HISTORY
Tradition Meets
Today
As Burleson County Title steps into a new chapter, our team wanted to honor its roots while celebrating its continued community presence. Our new branding is a reflection of "old meets new".
“Tradition meets today,” is a phrase Marshall III liked to use to describe the company.
“Our records have been built by those before us. Those same people taught the business to their colleagues who continue to teach new employees. Without the effort and care of the employees through the years, none of the successes that take place today would be possible,”
- Marshall III
Burleson County was first home to the Tonkawa Indians and was later on the discovered by European, Spanish and French explorers. Featuring ”mosaic” areas of interspersed grassland, parkland, and woods it is still home to wild birds such as the Bobwhite Quail. As a nod to the indigenous wildlife and terrain, we selected this bird for our primary logomark.
Our continued goal is to honor the hardwork and roots that built us and use it as our foundation for the future.
Branch Manager
Courtlynn Gilliam
Escrow Officer | Branch Manager
Courtlynn Gilliam and her husband Justin, started their family in California, during his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. During this time Courtlynn completed her Bachelors in Business with a specialization in Human Resource Management while working for realtors part-time. In 2019 they relocated to Burleson County with their two children Madilynn and Connor and Courtlynn began her career as an Escrow Officer with Burleson County Title Company.
Having some knowledge from prior work Courtlynn quickly demonstrated her knowledge of the title industry going above and beyond client expectations with a positive stance and great service. She found there is nothing too big or strong that she cannot overcome and actually looks forward to the challenges. As Branch Manager, Courtlynn’ s goal has always been to ensure the client receives a personalized and stress free closing from start to finish and is honored to be a part of helping others’ real estate dreams come to fruition.
1940's
Burleson County Title Company is the oldest title company in Burleson County, originating in the 1940’s as Caldwell Abstract Company and was owned by Richard A. Bowers.
1960's
In the 1960’s, Bowers got to know the attorney and landman Marshall Harrell II, who was living and working in the area and seeing after his mother, who became a relatively young widow in the summer of 1959. When the federal government began to purchase the land to build what is now Lake Somerville, they agreed to a contract with Caldwell Abstract Company for them to do all of the title work for the portion of the lake that would be in Burleson County. The lake also includes land in Lee County and Washington County. Mr. Bowers was faced with a major eye surgery at the time and would be unable to see for some nine months so he hired Harrell to do all of the title work for the government.
1970 - 1980's
In the early 1970’s Harrell began a partnership with Bowers and eventually bought the entire company from the Bowers family after Mr. Bowers passed away in the early 1980’s and changed the name of the company.
1990's
Marshall Harrell III graduated from college in 1995 and the family decided that someone needed to learn the business so it was agreed that Marshall III would work at the title company for two years then go back into the sports management/marketing field he had been involved with during his college years.
2000's
Over the next 25 years later, Marshall III grew the company in both in the volume of business and number of employees. During this time, Leighton Schubert also became a partner in the business. The office building was completely remodeled in 2000 and expanded into the building next door in 2005. Harrell attributed the success of the business to the teachings of his father along with the three ladies he began working with in 1995, Patsy Bryant, Betty Telg and Linda Prieve.
2022
In early 2022, the Armstrong Family was offered the opportunity to partner with Burleson County Title when Marshall III announced his plan for retirement. Their long ties to the business and community are what has inspired this new chapter at Burleson County Title. The Armstrong daughters enjoyed their years spent as student workers for the company and credit the experience to their growth and desire to take on careers in the real estate industry. While they are not part of the day-to-day operations, Courtlynn Gilliam continues to manage the company with help of the dedicated employees.
