A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 130

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II > Part 130

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Soon after the big raid and the murder of his son John, Mr. Leatherwood removed his

family to Grayson county, where he remained until 1870, when he returned to the old home- stead and again resumed farming here. He made a good start in this work and in stock-rais- ing and was thus identified with agricultural pur- suits in the county until his death, which occurred in 1881 when he was seventy-two years of age. He was a Baptist preacher for many years and one of the pioneer ministers of Montague county, who assisted in organizing the churches, spread- ing the gospel and promoting the moral develop- ment of the frontier district. He underwent all the hardships and privations of pioneer life in order to make possible the introduction of civil- ization that others might follow and find a hab- itable region. His wife survived him and died in 1887. They were the parents of four chil- dren : Thomas; Daniel; Marion, who was killed in the siege of Petersburg in the Civil war while serving in the Confederate army; and John, whose death is mentioned above.

Daniel Leatherwood, born in Tennessee, ac- companied his parents to Montague county and assisted in the development of the homestead farm, remaining under the parental roof until his marriage in 1876. He then settled on an adjoining tract of land, which he purchased and transformed into a cultivable property. He cared for his parents during their remaining days and at the same time conducted his farming in- terests. He now owns two hundred and thirty acres of rich and valuable land, of which eighty acres is under cultivation, being given to diversi- fied farming, whereby he supplies the family with many of the products needed. He also raises some stock, and both branches of his busi- ness are bringing to him a good financial return. He has always carried on agricultural pursuits here save for the period of the Civil war, when in 1862 he volunteered as a member of Company C. Twenty-sixth Tennessee Infantry. The regi- ment was assigned to the Army of the Tennes- see under General Bragg and Mr. Leatherwood thus continued in active service until the battle of Resaca, where he was made a prisoner of war and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, May 16, 1864. He was there held until the close of hostilities, in June, 1865, when he was released and given transportation home. He was in many skirmishes and a number of liotly contested bat- tles, including the engagements at Missionary Ridge and Resaca. Many times he was in the thickest of the fight and again on the lonely picket line, but wherever stationed he was true and loval to the cause which he espoused. Following his return home he accompanied his parents on

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

their various removals in Texas and has since devoted his attention to farming interests with excellent success.

Mr. Leatherwood was married to Miss Aman- da Wisdom, a representative of a well known pioneer family of Texas. She was born in this state in 1857 and is a daughter of T. N. Wisdom, who came from Arkansas to Texas at an early day, settling in Collin county and later in Mon- tague county. He is a farmer by occupation is now living in Oklahoma at an advanced age. He served as a Confederate soldier in the Civil war, has always been a stanch Democrat in poli- tics and is a consistent member of the Baptist Church. His children were: Mrs. Amanda Leatherwood; William; Josephine, the wife of D. O. Davis; Diadama, the wife of J. Morris; John, of Oklahoma; Miller of the Indian Terri -. tory ; Sina, the wife of Z. King; and Mattie.

Mr. and Mrs. Leatherwood have nine children : Joseph M., at home; Emily, the wife of W. A. McGee; Jane; Anna, the wife of T. M. Brown; Flora ; John, at home ; Katie; Henry ; and Grace. The parents are members of the Christian church and Mr. Leatherwood has taken the degrees of the Blue Lodge in Masonry and is also a mem- ber of the Farmers' Union. Few citizens of Texas are more familiar with the history of pio- neer life and none have had to undergo greater hardships and dangers in settling up this dis- trict. His mind bears the impress of the early historic annals of Montague county and on his memory are pictured many events and scenes of thrilling interest, which if written in detail would serve once more to enforce the statement that "truth is stranger than fiction."

JAMES T. COURSEY, who, living in Muens- ter, was one of the early settlers of Cooke county, Texas, was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, January 15, 1846. He is a son of Henry and Mary M. (Pace) Coursey, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Kentucky, in which state their marriage was celebrated. The paternal grandfather, James DeCoursey, was of French descent and, settling in Maryland, there reared his family and remained until called to his final rest. He had two sons: Henry and Thomas B. The latter became a resident of the state of Delaware and there died.

Henry Coursey, father of our subject, was born and reared in Maryland and on removing westward took up his abode in Kentucky, where he was married. Not long afterward he went with his young wife to Missouri, settling in La- fayette county, spending many years in that and

Johnson counties. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit throughout his active life. In 1855, however, he left Missouri and came to Texas, settling at Weston, Collin county, where he was again connected with building operations. He was a successful mechanic and remained at that place for a number of years. When too old to engage longer in active labor he found a good home with his son, passing away in Cooke county in 1879, at the ripe old age of seventy-six years. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church and also be- longed to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was one of those who made the overland trip to California in 1849 and there he followed his trade successfully for four years, after which he returned home by way of the isthmus route. His first wife died in Missouri in 1853 and there he was again married. Soon afterward he came to Texas. His second wife was a Miss Aelsy Mayhew, of Kentucky, who removed to Missouri, where her marriage occurred. She yet survives and makes her home on Elm Creek with

a daughter. By the father's first marriage there were four children : Mrs. Mary E. Gilbert ; James T., of this review; William, a prominent mer- chant of Fannin county, Texas; and Allen, a leading farmer of Cooke county. The children of the second marriage were: Virginia, the wife of C. Williams; Mrs. Fannie Hatcher; Living- ston, deceased; Mrs. Henrietta Spragens ; and Mrs. Ida Marsh. During the father's old age and following his death his son James T. cared for the children of the second marriage and pro- vided for their support.

James T. Coursey was born in Missouri and in 1855 came to Texas with his father and the family, being then a youth of nine years. He re- mained under the parental roof until fourteen years of age and assisted in the work of caring for the farm and the stock. His school privileges were limited, but he has managed to acquire a fair practical business education through experi- ence, observation and reading. In the fall of 1860, when a youth of fourteen years, he came to Cooke county with his brother-in-law, Mr. Gilbert, with whom he remained until 1862, when he enlisted for service in the Confederate Army with Alexander's regiment and went into camp at Fort McCulloch, where on account of being under age he was discharged. He then returned to Cooke county and later joined Col- onel Bourland's regiment for frontier service with headquarters at Gainesville. The most of the command, however, was stationed at the town of Montague, where Mr. Coursey went into quar-

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS

ters, but later was detailed for gathering beef cattle to be forwarded to the regular army. For this work he was well qualified because of his long connection with the cattle industry, enabling him to know the value of stock. He was thus' engaged until the close of the war.

When hostilities were over Mr. Coursey re- turned to Cooke county and was employed as a cow boy and worked on the range. He after- ward went to the Rio Grande and was familiar with all the trails and the vast territory of north- west Texas. Game of all kinds was then plenti- ful and wild beasts roamed at will. He assisted in running out the red men and in reclaiming the country for the uses of civilization. Fol- lowing his marriage, which occurred in 1867, he purchased a tract of raw land of one hundred and sixty acres in Cooke county near where he yet resides. This he improved, bringing it up to a good state of cultivation. Later, however, he sold that property and bought where he now makes his home. He afterward added another survey and today has three hundred and twenty acres of land. He has made substantial improve- ments and has his property all under fence, while one hundred and thirty acres is highly cultivated. He is engaged in the raising of diversified crops and the farm supplies many products for the use of the family. The place is improved with a com- modious house and barn, good outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, and there is an abundant water supply which is piped to the barn lots and the house, a wind mill being used for pumping power. He has set out a good orchard, which is now in bearing condition, and he uses improved machinery in the care of the place. He raises stock to a greater or less extent and his entire life has been devoted to agricultural pur- suits. His experiences in Texas have been varied and often times there have been exciting chap- ters in his life record, for following the close of the Civil war the red men became very hos- tile and troublesome to the settlers, running off the stock and often times murdering the people. Mr. Coursey took part in many raids after the red men and saw much of their devastation and cruelties. He was never wounded but on one occasion had his horse shot from under him.

On the 14th of March, 1867, Mr. Coursey was married to Miss Emma J. Grant, who was born in Fannin county, Texas, November 19, 1848, and is a lady of intelligence and culture. Her pa- rents were George W. and Mary E. (English) Grant, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. They were married at Bonham, Texas. The father was a son of James

Grant, also of Kentucky, who was a carpenter by trade and died in the Blue Grass state. He was a consistent member of the Christian church. In his family were four children: George W., the father of Mrs. Coursey; Charles, who died in Texas; Thomas, who came to this state and afterward went to the Indian Territory, where he died ; and Mrs. Lizzie Perrin.

George W. Grant was born and reared in Ken- tucky and learned the carpenter's trade with his father. The year 1846 witnessed his arrival in the Lone Star state. He had just attained his majority and sought a home in the southwest, locating in Fannin county. Subsequently he made his way to the Red River valley, where he was employed at his trade and he afterward paid a visit to his old Kentucky home. Soon returning to Texas, however, he was married in this state and continued to work at the carpen- ter's trade until 1860, when he came to Cooke county and purchased a tract of raw land, which he developed and improved. During the Indian depredations, fearful for the life of his wife and children, he removed his family to Grayson county, but after the red men had been subdued he returned to the farm and there erected a commodious house. While the Civil war was in progress he was a member of the state militia, doing service on the frontier. As a pioneer set- tler of Cooke county, he built many homes for the early residents, working at the carpenter's trade, while employing others to carry on the farm. Thus he contributed in substantial meas- ure to the improvement and development of his part of the state. He never aspired to office but gave his political allegiance to the Democracy. He is yet remembered by many who knew him and speak of his virtues and many good qualities, for he enjoyed the trust and good will of all with whom he came in contact. He held membership in the Christian church and also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He re- mained upon the old homestead until death claimed him in 1897. His wife survived for sev- eral years, passing away in 1902. She was a daughter of Bailey English, of Indiana, who was a farmer by occupation and a pioneer settler of Fannin county, Texas, taking up his abode there before the county seat, Bonham, had an exis- tence. He bought raw land and improved a good farm and his efforts were of permanent benefit to the substantial development of his community. As the years passed by his business undertakings were crowned with prosperity. He voted with the Democracy, held membership in the Presby- terian church and was accorded a place among

JAMES H. DUNN

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

the representative citizens of his community, at length passing away upon the old homestead in Fannin county. His children were: Mrs. Eliza Cowart; Mrs. Sarah Fuller ; Robert and Horton, both of, whom served in the Confederate army ; Mrs. Mary E. Grant, mother of .Mrs. Coursey ; and Mrs. Letitia Ward. After the death of his first wife Mr. Bailey married Mrs. Nancy Grooms, a widow, and their children were: Bar- ton ; Alexander ; Mrs. Leatha Huddleson ; Riley ; Bragg; and Florence, the wife of C. Flack.

Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Grant had eight children, the eldest of whom is Mrs. Coursey. The others are : Mrs. Tom Hoover, Charles, William, J. B., John, Joe and Harry.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coursey have been born nine children: Jennie, the wife of William Brown ; Mrs. Maggie Moyer ; Mrs. Anna Short; Georgia, who is a successful school teacher ; Mrs. Belle Johnson; Clara, Jasper, Mamie and Joe, all yet at home.

Mr. Coursey has lived to see great changes in Cooke county as this western district has been transformed from a vast wilderness to a well im- proved district settled with a peaceful, contented and prosperous people. He has undergone all the hardships and trials incident to frontier life and has hunted buffaloes and deer upon the plains; greatly enjoying the sport. One time he knew most of the prominent people west of Gainesville and most of the voters in Cooke and Montague county. He stands as an excellent ex- ample of a high type of Texas citizenship, has a hospitable home in which good cheer always abounds, and in his life record has displayed many excellent traits that have made him a fav- orite with those with whom he has come in con- tact.

JAMES H. DUNN. The late James H. Dunn, of Clay county, was one of the charac- ters whose life for many years was most honor- ably connected with the county's domestic de- velopment and its public affairs. His life here covered a span of some twenty years and his death, December 31, 1901, terminated a career of rare uprightness and a life filled with substantial successes and with sincere and enduring friend- ships. He conducted one of the large farms on Red river, managing, as he did, some eleven hundred acres of his own and his wife's estate and devoting his time to its substantial im- provement and successful cultivation.

On becoming a resident of Clay county Mr. Dunn settled near Benvanue and it was in that community he was best known and there his

fastest friendships were made. He came here from Denison, Texas, near where he owned and operated a farm and where his citizenship shone with all the brilliancy of a loyal and faithful man. He became a citizen of Grayson county at the close of the rebellion, moving there from Jasper county, Missouri. From his boyhood he resided in the latter state and there received a fair education in the rural schools. He joined the great throng bound for the gold fields of California in 1849, crossing the plains, as was the custom of the time, and engaging in min- ing on the coast state. His trip to the Eldorado can be said to have been successful, for he gained not only experience, but some means, returning, as he did, with several thousand dollars which his sluice mining brought to his account. He returned home by the water route and, once more in Jasper county, engaged in handling cattle and in freighting goods. The war came on soon afterward and he joined the Confederate service and was commissioned an officer with the rank of major. He had charge of the commissary under Gen. Jo Shelby, whose friend he was, and continued in the service till the end of the war.

At once upon his taking up civil life he came to Texas and entered the mercantile business at Bonham. Later he was identified with War- ren in a similar capacity and after an experi- ence of several years abandoned that life and resumed farming. He also dealt in stock and he cast his lot with Clay county in 1881 that he might have more room and more freedom for his operations.

James H. Dunn was born near Nashville, Tennessee, December 31, 1831. His father was William Dunn, in early life a merchant at Dunn's Cross Roads, near Nashville, and later a farmer and breeder of fine cattle in Jasper county, Missouri. The latter was born in Maryland, October 22, 1788, married Mary H. Henderson, of Kentucky, and died in Jasper county, Missouri. His wife was born February 9, 1801. Their two children were James and William, the latter being born September 1, 1829, and being killed while serving in the Con- federate army during the Civil War.

It was his popularity as a citizen and his honor and integrity as a man that prompted his choice as a public servant in Clay county. He was not by nature a seeker after public favors but the choice to fill a vacancy in the commissionership of the first district fell upon him and he accepted. He was elected a num- ber of times, as a Democrat, and filled the office several years.

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

July 22, 1869, Mr. Dunn was married in Grayson county, Texas, to Miss Dorthula Hen- ry, born in Blount county, Tennessee, and a daughter of James and Nancy (Kinnie) Henry, of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. Mrs. Dunn was one of nine children, but three of whom survive, viz .: Caroline Camp, of Mon- tague county, Texas, and Arthur Henry, of Grayson county. The Henrys came to Texas in 1859 and settled in Grayson county.

Mr. and Mrs. Dunn were never blessed with children but reared and educated a nephew, John W. Dunn, now in Oklahoma. The house- hold was identified with the Christian church and practiced bible teachings in their daily life. Mr. Dunn was a gentleman of wide informa- tion, read the St. Louis Republic for fifty years, was kind and sympathetic toward the unfor- tunate, had convictions and expressed then freely and frankly when the occasion required. He was a Master Mason.

THOMAS D. BAILEY, who carries on agri- cultural pursuits and is a descendant of one of the pioneer families, was born in Mississippi, October 30, 1857. His parents were Martin and Mary (Patton) Bailey, natives of Mississippi and Tennessee respectively. The paternal grand- father, William Bailey, was a native of Georgia and was of Irish descent. He became a leading farmer of his locality and traded extensively in stock. He removed to Mississippi when that was a frontier country and there made permanent settlement, assisting in the material development of the community and in the work of progress along many other lines. He died there upon the old family homestead. His children were : James, William, George, Martin, Griffin, Mrs. Mary Perry, and Mrs. Margery Wren.

Martin Bailey remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority, when he married and began farming for himself in Mississippi, devoting his energies to the tilling of the soil until 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate service as a member of the Twenty- eighth Mississippi Cavalry, continuing with that regiment until wounded in . 1864. He then re- ceived an honorable discharge and returned home. His command was first assigned to the Army of Mississippi and Tennessee and he par- ticipated in many skirmishes and important bat- tles, including the campaign and siege of Vicks- burg. He was in all of the engagements in which his regiment participated until 1864. when in a hot skirmish he sustained a bullet wound through his knee in making a charge on the

enemy. The regiment had been dismounted at that time. His wound rendered him unfit for further field service and he received an honor- able discharge, returning at once to his home. During the remainder of his life he suffered to a greater or less extent from the injury. While at the front his company was detailed to act as Home Guard on account of bushwhackers who infested the country and were robbing, stealing and killing. They saw some hard service in rout- ing them, but managed to keep them in subjec- tion.

Martin Bailey remained at his old home in Mississippi until after the close of the war, when he removed to another part of that state. A year later he made his way to the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory and then to Grayson county, Texas, where he spent three years. In 1872 he came to Montague county, settling three miles east of the present site of Saint Jo, where he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land. On this he took up his abode and made a start at farming and subsequently he added to his possessions until he owned twelve hundred acres extending east from Elm creek to the Blackwaxie lands. He first erected a temporary cabin but later hauled logs to a sawmill, had them converted into lumber and thus built a better house. He also made rails for fencing his property and in due course of time his farm was proving a profitable source of income. When he arrived in the county but little farm- ing had been done, but he demonstrated the pro- ductiveness of the soil and raised good crops, carrying on general farming and also handling stock. The Indians had already largely been driven from the locality and he had no difficulty with them but he shared with others in many of the hardships and privations of pioneer life and contributed his full measure toward the im- provement and upbuilding of this section of the state. He was a stanch Democrat and while in Mississippi served for several terms as con- stable and for two terms as justice of the peace. After taking up his abode in Texas he used his influence toward securing good men for office but never aspired to political preferment. He was a champion of right, truth and justice, and his position upon any question of importance was never an equivocal one. He remained upon the old homestead until his death, which occurred February 26, 1900, when he had reached a ripe old age. His first wife died in Mississippi when the children were small. She was a daughter of Washburn Patton, a pioneer settler of that state, who became a prominent farmer there. He

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HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.

divided his attention between his agricultural pursuits and his work as a local preacher of the Primitive Baptist church, and he died in Missis- sippi in 1876. His children were: Mary and Sarah, twins, the former the mother of our sub- ject; Vina; and other whose names are forgot- ten.

Martin and Mary ( Patton) Bailey became the parents of four children : Flora A., who died in childhood ; Thomas D .; Martin W. O., a stock farmer of Montague county ; and Sarah E., the wife of J. A. Huffman. The mother, Mrs. Bailey, died when the children were quite young, after which the father made various removals and finally established the family home in Mon- tague county, Texas, believing that his children would have the best advantages in this locality. When in Grayson county he was again married, . his second union being with Mrs. Mary A. Par- sons, a widow and a daughter of George Atha, a farmer, who came to Texas but had not chosen a permanent location at the time of his death, which occurred in Montague county. His chil- dren were: Thomas; Floyd; Andrew ; and Mary A., who became the wife of Martin Bailey.

Thomas D. Bailey, whose name introduces this sketch, was born in Mississippi and accom- panied his father on his various removals. He was reared to manhood and pioneer surroundings and assisted his father in the arduous task of improving and developing a farm and maintain- ing a home. He had much care of the stock and he remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. He th'en learned the black- smith's trade, which he followed for fourteen consecutive years, after which he began working at the tinner's trade and as a gun repairer. He conducted a shop of his own for about six years, after which he engaged in general merchandis- ing, continuing the business for five years, being all this time located at Saint Jo. He is a natural mechanic and can work well in wood, iron or in other ways. He has likewise done carpenter work but in more recent years has given his un- divided attention to farming. He was married in 1885 and then settled upon the farm where he yet resides, it being a portion of his father's old homestead. He bought the interests of the other heirs and now owns three hundred and forty-four acres of land all under fence. There is a good house and outbuildings upon the place, which is pleasantly located three miles southeast of Saint Jo. He has eighty acres of land planted to diversified crops and he raises some stock. His efforts have been attended with a gratifying measure of success.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume II, Part 130

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co. Number of Pages: 972

Author: Paddock, B. B. (Buckley B.), 1844-1922; Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 972