Long Branch Contributed by Sharon Beck and Betty Dillard   It was along the banks of Long Branch Creek that the Long Branch Community sprang up. Their need to have a place to worship and teach their children without having to travel long distances made for the development of another community in the cotton farm lands. If you go three miles south of Ovilla, Texas on FM 664 to FM 1387 for one mile and turn south for one mile, you will be in the Long Branch area. Two people who remember this community well are J. M. (Buddy) Vincent and his wife Dorothy (White) Vincent, because they were born and raised in the Long Branch area. Their families moved here in the late 1800's from Tennessee. Dr. Poplin rode horseback from Sardis to Long Branch to deliver Buddy Vincent. The Baptist Church and school were built on land donated by A. R. Newton and W. C. Berry 23 June 1860 [Deed E, pg. 200]. Contrary to the deed, the church records show the church to be Methodist. [Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South are listed in Searchers and Researchers, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Spring 1995] . The church was disbanded in 1940 with some of the members joining the Sardis church while others went to Ovilla. A favorite activity of the boys was baseball. On days when it was too wet to work on the farm, the boys would get together and play against the boys at Sardis or Lone Elm. There were no stores or doctors in this community; for these the settlers went to Sardis or Ovilla. Saturday was a day to go to town. Farmers would gather around the Waxahachie square to catch up on the week's news. You could find the Long Branch farmers gathered on Franklin Street, in front of the old Coward Paint Store. In 1897-1900, the school population was 51. Trustees were W. E. Stewart, J. H. Patton, and J. C. Cavender. Teachers were: Z. L. Howell, Ida Carothers, and J. R. Hodge. This information with a list of all schools in that time span was published in S&R, Vol. 3, No. 1, and was compiled by Frances Phillips, long time Treasurer for Ellis County. The Long Branch School taught 1st through 7th grades, with students continuing their education at Ovilla, Midlothian or Waxahachie. Will Eve (Gray) West, once a student at the Long Branch School, is still living in our community at the age of 90 years [Spring of 2000]. In 1917, the one room school was torn down and a two room school was built in its place. Mrs. Ruth (Stephenson) Hightower, soon to be 99 years old, remembers the wonderful community of Long Branch and the nice visits with neighbors when TV was not around and people had time to talk and enjoy visits with each other. Long Branch School A group of 45 former community residents of the Long Branch community held a very successful reunion at the Ovilla Community Center in November 1984 The old timers present who had attended school here between 1915 and 1937 were: Vera (Hassell) Hodges, Reese Sullivan, Patsy Cavender, Katy Lou Cavender, Bud Holmes, Pauline (Gray) Holmes, Mildred Fleming, Velma (McDowell) Sealy, Agnes (Cook) McCoy, Lorene (Sullivan) Jorday, Rev. and Mrs. Lavender, Fritz Voss, Marie Voss, R. E. Sullivan, Ella (Sullivan) Dodd, Reta Cavender, Buddy Vincent, Dorothy (White) Vincent, Lewis Springer, Wilma (Sullivan) McEldowney, Helen (Sullivan) Tinsley, Allene (Vincent) Roberts, Herbert West, Willie Eva (Gray) West, Leaon Cavender, Harold Aday, Doris J. (Aday) Wilson, and Lewis Allen. [From article in Midlothian Mirror on 8 and 22 Nov. 1984.] Other early settlers here were the Sanderford, Moore, Whit, Patton, Carter, Hightower, Mosley, Shockerford, Cherry, Kirk, Carrell, Cook, and Wood families. Today the community of Long Branch is gone, but the area is dotted with new houses, people looking for the country life. Midlothian has recently built a new elementary school in the area and named it appropriately - Longbranch Elementary School. We wish to thank the many contributors to this story, especially Buddy and Dorothy Vincent.   Copyright © 2003-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:12 MDT