USA > Texas > Cherokee County > A history of Cherokee county (Texas) > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
Here they met Dog Shoot and two other warriors who ordered them to start on a two-mile walk to the house of Chief Benge. To Narcissa's companions the future was hopeless.
"Might as well go," was their tearful whisper. "There's more danger in refusing."
But such was not Narcissa's view. What she lacked in avoirdu- pois-she weighed only ninety-four pounds-she made up in spirit.
"Go, if you will," she cried. "I'll die first."
Since the men were all gone and the women were considered harmless, Dog Shoot had not brought his gun.
"If I had my gun, I'd shoot you now," he hissed.
"Go get it," dared the scornful Narcissa.
Dog Shoot and his companions hurried away.
"Now's our chance," encouraged the bold leader.
Strengthened by her brave spirit, the little party, accompanied by a small fice dog which they could not leave and did not have the heart to kill, slipped away through the tall grass and hid until night afforded better protection for travel.
So Dog Shoot and his warriors found the house deserted. Wild with rage on account of the escape of their intended victims, they found revenge in an orgy of destruction, ransacking the premises, ripping open feather beds, turning everything upside down and finally setting fire to the house. From their place of concealment the heart-broken women listened to the savage yells and watched
10
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
the smoke arising from the burning house. Practical Narcissa rejoiced that she had saved her land papers.
When night came they, too, started on the long journey to Lacy's Fort, started without food on a journey menaced by prowling Indians and wild beasts. One cry of the baby or one bark of the dog would probably have proved fatal. But both baby and dog seemed aware of danger. Not a whimper was heard.
On the third morning hunger made them risk daytime travel. A noise made them look back. There stood an Indian with a gun on his shoulder. When the women screamed he ran and showed them it was empty. Unable to speak English, he tried by signs to have them turn and follow a dimmer path to the left. They re- fused. Getting in the trail ahead of them, he loaded his gun. Either way, death seemed certain. They decided to obey him. After a few minutes' travel they reached an Indian camp of painted warriors. Even Narcissa's brave heart quailed. But in- stead of expected death, they found themselves among friends ; found that they had been saved from ambush a half-mile farther along the path they had been following.
Refreshed by food and a night's rest, the fugitives continued the journey on Indian horses. This assistance probably saved the life of Mrs. Jane Killough, who was expecting her first baby in a few weeks.
After surviving all these harrowing experiences, they came near death in the very shadow of the fort, which they reached after dark. In their excitement and relief over having reached safety, they failed to answer the challenge of "Who's there?"
Three times they were hailed before shouting, "Women from Saline," just in time to prevent disaster.
As the news of the massacre spread, all Texas seethed with indignation. Troops under command of General Thomas J. Rusk were sent in pursuit of the offending band, a pursuit rendered difficult by constant shifting of the Indian camp in heavily-wooded areas.
Leaving his wife and baby in safety at Lacy's Fort, Nathaniel Killough joined the expedition and was wounded at the battle of Kickapoo in Anderson County, October 16, 1838. Later he guided a detachment detailed to search for the bodies of his kinsmen. Although, according to reports, eighteen settlers were missing, only a few bodies could be found. Only one of these could be positively identified, Samuel Killough being recognized by a gold tooth. Under a towering oak, long since fallen, one grave was dug. In it, with simple ceremony grim-faced soldiers gently laid
11
INDIAN TRAILS
the bleaching bones.8 Before another year had gone, the Cherokees paid heavily for all their wrong-doing. Their chief lay dead on a blood-stained field and only a remnant of his tribe was left to seek refuge beyond the Texas line.
After peace was restored, Nathaniel Killough returned to the settlement, rebuilt the partially-burned house of Samuel Killough and amassed considerable wealth, both in acres and in slaves. He died in 1865 and was buried beside the massacre victims. The little daughter, who fled with him, later became Mrs. C. W. Matthews of Garden Valley, Smith County. Her death in 1925 marked the passing of the last survivor of that October tragedy.
Narcissa and Jane afterward married again and also returned to the scene of their sorrow. Here baby William grew to man- hood. Near by he spent his last years, "Uncle Billie" to hundreds of devoted friends. By strange coincidence, death claimed him, October 5, 1918, the eightieth anniversary of that perilous flight. The only Killough now living in the county is Uncle Billie's snowy-haired daughter, Mrs. W. F. Partlow of Mt. Selman. One of her treasures is a yellowed manuscript, the story of the massacre as it was told by her grandmother Narcissa and written by her father, which has served as a basis for this account of the tragedy.
In 1934, through an appropriation of funds by the Civil Works Administration, the long-neglected Killough cemetery was en- closed by a rock fence and a twenty-five-foot monument of native stone erected over the grave of the massacre victims. Today it is recognized as one of the Texas shrines.
Thus, because of the Killough tragedy and similar happenings, President Houston, ever the staunch friend of the Indians, saw his administration draw to a close without much visible fruit of his efforts at conciliation. The white man, coming in ever increasing numbers, resented the Indian's holding land which might otherwise become his own fertile fields and pastures. The Indian, resenting what he considered encroachment on his rightful possessions, re- taliated by stealing cattle and killing settlers. The stronger the government grew, the more general became the sentiment that war should be waged against the perpetrators of these outrages.
8No official list of the victims has been found. From the Probate Court Min- utes one learns that Isaac Sr., Isaac Jr., Allen and Samuel Killough and George W. Wood were killed. Barakias Williams is also known to have been shot. Elizabeth Killough, Elizabeth Williams, Mrs. Allen Killough, and Mrs. George W. Wood are known to have been missing. The author has found no official record of the names and the number of the Allen Killough and the Wood children.
12
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
During the administration of President Mirabeau B. Lamar the friction between the races reached a climax. In June, 1839, Indian Agent Martin Lacy was sent to Chief Bowles to announce that the Cherokees must pay the penalty for wrong-doing by removal beyond Red River; peaceably if they would, forcibly if need be; that if they chose to go peaceably they might take their movable property and would be paid for the improvements on the land at a fair price to be fixed by a commission.
John H. Reagan, then a young man recently come to Texas, accompanied Agent Lacy. To him we are indebted for an account of the interview, which proceeded with dignity and frankness despite neither of the principals being able to understand the other.
'Seating his visitors on a log by the spring near his house, Chief Bowles listened to the half-breed Codra interpret the Presi- dent's stern indictment of his people and bravely replied in their defense, asking for time to consult his chiefs and headmen. Ten days later his guests returned to hear the final answer to the decree of banishment. Seated in the same place, the chief sorrow- fully reported that his council had voted war. His speech was concluded with the prophecy quoted at the beginning of the chapter.
The long-pending conflict, the so-called "Cherokee War," which was to free East Texas from the Indians, swiftly followed. A preliminary engagement, July 15, 1839, near Chandler in Henderson County, resulted in a Cherokee retreat up Battle Creek at sundown. The decisive battle was fought in Van Zandt County the next day.10
Among the slain was "General" Bowles. Wearing a silk vest, military hat, sword and sash, which had been gifts from his friend, Sam Houston, the gallant old leader made an easy target as he rode his blaze-face horse up and down the line, futilely urging a last charge. The victorious Texans encamped that night near the dense woods of the Neches River bottom in which the Indians had taken refuge. The next morning the Cherokees were
9The exact site of this interview has been a matter of disagreement. Doctor Albert Woldert, considered an authority on Cherokee affairs, locates it on the J. J. Tullis farm on the Tillman Walters survey. Many old settlers contend it was on the Blanton farm on the Van Sickle survey. The latter has been marked by the Rusk Boy Scouts. Both sites are near Redlawn.
10The location of this battle, sometimes confused with the battle of Kickapoo in Anderson County, is also a subject of disagreement. Doctor Woldert places it on what is now known as the North Hambrick tract, four miles north of the Henderson County line.
13
INDIAN TRAILS
gone. Eventually the scattered remnants of the tribe joined their kinsmen in Oklahoma.
Such, in brief, is the story of our pioneer-Indian conflict. It should be emphasized, however, that not all the association be- tween the red men and the white was hostile. Personal friendships existed and there was much peaceful trade. White friends are known to have accepted the hospitality of Chief Bowles who enjoyed serving his venison stew with a solid silver spoon which had been a gift from Andrew Jackson. Bowles house, built of cedar poles covered with boards, burned after the Indians were driven away.
Although the red men are gone, their presence has left its stamp, not only in the name of the county itself but in the names of several of its streams. Bowles Creek and Bowles Spring take their name from the best-loved of Cherokee chiefs. One-Eye Creek, south of Rusk, bears the name of a noted Cherokee living some two and one-half miles southeast of Rusk on the Thomas J. Timmons survey. Deeds often refer to One-Eye Village. Bean, One-Arm and Tales creeks, west of Rusk, also take their names from Cherokee chiefs.
Some of the first settlers in the '40s actually lived in the houses which had been occupied by Indians. Peach orchards were usually found about Indian villages which continued to afford fruit for white settlers. Old-timers tell of their families starting orchards with trees taken from these Indian orchards. For many years settlers frequently found Indian utensils which had been hidden in hollow trees and stumps. Even Indians themselves slipped back in later years to recover possessions concealed at the time of their hurried flight. Cherokee farmers on village sites still plow up Indian relics.
Historians differ in their attitude toward the Cherokee chapter in Texas history. According to one group, including Yoakum, the Texas government broke faith with the Cherokees when the treaty of 1836, which by a recognition of their land claims had secured their neutrality in the perilous days of the Revolution, was declared null and void. Another group not only denies the existence of any valid basis for such claims, but maintains that had they really existed the Indians' relation with the Mexicans would in any event have nullified them. Just how far the tribe was influenced by the correspondence which undoubtedly was carried on with Mexican emissaries the author cannot determine,
14
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
but there is much evidence to substantiate the Cherokee claim to the county.11
Conceding that, after their refusal to accept the terms of the commissioners, safety demanded the removal of the Cherokees by force, it should in justice be stated that not all the wrong-doing should be charged to the red men. "Between the Mexican emis- saries on the one hand, mischievous Indians on the other, and the grasping desire of unprincipled land-grabbers for their terri- tory, one wrong produced a counter wrong until blood flowed and women and children were sacrificed by the more lawless of the Indians. All the Indians were not bad, nor all the whites good."12
11 As an epilogue to the Cherokee drama the Indians attempted a suit in 1921, asking for compensation for their ancestors having been dispossessed in 1839. Although the Supreme Court refused permission to file the suit on the ground that the Cherokee Nation was not a foreign nation in the sense in which that term is used in the Constitution, the Indians apparently have never abandoned hopes of success through legislative action.
12Brown : History of Texas, Vol. II, p. 164.
CHAPTER II
EARLY COLONIZATION
AS ALREADY shown, adventurous Americans took root on Cherokee soil long before the Indians were driven beyond its borders. Stephen F. Austin's advertising for his three hundred colonists, followed by the passage of the national and state coloni- zation laws of 1824-25, which removed the danger of disposses- sion by the government, gave an impetus to immigration which led to the relatively rapid settlement of the Nacogdoches district.
The State of Coahuila and Texas granted a total of fifty-six titles to sixty-five and one-half leagues of land within the present boundaries of Cherokee County. Only a part of the interesting story of these grants can be related here.
Quite naturally, the earliest grants bordered the "Road to Béxar," also known as the old San Antonio road, a link in the historic Camino del Rey (now the King's Highway), which for more than a century had been the chief line of travel through Texas.
Although not patented until 1832 and then by another govern- ment to another man, the first grant, referred to in early deeds as the Barr and Davenport grant, bordering the Angelina River south of the San Antonio road, was made by the Spanish gov- ernment in 1798. Citizen and Trader William Barr and Citizen and Trader Samuel Davenport,1 among the first Americans to risk life in Texas, were wealthy planters and partners in a large trading post for furs and pelts in Nacogdoches.
William Barr, an Irishman by birth, came to Texas to get stock to carry to his Pittsburgh home and found the country so delightful that he settled at Nacogdoches. The commandant soon appointed him official Indian trader. In 1801 he was a volunteer in the expedition sent to capture Philip Nolan. A few years later the Spanish government granted him permission to establish a settlement at the abandoned presidio of Orcoquisac near the Angelina River.
1These first American owners of Cherokee soil had been granted Spanish citizenship.
15
16
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
Samuel Davenport, leaving his Pennsylvania home an orphan of sixteen, soon settled in the Spanish province of Louisiana and found employment in a trading company. Later he entered the trading business for himself and also acquired a large plantation near Natchitoches. In 1794 he moved his headquarters to Nacog- doches. Five years later, according to his own statement, his good conduct overcame official suspicion and he was permitted to become a partner of William Barr, the accredited Indian agent. He was also quartermaster for the Magee expedition and a member of the Supreme Council established by General James Long. Pressure of business, however, did not prevent his being the leader in Nacogdoches social life, a much sought dinner guest and dance partner.
Before all the intricate steps necessary to the perfection of a Spanish title had been taken, Spain was overthrown by the Mexi- can revolutionists, Barr and Davenport died and, in some manner, the Davenport heirs acquired the grant. In 1829 they used the property to settle a debt to the attorney of the Barr and Davenport firm. Thus on May 9, 1832, Constitutional Alcalde Encarnacion Chirino, acting for the Supreme Government of the State of Coahuila and Texas, patented the vast tract of nine leagues to John Durst. The six and one-quarter leagues located within Chero- kee County are now subdivided into hundreds of farms.
Colonel John Durst, member of the Texas and Coahuila legis- lature in 1835 and one of the most prominent East Texas pioneers, came from Arkansas to Nacogdoches by way of Louisiana, where he settled with his older brother Joseph soon after the death of his parents, the Peter Jacob Dursts. Reward for various official services, including invaluable work as an interpreter in the Mex- ican government's negotiations with the Indians, took the form of land grants. In time he became one of the most extensive of East Texas landholders. Although he never lived on his Cherokee County leagues, his favorite residence was the beautiful planta- tion home, San Patricio, just across the Angelina River at the present Hinckley bridge, which later became the site of Mt. Sterling, a noted pioneer town. From San Patricio he directed his Cherokee farming and sawmill business.
Although not the first for which petition was made, the James Dill, or Helena Kimble, grant bears the earliest patent date. With it is interwoven a most colorful tale.
Lured by reports of riches in trade, the Dills-Captain James, his wife and four children-left their Baltimore home to estab- lish themselves first in the Spanish province of Louisiana and
17
EARLY COLONIZATION
then on old North Street in Nacogdoches in 1800. James Dill, a native of Pennsylvania, had taken an oath of allegiance to the Spanish government in 1794. As a trader in Nacogdoches he soon gained high favor with the Spanish authorities. One of the family heirlooms, now in the possession of James Dill Berryman, Jr., of Alto, is an intricately carved sword presented by the gov- ernment in recognition of his fair commercial dealings. From 1821-23 he was the Nacogdoches alcalde. He died about 1825.
After removal to the Texas frontier for commercial gain, the Dills found another source of wealth which might be theirs for the asking-Spanish land grants. In 1802 Captain Dill, "with the greatest submission and humility," petitioned the Nacogdoches commandant, Don Miguel Musquez, for four leagues of land lying west of the Angelina River and north of the old San Antonio road, now the King's Highway.
Governmental wheels, however, turned slowly. Despite the ap- proval of the commandant, the favorable report of the surveyor and the consent of the owners of adjacent leagues, 1809 found the petitioner still without formal title to the land. By 1810 the struggle for Mexican independence from Spain claimed the entire official attention and pending land grants were forgotten. During the course of the revolution Nacogdoches and the surrounding settlements were depopulated, the Dills taking refuge at Fort Jessup, Louisiana.
The death of Captain Dill left his widow, according to Spanish custom designated by her maiden name, Helena Kimble, the task of obtaining recognition of her claims from the newly established Mexican government under the terms of the colonization law of 1825. So in 1827 Helena Kimble once more "prayed for" her home. Official records furnish the following report of the formal transfer made by Constitutional Alcalde José Moré Acosta, July 26, 1828:
"I did put Helena Kimble in formal possession . .. saying to her in a loud and audible voice, 'In the name of the Supreme Government of the State of Coahuila and Texas, by virtue of the commission conferred upon me for the purpose by the Chief of this Department, I put you in possession of all tracts of land con- tained in the lines just drawn under the boundaries specified in these proceedings .. . ' And the said Helena Kimble took quiet and peaceable possession of said tract of land, speaking aloud, throwing stones, pulling weeds, driving stakes and land marks in token of lawful and true dominion acquired of her over said tract of land, for which she was notified she must pay the treasurer
18
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
of the State the fee of $30 for every one of the leagues granted " to her in terms specified by the Colonization law . .
Concerning Madam Dill, born Helena Kimble in 1770, very little is recorded.2 One can imagine, however, her anxious con- cern for her children during those early uncertain frontier years ; her delight at the coming of Madam Thorn and Madam Durst, her first Nacogdoches white women friends; the grim determina- tion with which as a widow she continued the legal battle for her land; the disappointment when her dream of acquiring wealth from a Holstein herd on her Cherokee plantation faded.
In 1830 she began a division of the grant, her daughters receiv- ing leagues instead of acres for inheritance. To one daughter, Delilah, went the southeast of the four leagues. Delilah had mar- ried Joseph Durst, Indian trader for the Nacogdoches firm of Barr and Davenport and a prominent political figure. During the Edwards régime in Nacogdoches he was alcalde. The Convention of Nacogdoches made him a member of the Committee of Safety appointed in 1835. He was also one of the signers of the Houston- Forbes treaty with the Cherokees in 1836. For a number of years the Joseph Dursts lived within the present boundaries of Cherokee County at a beautiful plantation home, called Linwood, just west of the Angelina River and north of the King's Highway, now known as the old Terrell home. Here they died in the middle '40s. Their only child, James H. Durst, was a prominent Cherokee County citizen until he was made customs collector at Point Isabel in 1855.
To Mary Sevier, another daughter who had married a French- man from New Orleans, was deeded the northeast league. This was afterward sold to General Kelsey H. Douglas. General Doug- las also purchased the northwest league which, had he not been killed at the battle of New Orleans, would doubtless have been the inheritance of Francis Dill, the only son. Casselda, the other daughter who had left Baltimore with the family, had married Lieutenant William R. Johnson of the United States army and for some reason was not included in the division of the grant. Helena, the youngest of the Dill children, born in Nacogdoches in 1804, found her inheritance in the southwest league. Family tradition tells that she was the first white child born in Texas.
With Helena the story back tracks to Fort Jessup, frontier army post in Louisiana. One night in 1824 at an officers' ball a dashing
2In the middle '30s she married her second husband, William Nelson. Death came in 1848. Today her grave may be found under a giant, drooping cedar in a cornfield about three miles east of Alto, just north of the King's Highway.
( Upper left ) MRS. HELENA BERRYMAN, at the age of 70 (Right ) CAPTAIN HENRY BERRYMAN ( Bottom) FOREST HILL, Built 1847
.
19
EARLY COLONIZATION
young lieutenant, Henry Berryman of Virginia, spied charming Helena Dill from the Natchitoches (Louisiana) boarding school. Again and again they danced together. Three days later Lieu- tenant Berryman offered his heart and hand. Very quickly the youthful Helena was initiated into the everchanging life of an army man's wife.
Promotion came, but ill health forced Captain Berryman's re- tirement. Then they came to take possession of Helena's in- heritance in the newly organized Cherokee County, some five miles northeast of the present Alto. Soon slaves were felling trees for what was intended to be a temporary dwelling-Forest Hill. Later, according to the Captain's plans, there was to be a replica of his Virginia mansion, built of stone. Death prevented the ful- fillment of his hopes and Berryman history has been made in the log structure.
Next to building a home Captain and Mrs. Berryman were con- cerned about the development of the county's resources. Sale of a part of their land at a nominal sum brought new settlers. Settlers required schools and churches. After donating the land for a building site, the owners of Forest Hill became members of the second oldest church in the county, now known as Old Palestine Church. Captain Berryman died in 1859, but through twenty-nine years of widowhood Helena Berryman continued to make the Berryman home a community center. Here thirty orphan children found a home. Here Helena died, March 13, 1888, and was buried by her husband, within a stone's throw of the house of which she had so long been mistress.
Since its first log was laid among the cedars, Forest Hill has been the pride of the Berryman family, carefully preserved by each succeeding generation, and now occupied by Mrs. Carl Yowell, great-granddaughter of the builder. Defiant of eighty- seven years of sun and storm, it stands as one of Cherokee County's best-known landmarks. Its huge fireplace, many-paned windows and great overhead beams are as they were when Captain and Mrs. Berryman entertained General Zachary Taylor, General Joseph L. Hogg and innumerable other guests with lavish ante- bellum hospitality. Many of the family heirlooms are still among its furnishings. Other furniture has been made of cedar grown on the estate. A bathroom and electric lights are the only con- cessions to modernness.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.