methods of farming and care for farm animals, and for a few, the people they had enslaved.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-18 |title=History of Midlothian, Texas |url=https://goodlandtx.com/news/the-history-of-midlothian-tx/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Goodland Texas |language=en}}</ref>

Some of the earliest settlers of the area were the families of William Alden Hawkins and Larkin Newton, who moved to the area in 1848. For Hawkins to claim his {{convert|640|acre}} of land from the Peters Colony group, he was required to build a house on the property he chose along the mouth of [[Waxahachie Creek]] before July 1, 1848. The structure was built before the required deadline, and the land near the present-day [[Hawkins Springs|Hawkins Spring]] went to the Hawkins family. For Larkin Newton, who moved his wife Mary and their eight children from [[Missouri]], the same requirement was given. Larkin met the due date and became owner of his 640-acre claim. In 1903, William Alden Hawkins' grandson William Larkin Hawkins purchased land and built the [[William L and Emma Hawkins House]], now listed as a [[Recorded Texas Historic Landmark]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Founding Families {{!}} Midlothian, TX - Official Website |url=https://www.midlothian.tx.us/206/Founding-Families |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=www.midlothian.tx.us}}</ref>

Ellis County was officially established by the Texas Legislature on December 20, 1849, in a bill sponsored by General [[Edward H. Tarrant]], a popular [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] and Indian gunfighter during this period. Organized in February 1850, the county was carved out of [[Navarro County, Texas|Navarro County]] and likely named for [[Richard Ellis (Texas politician)|Richard Ellis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agrarian Economy {{!}} Midlothian, TX - Official Website |url=https://www.midlothian.tx.us/205/Agrarian-Economy |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=www.midlothian.tx.us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Ellis, Richard |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ellis-richard |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref>

In 1883, the name "Midlothian" was accepted by the local population. According to local legend, the area was named Midlothian when the Chicago, Texas, and Mexican Central railroads, which eventually connected [[Dallas]] and [[Cleburne, Texas|Cleburne]], arrived in the area and a homesick Scottish train engineer stated that the local countryside reminded him of [[Midlothian|his homeland]] in [[Scotland]], and the location served as the midpoint between Dallas and Cleburne, and between [[Ennis, Texas|Ennis]] and [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]]. With the coming of the railroad, Midlothian grew and was incorporated in April 1888.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Midlothian, TX |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/midlothian-tx |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref>

One of the oldest churches in the city, the First United Methodist Church, was built in 1902, followed by the First Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1913. The Midlothian Cemetery contains headstones dating back to the 1870s. The St Paul Cemetery also stands outside of the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Esberger |first=Karen Kay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6m1vwEACAAJ |title=Midlothian, Texas Through Time |date=2019 |publisher=Fonthill Media LLc |isbn=978-1-63500-088-7 |language=en}}</ref>