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Benbrook. Just like the stage line, the railroad was an easy target for robbers; the line was
particularly vulnerable at the wooden trestle bridge over Mary's Creek. In 1886, Congressman S. W.

T. Lanham (who was later elected as governor) was a victim of a robbery near Benbrook while
traveling from Weatherford to Fort Worth to give a speech on prohibition. The train was robbed by
five men in June 1887 and again in September 1887; both robberies were attributed to the Rueben
and James Burrows gang who later bragged about the train robberies they pulled in "Bend Brooke
(sic)." A robbery in 1896 in broad daylight, allegedly by Eugene "Captain Dick" Bunch, was one of
the last such robberies in Texas.

FIRST FAMILIES

The Peter Boaz family arrived in Birdville from Kentucky in 1873 and the family subsequently moved
to Benbrook in 1878. Peter and Martha had nine children including: Will N., Hiram Abiff, Ex, and Z.
Hiram Boaz, converted at one of the Old Rawhide Camp meetings, became one of the early leaders
of the Methodist church in Benbrook. Hiram Boaz became a Methodist Bishop in 1922 and president
of both Polytechnic College in Fort Worth (later known as Texas Wesleyan University) and Southern
Methodist University in Dallas. After Peter Boaz's death, Martha Boaz married James M. Benbrook.
J. A. Childers, ranch foreman for W. J. Boaz's 3,000 acre ranch, and later constable and county

commissioner, built his home on Old Benbrook Road during the 1870s. Z. Boaz donated 136 acres
of land to the City of Fort Worth as a public park in 1928; the land was donated to Fort Worth only
because Benbrook did not have a municipal government or park department at that time. Z. Boaz
died in 1935 and is buried along with his wife, Teck, who died in 1970 and an infant son, Thank, who
died in 1898.

The Benbrook family had arrived in the Miranda area in 1874 from Illinois. The family built a large
Victorian house on Walnut Creek east of the community in 1891. James Benbrook, known as

"Squire" because of his English heritage, served as Justice of the Peace for many years. James M.
Benbrook was born in Posey County, Indiana on June 20, 1831. He was the grandson of Ezekial G.
Benbrook, born in North Carolina in 1748 and served as a Colonel with George Washington at Valley
Forge. Ezekial's son James and his wife, Sarah Shadowen, were the parents of James. M. Benbrook.
The family moved to Hamilton County, Illinois in 1845; James Benbrook married Martha Metcalf in
1852. James Benbrook served as a sergeant with the 40th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil
War and was wounded in the hip in 1862. Following the Civil War, Benbrook and his family traveled
south for his health; they settled in Miranda in November 1876. James and Martha had six children;
three died in infancy. Of the other three children - Albert L. became a teacher, Monroe went into
the furniture business in Dallas, and Ida married Dr. E. W. Snyder and moved to Brownwood. Martha
died in July 1884 and was buried by the Baptist Church.

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