Electra Waggoner (January 6, 1882 – November 26, 1925) was an American rancher and socialite from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She was an heiress to the

Waggoner Ranch The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fen ...

, one of the largest ranches in the United States. The town of

Electra, Texas Electra is a city in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,791 at the 2010 census., down from 3,168 in 2000. Electra claims the title of Pump Jack Capital of T ...

was named in her honor.

Early life

Electra Waggoner was born on January 6, 1882 near

Decatur, Texas Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020. History Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat. Absalom Bishop, an early s ...

. Her father,

William Thomas Waggoner William Thomas Waggoner (August 31, 1852 – December 11, 1934) was an American rancher, oilman, banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist from Texas. He was the owner of the Waggoner Ranch, where he found oil in 1903. He was the founding President ...

, was the owner of the

in Texas.Gary Cartwright
Showdown at Waggoner Ranch
''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and i ...

'', January 2004 Her mother was Ella (Halsell) Waggoner. She had two brothers, Guy Waggoner and E. Paul Waggoner. They grew up at the Waggoner Mansion (a.k.a. 'El Castile') in Decatur as well as on the Waggoner Ranch.

Career

Waggoner inherited one fourth of the Waggoner Ranch known as the 'Zacaweista' subsection. The Native American word means 'good grass.' In 1910, she built a mansion on the ranch, also named Zacaweista.

Personal life

Waggoner was married three times. Her first husband was

Albert Buckman Wharton Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albe ...

of the Wharton family of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. They had met while she was traveling in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

s. They wed on June 10, 1902. They resided at Thistle Hill, also known as the Wharton-Scott House, a mansion in Fort Worth now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. The couple divorced after nineteen years of marriage. During their marriage, they had two sons: *Tom Waggoner Wharton. He married eight times and died of syphilis at the age of twenty-five. *

Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr. Albert Buckman Wharton Jr. (a.k.a. Buster Wharton) (August 8, 1909 – May 28, 1963) was an American rancher and polo player. Early life Albert Buckman Wharton Jr. was born on August 8, 1909, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His mother, Electra Wa ...

He was a polo player. He married four times and had one son, A.B. Wharton III, a.k.a. Bucky Wharton. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. Waggoner then moved to a mansion called Shadowlawn on Preston Road in Highland Park, a wealthy enclave of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

. She was married two more times, to Weldon Bailey, the son of

Joseph Weldon Bailey Joseph Weldon Bailey, Sr. (October 6, 1862April 13, 1929), was a United States senator, United States Representative, lawyer, and Bourbon Democrat who was famous for his speeches extolling conservative causes, such as opposition to woman suffrag ...

, and then to James A. Gilmore.

Death and legacy

Waggoner died on November 26, 1925, at the age of forty-three. The town of

was named in her honor. Her niece Electra Waggoner Biggs was named after her.

References

External links

Picture at age 43
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waggoner, Electra 1882 births 1925 deaths People from Fort Worth, Texas People from Highland Park, Texas Ranchers from Texas American socialites People from Decatur, Texas