BCHC Citizen of Note: Mary Augusta Ligon Hampton
The Burnet County Historical Commission will honor seven individuals for their contributions to Burnet County, at a Citizens of Note reception Tuesday, July 2 at 11 a.m. at the Burnet County AgriLife Extension Office, 607 North Vandeveer, Burnet. The community is invited to this special event and welcome to read each of the seven biographies in The Highlander and at highlandernews.com.
Burnet County Historical Commission
Citizen of Note
Mary Augusta (Ligon) Hampton
by Tommye Dorbandt Potts
Mary Augusta Ligon was born Jan. 7, 1890 in Fayette County, Texas, to Nannie (Kennedy) Ligon and William Henry Ligon Jr. The family moved to Burnet, Texas where her father was involved in farming and was the proprietor of a butcher shop in the town of Burnet.
Mary married Roger Hampton on Dec. 6, 1913 in Burnet. Roger Hampton was born in 1881 at Glasgow, Scotland. His father was born in England and his mother was born in Turkey. The family came to Burnet County around 1900 where they engaged in farming. Roger Hampton's father, Dr. David Hampton and his wife Rebekah, moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where Dr. Hampton was a prominent chiropractor.
Roger Hampton had always dreamed of being a cowboy. He was hired by H.B. Duncan, who owned a large ranch in Burnet County, the Duncan D+ Ranch. Mary, Roger and their children, David, Elizabeth and William lived on the ranch.
Roger developed tuberculosis and died June 8, 1934, during the Great Depression. Two children, Elizabeth and William, were still at home. They both graduated from Burnet High School.
When Jim Luther purchased the Burnet Telephone Company, he hired Mary Hampton as a switchboard operator in Briggs. She lived there, with her bed next to the switchboard. Mary was a telephone operator when Donald Duncan's future wife, Margaret, called from Fort Worth.
"Donald's not home, he's playing cards, do you want me to ring him there?"
Mary purchased her own home on Boundary Street, where she always had a large garden and fruit trees. She canned many jars of pickled beets and peaches. She was a wonderful cook, baking potato yeast rolls and peach cobblers.
Mary and her neighbor, Flora Renick, were supporters of the annual Halloween Carnival. Their favorites were the cake walk, where sometimes they won a homemade cake. They also liked the sandwiches, pie, and coffee for sale at the carnival.
Mary Hampton died July 10, 1984, fifty years after the death of her husband, Roger.
Because of her perseverance in overcoming life's hardships, her unyielding commitment to her children, and her years of dedicated work as the community's telephone operator, Mary Ligon Hampton will be remembered as a Citizen of Note.
