STANTON - At first, Stanton native Larry Haggard wasn't sure what he had found. He was in the process of clearing out the home of his parents, Ruby and Alex Haggard, who had died many years earlier, when he discovered an unusual box, securely wrapped and tucked away at the back of a built-in bookcase adjacent to the fireplace, with an inscription, "For Family and Friends and a Few Old Soreheads".
It was a bulky box, not easy to manage, and it had evidently been there long before he had retired from The University of South Carolina and moved back to West Texas some 18 years ago. Slowly, as he tore away layer after layer of paper as if unfolding layers of time itself, the mystery began to clear.
Books. Not just any book, either. Beautifully bound in rich maroon leather, with gold-embossed design, ornate lettering and over 550 pages on heavy gloss paper, he discovered 20 well-preserved copies of a book entitled "Martin County, Its Land and Its People, 1881-1978", by the Martin County Historical Commission.
With every page of vintage photos, documents and local family histories covering almost 100 years, the book, now out of print, has become a classic for Martin County residents young and old, with copies hard, if not impossible to find. Some residents have said that copies on the internet are priced at $100 or more - if you are lucky enough to find one.
As for Larry Haggard, he feels that his parents would want the books to be donated to the Martin County Historical Museum in Stanton, where they were among the staunchest supporters and his mother served as chair of the Commission during the time the book was published. So that's where they are going, to be used in whatever ways the Museum Board of Trustees determines is best.
The current museum Curator, Ruthie Billett, has commented that "Larry found a real treasure when he found these books! We are so honored by this donation and so very grateful for the legacy his family has with the Martin County Historical Museum."