He was son of David McMahon & Bettie Paxton.
William Emmett McMahon (pronounced as Mac-Man) was born in Savoy in 1876. He played on the undefeated University of Texas Longhorn football teams of 1900-01. He graduated from UT Law School in 1902, and after a short stint in Bonham, moved to the Philippine Islands to be a school teacher. He soon went back to the law and served as a U.S. District Judge for the islands.
He came back to the U.S. in 1915, and when America entered the Great War, he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army, serving until the war's end. He then took his legal practice to Tampico, Mexico, and in time became the head of the legal department of Standard Oil of New Jersey with headquarters in Mexico City. He came back to Texas in 1938, living in Fort Worth and Dallas, before retiring and coming home to Bonham sometime in the 1940s.
Judge McMahon was from Fannin County, and when he retired, he and his wife built a big home (His living room had almost as many square feet as our entire house.) south of Bonham on a hill overlooking Bois d'Arc Creek. I never knew his wife, who died shortly after their move back to Texas, and he lived alone in the big house. A hired man, who ran the farm, and his family lived in a smaller house on the place.
The Judge never missed a Longhorn football game, home or away. Different people from Bonham with some connection to the other side usually took him to the games. My father was a Baylor alumnus, so each year we took the Judge to Austin or Waco to see Texas take on the Bears. Other folks, with other affiliations, made the trips to Austin or Houston or Fort Worth or wherever the orange and white was playing that week.
If no one in Bonham could make the trip, the Judge would shanghai the hired man, and off they would go. Once they drove to New Orleans to see Texas play Tulane only to find out on their arrival that the game had been switched to Austin because of an impending hurricane. They turned around, drove all night through the wind and rain, and got to Memorial Stadium in time for the kickoff.
The Judge got a new Lincoln every couple of years, sometimes sooner if conditions required. He smoked a pipe, and when the pipe went out, which was often, he fired it up with a silver lighter that shot out a flame about two feet long. At least twice, he put a Lincoln in a ditch while trying to relight the pipe. This was one reason he limited his driving to trips to Bonham and back to the farm.
Every time you stopped for a traffic light, the Judge would make one of two remarks. "Your foot slipped," or "You aren't living right." If you were caught in a line of cars, he would opine that "There must be a garage up ahead." This meant that there was a car parked in the street and blocking traffic.
Red River Scrapbook: Travels with the Judge - part 1
By Edward Southerland
Jan 7, 2019
Contributor: Kerry Szymanski (49782268)
William Emmett McMahon (pronounced as Mac-Man) was born in Savoy in 1876. He played on the undefeated University of Texas Longhorn football teams of 1900-01. He graduated from UT Law School in 1902, and after a short stint in Bonham, moved to the Philippine Islands to be a school teacher. He soon went back to the law and served as a U.S. District Judge for the islands.
He came back to the U.S. in 1915, and when America entered the Great War, he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army, serving until the war's end. He then took his legal practice to Tampico, Mexico, and in time became the head of the legal department of Standard Oil of New Jersey with headquarters in Mexico City. He came back to Texas in 1938, living in Fort Worth and Dallas, before retiring and coming home to Bonham sometime in the 1940s.
Judge McMahon was from Fannin County, and when he retired, he and his wife built a big home (His living room had almost as many square feet as our entire house.) south of Bonham on a hill overlooking Bois d'Arc Creek. I never knew his wife, who died shortly after their move back to Texas, and he lived alone in the big house. A hired man, who ran the farm, and his family lived in a smaller house on the place.
The Judge never missed a Longhorn football game, home or away. Different people from Bonham with some connection to the other side usually took him to the games. My father was a Baylor alumnus, so each year we took the Judge to Austin or Waco to see Texas take on the Bears. Other folks, with other affiliations, made the trips to Austin or Houston or Fort Worth or wherever the orange and white was playing that week.
If no one in Bonham could make the trip, the Judge would shanghai the hired man, and off they would go. Once they drove to New Orleans to see Texas play Tulane only to find out on their arrival that the game had been switched to Austin because of an impending hurricane. They turned around, drove all night through the wind and rain, and got to Memorial Stadium in time for the kickoff.
The Judge got a new Lincoln every couple of years, sometimes sooner if conditions required. He smoked a pipe, and when the pipe went out, which was often, he fired it up with a silver lighter that shot out a flame about two feet long. At least twice, he put a Lincoln in a ditch while trying to relight the pipe. This was one reason he limited his driving to trips to Bonham and back to the farm.
Every time you stopped for a traffic light, the Judge would make one of two remarks. "Your foot slipped," or "You aren't living right." If you were caught in a line of cars, he would opine that "There must be a garage up ahead." This meant that there was a car parked in the street and blocking traffic.
Red River Scrapbook: Travels with the Judge - part 1
By Edward Southerland
Jan 7, 2019
Contributor: Kerry Szymanski (49782268)
He was son of David McMahon & Bettie Paxton.
William Emmett McMahon (pronounced as Mac-Man) was born in Savoy in 1876. He played on the undefeated University of Texas Longhorn football teams of 1900-01. He graduated from UT Law School in 1902, and after a short stint in Bonham, moved to the Philippine Islands to be a school teacher. He soon went back to the law and served as a U.S. District Judge for the islands.
He came back to the U.S. in 1915, and when America entered the Great War, he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army, serving until the war's end. He then took his legal practice to Tampico, Mexico, and in time became the head of the legal department of Standard Oil of New Jersey with headquarters in Mexico City. He came back to Texas in 1938, living in Fort Worth and Dallas, before retiring and coming home to Bonham sometime in the 1940s.
Judge McMahon was from Fannin County, and when he retired, he and his wife built a big home (His living room had almost as many square feet as our entire house.) south of Bonham on a hill overlooking Bois d'Arc Creek. I never knew his wife, who died shortly after their move back to Texas, and he lived alone in the big house. A hired man, who ran the farm, and his family lived in a smaller house on the place.
The Judge never missed a Longhorn football game, home or away. Different people from Bonham with some connection to the other side usually took him to the games. My father was a Baylor alumnus, so each year we took the Judge to Austin or Waco to see Texas take on the Bears. Other folks, with other affiliations, made the trips to Austin or Houston or Fort Worth or wherever the orange and white was playing that week.
If no one in Bonham could make the trip, the Judge would shanghai the hired man, and off they would go. Once they drove to New Orleans to see Texas play Tulane only to find out on their arrival that the game had been switched to Austin because of an impending hurricane. They turned around, drove all night through the wind and rain, and got to Memorial Stadium in time for the kickoff.
The Judge got a new Lincoln every couple of years, sometimes sooner if conditions required. He smoked a pipe, and when the pipe went out, which was often, he fired it up with a silver lighter that shot out a flame about two feet long. At least twice, he put a Lincoln in a ditch while trying to relight the pipe. This was one reason he limited his driving to trips to Bonham and back to the farm.
Every time you stopped for a traffic light, the Judge would make one of two remarks. "Your foot slipped," or "You aren't living right." If you were caught in a line of cars, he would opine that "There must be a garage up ahead." This meant that there was a car parked in the street and blocking traffic.
Red River Scrapbook: Travels with the Judge - part 1
By Edward Southerland
Jan 7, 2019
Contributor: Kerry Szymanski (49782268)
William Emmett McMahon (pronounced as Mac-Man) was born in Savoy in 1876. He played on the undefeated University of Texas Longhorn football teams of 1900-01. He graduated from UT Law School in 1902, and after a short stint in Bonham, moved to the Philippine Islands to be a school teacher. He soon went back to the law and served as a U.S. District Judge for the islands.
He came back to the U.S. in 1915, and when America entered the Great War, he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army, serving until the war's end. He then took his legal practice to Tampico, Mexico, and in time became the head of the legal department of Standard Oil of New Jersey with headquarters in Mexico City. He came back to Texas in 1938, living in Fort Worth and Dallas, before retiring and coming home to Bonham sometime in the 1940s.
Judge McMahon was from Fannin County, and when he retired, he and his wife built a big home (His living room had almost as many square feet as our entire house.) south of Bonham on a hill overlooking Bois d'Arc Creek. I never knew his wife, who died shortly after their move back to Texas, and he lived alone in the big house. A hired man, who ran the farm, and his family lived in a smaller house on the place.
The Judge never missed a Longhorn football game, home or away. Different people from Bonham with some connection to the other side usually took him to the games. My father was a Baylor alumnus, so each year we took the Judge to Austin or Waco to see Texas take on the Bears. Other folks, with other affiliations, made the trips to Austin or Houston or Fort Worth or wherever the orange and white was playing that week.
If no one in Bonham could make the trip, the Judge would shanghai the hired man, and off they would go. Once they drove to New Orleans to see Texas play Tulane only to find out on their arrival that the game had been switched to Austin because of an impending hurricane. They turned around, drove all night through the wind and rain, and got to Memorial Stadium in time for the kickoff.
The Judge got a new Lincoln every couple of years, sometimes sooner if conditions required. He smoked a pipe, and when the pipe went out, which was often, he fired it up with a silver lighter that shot out a flame about two feet long. At least twice, he put a Lincoln in a ditch while trying to relight the pipe. This was one reason he limited his driving to trips to Bonham and back to the farm.
Every time you stopped for a traffic light, the Judge would make one of two remarks. "Your foot slipped," or "You aren't living right." If you were caught in a line of cars, he would opine that "There must be a garage up ahead." This meant that there was a car parked in the street and blocking traffic.
Red River Scrapbook: Travels with the Judge - part 1
By Edward Southerland
Jan 7, 2019
Contributor: Kerry Szymanski (49782268)
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