A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 51

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Texas > Henderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51
USA > Texas > Freestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51
USA > Texas > Leon County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51
USA > Texas > Anderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51
USA > Texas > Limestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51
USA > Texas > Navarro County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 51

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).

In 1875, Mr. Sessions was elected to the Constitutional Convention from this county to form the present constitution of the State of Texas.

Mr. Sessions was married, in 1857, to Miss Martha Carter, of Alabama, a daughter of William and Lucinda (Luckey) Carter, natives of Georgia. Mr. Carter came to this county, in 1853, although he had brought some negroes here in 1852, and made some corn for the support of his fam- ily and stock. "He erected the palatial residence in which our subject now resides, and from which residence he was married, in 1857. Mr. Carter died in 1857, and his wife survived him until 1864. They were the parents of six children, namely : William F., deceased, left one daughter, who is now the wife of Judge Kirven, of Fairfield; Permelia, deceased, was the wife of Thomas Jefferson, and left a large fam- ily; Margaret, deceased, was the wife of Thomas Carter, and she left one daughter, who is now the wife of A. H. Carter, of this county; Martha, deceased, was the wife of our subject; W. D., deceased, left one son, W. D., of this county, and two daughters died in Alabama, previous to coming to this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Sessions four children were born: Eliza- beth, wife of W. E. Bonner, of this county; Zora, wife of T. J. Parker, of this county; Fannie, wife of John L. Wortham, of

Mexia; and Carter, of this county. Mrs. Sessions died in 1885, at the age of forty- five, a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, in which he is a Deacon.

William Anderson, one of the oldest Texans in the county of Freestone, was born in San Augustine county, Texas, February 22, 1825, and was the eighth child born in a family of eleven. He was the son of Bailey and Elizabeth (Mc Fad- den) Anderson, natives of South Carolina, who were married in Kentucky. Bailey Anderson was the son of Bailey, and he in turn was the son of John, who came from Scotland, when a boy and settled in South Carolina. He became a soldier in the Rev- olutionary war, and his son, Bailey, who was the grandfather of our subject, served through the sanie war with him. The lat- ter was one of the pioneers of Kentucky, going there in 1795 or 1796. He left that State about 1809 or 1810 and settled in Indiana, and in the winter of 1816 moved to Arkansas Territory, before that section was ceded to the Indians. From there, in 1821, he removed to San Augustine county, Texas, which was then the Republic of Mexico, He remained in this place from 1821 to 1837, and then moved to Harri- son county, Texas, where he died, August, 1840, at the age of eighty-five. They reared a family of nine children, as fol- lows: Wyatt, who died in San Augustine county ; Joshua died in Arkansas; Bailey is the father of our subject; Pickney died in Indiana; Sarah married Joe English and died in this State; Delilah married Ratcliffe Boone, a man of considerable note, who was at one time a Congressman from Kentucky and they resided in Boone

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

county, Missouri; Visa married John Lont and died in this State; the two remaining sisters married in Kentucky two brothers by the name of Kirby. Bailey Anderson, the father of our subject, received a com- mon-school education, following his father's meanderings until he landed in San Au- gustine county, Texas, in 1821. Concern- ing the maternal side of our subject's fam- ily he knows very little, as few of them went to Texas. They were of Irish parent- age. The mother of cur subject was a niece of his family.

While living in San Augustine county, during the existence of the Republic, he took little interest in political affairs. In the fall of 1837 he left that county, after a residence of sixteen years, when he settled in Harrison.county, residing there for six- teen years, removing then to Mc Lennan county, where he died July 14, 1865, aged seventy-seven years. His wife died the following year, December 4, 1866, aged seventy-six years. They were the par- ents of eleven children, nine of whom lived to adult years, two girls dying young. The names were: Felix G., deceased; O. H., deceased; the latter was in the battle of Nacogdoches and was out again for a short time in 1836; Hampton, deceased, also served in the war of 1836; Bailey, deceased; Ratliff, deceased, Angust 1, 1846, while with the army in the war with Mexico; William, our subject; Sallie, deceased, wife of T. M. Hill; Pickney, resides in Leon county, Texas; A. J. Anderson, deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were mem- bers of the Missionary Baptist Church.

William Anderson received only a lim- ited education, his father being a typical

frontiersman, always seeking the outskirts of civilization: consequently his children had but little chance to attend school. The father was financially able to give his children education, but the opportunities did not present themselves. Our subject began life for himself at the age of twenty- one, as a farmer in Harrison county, where he resided with his parents until 1854.

In 1846 he joined Captain Bird Hol- land's company of cavalry and proceeded with him to Mexico, but his services as a soldier ended under Captain E. J. Thomp- son. He was ont but six months, but dur- ing that time was in the battle of Monterey. Returning soon after to his father's home, he remained until his parents removed to McLennan county, wlien he accompanied a niece of Ben Hampton and of the same family as Senator Wade Hamptou, of South Carolina. Bailey Anderson upon reaching San Augustine conuty engaged in farming. In August, 1832, lie commanded a com- pany of Texas troops at old Nacogdoches, where he fought the first battle of the Texas Revolution. After this he returned home, but in 1835 again cast his fortune with the patriots, being at San Antonio for several days, skirmishing almost constantly and for four days was in a constant fight. He, with twenty or thirty men, ten of his own company, ten of Captain English's and the remainder of the New Orleans Grey were piloted through the enemy's lines into the heart of the city, where they secured pos- session of old Colonel Navarro's house. This house proved of great service to the patriot army, it being a stone structure and located close to and almost within the enemy's lines. Captain Anderson was in

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

command of these men, wlio were all a picked crowd, noted for their bravery. They went to their task with the full im- pression, that should the stone house be captured they would forfeit their lives. In gaining access to the structure they passed within a few yards of a Mexican battery, planted in the street of the city, and on one occasion the guide became lost in the dark- ness of the night, but for the timely aid of a Mexican woman they would undoubtedly have been killed, as they were marching single file upon the enemy's cannon. Warned by the woman they beat a silent but hasty retreat, when they soon came up with their guide. Captain Anderson assured him that if he attempted to pass beyond reach of his gun he would shoot him. No further mishap occurred. Soon after entering their retreat the Mexicans trained their cannon upon it, but being of small calibre and the walls very thick little damage was done. After the battle Captain Anderson returned home to them and remained with them until their death, as previously stated. Mr. Anderson has always been a farmer. During the fall of 1863 he was out for a short time, with the State inilitia, but was not engaged in any battle. At the close of the war he resumed the occupation that had been partially neglected during the war. In the year 1868 he removed to this county, where he rented a farm for two years, near where the post office of Winkler now stands. In 1870 he removed to his present place of residence, which he had bought in 1861, consisting of 750 acres, and which he bought at $2.50 a half an acre. He has sold all this land except 200 acres, sixty-five of which are under cultivation.

Mr. Anderson was married, in 1859, to Miss Hannah English, a native of Louisiana and daughter of William and Myra (Ander- son) English. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson being second cousins. Mr. English was a very early settler of Louisiana, where he engaged in farming. He died in San Augustine county. His wife died in Panola county, in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. English had a family of nine children, namely: John; Marina, wife of Joshua Epps; Elizabetlı, wife of Holand Anderson; Hannah, wife of William Anderson; Salina, wife of W. Whetstone ; Permelia, wife of William Fite ; Selena died young; Bailey. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson five children have been born, namely: Bailey H., deceased; Myra E., wife of Charles W. Gregory; R. B., resident of Corsicana; William H., deceased; and Cora, wife of E. L. Nunley, of this county. Mrs. Anderson is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and both she and her husband are highly respected throughout the entire county where they reside.

John Burleson, one of the oldest and most prominent settlers of Freestone county, was born in Blount county, Alabama, the seventh child in a family of thirteen children born to David and Sally (Hobson) Burleson. The parents of our subject were natives of North Carolina, where they married, but emigrated to Tennessee at an early day, then removed to Blount county, Alabama, where our subject was born in 1817. The father of our subject, soon after the birth of his son, removed to Missouri, living in tliat State for one year and then returned to Alabama. The Burleson family of this State became very prominent in inany ways,

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

a full account of which may be found in the history of McLennan county. Of the thirteen children born to this marriage twelve lived to be grown, eight brothers coming to this State and rearing families. Hobson canie in 1834 and settled near Nacogdoches and died in this county, hav- ing served in the war with Mexico in 1836. The next members of the family to come in the State were four of the brothers, who came in 1847, namely: James, Isaac, M. W. and Benjamin, settling in Leon connty, the three older ones dying in that county, and Benjamin in Tarrant county. All ex- cept Benjamin left families in Leon county. In 1848, the father of our subject, with him, and accompanied by Nathaniel and D. F., came to Leon county, where all have died except our subject. Of his sisters, Naomi became the widow of John Mathews; Elizabeth, widow of Gideon Green; Rebecca, unmarried at that time, came with her father to Texas, but after- ward married Isaac Whitley, of Washing- ton county. All of the sisters have passed away except Elizabeth.

Our subject received a limited education. Upon locating in Leon county in 1848, he rented land, and in January, 1850, removed to the farm where he now resides, eleven miles west of the county seat. At that time there were not more than twenty men in what now comprises Freestone connty. The nearest neighbor, except a brother who lived close to him, was W. B. Nettles, and he resided across a leagne, or three Spanish iniles. Milling was done for two or three years almost exclusively on a steel mill. althongli one man, a Mr. Claypool, had a horse mill within six miles of Mr. Burle-

son, where he had some few bags of corn ground. Buffalo were still in the county at the time Mr. Burleson came; wild duck, deer and turkey and bear were plentiful, while occasionally wild horses would be' seen. Mr. Burleson says that his gun was his smoke-house, and frequently Mrs. Bnrle- son would place the meat on the table and would say, "This is the last meat on the ranch." Mr. Burleson would say in reply, " All right;" and as he returned to work would take his gnn with him, and a half hour before sundown would start out with it, and that night for supper they would have a fine deer or turkey, as he wished. They were still some Indians in the county, but as far as he was concerned they were peaceable. The city of Fairfield was located in April, 1851, and as late as this a large bunch of buffalo invaded the town during Angnst. The settlers took their guns and started after them, but failed to get any meat, and this was the last appearance of buffaloes in Freestone county. Mr. Burle- son engaged in farming, purchasing 320 acres of timber land, proceeding at once to clear up a farm. He obtained the lumber for his first floor and porch in Leon county. During the war he was not in the service, being in bad health, but had one son, C. R., who entered the Confederate army. Like a great many of his neighbors at the beginning of the war, Mr. Burleson had considerable property, but by the time the struggle was over he had lost a great part of it. Since that time he has devoted him- self to farming on his original tract of land.

Mr. Burleson was married in 1842 to Miss Nancy Pope, a native of South Caro- lina, who was reared in North Carolina, a

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

daugliter of David and Nancy (Johnson) Pope, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Burleson had two sisters and seven brotliers, as follows: Mills, Bennett and David, died in Alabama; Licia, deceased, was the wife of Berry Cantrell, of Alabama; Elizabetlı, deceased, was the wife of H. B. Hunley; Nancy, wife of subject; and Jesse, Ira and Jackson, are deceased. All of these except David have died in Alabama, the latter dying in North Carolina, in which two States the family still lives. The following family was born to Mr. and Mrs. Burleson: Alma- rinda, deceased, wife of B. D. Loper, of Navarro county; C. R., deceased; Nancy E. is the wife of R. M. Davies, of Jones county; David P., deceased, and Sallie, wife of H. B. Miller, of this county. Mrs. Burleson died in 1886, at the age of seventy- seven. She had been a devoted member of the Primitive Baptist church. For about fifty years Mr.Burleson served his county as commissioner and thus became well known and highly esteemed throughout Freestone county.

ORGANIZATION, Erc.

County-making has been already de- scribed in another sketch in this volume, covering the time previous to 1850. Sev- enty-five counties had been made in this vast State up to 1850. It has been seen that 1837 and 1846 were the banner years for county organization in the entire career of the State. The period from 1850 to the present has no year in any way ap- proaching those two. County organization has been more continnous and gradual in this period, except during the '60s, when there was only an average of one county in

two years. The other decades are very even, the '80s being the highest with forty- two organized, the '50s coming next with forty-one, and the '70s showing well with thirty-four, while the present decade gives fair evidence of doing equally well. In these decades, front '50 to the present, however, the year that has scored the largest number is that of 1856, when twelve coun- ties were organized; '58 comes next to that with ten, and '50 and '89 next with seven each. The seven organized in 1850 were Bell, Falls and McLennan, in the Brazos region; Tarrant, Ellis and Wood, in the northeast; and Trinity, in the southeast. The next year but one county was organized, and that was the Tertiary region of Lime- stone, which was created, however, on Sep,- tember 6, 1850, and named Freestone, in contrast to the Cretaceous, black waxy region of the upper Navasota prairies. These were the bounds of the new Free- stone county : " Beginning at the northeast corner of Leon county, thence running with the north west boundary of said county twenty-nine miles; thence north 30° west to the southeast boundary of Navarro county; thence with the same north 60° east to the Trinity river; thence down the channel of the same to the place of begin . ning."

The representatives who were most active in securing the passage of the bill creating it, were Isaac Parker, of Anderson, Gen- eral Tarrant, of Ellis, and Colonel C. M. . Winkler, of Navarro. The commissioners of location-Elisha Hobbes and John Clay- pool -- secured its name, Freestone, and lo- cated the county seat, which they named Fairfield, as an appropriate descriptive

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

name, better than Mound Prairie, by which the settlement had been known before. The vote of the new connty, although giv- ing a few to Troy, went largely for Mound Prairie, and it was thus settled for all time, and the first court of the county fathers held there in February, 1851.

Freestone has for her earliest record that of February 4, 1851. It reads: " February Term: Chief Justice Tarver, Comissioners P. S. Black, John N. Claypool, Elisha Hobbes, B. F. Tyler, and Emanuel Clem- ents, clerk of the county court, and William Clements, sheriff, present." The first order was for the laying off of beats, four in num- ber, the election place in No. 1 being at Win. B. Nettle's, in No. 2, at the town of Troy; in No. 3, at " old man Self's on Alli- gator;" and at No. 4 not decided. Wm. Clements, P. S. Black, and Martin Kolb were the respective presiding officers of the three settled upon. This was all the busi- ness done at that term. At the November term provision was made for the Fairfield- Palestine road, by way of Wortham's ferry on the Trinity, which, by the way, was tlie first ferry liceused-to John Boyd and J. B. Wortham. Roads were ordered from Troy to Centerville, Fairfield to Navarro, also from Navarro to Parker's ferry, and from Fairfield to Troy. James Mont- gomery's resignation as assessor was re- ceived, and S. H. Wills appointed. B. F. Linn was given $2.50 for auctioning off the towu lots at Fairfield. The survey of the line between Freestone and Limestone was made by county surveyor B. P. Hammet. At the February term, 1852, arrangements were made for a jail.

Thus the new county was put in order,

and settled down into routine business, which is so large a part of the duties of that court. A temporary courthouse was erected on the southeast corner of the square, an old building now moved back and nsed by Dr. Sneed as a buggy-shed. The first permanent courthouse was erected in 1855, on the square itself, at a cost of $12,000. 'It was a neat, two-story brick, after the usual old style courthouse formn. The present beautiful structure, of a more modern type of architecture, was planned in 1891, by a Dallas architect, and the building completed in 1892, at a total cost of $23,120. It is a striking edifice of three stories, finished in brick and stone, and with a clock tower surmounting it, from which a Seth Thomas thousand-dollar clock clangs the passing hours, and shows its dial to a wide range of country.

In the matter of jails the county has made a rather unique arrangement by which a square in Fairfield has been chosen to contain both the prison and also a small pauper house. The present jail was built upon it in 1881 and cost about $5,000. Its predecessor, built on the same site about 1859, cost probably $3,000.

The main highways are those radiating from Fairfield to Mexia, Buffalo and Cor- sicana. It was not until about 1889 that much money was spent on roads, and es- pecially on bridges. Then about $11,000 was put into a new form of wooden bridge, and during the last two years about $3,000 a year has been spent on them.

The general finances of the county are in good condition. An average of from $10,000 to $15,000 is annually received and expended. The first bonds issued

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

were the courthouse bonds of November 10, 1891, of. $23,000, and funding bonds to the amount of $7,000, making a total of $30,000 of one year's standing, all but $8,000 of which is invested in the county's school fund. This is a fair showing in view of the fact that the total assessed val- uation of the county is $2,254,573, and only $36,775 of it railway property - merely 4.4 miles in the northwest corner.

The successive chief justices have been Nilson Tarver, W. W. Dickson, D. H. Love, William S. Grayson, John Waldrum, D. Bragg, A. L. Reed, J. C. Yarbro, E. A. McCracken, N. L. Womack, O. C. Kirven, T. W. Simms, R. J. Hatcher and the pres- ent incumbent, Judge A. G. Anderson. Of these Judge Kirven served the longest and began with the county judge system. Judge Anderson is in his second termn.

JUDICIAL.

The district court usually prospers most where there is a large population, great wealth and high land values. Slave values did not seem to be so much of a source of litigation as other property, so that the career of the Freestone district court has been that of a fairly mixed character, not dominated by any one particular branchi of practice.

This court did not get to work so early as the commissoner's court for some rea- son, so that its earliest record reads as follows:

"Spring Term, A. D. 1852 .- Be it re- membered that on Monday, the third day of May, A. D. 1852, it being the sixth Monday after the fourth Monday in March of said year, there was begun and holden

at Fairfield, the county seat of Freestone county, at the courthouse there, of a dis- trict court in and for said county of Free- stone. Present the Hon. R. E. B. Baylor, judge of the third judicial district; I. M. Henderson, clerk of the district court of Freestone county, and William Clements, sheriff of said county, when the following proceedings were had: Then came the venire facias, and these were chosen for grand jurors: John W. Blackman, fore- man; W. T. Harris, M. Bateman, R. M. Gorden, Wm. Colton, W. Stewart, Hugh Toney, Benj. Mayo, S. W. Cheek, James McCreigh, T. A. Gaston, W. Weaver, Rob- ert Hunt, J. B. Young and T. G. Mayes, The attorney licensed was John Whit, Esq."

Judge Baylor and his successors soon found Fairfield remarkably full of lawyers of more than ordinary ability during the entire period previous to the war. There was General John Gregg, who himself be- came district judge and finally rose to Congressional ranks; John Whit; Ed. Gregg; J. L. Graves; James C. Walker, who also occupied the district bench, and also became a State senator; S. C. Sim- mons; L. D. Bradley, a third district judge that Freestone was called on to furnish; W. C. Wilson; Mr. Thomas; Mr. Rakestraw; W. L. Moody: Jos. Abbott, who became a Congressman, and possibly a few others before the war came on.

Among Baylor's successors were John H. Reagan, John Gregg, Jas. C. Walker, R. S. Gould, N. H. Davis, J. B. Rector, D. M. Prendergast, L. D. Bradley and Rufus Hardy, the present incumbent of this bench.

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

There were two ante-bellum cases that attracted considerable interest locally- both cases of murder. One was about 1857, and the trial resulted in probably the first life sentence to the penitentiary from the new county. In the southwest part of the county was a man named William Self, who had his brother-in-law, John Cochran, spending Sunday with him. The visit was characterized by hard drinking, and in the drunken bout Cochran killed his host. Cochran died while in prison.

The other case was the first case of capi- tal punishment-hanging. This was the execution of one of Dr. Grayson's slaves for killing an overseer.

The first case of legal execution since the war was about 1871. This was the hanging of George Solomon, a negro, for the murder of his wife. The murder oc- curred at Fairfield.

The next execution was the hanging of a white man,-an old man named Holt, in the south part of the county,-for the rape of his daughter. This was abont 1875.

The last case of hanging occurred in 1879. Before the war Judge Anderson had a slave named Allen Towls, who be- came an industrious freedman, and was much attached to his wife. He had fits of jealousy, however, that finally ended in the death of his wife, and his own execution.

The increased population of the '70s had its effects on land values, and some in- teresting cases of land litigation arose. The two most interesting cases involved the land on which the two leading towns were located. The first case was brought up abont 1875, against 117 residents on the Fairfield tract, and was a sort of bomb-

shell in the legal camp. The citizens se- cured the services of attorneys Bradley, Prendergast and Farrar, and this able trio won for them.

About six or seven years later the Cotton Gin residents had a similar trial and met similar success.

In 1883 occurred another life sentence, to a negro, for the killing of a white man.

In 1888 occurred the only leading case that has been recalled. The point involved was responsibility for an act in which one may be the unconscious carse through carelessness.

The most notable recent case is still in the courts in one form or another, although the main defendants won. This is the liti- gation over the W. M. C. Jones league.

The old members of the bar of Freestone recall with pride the legal status she had in ante-bellum days, and how they, in many cases, went down because of the very lead- ing part they took in the war itself, a mat- ter that may well occupy a sketch by itself. given under the next head.

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Author: Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 954

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954