Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 26, 1962 Page: 8 of 16
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BASTKOP (TK\A>. X-
>VKKTISI-K. Jl'L\ 1'"'-
Bastrop Co. Land Grants
it d.parteil. How.ver, afnr ■
loi.n a time it went away. and
« >hort time afterwards was
killed at u marb) farm house.
Kvi'i in thuM far av\ay dttj>
t)u women played a pint >n
b.tth u this state. Sarah Cot-
tie wit' out . a widow who ap-
plied f <>!)< l.eajiue ill March
lh ;l. This « >- surveyed by
one Thoma- Bordet. Situated
01 thi left margin of the Col
orad" 1-iivei. lieHMi to Smith
ville than to Bastrop. Phis in-
strument was not recorded in
Bastrop County until June lf>.
1951.
Another woman colonist who
received a urant of land ill this
County was Martha Barker.
This was on the west aide of
thi Colorado and not far from
the town, .lust to show you
what 1 meant by the .-tilted
nnd formal wording mentioned
before, 1 am reading to you
part of th< Martha Barker Pa- \
tent.
This has in the left hand cor
ner the words "Third Seal" and
just below the words "Two
Reals". In the upper right
hand corner the words "For the
Biennial Term 1K34 1835,"
and reads as follows:
Hon. Commissioner:
1. Martha Barker, a colonist
introduced by R. M. Williamson,
Agent for Einpresario Benja-
min R. Milam for the contract
of which he concluded with the
Supreme Government of this
State, under date of January
12, l>2'i. with the greatest re-
spect make known to you: that
my station i.- that of a widow
and that with my family, 1 have
entered the County, with the
approval of the Agent of said
F.mpresario, I have selected ■ n«■
league of land in the colony of
same. For which reason I pre-
sent myself to you in order that
a? Commissioner with authority
to that effect, you may be pleas-
ed to admit me and put me in
possession of said land. It be
ing that I offer to settle and
cultivate it in accordance with
th< provisions of the law.
Town of Mina, June 12, l*3f>
Martha Barker
Thi.- petition is followed by
something in the nature of an
endorsement to Empresario
Benjamin R. Milan and signed
by Talbot Chambers. Still an-
other endorsement addr- -*>■'! to
Mr. Commissioner follows sign-
ed by R. M Williams. Then
follows the g, anting of the
hit '1 olituililllg proVISi • . etc
Due is that within one year she
must .-ettle and cultivate it
with:i. the provisions of the law
Tnis I- dated 1835.
\ 1 of these parts to Patents
-how thi Town of Mina to have
the place f execution,
it seems to me, establishes
clearly that Bastrop was
< ailed Mina. despite the
that Noah Smithwick in
his book "Evolution of a State"
-tates that he had no recollec
tion of Bastrop's ever having
called Mina. At the time
certificate- . x. hang. !"■
I and- to W! they had no tit -
w hat eve I . V- almost al. pill'
lie servici vu- at first paid
land warrant-, theie -vere,
.ourse, tho, '
had ciiculatio: •
the wa- locate
if her country, and then i another, t
there was certainly an element
of injustice, especially in the
cast of Mrs. Blakey who
£l\tli tWo son.- to die ill
defense
of
111
w henever one
.and claimed by
mount,
t ificates
years -ervici
been
This,
very
once
fuct
wa- threatened with the lo.--
of her home."
"Having no son old enough
t attend her business. Mother
Blak« y made me her agent. 1
went around to thi othei de-
fendants or interested parties
rather, and proposed to them to
all go in together and fight the
c aim before the courts; this
the> agreed to do. \V ithout
he Ins- of time, I retained Bill
wi tt this book hi was eighty Mack and Judge Webb to con
nine year- of am Hi- eye- duct thi defense, but when I
-1vrht was impaired and likely called i n the balance of the de
in- memory ylso, to some ex- fendents foi their share of the
tent. retainers fee. they hung back.
His daught< r, Mrs. N'anna : -a> ing that one case should de-
Smithwick Donaldson who w rote | cide all."
hi- story states in the preface "Hi.^usted with the desertion
to the book "there are probably our natural allies. 1 went
some inaccuru ie.-." One prob-
ably very accurate statement
made by Smithwick in this book
is that the year 1821' took the
first installment of colonists to
Bastrop County headed by Mar-
ts Wells including Billy I<eman
and Jesse Barker, Josiah Wil
i barger, Reuben Hornsby and
! others.
Another woman who was
• granted a headlight in Bastrop
County was Nancy Blakey who
was the mother in-law of Noah
Smithwick.
Mrs. Blakey i.- an ancestor
of the Burleson family of this
county. Her body is buried
on the land now wned by S.
J. C. Higgin.- Hi i land was
long r litigation and she - ems
to have had a fight in retain-
ing what .-he had been granted.
Many suits were in the District
Court of this County.
Mr. Smithwick tells us this
story about it.
"It was about ls40 or 1>I1
that T. J. Chambers laid claim
to four league.- of land on the
west side of the Colorado op
posite Bastrop, on which my
mother-in-law resided, also the
Hemphills, old Colonel Knight
and a number of others bad :o
,rated hcadright-. Chambers
was appointed judge of the
Mexican Government, and he ad
1 vanced a modest claim for forty
leairue.- of and in compensation
j for hi.- service-, though he nev-
j er held a term of court."
' Hi- claim may have been
! ju«t, that is to say legal, for;
; anything the trial of the case1
ideveloped to the contrary, but
to Mrs Blake\ and acquainting
j her with the situation, advised
j her to compromise with Cham-
1 hers. Being empowered to act
according to n\ judgement, I
went to Chambers and stating
the case, asked what terms he
would make. Chambers was
gentlemanly and affable and a
i likeable fellow, where withal.
Saidhe. '1 have no wish to rob
the widow and orphans, but,
if I relinquish my claim in her
ca.-e, it will weaken it in the
othe: cases. If Mr- Blakev will
accept a deed to half of her
| hcadright- 1.4(H) acres she can
then raise her certificate and re-
locate the whole amount.' To
this we assented, and tin family
thus saved their homestead."
According to the story by
Mr. Smithwick land sharks were
numerous in that period who
victimized those who, through
ignorance of the law, had not
exactly complied with it re-
quirement.-. What he called
lynx eyed land grabbers" had
their emissarit - in th•- land of-
fice and. wherever a land title
had a flaw in it, they hail cer-
tificates ready to file on the
land, thus compelling the set-
tler to buy the land from them
oi lo-e his improvemer t-s. Even
sometimes, he states, when
there was r.o flaw, these un-
scrupulous men would persuade
the holder that there was, offer-
ing to make the settler a deed
•o the land if he would lift hi-
ertifieate and transfer it t
them.
By tl is means they came i- -
•<) po -ession of many genuim
>eator had the
priviledg. <",1! •' >"•*'"
tificate an.: • ■ t .-.sew i.ei. .
a process Wl ef itself was
productiv. much confusion.
The hon.-' cttieis at last
rcacheil tin mit of their en
durance and 1" can to taKi hot
Htm and hemp
"A not. d • d pirate, wl,..
opeiated a ••• r th. -tat. , .lis
covered a f 1. 1 m 'I'1
which the •!!., !'- along '1:1
meal Cre. ■ 'I tr land and
promptly notified them of the
fact; al-o. that lu had located
the land. T' ■ - ■ 11 ers held a
meeting and pa-.-ed a resolution
breathing -ngi.v powder,
1 being p>. ent.' writes Mr.
Smithwick ' ' ' :ul >!1
terested p..;> 1 shortly after-
wards met t' e would b( locator
of the di-mited territory Mid
told him f 'ie ta k 1 had
heard."
" 'Why,' -.. i '!hi y would n >t
kill a fell •.* wo ild th.-v
•' *1 km t h.-y would.' I re-
plied. 'Old .1 J , the leader,
would just as .on kill you a-
he would i.ill a wolf that can),
prowling around hi premi-es!'
"The trespasser's feet appeal-
ed to be ^ _• i and i: t hi
j meanwhilt !■> legislature was
appealed ' ind t • orig.n.t
title of t 'tilers wa- con-
firmed. th'i- leaving them in
peaceable n ■ sum of their
j lands and hemes."
Noah Sin t w k. wh ■ I
I quote so often w a with the
Tumlinsor I... . ! for i time.
He .tates ■ i' -■ r •
for each tw ve monti he was
•rivet 12s' acres of land, w
rather, certificates for that a
He received three cer-
for a t i if b' over two
i wo nu n whose
terms In -crved out giving him
the full amount No one cared
anything foi land in those day
|i. -tates that he gave on. of
; his certificates for a hor-e
winch the Indians relieved him
of in les- than a week He in v-
er. he said, located an) of the
land, i i tin- hcadright to which
undei thi Mexican colonization
aw he w a entitled.
In leading of the harrowing
experiences of early I- vans, the
thought occurred to me that
the wondei wa- that more of
them did not succumb t«> incur
able nervous disease.-, beset a-
thc\ weie with in e, urits. both
phy-ical and economic. Subject
not onl\ to Indian depredations,
but m danger of being attacked
by wild animal- with which the
country then abounded. This
thought prompt - me to go back
to an'thi i of Mi Smithwick-
narrativi .'oncerning one of
the earlj Bastrop settlers and
an ancestor of the Haynie ami
Caldwell families with whom
mail) of jo,. .!!• acquainted.
The story goe like ttn-
"Thcre wa.- a parson Haynie
who lived with his son-in law
John Caldwell in Caldwell's
prairu « Now on Navarro Grant I
part of which was in Bastrip
County.
Pat-or Haynie it seems did
not preach much but wa- great
ly in demand when revenue wa*
needed to carry on a crusade a
gainst Satan. Few could equal
him when it came to bringing
in the cash. Now this John
Caldwell, son in-law of Parson
Haynie, came to Ha-' >p County
it. Is 0. going at once t • v here
he located the land upon which
h. per *. ttie g'eater j " • - >f
1 !;i.- life \ law yei by profes-
sion, iiiglily educated, and very
intelligent, he nece-.-aril) four.d
hi siirr >uiuiings very utuongen
ml ami wa often attacked with
h\prochrondila. under the in-
■ i .-'I , ■ ' w it'll he wonlil per
-na.i( himself that death wa
very neai
I In ie ode the tol'y a re
la ted b\ Mr Smithwick: "Hav
lllg II . a- I I to go t.. Ills house
one day. Mrs. ('aldwell met me
at tin gate Said -he, '1 am
vet) glad you came; Mr. ('aid
•veil has gore into one of hi
blu< -pell and if anybody can
toil; i him you can.' I took my
, .. a 1 Upofl entering thi' room
took a -ejit beside Ills bed lllld
without commenting at all on
health, plunged at once in-
to tr . all absorbing topic of
t:ie removal of the seat of
Government back to Houston,
taking pains to be a little ag-
gl e -iv. ill III) etalol-ement of
the Pri -id. tit - coursi
"Caldwell wa one of the bit
tere-t opponents of thi- move
and could not stand it long. At
fir-t his voire was no weak a-
to be aiiiu.-t ii audible, but it
-.iot, began to strengthen, and
diiectl) he raised hin -elf out of
bed anil dri - ..1 When his >u
g.-r would begin to cool 1 would
apply anothe ..f my hot appli
ati..ns By the time I was
ready t.> go In wa- ompletely
recovered
N w iiid M Caldwell,
when Mr Caldwell get. sick
again I'll know what doctor to
Mi ' t.w, .tat'-s that
,• : r.av• • ■ n • aiied a faith
i iri and likely would have giv
es; him prestige in * 'me cir-
cb W«- thus realise that al
wa;. - a- w the proper ly us - d
psychology has brought result*,
eve?, tr. mv age when psychiatry
wa- unknown
This \.,at,
"t the r„„„
often in •
been
•Sniltf,
1^1
'""'ttrkh',
cante to I .
i 1' Xa- w
aged \ *
origin*! . n,
grated hen
iirrt-.
m
'tr.* ,
wibi an
that
pi ivatio
death ,■
dian.. tmi, , . *'
'u'^
and .v.r,
dou- infi t,.,u
He .
a I ea Ur til I .
thr.at S(
moved to i ,fl1
age of v, , *
which KU, . ^
mg f >! i
ear!\ da;. , j "u
that w,
mi cofkditi
believe . t(1
how '■ ■ , ''S
Vved • . ;;1
" '
and eh,,.. w.( Uiii;
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Bastrop's I5th Annual
HOMECOMING
t
Is Scheduled for
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 2, 3 & 1
/ou are cordially invited to cm trie happy crowds
that will be attending the Centennial Memorial Ser-
ice, the big parade the rojeo shov/s, dances and boat
race. There v/:ll be pler/v ex^'.tement and thrills
for all . . . grown-ups and' k; ^ . . . the old and the
young!
We are looking forward Ac seeing
You v/hile you are in town
Our Store Is Fully Air Conditioned
Jas. P. Wood
JEWELER
t-
camaau'?
EVERYBODY WILL BE HERE FOR
Bastrop's lath \nnual
HOMECOMING
AND
Iliurstlav. I rida\ and Saturday. \ti«. 2. \ X 1
Lets get into thr n),nt of Old \* wher
thr pionrrr spirit pri>vail«H and the hardship* wer-
juat part of rvny day life- when neighbor, ,h«reo
troubles and happiness ,,hkr «nd true western hon
pital.ty was at its he,t l.et, .,!! pr , , ,,„t , |„. r
more of this hospitality 11
HOWDY! and WELCOME, STRANGER
OPFN Nf PA«Aht 7t "n,oy w,lh ,hr B,G
OPENING r ARADE on Hmrsday, the Boat Race Sat
urday, and three Bl({ Dance*' Y'all Come'
7
Lost Pines Lumber O
BILL and BARBARA BRINKMEYER
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Standifer, Amy S. Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 26, 1962, newspaper, July 26, 1962; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth237906/m1/8/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.