USA > Texas > Burleson County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
USA > Texas > Travis County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
USA > Texas > Bastrop County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
USA > Texas > Lee County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
USA > Texas > Williamson County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
USA > Texas > Milam County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties. Pt.2 > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02282 4368
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Gc 976.4 H616 FT.2
2260381
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/historyoftexasto02unse
HISTORY OF TEXAS
TOGETHER WITH A
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ~~
Milam, Williamson, Bastrop,
Travis, Lee AND Burleson
Counties.
Containing a Concise History of the State, with Portraits and Biographies of Prominent Citizens of the above named Counties, and Personal Histories . of Many of the Early Settlers and Leading Families.
" Biography is the only true history." -- Emerson.
Pt. 2 CHICAGO
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1.98
Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana
5.19
416
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
2260381
At the age of sixteen, he began to look abont him for a vocation in which to carve out his own fortune, and as his father and grandfather before him had been successful in imercantile pursuits, he conelnded to fol- low in their illustrions footsteps. Accord- ingly, in order to gain a practical knowl- edge of that line, he entered the employ of E. Belo, prosperons merchant of Salem, North Carolina, where he was for number of years associated with his employer's son, A. H. Belo, who is well known to all Texans as the present publisher of the Galveston and Dallas News. Mr. Bitting continued to be thus occupied until the breaking out of the civil war, at which time there was a great demand for all patriotic men to defend the South and her time-honored institutions.
Althongh bnt a lad of eighteen years, Mr. Bitting had developed, under the excitement of the times, into mature manhood, and with all the devotion of his nature offered his services and life, if necessary, to the defense of his beloved home. Ile enlisted in Com- pany K of the Forty-eighth North Carolina Infantry, his regiment being a part of Gen- eral A. P. Hill's corps and joined to the Virginia army. He participated in the historic seven days' fight in front of Richmond and received, on the third day of the battle, a severe wonnd in the left breast, which nearly cost him his life, the ball passing through his body under his arm and coming out at his back. Ile suffered from this wound for three months, when he rejoined his regiment at Winchester. Virginia, and took part in the battles of Rappahannock and the Wilder- ness. The command was then sent to protect the coast of the Carolinas, but returned in time to take part in the battle of Fredericks- burg, also the fight which followed the mine explosion near Petersburg, Virginia. Mr. period of twenty years this section of Travis
Bitting was promoted as Second Lieutenant after the battle of Fredericksburg, and was later commissioned Captain of his company. At the time of the surrender, Captain Bit- ting was at home on a furlough, and while there was captured during Stoneman's raid through Carolina. There was a little ro- mance connected with his release. General Palmer, then in charge, was quartered at the home of Captain Bitting's sweetheart, and she by her amiable disposition and interest- ing manner made a favorable impression on the general, who, through her intercession, granted Captain Bitting a parole, and shortly afterward the struggle closed.
After the war, Captain Bitting engaged in mercantile business at Salisbury, North Carolina, and there continued merchandising with a reasonable degree of success until 1873. But the ravages of war had left their imprint on the old States, and it was a slow process to build up a fortune in that locality. Ac- cordingly Captain Bitting decided to close ont his business there and seek a location in a new country, where the opportunities for a young man's advancement were greater. Taking, therefore, Horace Greeley's advice, le came West to Texas, and after a prospect- ing tour, visited this rich section of the conn- try, which was then an almost uncultivated prairie. The soil, however, was most fertile, and a short time previously the Houston & Texas Central Railroad Company had located a station at the point where Manor now stands. Captain Bitting's judgment told him that a country like this could not long remain undeveloped, and he thus con- clnded to try his chances at this place. He accordingly embarked, in a small way, in the general merchandise business, nor was he in error in his predictions, for in the short
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
county has advanced from a most sparsely settled to a thickly populated community of prosperous planters. Captain Bitting's business has kept pace with the growth of the country, and as the latter has developed he has enlarged his supply to meet the de- mands of his constantly increasing trade. When he settled here Manor was simply a little station out on the prairie on a new railroad, and he embarked in business in a small frame building and in a small way. Ile now has a large, handsome brick store house, 75 x 100 feet, which would be a credit to any city in Texas, and he carries a gen- eral stock of merchandise, amounting to about $20,000, and does a business of from $50,000 to $60,000 annnally, while the town of Manor has grown to be the second larg- est city in Travis connty. In connection with his extensive mercantile porsnits, the Captain has large agricultural interests. own- ing 3,000 acres of the best soil in Texas, 1,000 acres of which are under a high state of cultivation. Besides these various in- terests, he is the correspondent in Manor for all the banks, for which he collects, there being no bank in the place.
The Captain's prosperity is due to a com- bination of causes, among which his affable disposition, honorable and npright business principles and conrteous, accommodating treatment of his patrons, play a prominent part, winning for him the confidence and estecin of the entire community and the State at large, while he enjoys a popularity which is seldom experienced by the prosper- ons men of the country. He has been among the foremost to contribute his means and in- fluence to aid every laudable enterprise having for its object the benefit of the com- munity; and it is undisputed fact that he has done his full share in the up-building of | his second wife being Margaret A. Griffin, a
Manor and the development of the surround- ing country, which locality now has the reputation of being one of the most desir- able places for a home in Texas, owing to the educational, religions and moral advantages.
While the Captain has his time and at- tention fully occupied by his various personal interests, he is not unmindful of his social obligations as a citizen, as is demonstrated by his able service in the capacity of a mem- ber of the Board of Directors of the State Lunatic Asylum, to which position he was appointed during the administration of Governor S. S. Ross. He is an active mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken all the degrees, and is also an Odd Fellow of prominence and a Knight of Honor. While not an aspirant for political preferment, he uses his influence in favor of the Democratic party.
Captain Bitting was first married in Yadkin county, North Carolina, September 1, 1865, to Miss Julia E., danghter of Dr. George Wilson, an eminent professional man of the Old North State. To this nnion were born ten children, five of whom are now living: Renben E., in business with his father; Eugenia Hampton, wife of William L. Bitting, a successful drnggist of Sherman, Texas; Lizzie, Leigh and Julia, at home. Captain Bitting was called upon to mourn the death of his estimable wife in 1885, in which bereavement he had the sympathy of all who knew and appreciated her in many worthy qualities of mind and heart. August 3, 1893, he suffered another affliction in the loss of his daughter Florence, a beautiful girl just blooming into womanhood, who was called to join her mother in that home which knows no parting. In Austin, Texas, in 1887. Captain Bitting was again married,
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
lady of rare culture and refinement, who is a native of Vaiden, Mississippi.
With Captain Bitting's career as an index to the worth of a Texas citizen, we are convinced there are giants in these days, not the physical prodigies of ancient and mytho- logical times, but the mental and moral in- dividuals who build commonwealths to en- dure and form governments which are the wonder of the world.
C APTAIN A. P. McCORD .- As the name indicates, the subject of this sketch comes partly of Scotch stoek. His paternal great-grandfather, a native of Scotland, was an early emigrant to Amer- iea, probably being one of those sturdy fol- lowers of John Knox who were forced by the religious perseentions of the last century to seek the freedom of conscience in this conntry denied them in their own. Ile set- tled in one of the southeast Atlantic coast States, where his descendants became pros- perons planters, and where many of them now reside. Spartansburg District, South Carolina, was the birth-place of Jesse C. McCord, the father of A. P. McCord. Ile was taken by his parents to Georgia when young, and reared in Walton connty, where he subsequently married, and moved thence to Upson county, where he lived the greater part of his life. A plain planter of ample means, his years on earth were passed peace- fully and profitably, and he died in the en- joyment of the respect and good will of those among whom he had lived. His death oe- curred in 1887, in Brooks county, Georgia, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. Cap- tain MeCord's mother, nee Elizabeth Thur- mond, was a daughter of a respectable and
well-to-do planter of Walton county, Geor- gia, where she was born and reared. She is still living, being a resident now of Brooks county, Georgia, where she makes her home with her daughter. Of the seven children of Jesse C. and Elizabeth McCord, four are now living: Robert Kenneth; Mrs. Martha Nay- lor, wife of Charles A. Naylor, of Quitman, Georgia; Mrs. Lucy J. Owen, wife of Allen F. Owen, of Cedartown, Georgia; and Au- gustus l'., the subject of this notice.
The last named was born in Walton county, Georgia, in 1843, and was reared in Upson county, near Thomaston. June, 1861, at the age of eighteen, he entered the Confederate army, enlisting in an organization known as the Columbus Volunteers, with which he went at once to the front and entered the Army of Northern Virginia. He saw service in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ten- nessee and Georgia, taking part in all the en- gagements in which his command took part except when prevented from so doing by disabilities received in the field. He was wounded at the second battle of Manassas, Chickamauga and Cold Harbor, and lost in the aggregate nearly a year's time from service. He entered the army as a private, became First Lieutenant of his company in 1863, and was commanding it at the elose of the war.
Returning to Georgia after the surrender, he resided from 1865 to 1869 at Thomaston, where he was engaged in farming and handling live-stock, and from 1869 to 1882 at Rome, where he was similarly engaged. In May, 1883, he came to Texas, and located at Cameron, Milam county, where for eight years he handled live-stock. In April, 1892, in connection with Messrs. Crawford & Craw- ford. of the Milam County Bank, he erected the Milam County Cotton-Oil Mills, one of
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
the largest and most prosperous enterprises of the kind in central Texas, to which he has since given his time and attention.
Captain McCord married, in Thomaston, Georgia, Mareh 12, 1867, Marianna J. May, a native of Crawford county, Georgia, and a danghter of Rev. P. L. J. May, an able min- ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church of his State. To this nnion nine children have been born, all bnt one of whom are living. To his business and his family Captain Me- Cord is devoted without reservation, never having held office of any kind, and never having sought any employment or diversion inconsistent with his duties to these. Ile is an ardent Democrat and a thoughtful ob- server of political matters, a Mason, a mem- ber of the American Legion of Honor and of the Knights of Honor.
A ARON F. AND WILLIAM BOYCE, farmers on Gilliand's creek, Travis eonnty, twelve miles from Austin, are representatives of one of the pioneer families of the county, and both are native- horn Texans. They are sons of Aaron F. and Elizabeth (Ely) Boyce. The latter was the daughter of Isaac Ely, a native of Kentucky. and the former was born in Tennessee, Feb- ruary 21, 1800. When a young man he went to Ralls connty, Missouri, and was there married, at New London, in 1822. They lived but a short time in that State, having been attracted to Wisconsin by the development of the lead-mining industry. Mr. Boyce invested in mining property at Prairie du Chien and Galena, and was be. coming quite wealthy when the severity of the winters cansed him to come to Texas. They landed in Bastrop county in the fall of
1837, and about one year later bought a league of land on Gilliand's creek, a part of which our subject still owns. Mr. Boyce had been accustomed to pioneer life before, had taken an active part in the famons Black Hawk war in Wisconsin, and was therefore well qualified to occupy an advanced position on the Texas frontier. The Indians, how- ever, became so troublesome in a short time that it became necessary to their safety to move nearer a settlement, and they therefore spent some time in the Hornsby Bend neigh- borhood, on the river, returning to their home in 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Boyee had ten chil- dren, namely: Mary Ann, deceased October 30, 1866, was the wife of Mark Moss; Isaac Ely married and raised a family, and died January 17, 1883; James, deceased; Stephen, who raised a family, and died September 25, 1865; Elizabeth, deceased March 11, 1870, was the wife of Dr. R. B. Pumphrey; Elvi- ra, widow of A. W. Morrow, and a resident of Taylor, Texas; Harriet, deceased in in- fancy; Melvina A., wife of De Witt C. Booth, of Taylor; Aaron F. and William, subjects of this sketch; and John, who en- listed for the late war in Ford's cavalry regi- ment, and died of yellow fever at Browns- ville, Texas, Angust 21, 1864. James Boyce, the third son, was a young man when he moved with his father to Travis connty, and was noted as an Indian fighter. One day he started from home to Austin, but had gone only three miles when he was attacked, while crossing Walnut creek, by a band of Lipan Indians. He turned toward home, and led them a brave chase for two miles, when he was overtaken, killed and scalped, in sight of home. This occurred in 1842. Mr. Boyce, the father of these children, met a violent death while deer-hunting near his home. While chasing a deer about dusk, September
£
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
3, 1846, his horse stumbled and fell on him, and he died the following day. The mother was spared to her family for many years, dying Jannary 19, 1884, at the age of seventy - nine years .
Aaron F. Boyce was born February 29. 1840. At the opening of the late war he joined Company F, Eighteenth Texas Car- alry, and participated in the battles of Cot- ton Plant, Arkansas Post, Harrisonburg, Natchez, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. At the last engagement he was severely wounded in his left hand, returned home on a fur- lough, and never again entered the army. After returning home he was elected County Clerk of Travis county, and held that posi- tion until the close of hostilities. He now owns a fine farm of 330 acres, 125 acres of which is cultivated. In his political rela- tions he acts with the Democratic party, and socially is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Mr. Boyce was married in Travis county, February 28, 1866, to Mary M. Cain, a native of Hot Springs county, Arkansas, who came with her parents to Texas in 1855. She was a danghter of J. Y. and Philadelphia Cain. Mr. and Mrs. Boyce have seven children: Imogene, now Mrs. Ira Aten, of Castro county, Texas; John Ely, also of that county; Elizabeth, Isabelle, Benjamin, David and Ln- cile.
fell by the dread hand of disease. Mr. Boyce was captured January 11, 1863, and held a prisoner until the following April, when he was exchanged at City Point, Virginia. Ile again enlisted for service, entering Gran- bury's Texas brigade of infantry, took part in several small engagements, and was twice wounded in the battle of Chickamanga, in the left shoulder and head, which rendered him unfit for duty, and he retired from the army.
Mr. Boyee now owns 360 aeres of good land, 250 acres of which is cultivated. Ile is a Democrat in his political views, and socially is a Master Mason.
November 4, 1868, near Austin, our sub- jeet was married to Kate. a daughter of Sammel and Mary A. (Chunu) Stone. The father built and ran the first ferry boat across the Colorado river in Bastrop county. They were the parents of six children: Martha, deceased; Jolin B., in Mexico; Thomas H., of Martindale, Texas; Samnel T., of Austin; Charles W., a resident of Lockhart, Texas; and Kate, wife of our subjeet. The follow- ing was written on the occasion of the death of Mr. Stone:
"Our community was pained to learn on Friday last of the death of Samnel Stone, proprietor of the ferry below the city, and one of our oldest citizens. Mr. Stone has had a long and eventful life. Ile was born in Bedford county, Virginia, in 1797, and was consequently in his sixtieth year. He enlisted as a soldier in the American army in 1814. In 1819 he moved to Tennessee, then a frontier of almost unbroken forests. In 1824 he moved to Alabama, having married in Tennessee. In 1829 he again removed,
William Boyce was born on the place he now oeenpies, Jannary 17, 1842. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company F, Darnell's cavalry regiment, went first to Indian Territory, and thence to Arkansas, where he participated in the battle of Ar- kansas Post. The entire company was cap- tured there, and taken to Camp Douglas, this time to Missouri. Under the impulse Chicago. While on the road measles and which ever drove him toward a new country, small-pox broke out, and many of the soldiers | he moved in 1839 to Texas, then far less
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civilized than now. On a visit to San An- tonio in 1842, he was taken prisoner by Gen- eral Woll, and carried to Mexico, where, at Perote, he endured hunger, chains, and all the manifold sufferings of a captive in the hands of Mexicans. Returning to Texas after two years' captivity, he removed in 1845 from Bastrop to Austin. In 1848 he visited California, returning to Austin in 1851, and has since resided here, well known to almost every one in the city and vieinity, and here closed at last his wanderings to the grave.
" Mr. Stone was a man of noble and gen- erons impulses, an affectionate husband and father, and a warm friend; and his character has received its form and coloring from the frontier life he has always led. His siekness was rapid and malignant from the first, and he was earnest in supplication to the Throne of Grace for pardon and acceptance with God, through the merits of a divine Re- deemer. Ilis remains were attended to the grave by the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member, as well as by many others of his many friends. Hle will long be remen- bered as one of the few and brave pioneers of that civilization which so many are now per- mitted to enjoy."
Mr. and Mrs. Boyce have had seven chil- dren: Mand, now Mrs. I. P. Jones, of Travis county: Mary, wife of H. L. Hill, who re- sides with our subject ; Albert G., Beatrice, Clandie, Dona and Gladys, at home.
The father was an officer in the army, studied medicine in his native country, and, after coming to the United States in 1853, prae- ticed lis profession at Cape Girardeau, Mis- souri. IIe died in 1856, at the age of fifty- five years. Both be and his wife were mem- bers of the Catholic Church, and the latter died in 1885, aged seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. DeGress were the parents of eight children, six of whom are now living-four in the United States and two in Mexico.
Colonel DeGress was educated in Europe" and at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. May 10, 1861, he enlisted in the United States service in the Third Missouri Reserve Infantry; he subsequently raised Company K, Sixth Mis- souri Cavalry, of which he was commissioned Captain February 15, 1862. He first served under General Nathaniel Lyon, next under General Curtis, and then under Grant at Vieksburg. At the battle of Vicksburg he was twice wounded, on the same day, one ball entering the left leg at the ankle, and the other, a piece of shell, striking him near the right eye. After his recovery from these in- juries, in December, 1863, Captain DeGress rejoined his company in Louisiana, took part in a number of battles under General Banks, and April 7, 1864, he was wounded in the left leg. Waiting only for nature to grant ber healing benefices, in September of the same year he was detailed as Aide-de-Camp on the staff of General Mower, participating in a number of battles. lle was also with Sherman in the memorable march from At- lanta to the sea. For meritorions service at the battle of Bayon de Glaize. Louisiana, he was promoted Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, and May 12, 1865. was promoted Major and Aide- de-Camp. Colonel DeGress was honorably mustered out of service September 1, 1866,
C COLONEL J. C. DEGRESS. Postmaster of Anstin, was born in Cologne, Prus- sia. April 23, 1542. a son of Charles and Walburga (Bramino) DeGress, the former a native of Prussia, and the latter of Italy. : and on July 28 of the same year was ap-
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pointed First Lientenant of the Ninth Cav- alry in the United States army; was made Captain July 31, 1867, and December 31, 1870. on account of wonnds received during the war, was placed on the retired list of the army. He was brevetted Captain and Major for gallant and meritorious service during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Lientenant-Colonel for similar services at the battle of Bayou de Glaize, Louisiana, in the United States army.
May 24, 1871, Colonel DeGress was ap- pointed Superintendent of Public Instruction of Texas, holding that office for three years. In 1877 he was elected to fill an unexpired term as Mayor of Anstin. At the expiration of this partial term he was re-elected, and was again elected his own successor in 1879. He resigned the position in August, 1880. In July, 1881, he was appointed by President Garfield as Postmaster of Austin, and was re-appointed by President Harrison in Octo- ber, 1889. He was Chairman of the State Republican Committee for 1888-'89-'90, and was Commander of the Department of Texas, G. A. R., for 1888.
Our subject was first married January 1, 1867, to Mrs. Bettie Young, a daughter of Eliphalet Buckner, who was Judge of the Castroville district, in western Texas. IIe had two children; his son, Thomas L. Buck- ner, died in Texas in 1878. Colonel and Mrs. DeGress had seven children, six of whom died in early childhood. Cordelia C., the only one now living, graduated with the highest honors at St. Mary's Academy, in the class of 1891. The wife and mother died July 5, 1880, at the age of thirty-five years. She was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, although her family were Episco- palians. Colonel DeGiress was again married Angust 2. 1882. to Miss W. M. Johnston, a
daughter of Colonel I. W. JJohnston, of Stonewall, Indian Territory. They have three children: Francis Brackenridge, Bettie Belk- nap and Jacob Charles. The Colonel is a member of the Catholic Church, and his wife of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The latter is a consin of General Joseph E. Johnston, of the Confederate States army. Our subject takes an active interest in the Republican party, and is Chairman of the Ninth Congressional District of Texas. As a soldier he was courageons, composed and level-headed; as a citizen, is kind, generons and hospitable; as a public officer, is prompt, obliging and courteons. Ile has made a record of which his adopted State may well be proud.
IL. SPARKMAN, of Milam county, is a son of Rev. J. C. and Louisa (Round- tree) Sparkman. Three brothers of that name came from England to this country in Colonial times. One located in North Caro- lina, from whom our subject is a direct de- scendant; another in Maryland, and his de- scendants spell their name Sparksman; and the third in Massachusetts, whose ancestors spell the name Parkman. The grandfather of our subject, William Sparkinan, was a volunteer in the Revolutionary war, served under Colonel William Polk, and after the close of the struggle moved with his family to Williamson connty, Tennessee. While there he enlisted for service in the war of 1812, took part in the battle of Canebrake with Jackson's army, where he was captured and held a prisoner until peace was declared. Mr. Sparkman continued to reside in Ten- nessee until his death. The father of onr subject, during the infancy of the latter,
ym of Horley
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moved to Lawrenceburgh, Tennessee, and in 1855 to a point near Clifton, that State. where the mother died in 1880 and the father in 18S4. The latter was a minister in the Missionary Baptist Church for fifty years, and during that time gave particular atten- tion to missionary work, having established many churches in middle Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Sparkman were the parents of three children: William T., a farmer of Lauderdale connty, Alabama; John W., a minister of the Christian Church at Mifflin, Tennessee; and J. II .. the subject of this sketch.
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