Myrtle Hancock

One of the most remarkable women in Fannin County history is Myrtle Hancock.

Born in 1886, her family came to Bonham in 1895.

She graduated Bonham High School as valedictorian (1902) at age 15 and graduated from Carlton College as valedictorian in 1904.

She worked at the Clerk's Office of the Fannin County Courthouse.

She studied law by correspondence through University of Texas at Austin and passed the Texas Bar in 1919, the first female attorney in Fannin County and North Texas. In 1969, the Texas Bar Association awarded her a 50-year certificate. She maintained a law practice until past 80 years old.

She also ran the Bonham Abstract Co, with her sister, Phebe Hancock, for 25 years.

She was the first woman to register to vote in Fannin County and the first to vote in an election.

The Fannin County Museum of History has many items relating to her, including the dress she wore at graduating from Carlton College.