Famous People from Cottle County Texas

Samuel Nathaniel Morris

Samuel Nathaniel Morris was born March 6, 1900 in Paducah, Texas. His father had left his mother with two small children two months before Sam was born. Sam's mother went to live with her parents on their farm in Cottle County. By the time Sam was seven years old both his grandparents had died and his mother supported herself and the three children by taking in washing.

He did not see his father until he was nine years old. Later, his parents re-married. His father farmed a little, ran a saw mill, and operated a tie camp. The children worked like grownups. They lived in shacks, tents and covered wagons. They never went to church or school. From the time his father came back until he left again in 1919, they were constantly on the move in Texas or Oklahoma, from one place to another, moving sometimes just across the farm and sometimes across the state. They were always in debt, always on the move, always embarrassed . . .

He became the head of the Voice of Temperance radio broadcast and his message was heard across America.