USA > Texas > Tarrant County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 31
USA > Texas > Parker County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 31
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
Tyler, the county seat of Smith county, is on the northern division of the International & Great Northern Railroad, and on the Cot- ton Belt road, had a population of 6,908 in 1890, has the Charnwood Institute as one of its local institutions of learning, and a pub- lic library of 10,000 volumes. One daily and two weekly newspapers flourish there, and the principal shops and general offices of the Cotton Belt Railroad for Texas, are lo- cated at that place.
Victoria, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, in Victoria county, had 3,500 inhabitants in 1890. Being on the cast bank of the Guada- lupe river, the prosperity of the place las been chiefly derived from navigation and the shipment of cattle, etc.
Waco is a live city at the intersection of several railroads, and had a population of 14,- 425 in 1890. Assessed value of all property in 1891, $10,242,642. There are about seven square miles within the corporate limits.
Waxahachie, the county seat of Ellis county, is a railroad center, with a population in 1890 of 3,076. The county is the banner
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one in the black-waxy district. As a sample of the improvement made, we may state that about $130,000 a year is expended in public and private improvements.
Weatherford, the capital of Parker county, is located at a railroad junction, sixty-six miles west of Dallas. Number of inhab- itants in 1890, 3,314; assessed valuation of all property in 1891, $1,572,772.
MISCELLANEOUS.
"INDIAN DEPREDATIONS IN TEXAS."
The above is the title of a most interesting book to Texans, and even to the rest of the world, recently published by J. W. Wilbar- ger, from which liberal quotations have been inade in this work. We only hope that the quotations we have made will whet the ap- petite of the Texan public for the purchase of that book. Stories have interest only in their details, and such are given in that work. and they cannot be condensed for a larger publication like this, and therefore only extracts could be given in this volume. The work is illustrated with graphic pictures, and arranged by counties and dates in the index, so that ready reference can be made to. any point.
From the above work we give the follow. ing story in our miscellaneous department:
THE FORT PARKER MASSACRE.
"The following graphic account of the Fort Parker massacre has been gathered from several reliable sources, but the greatest por- tion of them has been by the kind consent of James T. De Shield, copied from a little book published by him, entitled 'Cynthia Ann Parker.' In fact everything, from the conclusion of the extract from Mrs. Plum-
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mer's diary to the conclusion of the history of Quanah Parker, is intended .to be a literal copy from said book.
"Among the many tragedies that have occurred in Texas the massacre at Parker's fort holds a conspicuous place. Nothing that has ever happened exhibits savage duplicity and cruelty more plainly than the massacre of helpless women and children.
"In 1833 a small colony was organized in the State of Illinois for the purpose of form- ing a settlement in Texas. After their arri- val in the country they selected for a place of residence a beautiful region on the Navasota, a small tributary of the Brazos. To secure themselves against the various tribes of roving savages was the first thing to be attended to; and, having chosen a commanding eminence adjacent to a large timbered bottom of the Navasota, about three miles from where the town of Springfield formerly stood, and about two miles from the present town of Groes- beck, they by their joint labor soon had a fortification erected. It consisted of a stock- ade of split cedar timbers planted deep in the ground, extending fifteen feet above the sur- face, touching each other and confined at the top by transverse timbers which rendered them almost as immovable as a solid wall. At convenient distances there were port- holes, through which, in case of an emer- geney, fire-arms could be used. The entire fort covered nearly an acre of ground. There were also attached to the stoekade two log cabins at diagonal corners, constituting a part of the enclosure. They were really blockhouses, the greater portion of each standing outside of the main stockade, the upper story jutting out over the lower, with openings in the floor allowing perpendicular shooting from above. There were also port- holes out in the upper story so as to admit of
horizontal shooting when necessary. This enabled the inmates to rake from every side of the stoekade. The fort was situated near a fine spring of water. As soon as it was com- pleted the little colony moved into it.
"Parker's colony at this time consisted of somne eight or nine families, viz .: Elder John Parker, the patriarch of the colony, and his wife; his son, James W. Parker, wife, four single children, and his daughter, Mrs. Rachel Plummer, her husband, L. M. S. Plummer, and an infant son fifteen months old; Mrs. Sarah Nixon, another daughter, and her hus- band, L. D. Nixon; Silas M. Parker (another son of Elder John), his wife and four children; Benjamin F. Parker, an unmarried son of the elder; Mrs. Nixon, Sr., mother of Mrs. James W. Parker; Mrs. Elizabeth Kellogg, daugh- ter of Mrs. Nixon; Mrs. Duty; Samuel M. Frost, wife and two children; G. E. Dwight, wife and two children -- in all, thirty-four persons. Besides those above mentioned, old . man Lunn, David Faulkenberry and his son Evan, Silas Bates and Abram Anglin had erected cabins a mile or two distant from the fort, where they resided. These families were truly the advance guard of civilization in that part of our frontier, Fort Houston in Ander- son county being the nearest protection ex. cept their own trusty rifles.
"Here the struggling colonists remained, engaged in the avocations of a rural life, till- ing the soil, hunting buffalo, bear, deer, turkey and smaller game, which served abun- dantly to supply their larder at all times with fresh meat, in the enjoyment of a life of Ar- cadian simplicity, virtue and contentment, until the latter part of the year 1835, when the Indians and Mexicans forced the little band of compatriots to abandon their homes and flee with many others before the in- vading army from Mexico. On arriving at
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the Trinity river they were compelled to halt in consequence of an overflow. Before they could cross the swollen stream the sudden and unexpected news reached them that Santa Anna and his vandal hordes had been con- fronted and defeated at San Jacinto, that san- gninary engagement which gave birth to the new sovereignty of Texas, and that Texas was free from Mexican tyranny.
" On receipt of this news the fleeing settlers were overjoyed and at once returned to their abandoned homes. The Parker colonists now retraced their steps, first going to Fort Hous- ton, where they remained a few days in order to procure supplies, after which they made their way back to Fort Parker to look after their stock and prepare for a crop. These hardy sons of toil spent their nights in the fort, repairing to their farms early each morn- ing. The strictest discipline was maintained for awhile, but as time wore on and no hostile demonstrations had been made by the Indians they became somewhat careless and restive under confinement. However, it was abso- lutely necessary that they should cultivate their farms to insure substance for their fam- ilies. They usually went to work in a body, with their farming implements in one hand and their weapons of defense in the other. Some of them built cabins on their farms, hoping that the government would give them protection, or that a sufficient number of other colonists would soon move in to render them seenre from the attacks of Indians.
"On the 18th of May, 1836, all slept at the fort, James W. Parker, Nixon and Plum- mer, repairing to their field, a mile distant on the Navasota, early the next morning, little thinking of the great calamity that was soon to befall them. They had scarcely left when several hundred Indians (accounts of the number of Indians vary from 300 to 700 -
probably there were about 500), Comanches. and Kiowas, made their appearance on an emi. mence within 300 yards of the fort. Those who remained in the fort were not prepared for an attack, so careless had they become in their fancied security. The Indians hoisted a white flag as a token of their friendly in- tentions, and upon the exhibition of the white flag Mr. Benjamin F. Parker went out to have a talk with them. The Indians artfully feigned the treacherous semblance of friend- ship, pretending they were looking for a suit- able camping place, and inquired as to the exact locality of a waterhole in the imme- diate vicinity, at the same time asking for a beef, as they said they were very hungry. Not daring to refuse the request of such a formidable body of savages, Mr. Parker told them they should have what they wanted. Returning to the fort he stated to the inmates that to his opinion the Indians were hostile and intended to fight, but added he would go back to them and he would try to avert it. His brother Silas remonstrated. but he persisted in going, and was imme diately surrounded and killed; whereupon the whole force-their savage instincts aroused by the sight of blood-charged upon the fort, uttering the most terrific and unearthly yells that ever greeted the ears of mortals. The sickening and bloody tragedy was soon en- aeted. Brave Silas M. Parker fell ontside the fort, while he was gallantly fighting to save Mrs. Plummer. Mrs. Plummer made a desperate resistance, but was soon over- powered, knocked down with a hoe and made captive. Samuel M. Frost and his son, Rob- ert, met their fate while heroically defending the women and children inside the stockade. Old ' Granny ' Parker was stabbed and left for dead. Elder John Parker, wife, and Mrs. Kellogg attempted to make their escape, and
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in this effort had gone about three-fourths of a mile, when they were overtaken and driven back to the fort, and the old gentleman was stripped, murdered, sealed and horribly mutilated. Mrs. Parker was stripped, speared and left for dead, but by feigning death escaped, as will be seen further on. Mrs. Kellogg was spared as a captive. The result summed up as follows: Killed -- Elder John Parker, aged seventy-nine; Silas M. and Ben- jamin F. Parker; Samuel M. and his son Robert Frost. Wounded dangerously -- Mrs. John Parker, old Granny' Parker, and Mrs. Dnty. Captured -- Mrs. Rachel Plummer, daughter of James W. Parker, and her son, James Pratt Phuumner, two years of age; Mrs. Elizabeth Kellogg; Cynthia Ann Parker, nine years old, and her little brother, John Parker, aged six, children of Silas M. Parker. The remainder made their escape, as we shall now narrate.
" When the attack on the fort first com- meneed, Mrs. Sarah Nixon made her escape and hastened to the field to advise her father, husband and Plummer of what had occurred. On her arrival Phimmer hurried off on horse- back to inform Faulkenberry, Bates and Ang- lin, who were at work in the fields. Parker and Nixon started to. the fort, but the former met his family on the way and carried them some four or five miles down the Navasota, secreting them in the bottom. Nixon, though unarmed, continued on toward the fort, and inet Mrs. Lucy, wife of Silas Parker (killed), with her four children, just as they were in- terrupted by a small party of mounted and foot Indians. They compelled the mother to. lift her daughter Cynthia Ann, and her little son, John, behind two of the mounted war- riors. The foot Indians, then took Mrs. Parker, her two youngest children and Nixon on toward the fort. As they were about to
kill Nixon, David Faulkenberry appeared with his rifle and caused them to fall back. Nixon, after his narrow escape from death, seemed very much excited and immediately went in search of his wife, soon falling in with Dwight, his own and Frost's families. Dwight and family soon overtook J. W. Par. ker and went with him to his hiding place in the bottom. Faulkenberry, thus left with Mrs. Parker and her two children, bade her follow him. With the infant in her arms and leading the other child, she obeyed. Seeing them leave the fort, the Indians made several attempts to intercept them, but were held in cheek by the brave man's rifle. Several mounted warriors, armed with bows and arrows, strung and drawn, and with terrific yells, would charge them, but as Faulken- berry would present his gun, they would halt, throw up their shields, sight about, wheel and retire to a safe distance. This con- tinned for some distance, until they had passed through a prairie of some forty or fifty acres. Just as they were entering the woods the Indians made a furious charge, when one warrior, more daring than the others, dashed up so near that Mrs. Parker's faithful dog seized his horse by the nose, wherenpon horse and rider summersanlted, alighting on their backs in the ravine. At this moment Silas Bates, Abram Anglin, and Evan Faulken- berry, armed, and Plummer, unarmed, came up, causing the Indians to retire, after which the party made their way unmolested.
" As they were passing through the field where the men were at work in the morning, Plummer, as if aroused from a dream, de- manded to know what hnd bccome of his wife and child. Armed only with a butcher- knife he left the party, in search of his loved ones, and was seen no more for six days. The Faulkenberrys, Lunn and Mrs. Parker
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secreted themselves in a small creek bottom, some distance from the first party, cach un- conscious of the others' whereabouts. At twilight Abram Anglin and Evan Faulken- berry started back to the fort to snccor the wounded and those who might have escaped. On their way and just as they were passing Faulkenberry's cabin, Anglin saw his first and only ghost. Ile says: 'It was dressed in white with long white hair streaming down its back. I admit that I was more scared at this moment than when the Indians were yelling and charging on us. Seeing me hesitate my ghost now beckoned me to come on. Approaching the object, it proved to be old ' Granny' Parker, whom the In- dians had wounded and stripped, with the exception of her under garments. She had made her way to the house from the fort by crawling the entire distance. I took her some bed-clothing and carried her some rods from the house, made her a bed, covered her up, and left her until we should return fromn the fort. On arriving at the fort we could not see a single human being alive, or bear a human sound. But the dogs were bark- ing, the cattle lowing, horses neighing, and the hogs equally making a hideons and strange medley of sounds. Mrs. Parker had told me where she had left some silver -- $160.50. This I found under a hickory bush by moonlight. Finding no one at the fort, we returned to where I had laid · Granny' Parker. On taking her up be- hind me, we made onr way back to the hid- ing place in the bottom, where we found Nixon, whom we had not seen since his cowardly flight at the time he was rescued by Fanlkenberry from the Indians.
" In the book published by James W. Parker, he states that Nixon liberated Mrs. Parker from the Indians and rescued old
'Granny' Parker. Mr. Anglin in his account contradiets or rather corrects this statement. Ile says: ' I positively assert that this is a mistake, and I am willing to be qualified to the statement I here make, and can prove the same by Silas Bates, now living near Groesbeck.'
"The next morning Bates, Anglin and E. Faulkenberry went back to the fort to get provisions and horses, and look after the dead. On reaching the fort they found five or six horses, a few saddles and some meit. bacon and honey. Fearing an attack from the Indians who might still be Inrking around, they left without burying the dead. Returning to their comrades in the bottom they all concealed themselves until they set out for Fort Houston. Fort Houston, an asylum, on this, as on many other occasions, stood on what has been for many years a farin of a wise statesman, a chivalrous soldier and true patriot, John Il. Reagan, two miles south of Palestine.
" After wandering around and traveling for six days and nights, during which they suffered much from hunger and thirst, their clothing torn to shreds, their bodies lacerated with briars and thorns, the women and chil- dren with nnshod and bleeding feet, the party with James W. Parker reached Fort Houston.
" An account of this wearisome and peril- ons journey through the wilderness, given substantially in Parker's own words, will en- able the reader to more fully realize the hardships they had to undergo and the dan- gers they encountered. The bnik of the party were composed of women and children, principally the latter, and ranging from one to twelve years old. . We started from the fort,' said Mr. Parker, ' the party consisting of eighteen in ull, for Fort Houston, a dis-
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tance of ninety miles by the route we had to travel. The feelings of the party can be bet- ter imagined than described. We were truly a forlorn set, many of us bareheaded and barefooted, a relentless foe on the one hand and on the other a trackless and unin- habited wilderness infested with reptiles and wild beasts, entirely destitute of food and no means of proenring it.' Add to this the agonizing grief of the party over the death and capture of dear relatives; that we were momentarily in expectation of meeting a like fate, and some idea may be formed of our pitiable condition. Utter despair almost took possession of us, for the chance of escap- ing seemed almost an impossibility under the circumstances. *
* I took one of. my children on my shoulder and led another. The grown persons followed my example and we began our journey through the thickly tangled underbrush in the direction of Fort Houston. My wife was in bad health; Mrs. Frost was in deep distress for the loss of her husband and son; and all being barefooted except my wife and Mrs. Frost our progress was slow. Many of the children had noth- ing on them but their shirts, and their snf- ferings from the briars tearing their little legs and feet were almost beyond human en- durance.
" We traveled until about three o'clock in the morning, when, the women and children being worn out with hunger and fatigue, we lay down on the grass and slept until the dawn of day, when we resumed our perilous journey. Here we left the river bottom in order to avoid the briars and underbrush, bnt from the tracks of the Indians on the highlands it was evident they were hunting ns, and, like the fox in the fable, we cou- cluded to take the river bottom again, for though the brambles might tear our flesh
they might at the same time save our lives by hiding us from the cruel savages who were in pursuit of us. The briars did, in fact, tear the legs and feet of the children until they could have been tracked by the blood that flowed from their wounds.
" It was the night of the second day after leaving the fort that all, and especially the women who were nursing their infants, be- gan to suffer intensely from hunger. We were then immediately on the bank of the river, and through the mercy of Providence a pole-eat came near us. I immediately pursued and caught it just as it jumped in the river. The only way that I could kill it was by holding it under the water until it was drowned. Fortunately we had the means of striking a fire, and we soon had it cooked and equally divided among the party, the share of each being small indeed. This was all we had to eat until the fourth day, when we were lucky enough to catch another skunk and two small terrapins, which were also cooked and divided between us. Ou the evening of the fifth day I found that the women and children were so exhausted from fatigue and hunger that it would be impossi- ble for them to travel much further. After holding a consultation it was agreed that I should hurry on to Fort Houston for aid, leaving Mr. Dwight in charge of the women and children. Accordingly the next morn. ing I started for the fort (about thirty-five miles distant), which I reached carly in the afternoon. I have often looked back and wondered how I was able to accomplish this extraordinary feat. I had not eaten a mouth. ful for six days, having always given my share of the animals mentioned to the chil- dren, and yet I walked thirty-five miles in abont eight hours! But the thought of the unfortunate sufferers I Ind left behind de-
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pendent on my efforts, gave me strength and perseverance that can be realized only by those who have been placed in similar sitna- tions. God in Ilis bountiful mercy upheld me in this trying hour and enabled me to perform by task.
"The first person I met was Captain Car- ter of the Fort Houston settlement, who received me kindly, and promptly offerel me all the aid in his power. Ile soon had five horses saddled, and he and Mr. Jeremiah Courtney went with me to meet our little band of fugitives. We met them just at dark, and, placing the women and children on the horses, we reached Captain Carter's about midnight. There we received all the kind attention and relief that our conditions required, and all was done for our comfort that sympathetic and benevolent hearts could do. We arrived at Captain Carter's on the 25th of May. The following day my son- in-law, Mr. Plummer, reached there also. He hal given us up for lost and had started to the same settlement that we had.
" In dne time the members of the party located temporarily as best suited the re- spective families, most of them returning to Fort Parker soon afterward. A burial party of twelve men from . Fort Houston went up and buried the deal. Their remains now repose near the site of old Fort Parker. Peice to their ashes. Unadorned are their graves; not even a slab of marble or a mie- mento of any kind has been erected to tell the traveler where rest the remains of this brave little band of pioneer heroes who wrestled with the savage for the mastery of his broad domain.
" Of the captives we will briefly trace their checkered career. After leaving the fort tho two tribes, the Comanches and Kiowas, re- mained and traveled together until midnight.
They then halted on open prairie, staked out their horses, placed their piekets and pitched their camp. Bringing all their prisoners together for the first time, they tied their hands behind them with raw-hide thongs so tiglit as to cut the flesh, tied their feet close together and threw them upon their faces. Then the braves, gathering round with their yet bloody-dripping scalps, commenced their usual war. dance. They danced, sereamed, yelled, stamping upon their prisoners, beat- ing them with blows until their own blood came near strangling them. The remainder of the night these frail women suffered and had to listen to the eries and groans of their tender little children.
" Mrs. Elizabeth Kellogg soon fell into the hands of the Keechis, from whom, six months after she was captured, she was pur- chased by a party of Delawares, who carrie.] her to Nacogdoches and delivered her to. General Houston, who paid them $150, the amount they had paid and all they asked.
" Mrs. Rachel Plummer remaincl a cap- tive about eighteen months, and to give the reader an idea of her suffering during that period we will give an extract from her diary: ' In July and a portion of August we were among some very high mountains on which the snow remains for the greater portion of the year, and I suffered more than I had ever done before in my life. It wa : very seldom I had any covering for my feet. and but very little clothing for my body. ! had a certain number of buffalo skins to dress every day, and had to mind the horses at night. This kept mne employed pretty mneh all the time, and often I would take my buffalo skins with me to finish them while I was minding the horses. My feet would often be frost-bitten while I was dress- ing the skins, but I dared not complain for
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fear of being punished. In October I gave birth to my second son. I say October, but it was all gness work with me, as I had no means of keeping a record of the days as they passed. It was a beautiful and healthy baby, but it was impossible for me to pro- eure suitable comforts for myself and infant. The Indians were not as harsh in their treat- ment toward me as I feared they would be, but I was apprehensive for the safety of my child. I had been with them six months and had learned their language, and I would often be-cech my mistress to advise me what to do to save my child, but she turned a deaf ear to all my supplications. My child was six months old when my master, thinking, I sappose, that it interfered with my work, determined to put it out of the way. One cold morning five or six Indians came where I was sneking my babe. As soon as they came I felt sick at heart, for my fears were aronsed for the safety of my child. My fears were not ill-grounded. One of the In- dians caught my child by the throat and strangled it until to all appearances it was dead. I exerted all my feeb'o strength to save my child, but the other Indians held me fast. The Indian who had strangled the child then threw it up into the air repeatedly and let it fall upon the frozen ground until lifo seemed to bo extinct. They then gave it back to me. I had been weeping inces- santly while they had been murdering my child, but now my grief was so great that the fountain of my tears was dried up. As I gazed on the checks of my darling infant I discovered some symptoms of returning life. I hoped that if it could be resuscitated they would allow me to keep it. I washed the blood from its face and after a time it began to breathe again. But a more heart- rending scene ensued. As soon as the In-
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