Some Songs of
Yesteryear
THE OLD STEP STONE - JOE BOWERS
- N'GER ON THE RUN
Battle Between Rangers And Comanches
J. W. Wilbarger
Account of battle with a band
of Comanche Indians, December 23,
1850, near the Neuces river, 75
miles south of San Antonio, involving
a detachment of Texas rangers under
command of Lieutenant Ed Burleson,
Jr. The detachment of rangers under
Burleson were on their way to Fort
McIntosh, at Laredo, to spend the
Christmas holidays. It was a cold
morning and the rangers rode together
in happy mood in expectation of
a merry Christmas with comrades
at the fort. Instead, they encountered
the Comanches - here are the details.
Mentions: Lieutenant Ed Burleson
was the son of General Ed Burleson
who commanded the first regiment
of volunteers in the Battle of San
Jacinto * Warren Lyons * Baker Barton
and William Lackey * Alf Wilkerson,
Toni Wilkerson and Jim Wilkerson
* Jack Spencer * Fort McIntosh *
Dedication Of Monument Recalled
By Adolph Huffmeyer
Account speaks of the Trail Drivers'
monument at Doan's Crossing on Red
River. This beautiful monument was
erected by a a handful of North
Texas trail drivers and patriotic
citizens of Vernon and Oklahoma,
the largest subscriber being P.
P. Ackley, who donated $1,000 It
was built by George W. Backus of
Vernon out of Texas gray granite,
and is 10 feet 6 inches high, 5
feet wide. and 12 inches thick.
Further Mentions: Mrs. Bertha
Ross of Vernon * George W. Saunders
* the Gunter Hotel * Kerrville *
Boerne * Comfort * Frank L. Wilson
* Fritz Hotel * E. A. Roebuck of
Lockhart * Old Man C. F. Doan *
Soy Shelly of Seguin * J. D. Jones
* C. W. Chamberlain * Bob Lauderdale
* Webster Witter * B. H. Kohl *
Sykes Butler * H. H. Weber * W.
L. Adams * G. W. Barnett * John
M. Doak * J. P. Towns * J. G. Towns
* Ab Blocker * Rev. Bruce Roberts
* Sam Keno * L. O. Miller * Jim
Harry * N. C. Pike * W. A. Tinney
* A. A. Weiden * Monte Price * P.
P. Ackley * Bob Lauderdale * Webter
Witter * J. Frank Dobie * W. S.
Ikard * Jim Harry * N. C. Fike *
Hugo Milde * A. A. Weldon * Sol
M. Jackson. * Tom Hoben *
Sinc, that happy occasion the
following members have paced on
to their last roundup. Penn be to
their ashes: President Gorge W.
Saunders. John Kenny, C. F. Chamberlain.
John J. Little. Dave Stroman. W.
H. Adams, J. P. 'towns, and P. P.
Ackley.
A QUEER CHARACTER
Mentions: Mr. Edwin Starkey of
Oklahoma City * old Bill Wharton
ranch west of Kerrville * Frank
H. Bushick * Judge C. A. Goeth *
Reed Calhoun's ranch near Sonora
* Dr. Travis M. Harrell, veteran
physician, of Corpus Christi, Texas
* Mr. Javan Jackson * J. T. Jackson
* Tobe Jackson * San Saba town *
Dr. Harrell * Fred Mosebach * Charles
K. Harris *
Two Famous Sons Of A Famous Father
By Mrs. Maude Wallis Traylor,
Cuero, Texas.
Account is biographical sketch
of Captain Samuel Highsmith's two
famous and very worthy sons, Captain
Malcijah Benjamin Highsmith, and
Captain Henry Albert Highsmith -
both very early Texas Rangers. Includes
account of H. A. Highsmith's involvement
with the shooting of Sam Bass.
Mentions: Capt. Kige Highsmith
* Old Caney, now Brazoria county
* Green DeWitt's Colony * Capt.
John S. (Rip) Ford * John Salmon
Ford * Mr. Hardy * August Harmuth
* Higgins * Maj. La Motte * Miss
Evaline Coupee * Mrs. Teresa Highsmith
* I. Bernstine & Co. of Galveston
* Billingsley, Campbell Taylor,
Martin, Walker, John Caldwell, Burtons,
Menefee, Jenkins * Teresa (Williams)
Highsmith * Salado, Bell county
* Albert Burleson * Miss Sarah A.
McCutcheon * Wilbarger's Bend, Bastrop
county * Parson's Seminary * Capt.
Wheeler * Round Rock, Williamson
county * Sam Bass * The Williamson
County Sun of Georgetown * Hutto
* Ahijah A. Grimes * Davis Hotel
* Sheriff Grimes * Capt. Wayne Graham
and Mr. By Asher * P. G. Peterson
& Son * Brushy Creek * Sergeant
Ware * Buckhart's Barber Shop *
H. Koppel * Adjutant General Jones
* Dudley Snyder's pasture * City
Marshal Stubbs * Mrs. S. C. Downing
of * Mrs. I. F. Holt of Hutto *
Capt. and Mrs. Henry Albert Highsmith
had two sons, William Samuel and
John H * Benny * Jessie * Fannie
* Rosa *
Some News Items Of Long Ago
Mentions: George Thompson and
Jim Foster, of Greenville, * W.
W. Schermerhorn, an attorney of
San Angelo * Memph Elliot * Will
Jacobs and Frank Rhodes * Col. John
Watkin * John Davidson * Sam Suttlemeyer
*
Heroines Of The Hills
By T. U. Taylor, Austin, Texas
This account of EARLY KIMBLE
COUNTY TEXAS HISTORY has valueable
genealogy and very early historical
information.
Mentions: George C. Kimble, who
fell at the Alamo under Colonel
William B. Travis * William Potter,
county judge ; Dr. E. K. Kountz,
county clerk ; Frank Latta, sheriff
; N. C. Patterson, county treasurer;
W. F. Gilliland, county assessor;
M. J. Denman, county surveyor; William
Graham, county attorney; J. A. Burt,
inspector of hides * J. R. Steffey,
Felix Burton, Henry E. Pearl and
A. Vancourt * Kimbleville * Judge
W. A. Blackburn * Hon. O. C. Fisher
* The first settler on the Colorado,
Reuben Hornsby * Raleigh Gentry
was one of the first settlers in
Kimble county * he settled on Bear
Creek * North Llano * Allen, Lee,
Guliford, William, George and Jack
* Nancy Frazier * Gentry's Creek
* Felix Hale * the Gentry Creek
cemetery * John Bate Berry * Rance
Moore * The Gibson brothers * Rance
Moore, Billy Waits, and Charley
Jones * Andrew Jackson Nixon * Charles
Gibson * Mrs. Elizabeth Lambeth
Gibson * Loyal Valley in Mason county
* Charley Jones * James Bradbury
* the valley of the Gabriel in Williamson
county * Bate Berry * Ira Kirkpatrick
* Jane Bradbury * Alvin Clark *
Nancy Bradbury * Eugene Houghton
* James Bradbury, Green Bradbury,
William Bradbury, Frank Bradbury,
and an only daughter, Rhoda Bradbury
* Jobe Fisher * Rhoda Clark * The
Millers arrived in Kimble in 1874
* John A. Miller * the A. P. Browning
family * Martha Browning * William
Miller, the father of John A. Miller,
and Jerry Roberts * Frank Miller
and George Miller * Alfred Miller,
Leander Miller, Larkin Miller, Mrs.
Mollie Wright * Mrs. Jack Jobes,
Mrs. Ernest Burt, Mrs. Doug Jobes
and Mrs. Nettie Hodge * Johnson
Fork * Fort McKavett * Menard *
Valley of the Guadalupe * Martha
Browning Miller * Jennie Coalson
* Nick B. Coalson * Jennie Blackwell
Coalson * Copperas Creek in the
western part of Kimble county *
Tom Baldwin * Charley Mann * Joe
Harris * Alwilda Mcdonald
* Johnson Fork * Wiley Joy *
John Joy, Tobe Joy,Troup Joy, Charles
Joy * the James River community
* Lafe McDonald * Monroe McDonald
* the Monroe McDonald ranch * An
old man, Matthew Taylor * Banta
Creek * John Jolly * ranch on the
Big Saline in the northeastern part
of Kimble county * Frank Hardin
* Rance Moore of McLennan * his
wife, Permelia * Annie Moore Eliza
Moore, William Moore, Daniel Moore,
Elizabeth Moore, Leaf Moore, Ella
Moore * Mary New * James Moore,
Robert Moore, John Moore, Thomas
Moore, Creed Moore, Lillie Moore,
Josephine Moore, and Kitty Moore
* the Bear Creek ranch * farm on
Johnson's Fork of the Llano * Creed
Taylor * Jim Pope * Mason Sharp
and Henry Sharp * Mary E. New, a
daughter of William New * Hallettsville
* Hope * Mary E. Bell * Big Saline
Creek *
Swimming Cattle Across The Canadian
By Ira Aten
Vivd and detailed account of
the cattle drives made by the mighty
XIT drovers and especially of the
process of driving cattle across
the Canadian River.
Mentions: In 1898 there were
three divisions of the XIT ranch
lying south of the Canadian River—the
Escarbada No. 5, Spring Lake No.
6, and Yellow House No. 7. * Buffalo
Springs division * Channing * Trujillo
5-wire * the Rita Blanca * Ealy
Moore's horse pasture * Dalhart
*
Peregrinations Of A Pioneer Printer
By J. Marvin Hunter
Hunter reflects on the changes
that have come to printing since
the 1890's when he began to set
type on the old Menardville Record
at Menardville, Texas.
Mentions: than N. H. Rose, the
famous old time photographer * the
Boynton Brothers * Irvin Boynton
* the Comfort Times * the Cochiti
mining district * Kimble County
Crony * Shropshire & Hughes, a Brady
law firm * Mason Herald * the O.
D. Mann Hardware Co. of Brady *
John Schaeg * newspaper men, Riddick
and Roberts * Garden City * Sterling
City * Will Gregg * Guion Gregg
* Jim Bigham * W. D. Riser * Miss
Lola Spring * The Concho Land Co
* the Hughes Headlight * H. L. Blankenship
* Warren Hunter * Harold Dietel
* Ozona * the Ozona Optimist * The
Ozona Kicker * Claud Hudspeth *
M. L. Burchett * the Big Lake Crony
* Bud Russell * the New Era, at
Sonora, with Christian Meyers in
charge * D. W. Russell * the Melvin
Advocate * T. A. Buckner * Bandera
New Era * Mr. R. W. Mcitzen * Leslie
E. Short *
The First Protestant Church In
San Antonio
By Colonel M. L. Crimmins, San
Antonio, Texas
The First Presbyterian Church
was started in San Antonio in 1846
by Rev. John McCullough and it was
the first Protestant church erected
in the Alamo City. When Rev. John
McCullough first came to San Antonio
in 1842, he wrote that there were
only three or four American families
here and half a dozen reckless young
men. He came here again in April,
1844, with Rev. John Wesley De Vilbiss,
a young Methodist preacher.
Brother De Vilbiss was to preach
and Brother McCullough was to close
the service with a hymn and a prayer.
Just as De Vilbiss was about to
start his attentive host placed
a bottle of port wine on the table,
to the pronounced embarrassment
of the young preacher who thought
that now his congregation, the first
Protestant congregation in San Antonio,
would consider him a hypocrite,
who preached against drinking and
then drank himself. He asked his
host to kindly remove the bottle,
but his host demurred and said it
was a really fine quality of port
and in his country it was the custom
to provide a bottle of wine for
their preachers, as it usually improved
the sermons and this was "a first
rate article."
Rev. John McCullough followed
Brother De Vilbiss and this is the
story of the first Protestant service
in San Antonio.
Further Mentions: John McCullough
was descended from George McCullough,
who was born in Scotland in 1700,
and came to America in 1730, locating
at Lower Oxford Township, Pennsylvania,
now called Elkton, Md * Lorena Sayre
of Columbia, Texas * Margaret J.
Riddell of Pennsylvania * Mrs. Sarah
Eager * John Warwick McCullough
* William McCullough of Brownwood
* Anton Lockmar, an Italian-Austrian
from Dalmatia * the old Veramendi
Palace * the Clegg building at 130
Soledad Street * Mr. and Mrs. Charles
D. Sayre * Rev. Witham Young * Mrs.
Mary Ann Bennett * John Clanton
* General Zachry Taylor *
She Danced With Sam Bass
By Lynn Eliot
Account of a San Antonio woman
who said she danced with Sam Bass
three nights before he died at Round
Rock, Texas, from effects of Ranger
George Harrell's bullet. Mrs. Rebecca
Nelson, then Miss Rebecca Stephens,
was attending a dance at the Eppler
farm house near Red Rock in Bastrop
County, on Thursday night, July
18th, 1878, when a stranger rode
up. Some of the young men went out
to talk with him and when they came
back they seemed excited. "It's
Sam Bass," they told the girls,
"and he wants to dance. It would
be better if you girls will dance
with him." Here is Mrs. Nelson's
account of that event.
Further Mentions: Jim Murphy
* Seab Barnes * Joel Collins * Ranger
Dick Ware * Rebecca Stephens *
A Correction By Worth Ray
A correction to the story by
Dr. A. B. Reagan, entitled "A Journey
on the Historic San Saba.," in which
mention is made of the running fight
of "G. W. Morrow and Bill Miller"
on their way home from the Rose
Mill, when attacked by a band of
Indians January 17, 1868. Account
further includes more details on
Morrow's life as well as first hand
account of the fight between Morrow
and his companion Miller and the
Indians, written by A. W. Morrow
in 1888, and which has never before
been published.
Further Mentions: Pleasant Valley,
in Burnet county * Alexander Washington
Morrow * Rutersville, in Fayette
county * John Rabb and Abner P.
Manly * James Lambers Morrow, John
Donald Morrow and William Joseph
Lapsley Morrow * William H. Blair
* Melissa Crownover * Mrs. Laura
Fry, of Burnet * Bertram and Liberty
Hill * Mrs. L. A. Marcus * Morrow
was Master of Blazing Star Lodge
A. F. & A. M., * Marble Falls *
. Mr. Isaac R. Hitt * William J.
Miller * Rose Mill * the Rabbs and
Castlemans well known pioneer families
of Fayette county * Lloyd Benjamin
Streeter * Carl Coke Rister * Leroy
R. Hafen *
The Daniel Boone Of Texas
By Grace Miller White
Account of notable Texas frontiersman,
Indian fighter, soldier, Ranger,
and hero William Alexander Anderson
Wallace, (Bigfoot) a young man of
twenty, who could not forget the
brother and the cousins who had
gone out to Texas a short time before
and suffered a cruel fate at the
hands of the bloody butcher of Goliad.
War with its hideous consequences
was not new to this family, but
they could not reconcile themselves
to warfare where prisoners were
ruthlessly slaughtered. Wallace
men for generations had been large
powerful men and bold warriors.
They were direct descendants of
those Wallace men renowned in Scotland's
turbulent history. In early 1837,
young William soon announced to
his family that he was going to
Texas and spend the rest of his
life there killing Mexicans, hoping
that among them he might meet some
of the executioners of Goliad. Though
briefer than Sowell's or Duval's
biographies of Wallace, this account
is a faithful and delightful picture
of the man who was Texas' own true
"Daniel Boone."
Further Mentions: an Austin girl,
Mary Jackson * Captain John Coffee
Hays * Mexican General Adrian Woll
* Nathan Mallon * Colonel Matthew
Caldwell * Colonel William S. Fisher
* General Ampudia * General Huerta
* Colonel Mejia * Miss Nora Franklin
* Mrs. McCormick, of San Antonio
* John C. Duval * Wharton J. Green
* J. W. Perkins * A. J. Sowell *
J. R. Clinton * Ad Gillespie * a
family named Cochran *
THE EDITOR'S BOX
Mentions: an old Burnside rifle
* C. W. Hanley of Fort Worth * E.
L. Moore * Henry Williams, Sr *
Guy Sinclair, Jr * Eugene Stovall
* Mrs. P. Geo. Maercky * Clarence
Robichaud * R. G. Kimball of Altus,
Oklahoma