author
B. B. (Buckley B.) Paddock
1844–1922
A lively early chronicler of Fort Worth, he was a newspaper founder, civic booster, and historian whose writing captures the city as it grew from frontier outpost to regional center. His work blends firsthand memory with a deep interest in the people and institutions that shaped North and West Texas.
1 Audiobook
Early Days in Fort Worth, Much of Which I saw and Part of Which I Was
by B. B. (Buckley B.) Paddock
About the author
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 22, 1844, B. B. Paddock later lived in Wisconsin before entering the Civil War as a teenager. After the war he studied law in Mississippi, then moved to Fort Worth in 1872, where he became one of the city’s most visible public figures.
Paddock founded the Fort Worth Daily Democrat in 1876 and went on to serve as mayor of Fort Worth and as a member of the Texas legislature. Archival records and Texas reference sources also describe him as a major promoter of railroads and civic development, helping push Fort Worth toward wider regional importance.
As a writer and editor, he is closely associated with large historical works on Texas, including A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, History of Texas; Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest Edition, and Early Days in Fort Worth, Much of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was. Those books reflect both his role as a recorder of local history and his enthusiasm for the story of Texas communities in transition.