Thomas Chilton Jasper

Thomas Chilton "T.C." Jasper was born on January 11, 1844, in Middleburg, Kentucky. He served in the Civil War in Company C, 6th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry. After the war, he returned to Kentucky and taught school. On January 8, 1874, T.C. married Mary Wilmoth Jones. The couple established a very prosperous general store in nearby Mount Salem, Kentucky. Two of his children, Claude and Davie, were born there as well.

In 1887, T.C. moved his family to Plano, Texas, where his third child, Roy, was born. He quickly organized the Plano National Bank, investing out of his own pocket $40,000 of the $50,000 needed for new bank stock. The bank was chartered July 27, 1882, and T.C. served as cashier for 25 years before retiring in March of 1913.

In addition to owning numerous business properties in and around Plano, T.C. Jasper was a co-founder of the Plano Cotton Oil Company (established in 1902 and dissolved in 1916). In 1904, T.C., along with seven other men, formed the "44 Club"; its members were Confederate veterans and were all born in 1844.

He served as treasurer of the Texas Electric Railroad, was a deacon in the First Baptist Church, a Mason for 55 years (as well as a charter member of the Plano chapter), and an honorary member of the Lions Club. T.C. died in 1924 at the age of 80, after 50 years of marriage. His wife, Mary, died in 1940.

Jasper High School, founded in 1996, in Plano, Texas is named in honor of the banker and businessman.

ources

*PLANO, TEXAS: The Early Years; Henington Publishing Company, 1985
*http://k-12.pisd.edu/centen/jasper.htm