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 56

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 56
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 56
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 56
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 56
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 56
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 56

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).

"At length, after one of his men had been killed and several wounded, the Colo- nel withdrew and sent for reinforcements. In a few days he was reinforced by a party of men under Colonel John H. Moore, and as soon as the Keechis were informed by their spies of Colonel Moore's approach they abandoned their fortifications and

fled. The Texans followed them out be- yond the head of the Trinity river, where they discovered their camp. Supposing the Indians were all there, the Texans charged upon it, but found only two warriors and the women and children, the rest of the men having gone off on a hunting expedi- tion. The two warriors were killed, and the women and children taken prisoners and afterward sold to the settlers."

It is not probable that there were any Indians located in Leon's territory in the winter of 1835-'36, and early in 1836, Mr. Lacy says, when their party reached the San Antonio road, " we found hundreds of people traveling east in every conceiv- able manner, getting ont of the county and away from Santa Ana's army. This is known and well described as the 'runa- way scrape.'" At that time he says there was not a white settlement within what is now Anderson county, and it is fair to suppose that Leon's territory fared no bet- ter. Indeed, there is reason to believe it fared no better in that decade. Mean- while, of course, in 1838, it had become a part of Robertson county -- the sontheast- ern corner of that vast Colorado-Brazos- Trinity county.

It was in 1840-'41 that confidence be- gan to be sufficiently restored to allow the settlers to take up advanced positions on such a frontier as this was then, but it was a confidence that fortified itself with log block-houses even then. It was in this manner that the Middletons, Burns, Tay- lors and a few others ventured off the old King's Highway into the woodland until they came to a prairie on what is now the Robert Rogers' track on Boggy creek, a

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTES.

few miles south of the present site of Cen- terville, a region generally known as Rog- ers' Prairie. Here on the north side of tlie creek they erected a typical block- house of those days, made of post-oak, with those overhanging projections above the ground for shooting at enemies who would try to get close enough to the stock- ade to set fire to it. Some remains of the building are there yet. They dubbed it Fort Boggy, a name that the creek bottom was abundantly able to furnish. Mr. Nixon owns the place now.

Of course this Fort Boggy inspired confidence in new settlers, who came in in small squads in the next few years of the '40s. The Indians had gone. Major John Durst came in with about fifty or sixty slaves. James Fowler and W. Evans located down about the site of Leona. The Marshalltons and Sam Davis took land near the site of old Keechi village, about three miles northeast of the present site of Centerville. Elisha Whitten came in and built a inill on the Keechi. The first sawmill was soon erected about ten iniles east of the site of Centerville by Thomas H. Garner, and the first lumber sawed in it was cut up by the sawyer, Sebastian Stroud, for William Pruitt's house, and his son, the present venerable Judge Pruitt, of Centerville, helped haul it away. This was about 1844.

Sam Ewing came in as early as 1841-'42 on the San Antonio road, west of the Leona site; and D. C. Carrington, also one of the most prominent merchants of the county, long of Leona. Thomas Thorn, of Arkansas, was a big slave-owner arrival.

James Riley and S. Rogers located on the old road, southwest of Leona's site.

About the fort others came-McKay Ball, W. Anthony and W. and R. Wallace, the last mentioned erecting the first grist- mill and securing the first post office for the county.

The creation of the county in 1846 brought in a great many in the latter part of the '40s and early '50s. Among them were Henry J. Jewett, long a district judge and one of the most prominent citizens of the county; Abner Proctor; R. S. Gould, now professor at Austin; Colonel John Gregg; Judge Childress, a large slave- owner; Jacob S. Horn; Austin McDaniel; W. D. Wood, now of Centerville; Joseph Evans and W. and Ed. Evans. Colonel D. D. Alston, another leader; Captain J. J. McBride also; John J. Goodman; a large planter named D. O. Warren; Mark Holleman to the east, and a big slave- owner named Charles Hunter.

Later in the '50s large numbers of refugees came in from Louisiana with their slaves. And, although some new settlers came in during the period of the war, probably the greatest increase came dur- ing the first eight or ten years imme- diately after the war's close. Most of this increase was in the southern two-thirds of the county before the railway's arrival, and after that event the increase was for some time along the railway route through the north part of the county, where, hereto- fore, there had been but few settlers. Since that the increase has not been marked.

By 1850 Leon county had 621 negroes, and by 1855 this number had more than

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

doubled up to the remarkable one of 1,455 slaves, valued at the round sum of $757,296, nearly half the present valua- tion of the county's property, and nearly $300,000 more than the value of the whole taxable land in 1855. By five years after the war closed-1870-the population had risen to 6,523, and by 1880 it had doubled to 12,817, with forty per cent. negroes. The increase from that time to 1890 was only a thousand, raising it to 13,841, of which 5,480 are colored and 8,361 white. Property, too, has shown a corresponding increase; the total valuation in 1870 was but little above a million dollars,-$1,065,- 823,-while by 1880 it had nearly doubled, and the railway property was not counted in either, as it is exempt, and the figures reached $1,733,673. The valuation of 1890 is but a comparatively slight increase on this,-enough, however, to show growth, namely, a total valuation of $1,804,275. If the railway property was embraced it would undoubtedly raise it above $2,000,- 000.

The early settlers, while almost alto- gether rural in their occupation, located in communities sufficiently large to be called villages, and towns in a few cases. The first store was established by Moses Campbell, just north of the site of Leona, about 1845. Of course Leona, being the county seat, it was eminently proper that a store should be there, and so thought Taylor & Tevo, who started one. There have been others there-Dr. Boggs, for example. Then came Centerville in 1851 to surpass its young rival, and for a long time indeed threatened its existence, for many were the inducements offered to move

Leona business men to the new seat of justice,-even to the extent of offering choice lots about the courthouse square; but mostly in vain.

Of course Houston was the early trading point for the county, and later Navasota, whence supplies were secured by a slow- freight ox team, with a round-trip lasting three weeks.

But in 1847 the Trinity was made to do this work, in its season, by small steam- boats. The first recalled by Judge Pruitt was the steamer Reliance, Captain Webb. The planters themselves formed a stock company and operated a couple of steamers about 1848-'49, among which were the Jack Haynes and the Magnolia. These led to tliere being river ports, Cairo, Com- merce, Navarro and Brookfield's Bluff, but they were mere points of shipment and receipt of cotton and supplies, except Na- varro, which became something of a village for a time before the war. There were one or two "corners," like Bowling, also, before the war, but other towns than these mentioned, except Raymond village, are the railroad towns of these latter days of the International, all of which will be further noticed in an appropriate sketch.

These old days of woodland settlement have been quiet, happy days to those en- gaged in it, and many features of this daily life, common to all pioneer life in this region, are given fuller notice in the sketches of the settlement of the larger counties of Limestone, Anderson and Na- varro, to which reference should be made in connection with this sketch.

Dr. J. H. McDaniel is one of the oldest native-born citizens of Leon county, resid-

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

ing in Centerville. He was born in 1849, a son of Orson McDaniel, who was born in Milford, Otsego county, New York, May 15, 1808. He remained in his native state until 1833, when he moved to Edgecomb county, North Carolina, where he taught school for about six years, and then moved to Sumter county, Alabama. At sixteen years of age he be- gan clerking in his native State, and con- tinued in that occupation until he was about twenty-three years of age, when he commenced trading, which he continued until he was about twenty-five, when he moved to North Carolina. After moving to Alabama he followed school-teaching for a livelihood as long as he remained in that State. He was a fine business man, as his accumulation of a fortune of $40,000 testifies. Further evidence of his ripe busi- ness judgment lies in the fact of his being chosen county commissioner and later on county treasurer of Leon county, offices requiring rare tact and ability to fill effi- ciently. In 1844 Mr. McDaniel married Zilla, daughter of W. H. and Mary Horn, born in Edgecomb county, North Carolina, July 15, 1815, and died February 4, 1876, having outlived her worthy husband over six years. Our subject's grandfather was probably a native of Scotland and married a Miss Murry, and died in 1811. After his death, in 1817, she married a Mr. John Squires and spent the remaining years of her life in Canada. The children of Orsen McDaniel were William H., deceased; Orsen, deceased; Dr. J. H .; Mary; A. G. Jerry; Jacob; Isaac and Annie. In 1845 Orsen McDaniel and wife, with their eld- est child, mnoved to Walker county, Texas,

where they remained only a year, when they moved to Leon county, where they resided until the time of their death.

There is nothing in the career of Dr. J. H. McDaniel during his boyhood days that deserves special comment. He was merely a farmer boy attending to the duties of a humdrum life, getting the rudiments of an education as afforded by the common schools of a quarter of a century ago. He conceived the idea of reading medicine, and at twenty-one did begin a systematic course of study under the direction of Dr. Boggs, now of Marquez, this county. Dur- ing his two years of preparatory work, the doctor discovered the true vastness of liis subject, and that an ambitions student could be satisfied with nothing short of its complete familiarity ; and to make himself familiar with all of its departments, a student must spend years of time and energy in its prosecution. The doctor de- sired success above all things. He wished to be able, if he pursued his subject, to cope with the best of his profession. He recognized the tolerance of the country and the extent to which researches were being made. He had the ambition of Napoleon, but it was medicine, instead of the world, that he desired to master. In his selection of a suitable college, he chose the one offer- ing the best facilities, and that he found the University of Pennsylvania, at Phila- delphia. He remained there three years, and during the summer session he took up special work. The first year he studied diseases of the eye and ear, the second year diseases of women, and the third, general practice. He graduated in the spring of 1875, and it was his intention to accept an

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

assistant surgeon's position in the hospital, and put into practice all the work gone over in the university, and at the same time build up a practice in the city, and in eighteen months he hoped he could step into a living and soon a money-making business; but his mother decided otherwise, She wished him to return home when his course was finished, and informed him that if he had any different notion he should abandon it at once. In deference to this request the doctor did so. He did not be- gin practice at once on coming home, thinking that he might yet return and pur- sue his desired course. The death of his mother changed matters so completely that in June he opened an office. The doctor became acquainted with Dr. Leidy, Dr. Agnew and many of national reputation, and was a great admirer of the two named gentlemen. The diseases coming most frequently under the doctor's treatment in his locality, are intermittent and remittent fever, malarial troubles, pneumonia and an occasional epidemic of dysentery.

Dr. McDaniel was married in 1887, to Miss M. L. Lograne, a native of Missis- sippi, and two children, little Mary, now two and a half years old, and Josiah Horn McDaniel, Jr., three months old, have been added to their family.

Among the families whom we may term ancient as well as modern in Leon county, Texas, is that of the Durst family. None had an earlier advent into the county and none have been so closely identified with its material and social progress.

The founder of this family was John Durst, born in Arkansas county, then Mis- souri territory. Not much of his history

is known, as when he was small he was left in charge of a godfather, and the Darst, since changed to Durst, family took up its line of march westward, and moved from Missouri to Texas. This orphan boy, for such we may call him, by some means be- came associated with a syndicate from New Orleans having for its object trade with the Indians and Mexicans. This syndicate was established at Nacogdoches, and owned sections of land on which have since been built New Birmingham, Alto, Cherokee and Douglass.

This syndicate, one of whom was Major Davenport, educated young Durst in Span- ish and prepared him to take charge of their large Texas business, which he did in 1823. Prior to this, when a boy, he had carried messages from the county to the Mexican government at Monclova. Mr. Durst was the first American citizen who settled in Nacogdoches, and his familiarity with Mexican matters in Texas, soon se- cured for him a public reputation, and when the district of Coahuila and Texas was organized for governmental purposes and given a representative, Mr. Durst was elected to Congress for the same. There were two other districts in the province, and they were represented by Burr and Jones. The entire distance over the dis- trict, 960 miles, was made on horseback. While on attendance at a session of Con- gress, Santa Anna declared war on Texas and intended to imprison the Texas repre- sentatives to prevent them from warning their constituents of the intended invasion; but this part of the Mexican programme was frustrated by Mr. Durst's hostess. Upon his arrival at the dinner hour, she had his

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

luggage all packed and strapped, and when he asked the reason he was shocked to hear the revelation. Mr. Durst at once con- sulted his colleagues and immediately left the city, riding the whole distance in twelve and one-half days. This was the last ses- sion of Congress he ever attended. The Texas revolution ensued and at the famous battle of San Jacinto Santa Anna was captured.

Mr. Durst was not a soldier in the regu- lar army of Texas, but was captain of a company and operated with Rusk against the Kickapoo Indians, and was in a fight with Bowles and the Cherokee tribe. He lived on the Angelina river, in a large house protected by block houses, which were refuges for the entire neighborhood. When the country now embracing Leon county became safe for settlement Mr. Durst moved his family hither in 1844 and bought a 2,000-acre tract of land near Leon prairie. The original owner was named Dimery, a free negro, and the coun- try then was in the Robertson Land Dis- trict.

Mr. Durst at once engaged iu farming and stock-raising and so continued until his death, which occurred in 1851. He never again served the people except at one time, when he was Government agent, and received as agent Government supplies at Robbins' ferry on the Trinity to supply the troops then en route against Mexico in 1846. In 1821, at the age of twenty-four years, Mr. Durst married Harriet M., daughter of John Jamison, an officer in the United States Army, and who was then Post Commandant and Indian agent at Fort Jessup, Louisana, then a United States

outpost. Mrs. Durst was born near Har- per's Ferry, Virginia. A brother of Mrs. H. M. Durst was Indian agent and army officer at Fort Dearborn, now Chicago, and obtained while there large tracts of real estate, mnuch of which is now owned by the city. He died without making a transfer of the property, and eight heirs are now suing for possession with good prospects of success.

The oldest of the living children of Mr. and Mrs. Durst is our subject, Hon. Bruno Durst, who was born in Nacogdoches county, in 1832. Being reared in a new country his opportunities for equipping himself with a good education were very poor. At the outbreak of hostilities be- tween the two sections of the United States Mr. Durst joined the company of Captain J. N. Black, under Colonel Burnett. They fought Banks at Mansfield and Steele at Saline river. They made a feint on Vicks- burg just before its fall and participated in many battles, and were finally disbanded at Hempstead with the office of Second Lieutenant.

Politically Mr. Durst is a Democrat and his ability and fitness for public life have been recognized, and he was sent as a mem- ber of the Eleventh State Legislature. While there he took quite a conspicuous part, and was the author of a bill vitiating the title to all locations of land until 1870 aiming to protect the original settlers. The first marriage of Mr. Durst was in 1856, to Miss Neelanna Shaw, and the chil- dren born of this marriage were: James H. and two others who died young. Mrs. Durst died in 1860, and February 5, 1868, Mr. Durst married Miss Texanna, daugli-

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

ter of Colonel R. C. Lusk, an officer in the Texan Revolution. The children are: Mary, wife of J. W. Powell; Hattie, wife of J. W. McKinnie; Bruno, Jr .; Robert, Jennie, Charles, Jessie, and Jim.

Mr. Durst is a most entertaining con- versationalist. One could listen long to him, as lie is so thoroughly conversant with the history of Texas and of Leon county. He is very popular, and it is said that every baby born in the county is named Bruno Durst. He calls all men his friends.

Another of the popular families of Leon county, Texas, is that of Horatio Durst. His birth occurred in the fort on Nacog- doches only about four months before his father, John Durst, came to Leon county, which makes him forty-eight years of age.

The family were as follows: Our sub- ject; an infant, that died; Lewis, deceased; Mrs. Blake, who became the mother of Hon. J. W. Blake; Mrs. Harriet Hopkins, deceased; John, who resides in Limestone county ; and B. Durst.

Our subject was reared and educated and still is living on the old homestead. Judge Reagan was once the family tutor when a surveyor and young lawyer get- ting a start in life. The attractions of farm life have held Mr. Durst and he has pursued no other vocation. To indicate the success that has attended him we may mention that his real estate consists of 1,300 acres of land, 250 of which are under cultivation. It is well stocked and he has 400 head of cattle.

In 1861 Mr. Durst enlisted in Company A, Captain Nash, Thirteenth Texas Cav- alry, and soldiered through Missouri, Ar- kansas and Louisiana, through the cam-

paign with Banks, and participated in the battle of Saline river and then returned to Louisiana and finally to Texas, doing no more serious fighting, as the company was separated from the regiment, although they kept their organization until they reached Leon county. Mr. Durst rose to be a second lientenant and as such lie left the service.

Mr. Durst takes an active part in politi- cal matters, being regularly chosen to rep- resent the wishes of the people in the county conventions and also in the State. He has had no office and aspires to none, his own private interests requiring his personal supervision.

In November, 1865, Mr. Durst married the daughter of M. D. Barkley of Center- ville and had the following family: Mag- gie, who graduated from the Sam Hons- ton Normal School, of Huntsville, and now is a teacher in the public schools of Crock- ett; Gould, Horatio and Mable.

Mrs. Durst died in October, 1880, and Mr. Durst married Miss Benigna, the . daughter of Judge Robinson, a pioneer and once Chief Justice of Leon county. This lady died soon after marriage. Mr. Durst's third wife also died. His fourth marriage took place in 1884, to Miss Es- telle, the daughter of M. Wynne of Cal- vert, and his children are, Mildred, Estelle and Lewis. (For further history see sketch of Bruno Durst).

In discoursing upon the prominent pio- neer families of Leon county, Texas, the Hollemans are among the first to present themselves from the region of Guy's store. The subject of this sketch is a worthy rep- resentative of this family. They came into Leon county in 1847, one year after its

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE AND LEON COUNTIES.

organization, from Houston, Texas, where they had resided only one year, moving from Shelby county, Texas, to that point in 1846. The family made its original settlement in San Augustine county in 1839, remaining there only one year be- fore going to Shelby.

Our subject was born in Henry county, Tennessee, in 1834, his father, M. P., soon after moving his family to Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he continued to pursue his favorite calling, that of farming. In making the trip to Texas Mr. Holleman went by boat down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, and then to Natchitoches ou the Red river, thence by team through almost a wilderness to the point above mentioned in Texas. In this State he was successful and prosperous, and when the war came on he had made a good property, some of which was in slaves and of course was lost during that conflict. Mr. Holle- man was born in Kentucky, in 1807, and was a son of Thomas Holleman, who died in Tennessee.

M. P. Holleman married Eliza A. Thorn- ton, by whom the following children were born: Elizabeth, who married George A. Floyd and died, leaving one child, now living in Madison county; T. Y., our subject; Alfred, deceased; Vir- ginia, who married C. M. Thomason. The first husband of Mrs. Holleman was Mr. Boyd, by whom she had two children, one now living, Mrs. Dr. Merriweather, of Leon county; the deceased one was Richard Boyd. Mrs. Holleman died in June, 1870, and her husband in 1885.

T. Y. Holleman had few education- al advantages in his youth, merely learn-

ing to read and write, and the most useful knowledge, which has been of the great- est commercial value has been obtained by his various dealings in the commercial world. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as sergeant in Captain Wood's company, Burnett's regiment, Gould's bat- talion but did not participate in any regu- lar engagement, being sick a good portion of his time, and when the break-up came his command was stationed on the Rio Grande; but he did not reach home until June, 1865.

Mr. Holleman has been a faithful farmer ever since and has made agriculture pay. He bought his present place in 186-, and it contains 300 acres, 100 of which he has under a fine state of cultivation and well improved, and has besides an undivided interest in 1,000 acres on the Trinity river. He has no public record, but has efficiently served on the board of education in his district, where he thought he could do good.

In 1857 our subject married Miss Nancy Ann Thompson, and there were born of this union, William Edward, deceased; Mark P. who married Miss Maggie Potts and lias two children; and Mary E., who married James Fleming, and they have one child.

THE COUNTY AS ORGANIZED.

Early in 1846, when the annexation to the United States brought such a flood of young Americans to Texas, the requisite 100 votes was soon obtained in the wood- lands of the " Navasot" and Trinity, above the old road, and they came before the

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

legislature that began the work of cutting up vast old Robertson county into those of more modest proportions. This one, An- derson, Navarro and Henderson were cut out on the 13th of July, 1846. In the dis- cussion of the matter within the county, however, the center of population being near the old Campbell store, there was a strong fight made to leave it down there below the center of the county, a fight that temporarily succeeded in planting it to the south. It was this fierce feeling on the subject that led to the naming of the county and its first county seat, by virtue of a good example of grim American humor. Captain McKay Ball, of Fort Boggy, was in the legislature at the time the county was erected, and at liis sugges- tion the lion-like ferocity of the fight, it was concluded, should be celebrated in the Spanish names for lion and lioness, the lion to represent the county and the lioness the seat of justice. Possibly he intended that the well known fierceness of the female lion should be labeled in the name of Leona, and that the county of Leon would stand by her in the fray like a powerful mate. So it was that Leon was created, hier county seat located, and organization begun.

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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