Jeff Hastings Deep Texas Roots

Transcription

1 151ST Jeff Hastings Deep Texas Roots Jeff Hastings is a 7 th Generation Texan whose family has deep roots in the Lone Star State. His family lineage dates back to the early 1800 s and his ancestors have been associated with some of the important events in both local and state history. This document traces some of that history. While Jeff is not a direct descendant of any of the defenders of the Alamo, his family is connected to three of these Texas Heroes: KING, WILLIAM PHILIP ( ) William Philip King, Alamo defender, son of John Gladden and Parmelia (Parchman) King, was born on October 8, 1820, in Cotton Gin Port in Monroe County, Mississippi. By the mid-1820s the family moved to Louisiana and arrived in Texas in April Traveling by covered wagon, the family went to Gonzales and registered in Green Dewitt's Colony on May 15, In 1836 King lived with his family on land on the Guadalupe River northwest of Gonzales, Texas. When his father was about to ride to the Alamo with the relief force from Gonzales, William, only fifteen years old, persuaded his father that his family needed him more than Col. William Travis did and to let him go in his place. John G. King agreed to his son's request. William Philip King reportedly manned cannon and was the youngest defender killed in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, King County was named in his honor. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). William Philip King was Jeff s 3xgreat grandmother, Rosanna Land McKinney s nephew. KIMBLE, GEORGE C. ( ) George C. Kimble, Alamo defender and officer of the Alamo garrison, was born in He traveled to Texas from New York in March 1825 and settled in Gonzales, where he owned and operated a hat factory on Water Street in partnership with Almaron Dickinson. He received title to one-quarter sitio of land on November 28, On June 26, 1832, he married Prudence Nash; they had two children. On February 23, 1836, Kimble was mustered into the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers as a lieutenant and commander of the unit. On March 1, 1836, he entered the Alamo with his company and returning members of the Alamo garrison. He took with him fifty-two pounds of coffee from Stephen Smith. Kimble died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, Kimble County is named in his honor. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). Jeff is not directly related to George Kimble but after Jeff s 4xgreat grandmother Minerva Goodbread Bird, died, his 4xgreat grandfather, Daniel Bird married Clarinda Jane Kimble Barnes, the daughter of George Kimble. Also, an interesting connection to Jeff s family; Clarinda s mother Purdence Kimble (the widow of George Kimble) married Claiborne West one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, Claiborne West is believed to be the first cousin of Jeff s 5xgreat grandfather, James Hampton West.

2 AUTRY, MICAJAH (ca ) Micajah Autry, Alamo defender, son of Theophilus and Elizabeth (Crumpler) Autry, was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, about During the War of 1812 he volunteered for service against the British at age eighteen. He marched to Wilmington, North Carolina, as a member of a volunteer company and later joined the United States Army at Charleston, South Carolina. He served until Afterward, when his bad health compelled him to quit farming, he became a teacher. Autry moved to Hayesboro, Tennessee, in 1823 and took up the study of law. In 1824 he married a widow, Martha Wyche Putney Wilkinson. They raised two children of their own and Martha's daughter by her first marriage. In 1828 or 1829 Autry was admitted to the bar at Nashville. He practiced law in Jackson, Tennessee, from 1831 to 1835 in partnership with Andrew L. Martin. In Tennessee Autry started an unsuccessful mercantile business with his law partner. 151ST During business trips to New York and Philadelphia, he heard of opportunities in Texas. In 1835 he set out for Texas by steamboat from Nashville, Tennessee. By January 14, 1836, he was in Nacogdoches, where he enlisted in the Volunteer Auxiliary Corps of Texas. His correspondence indicates that he set out for Washington-on-the-Brazos with David Crockett and others under the command of Capt. William B. Harrison. He arrived in Bexar with his company on or about February 9, 1836, and entered the Alamo with the garrison under the command of Lt. Col. William B. Travis on February 23. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, Autry was an amateur poet, writer, artist, and musician. A letter to his wife, dated February 11, 1834, is on display at the Alamo. (From the Handbook of Texas Online). Letter from the Alamo - Micajah Autry Autry came to Texas in search of opportunities offered by the changing events there. This letter is one in a series he sent to his wife Martha on his journey to San Antonio de BÈxar. [1] Mrs. Martha W. Autry Middleburg [2] Hardeman Cty. Tennessee Nacogdoches, Jany. 13 th, 1836 My Dear Martha, I have reached this point after many hardships and privations but thank God in most excellent health. The very great fatigue I have suffered has in a degree stifled reflection and has been an advantage to me. I walked from nachitoches [3] whence I wrote you last to this place 115 miles through torrents of rain, mud and water. I remained a few days in St. Augustine when Capt. Kimble from Clarksvelle, Ten, a lawyer of whom you may recollect to have heard me speak arrived with a small company of select men, 4 of them lawyers. [4] I joined them and find them perfect gentlemen. We are waiting for a company daily expected from Columbia, Ten. under Col. Hill with whom we expect to march to head quarters (Washington) 125 miles from here, where we shall join Houston the commander in chief and receive our destination. I may or may not receive promotion as there are many very meritorious men seeking the same. I have become one of the most thorough going men you ever heard of. I go whole hog in the cause of Texas. I expect to help them gain their independence and also to form their civil government, for it is worth risking many lives for. From what I have seen and learned from others there is not so fair a portion of the earth's surface warmed by the sun.

3 151ST Be of good cheer Martha I will provide you a sweet home. I shall be entitled to 640 acres of land for my services in the army and 444 acres upon condition of settling my family here. [5] Whether I shall be able to move you here next fall or not will depend upon the termination of the present contest. Some say Santa Anna is in the field with an immense army and near the confines of Texas, others say since the conquest of St. Antonio by the Texans and the imprisonment of Genl. Cos and 1100 men of which you have no doubt heard, [6] that Santa Ana has become intimidated for fear that the Texans will drive the war into his dominions and is now holding himself in readiness to fly to Europe which latter report I am inclined to discredit, what is the truth of the matter no one knows or pretends to know. Tell Mr. Smith [7] not to think of remaining where he is but to be ready to come to this county at the very moment the government shall be settled, as for a trifle he may procure a possession of land that will make a fortune for himself, his children and his children's children of its own increase in value and such a cotton country is not under the sun. I have just been introduced to Mr. McNeil a nephew of Mr. S. who is now in this place and appears to be much of a gentlemen. Give my most kind affection to Amelia and Mr. Smith and to my own Dear Mary and James give a thousand tender embraces and for you my Dearest Martha may the smile of heaven keep you as happy as possible till we meet. M. Autry Tell Brothers J. & S. I have not time to write to them at present as Mr. Madding and Sevier by whom I send this can not wait. Tell brother Jack to think of nothing but coming here with us; tell him to study law as this will be the greatest country for that profession, as soon as we have a government, [8] that was ever known. M. A. P.S. We stand guard of nights and night before last was mine to stand two hours during which the moon rose in all her mildness but splendor and majesty. With what pleasure did I contemplate that lovely orb chiefly because I recollected how often I had taken pleasure in standing in the door and contemplating her together. Indeed I imagined that you might be looking at her at the same time. Farewell Dear Martha. P.S. Col. Crockett has joined our company. [9] Micajah Autry was Jeff s 5X great grandfather, John Autry s great nephew.

4 151ST A replica of the Come and Take It flag hangs outside Jeff s office. Jeff s family has been connected to Gonzales through John Gladden King, Jeff s 3xgreat grandmother, Rosanna Land McKinney s half brother and also through Creed Taylor. Creed Taylor, by his own account, was at the Battle of Gonzales, the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1840, Creed Taylor married Nancy Matilda Goodbread - the younger sister of Jeff s 4xgreat grandmother, Minerva Goodbread Bird. GONZALES "COME AND TAKE IT" CANNON The Gonzales "come and take it" cannon was a Spanish-made, bronze artillery piece six-pound caliber. The gun was the object of contention in late September and early October 1835 between a Mexican military detachment from Bexar and Anglo-Celtic colonists. The disagreement produced the battle of Gonzales, considered to be the first battle of the Texas Revolution. On January 1, 1831, Green DeWitt initiated the new year by writing Ramón Músquiz, the political chief of Bexar, asking him to make arrangements for a cannon to be furnished to the Gonzales colonists for protection against hostile Indians. On March 10, 1831, after some delay, James Tumlinson, Jr., a DeWitt colonist at Bexar, received one bronze cannon to be turned over to Green DeWitt at Gonzales. The fact that the gun was not carriage mounted until about September 28, 1835, suggests that in 1831 it was probably swivel mounted in one of the two blockhouses that had been constructed at Gonzales in Thus mounted it would have served as a visual deterrent to hostile Indians. The cannon is lost to history until September 1835, when Col. Domingo de Ugartechea, the military commander at Bexar, sent Corporal Casimiro De León and five soldiers of the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras to retrieve the cannon. The Gonzales colonists notified Ugartechea they were keeping the gun and took the soldiers prisoner. The cannon was then buried in George W. Davis qv 's peach orchard and couriers sent to the Anglo-Celtic settlements on the Colorado River to obtain armed assistance. Ugartechea responded by sending 100 troops under Lt. Francisco de Castañeda to make a more serious request for the return of the gun. On September 29, Capt. Robert M. Coleman arrived at Gonzales with a militia company of thirty mounted Indian fighters. The gun was retrieved from its shallow grave, taken to John Sowell's blacksmith shop, and mounted on a pair of cart wheels. After organization of the Texian "Army of the People" under Gen. Stephen F. Austin, the cannon was assigned to Capt. James C. Neill's artillery company and hauled to San Antonio. After the capture of Bexar in December 1835, the cannon remained at the Alamo, where it was one of twenty-one artillery pieces commandeered by the Mexican army upon the recapture of Bexar on March 6, 1836.

5 151ST The name "Come and Take It" refers to the motto adopted by the Texian rebels. On the morning of October 2, 1835, Lieutenant Castañeda requested the cannon be returned to the Mexican military-a condition on which it had been loaned to DeWitt's Colony-but the Texians pointed to the gun which stood about 200 yards to their rear, and said, "there it is-come and take it." Soon after the conflict began, at the request of the Anglo-Celtic leaders, the ladies of the settlement hastily made a flag to fly over the cannon. The flag featured a white ground with a black cannon in the center, and the motto "Come and take it!" above and below. Much has been made of an account that appears in Noah Smithwick's The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days (1900), in which Smithwick identifies the cannon as an iron six-pounder. This is the only account, however, of events at Gonzales in October 1835 which identifies the Gonzales gun as being made of iron. Primary documents indicate that the gun probably was a cannon belonging to George Huff, a blacksmith and gunsmith from San Felipe. Another discovery claim concerning the Gonzales cannon came into being after a major flood in July 1936, when a small iron salute cannon was discovered downstream from Hardy's Bluff on Sandies creek. Many individuals believe the small salute gun is the Gonzales cannon because it was found at a location that appears to match the information in the Smithwick book. The gun, however, matches none of the characteristics attributed to the Gonzales cannon by reliable primary sources. The Smithwick account incorrectly identifies the Gonzales cannon, but the Sandies salute gun does not even conform to Smithwick's description of the cannon he believed to be the Gonzales gun. Although what happened to the "Come and Take It" cannon is not known, still another, and probably more likely scenario, resulted from actions of the Mexican army after the fall of the Alamo, when Antonia López de Santa Anna's troops melted down an unknown number of bronze guns. The Gonzales cannon may have been one of these. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jane Bradfield, Rx, Take One Cannon: The Gonzales Come and Take It Cannon of October 1835 (Shiner, Texas: Wagner, 1981). Thomas Ricks Lindley, "Alamo Artillery: Number, Type, Caliber, and Concussion," Alamo Journal, July Noah Smithwick, The Evolution of a State, or Recollections of Old Texas Days (Austin: Gammel, 1900; rpt., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983). TAYLOR, CREED ( ) Creed Taylor, soldier and Texas Ranger, was born on April 20, 1820, in Alabama, one of nine children of Josiah and Hepzibeth (Luker) Taylor. Josiah Taylor, a relative of Gen. Zachary Taylor, came to Texas in 1811 and served as captain in the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition; he fought at La Bahía, Alazán, Rosales, and Medina. He brought his family, including four-year-old Creed, to Texas in 1824 and settled in DeWitt's colony. At fifteen, Creed Taylor helped defend the Gonzales "come and take it" cannon and took part in the battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight, and the siege of Bexar. Late in January 1836 he was with the Texas forces at San Patricio; he was placed on detached duty as a scout or courier until March 1, 1836, when he was ordered to join Col. James C. Neill in Gonzales (see GOLIAD CAMPAIGN OF 1836). After the fall of the Alamo, Taylor led his mother and family to safety in the Runaway Scrape. He then caught up with the Texas army at Buffalo Bayou on April 20 and fought in the battle of San Jacinto the next day. In 1840 Taylor took part in the battle of Plum Creek against the Comanches with Daniel B. Friar's company. In 1841 he joined the Texas Rangers qv and fought Indians with John Coffee Hays at Bandera Pass; the following year he was wounded in the battle of Salado Creek. In the Mexican War he enlisted as a private in Capt. Samuel H. Walker's company of Texas Mounted Rangers, which mustered into federal service on April 21, Taylor fought at the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma qv, Monterrey, and Buena Vista. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on February 13, 1864, in Col. John S. (Rip) Ford qv 's command. Taylor married Nancy Matilda Goodbread on April 25, 1840, and they became the parents of two sons and a daughter. After Nancy died, Taylor moved to Kimble County and married Lavinia Spencer, by whom he had several more children. He dictated his recollections to James T. DeShields, who published them in 1935 in Tall Men with Long Rifles. Taylor died on December 26, 1906,

6 and was buried in Noxville Cemetery, where the Texas Centennial Commission set up a marker in his honor in The same year the commission erected a monument in Cuero honoring DeWitt County pioneers. Taylor is mentioned twice: as a soldier in the Texas army in 1836 and as a participant in the battle of the Salado in (From The Handbook of Texas Online). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Maude Gilliland, Wilson County Texas Rangers, (1977). John Warren Hunter, Literary Effort Concerning Activities of Creed Taylor and Others in the Mexican War (MS, Texas State Archives, Austin, 1891). Harold Schoen, comp., Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence (Austin: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1938). KING, JOHN GLADDEN ( ) John Gladden King, early Texas soldier, settler, and rancher, son of Thomas(?) and Nancy (Gladden) King, was born on February 8, 1790, in Fairfield County, South Carolina. He grew up near Winnsboro, South Carolina, where his occupation was a planter. By 1813 he had become a soldier with the Gutiérrez- Magee expedition. This fighting regiment, labeled the Republican Army of the North, was organized to try and free Texas from Spain. King fought against Spanish royalist forces just south of San Antonio in the battle of Medina, called the bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil, on August 18, The campaign was an unsuccessful pursuit for independence. After surviving this conflict, King moved to Giles County, Tennessee, where he had relatives, and resided in the town of Pulaski. In 1817, after four years of farming, he met and married Parmelia Parchman of Pulaski. They married on April 7, With the desire for more land and a growing family, King acquired property along the Tombigbee River in Mississippi by the early 1820s. He settled in Cotton Gin Port in Monroe County, Mississippi, on land that had been owned by the Chickasaw Indians only four years earlier. King was eventually granted five patents totaling 400 acres of farming land in Monroe County. He sold all of his land holdings by 1825 and moved to Louisiana. After being in Louisiana only five years, King longed to move further west to Texas. He arrived in Texas with his wife and seven children in April The family, traveling by covered wagon, went to Gonzales where he registered in Green DeWitt s Colony on May 15, He received a league of land on the northeast bank of the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, where he engaged in the cattle business and a horse trading operation and remained active in farming. In February 1836 when relief forces searched the area of Gonzales for volunteers to fight at the Alamo, King was asked to join them. His oldest son, William Philip King, persuaded his father to let him go in his place, and he agreed to his son s request. William Philip became a member of the Immortal Thirty-two volunteers of Gonzales and was the youngest defender killed at the battle of the Alamo. King County was named for him. Before the fall of the Alamo, John King served in the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers. After the defeat at the Alamo, King and his family fled east during the Runaway Scrape but returned sometime in They escaped east again in 1842 during the invasion by Adrián Woll (see MEXICAN INVASIONS OF 1842). King became quite successful in all of his endeavors. On his Gonzales farm, he later built and operated a stage coach inn for travelers. The cost for lodging was $1.25, including corn and fodder for the horses. This new stage coach inn was built along the famous route known as the Old San Antonio Road. The German naturalist Ferdinand Roemer, during his travels through Texas from 1845 to 1847, stayed at the inn of King, whom he described as an old gentleman with a huge paunch who had developed his place 151ST

7 151ST into a thriving farm. King raised hogs, sheep, and cattle, and his chief crop was corn which he cultivated with the assistance of his sons and hired laborers. King spoke fluent Spanish and was held in high regard by the Native American groups in the region. Family tradition holds that he helped negotiate a peace treaty between Tonkawa Indians and Capt. Mathew Caldwell. John Gladden King died on March 15, He was buried on King Hill in the King Cemetery on his farm in Gonzales County. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dorcas Baumgartner, History of the Alsey Miller Family (Gonzales, Texas: A. G. Ainsworth, 1992), copy in Gonzales Archives, Gonzales County Courthouse, Gonzales, Texas. Clipping File, Library of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, San Antonio (Historic Sites, Alamo, Alamo Defenders, William Philip King). Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Gonzales County Historical Commission, History of Gonzales County (Dallas: Curtis, 1986). Ron Jackson, Alamo Legacy: Alamo Descendants Remember the Alamo (Austin: Eakin Press, 1997). Edward Albert Lukes, De Witt Colony of Texas (Austin: Jenkins, 1976). Robert L. Miller, Life of Robert Hall: Indian Fighter and Veteran of Three Great Wars, Also Sketch of Big Foot Wallace (Austin: Ben C. Jones, 1898; rpt., Austin: State House Press, 1992). Ferdinand Roemer, Texas (Bonn: Marcus, 1849; trans., San Antonio: Standard, 1935; rpt., Waco: Texian Press, 1976). Russell S. Hall BLACK BEAN EPISODE The Black Bean Episode, an aftermath of the Mier Expedition, resulted from an attempted escape of the captured Texans as they were being marched from Mier to Mexico City. After an escape at Salado, Tamaulipas, on February 11, 1843, some 176 of the men were recaptured within about a week. A decree that all who participated in the break were to be executed was modified to an order to kill every tenth man. Col. Domingo Huerta was to be in charge of the decimation. The victims were chosen by lottery, each man drawing a bean from an earthen jar containing 176 beans. The Drawing of the Black Bean by Fredric Remington The seventeen black beans were the tokens signifying death. Commissioned officers were ordered to draw first; then the enlisted men were called as their names appeared on the muster rolls. William A. A. (Bigfoot) Wallace, standing close to the scene of the drawing, decided that the black beans were the larger and fingered the tokens successfully to draw a white bean. Observers of the drawing later described the dignity, the firmness, the light temper, and general courage of the men who drew the beans of death. Some left messages for their families with their companions; a few had time to write letters home. The doomed men were unshackled from their companions, placed in a separate courtyard, and shot at dusk on March 25, The seventeen victims of the lottery were James Decatur Cocke, William Mosby Eastland, Patrick Mahan, James M. Ogden, James N. Torrey, Martin Carroll Wing, qqv John L. Cash, Robert Holmes Dunham, Edward E. Este, Robert Harris, Thomas L. Jones, Christopher Roberts, William N. Rowan, James L. Shepherd, J. N. M. Thompson, James Turnbull, and Henry Walling. Shepherd survived the firing squad by pretending to be dead. The guards left him for dead in the

8 courtyard, and he escaped in the night but was recaptured and shot. In 1848 the bodies were returned from Mexico to be buried at Monument Hill qv, near La Grange, Fayette County. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). 151ST BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Crittenden Duval, The Adventures of Big Foot Wallace, the Texas Ranger and Hunter (Macon, Georgia: Burke, 1870). Thomas J. Green, Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier (New York: Harper, 1845; rpt., Austin: Steck, 1935). Sam W. Haynes, Soldiers of Misfortune: The Somervell and Mier Expeditions (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990). Harold Schoen, comp., Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence (Austin: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1938). Houston Wade, Notes and Fragments of the Mier Expedition (La Grange, Texas: La Grange Journal, 1936). Jeff is connected to the Mier Expendition/Black Bean episode through the Hastings side of the family. One of the men that drew a black bean and was shot was Martin Carroll Wing. Due to M.C. Wing s service to the Republic of Texas his family was granted land in Wilson County, Texas. In 1856, Jeff s 3xgreat grandfather, Green Hastings, purchased some of the M.C. Wing family land. Jeff s Dad still owns a portion of this land that has been in the Hastings family for over 150 years. The National Standard Flag approved by Sam Houston The official flag of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1839 and the battle flag until The Republic of Texas existed as an independent nation from March 2, 1836 when the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed and lasted until 1845 when Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. During these unique and turbulent times, 10 of Jeff s ancestors lived in the Republic of Texas. Phillip Goodbread, Sr. Click here to see his page in the Daughter of the Republic of Texas Patriot Ancestor Album by Herbert C. Banks. Phillip Goodbread, Sr. s eldest son Joseph Goodbread was the first person killed in 1840 in Shelbyville in what was to become the Regulator-Moderator War. Phillip Goodbread, Sr. was Jeff s 5X great grandfather. REGULATOR-MODERATOR WAR The Regulator-Moderator War was a feud in Harrison and Shelby counties in the Redlands of East Texas from 1839 to The principal leaders of the Regulators were Charles W. Jackson and Charles W. Moorman, and the principal leaders of the Moderators were Edward Merchant, John M. Bradley, and Deputy Sheriff James J. Cravens. The roots of the conflict lay in the frauds and land swindling that had been rife in the Neutral Ground, the lawless area between the American and Mexican borders. One such dispute involved Joseph Goodbread and Sheriff Alfred George, who summoned Charles W. Jackson to

9 his assistance. Jackson, a former Mississippi riverboat captain and a fugitive from Louisiana justice, shot Goodbread at Shelbyville in Jackson then organized the Regulators to prevent "cattle rustling." In turn, the Moderators were organized by Edward Merchant to moderate the Regulators. The first major confrontation between the groups came on July 12, 1841, at Jackson's trial before Judge John M. Hansford, a friend of the Moderators and Goodbread. The Regulators intimidated the court so much that the trial could not proceed. They also exacerbated the situation by burning the homes of the McFadden family and "Tiger Jim" Strickland. The hostilities escalated; Sam Houston reportedly stated, "I think it advisable to declare Shelby County, Tenaha, and Terrapin Neck free and independent governments, and let them fight it out." Jackson and an "innocent Dutchman named Lauer" were ambushed and killed by the Moderators, and Moorman replaced Jackson as leader of the Shelby County Regulators. Moorman, who may have been wanted for forgery in Mississippi, led a party to avenge Jackson and Lauer. They surprised the assassins twenty-five miles north of Crockett. The McFaddens were tried in Shelbyville in October 1841 for the Jackson-Lauer killing, and all were hanged with the exception of the youngest brother. The quarrel reopened with a dispute between Runnells, a Regulator, Hall, an ex-regulator, and Stanfield, a boarder at the Runnells house. Stanfield accused Hall of hog theft and shot him dead in Shelbyville, and Hall's friends called upon the Moderators for revenge. Although Stanfield escaped from the Shelbyville jail, he was pursued by the Halls, who also ambushed Runnells. At this point Moorman's archenemy, John M. Bradley, became leader of the Moderators. Bradley and Moorman went to court, where Regulator judge John Ingram nullified charges against Moorman, and Moderator judge S. F. Lester dismissed the murder charges against Bradley and Hall. James Hall was shot and killed while he was plowing. The Moderators met at Bells Springs in the summer of 1844 and renamed themselves the Reformers. They excluded Bradley and elected James J. Cravens as their leader. They determined to occupy Shelbyville. The Regulators decided to dispose of Bradley and plotted to extend their control throughout Texas. The feuding groups signed a truce on July 24, 1844, which protected "good and unoffending citizens." Bradley, presumably beyond the pale of such protection, was "regulated permanently" at a Baptist camp meeting near San Augustine on July 28, Retaliation came in the form of the murder of Louis Watkins. The struggle was again renewed in August About 225 Moderators attacked sixty-two Regulators near Shelbyville. The Regulators were reinforced by prominent citizens from Harrison County, one of whom was killed. The Moderators then occupied a log meetinghouse four miles from Hilliard's Bridge, and Moorman and the Regulators launched a surprise attack. The skirmish was known as the Church Hill Battle to the Regulators and Helen's Defeat to the Moderators, in reference to Helen Mar Daggett Moorman's ride to spy on the enemy camp. There were few casualties, and the action was indecisive. On August 15, 1844, President Houston ordered Travis G. Broocks and Alexander Horton to take the militia and make peace in East Texas. They arrested ten leaders from both sides and brought them to San Augustine. The Regulators stampeded, but the Moderators stood firm and arrested Broocks, who was soon released. A committee consisting of Judge William B. Ochiltree, Isaac Van Zandt, and Senator David S. Kaufman, among others, drafted an agreement disbanding both factions. The document was accepted by James Truitt and John Dial for the Moderators and Middleton T. Johnson and John McNairy for the Regulators. Truitt and Dial had just defeated their cosigners in an election for the Texas Congress. Watt Moorman was later arrested by Horton and was eventually shot by Dr. Robert Burns. Both Regulators and Moderators amicably joined Capt. L. H. Mabbitt's company to serve in the Mexican War, presumably much to the relief of Sam Houston and much to the ire of Gen. Zachary Taylor. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gilbert M. Cuthbertson, "The Regulators and Moderators: A Tale of Old Tenaha," Texana 12 (1974). John Warren Love, The Regulator-Moderator Movement in Shelby County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1936). John W. Middleton, History of the Regulators and the Moderators (Fort Worth: Loving, 151ST

10 151ST 1883). C. L. Sonnichsen, Ten Texas Feuds (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1957; rpt. 1971). Gilbert M. Cuthbertson. (From The Handbook of Texas Online). Daniel Bird and Minerva Goodbread Bird Click here to see his page in the Sons of the Republic of Texas Book by the Sons of the Republic of Texas. Daniel Bird served in the Texas army in 1836, and also has the first recorded deed in Montgomery County, Volume A, page 1. Daniel Bird is also the brother to Captain James Bird. Daniel Bird and Minerva Goodbread Bird were Jeff s 4X great grandparents. Documents related to Daniel Bird s Deed in Montgomery County James Bird Captain James Bird was involved in security and command of minutemen companies in the immediate area around Gonzales town. He received a headright certificate 30 Jan 1838 for a league and labor of land from the Washington County Board which states he came to Texas in He received 320 acres

11 of land for service (Certificate No. 1745) 21 Jan 1838 for October 6 to December 20, 1835 and Donation Certificate No. 477 for 640 acres of land 26 July 1838 for participation in the Storming and Capture of Bexar, December 5 to 10, Bird served with Captain William J. E. Heard's Company at San Jacinto. While living in Gonzales Co, he appointed Arthur Swift his agent to survey bounty land in DeWittCo on 19 April Capt. Bird commanded a company of 20 to 30 Gonzales men at the Battle of Plum Creek where he had set up camp on 10 Aug 1840 and was on guard for the approach of the Comanche force moving north after the raid on Linnville on the coast when joined by other Texan companies to meet the Indian force. (From Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas , Wallace L.McKeehan, All rights reserved) 151ST James Hampton West and Jane Ann Walker aka Indian Jane West Some of Jeff s relatives say that this is the same James West that served with the New Orleans Grays at the Siege of Bexar and was severely wounded. See the list of wounded from the battle. However, other historians assert that the James West wounded at the Storm of Bexar likely died with Fannin at Goliad. Jeff has not found clear proof either way. James Hampton West and Jane Ann Walker were Jeff s 5X great grandparents.

12 Wade Hampton West and Susan Humphreys West Susan lived in what is now Texas under 5 of the different flags that have flown over Texas. Wade Hampton West served in the Texas army in 1836 and his brother James and his brother-in-law, Peter Tumlinson (married to Harriet West), were two of the early Texas Rangers. Hampton and Susan s son Martin Sparks West was the first school teacher in Wilson County, Texas. 151ST Wade Hampton West and Susan Humphreys West were Jeff s 4X great grandparents. Mary Berry Humphreys Mary Berry Humphreys was Susan Humpreys West s mother. She was married to William Humpreys and it appears that they moved to the Northeastern portion of what is now Texas before Mary Berry Humphreys was Jeff s 5X great grandmother. Sylvanus Richard Pony Bird and Mary Jane West Bird They married in 1858 and had 11 children and apparently lived a quiet life in Wilson County near current day Stockdale, Texas. Sylvanus Richard Bird and Mary Jane West Bird were Jeff s 3X great grandparents.