Fort Bend County TX

Biographical Sketch of Long, Jane H., Mrs.

The Mother Of Texas Mrs. Jane Herbert Long, called “The Mother of Texas,” was born on the 23rd day of July 1798, in Clark County, the State of Maryland . Her father was General William McCall Wilkinson, of the United States Army, and her mother was Annie Herbert Dent. They were married February the 24th, 1774, and Jane Herbert was their tenth child. One of her sisters, Barbara, was born in June 1784, and she married a Mr. Wood. He died and she married Alexander Calvitt, December 18th, 1814, and she died December 19th, 1858, in Brazoria County, Texas, where … Read more

Biography of Foster, Randolph

“Uncle Ran.” Foster, as he was familiarly known in his old days, was among the first settlers of Fort Bend County, coming with Stephen F. Austin in the first installment. “Uncle Ran.,” however, had been to Texas and camped within the present limits of Fort Bend County prior to the advent of the colonist. He was a native of Mississippi, and married there Miss Lucy Hunter. His league of land was located in. Fort Bend County, nine miles above Richmond, on the east side of the Brazos River. During the time that Austin was with the colonists on the Brazos, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Davis, William Kinchen

Mier Prisoner One of the early pioneers of Fort Bend County, was born in the State of Alabama on the 11th day of November 1822, and came to Texas in the month of February 1830. Six years passed away, and when but fourteen years of age he helped to build a fort at the mouth of the Brazos, and in 1839 served in a campaign against the Indians around the head of the Brazos. In 1842 Captain Davis went out with the Somerville expedition, and when the command dissolved on the Rio Grande and a portion of the Texans went … Read more

Biography of Stafford, William

William Stafford, one of the early settlers of Fort Bend County, was a native of Tennessee, but emigrated from that grand old State to that of Louisiana, where he engaged in raising cane and, making sugar. He was married twice; his first rife was Miss Donald, of Tennessee, and the second Miss Martha Cartwright, of Louisiana. In 1822 he came to Texas as one of the colonists of Stephen. F. Austin and first located near San Felipe, but later settled at what is now known as “Stafford’s Point” on Oyster Creek, in Fort Bend County, fifteen miles east of Richmond. … Read more

Biography of Austin, Moses

For the information of our readers who are not familiar with the early colonial scheme of settling Texas with American colonists when it was a province of Spain, we will give a short sketch of the man in whose brain it originated and the various causes which led to it. Moses Austin was a native of Connecticut, born at the village of Durham in 1767. When a boy he went to Philadelphia, and in 1787 he married Miss Maria Brown. His brother, Stephen, was then at the head of an important house in Philadelphia, and Moses Austin soon after his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Robert W. Thurston

ROBERT W. THURSTON. One of Madison County’s youngest stockmen, Robert W. Thurston has grown up in this County, and from his boyhood days was familiar with the town and the stock industry, He believes in farming as one of the greatest industries to which man can apply his energies, and his success is almost a matter of course, since he was trained to the business in the same way that other young men are trained to enter professions or commercial lines, Mr. Thurston has the management of his father’s large farm of three hundred and sixty seven acres in Monroe … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Pearson, E. A. Major

Fort Bend County, Sheriff Edward, Adolphus Peareson, present Sheriff of Fort Bend County, was born in Matagorda County, Texas, on the 2nd day of September 1867. His father, P. E. Peareson, was a native of Alabama, but came to, Texas when a child at a very early day and first settled with his parents in Victoria County; married Miss Minnie Rugely in Matagardo County, and came to Fort Bend County in 1867. The Peareson family have had representatives in every war in which the United States has been engaged from the Revolution of 1776 to that with Spain in 1898. … Read more

Other members of Company H, from Fort Bend County

Captain John T. Holt, resigned in December, 1861. First Lieutenant Thomas S. Weston, promoted to Captain in, December, 1862. W. D. Adams, Third Lieutenant, resigned in. August, 1864, and died in April, 1865, while on his way home. G. Thompson, discharged in July, 1862. E. A. Bolmes, discharged in, February, 1862. J. H. Edmonson, Fifth Sergeant, promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant, transferred to Texas and promoted to Assistant Quartermaster, and died in Galveston, in 1868. He was a Brazoria County man, but enlisted in Fort Bend. Dave S. Terry, son of Colonel Terry, and first corporal, promoted to Captain on General … Read more

Biography of Ralph B. Clark

RALPH B. CLARK, In his native city of Anderson Mr. Clark has found ample scope and opportunity for effective business enterprise and has gained a secure position as a representative citizen of the County with good claims upon popular confidence and esteem in the community that has always been his home, and in the progress and prosperity of which he maintains the deepest interest, He is a member of the firm of Clark-and Haber, which conducts a flourishing retail jewelry business, and is also general manager of the Merchants Fire Insurance Company, one of the strong institutions of its kind … Read more

Biography of Calder, R.J., Capt.

Veteran Of San Jacinto Captain Calder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 17th of July 1810, and was the son of James H. and Jane E. Calder (nee Miss Caldwell). His father dying when he was very small, young Calder was raised by his paternal uncle, Major James P. Caldwell (a noble and generous man), until he arrived at the age of manhood. From Maryland he, his mother, and Major Caldwell, moved to Kentucky, and from there to Texas in 1832, settling in Brazoria County. Soon after trouble commenced with the Mexican authorities, which culminated in the battle of … Read more

Biography of Weldon B. Gorden

WELDON B. GORDEN. Since 1894, Weldon B. Gorden has been a resident of section 3, Monroe Township, where he is the owner of an excellent property of two hundred acres, lying on the Gorden Grove road, about five miles north of Alexandria, During this time he has been connected with various enterprises of an agricultural nature, and has fairly earned the leading position which he occupies among the farmers of his locality, Mr. Gorden was born half a mile east of his present farm, October 18, 1859, and is a son of James and Susan (LaRue) Gorden. Anderson Gorden, the … Read more

Biography of Purl Dean

PURL DEAN. In the personnel of the live business men of the thriving town of Summitville, Indiana, Mr. Dean, of the well known firm of Dean & Tomlison, stands for progress, aggressiveness and honesty in the execution of his business interests, He is known in Madison County as possessed of rare business acumen, which is a requisite that is a direct aid in the advancement of any village, town or city. Mr. Dean is a native of Madison County, Indiana, and was born March 29, 1873, the only child born to his parents, Calvin and Dee (Reed) Dean, both residents … Read more

Biography of James W. Potts

JAMES W. POTTS, A business enterprise of Summitville which is a reliable source of supplies in the hardware and implement line to the greater part of Van Buren Township in the store of James W. Potts and his partner, Mr. Vinson, Mr. Potts has been known in Van Buren Township since childhood, He is an aggressive and able young business man, and for a number of years followed farming in this vicinity and in Delaware County, His practical knowledge of agriculture has been an asset in his present business, since he knows exactly what the agricultural community needs in the … Read more

Biography of Homer E. Howard

HOMER E. HOWARD. A substantial and prosperous citizen of Madison County, Homer E. Howard, now engaged in farming in Van Buren Township, was for many years identified with the mercantile interests of this part of the County, having been one of the leading druggists of Summitville, He was born September 16, 1872, in Ross County, Ohio, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, Robert C. Howard. At the age of twenty-five years Robert C. Howard migrated from his Ohio home to Indiana, locating first in Delaware County, where for five years he was engaged in business as a general … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Andrus, E. P.

Fort Bend County, District Clerk Edgar P. Andrus was born in Richmond, Fort Bend County October the 34th, 1858. His father, Walter Andrus, was also born in Fort Bend: County in 1830, on the east side of the Brazos River, about four miles from Richmond. The grandfather, Williams Andrus, came with the first installment of Austin’s colonists, and his league and labor of land, was located on both sides of the Brazos, the league on the east and the labor on the west, in the bend. When the Mexican army came in 1836, the Andrus family were living on the … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Allman

CHARLES H. ALLMAN. An enterprising and highly successful farmer of Van Buren Township, Charles Allman is a fine representative of the native-born citizens of Madison County, his birth having occurred, September 16, 1883, on a farm lying two miles west of his present place of residence, which is located four miles southeast of Summitville, His father, John Allman, for many years a prominent agriculturist of Madison County, was born and reared in Tipton County, Indiana, 1838. He married Leaner Perry, who bore him ten children, as follows Asbury, Phoebe J., Maggie, Edna, William, John, Cora, Lorenzo, Charles, and Myrtle. Brought … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Masterson, Willim

Fort Bend County, County Judge Judge Masterson is a native Texan, born in Brazoria, Brazoria County, on the 13th of August 1871. His father, Thomas Washington Masterson, was named for a distant relative of General George Washington, Thomas Washington being the great-uncle of Thomas W. Masterson, who was also born in Texas. The grandfather of Judge Masterson on his mother’s side was Dr. John G. Chalmers (gan historic name), who was secretary of the Texas navy during the days of the Republic. The mother of Judge Masterson was Annie T. Chalmers. She waft raised by General Thomas Green, being very … Read more

Biography of Foster, Randolph

In regard to the death of Mr. Foster, the following was published in the Galveston News in August, 1878: Richmond, August 27th. “Editors News: “To enable you to see what a mistake you made in your issue of 25th instant, in your extract from the “Four Counties,” I enclose both what you said and the obituary of Randolph Foster, which by mistake you convert into an obituary of T. M. Blakely, his son-in-law, at whose home Mr. Foster died. “Randolph Foster, as may be seen by the very terse and beautiful obituary as published in the Four Counties, which would … Read more

Biography of Newton Burke

NEWTON BURKE was born in Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana, and died in July, 1907, He was a contractor, a vocation he continued to follow during the best years of his life, A veteran of the Civil war, he participated actively in a number of important engagements, and was honorably discharged at the close of his term of enlistment, after which he took up his abode in Anderson and here plied his trade up to the close of his long and useful life, His widow, who survives him, still resides in Anderson, and is now in the sixty-second year of her … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Worthington, R. H.

R. H. Worthington is an old Texan, and one of the good and worthy citizens of Fort Bend County. He was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, on June the 6th, 1826, but came from Alabama to Fort Bend County in 1849. During the great yellow fever epidemic of 1853 he nursed patients almost incessantly, being a member of the Howard Association, organized at that time for the purpose of taking care of the sick. He escaped all of the dangers to life and health while engaged in this laudable work, and still resides at Richmond. His wife, Mrs. Mary … Read more