Greathouse Community   The Greathouse Community was located east of Maypearl on Greathouse Road. Archibald and Mary Greathouse settled on a 640-acre survey on the Greathouse Branch which feeds into Chambers Creek. The original deed abstract , dated March 2, 1852 (The Phillips-Hawkins Abstract Company) reads: Archibald Greathouse and Mary Ann Greathouse his wife, of Ellis County, Texas, of the first part, to Pinkney C. Sims, of Ellis County, Texas, of the second part." Archibald Greathouse also received a Land Patent signed by Gov. P. H. Bell Feb. 12, 1852 for Survey 3-491. Mr. and Mrs. Greathouse were divorced soon after settling on Greathouse Branch and he left the country, but she remained. One party told of her riding astride hunting her cattle as far as Boyce. Robert F. Mayfield wrote, "Mrs. Mary Twyman, so long known in this county, was formerly the wife of Greathouse." She was still living in Ellis County with her children at the age of 76. There were ten children, but we can identify only four: Lavicia E. (who married Robert Smith, farmer and marchant at Palmer); JOel, (a farmer in Henderson County); Thomas, (deceased) and Malissa (married Thomas McFaden, Navarro County). E. M. Brack was known as the first settler in Boz and was among the early settlers in the Greathouse Community, where the roots of Boz really began. He bought his land from P. C. Sims the same day that Sims bought his from Archibald Greathouse. Sims is thought to have been a nephew. He was the son of Starling sims, (who never came to the area), and his log cabin, built in 1848, was located on the west side of the creek. The cabin stood until 1947, only a few years before the dam for a flood control lake was built. Nicholas P. Sims had a mill on the creek, and when P. C. sold his portion of land on Greathouse, he stipulated that N. P. Sims would be allowed to operate the mill as long as he so desired. E. M. Brack married Lucy P. Sims, daughter of John Sims, and sister of Nicholas P. and John D. Sims. Judge Brack built his first house just north of the church where it was located on Greathouse Road and west of the cemetery. The house was located on Machett Spring, a widly known permanent water hole which had been used by the Indians in earlier days. The Bracks brought with them a number of slaves as did several of the other early settlers in the area. According to Judge Brack, "At that time, there were no roads in western Ellis County, just a cowtrail leading from Greathouse Branch northeast to Waxahachie by way of Buena Vista." The Bracks had four daughters who all married men in the area and three sons. One son, John J., died at age 20, William L. died when not quite 25 and Richard died in the Confederate Army. Judge Brack held the office of Justice of Peace, and County Commissioner for several terms, and was the first to help build churches and school houses in this county. He succeeded the Honorable William Hawkins as County Judge of Ellis County. On December 6, 1877, a post office was established at Greathouse called Sims Post office with Ezekial M. Brack as postmaster. It was discontinued Jan. 5, 1880. Some of the men who took part in organizing the church and school were: Thomas A. Tirey, John Edward Dawson, Martin Judy Dawson Sr., Martin Dawson Jr., and Caswell R. Tirey who was the first secretary and treasurer of the church. After the organization al meeting, Ezekiel M. Brack, George W. Whitefield and Martin Judy Dawson Sr were contacted and asked for donations of small portions of land for the chirch site, the cemetery and a playground for the children. The land was to be deeded to the Greathouse Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Tirey, Martin Dawson Sr., and John Edward Dawson were elected trustees of the property. J. E. Dawson hauled the lumber by ox wagon over a cow trail from Waxahachie to Greathouse Branch.  After the church was built, Rev. John Bailey was called as first pastor. The membership grew and the church became known as the most outstanding Baptist Church in the county. Rev. Bailey bought a farm north of the church where he lived and raised his family. Other preachers were: Revs. Leak, Alexander, Bailey, Kennedy, Harvey, Hensley, Wilkins and Brooks. Rev. Joseph Martin Dawson, a Baptist preacher, was reared in the Greathouse Community and recognized widely for his ministerial work. Everett Homer Tirey, son of Caswell Tirey, began to preach at the age of seventeen and did so for fifty years - twenty-eight of which were at the Teague )Texas)Church. Austin Woodard was reared here and his early death interrupted his progress as a great Texas preacher. Another resident was Jake Tirey who later served on the Court of Civil Appeals. Greathouse School had its beginning after the church was built. M. J. Dawson Sr. deeded 7/8 acre of land south of the Waxahachie-Hillsboro road to the trustees of the Church to be used as a playground for the school children and a parking area for the horse-drawn vehicles. John W. Whitefield started to school at Greathouse, and his grandfather, George W. Whitefield, gave part of the land for the church and school. J. W. Whitefield, Jr., entered the ministry when a young man and became an outstanding preacher in the Methodist church Conference. The six-month school started on November 1st each year. Mr. Paine, the first teacher, taught several terms and was followed by Fred Wilson, who taught in 1897.  Wilson later became County Judge of Ellis County. Other teachers were E. Home Tirey, Bob Parchman, Frank Tirey, Henry Tirey Minitra and Bertie Boozier. Greathouse Cemetery is the only landmark left of the old Greathouse Community. The deed by G. W. Whjitefield, dated Aug. 9, 1894, stipulated the metes and bounds for the cemetery,. and was deeded to the Greathouse Church Trustees to be used for whatever they saw fit. and contiguous to the portion of land deeded by Ezekiel Brack in 1883. It was safely above flood level, but on the gentle slope of the secondary banks of Greathouse Creek. References: Memorial and Biographical History of Ellis County, 1892. Texas National Laboratory Research Commission, Historic American Buildings Survey Original Abstract of portion of the land belonging to A. Greathouse and P. C. Sims Dawson, Everett, Austin, Texas The History of the Origin and Development of the Greathouse Community in Ellis County, Texas 1848 - 1877 Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Lural Dawson (brother of Everett Dawson).   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:06 MDT