Forty-eight descendants of the Bourland family gathered July 25-26 in Clarendon and at the family’s historic ranch near Quail to celebrate the 129th anniversary of the Bourland Ranch, which was established in 1897.
The family had planned to celebrate the ranch’s 125th anniversary, but those plans were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The original ranch encompassed 11 sections of land settled by Mary Bourland and her sons, Mac and Frank Bourland. Following Mary’s death, two sections were sold to pay her heirs, leaving nine sections that were divided among the family in 1946. At that time, Fred Bourland purchased the portion that had belonged to his father, Mac Bourland.
To provide educational opportunities for their children, members of the Bourland family established homes in Clarendon. Those included William Reese and his wife, Mary; Frank and his wife, Edna; and Mac and his wife, Bess, who died in 1925.
Among the family’s descendants was Annie Mina Bourland Jenkins, daughter of William Reese and Mary Bourland, who married Dr. Oscar Jenkins of Clarendon.
Clarendon High School graduates from the family included Frank and Edna Bourland’s daughters, Jean Bourland Ross and Hazel Bourland Dillard, and granddaughter Jamie Ross. However, Joel Ross attended school in Quail.
Mac and Bess Bourland’s children included Neva Bourland Baldwin, Lacy Bourland, Ralph Bourland, Lotta Bourland Davis, Jack Bourland, Joe Bourland, Fred Bourland, George Bourland and Jimmy Bourland.
Fred Bourland’s wife, Velma, later taught at Clarendon High School, and their daughters – Fredda Bourland Schooler, Lynn Bourland White, and Beth Bourland Holtz – also graduated from Clarendon High School.
Courtesy Photo
The descendants gathered Saturday at The Roost in Clarendon to visit and share family memorabilia. Family members also remembered two relatives who died in military service: Lacy Bourland, who died while in training, and Joe Bourland, commander of the USS Runner submarine, which was lost in the South China Sea during the early months of World War II.
The day’s activities concluded with a tour of Citizens Cemetery, where 20 members of the Bourland family are buried. Two descendants of Mina Bourland Jenkins attended the reunion.
On Sunday, the family gathered at the ranch near Quail, now owned by sisters Fredda Schooler, Lynn White and Beth Holtz. Descendants toured the ranch, including its crops and pastures, and spent the day visiting and celebrating the family’s long history in Donley County.
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