USA > Texas > A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879. Embracing the periods of missions, colonization, the revolution the republic, and the state; also, a topographical description of the country together with its Indian tribes and their wars, and biographical sketches of hundreds of its leading historical characters. Also, a list of the countries, with historical and topical notes, and descriptions of the public institutions of the state > Part 36
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CAZNEAU, WILLIAM L .- A native of Boston; came to Texas in 1830; in 1835 was on the staff of General Chambers ; and was for a number of years connected with the regular army, and was Commissary General during Lamar's administration. In 1841, represented Travis county in Congress. The next year he was active in preventing the archives from being removed from Austin ; served through the Mexican war; was afterward appointed by President Pierce Consul General to Dominica; and was a confidential agent of the U. S. Government, in negotiations for the Bay of Samana; and died in Jamaica in 1876.
CHALMERS, DR. JOHN C .- Was Secretary of War under Lamar; and was killed in Austin in 1847, by Mr. Holden.
CHAMBERS, THOMAS JEFFERSON .- A native of Virginia ; in 1826 he visited Mexico and spent three years studying the language and institutions of the country. In 1829, he was appointed by the authorities at Saltillo, Surveyor General of Texas, but seems never to have undertaken the duties of the office. In 1836, in conjunction with Padilla, he obtained an empresario contract for introducing 800 families of colonists. Decree No. 245, issued January 8th, 1834, admits him to practice law, an examination having been dispensed with. Soon afterward, decree No. 277 creates a Supreme Court in Texas, and appoints Mr. Chambers Superior Judge. The law is very specific, prescribing the habiliments of the Judge. His gown should be " black or dark blue, and a white sash, with gold tassels." The Judge hastened to San Felipe with the bill for his court, but untoward circum- stances prevented him from holding it, until the breaking out of the revolu- tion. In 1836, when Texas was threatened with invasion, Judge Chambers appeared before the Executive Council and proposed to loan the Govern-
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ment $10,000; and further proposed to visit the United States and expend the same in procuring men and munitions of war. The Council accepted his proposition, and commissioned him Major-General of the reserve. General Chambers had no ready money, but expected to obtain his supplies by hypothecating his lands. According to the report of Mr. Bordel, the first Commissioner of the Land Office, Mr. Chambers had received five leagues of land for his services as Surveyor General; sixteen leagues for his services as Supreme Judge; and five leagues each from Jose Manuel Berks and Alexander de la Garza. On these lands he realized a considera- ble amount of means. In his report to Congress, June 3d, 1837, he stated that he had sent to Texas 1,915 men, and expended of his own money $23,621, and had sold bonds amounting to $9,035. On the 12th of June, Congress passed a bill approving his course, and directed the auditor to settle with him. At a subsequent period, he settled in Chambers county, and represented it in the Secession Convention in 1861. He was several times an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Texas. He was killed while sitting in his own house in 1865. No clue was ever obtained as to the perpetrator of the murder.
CHILDRESS, GEORGE C .- A lawyer by profession; member of the Conven- tion of 1836; chairman of the committee that drew up the Declaration of Independence, and author of that declaration. He died by his own hands in 1840. Ile was boarding at Mrs. Crittenden's, and early one morning, presented himself at her door, before the lady was up, and begged her in piteous terms to save him from himself. Just as the lady opened her door, he plunged the fatal dagger to his own heart, the blood bespattering her dress. A letter in his room stated that pecuniary losses by his brother, in gaming, had prompted the fatal deed.
CHRIESMAN, HORATIO .- Was born in Virginia in 1792. In early life ho removed first to Kentucky and then to Missouri, where he engaged in sur- veying. In 1818, he married Miss Mary Kincheloe, and in the fall of 1821 prepared to emigrate to Texas with the Kincheloe family They embarked on boats to descend the river, but winter coming on, they remained until the next spring ; when Mr. Kincheloe preceded the party to New Orleans, where he chartered the schooner " Only Son," Capt. Ellison, and sent five or six young men to the Colorado to make corn. Mr. Chriesman, with the families of Kincheloe, Rawls and Prewett, left St. Louis in a flat boat, Feb- ruary 25th, 1822. At New Madrid the party was detained by sickness, and Mrs. Chriesman and her sister died. Being detained again at the mouth of the Red river, by continued sickness, some of the men who were well took a boat-load of bacon up Red river to Alexandaia. All the river trade was then carried on in flat-boats. Arriving at New Orleans, Mr. Kincheloe again chartered the " Only Son " to convey them to Texas. They landed at the mouth of the Colorado, June 9th. A few days later, another vessel with immigrants landed at the same place. The supplies brought by both boats were left in charge of four young men, while the families went up to Whar- ton, where Mr. Kincheloe had raised a supply of corn. The young men
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1
left at camp were killed by the Caranchua Indians, and the goods destroyed or stolen. In 1823, Mr. Chriesman assisted in making a crop at the Clay place, near Independence.
When Colonel Austin returned from Mexico, Mr. Chriesman was appointed Surveyor for the county. The first tract surveyed was for Josiah II. Bell; the tract afterward settled by Amos Gates, five miles below Washington, on the Brazos river. Mr. Chriesman held the office of surveyor until the Revolution. His assistants were Ross Alley, Bartlet Sims, Seth Ingram, Wm. Selkirk, Thos. S. Borden, Moses Cummings and John S. Mooney, in Austin's colony. In Robertson's colony, F. W. John- son and Wm. Moore. In 1825, Mr. Chriesman married the second time. His choice fell upon Miss Augusta Hope. As there were no priests to perform the ceremony, and magistrates were not authorized to do so, they were married by bond before Mr. Cole, the Alcalde. While holding the office of surveyor, he was appointed a Captain of the militia, and partici- pated in a good many Indian fights and skirmishes. In 1835, when the Texans invested San Antonio, he was a member of Captain Swisher's com- pany, but was detailed to convey intelligence to the Government at San Felipe, and was thus absent when the city capitulated. Subsequently, Gen. Houston placed him on detached service to assist in the removal of families, so he was not at San Jacinto. He also, at an early period, filled the office of Alcalde at San Felipe. As an illustration of the hardships endured by early pioneers, we give an incident which occurred the year he made a crop at Independence: Having a few days leisure, he visited the family of Mr. Whitesides, on the east side of the Brazos. He found Mr. Whitesides absent on a trip to the East, and his family without meat or bread. With his trusty rifle, he soon secured a good supply of venison. As a further illustration of the generosity of the old Texans, we have heard an anecdote of Captain Chriesman. At a period when land was cheap and plentiful, his friend, Dr. M., needed a league of land to give in exchange in some trade he was consummating. Capt. Chriesman, without a word, loaned him the league of land. As it was never very convenient for the doctor to replace it, the debt remains still uncancelled. Up to the period of annexa- tion, Capt. Chriesman lived at the Gay Hill neighborhood, in Washington county. He subsequently removed into Burleson county. Mrs. Chriesman died many years since, and the old gentleman died at the residence of his son-in-law, Thomas C. Thomson, Esq. in Burleson county, in November, 1878.
COKE, RICHARD .- Was born in Virginia, in 1829; graduated at William and Mary College; and studied law. In 1850, immigrated to Texas and settled at Waco, which is still his home. In 1865, he was appointed Dis- trict Judge, and the next year was elected one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. He was elected Governor in 1873, and on the adop- tion of the new Constitution, was re-elected in 1876. A few days after his second inauguration as Governor, he was elected to the United States Sen- ate; and on the first of December, 1876, he relinquished the executive office, and in March following, took his seat in the Senate.
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COLE, JOHN P .- One of the first settlers in Washington county; was Alcalde from 1828 until the revolution; and the first Chief Justice of the county. In 1840 he represented the county in Congress. He died in 1846, and his widow in 1873.
COLEMAN, ROBERT M .- Was a Colonel in the army of the Republic, and in command on the Colorado. He was drowned at Velasco, in 1838. He was in the Convention in 1836. One year after his death, his widow and son were killed by the Indians, at their home on the Colorado.
COLLINSWORTH, JAMES .- Was a native of Tennessee; and had filled the office of United States District Attorney, before coming to Texas. He was a member of the Convention in 1836; and after the adjournment of the Convention was sent as a commissioner to the United States. In 1838 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Republic; and about the same time became a candidate for President. During the canvass, which was waxing warm and bitter, he drowned himself, by throwing himself off a steamer in Galveston bay.
COOKE, WILLIAM G .- Came to Texas from Virginia. Having been elected a Captain of the New Orleans Grays in that city, he arrived at San Antonio, November 8th, 1835, and participated in the capture of the city, being one of the party that stormed the Priest's house. At San Jacinto he was on Houston's staff. In 1837 he commenced the drug business in Houston. In 1839 he was Quartermaster-General; in 1840, one of the commissioners sent by President Lamar with the Santa Fe expedition. In 1844 he married Miss Navarro, of San Antonio, and represented Bexar county in Congress. After annexation, he was Adjutant-General during Henderson's administration, and died near Seguin in 1847.
COOK, LEWIS P .- Came to Texas with the New York battallion, in 1836; was Secretary of tho Navy in 1839. Having been accused of killing young Peyton, in Washington, he went to the Rio Grande; was a sutler in Tay- lor's army in 1846. He and his wife died of cholera, in 1849.
CORDERO, ANTONIO .- Was Governor of Texas in 1806. He was one of the officers brought from Spain by de Galves, to reform the administration in Spanish America. He was with Herrera on the Sabine, and disapproved the pacific arrangement which the latter entered into witlı Wilkinson. Pike, who enjoyed Cordero's hospitality, in San Antonio, in 1807, speaks of him as " an accomplished gentleman, universally beloved and respected, and by far the most popular man in the internal provinces." He spoke the Latin and French languages well; was generous, gallant, brave, and sin- cerely attached to his king and country. He was one of the victims of the horrid butchery at San Antonio, in April, 1813.
CORTINA, JUAN N .- Is a native of Comargo, but spent his early life on a ranche on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. In 1859 a difficulty occurred
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at his mother's ranche, and he left Texas and became a partizan leader in Mexico, With a party of his men, in October 1859, he crossed the river into Brownsville, and committed murders and other depredations; but was soon driven back. His next attempt was to capture the steamboat Rancho. In this he was thwarted by the vigilance of Colonel Ford, of the Rangers. He was severely chastised by the troops under Ford and Heintzle- man, of the United States army. In 1861, Cortina with several hundred men crossed the Rio Grande and burned Roma. In 1863, he was a General in the ranks of the Rohos at Matamoras; in 1871, a General under Juarez, and Acting Governor of Tamaulipas. In 1872, he was indicted in Browns- ville for cattle-stealing; in 1875, Mayor of Matamoras, and General in the Mexican army. For refusing to obey orders, he was arrested and conveyed to Mexico. In 1877, he was released, and he returned to his old haunts on the Rio Grande.
Cos, MARTIN PERFECTO DE .- Was a revolutionary leader under Morelos, in 1811. In 1835, he was sent by Santa Anna, his brother-in-law, to the command of the Eastern internal provinces. In May he dispersed the Legislature in session at Monclova; and in September, with five hundred men, came to Texas by water, landing at Matagorda bay. He advanced to San Antonio, where he established his headquarters. One of his first des- potic acts was to demand the surrender of a number of patriots, who had become especially odious to Santa Anna. They were not given up. This demand aroused the Texans to resistance, and he soon found himself shut up in the city by the army of Austin. Cos surrendered to Burleson on the eleventh of December, he and his men giving their parole not to serve again against Texas, during the present war. Cos returned with Santa Anna in the spring, and commanded one of the attacking columns, in the assault upon the Alamo; but failed to effect an entrance to the fort, until the column under Castrillon had made a breach in the wall. Cos was left behind in the advance to San Jacinto, but arrived with his division on the morning of the battle. During the Mexican war in 1847, he was in com- mand in Tuspan. -
CROCKETT, DAVID .- An ex-member of Congress from Tennessee, who came to Texas in 1835. At Nacogdoches, when required to take the oath of allegiance to the new government, or any other which might be estab- lished in Texas, he declined to subscribe it until the word " republican" was inserted. He was one of the victims of the Alamo. Several dead Mexicans were lying near his body. Colonel Crockett's widow came to Texas after annexation, and died in Johnson county, in 1866.
DARNELL, NICHOLAS H .- During the Republic he represented San Augus- tine in Congress, and was Speaker of the House. He was a member of the Convention in 1845, and a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor at the first election for State officers. The vote between himself and Horton was very close, and the returns came in slowly, and when the Legislature met, it appeared- that Darnell was elected, and he was accordingly inaugurated;
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but subsequent returns coming in from the west, changed the majority to his opponent, and Darnell promptly resigned, and Horton became Lieu- tenant-Governor. He was in the Legislature in 1861, and during part of the term, Speaker of the House. In 1874, he was Sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives; and a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1875.
DAVENPORT, SAMUEL .- One of the first Americans who settled in Texas. This was in 1799. He applied for and received letters of citizenship, as a Spanish subject. He was a man of enterprise and wealth, and a leader of society at Nacogdoches. Ile acted as quartermaster to Magee's expedition, in 1812; but declined to co-operate with the Fredonian movement in 1826.
DAVIS, EDMUND J .- A native of Florida; came to Texas in 1848; 1850-52, deputy Collector of Customs on the Rio Grande; 1853, District Attorney ; 1855 to 1860, District Judge. After the breaking out of the civil war, Judge Davis left Texas and entered the Federal lines. In 1862, he raised a regi- ment of cavalry for the Union army ; was promoted to the rank of Briga- dier-General in 1864. At the close of the war he returned to Texas, and was elected to the first Reconstruction Convention, in 1866; was also & member and President of the second Reconstruction Convention. In No- vember, 1869, the Government of the State was in the hands of the military. By order of General Reynolds, an election was held for Governor and State officers. Judge Davis was declared elected, and became Governor, January 18, 1870, and held the office until January 13, 1874. At the expiration of his official term, he resumed the practice of law in the city of Austin.
DAVIS, HI. CLAY .- A prominent citizen of Western Texas; was Collector of Customs on the Rio Grande, and served one term in the State Senate. At the breaking out of the civil war, he entered the Confederate service and rose to the rank of Brigadier, but died before the war closed.
DAWSON, NICHOLAS H., Defeat of .- When Woll entered San Antonio, in 1842, Lieutenant Dawson, who had been in the battle of San Jacinto, raised a company in Fayette county, to reinforce the Texans in the West. He arrived in the neighborhood of the Salado creek September 17th, the day of the battle between Woll and Caldwell. While trying to lead his men to the Texan camp, he was discovered 'and surrounded by an over- whelming number of the Mexicans as they were retreating from the battle ground to the city of San Antonio. After about one-half of his men had been either killed or wounded, Dawson raised a white flag; it was fired upon and the fight renewed. Dawson behaved with the utmost gallantry, but seeing the hopelessness of continuing the unequal combat, he surren- dered his pistol to a Mexican officer. After having thus disarmed himself, a Mexican lancer assaulted him, when the heroic soldier seized and would have slain his assailant, but other lancers coming up, put him to death. Of the fifty-three men in his company, thirty-three were slain in battle; fifteen surrendered, five of whom were wounded; two escaped unhurt, one of
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whom, Henry Gonsalvo Wood, had lost his father and his brother, and had given up his own arms, when a Mexican on horseback attacked him. He disarmed the lancer, killed him and escaped on his horse. Poor Gonsalvo, after escaping that massacre, was killed by desperadoes, probably mistaking him for some one else, in 1869. Of those who surrendered, the following were sent to the castle of Perote: John Beard, James Shaw, Edward Manton, William Trimble, J. E. Konnecy, Richard Barclay, Nat. W. Faison, Joel Robinson, Allen H. Morrell. These were released with the Mier prisoners. In September, 1848, the bones of Dawson's company were collected and taken to Fayette county, and buried with appropriate ceremonies, on Monument Hill, opposite the town of Lagrange.
DELEON, MARTIN .- An Empresario ; was a native of Tamaulipas. In 1810, he settled on the Nueces river, and about 1823, at Victoria, on the Guada- lupe. His colonists were Mexicans, who settled on the Garcitas creek. Mr. DeLeon died of cholera, in 1834.
DIMITT, PHILIP .- Came to Texas in 1822. Ten years later he established a trading house at the old fort built by LaSalle, on the Lavaca river. The place has been since known as Dimitt's Point. In 1835, he was in command of the Texans at Goliad, and took an active part in a public meeting which declared for the independence of Texas. In 1836, he was in command at Victoria, but retreated on the approach of Urrea, and thus escaped the fate of Fannin. In 1841, he prepared to engage in mercantile business on the Nueces river, fifteen miles below Corpus Christi. Before his house was finished, he and his companions were taken prisoners by a raiding party of Mexicans. They were carried first to Matamoras; then to Monterey, and were started to the city of Mexico. At Agua Nueva they made their escape from the guard, but were soon retaken. Seeing no hope of escaping from a horrible imprisonment, Dimitt terminated his life by taking morphinc.
DUVAL .- Three brothers of this name, sons of Governor Duval, of Fo- rida, have figured in our history. B. C. Duval was one of the unfortunate victims of the Fannin massacre.
DUVAL, JOHN C .- Was one of Fannin's men, who, when led out to be shot, was unhurt at the first fire, but fell down and feigned death until he saw an opportunity to escape. He has written some semi-fictitious tales, giving life-like and graphic descriptions of soldier life on the frontier.
DUVAL, THOMAS II .- A lawyer who settled in Austin, when that city be- came the permanent capital of the State. In 1857, when the Western Judi- cial District was formed, he was appointed United States District Judge, an office he still holds.
EDWARDS, HAYDEN .- An Empresario, who attempted to introduce colo- nists into Eastern Texas. His contract was annulled by Governor Blanco, October 2d, 1826. Though the Fredonians were for a time driven from
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Texas, Edwards returned after the Revolution, and at one time represented his district in the Texas Congress. His brother, Benjamin W. Edwards, was raising a company in Mississippi, for the Texas army, in 1836, when he heard of the battle of San Jacinto. In 1837, he was a candidate for Gov- ernor of Mississippi, but died during the canvass.
EDWARDS, MONROE .- First appeared in Texas as a merchant's clerk, at Anahuac, where he was arrested and kept in custody by Bradburn. In 1840, he introduced a cargo of African negroes into the country. His part- ner, Mr. Dart, charged him with forgery, and he was arrested, but made his escape. He next appeared in England as a philanthropist, laboring to secure the emancipation of the slaves whom he introduced into Texas. On his return to the United States, he was convicted of forgery, and sent to Sing Sing prison, New York, where he died in 1847.
ELISONDO, Y .- Was at one time associated with the patriot Hidalgo, of Mexico, but afterwards betrayed and shot his leader. In 1813, he brought a Spanish army to San Antonio, to defeat the Republicans. In the battle of Alasan, June 5th, he was totally defeated. He again returned to Texas with the army of Arredondo Elisondo was sent, after the battle of Medina, in pursuit of the fugitive Republicans. At the Trinity he found some seventy or eighty unable to cross the river. These he cruelly put to death.
ELLIS, RICHARD .- Was a prominent citizen on Red river, and represented that municipality in the Convention of 1836, and was the President of that body. There was, however, some doubt as to which government the Red river country belonged, and to be certain to have representation at the right place, Mr. Ellis's son, who lived in the house with him, represented the same district in the Arkansas Legislature, as a citizen of Miller county, Arkansas. Mr. Ellis died in 1849.
EVANS, LEMUEL DALE .- A native of Tennessee, came to Texas in 1843, and settled in Fannin county, which he represented in the Annexation Con- vention, in 1845. In 1855, he was elected to Congress from the Eastern District. During the war he espoused the Union cause. In 1868, he was in the Reconstruction Convention, and in 1870, appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His term expired in 1873. In 1875, he was United States Marshal at Galveston. He died in the city of Washington, July 1st, 1877.
FANNIN, JAMES W .- A mournful interest attaches to the name of Fannin. He was a native of Georgia, and received a military education at West Point. Ile came to Texas in the fall of 1834, with money furnished partly by friends, to purchase slaves and open a plantation. When the difficulty about the cannon occurred at Gonzales, he raised a company called the "Brazos Guards," and hastened to the West. He continued in the service, and it was Fannin's company that was sent forward from the Espada Mis- sion to select a camping-ground nearer San Antonio, and which fought the
Richardson . N.Y.
COLONEL JOHN CALDWELL.
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battle of Concepcion. In that fight Fannin won the admiration of the army, and the title of " the hero of Concepcion." At the reorganization of the army after Austin's resignation, the Executive Council at San Felipe selected Fannin and Rusk as recruiting officers, and agents to collect men and munitions of war. Rusk was sent east and Fannin west of the Trinity .*
On the 21st of December, Houston ordered Fannin to establish his head- quarters at Velasco. In the meantime, the Council had, without consulting the Commander-in-Chief, greatly enlarged his authority as agent, and had directed him to collect forces at, or near Copano, for a descent upon Mata- moras.
January 8th, 1836, Fannin, at Velasco, isssued an address calling for vol- unteers. He announced that " an expedition to the West had been ordered by the General Council, and the volunteers from Bexar, Goliad, Velasco, and elsewhere, were ordered to rendezvous at San Patricio, between the 24th and 27th instant, and report to the officer in command. The fleet con- voy will sail from Velasco under my charge on or about the eighteenth, and all who feel disposed to join it and aid in keeping the enemy out of Texas, and at the same time cripple the enemy in their resources at home, are invited to enter the ranks forthwith." There was at this time an inextrica- ble confusion both in the civil and military affairs of the country. The Governor and Executive Council were at loggerheads. The Governor had been deposed by the Council, but declined to surrender his office. Both Governor Smith and Lieutenant-Governor Robinson assumed to exercise Executive functions, and both issued orders to army officers, frequently contradictory. General Houston recognized the authority of Smith, and Fannin acted under orders from Robinson and the Council.
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