The Memphis onTNE Red!

The oldest settler of Hall County: Robert Crabb

  • BALLEW JOHN R.
    BALLEW JOHN R.
  • An article, titled “Oldest Settler Of County Dies At Lakeview Friday,” was printed in The Memphis Democrat’s Centennial Edition on July 18, 1943. Photo Courtesy of the Collection of John R. Ballew
    An article, titled “Oldest Settler Of County Dies At Lakeview Friday,” was printed in The Memphis Democrat’s Centennial Edition on July 18, 1943. Photo Courtesy of the Collection of John R. Ballew

    The first settler in Hall County is said to be Robert C.“Bob”Crabb, of Deep Lake. He came to this country and worked as a cowboy many years before settlers began to arrive.

    A character as colorful as any Texas pioneer ever described by Western historians and a native a part of this section of the state as the Red River, he is the oldest pioneer of Hall County, and he came before there was Memphis.

    F…