| − | '''William Peyton Florence''' (June 17, 1872 – November 24, 1944)<ref name=ancestry>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=97883091&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fML116&_phstart=successSource|title=William Peyton Florence|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> was among the first three [[cotton]] growers in the Llano Estacado of West [[Texas]]. He was also an [[author]] and an [[educator]], who became the first superintendent of public schools in Slaton, a small community in [[Lubbock|Lubbock County]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20190126/caprock-chronicles-william-p-florence-south-plains-pioneer|title=Caprock Chronicles: William P. Florence, South Plains pioneer|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=January 25, 2019|author=Rob King|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> | + | '''William Peyton Florence''' (June 17, 1872 – November 24, 1944)<ref name=ancestry>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=97883091&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fML116&_phstart=successSource|title=William Peyton Florence|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> was one of the first three [[cotton]] growers in the Llano Estacado of West [[Texas]]. He was also an [[author]] and an [[educator]], who became the first superintendent of public schools in Slaton, a small community in [[Lubbock|Lubbock County]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20190126/caprock-chronicles-william-p-florence-south-plains-pioneer|title=Caprock Chronicles: William P. Florence, South Plains pioneer|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=January 25, 2019|author=Rob King|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> |
| | Florence was born in east Texas in Smith County, of which Tyler is the principal city, to Samuel Thomas Florence (1848-1931) and the former Levina Anne Ashley (1849-1931). When he arrived in Lubbock County, he was a land promoter in the Lubbock areas. His land promotions were printed a decade after the founding of Lubbock in 1891. The other cotton pioneers were George Oliver Groves (1856-1932), a [[Tennessee]] native<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=FindAGraveUS&indiv=try&h=92736446|title=George Oliver Groves|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> who planted several acres in 1896 that failed because of frost, and Squire S. Rush (1857-1935), a native of Darke County, [[Ohio<ref<{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=48133252&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fML123&_phstart=successSource|title=Squire S. Rush|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> who planted ten acres in 1900, but lost a half bale to stray [[cattle]]. Florence picked two full bales of cotton, which he had ginned at Big Spring in Howard County, Texas.<ref name=bio/> | | Florence was born in east Texas in Smith County, of which Tyler is the principal city, to Samuel Thomas Florence (1848-1931) and the former Levina Anne Ashley (1849-1931). When he arrived in Lubbock County, he was a land promoter in the Lubbock areas. His land promotions were printed a decade after the founding of Lubbock in 1891. The other cotton pioneers were George Oliver Groves (1856-1932), a [[Tennessee]] native<ref>{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=FindAGraveUS&indiv=try&h=92736446|title=George Oliver Groves|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> who planted several acres in 1896 that failed because of frost, and Squire S. Rush (1857-1935), a native of Darke County, [[Ohio<ref<{{cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=48133252&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=fML123&_phstart=successSource|title=Squire S. Rush|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=February 13, 2019}}</ref> who planted ten acres in 1900, but lost a half bale to stray [[cattle]]. Florence picked two full bales of cotton, which he had ginned at Big Spring in Howard County, Texas.<ref name=bio/> |