A Broad View by Jerry Hogan: Some interesting things you probably didn’t know

Rockwall, TX (January 14, 2025) – At one time not too long ago, Rockwall County had the distinction of being called “The Marriage Capital of Texas.”

A logical question you might ask would be, “How could the smallest county in Texas end up with that name?’

It all was about marriage licenses!

I bet if you pull out of that safety deposit box, or the “important file” you have in your house, and look at your marriage license, you will see it is a regular form type document that one would expect from the government. Nothing fancy and totally devoted to transmitting the input information about two people who want to get married.

But what if that document instead was decorated with pictures of flowers or beautiful scenes of places in Texas?

And that is why Rockwall County was called “The Marriage Capital of Texas”. Rockwall County had created marriage licenses that were more than the standard government form and people throughout the state heard about that and started getting their licenses here!

Then at some point in the past, either the supply of forms was exhausted, or the decision was made by someone in county government to discontinue the policy of “pretty marriage licenses”.

But now, our County Clerk, Jennifer Fogg, has reinitiated the policy. Now one can get a marriage license that is certainly different from the normal government blank type form that carries nothing of the desire to start a life together. Expect a run on the courthouse for people applying now in Rockwall County.

If you are on Facebook, you may have also noted the extensive information provided by Jennifer Fogg on eating establishments in the county, places to see and visit, and general information for someone not familiar with our area.

All of this is an example of one of our elected officials going way beyond the stated duties of their office. Three cheers for Jennifer Fogg; an example for all elected officials to follow!

For those of you that have had the opportunity to either go in the new courthouse, or simply drive past the building , you may have noticed that in large block letters on the front of the building above the steps the words “IN GOD WE TRUST”.

When the building was first designed and presented to the Commissioners Court for approval, no such statement was in the design. Two of the Commissioners, Dennis Bailey and Jerry Wimpee quickly addressed this issue, and the words were added to the building.

But these two commissioners went even further. Unknown to all but a small few, using a piece of copper sheeting and a punch tool, Jerry Wimpee spelled out on the sheet “LAUS DEO”; the Latin for “PRAISE BE TO GOD”.

This sheeting was then given to the workmen installing the dome on the courthouse, and the sheeting was added to the shingles covering the very top of the dome. The words were installed so they faced the East, just like the same words placed on the top of the Washington Monument in Washington DC to honor our first president, George Washington.

Thus forever, the front of our courthouse proclaims, “IN GOD WE TRUST” and the dome carries the proclamation “PRAISE BE TO GOD”.

Two pretty good phrases as we face the uncertain future!!

Finally, one of the open secrets of the old courthouse on the square in Rockwall, is the jail on the fourth floor.

Prior to the separate jail and sheriffs’ office being built in its current location, this jail in the courthouse is where all of the prisoners were placed waiting court action.

Since it was on the fourth floor, you can just imagine what a spectacle it was to see the sheriff trying to get some person arrested for being drunk up those four flights of stairs. That in itself was the comedy of the day.

But the jail was not air conditioned, there was no outside exercise area, no kitchen for the preparation of food, and it was very small which created quite an issue for the prisoners held in the jail.

Stories still circulate about Friday and Saturday nights when the prisoners would lower, tied together, sheets for their buddies on the ground to tie six packs of beer to be hoisted back into the jail area for the prisoners.

Usually, one guard was present, especially at night. (In fact, the current city manager of Royse City, Carl Alsabrook, at the age of 18 was once the guard in the jail.)

The cells still exist on the fourth floor and now the area is a storage area. But it remains a part of our early history that most today didn’t even know existed!

Jerry Hogan is a former Rockwall County Judge who can be reached at Jerryhogan@sbcglobal.net or 214-3894-4033

  a broad view, feature, featured, guest columnist, Jerry Hogan, Rockwall, Rockwall County