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 43
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MOORE, COMMODORE E. W .- Was a Lieutenant on the U. S. sloop Boston ; resigned his commission and was appointed a Post Captain in the navy of
HOUSTON PIERCED WITH AN ARROW.
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Texas. During Houston's second administration, a serious misunderstand- ing arose between Commodore Moore and the President. A court martial was convened, consisting of S. Sherman, E. Moorehouse, A. Somervell, James Riley and Thomas Sypert, with Thomas Johnson, Judge Advocate. Moore was acquitted. By the terms of annexation he ought to have been transferred to the United States navy again. But his present rank would have placed him over men who were his superiors in the old navy at the time he resigned. This, and other unsettled points, prevented his reception in the navy. In 1857, he had an appointment in connection with the cus- tom-house in Galveston. He died in Virginia, in 1860.
MOORE, DR. FRANCIS, JR .- Was a native of New York; but came from Ohio to Texas in 1836, with the Buckeye Rangers. Arriving at Velasco, he was tendered the position of surgeon in the army. In the spring of 1837, he became one of the proprietors of the Texas Telegraph, and for twenty years he was its editor-in-chief. During that period it was the leading newspaper in the Republic, and its files are to-day invaluable to the histo- rian. Dr. Moore was several times elected Mayor of Houston. In 1841-43 he represented Harris county in the Senate, and was a member of the Annexation Convention in 1845. In 1860 he was appointed State Geolo- gist, but was removed in a short time. He then went north and entered the service of a copper-mining company, and was sent to Lake Superior. In 1864, he died from injuries received from a fall. A few weeks later, his life-long friend and business partner in the Telegraph office followed him to the spirit land.
MOORE, JOHN H .- One of the earliest settlers upon the Upper Colorado. He was a bold and successful Indian-fighter. In 1834 he led an expedition against the Tehuacanies and Wacoes on the Upper Brazos. For twenty-one days he followed their trail. In one fight eleven Indians were killed. Moore was one of the earliest and most zealous advocates for Texan inde- pendence; and for this his arrest was ordered by General Cos, in 1835. When the volunteers assembled at Gonzales, to hold forcible possession of the cannon, Moore was elected to command them. In 1840, he was in com- mand of an expedition against the Indians on the headwaters of the Colo- rado. A large village of the Comanches was completely surprised and destroyed. A large number of warriors were killed, and some prisoners taken. Col. Moore was the original proprietor of the town of Lagrange. He still (1878) lives on his plantation, which has been his home for more than a half a century.
MORGAN, JAMES .- Came to Texas about 1828; in 1830 he was a merchant at 'Anahuac, and in 1836 at New Washington, or Morgan's Point. His store-house was plundered and burned by Santa Anna, just before the battle of San Jacinto. Colonel Morgan was then in command of Galveston island, and rendered President Burnet efficient service. He filled various public trusts with honor and fidelity. He was blind during the last years of his life.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
MURRAH, PENDLETON .- Was a native of South Carolina, a lawyer by profession. He went in early life to Alabama, and came from that State to Texas, and setttled in Harrison county. In 1857 he represented that county in the Legislature ; and was elected Governor in 1863. At the dissolution of the Confederate armies, in June, 1865, Governor Murrah left the capital and sought a refuge in Mexico. He died in Monterey, the following July.
NAVARRO, JOSE ANTONIO .- Was born in the city of San Antonio, in 1795. His father was from Corsica. Mr. Navarro was, in 1834-35, land commis- sioner for Bexar district and Dewitt's colony ; a member of the Convention in 1836, and again in 1845; in 1838, in Congress; in 1840, commissioner to Santa Fé. Santa Anna, for some cause, cherished a special hatred towards Colonel Navarro, and he was thrown into the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa and kept in solitary and dreary confinement, until Herrera became Pres- ident, when he was liberated and permitted to return to his home in Texas. After annexation, he represented Bexar district in the State Senate. He died in his native city in 1870. He was a staunch Republican; a man of great simplicity of manners, united with a Spanish dignity ; pure in morals, upright in all his dealings, and an incorruptible patriot.
NEIGHBORS, R. S .- Came from Virginia to Texas in 1837, and entered the army. In 1849, in company with Colonel Ford, he surveyed a route from San Antonio to El Paso, and was then sent by Governor Bell to organize the county of Santa Fe. He found Santa Fe in possession of the United States, and returned to Texas, and was a member of the Legislature in 1851; in 1855 he was U. S. Indian Agent, and collected the Indians on the reserves. He was killed at Fort Belknap, August 14th, 1859.
NEIL, JOHN C .- Commanded the artillery at the taking of San Antonio in 1836, and also in the battle of San Jacinto, in which he was slightly wounded. In 1842, he led an expedition against the Indians on the Upper Trinity, and in 1844 was one of the Commissioners sent to treat with the Indians. Died soon after his return, at his home on Spring creek.
NEWELL, JOHN D .- Came from North Carolina to Texas in 1830; was a member of the Convention in 1833. He was a successful planter, having lived to raise forty-five cotton crops in Texas. He died in Richmond, in December, 1875.
ODIN, REV. J. M .- Was sent to Texas by Bishop Timon, of Missouri, in 1840; March 6th, 1842, was consecrated Bishop of Claudiopolis, and Vicar Apostolic of Texas; in 1847, Bishop of Galveston, which then included the whole State; in 1861, he was transferred to New Orleans, and soon after- wards created Archbishop. He died in his native village in France, in 1870.
OCHILTREE, WILLIAM B .- Came from North Carolina to Texas in 1839; in 1844, was Secretary of the Treasury; in 1845, in the Annexation Conven-
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tion, after which, for a number O1 years, he was District Judge. He was a member of the Secession Convention in 1861, and sent as a delegate to the Convention at Montgomery, Alabama; died in Jefferson, Texas, December 27,1867.
OLDHAM, WILLIAM S .- Was in the Confederate Senate, from Texas, during the war; died in Houston in 1868.
OWEN, CLARK L .- Was from Kentucky. In 1840, he was with John H. Moore in his expedition against the Indians; was a Captain in the Plum creek fight with the Comanches. He declined a position in Houston's Cab- inet, but was appointed to the command of the troops in the Southwest. Such was Houston's unbounded confidence in Colonel Owen, that he authorized him, at his discretion, to proclaim martial law at Corpus Christi, for the more effectual suppression of thieving and robbing ; but he succeeded in restoring order without resorting to that extreme measure. He was an original Union man, but after the secession of the State, Captain Owen raised a company for the Second Texas Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh.
PADILLA, JUAN ANTONIO .- Was for a short time Land Commissioner in East Texas, in 1829. The next year, in conjunction with Judge Chambers, he obtained an Empresario contract; in 1834-36 he was Secretary of State of Coahuila, Texas; was elected to represent Victoria county in the Con- vention of 1836, but, owing to the unsettled state of the West, did not attend. He paid a visit to the city of Houston in 1839, and died while at that place.
PARKER, ISAAC .- A venerable member of a historic family ; has repre- sented his district, both in the Congress of the Republic and in the State Legislature. He lives, at the advanced age of 86, near Weatherford in the county that bears his name.
PARMER, MARTIN .- Whose name is to the Taxas Declaration of Independ- ence, was a native of Virginia; moved in early life to Missouri; was Indian Agent ; served in the Convention that formed the Constitution of that State, and also in the Legislature; settled at Mound Prairie, Texas, about the year 1825; was one of the leaders in the Fredonian emeute, in 1826-7; and died soon after the Revolution.
PATRICK, GEORGE M .- Came to Texas, by sea, in 1827. Thomas Jamison, late of Matagorda, and John H. Moore were on the same vessel returning to the country, having been absent on a visit. Mr. Patrick knew something of the management of a ship, and when a storm arose and drove their vessel to sea, after reaching the coast, the Captain being drunk-ho took the control and brought the vessel into Galveston. In 1832, Mr. P., was Rigidor (Recorder) at Anahuac; in 1835, he was in the General Consulta- tion; in 1836, with President Burnet, first at Morgan's Point, then at
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Galveston, where, for a time he had command of the schooner Flash. In 1837, he was Surveyor of Harris county ; subsequently, for many years, he was Chief Justice of Grimes county, in which he still lives (1878).
PEASE, ELISHA M .- A native of Connecticut; born in 1812 and a lawyer by profession. He came to Texas in 1835, and was appointed Secretary of the Executive Council at San Felipe; in 1836 he was Clerk, first in the Navy, then in the Treasury Department, under the Provisional Government. In 1837 he was Comptroller of Public Accounts. He held this office but a short time. When he resigned it, he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion in Brazoria county. He was a member of the House of Representa- tives of the First and Second Legislatures, and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He was trasferred to the Senate of the Third Legislature. He was elected Governor in 1853 and re-elected in 1855. This was a period of unparalleled prosperity. At the close of his official term he took up his residence in Austin. On the removal of Governor Throckmorton, in 1867, Pease was appointed Governor by General Sheridan. This office he resigned the next year. In 1874, without his knowledge, he was appointed Collector of Customs for Galveston, an office he declined to accept. He is at present (1878) Vice-President of the First National Bank at Austin.
PEEBLES, DR. R. R .- Came from South Carolina to Texas in 1829, and was appointed Land Commissioner for Austin and Williams' colony. In 1851 he represented Austin county in the Legislature; lives in Waller county.
PERRY, HENRY .- Was the commander of the Americans in the battle of Alasan, near San Antonio, in 1813. He is also generally reported as having been in the battle of Medina, a few week later; though another account states that Perry, having been warned by a Mexican girl that Musquis and other Mexicans, in the Republican ranks, had made arrangements to desert to the Royalists, left the city before that disastrous battle. In 1815, he was in Louisiana attempting to get up a filibustering expedition to Texas, but was thwarted by the vigilance of the United States Marshals. In 1816 he joined Commodore Aury at Galveston, and accompanied Aury and Mina to Soto la Marina. After the departure of Aury with the ships, Perry thought their force too weak to maintain themselves in the heart of Mexico, and he, with fifty-one followers, started for Texas. The party reached Goliad in safety, and might have passed on to the interior of the country, but they summoned the small garrison in the old fort to surrender. While parleying before the walls, a body of two hundred cavalry sent by Arredondo for the capture of Perry arrived. A desperate fight ensued. The Spanish account of the battle is, that after all Perry's men were slain in battle, the brave commander, rather than surrender, killed himself. This is possible, but it has been conjectured that a part, at least, of Perry's men surrendered, and shared the fate of the unfortunate Fannin and his com- mand at the same place, twenty-five years later.
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PERRY, JAMES F .- A brother-in-law of Stephen F. Austin (having mar- ried Mrs. Bryan, Mr. Austin's sister, in Missouri) ; came to Texas in 1831, and settled in Brazoria county, at Peach Point. From this time forward this was General Austin's home. Mr. Perry died in 1852; his wife having died the previous year
PILLSBURY, TIMOTHY .- Came to Texas from Maine. In 1840, he repre- sented Brazoria county in the Texas Congress; and was soon afterward elected Chief Justice of the county. He was the first to represent West Texas in the Congress of the United States, after annexation. At the end of his second term, he retired to private life. He died near Henderson, in 1858.
POTTER, ROBERT-Was Secretary of the Navy during the government ad interim, and subsequently represented the Red River District in the Texas Congress. He was killed at his home, near Lake Soda, in 1840.
POWERS, JAMES-An Irishman, by birth; in 1828, engaged with Dr. Hew- itson in a colonization contract; was a member of the Convention of 1836; was captured by raiders at his home, at Live Oak Point, but was immedi- ately released by order of Santa Anna.
PUTNAM, MITCHELL-A private in Captain Hurd's company, at San Ja- cinto. In 1838, he settled near Gonzales, and the same year the Comanches carried off four of his children. In March, 1840, when the Comanches came into San Antonio to make a treaty, they brought in one of Mr. Mitchell's children. After the fight in the Council House, another was surrendered. One died soon after being carried off. An interesting little girl was still missing, and for twenty-six years her father and family were ignorant of her fate. In 1865, Judge John Chenault, who had been an Indian Agent in Missouri, immigrated to Texas and settled in Gonzales. There was a woman, an inmate of Judge C.'s family, then thirty years old, whom he had ran- somed when a little girl from the savages. The child was too young when carried off to remember anything of her parentage, or even her name. Something in her appearance induced Mr. Putnam to suspect this was his long-lost daughter. There was on her person a peculiar flesh-mark, well remembered by her parents. This indelible mark established her identity. Though much attached to her foster-father, she was greatly delighted to find her real father and to dwell with her kinsmen.
RAINS, EMORY-A native of Tennessee; settled in Texas, in 1816, in La- mar county; in 1836, represented Shelby county in the Texas Congress; filled many offices of trust, and died at a good old age, in the county that bears his name, in I878.
REAGAN, JOHN H .- Came to Texas in 1840 from Tennessee, and engaged in surveying ; in 1846, he was Probate Judge in Anderson county ; 1847, in the Legislature; from 1852 to 1857 he filled the office of District Judge.
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During the latter year he was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1859. At the breaking out of the civil war he resigned his seat in Congress, and at the organization of the Confederate government, was invited into Presi- dent Davis' Cabinet as Postmaster General. At the fall of Richmond, Mr. Reagan left the city in company with President Davis, and they were still in company when they were captured by the Federal soldiers. While Mr. Davis was sent to Fortress Monroe, Mr. Reagan was sent to Fort Warren, Boston harbor. On being released, he returned to his old home in Pales- tine, and resumed the practice of his profession. In 1873, his political dis- abilities were removed, and the next year he was elected to Congress, and also to the Constitutional Convention of the State. He was re-elected to Congress in 1876, and also in 1878.
RILEY, JAMES-Represented Harris county in Congress in 1840, and was soon afterward sent as Minister to the United States ; in 1846, he commanded a Texas regiment in the Mexican. war; in 1856, was United States Minister to St. Petersburg, Russia; iu 1861-2, a colonel in the Arizona Brigade, but most of the time in Mexico on diplomatic service. Returning from that ex- pedition, he was assigned to duty in Louisiana, and killed in the battle of Franklin, April 13, 1863. Mrs. Riley died in Jefferson, Texas, in January, 1877.
ROBERTS, ORAN M .- Is a native of South Carolina; born in 1815. He was educated at the University of Alabama; studied law, and entered upon the practice of his profession in 1838. After serving one term in the Legislature of Alabama, he immigrated to Texas in 1841, located at San Augustine, and commenced the practice of his profession. He was District Attorney in 1844; the next year District Judge. After annexation, he re- sumed the practice of his profession and continued it until 1857, when he was elected one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. He was a member of the Secession Convention in 1861, and was the President of that body. In. 1862, he raised a regiment for service in the Confederate army, and was assigned to duty in the division of General Walker. While in the army, he was elected Chief Justice of the State. He was in the first Reconstruction Convention, in 1866, and was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. The ensuing Legislature elected him and the late Judge Burnet to the United States Senate; but they were not permitted to take their seats, as Congress set aside the reconstruction administration of Presi- dent Johnson. He resumed the practice of his profession, and, in conjunc- tion, taught, in 1868, a law school in Gilmer. In 1874, when the Supreme Court was re-organized under Governor Coke, Justice Roberts was returned to his place as Chief Justice of the Sta,?, and under the new Constitution was re elected in 1876.
ROBERTS, SAMUEL A .- A native of Georgia, educated at West Point; resigned his commission and studied law at Mobile, Alabama. In 1838, he came to Texas, and was soon afterwards sent as Minister to the United States ; in 1840 he was Secretary of State in Lamar's cabinet. After annex-
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ation' he settled in Bonham, and engaged in the practice of his profession. During the civil war he had a military commission under the Confederate Government. He died in Bonham, in 1872.
ROBERTSON, JEROME B .- Jerome B. Robertson is by birth a Kentuckian. Before he attained his majority, the attention of the people of the United States was fixed upon the struggle then existing between the Texas colo- nists and the military despotism then ruling Mexico. The colonists were weak in numbers and resources, while their enemies were strong and vin- dictive. The colonists were widely scattered over a new country, strug- gling to maintain constitutional and religious liberty against absolute despotism and the pretensions of a bigoted priesthood. Hence, the fluctua- tions of that struggle excited the public mind of the United States far more than this generation can understand. The subject of this sketch has always been prompt to coin his convictions into deeds, and from his early youth was characterized by fine social qualities, and an active zeal in promoting public enterprises. These qualities, joined to an ardent love of liberty, and a sympathy for the weak, which could not be restrained, stimulated young Robertson to actively espouse the cause of Texas; and in the begin- ning of the year 1836, he openly declared his intention to embark in the cause of Texan independence. With eighty-six other brave men, he formed a company at Owensboro, Daviess county, Kentucky, who promptly mani- fested their appreciation of his capacity by electing him their Captain upon their arrival in Texas. The trip down the river to New Orleans was a continuous ovation, but the real hardships of the new life began at that point. A delay of several weeks was here met by the failure of the agents of Texas to procure transportation ; and an unusually long voyage of nine- teen days across the Gulf, from the mouth of the Mississippi to Velasco, Texas, followed by weary marches and the tedious though necessary res- traints of camp life, were alone sufficient to severely test the soldierly quali- ties of the men. Texas was without money to pay her defenders, and with- out stores with which to feed and clothe them; yet did not her soldiers falter, but pushed onward until victory crowned their noble efforts.
With the cessation of hostilities and the achievment of independence, the restoration of social order demanded the best efforts of Texans. The work was begun and carried out with an energy and breadth of wisdom which has not been improved upon in later days. The provisions made by Texas for public education, were among the first acts of the young Republic, and were munificent, and then far in advance of the times. Upon his discharge from the army, Captain Robertson settled in the town of Washington, Washington county, at the close of the year 1837, and commenced the prac- tice of medicine, which he had studied in Kentucky; and continued the practice of that profession, when not in public service, until 1874. During that period, he filled many minor civil offices, and participated in most of the campaigns against the Mexicans and Indians during the existence of the Republic, including the Somervell campaign of 1843. He was a mem- ber of the Lower House of the State Legislature in 1847-49, and served two terms in the State Senate. He was a member of the Secession Conven-
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tion in 1861. His previous services for Texas did not prompt him to remain in peaceful ease when Texas bade her sons to go forth to battle again, but he promptly volunteered, and was elected Captain of a company formed at Independence. The company was ordered to Richmond, Virginia, in the fall of 1861, and became a part of the Fifth Texas regiment, of which Captain Robertson was made Lieutenant-Colonel. After the battle of Seven Pines, he was promoted to the Colonelcy, and with his regiment participated in the glories and hardships of the Army of Northern Virginia. Upon the promotion of General J. B. Hood to the rank of Major-General, Colonel Robertson was advanced to the position of Brigadier-General, and commanded Hood's old brigade.
After the close of the war came the trying process of Reconstruction. General Robertson had endured too much for Texas, to despair of better times, even in that dark hour; and his age, character, and public services, gave him great power to influence the more intemperate spirits in his dis_ tracted State. He counselled, always, forbearance and peaceful methods, but never ceased to labor and to hope for Texas. He was made Superin- tendent of the State Bureau of Immigration, in' 1874, and his able and energetic administration of that important office received the universal commendation of the press and people. He is now laboring to advance the railroad interests of Western Texas, as the means of developing the. vast wealth of that hitherto comparatively unknown section of the Empire State of Texas.
From any cause he thought good, he never withheld his voice, his purse, or his hand. He never took counsel of selfishness, nor sought an unworthy end.
ROBERTSON, STERLING C .- An Empresario, who, next to Austin, intro- duced the largest number of families into Texas. He visited the country as early as 1823. Mr. Leftwich, after securing a contract and introducing a few families, went back to Tennessee and died, and his contract fell into the possession of the Nashville Company, of which Mr. Robertson was an active manager. In 1830, Mr. Robertson, in conjunction with Mr. Alexan- der Thompson, introduced a number of families, about the time of Busta- mente's decree interdicting all immigration from the United States. The immigrants, finding obstacles in the way of settling the Robertson colony, stopped, for a time, in the colony of Austin. The Mexicans appear to have had a special spite at Mr. Robertson ; and a decree of the Legislature annulled the contract, and banished him from the province. At the same time, a contract for settling the same territory was given to Austin and Williams. Robertson visited Saltillo, and on his representation of his preparations to introduce colonists, his contract was renewed in Decree No. 285, issued April 29th, 1834. The fickle Legislature, on the 18th of May, 1835, in Decree No. 317, declared that the former decree in favor of Sterling C. Robertson, foreigner, was null and void, and the Governor was directed to return the contract to Austin and Williams. As the revo- lution was then in progress, this last decree did not seriously injure the Robertson colony. Mr. Robertson was a member of the Convention in
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MONUMENT ERECTED
-TO -
THE HEROES OF THE ALAMO,
AND NOW STANDING AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE STATE HOUSE AT AUSTIN, TEXAS.
INSCRIPTION ON THE SHAFT-NORTH FRONT .- To the God of the fearless and free is dedi- cated this altar made from the ruins of the Alamo. March 6th, 1836, A. D.
INSCRIPTION ON THE WEST FRONT. - Blood of Heroes hath stained me; let the stones of the Alamo speak that their immolation be not forgotten. March 6th, 1836, A. D.
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