USA > Texas > The history and geography of Texas as told in county names > Part 12
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
DEAF SMITH.
The name of this eccentric man, was Erastus Smith. He came to be known as "Deaf Smith" by reason of his being partially deaf.
He was born in New York State, April 19, 1787, and in 1798 moved with his parents to the territory of Mississippi and settled near Natchez. His par- ents were pious Baptists, and reared him with the best in- fluences, moral and intellectual, which the then wild and sparse- ly settled condition of the coun- try afforded.
In 1817, he wandered away from home, and came to Texas alone, but remained only a short time. Four years later he again came to Texas, making his head- quarters in and around San An- tonio. He spent most of his time rambling alone in that sec- tion of Texas.
When DeWitt's colony was first established, he identified himself with it, and finally married a Mexican lady in San An- tonio. He inherited valuable land, in Claiborne County, Miss- issippi, but paid no attention to it, and died a poor man.
Before the Texas Revolution began, by his lonely wander- ings, he acquired such a knowledge of the country, as few pos- sessed, but at the breaking out of the revolution it was feared by reason of his Mexican marriage that his loyalty to Texas was a matter of uncertainty. This however, proved a mis- take, and he joined the forces of Austin, among the first, at Gonzales.
He was detailed on scout duty, for which he was peculiarly
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fitted, and performed invaluable services, prior to the storm- ing of Bexar, by which time he had become known to all the army. He was in the first fight at Concepcion, in the storm- ing of Bexar, and marched at the head of Johnson's command, as the Texans made their way into the city, and while on top of the Veramendi house was wounded.
Upon the reorganization of the army under Houston, in March, 1836, he was put in command of scouts, and or- dered to report the movements of the Mexican army, and aid the fleeing families, and rendered valuable services. His re- markable efficiency and reliability made him a special favorite of Gen. Houston's.
When near Harrisburg, on the San Jacinto campaign, he cap- tured a courier with important dispatches to Santa Anna, and from these he learned that Santa Anna was near the mouth of Buffalo Bayou.
On the morning of the 21st of April he was detailed by Gen. Houston to destroy Vince's bridge, which he promptly did, and on the afternoon of the same day, went into the fight, with a dash and intrepidity that won for him, universal praise from the army.
Two or three days after the battle, he was given important orders from Santa Anna to Gen. Filisola to retreat. Later on he was made Captain of the rangers and after one or two small engagements, he retired from the army and located in Richmond, Fort Bend County, where he died, November 30, 1837, and was buried there. A modest monument, in the corner of the Episcopal Church yard, marks the spot where he was buried. It has the inscription, "Deaf Smith, The Texas Spy, died November 30, 1837."
EASTLAND.
Thomas B. Eastland was a lieutenant in the United States army and in 1800 was quarter-master general for Kentucky. In the War of 1812, he served with distinction under General Harrison. In 1801, he married Nancy Mosby and had five sons and one daughter. William M. Eastland, the son, in whose
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
honor Eastland County was named, was born at Woodfarm, Woodford County, Kentucky, March 21, 1806, and was a cousin of Colonel J. S. Mosby, the famous scout and cavalry leader in the Civil War. In early life the family moved to Tennessee and in 1834 he, with two of his brothers and Nicholas Mosby Dawson, came to Texas and located near LaGrange and en- gaged in the sawmill and lumber business, and as was the case with practically every other citizen on the frontier, he was fre- quently called on to repel the Indians. At the breaking out of the Texas Revolution he promptly volunteered and was elected first Lieutenant of a company, afterward Company F of Burleson's regiment, and acted in this capacity at the battle of San Ja- cinto.
After this, the last battle of the Revolution, he returned home and resumed business. His wife died in 1837, and two years later he was married to Louise M. Smith, daughter of Rev. W. B. Smith, a Methodist minister. When Texas was invaded by General Woll in 1842, he organized a company at LaGrange and marched to San Antonio, but arrived too late to participate in the battle which took place between Texans and the Mexi- cans. The Somervell Expedition was then organized and East- land's company joined it. Upon reaching the Rio Grande, he took his command across and was in the battle of Mier, where the Texans surrendered December 26, 1842. While on their way to prison, upon arriving at the hacienda of Salado, they rushed upon their guards and escaped, but while in search of water they came to a camp of Mexican soldiers too numer- ous to contend against, and surrendered. They were taken back to Salado, and informed that they were to be shot, but by the intervention of General Mexia the order was changed so that one man in ten should be shot, and they were to draw by lot to determine which one of the ten should be shot. One hundred and fifty-nine white beans were placed in the bottom of an earthen jug and seventeen black ones upon top of them. The jug was not shaken. Captain Eastland drew the first black bean, and they continued until the last black bean was drawn. Soon afterward the ill fated men were marched into a separate courtyard and shot, March 25, 1843. "Green's Mier Expedi-
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tion" gives, in graphic detail, the horrible sufferings and cruel- ties of these occurences. In 1848 the bones of the murdered men were exhumed and taken to LaGrange and buried, and a monument erected over them.
ERATH.
This county was named for George B. Erath, member of Company C, First Regiment of Volunteers. He was born at Vienna, Austria, on January 1, 1813, and was educated at Santa Ana College and the Polytechnic Institute of that city. He came to the United States, landing at New Orleans July 18, 1832, and after traveling through the Western States, arrived in Texas and came to San Felipe. In 1834, he hired himself to Alexander Thomson as a chain carrier in surveying land in Robertson's Colony, and was soon promoted to the position of surveyor. In July, 1835, he went into the war against the Indians, and later he joined the company of Jesse Billingsly and fought as a private at San Jacinto. He after- wards joined Hill's company of Rangers and in 1838 was made lieutenant and given a separate command. In all of these commands he saw much hard service and engaged in many Indian fights. In 1838 he formed a company of surveyors, but the Indians were so troublesome that they were forced to do more fighting than surveying. In 1839 he was elected Captain of a Ranger Company. In 1841 he was made Captain of a company of minute men. At intervals, during the time, he surveyed land to replenish his finances, as the Republic was too poor to equip him and pay his expenses. In 1842 he joined the Somervell Ex- pedition. After his return home he was elected to the Lower house of the Texas Congress in 1843, was re-elected in 1844 and 1845. He was elected to the First Legislature in 1846, and in 1848 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1849 he sur- veyed and planned the city of Waco. He was appointed major
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of frontier forces in 1861 and in 1862-3 again became a mem- ber of the Legislature. In 1873 he was elected State Senator and served in that capacity until the reorganization of the State Government under the Constitution of 1876. This was his last public service. He died at Waco, Texas, May 13, 1891, at the age of seventy-eight.
HALE.
This county was named for Lieutenant John C. Hale, killed at the battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. From proof on file in the General Land Office of Texas, it is learned that John C. Hale came to Texas from Louisiana in 1834 and settled in what is now Sabine County with his family. At the organization of the company of Captain Benjamin Bryant, he was chosen First Lieutenant. From H. W. B. Price, a member of the same company, it was learned that as soon as this company was or- ganized, it was hurried forward to meet General Houston's army, and met the command as it was crossing the Brazos. The company was promptly assigned a place, and marched with the army to San Jacinto. Only twenty men of the company par- ticipated in the battle, the remainder being detailed to nurse the sick and guard the baggage.
HOCKLEY.
This county was named for George W. Hockley, who was born in Philadelphia and reared and educated in that city. In early manhood he moved to Washington City and was for a time in the employ of the Government. It was here that he first met General Houston, and it was probably through the latter's influence that Hockley went to Tennessee about the year 1828. Nothing has been learned of his career in Tennes- see. In 1835 he came to Texas, joined the army in 1836, and was appointed inspector general in the San Jacinto campaign. He commanded the artillery at San Jacinto. He was appoint- ed Secretary of War in General Houston's second term. In 1843 he was sent by President Houston to Mexico to negotiate
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a peace. There is no evidence that he was in the Mexican War, 1846-7. He seems to have retired from public life after an- nexation. He died in Corpus Christi at the home of his kins- man, H. L. Kinney, on June 6, 1851, and his remains were buried in the cemetery established during General Taylor's occupancy in 1845-6.
HOUSTON.
This county was named for Sam Houston, the central figure in the history of the Republic of Texas; he was born in Rock- bridge County, Va., March 2, 1793. When he was quite young, his widowed mother removed with her family to east Tennessee, at that time the western limit of civilization. There he spent his time alternately at school and at work on the farm or in a store as a clerk. At one time he left home and spent some time among the Cherokee Indians. In 1813 he enlisted as a sol- dier in the Creek War, and distinguish- ed himself at the battle of the Horse Shoe, where he was promoted for gal- lantry. He was appointed Indian agent in 1817, resigned and studied law, and in 1819 was made District Attorney of David- son County and Major General of the militia. He began the study of law in Nashville, and after holding several minor of- fices in Tennessee, was, in 1823, elected to the lower house of the United States Congress ; he was re-elected in 1825 and serv- ed until 1827. He was elected Governor of Tennessee in 1827 and shortly after his entering upon the duties of the office he resigned and took up his abode among the Cherokee Indians in Arkansas. In 1832, it seems that he was sent on a mis- sion to some of the Indian tribes in Texas, and shortly after his return to Arkansas, he came to settle permanently in Texas. In 1833 he was elected a member of the convention for separ- ate statehood. In 1834 he was instrumental in defeating a pro- ject to introduce Creek Indians into Texas. In 1835 he was
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
elected delegate to the General Consultation, but regarded separ- ation from Mexico as premature. Upon the organization of the provisional government, in November, 1835, he was appoint- ed commander of the forces in the field. He was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention, which assembled March 1, and on the 7th he was appointed commander-in-chief of all the military forces of Texas. He immediately repaired to Gonzales, and learning of the fall of the Alamo and the mas- sacre of Goliad, he organized a small force at Gonzales, and began a retreat eastwardly and finally brought the war to a successful close at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. In October, 1836, he was inaugurated first Constitutional President of the Republic of Texas. After his term expired, he was elected to the Congress of Texas two successive terms. He was again elected President in 1841 and in 1846 he became one of the United States Senators from Texas, which office he held until his election as Governor of the State, in 1859. He was Gov- ernor when the State seceded, but being opposed to secession, would not forswear his allegiance to the United States and abandoned the office in the spring of 1861 and retired to his home in Huntsville, Texas, where he died July 25, 1863. His fame became world-wide and his memory is cherished by the people of Texas.
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THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TEXAS
KLEBERG.
Robert Kleberg, in whose honor this county was named, was born September 10, 1803, in Herstelle, Westphalia, Germany. He received a collegiate education at the Gymnasium of Holz- minden, and then entered the Univer- sity at Goettingen, and received the degree of doctor juris.
After serving in several judicial po- sitions, he became dissatisfied with the military and administrative despotism prevalent there and decided to emigrate to America in 1834. To use his own words, "I wished to live under a re- publican form of government, with un- bounded personal, religious, and politi- cal liberty." Prussia smarted at that time under an offensive military des- potism. On September 24, 1834, he was married to Miss Rosalie von Roeder, daughter of a former officer in the army, and she too wished to emigrate to Texas. Some of the un- married brothers of his wife and one of her unmarried sisters, well provided with money, clothing, tools, farming implements and other things necessary to commence a settlement, left in advance of the others. The remainder of the family started six months later. In the party were Robert Kleberg and his wife, his father-in-law and his family and several others des- tined for San Felipe de Austin. At New Orleans they char- tered the steamer Sabine and sailed for Brazoria, Texas, and after a voyage of eight days on the Gulf were wrecked on Gal- veston Island, about ten miles west of the present city of
Galveston. The island was then a wilderness, inhabited only by deer, wolves, rattlesnakes and Indians. Several days after the vessel was beached, the steamer Ocean came in sight and seeing their distress signal, anchored near their camp and agreed to take a few of the company to Brazoria, among whom was Kleberg.
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Upon their arrival there they found no boats or others means of transportation, and Kleberg and one of the von Roeders went on foot to San Felipe, where they met Captain Moseley Baker and others and were informed that their advance party had located about fourteen miles southwest beyond some springs which formed the head of a small stream emptying into the San Bernard River, but that two of his brother-in-laws had died and the others were in a small hut and in a pitiable con- dition. Emaciated by disease and exposure the settlers shed tears of joy upon their arrival.
After a few days of rest, Kleberg and his companion, char- tered a boat to bring their company from Galveston Island. They found the party in good spirits, and after a stormy voy- age brought them up to Harrisburg, where he engaged com- fortable quarters for the family.
Leaving the women and children at Harrisburg, the men with wagons drawn by oxen and loaded with their tools, sup- plies, etc., proceeded to their little settlement and began work, erecting two log houses, ceiling one with oak planks sawed by hand and put ten acres in corn and cotton. They brought their families from Harrisburg, leaving their furniture, among other things a fine piano, valuable oil paintings, music, books, etc., all of which were destroyed in the following April by Santa Anna's army when Harrisburg was burned.
As soon as the news of the fall of the Alamo reached San Felipe and the families of settlers were fleeing to avoid the inhuman cruelties of Mexican vengeance, the Von Roeders and Kleberg and his wife packed up what they could carry in ox carts and went to San Felipe to decide upon a definite pro- gram.
The crucial moment of Kleberg's life had now come. Should he leave his young wife and tender infant to work their way out of the country, or should he go with her to a place of safe- ty beyond the Sabine? There was little time to consider the mat- ter. Finally it was agreed that his father-in-law, the elder Van Roeder, should take charge of the family, and that Robert Kleberg and young Von Roeder should join Moseley Baker's
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company, then forming, and stake their lives for the inde- pendence of Texas.
From that time on they were actively engaged in Houston's campaign, finally participating in the battle of San Jacinto. The only other service in which these men engaged in that year was in Rusk's command, following the Mexican army to insure its retreat beyond Rio Grande. Upon their arrival at Goliad, they gathered the charred bones of those who had been mur- dered by the Mexicans by command of Santa Anna, and buried them with military honors.
At the family parting near San Felipe, Mrs. Kleberg mount- ed a pony, took her infant in her arms and started on her journey. (For a most graphic account of the experiences at- tending the "Runaway Scrape" the reading is cited to the first volume of the quarterly of the Texas Historical Association where an article by Mrs. Rose Kleberg will be found.)
When the company was disbanded the Klebergs returned to their little settlement, which formed the nucleus of what is now the flourishing town of Cat Springs in Austin County.
In 1848 Kleberg removed from the Cat Springs settlement to DeWitt County, near Myersville, where another German settlement was established, and was residing there at the com- mencement of the Civil War. He was loyal to the Southern Confederacy. Being fifty-eight years old, he was past the age of military service, but he organized a militia company. His sons, Otto and Rudolph, joined the Confederate army and served in General Tom Green's command.
Robert Kleberg died full of years and honor at his home near Yorktown, Texas, October 23, 1888.
He held various offices of honor, but none that required pro- longed absence from his family and home duties.
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
LAMB.
This county was named for Lieutenant George A. Lamb, who was killed at the battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. He was born in Laurens District, South Carolina, October 3, 1814. He was left an orphan in boyhood and made his home with the Bankhead family. He had a good common school education and was of a genial, happy disposition. He came to Texas with young Richard Bankhead in 1834; Bankhead was a mar- ried man and with his wife and three little girls settled in what is now the western part of Walker County. Bank- head contracted a severe cold from exposure in moving, and died October 20, 1834, shortly after his arrival in Texas, leaving his widow and three little girls in charge of young Lamb, who faithfully discharged his trust. Lamb was frequently called from home to assist in repelling In- dian raids. For the protection of the widow and children he arranged a hiding place in the swamp near by, stocking it with ample provisions until his return. On September 8, 1835, he was married to Mrs. Bankhead. When volunteers were called for, he enlisted in a company then organizing in that region and was unanimously chosen Second Lieutenant. The company went promptly to General Houston's aid. After un- dergoing the hardships of that campaign, Lamb was killed in the first charge of the Texans. Having a presentiment that he would lose his life in the first battle he engaged in, he took all the money he had and his watch and sent all to his wife and step-children with an affectionate message.
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THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TEXAS
McCULLOCH.
This county was named for Ben McCulloch, who was born in Rutherford County, Tenn., November 11, 1811, and came to Texas in the winter of 1835-36. He was a private in the artil- lery corps at San Jacinto and was placed in immediate charge of the "'Twin Sisters," two small but fam- ous brass cannons. On the next day he was promoted to a First Lieutenancy for gallantry in the battle. When the war was over, he settled in Gonzales and engaged in land surveying. In 1839 he was elected to the Texas Congress and served in that body two years, just after he had made his first successful Indian scouting trip. In 1840 he participated in the battle of Plum Creek. In 1841 Indian raids were so fre- quent that his services were in constant demand. In 1842 he was elected First Lieutenant of Hay's Company of Rangers. Later he resigned, owing to pressing personal matters, but re- joined as a private and was in many hard-fought contests with the Indians. He promptly joined the United States vol- unteers at the beginning of the Mexican War and his services as a scout for General Taylor received favorable notice in more than one official report. After that war he was engaged al- ternately in Indian war-fare and surveying land. In 1853 President Pierce appointed him United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas. In 1858 President Buchanan sent him to Utah upon an important mission, the duties of which he performed with great tact and judgment. At the begin- ning of the Civil War, 1861, he was commissioned Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and ordered to Arkansas. He commanded his brigade at the battle of Wilson's Creek where the Federal General Cecil Lyons was killed. He was himself killed at the battle of Pea Ridge, March 7th, 1862.
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
MOTLEY.
This county was named for Dr. William Motley, who was born in Virginia, April 9, 1812. When he was a child his par- ents moved to Kentucky, where he was reared and educated. He graduated in medicine after taking a literary course at Transylvania University in 1834, and came to Texas in 1835, locating at Gonzales. He was a delegate from this muncipal- ity at the convention of March, 1836. He promptly joined the army after the adjournment of the convention and was aid to General Rusk at the battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, where he was mortally wounded. In closing his official report of that battle, General Rusk said: "Dr. William Motley was mortally wounded and soon after his spirit took its flight to join the immortal Milam and others in the better world."
SHERMAN.
This county was named for General Sidney Sherman, who commanded the left wing of the cavalry at San Jacinto. He was a descendant of Roger Sherman of Revolutionary fame, hav- ing been born in Massachussetts in 1809. During his youth his family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1835 he was engaged in manufacturing bagging in New- port, Kentucky. Hearing of the Texas Revolution, he left his bus- iness and organized and equipped a company of fifty men to engage in the cause of Texas. He arrived at the Brazos in February, 1836, and hurried on to the relief of Travis in the Alamo, but when he reached Gonzales he learned that the Alamo had fallen. At the organization of the first regiment at Gonzales he was elected Lieutenant Colonel, and upon the reorganization of the army on the Brazos he was elected Colonel. The day before the battle of San Jacinto he made an attack on the Mex-
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THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TEXAS
icans. On the 21st he opened the fight and first sounded the war cry, "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad." Several months later, after hostilities had entirely ceased, he return- ed to Kentucky, where he had left his family. Before leaving for Texas, he was taken sick with fever and remained in bed ten weeks. Again, while on his way back to Texas, he was taken sick in Louisiana and confined six weeks. He returned to Texas with his family after a few months and settled on San Jacinto Bay. In 1842 he was elected to the Texas Con- gress. In 1840 he conceived the idea of rebuilding Harrisburg, which had been destroyed by Santa Anna in 1836. He with others purchased a 4,000 acre tract of land, including the old townsite. He went to Boston and interested capitalists, who organized a company to build a railroad from Harrisburg west- ward. After six or seven years of unabated effort he suc- ceeded in rebuilding the town and starting the first railway train in Texas. The shrill whistle of the "General Sherman" was the first glad sound of the locomotive upon the solitude of the Texas forests, the first west of the Sabine, and with one exception the first west of the Mississippi. From 1853 to the end of his life his business career was marked by successive misfortunes. He died in Galveston in 1873.
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AS TOLD IN COUNTY NAMES
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.
The Battle of San Jacinto was the final battle of the Texas Revolution, and deserves to be ranked among the decisive bat- tles of the different wars in America.
On the 19th of December, 1836, the Congress of the Re- public of Texas defined its boundaries as follows: "Begin- ning at the mouth of the Sabine River and running west along the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from the land, to the mouth of the Rio Grande; thence up the principal stream of said river to its source; thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude; thence along the boundary line as defined in the Treaty between the United States and Spain to the be- ginning," as shown on the following map. This map (page 170) also shows the county subdivision of the Republic up to 1825, the location of colonies during the existence of the Republic and other dates.
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