USA > Texas > Indian wars and pioneers of Texas, Vol. I > Part 58
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in the battle of Mier and suffered more than his full share of the miseries that afflicted the Texian sol- diers after their surrender, seeking to ameliorate the condition of his companions as far as lay in his power. Returning to Fort Bend County he, in April, 1815, married Miss Mary M. Jones, of Rich- mond, and engaged in farming, stock raising and merchandising, which he followed for about four years. The family lived in Houston for about three years, but returned to Richmond. Capt. Ryon was a member of the Episcopal Church and Masonic fraternity. He died October 31, 1875, at the home of Capt. W. K. Davis at Richmond, universally
admired and respected. Mrs. Ryon's parents were Henry and Nancy Jones of Richmond, Texas. She was born at that place December 28, 1826, and reared in Fort Bend County. She bore Capt. Ryon nine children, only three of whom lived to be grown, viz. : James E., who married Miss Josie Dagnal, of Richmond, and died in 1895 at forty-four years of age; Susan E., who married J. H. P. Davis, of Richmond, and died Oct. 30, 1884, leaving two children, Mildred, who married, first, James Wheat. of Richmond, who was killed at his home, and next, F. I. Booth, and now lives at Richmond with her husband.
HENRY JONES,
RICHMOND.
This widely-known Texian, a pioneer, and mem- in 1870; Virginia C., who died about the year of ber of Stephen F. Austin's first colony (known to . 1859; Elizabeth R., who died in 1890; Susan A., Texas as "the original 300") was born in Rich- who married R. W. Nealy, of Franklin, Ky., where slie now resides ; Wylie P., who now resides at Richmond and is the justice of the peace for that precinct ; Emily, who died in childhood ; Laura H., wife of Lafayette Hubbard, of Montgomery, Ala., and Thomas W., who died at Richmond, August 28, 1895, aged forty-five years. Mr. Jones settled in Fort Bend County, in 1823; brought the first cattle into that section, cut the first road from East to West Columbia and erected the second gin and horse mill in Fort Bend County. mond, Va., March 15th, 1789. His parents were natives of Virginia. Mr. Jones married Miss Nancy Stiles in Missouri, January, 1821, and came to Texas the following year, traveling overland from Missouri to Red river, and from Red river to Washington County, where he joined Austin's colony at San Felipe. He lived one year at Inde- pendence, where his first child, Wm. S., was born, the first male child born in the colony. Wm. S. Jones grew to manhood, married, reared a family of children, several of whom are now living, and was a successful farmer and stock raiser in Fort Bend County to the time of his death, which occurred in 1875. His wife died in 1878.
Eleven other children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Jones, viz. : James, who died at Richmond, Texas, in 1857; Mary M. (widow of Wm. M. Ryon), who resides at Richmond ; John H, who died at twenty-two years of age; Hettie E., who died
Mr. Jones was with the Texian army during the revolutionary campaign until near its close, when he and others were detailed to look after the fam- ilies that were fleeing before the advancing Mexi- cans and so missed the battle of San Jacinto, much to his regret.
Mrs. Jones died August 5th, 1851, and Mr. Jones June Sth, 1861, at his farm, eight miles from Rich- mond, where they were buried side by side.
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JOHN H. P. DAVIS,
RICHMOND.
J. H. P. Davis, head of the banking firm of J. H. miles from Richmond. Mr. Davis married his P. Davis & Co., of Richmond, Texas, and one of present wife, nee Miss Belle Ryon, of Franklin, Ky., November 27th, 1888. Her parents were James and Elizabeth ( Miller) Ryon; her father was a prominent farmer of his seetion of the "Blue Grass" State. Mr. Davis' ranch, in Fort Bend County, is one of the most valuable in the State, comprising about 50,000 acres, 1,000 of which are under cultivation. He has aided every worthy publie enterprise and is a man thoroughily in touch with the best thought and purpose of the people. the wealthiest and most influential stoek raisers and planters of Southeastern Texas, was born February 11th, 1851, in Fort Bend County, where he grew to manhood and has sinee resided. His parents were Capt. Wm. K. and Mrs. Jane (Pick- ens) Davis. Mr. Davis married Miss Susan E. Ryon, daughter of Capt. Wm. Ryon, February 10, 1875. She died Oct. 30, 1884, leaving two chil- dren, Mamie E. and Thomas W. She is buried in the family cemetery upon the old homestead eight
JULIUS RUNGE,
GALVESTON.
The subject of this memoir was born at New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, February 1, 1851. His father, George Runge, and mother, whose maiden name was Dorothea Spieckle, were natives of Germany. They came to Texas in 1850 and settled at New Braunfels. At that time - from 1845 to 1855 -there was a large German immi- gration into Southwest Texas.
Julius was sent to school at Cassel, Germany, but did not attend the university located at that placc. Completing his studies at Cassel he attended a commercial school in Saxony until 1867, when he came to Galveston, where he has ever since resided and has, since 1874, been a member of the well- known firm of Kaufman & Runge. He was ap- pointed consul at Galveston for the German Empire in 1875, and has since held that position at that post.
Mr. Runge served three years as a member of the Board of Aldermen of the city of Galveston, between the years of 1877 and 1880 (onc term of one year and one of two years) and, while acting in the capacity of Chairman of the Finance Commit- tec (in view of the fiscal condition of the city then the most important position under the city govern- ment, for it was a time when a majority of Southern cities were contemplating the repudiation of their
obligations) was chiefly instrumental in bringing the municipality into a sound financial condition, by reducing the rate of interest on her bonded indebtedness from ten and twelve to eight and five per eent, the latter being the rate now paid, with bonds nearly at par. To complete the good work thus initiated Mr. Runge afterward accepted the offiec of City Treasurer, which he filled from 1885 to 1891 and now holds. His investments in inter- ests outside the firm of Kaufman & Runge are varicd and widespread. Thus he is president of the First National Bank, an office that he has held since 1879, and of the Texas Land & Loan Co. ; vice-president of the Southern Cotton Press & Manufacturing Co. ; a director in the Texas Cotton Press Co. ; a director in the Galveston City Railway Co., which built the Beach Hotel ; acting president of the Galveston Cotton Exchange during the past five years ; a director in the Island City Savings Bank, which he helped to reinstate upon a strong financial basis in 1885; one of the organizers of and now one of the directors in the Galveston Cot- ton & Woolen Mills Co. ; a director of the Galves- ton & Western Railway, and a dircetor in the Texas Guarantec and Trust Co. He was one of the stockholders and directors of the Santa Fe when that road was reorganized in 1878 or 1879; was
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one of the charter members of the Garten Verein in 1876, and has been a member of the Galveston Deep Water Committee ever since its organization, and in 1882 and 1884 went to Washington City and labored zealously and effectively in the interests of securing deep water at Galveston.
He has been connected with almost every large corporation chartered or enterprise inaugurated in Galveston during the past twenty years, and thus he is by property as well as social ties identified with the best interests of the city, for whose wel- fare he has worked so unceasingly.
On starting out upon his business career Mr. Runge inherited some money from his father and was materially aided by his uncle, Mr. Henry Runge, of Indianola and Galveston, who advanced
him the necessary capital to secure his admission to the present firm of Kaufman & Runge. He early displayed remarkable business talents and has since made a brilliant record as a merchant, finan- cier and public official.
In 1876 he was united in marriage to his cousin, Miss Johanna Runge, daughter of Mr. Henry Runge, who was a member of the firm before the subject of this memoir was admitted to the partner- ship. Mr. Julius Runge has seven children - three girls and four boys. He is a member of the Ger- man Lutheran Church and baptized and confirmed in that faith, but is a member of no secret order. In the prime of a vigorous, physical and mental manhood, he is a notable figure in the commercial world of Texas.
ELDRED J. SIMKINS,
CORSICANA.
Hon. E. J. Simkius, a distinguished ex-judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of Texas, and for two sessions a member of the State Senate, was born and reared in Edgefield District, South Caro- lina ; acquired his preliminary literary edneation at Beaufort, in that State, and completed it at South Carolina College, graduating with the class of 1859. The Twenty-first and Twenty-second Sessions of the Texas State Senate presented a brilliant galaxy of talent in which his star shone as one of the first magnitude. He took an active and prominent part in the legislation enacted by those bodies and few of his colleagues were more magnetic or able in debate. He left his impress upon some of the most salutary laws that were placed upon the statute books.
Under an act of Congress, passed in 1862, all the property of his family at Beaufort and in the ad- joining islands was confiscated on account of their loyalty to the State, made sacred to them by the nativity and graves of the family for generations.
He volunteered in the Confederate service in 1861, and served in the Hampton Legion until 1862, when he was appointed to the first regular artillery regiment and served during the war at Fort Sump- fer and the posts around Charleston, S. C. In 1867 he moved to Florida and commenced the practice of law at Monticello with his brother, under the firm name of Simkins & Simkins. In
1868 he was elected Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Jefferson County and re- tained that position until he came to Texas in 1871, and settled at Corsicana. He was editor of the Monticello Advertiser, a Democratie paper, in 1869 and 1870, and, on his removal to Taxas, edited the Navarro Banner, until his clection as District Attorney. Being joined, in Texas, by his brother, he engaged in the practice of his profession under the firm name of Simkins & Simkins ; at once took high rank at the bar, and in 1872 was elected Dis- trict Attorney of the Thirty-fifth Judicial District. He was also elected to the Chairmanship of the Democratic Executive Committee of Navarro County, which he held until 1877. He was a com- petitor for the Democratic nomination for Attorney- General against Hon. John D. Templeton, in 1879. In 1882, he was appointed one of the regents of the University of Texas and was twice re-appointed and confirmed. In 1884, he was a member of the National Democratic Convention, representing in that body the Ninth Congressional District of Texas. In 1886 he was elected, by a majority of 2,800 votes, to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Legislatures, from the Fifteenth Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Navarro, Limestone and Freestone.
Coming to the Senate at a time when popular prejudice was most rife against the University of
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Texas, he was its recognized champion. By con- stant effort and labor, and by conciliatory methods, be disarmed hostility, changed prejudice into friend- liness, and finally succeeded in winning, even from its enemies, a reeognition of the right of the Uni- versity to public support.
In 1890 he was re-elected, by a large majority, to the State Senate from his district, after one of the most prolonged and bitter contests ever recorded in the political annals of Texas. The Senatorial Con- vention (almost equally divided) cast more than 1800 ballots without making a nomination and finally adjourned sine die, each side placing its candidate before the people. He did yeoman ser- vice on the stump for the triumph of the Democ- racy in the exciting contest that followed before the people, and the signal victory that was achieved at the polls in November was mainly due to his effort and the efforts of the friends who espoused his cause.
In the Twenty-second Legislature he was Chair- man of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, and was the author of the constitu- tional amendment to the judiciary article which was adopted in August, 1891, which totally changed the appellate system of the State, separating the criminal from the civil jurisdiction and preparing the way for its separation in the district and county.
On the assembling of the Legislature in extra session in February, 1892, he was made chairman of the committee to frame the laws putting the new system into operation, and the entire work of pre- paring the necessary bills was relegated to him,
and, after three weeks hard labor, his work was presented and accepted by the committee and the Legislature almost withont a change, and is the law to-day.
Immediately upon the adjournment of the Leg- islature Judge White, the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals, having resigned, Senator Sim- kins was appointed in his place and went on the bench at Austin, in May, 1892. In November, 1892, he was elected to fill the vacancy, and re- mained on the bench until January 1, 1895, when he was succeeded by the Hon. J. N. Henderson. From his first opinion to the close of his term his great effort was to strike down "judge-made " technicalities and bring the administration of criminal law to the test of reason and common sense. This aroused a powerful opposition among the criminal lawyers and led to his defeat in 1894 before the State convention.
On leaving the bench he returned to his home in Corsicana.
He married Miss Eliza Trescot, of Beaufort, S. C., and has a family of five living children. He is a member of the Episcopal Church and the Masonic Grand Lodge. The law firm of Simkins & Simkins having been dissolved in 1885, by the removal of his brother to Dallas, he formed a copartnership with Hon. R. S. Neblett, under the firm name of Simkins & Neblett, a connection that continued until March, 1892. Judge Simkins is now engaged in practice at Corsicana with Mr. Riehard Mays under the firm name of Simkins & Mays.
WILEY JONES,
WACO.
The subject of this memoir was born in Blount County, Ala., and came to Texas with his parents, Acquilla and Dillie Jones. They came to this State in the spring of 1848 and settled near Came- ron, in Milam County. They were married in 1827 in Alabama and had six children, three boys and three girls, all of whom were born in that State, except one daughter, Mrs. Jack Johnson of Waco, Texas. They moved to McLennan County, Texas, in 1854, and engaged in farming and stoekraising. The father died in 1880 and the mother in 1890 on their farm, twelve miles from Waco, and are buried there.
Wiley Jones was born July 17th, 1829. He re- ceived a good common school education and had the usual experiences common to boys and young men during the time he grew to manhood in this State. Having a taste for adventure, he, in April, 1848, enlisted in Capt. John Conner's Ranger company, attached to Bell's regiment, and until December of that year was quartered with it at a point near the head of Riehland creek, half way between the present cities of Waco and Fort Worth. That portion of the country was then covered with buffaloes and infested with hostile Indians. In December the company marched to Austin and was
SHAPLEY P. ROSS.
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INDIAAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
there mustered out of service. During the time that Mr. Jones was a member of it he distinguished himself for gallantry and met with many thrilling adventures.
He was married in 1849 In Cameron, Texas, to Miss Margaret Ellison, daughter of J. W. Ellison, of Brazos County. Mr. Jones lived in Milam County until 1850 and then moved to McLennan County, where he bought improved lands and en- gaged in stockraising and farming. Six children have been born to them, three boys and three girls, viz. : Travis and Willlam, who live in Waco ;
Bettie, now the wife of J. E. Egan, of Waco ; Dee, now wife of W. H. Gibson, of Waco ; Joney, ex- City Secretary, who resides at Waco, and Rosa, who is living at home. Mr. Jones, by thrift, energy and business ability, has accumulated a compe- tency and by the exercise of many excellent quali- ties as citizen, neighbor and friend, has widely endeared himself to the people, among whom he has spent the best years of an active and useful life, and is now, at an advanced age, enjoying a well-earned rest among his numerous family and friends.
SHAPLEY P. ROSS,
WACO.
Perhaps no early settler did more to free Texas from the depredations of hostto Indians, rendered more valuable services to the commonwealth over a longer period of time, or is more generally or affectionately remembered, than the illustrious sub- ject of this memoir, Capt. Shapley P. Ross, for many years prior to his death a resident of the city of Waco, in MeLennan County. His life-history is a part, and a large part, of the history of Texas.
He was born in Jefferson County, Ky., six miles from Louisville, January 18, 1811. His parents were Shapley and Mary ( Prince) Ross, natives of Virginia. Ilis paternal grandparents were Lawrence and Susan (Oldham) Ross, the former born in Seotland wind a seion of the historic Ross family of that country. Lawrence Ross came to America with his father when a boy and, while attending school in Virginia, was shot through the shoulder and taken prisoner by the Indians. He remained with the Indiana until he was twenty- three years of age and was then given up by them upon the signing of the flat treaty of Limestone. He and his wife both lived to an advanced age, his death occurring in Jefferson County, Ky., in 1817, at the age of ninety-right, and his wife two years later.
Shapley Ross (father of the subject of this notice) was a Kentucky planter and large slave- holder. He moved to Lincoln County, Missouri, in 1817, and died in 1823, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife was descended from a distin- quished Virginia family and was a lady of many estimable qualities. She was a member of the
Primitive Baptist Church. Her death occurred in Iowa at the home of her son, Capt. Shapley P. Ross, in 1837. She left surviving her six sons and three daughters, viz. : William, Lawrence, Mervin, Pressly, Nevill, Shapley P., Susan, Caroline, and Elizabeth.
After Shapley Ross' death the estate was divided among the heirs, all grown and married except Shapley P., who was then eleven or twelve years of age. Ile lived with his mother upon the homestead for a time, but she subsequently broke up housekeeping and he went to live with his brother Mervin, who was his guardian. At the age of sixteen he visited the Galena lead mines. He was always a lover of fine horses and while in his teens was engaged in trading in cattle and horses. He followed this and various other pur- suits until, when twenty-nine years of age, he met, wooed and, November 4, 1830, married, Miss Katherine H. Fulkerson, a native of Bucking- ham County, Va., born September 23, 1814, daughter of Capt. Isaac Fulkerson, a wealthy planter of German descent, who moved from Vir- ginia to Missouri in 1814, where he died in May, 1837. Capt. Fulkerson was at one time a Senator in the Missouri Legislature. Mrs. Ross is one of the most widely known and estimable ladies in Texas. Possessed of the courage requisite to fac- ing the dangers of frontier life she at the same time is gifted with those sweet, womanly qualities that adorn the nome and grace the higher walks of social life.
After his marriage Capt. Ross lived in Iowa and
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Missouri, engaged in farming, hotel-keeping, trad- ing with Indians, etc., until 1839. In 1834 he and soine chosen friends, with their families, settled on the Indian reservation on the Des Moines river, in Iowa. The reservation was occupied by the Fox and Sionx Indians, then under the leadership of the noted chief, Black Hawk. They immediately constructed houses, began farming and the com- munity became known as the " Ross Settlement." It was here that Col. Peter Ross and ex-Governor L. S. Ross were born. In 1838, Capt. Ross rented out his farm, placed his other interests in the hands of his agent and went to Missouri. In 1839, hav- ing been advised by his physicians to seek a warmer climate, he came to Texas, where he ever after made his home.
Upon his arrival here he took the cath of alleg- iance to the Republic of Texas, which was admin- istered by Neil McLennan, and thus became entitled to a head-right of 640 acres of land. He settled at Old Nashville on the Brazos in Milam County and planted a small crop of corn and killed buffaloes to supply his family with food. Leaving his wife and children at Nashville, he went out with his nephew, Shapley Woolfolk, to look at the conntry, now embraced within the limits of Bell and MeLen- nan Counties, and, being pleased with it, went back to Nashville and traded his wagon and horses for 640 acres on the Leon river and 600 acres in Burleson County. While at Nashville, the inhab- itants being collected there for protection against Indians, Capt. Ross proposed to Capt. Monroe and others to move with him to Little river and form a settlement, each pledging himself not to leave unless all left, until a treaty was made with the Indians. Seven or eight of these men, with their families, moved to and settled on Capt. Monroe's league of land in Milam County, thirty-five miles above Nashville, the nearest white settlement. This little, but determined colony, had frequent fights with Indians. A detailed account of Capt. Ross' experiences in those pioneer days would read like a thrilling romance, and would fill the pages of a large volume. Only a brief sketch, however, can be presented here. On one occasion the Indians raided the settlement by night and stole all the horses. Fortunately for the pioneers, a man came into the settlement early next day with a number of mules. Capt. Ross and others at once mounted and hastened after the red-skins, who were over- taken on Buggy creek, where a bloody and desper- ate fight ensued. Capt. Ross singled out one big Indian, and his nephew, R. S. Woolfolk, another, and a hand-to-hand fight with knives followed. Both Indians were killed and their companions were
also dispatched. All the property stolen was recovered.
In 1842 Capt. Ross was a member of Capt. Jack Ilays' company of rangers. In 1845 he sold his land, on which the town of Cameron now' stands, for a two-horse wagon and a yoke of oxen. He then moved to Austin, the State capital, in order to afford his children better educational advantages. The following year he raised a company of volun- teers for the protection of the frontier, was elected Captain and in that capacity rendered efficient and invaluable service to the State. With the Indian agent, he visited all the hostile tribes on the fron- tier in 1848 and assisted in effecting treaties of peace with them, in consequence of the adoption of which there was peace between them and the whites for nearly two years.
In March, 1849, Capt. Ross moved to Waco, being induced to locate there by the company that owned the league of land on which Waco is now situated. They offered to give him four lots and the ferry privilege and to sell him eighty acres of land at $1.00 per acre, all of which he accepted. The town was laid out soon after. He selected his lots and built a cabin on them. He also bought 200 aeres at $2.50 an acre, in addition to the eighty already mentioned. On the former he spent the evening of his life, his home being a two-story frame building, located in a natural grove, filled with mocking birds, in the extreme south part of Waco.
In 1855 Capt. Ross was appointed Indian agent and given charge of the various tribes then on reservations in different parts of the State, which position he held until 1858. By his diplomacy he gained the good-will of all the friendly tribes and they followed his instructions in every way. In 1857 the Comanches, who were always hostile, raided the settlement and took away a large number of horses and other valuable property. Capt. Ross at once organized a force of one hundred of the best warriors from the friendly tribes, dressed him- self in the garb of an Indian Chief and took the lead in pursuit of the foe. He was joined by Capt. Ford, of the United States Army, and soon came upon the Comanches' camp, which was deserted. A short distance away, however, they discovered the Indian thieves seereted in a ravine in full force and ready to give battle. Then followed one of the most desperate Indian fights which ever occurred npon the soil of Texas. Seventy-five Indians were killed and the property recaptured. During this struggle Capt. Ross was singled out by the chief of the Comanches, a powerful warrior, who charged down upon him at the full speed of his horse. The Indians covered with their arrows the chief, who,
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