Grayson County, Texas

Grayson County, in north central Texas, is bordered by the Red River and by Denton on the southwest, and Cooke County on the west. The County seat, Sherman, lies approximately sixty-five miles north of Dallas.  Grayson County was predominantly a farming community with the number of farms in the County numbering 5,762 in 1900.  Corn, wheat and cotton were grown in abundance, and commercial orchards flourished. Throughout the early years of the twentieth century Grayson County remained agricultural.  The advent of the automobile effected significant changes in Grayson County. The first countywide all gravel road system was established in 1915, and by 1920 Grayson County had hard-surfaced roads.

Tioga, Grayson County, Texas.  The little community of Tioga, twenty miles southwest of Sherman in the southwest corner of Grayson County, was founded in 1881 when the Texas and Pacific Railway reached the site. The crew used water from the local well and named the site Tioga, a New York Indian word said to mean "swift current" or "fair and beautiful."  In 1884 the community had two churches, a school, a cotton gin, a grocery, a general store, a pharmacist, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a population of sixty. By 1892 the town also supported a military academy, a gin and gristmill, a physician, and a restaurant. The population was 600. The town was incorporated in 1896.

Some of the children of the John Fritscher family settled in Grayson County.   Most all of the Joseph Zipperer descendants, along with Pelzel, Berend, Till, and Boerner relatives settled in and near Tioga, in Grayson County.  The closest Catholic Church was St. Thomas at Pilot Point, however, so they were all a part of that church community. 

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "GRAYSON COUNTY," ( May 16, 2006).