Joseph Reese/Charles Keller Reese/Stephen P. Winston/Fountain …lifeonthebrazosriver.com/ReeseWinstonStratton.pdf · 2014-08-10 · 3 [email protected] September-October

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[email protected] September-October 2012

Joseph Reese/Charles Keller Reese/Stephen P. Winston/Fountain Winston/Lafayette Winston

Asa E. Stratton Woodlawn Plantations

Brazosport Archeological Society

John McCroskey League Map 1879 The General Land Office of the State of Texas

John McCroskey received title to his one league of land in Brazoria County, Texas

bordering on the east bank of Cedar Lake and west of the San Bernard River in 1824. It is

doubtful that he ever did more than the minimum to obtain the property as his interests were in

other parts of Stephen F. Austin’s colony. By 1831-1832 he had sold his entire league of land.

Joseph Reese bought the NW 2/3 of the league and built a cotton plantation along Cedar Lake.

After the death of Joseph Reese the plantation was divided up among his living sons and the

heirs of his married daughters who had deceased. His son Charles Keller Reese was executor of a

large portion of the estate and also purchased the lower SE 1/3 of the league. Stephen P. Winston

from Alabama bought 1000 acres on the northeastern corner of the league in 1852 and then

acquired the original “Old Joseph Reese Place” in the name of his father William Winston of

Alabama. Money and slaves provided by his father turned the plantation into a sugar and

molasses producer in the middle 1850’s. Stephen’s brother-in-laws Fountain and Lafayette

Winston bought the 1000 acre tract in 1856 adding land to their holdings from the adjacent

Rebecca Cummings league producing sugar with a mill and steam engine which was located on

their 1000 acre tract. Financial difficulties were prevalent with Fountain and Lafayette Winston

before the Civil War and they were forced to sell the 1000 acre tract and sugar mill to Orange

Swan, who in turn sold it in 1861 to Asa E. Stratton Sr. Stephen P. Winston was able to maintain

control of the larger 1400 tract along Cedar Lake through the Civil War but was declared

bankrupt by 1870. Lawsuits followed with his heirs only receiving a 200 acre homestead

exemption which was quickly sold. Asa E. Stratton Sr. also had severe financial problems after

the Civil War and his heirs sold out the last of their interest the plantation which he called

“Woodlawn” in 1885. The Woodlawn plantation was bought and sold several times over the

years. The original cedar log home, purchased and saved by Mrs. R. E. L. Stringfellow in1946,

was restored by Percy T. Beacroft and given an historical marker in 1983.

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John McCroskey1 was one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred colonists, receiving

title to one league of land west of the San Bernard River along the east side of “Cedar Lagoon”

in Brazoria County, Texas August 16, 1824. It is not evident that he ever spent much time in

Brazoria County and probably only had the minimal presence to qualify for his league of land

which required him to make improvements within two years of receiving his league. He was

active in the San Felipe de Austin area being elected third lieutenant of a company of militia

there July 10, 1824. April 1825, John McCroskey sold John Williams the lower SE 1/3 of his

league for $55 indicating very little improvements associated with this tract of land.2 By 1831-

1832 the remaining 2/3 of the league was sold to Joseph Reese by McCroskey who was now

living on the Colorado River.3 September 1829 McCroskey was made the executor of the estate

of Eli Hunter. He later married Hunter’s widow, Sarah Ann. John McCroskey was deceased by

1832, for in that year Mrs. McCroskey married William Demetrius Lacey.4

Joseph Reese age 46, sold out his interests in the latter part of 1829 in Warren County,

Kentucky and with his wife Margaret Bowman Reese, four sons, two daughters, and nine slaves

entered Texas February 1830. His sons were Charles Keller, Washington Perry, Andrew Jackson,

and William Erwin Reese. His two unmarried daughters were Eliza Jones and Ellen Jane Reese.

His married daughter, Harriet Hite Reese, who had married Dr. Christopher G. Cox with their

son and one slave also entered Texas at the same time and later settled in the town of Brazoria.

Abraham Bowman, Joseph’s brother-in-law also came with the family.5 Although the family

received title to several tracts of land in Matagorda County they settled on their recently

purchased land in Brazoria County.

In 1832 Joseph Reese was wounded at the Battle of Velasco being permanently disabled.6

It is not clear why none of his sons were combatants. However, Charles Keller Reese and his

younger brother Washington Perry Reese joined Capt. John York’s company at Gonzales and

fought at the siege of Bexar December 1835. They reenlisted in Capt. Robert James Calder’s

Company K of Col. Edward Burleson’s First Regiment, Texas Volunteers, on March 13, 1836,

and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto.7 Washington Reese was killed by Comanche Indians in

Williamson County on August 27, 1839, while serving as a guide to several families including

1 John McCroskey spelled McCrosky, McCloskey, or McClosky in many records.

2 Brazoria County Deed Records: Spanish Translation 155/57

3 BCDR: ST 229/30 This deed is not dated but sign by the 2

nd Constitutional Alcalde Juan Austin who held that

office 1831-1832. 4 “MCCROSKEY, JOHN,” Handbook of Texas Online

(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc33), accessed September 1, 2012

Published by the Texas State Historical Association. 5 Willaims, Villamae, ed., Stephen F. Austin's register of families from the originals in the General Land Office,

Austin, Texas, Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1989 Register says the family was from Tennessee but

actually only passed through Tennessee on the way to Texas.

The Reese family is not listed in the 1826 Census of Austin’s Colony. In the McCroskey Cabin File is a letter

written by L. J. McNeil Jr. stating that his father had seen an original letter written by Joseph Reese in 1826 stating

he had recently built his home giving a description of the house. The original letter has not been located by the

author. This description supposedly matched fairly well the home on the opposite end of the McCroskey League

from Cedar Lake. The date of recollection could be in error and could possibly be 1836. It is proposed that there

were two homes, very similar in construction built at different times and built on opposite ends of the McCroskey

League neither of which was built by John McCroskey. 6 Bodie, Mary Delaney, Thunder on the Brazos, Taylor Publishing Company, 1978, p. 47.

7 Thomas W. Sutrer, “REESE,CHARLES KELLER,” Hand book of Texas Online

(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre19) accessed September 1, 2012

Published by the Texas State Historical Association

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc33

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre19

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the family of John Webster, whose wife and two children were taken prisoner. All other

members of the party were killed including Parker Reese, a cousin.8

Joseph and Margaret Reese’s daughter Eliza Jones Reese married Charles H. Bennet

in1830, started a family and by 1840 they were operating a hotel at San Luis Pass though short

lived.9 Their oldest daughter, Harriet Hite Reese’s husband, Dr. Christopher G. Cox, died during

the cholera epidemic of 1833. In 1835 she married Dr. Thomas R. Erwin by bond, starting a new

family in Brazoria. Harriet died in Brazoria 1840.

The Joseph Reese family built a cotton plantation on their portion of land along Cedar

Lake. According to tax records Joseph Reese owned 19 slaves in 1840 and 24 slaves by 1842.

In September 1842, in response to Adrian Woll’s raid on San Antonio, Charles K. Reese,

his sixteen year old brother William, Charles H. Bennet, and James L. Norris enlisted as privates

in Capt. John S. McNeill’s company of Col. James R. Cooke’s First Regiment of Brig. Gen.

Alexander Somervell’s South Western Army and took part in the Somervell expedition. Charles

H. Bennet and James L. Norris left due to the sickness of Norris.10

On the way back home Norris

died. In December 1840 when the army was reorganized on the Rio Grande for the Mier

expedition with William S. Fisher in command, Reese was elected captain of Company F. His

brother William and another Brazoria County resident Orlando Phelps were members of his

company.11

Reese was perhaps the most controversial figure involved in the dismal history of the

Mier prisoners. By Green’s account, Reese distinguished himself at the battle of Mier by taking

an active role in the fighting, staunchly opposing surrender, and advocating an escape plan

before the prisoners were marched south into the interior of Mexico.12

Samuel H. Walker, however described Reese’s behavior at Mier as “childish.” Walker

supposed the escape plot scheduled for February 3, 1843, was foiled by Reese’s warning the

Mexican guards, and on February 10, the evening before the uprising at Salado that precipitated

the Black Bean Episode, Reese was quoted as saying, “This can be stopped, and I will do it.” He

left the compound with a Mexican officer, and when he returned the guard was doubled. “This

circumstantial evidence,” wrote Joseph D. McCutchan, “but I think sufficient, at least, to lay

suspicion of the man who acted thus.” On May 4, 1843,Walker wrote to Albert Sidney Johnson

from Mexico City that the guards had been warned of the Texans’ intention to break out at

Salado and that “it is supposed” they were informed “by Capt. Reese of Brazoria whose conduct

has been dishonorable.” Actually according to other authors “there was no evidence to prove the

Mexicans had been informed”.13

Although Reese refused to take part in the escape attempt,

Thomas Jefferson Green claimed that “while the assault was going on he exposed himself as

much as anyone,” and after the guards were disarmed, he determined to join the escapees, but

again change his mind and surrendered to the Mexicans. Green stated that he remained at Salado

only because he failed to convince William not to risk the hazards of the journey back to Texas.

Reese, Green wrote, was “too tried a soldier and devoted a patriot to allow a suspicion either of

want of bravery or patriotism” and “a man of uncommon fortitude and daring.”14

8 Kemp, Louis W., “REESE,WASHINGTON PERRY”

http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Herzstein Library Veteran Biographies/San Jacinto Bios/biographies 9 San Luis Advocate, August 25, 1840

10 Texas State Archives pension applications for the Republic of Texas

11 Nance, Joseph Milton, Dare Devils All, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1998, pp.478-479.

12 Green, Gen. Thomas J., Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier, The Steck Company, Austin, Texas, 1935,

p. 101. 13

Nance, Joseph Milton, Dare Devils All, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1998, p. 215. 14

Sutrer, Thomas W., “REESE,CHARLES KELLER,” Hand book of Texas Online

http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Herzstein

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Virtually all of the Mier men were later imprisoned at Castle Perote. Thomas Jefferson

Green and Charles K. Reese joined a group of sixteen men who tunneled through the prison wall

July 2, 1843. Traveling on foot, they and two others reached Veracruz, where they found passage

to New Orleans on the Steamer Petrita. From New Orleans they returned to Brazoria on the Lone

Star.15

William Reese was released by the request of General Ampudia on March 15, 1843.

On October 18, 1843, Charles K. Reese married Miss Sarah Tait Norris. They had been

engaged before Reese left for the Somervell Expedition.

In August 1844 Joseph’s wife Margaret Reese died. The following year, November 1845,

Joseph Reese entered into a marriage contract with Anne Branham Robinson of Jackson,

Mississippi. Part of the marriage contract is as follows:

…The said Joseph Reese should the said marriage take place hereby covenants and

agrees that during the joint lives of himself and the said Ann B. he will maintain keep and support

her in such manner and style as the wealth he has or may acquire will authorize and justify and

that should the said Ann B. outlive him and be the survivor then during her life and from the day

of the date of his death she said Ann B. shall receive yearly and every year in such manner as his

estate properly managed will justify one third of the net increase of the estate of which he may be

possessed at the said day of his death, and it is understood that in ascertaining the said yearly

allowance of one third as aforesaid the said Ann B. may elect to take the Mansion House the then

place of residence of said Joseph Reese at a fair and proper valuation from year to year to be

deducted from the said one third together with such fixtures, servants and needful articles as she

may select to be valued and deducted in like manner the said Mansion House to be accompanied

with such of the surrounding lands as she said Ann B. may select for the purpose of cultivation

and from which she shall not be turned out but with her consent and said Ann B. agrees to be a

faithful obedient and true wife…16

Before Joseph Reese and his new bride had made it home to Texas, Reese died of

pneumonia, December 2, 1845 in New Orleans, Louisiana. As part of his will Joseph Reese

specified that this marriage contract would be honored:

I Joseph Reese of Brazoria County in the Republic of Texas, being now in the City of

New Orleans in the State of Louisiana weak in body but sound in mind, do make and ordain this to

be my last will and testament which I have caused to be written under my dictation as follows to

wit.

First I declare that on the 18th

day of November 1845 I entered into a marriage contract

with my present wife Ann B. Robinson previous to our marriage and I do now order and require

all and each of the provisions of the said marriage contract shall be fully and faithfully carried

unto effect according to the true intent and meaning thereof for such is my will.

Second I give and bequeath to my said wife in addition to what is given her in the

aforesaid marriage contract one hundred head of cattle and one hundred acres of my improved

land in Texas. I nominate Robert Mills of Brazoria in Texas executor….17

June 8, 1846 Ann B. Robinson Reese and Eliza Jones Bennet with her brother Charles

Keller Reese reached an agreement in which Ann would release all claim to her part of Joseph

(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre19) accessed September 1, 2012

Published by the Texas State Historical Association 15

Ibid. 16

BCDR: D 191/196 The Mansion House not fully described would have been located near Cedar Lake. 17

Ibid.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fre19

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Reese’s estate for $3600 with the first $1000 in cash paid up front.18

Eliza and Charles would

have to settle with the rest of the heirs later.

John McCroskey League Joseph Reese Partition January 1850

January 1, 1850 the estate of Joseph and Margaret Reese was partitioned among their

heirs. The probate court stipulated that the Joseph Reese 800 acre “Old Homestead Place” was

reserved for sale to pay off the debts of the estate. This included all the improvements thereon.

The remainder was divided into somewhat equal ¼’s with each amounting to ~500 acres. His

slaves and tracts of land in other counties were then also partitioned.19

Over the next several

years the hiring of the slaves belonging to the minors Thomas R. and Harriet Erwin would pay

for their school and board.20

Christopher R. Cox had reached twenty one by the time of the

partition and received ownership of two slaves. (See Appendix F) Charles H. Bennet as guardian

for his minor children would farm their tract and the family remained on the property for many

more years.

In 1849 William E. Reese sold his ¼ interest at $5.00/acre to his brother Charles K.

Reese in order to relieve himself of several debts he had acquired over the years and raise a little

cash.21

After seeing action in the Mexican War in 1847 he had married Henrietta Isabella

Robinson, the daughter of Ann B. Robinson Reese. They headed to the California gold rush

where William E. Reese died in 1851.22

May 3, 1850 the Old Reese Place “on which Joseph and Margaret Reese lived at the time

of their death” was sold to Dr. Henry W. Rhodes for $10,000 by Charles K. Reese and Charles

H. Bennet as Administrators of Joseph Reese’s estate per a decree by the probate court.23

That

18

Ibid. 19

Record of Wills: E 262/67 20

Probate Case 21

BCDR: E 136/38 & E 146/47 22

Reese, Charles Keller IV, “The Reese and Allied Families” 23

BCDR: E 432/34

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same month Dr. Rhodes and Charles K. Reese together bought the lower 1/3 of the McCroskey

League. Solomon Williams had lived on this tract until his death in 1845.24

It is evident from the 1850 Census that Charles H. Bennet and his children, Dr. Henry W.

Rhodes, and the Charles K. Reese family were all living in close proximity. Charles H. Bennet

would have been on his 529 acre tract, Dr. Henry W. Rhodes on the Old Reese Place, and

Charles K. Reese with his family on his 500 acre tract in a home he may have built on the eastern

end of the McCroskey League:25

Charles K. Reese 39 M KY Farmer

Sarah T. Reese 21F Ala

Mary O. 7F Texas Mary Ellen

James N. 4M Texas James Norris

Harriet C. 2F Texas Harriet Caroline

Charles S. 7/12M Texas Charles Keller

Charles H. Bennet 43M N. J. Farmer

Lewis T. Bennet 18M Texas

C. C. Bennet 15F Texas Caroline C.

C. E. Bennet 13F Texas Catherine C.

M. A. Bennet 9F Texas Margaret A.

P. B. Bennet 7M Texas Joseph Reese

R. M. Bennet 4M Texas Robert M.

Henry W. Rhodes 59M NC Physician

M. M. Rhodes 52F NC

D. C. Rhodes 21M Ala Physician

W. Taylor 25M NC Overseer

In the 1850 Agricultural Census Charles K. Reese is listed as having 100 improved acres,

$700 worth farm machinery, 2 horses, 4 mules, 100 milch cows, 8 working oxen, 500 head of

cattle, and 100 hogs. He produced 1400 bushels of corn, 50 of Irish potatoes, 600 of sweet

potatoes, 500 lbs of butter, 5 tons of hay, and 25 bales of cotton for 1849. Charles H. Bennet with

the same amount of improved acreage made 40 bales of cotton and a like amount of produce.

The 1850 Slave Census records Reese as owning 25 slaves at this time. Ten of these slaves may

have been actually owned by Thomas R. Cox and the two Erwin minors as the tax records

indicate Reese only had 15 slaves.

24

BCDR: E 413 & E 412 25

This home is now what is now called the McCroskey Cabin even though it was in all probability built by Charles

K. Reese.

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In November 1850 Dr. Henry W. Rhodes sold his plantation to his son-in-law Alexander

Ewing of Alabama.26

Alexander also purchased the 700 acre tract in the lower 1/3 of the league

along Cedar Lake.27

The next month Charles K. Reese purchased the plantation back for

$10,000.28

Stephen P. Winston arrived in Texas from Alabama in 1851 and January 1852 he

purchased a 1000 acre tract on the south east end of the McCroskey League for $10,536.76. This

included “all the improvements lately occupied by said Reese”, 300 bushels of corn, yoke of

oxen, one wagon, one grind stone and l lot of hogs.29

This did not include a 250 acre tract taken

off the SE corner sold to Burton B. Binion and on which he and his wife resided, November

1850.30

Stephen P. Winston purchased ~1300 acres along Cedar Lake including the old Reese

place “the same tract upon which the said Reese and his wife are residing”, ¼ interest in 2000

head of cattle, and 1000 bushels of corn for $20,000 from Charles K. and Sarah T. Reese,

October 1852.31

Charles and Sarah Reese would move their family to the opposite side of Cedar

Lake in Matagorda County on a piece of property Charles had purchased from Dewitt C. Rhodes

which included the plantation home of Dr. Henry W. Rhodes. Charles K. Reese died there

October 14, 1858. Sarah had preceded him in death in January 1858 and was buried in the Cedar

Lake Cemetery, where several of their young children and relatives were also buried.

Stephen P. Winston chose to live on the 1400 acre tract that included the “old Reese

place”. This may indicate the residence on the property was somewhat better than the home on

the 1000 acre tract or that the location was more advantageous. Stephen P. Winston actually had

bought the 1400 tract as an investment for his father William H. Winston residing in Franklin

County, Alabama. November 1854 Stephen deeded the property over to his father.32

William H.

Winston would continue to invest money and slaves into this plantation until his death.

26

BCDR: E 27

BCDR: E 547/48 28

BCDR: E 562/64 29

BCDR: F 200/02 30

BCDR: F 306/07 31

BCDR: F 440/41 32

BCDR: G 110/11

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Stephen P. Winston married Ann Catherine Winston, his first cousin, in 1848 and had

one child before their arrival in Texas. Ann C. Winston’s father, John Jones Winston of Greene

County, Alabama who was a veteran of the War of 1812, died in 1850. His will does not mention

his daughter Ann C. Winston. Perhaps he felt she had married well enough:

First: I give and bequeath to my wife Susan Winston my negro man John & Amy his Wife and

their four children…

Second: I give to my daughter Elizabeth Whiting the following negroes viz. Isaac & Martha his

wife & their five children Franklin, Margaret, Washington, Phoeby, and Isaac…

Third: The balance of my property of every description, real, personal, & mixed I give and

bequeath to my wife Susan Winston to hold and use for the benefit of herself & her three sons

Anthony, Fontain, & Lafayette Winston during her natural life, and at her death it is my will

and desire that Said property as so much of it as may remain be equally divided between my Said

three Sons, and if my wife Susan Winston shall think proper during her life to apportion off any of

Said property to my Said sons Anthony, Fontain, & Lafayette is my will & desire that an equal

proportion be given to each so that they may share alike in the final decision…

Fourth: I do hereby constitute and appoint my wife Susan Winston Executrix33

An inventory of his remaining property lists 24 more slaves.34

Susan Winston and her sons, Anthony, Fountain, and Lafayette also moved to Texas

~1852. Anthony Winston married that same year and brought his new bride. He had purchased a

908 acre sugar plantation in the Joseph Mims league in December 1851 and would reside there.35

In December 1852, Susan Winston purchased 666 2/3 acres in the Susan Cummings league

adjacent to Stephen P. Winston’s holdings in the McCroskey league for $3000.36

Shortly

thereafter she sold the property to her son Fountain Winston.37

Fountain Winston’s 666 2/3 Acre tract NW of 1000 Acre Tract

33

Winston Family File 34

Record of Wills: B 164 35

BCDR: F 165/67 36

BCDR: F 426/28 37

BCDR: F 442/43

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Tax records in 1853 indicate that Stephen P. Winston had 25 slaves of his own and 61

belonging to his father working his plantation. Fountain Winston owned 18 slaves and Anthony

25. The following notice was posted in a local newspaper indicating one of Stephen’s slaves was

a runaway:

$50 REWARD

LEFT the subscriber about the 15th

June last, a negro man named TOM HINTON. He is

about 5 feet 11 inches; dark complexion; about 30 years old; speaks quick, and is rather more

sensible than common. He took with him a dun Mule—no mark or brand.

The above reward will be paid on delivery of said negro to me on Cedar Lake, if caught

out of Brazoria or Matagorda County; if within said counties, I will pay $25 for his delivery.

STEPHEN P. WINSTON

Brazoria, July 25, 185438

The next year a much more serious event was reported indicating the often brutal

conditions of slavery:

…a reward of two hundred dollars is offered for the apprehension of one J. M.

Hollingsworth, who killed a negro man on the plantation of Mr. Winston on Cedar Lake, in this

county, last Saturday. Hollingsworth, who was the overseer on the plantation, struck the negro,

who was an old man, over the head several times with the heavy end of a whip for not having

properly done something that he was ordered to do. The negro lived several hours after receiving

the blows. Hollingsworth, when last seen, was crossing Cedar Lake, on his way west. If he is

arrested, he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 39

Although Anthony Winston, who had bought an already running sugar plantation, was

projected to produce 150 hghds of sugar in 1854, Stephen and Fountain would have to build their

production from the ground up.40

In 1854 Stephen P. Winston produced 50 hghds of sugar using

horse power and through the influx of more capital from his father he upgraded to steam power

in 1855. Anthony Winston is not listed as producing any sugar possibly due to the hurricane of

1854. In 1855 Stephen P. Winston’s plantation produced 105 hghds and his father’s plantation 90

hghds. Even though Anthony Winston produced 104 hghds of sugar in 1855, he was selling out

his place, reserving his sugar mill and steam engine for Stephen P. Winston, and moving to

another location north of Brazoria starting a cotton plantation:

FOR SALE

A FIRST RATE HORSE SUGAR MILL, with wooden wheel, &c., &c. The same can be seen

on the plantation of A. Winston. It will be sold low for Cash, or good paper.

Stephen P. Winston41

William Winston’s plantation is credited with 90 hghds in 1855 and Stephen P. Winston

on his father’s plantation with 90 in 1858.42

38

Texas Planter, October 18, 1854, Brazoria, Texas 39

The Texas Sun, March 3, 1855, Richmond, Texas &The Texas State Times, March 3, 1855, Austin, Texas. It is

unknown to the author whether Hollingsworth was ever caught. 40

Columbia Democrat, November 29, 1853, Columbia, Texas 41

Texas Planter, July 18, 1855, Brazoria, Texas 42

Champomier, P. A., Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1854-55, With An Appendix, New

Orleans, 1855

10


Even though Stephen P. Winston had a heavy influx of capitol from his father he still had

a note of $6551.50 with David Hardeman in1855 to cover the cost of buying the sugar mill and

engine on Anthony Winston’s plantation for his own plantation.43

This purchase would later

come back to haunt the whole family. By 1855 Stephen P. Winston was ready to sell his personal

1000 acre tract and practice law:

FOR SALE

MY PLANTATION, situated between the Bernard River and Cedar Lake, containing

ONE THOUSAND ACRES OF LAND—150 of which are in a fine state of cultivation; and about

90 acres have a fine stand of Cane. The place is known as one of the finest Plantations in Brazoria

County. There is, belonging to the place, one of the Niles’ large Engines and Sugar Mills. Also,

Kettles, &c. &c., not yet put up.

I will also sell about 20 LIKELY NEGROES, and Mules, Horses, Cattle, Corn, &c., &c.,

with the place.

Persons wishing to buy will do well to call and examine for themselves, as I am anxious

to sell and go into other business…44

In 1856 Stephen sold his 1000 acre tract to Fountain & Lafayette Winston with all the

improvements for $28,000. The sugar mill, in construction, was located on this tract. From deed

records it was also noted that Fountain & Lafayette were already living with their families in the

residence located on this tract.45

Thereafter Fountain Winston sold ½ interest in the 666 2/3 acre

tract in the Rebecca Cummings league to Lafayette.46

Drawing by A. A. Platter

Champomier, P. A.Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1855-56, With An Appendix, New Orleans,

1856.

Champomier, P. A., Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1858-59, With An Appendix, New Orleans,

1859 43

BCDR: G 229/32 44

Texas Planter, July 18, 1855, Brazoria, Texas 45

BCDR: G 696/98 (The so called McCroskey Cabin location) 46

BCDR: G 695/696

11


The original residence was a one story, “double log cabin”, a dwelling with a room on

either side of a dog trot. The home had a brick fireplace at either end of the house. The west

room had one window facing west and the east room had two windows facing east. On the south

front each log room had a center door facing south on the front porch. There was a window on

either side of each center door. A door was cut into the dog trot from each log room. On the east

side of the hallway were steps leading to an upstairs room. The cedar logs were hewn but the

flooring in the sleeping lofts and the cedar beams that support the upper floor were cut with a

saw, possibly steam driven. On the northwest side of the home was an underground brick

cistern.47

April 1857 Stephen P. Winston’s father, William H. Winston, passed away in Alabama.

He was possessed of a very large estate. As part of his will he left several stipulations for his

sons that he had already advanced money to over the years. In the case of Stephen, he was very

particular:

…to my son Stephen P. Winston my plantation in Brazoria County State of Texas on condition

that he pays to me or my Executors Ten Thousand Dollars with Interest until paid, for the

improvements put on said plantation by me for the purpose of making sugar, the money paid out

by me for said improvements was estimated by myself & my son Stephen P. at Fifteen Thousand

Dollars, one half of said sum of Ten Thousand Dollars he is to pay by the 25th

day of December

1858 and the other half of said sum he is to pay by the 25th

of December 1859. Now it is my will

that he complies with said conditions, that he have said plantation. I will to my son Stephen P. my

negro man named Billy his wife July and their children…48

As December 1858 approached Stephen P. Winston had assumed control of his father’s

plantation in Brazoria County, however, he did not have the cash to pay William Winston’s

estate. In January 1858 Stephen signed a deed of trust for $1108.97 for Robert & David G. Mills

of Galveston using the plantation, which he did not actually own, as security as well as his

slaves.49

The financial resources of all Winston family members in Texas were stretched beyond

their means. Anthony Winston was on somewhat better financial terms having sold his sugar

plantation in the Mims league and moving to a tract on the Brazos River just north of Brazoria to

start a new cotton plantation.

In the spring of 1858 Fountain and Lafayette Winston obtained small loans to obtain

operating money and had to use slaves as security.50

June 1858 their mother, Susan B. Winston,

passed away and was buried at the Cedar Lake Cemetery (actually located on part of the

Shadrack Rowe Plantation). At the end of the year Lafayette Winston actually purchased an

additional 8 slaves from Hillery Moseley, his brother-in-law who was now living in Brazoria

47

Platter, Allen Andrew, “Educational, Social, and Economic Characteristics of the Plantation Culture of Brazoria

County, Texas”, Doctorial Dissertation Education, University of Houston, 1961, pp. 144-146 & John McCroskey

Cabin File Brazoria County Historical Museum.

48 Record of Wills: C 36/38

49 BCDR: H 361

50 BCDR: H 426 & H428

12


County.51

Fountain and Lafayette produced 100 hghds in 1858.52

In the spring of 1859 Fountain

Winston was again raising operating cash by securing notes with his slaves.53

Stephen P. Winston would travel to Mobile, Alabama with his wife and family in order to

settle financial matters with his family. His plantation (actually his father’s) was put up for sale:

SUGAR PLANTATION FOR SALE

I offer for sale my plantation on Cedar Lake, Brazoria County, 1400 hundred acres, 325 in

cultivation, 160 in cane;--Sugar House large—Thirty-horse power engine, and other machinery in

proportion. Improvements good and substantial—built mostly of Cedar and Live Oak. Cedar

timber on the place. I will sell 14 or 15 negroes. Also Mules, Oxen, Cattle, Hogs, and farming

utensils, with the place.

June’5954

The family residence as described by L. J. McNeil was one storey, with an open hallway

through the center and a chimney at each end. A third fireplace was in the kitchen wing,

extending northward from the east end of the building. A cistern at the northeast corner was

convenient to the kitchen. The logs used in the house were hewn square.55

By the later part of 1859 Stephen P. Winston and his family were in Alabama, while

Lafayette Winston may have been left in charge of his plantation back in Texas. John A.

Winston, the older brother of Stephen, wished to settle things with Stephen by paying the estate

51

BCDR: H 658 52

Champomier, P. A., Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1858-59, With An Appendix, New

Orleans, 1859 53

BCDR: J 88 & J 97/98 54

The Democrat and Planter, August 16, 1859, Columbia, Texas 55


County, Texas”, Doctorial Dissertation Education, University of Houston, 1961, p. 156. This does not appear to be

the description of a substantial structure or mansion. It is possible that L. J. McNeill had not seen the original home

as the hurricane of 1875 may have taken it down as Platter noted only an underground cistern marked the location of

the home.

13


of William H. Winston the $10,000 owed by Stephen. Additional moneys had also been

previously advanced to Stephen. January 1860, Stephen and Ann C. Winston signed a deed of

trust using the plantation and 22 slaves as security for two notes in the amount of $14,000 each

on the money advanced by John A. Winston.56

Stephen and his creditors now owned the

plantation.

While still in Mobile, Alabama in November 1860 Ann C. Winston died of tuberculosis

and was buried in Mobile. Their son, John A. Winston was born earlier that same year.

Fountain and Lafayette Winston had been sued multiple times for debts over the latter

part of the 1850’s. Though early on Stephen P. Winston had ample credit with R. & D. G. Mills

of Galveston, it was not always so for Fountain and Lafayette. When a creditor protested Mills’

continuing to furnish supplies to Stephen Winston, Mills replied that Mr. Winston was a man of

respectability and good intentions.57

Respectability and good intentions didn’t get the bills paid

on time. Lafayette had to sign over his half of the 1858 entire crop of sugar and molasses to R. &

D. G. Mills to cover his note of $2500.58

One of the promissory notes written by Fountain Winston for $550 to Anthony Winston

and transferred over to Francis M. Jackson had been unpaid for some time. In 1859 a judgment

was handed down against Fountain, Lafayette, and Stephen P. Winston since Fountain had used

them as security for his note. This case was taken to the state supreme court on appeal and

confirmed for the plaintiff.59

August 1860 the half interest of Fountain Winston in their 666 2/3

acre tract was auctioned off.60

Even cash to pay their taxes was hard to come by.61

Ammon

Underwood, who ran a mercantile business in East Columbia, also brought suit against Lafayette

Winston over an $800 debt. Work done by Joseph D’Arcy, who was a local mechanic that

specialized in sugar mill work, also went unpaid. Bill was for $352.91 with L. Winston

promising to send his crop with “We cannot pay this d[ra]ft, R & D G M[ills]” across bottom:62

56

BCDR: J 349/50 57

Holbrook, Abigail Curlee, “Cotton Marketing in Antebellum Texas”, SWHQ, Volume 73, July 1969-April 1970,

http://texashistory.umt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth177147/, accessed October 13, 2012. 58

BCDR: J 123 59

Civil Case 2186, Francis M. Jackson v. Fountain Winston, Lafayette Winston, Stephen P. Winston, District

Clerk’s Office, Brazoria County Courthouse, Angleton, Texas 60

BCDR: J 521/22 61

BCDR: J 620 62

Civil Case 2447, Joseph D’Arcy v Lafayette Winston, District Clerk’s Office, Brazoria County Courthouse,

Angleton, Texas

http://texashistory.umt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth177147/

14


According to the 1860 Agricultural Census Fountain Winston had 200 improved acres

and $4000 worth of farm machinery. His livestock were 11 horses, 8 mules, 3 milch cows, 6

oxen, 1 head of cattle, and 140 hogs. He produced 3000 bushels of corn, 40 of Irish potatoes, 500

of sweet potatoes, 100 lbs. butter, 10 tons of hay, 25 bales of cotton, 30 hghds sugar, and 4000

gallons of molasses. Lafayette had 600 improved acres and $12,100 worth of farm machinery.

His livestock were 27 horses, 28 mules, 30 milch cows, 20 oxen, 160 head of cattle, and 315

hogs. He produced 5500 bushels of corn, 365 lbs. of butter, 10 tons of hay, 133 bales of cotton,

67 hghds of sugar, and 24,000 gallons of molasses. Tax records indicate Fountain Winston

owned 23 slaves and Lafayette 26 slaves. The 1860 slave census, however, lists Fountain with 21

slaves in 4 dwellings and Lafayette with 66 slaves in 9 dwellings. This again would indicate that

Lafayette was taking care of Stephen P. Winston’s plantation.

The 1860 Federal Census in two separate dwellings:

Fountain Winston 28M Planter Alabama

C. R. Winston 27 F Mississippi Christina R.

L. A. Whiting 20 F Alabama Niece

Lafayette Winston 25M Planter Alabama

R. C. Winston 24 F Alabama Rebecca Catherine

John G. Winston 3 M Texas

Lafayette Winston 1 M Texas

Sue Whiting 19 F Alabama Niece

Isaac Winston 22 M Farmer Tennessee Cousin

Thomas Winston 31 M Farmer Tennessee Cousin

15


Based on the order of visitation by the census taker Anthony Winston and his family

were also living in close proximity as well as an overseer:

Anthony Winston 37M Planter Alabama

Catherine E. Winston 28F Alabama

Virginia C. Winston 6F Texas

Milton Winston 3M Texas

Ann C. Winston 8/12 F Texas

A. Waller 30M Overseer Virginia

Stephen P. Winston was living in Mobile, Alabama at this time:

Stephen Winston 31M Lawyer Alabama

A. C. Winston 29F Alabama Ann Catherine63

Mary C. Winston 11F Alabama

S. M. Winston 8F Texas Sarah Mary

A. C. Winston 4F Texas Annie C.

John A. Winston 3/12M Alabama

In January 1861 Fountain and Lafayette Winston sold their part of their cotton and

molasses from their 1860 crop to R. & D. G. Mills of Galveston. Lafayette made $4000 for 75

bales of cotton and 30 barrels of molasses and Fountain made $2500 for 40 bales of cotton.64

Even as Fountain and Lafayette Winston had been struggling to keep afloat, James Dick

Hill of New Orleans had brought suit against Stephen P. and Anne Catherine Winston for their

note originating in 1855 to D. Hardeman for ~ $6500. James Dick Hill won a judgment against

them April 1859 and foreclosed with Fountain and Lafayette Winston caught in the middle.65

At

auction January 1861, Orange Swan of Tennessee purchased the 1000 acre plantation tract, the

sugar mill, steam engine, and fixtures for $14500, barely half the price Fountain and Lafayette

had agreed to pay.66

Orange Swan already had a buyer for the property and promptly sold the plantation for

$21,500 to Asa E. Stratton Sr.67

Fountain Winston had been living in the home on this property.

Fountain and Lafayette Winston received $100 to release the property.68

Fountain and Lafayette Winston may have then resided at Stephen P. Winston’s

plantation with their wives, children, and extended families.

Asa E. Stratton with his fourth wife Mary Jane Chisholm and several children arrived in

Texas in 1859, living one year in Bastrop County before moving to Brazoria County. He had

63

Died November 1860/Census taken July 4, 1860 64

BCDR: J 636 65

Case 2186, James Dick Hill v Stephen P. Winston, Anthony Winston, Ann C. Winston, and D. Hardeman, District

Clerk’s Office, Brazoria County Courthouse, Angleton, Texas. 66

BCDR: K 1/2 67

BCDR: K 8/11 68

BCDR: K 6/7

16


grown up in Athol, Massachusetts. At age twenty one he moved to Hillsboro, Jasper County,

Georgia, where he resided for sixteen years as a merchant, dealing largely in boots and shoes. In

1836 he removed to Panola County, Mississippi, where he purchased several large tracts of land.

Living in the area for more than twenty years he did well as a planter and was one of the early

directors of the Mississippi & Tennessee Railroad. He and Mary would have two more children

born to them in Texas while living at their new plantation they would call “Woodlawn”.69

With the outbreak of the Civil War Anthony and Fountain Winston joined the 8th

Texas

Calvary, Terry’s Texas Rangers, as did many young men of Brazoria County. Anthony A.

Winston enlisted September 1861 joining Co. A, while Fountain joined Co. L by signing on for a

90 day enlistment at Corinth, Mississippi.70

Lafayette became a private in General Joseph Bates

13th

Regiment Texas Volunteers Company G securing the Brazoria County coast line. After an

illness he had an alternate, John C. Davidson fill his position. Asa Stratton also joined Bates

Regiment rising to the rank of major and his son, Asa Stratton Jr. became a sergeant in Brown’s

Regiment 35th

Texas Calvary.

According to documents Stephen P. Winston was back in Texas by December 22, 1860.71

In 1863 he married Mrs. Sallie Winston72

with their first child being born in Texas that same

year.

During the early part of the Civil War a set of salts works was built on Cedar Lake near

the Gulf of Mexico by Lafayette Winston. The Winston’s kept summer houses nearby at the

mouth of Cedar Lake in Matagorda County. It is not clear who undertook the financing of this

operation.

U.S. Ship Morning Light73

69

Stratton, Harriet Russell, ed., A Book of Strattons, Vol. II, Frederick H. Hitchcock, New York, 1918, pp. 199-201. 70

According to John M. Winston his wife ran off to California while he was gone. They were legally divorced 1865. 71

Still not certain that Stephen P. Winston remained in Texas during the early part of the Civil War. A Stephen P.

Winston from Alabama received a Captain’s commission in the Alabama state artillery in early 1861 and resigned in

November 1861. 72

Unknown where this wedding took place or who was Sallie’s previous husband. 73

USS Morning Light was a sailing vessel 172 feet in length with eight 32 pounders on board. She was later

captured and burned by the Confederates at Sabine Pass, January 1863.

17


Union sailors from the USS Morning Light maneuvered on to shore near Cedar Lake on

November 27, 1862. After scaring off the slaves that were working at the salt works, they

destroyed tons of salt and heavily damaged the boilers, associated storage sheds, and equipment:

…Agreeable to your orders, we have this day destroyed the extensive salt manufactory

near Cedar Lake Tex.

Acting Master William W. Fowler, with one part, destroyed one factory of 8 large kettles

and all the buildings belonging to it. I with another party, destroyed those extending to the

northward, consisting of 4 large tubular boilers and 10 large and 4 small kettles.

The whole amount of salt ready packed for transportation was not far from 10 tons, all of

which was ruined.

Acting Master’s Mate G. H. Rice, with the three boats, covered our retreat in case of

attack from the guerrillas, a number of whom were mounted and watching our movements…

Henry W. Washburn

Acting Master and Executive Officer74

National Archives Map # 2-343 (Shows Lafayette Winston’s summer houses on the beach)

The next day the Confederates were waiting for the Union forces to make a second attempt:

…I this day landed with crew of the first cutter, covered by the third cutter, under charge

of Acting Master’s Mate G. H. Rice, for the purpose of destroying a salt manufactory near the

southwest end of Cedar Lake. We were unable to effectually destroy it, having been attacked by a

body of mounted rebels, numbering about 40, and a large number of footmen, who were able to

approach us unseen in the grass. In retiring, William Thompson seaman killed….I am unable to

state positively the number of the enemy filled, but think it not far from 4, as that number were

seen to fall from their horses.

74

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I Vol. 19, Government

Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1905, Letter, Acting Master and Executive Officer Henry W. Washburn to

Acting Master, Commanding USS Morning Light John Dillingham, November 27, 1862, , p. 381.

18


…nearly all the boats were slightly wounded and the boats completely riddled with balls

or slugs…75

The report of casualties by a surgeon aboard the USS Morning Light:

…I met the boats a short distance from the shore, and finding the wounded required no

immediate attention I ordered them all on board without delay and then proceeded to investigate

thoroughly the extent of injuries received, and have to report [to] you the following list of

casualties:

Killed.—Thomas Jones, ordinary seaman, gunshot wound in the mouth, passing

backward into the spinal column; also one between the sixth and seventh ribs, in the middle of the

right side, penetrating the lungs. He died almost immediately.

Wounded.—Michael Sugru, seaman, in the middle of the left forearm; a musket ball

struck the radius, fracturing it slightly, passing round its outer side and lodging under the skin

opposite the point of entrance. William Thomas, ordinary seaman, flesh wound, quite to the bone,

about 1 inch from the upper end of the sternum, near its left edge, as if made by a buckshot nearly

spent. Peter Le Provost, seaman, scalp penetrated on top of the head; the ball entered the front of

his cap, wounding the scalp on its way and passing out of the cap behind. H. W. Washburn, acting

master and executive officer, a contused wound, very slight, along the outer side of right forearm.

George H. Rice, master’s mate, struck on the left wrist by a spent ball.76

Official records on the Confederate side were not located but several articles in local

newspapers complete with a little misinformation and the usual bravado appeared after the

skirmish:

…We learn from Mr. F. W. T. Harrison, of Columbia, that on Thursday evening last a force of 40

men landed from a Federal bark off the old mouth of Cedar Lake, about five miles below the

mouth of the San Bernard, and destroyed Winston’s salt works.

The negroes who were in charge saw the enemy coming, and made good their escape.

The Abolitionists destroyed the kettles, burned the house, and scattered everything about

promiscuously. They then returned to their vessel…77

More about the Affair at the Mouth of Bernard—The Enemy Severely Punished

We learn from Mr. Henry B. Jones of Brazoria county, that the first attack on Winston’s

salt works, near the mouth of the San Bernard, was made on Wednesday last, by two launches. It

was followed by another on Thursday by the same party, on which days they totally destroyed the

works and scattered the salt all over the prairie, burnt the wagons and houses, and killed all the

cattle within reach.

On Thursday night detachments of Bennett’s company, of Bates’ regiment, and

Moseley’s company of Brown’s battalion, under command of Capt. Bennett, proceeded to the

spot, and concealed themselves before day. About an hour by sun a party of about thirty-five, in

two boats, left the Yankee schooner, and made for the shore. Landing, they proceeded towards the

salt works, leaving a guard of three at the boats. As soon as they had got a sufficient distance from

the boats, our men rushed down to the beach.

75

Ibid., p. 382, Letter, Acting Master and Executive Officer Henry W. Washburn to Acting Master, Commanding

USS Morning Light John Dillingham, November 28, 1862. 76

Ibid., pp. 381-382, Letter Acting Assistant Surgeon J. W. Sherfy to Acting Master Commanding USS Morning

Light John Dillingham, November 28, 1862 77

The Weekly Telegraph, Houston, Texas, December 3, 1862

19


Immediately a signal gun was fired from the schooner, and an exciting race took place for

the boats, both parties reaching them nearly at the same time, the Yankees a little in advance.—

Capt. Bennett immediately summoned them to surrender, which they did by raising or throwing up

their oars; but the wind being from the north, drifted the boats off. They were ordered back, but

refused to come, when the order was given to fire on them. They returned it, and a sharp fight

ensued, the Yankees making the best of their way towards the vessels, from which two more boats

put out to their assistance. When the firing commenced, our men had dashed into the water within

about ten paces of the enemy, and kept up their fire as long as they were in range. When the boats

from the vessel met them, they were but a short distance from shore, just beyond rifle range, and

but five were seen taken into the other boats, all of whom seemed badly wounded, requiring help

to make the change of boats. Is supposed the balance were killed. The boats were so riddled with

bullets as to be in a sinking condition, and had to be towed back to the schooner.

One of the wounded Yankees, shot through the breast was picked up in a drowning

condition, and is now in our hands, supposed to be mortally wounded.

On our side one man was shot through the leg and badly wounded. One horse was killed

and another slightly wounded. The shot that killed the horse was aimed at Capt. Bennett, who was

then in the water demanding their surrender.

The schooner opened fire as soon as the boats left shore, and shelled sometime, without

effect.

Thus, another lesson has been taught the vile plunderers who have come to despoil and

devastate our shores. The gallant men who keep the saddle on the coast to watch the foe, will let

few of them escape…78

Captain Lewis T. Bennet79

, who read the article in the Weekly wrote a letter to the

editor correcting what he felt were a few errors in the narrative:

Velasco, Dec. 5th

, 1862

…Late Thursday evening, we got word here that the Federals had landed in boats on

Wednesday and Thursday morning, at the mouth of Cedar Lake, and destroyed Winston’s Salt

Works, burnt his house &c. Col. Bates ordered me to take some men and go down to watch the

vessel, which was still at anchor close to shore. I took twenty-three men and proceeded to the spot,

posted ourselves in a hollow behind the sand hills and waited for daylight. I expected they would

land again during the morning. A few minutes after we halted, Capt. Moseley, of Brown’s

Battalion, with about thirty of his company and several citizens, came up from the opposite

direction, for the same purpose, and halted about three hundred yards below me. There was a sand

flat between us, the old bed of the lake, which we could not pass to bring our parties together

without exposing ourselves to view from the vessel, and thereby defeating our object. So each

party watched quietly in our places for the doming of the boasts. About 9 o’clock, two launches

full of men were seen to leave the vessel and pull towards the beach below our ambush.—We

could not move to get nearer, for we occupied the only position which would conceal us for a

moment. Capt. Mosel[e]y sent a man over to me to say that he would give the signal for the

charge, as he was in a better position to watch the boats. They landed about three-fourths of a mile

below our position, and at once proceeded up on the prairie about three hundred yards, to destroy a

portion of the salt works, which they had not time to demolish the day before.

Now was our chance. Capt. Moseley raised his hat, out we dashed and away we went. My

men had two hundred yards of deep sand to cross before we reached the beach, when we struck

the hard sand we let our horses out. There was some tall jockeying done in that race by both

78

Ibid. 79

Lewis T. Bennet was the oldest son of Charles H. Bennet and Eliza Jones Reese, who had grown up on the banks

of Cedar Lake in the McCroskey league.

20


parties, the Yankees and us; but four legs are better than two by considerable odds, in a long race,

as the Yankees found to their cost. They were playing a grab game among themselves for some

chickens Winston’s negroes had left behind, and probably did not see us until we were under good

headway. When we go up some of them were in the boasts, others were pushing the boats along,

and some had not reached them.

Capt. Moseley, who was about two hundred yards in advance of me, called on them to

surrender.—Some of them held up their oars, others kept pulling. Our men commencing firing on

them, with shotguns and six-shooters and rifles. The oarsmen were shot down, and they were slow

getting off, but they did not cease their exertions, nor did the boats drift away. If they had stopped

pulling, the boats could have drifted ashore—for the oars that fell from the hands of the men who

were shot, soon floated up on the beach. They sheltered themselves, to some extent, by lying down

and pulling at the oars. I think they fired about twenty shots at us, some of which took effect.

There were 30 men in the two launches, about half of whom, I suppose, were killed and the others

nearly all wounded. As soon as they were out of range they made a signal of distress, and the bark

sent out another launch to assist them aboard.

The bark did not fire but once during the fight, and did not shell us at all afterwards—but

in the evening, as she passed up towards Galveston, she shelled everything that came in sight.

The casualties in the fight were same as stated by your informant, H. B. Jones. In Capt.

Moseley’s company, one man shot through the leg. In my company, one horse killed and another

shot through the nose.

One Federal could not reach the boats, and returned to the shore, he was shot in the

breast. The prisoner said the bark was the “Morning Light.”

Mr. Fayette Winston, the owner of the Salt Works was present, and from the manner in

which he handled his rifle, I am certain he got some pay for his property destroyed. He expressed

himself perfectly satisfied with the results.

By publishing the above, you well set this matter right, and oblige your obedient servant,

Lewis T. Bennet80

Another short article claimed that “at least half the 28 abolitionists were killed. Our men fired all

round eight times. The prisoner taken was an Englishman. When taken he cried out “I am no Yankee! I’m an

Englishman! I didn’t burn the salt! This is the first time I’ve been ashore, and I didn’t want to come this time; I

didn’t even go ashore at Galveston!” And another “…at Winston’s Salt Works, Winston was on hand, and fired

eight shots, drawing a bead every time. As he discharged his rifle each time, he would exclaim, “that pays for a

bushel of salt.” He thinks he got pay for six or eight bushels, sure, before the Abolitionists got out of reach.”81

The Commander of the Morning Light John Dillingham made his final report short but

not far from the truth:

…I anchored the ship in 3 ½ fathoms water at a place called Cedar Lake. I sent three

boats’ crews and officers to destroy an extensive and valuable salt manufactory [that] I discovered

the day previous, which duty they most effectually performed, together with all the machinery,

carts, and implements, also destroying several tons of salt which was packed in hide bags for

inland transport, and returned to the ship without an accident.

This morning I sent another expedition about 4 miles farther down the coast, the wind at

the time not allowing the ship to cover the beach. While in the act of destroying the works, which

were not very extensive, a mounted troop of guerrillas charged on them, driving them to the boats.

One man surrendered or was taken prisoner; the rest escaped to the boats, when a sharp skirmish

80

The Tri-Weekly Telegraph, December 17, 1862, Houston, Texas 81

Ibid., December 5, 1862, Houston, Texas

21


took place, in which we had one man killed and one shot through the arm, not seriously. In the

meantime a slight breeze enabled me to approach the beach with the ship, when we most

effectually routed them from the beach….

The salt manufactory we destroyed was quite new. The one we partially destroyed was

rendered unfit for present use. Both seem to be gotten up at great expense and labor… 82

In November 1863 Union General Nathaniel Banks and an army of 7,000 troops,

transported by twenty-six ships, landed at Brazos Santiago, near the mouth of the Rio Grande

River and captured Brownsville, Texas. Over the next few weeks Union troops moved against

various points along the lower and middle Texas coast. In December Union troops occupied

Indianola and Port Lavaca. Convinced that the Federals intended to continue up the coast toward

Galveston, General John Bankhead Magruder began to concentrate all available Confederate

troops into southern Brazoria County.83

Camp Winston would be formed in the Cedar Lake area with ~1500 officers and men

scattered along the western fringes of Cedar Lake and several thousand other troops scattered

from the Brazos River to the San Bernard River down to Caney Creek.84

Ewing’s bridge located

just south of Stephen P. Winston’s plantation was the best place to cross Cedar Lake, therefore,

this area saw many of the large troop movements in the area. By February 1864 General Banks

abandoned the Texas coast and moved toward his Red River campaign. Little action was then

observed near the Cedar Lake area for the rest of the war.

Civil War Era Map – National Archives Map #Z51-8

82

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I Vol. 19, Government

Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1905, p. 380, Letter, Acting Master, Commanding USS Morning Light John

Dillingham to Rear-Admiral D. G. Farragut, Commanding Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, November 28, 1862. 83

Wooster, Ralph A., Civil War Texas, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, Texas, 1999, pp. 27-28. 84

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I Vol. XXXIV, pt. 2,

pp. 931-932.

22


After the Civil War, Stephen P. Winston and his family continued to live at his plantation

on Cedar Lake. During the Civil War Fountain Winston’s wife, Christina, left him for California

and he remained in Brazoria and Matagorda Counties until his death working on various

plantations. In 1863 Lafayette sold Fountain Winston his ½ of the 666 2/3 acre tract, which at

that time he had been living on.85

By 1868 Lafayette Winston had sold their summer homes on

the beach; he and his family moved to Kenner Prairie in Matagorda County where they lived for

many years before moving to near Alvin, Texas, where they started to prosper again.86

Anthony

Winston and his family continued to try to make ends meet on his plantation north of Brazoria

but after a short while ran into financial trouble.

The 1870 Federal Census lists the Stephen P. & Anthony Winston families in Brazoria

County:

Stephen Winston 41M Farmer Alabama

Sallie Winston 24F Mississippi

Mary Winston 20F Alabama

Sarah Winston 17F Texas

Ann Winston 15F Texas

John Winston 10M Texas (Alabama?)

Mattie Winston 7F Texas

Stephen Winston 3M Texas

Henry Winston 5/12M Texas

Anthony Winston 46M Laborer Alabama

Milton Winston 12M at School Texas

Anthony Winston 8M Texas

Lafayette Winston’s family is listed in Matagorda County:

Lafayette Winston 35M Farmer Alabama

Rebecca Winston 34F Alabama

John S. Winston 13M Texas

Lafayette Winston 11M Texas

Kate Winston 7F Texas

Edmund Winston 5M Texas

George Winston 2M Texas

Frank Winston 3/12M Texas

The creditors of Stephen P. Winston were still owed large sums of money after the Civil

War. The availability of a reliable work force had left him without a steady income from the

plantation. Stephen P. Winston filed for bankruptcy December 26, 1870 and U. S. Judge T. H.

85

BCDR: K 788 86

BCDR: L 582

23


Duval declared Winston bankrupt May 30, 1871.87

Winston had been barely able to keep his

head above water by paying only the interest each year on several of his notes.

Several civil suits also were pending against Stephen P. Winston and these dragged out

through 1883. By this time Stephen P. Winston had died as well as many of the plaintiffs and

defendants. Finally the District Court Judge in May 1883 ruled upon the case John A. Winston v

Stephen P. Winston et al. Though the judge ruled for the plaintiff he noted “the land in controversy

and the fund in hand are not worth one fifth of the plaintiff’s debt. That John and Annie Winston are the only heirs

of Stephen P. Winston, that the $10,000 purchase money and interest owing by Stephen P. Winston for the land in

controversy is a part of the purchase money for which the notes sued on by plaintiff were given and that the same

are now due and owing to John A. Winston’s Executor”. The John A. Winston estate was to receive 2/3

and the Orange Swan88

estate 1/3 on the foreclosure sale of the property. Only a two hundred

acre homestead was reserved for Annie and John D. Winston, his only surviving children; only

John now lived in Texas.89

The 1875 hurricane may have damaged the old home and sugar mill.

The homestead was valued at $2500 with 6 plows, 1 saddle & bridle, wearing apparel, and

household furniture also exempt from sale.90

(See Appendix G) Nothing is mentioned of

improvements on the property in later deed records as Annie and John D. Winston sold out their

interests.91

The main plantation tract was sold at auction June 1885 to W. H. Winston and Mrs.

A. W. Goldsby, two of the children of John A. Winston, for only $1800. This deed transfer does

indicate “improvements & machinery” on the property.92

The heirs of Mrs. A. W. Goldsby held

on to her tract until after the turn of the century. By 1961 when A. A. Platter did his research on

the plantation he noted that only an underground cistern marked where the house once stood.93

Asa E. Stratton Sr. tried to make a go of it on his 1000 acre tract and was only partially

successful. Post Civil War he actually bought a portion of the Winston 666 2/3 acre tract and

some of the land north of his plantation from the Cox heirs in the mid 1870’s.94

The sugar mill

continued to run for a few years longer and tenant farmers were set up on various portions of the

plantation. In January 1870 Stratton mortgaged his plantation to Ball, Hutchings & Co. of

Galveston for $9000, his steam engine, mill and sugar crop of 1870 were part of the security.95

By 1875 Stratton had twelve other creditors in Galveston that were desiring security for his

debts; a deed of trust was signed that year to cover the debts and in1876 an additional deed of

trust was signed consigning all his corn and cotton crops with the cotton to be sold by his

87

BCDR: N 413 88

Orange Swan had taken the original note of Stephen P. Winston to R. & D. G. Mills in January 1858. From the

deed of trust associated with it he had the newly appointed trustee Thomas G. Masterson foreclose and sell the

property at auction to himself for on $2100. So for ten years he had been trying to assert his claim on the property.

BCDR: L 615/16 89

Civil Case 2909 John A. Winston v Stephen P. Winston et al, District Clerk’s Office, Brazoria County

Courthouse, Angleton, Texas. 90

BCDR: N 422 91

BCDER: V 414/15 & X 305/06 92

BCDR: X 393/95 & X 651/53 93


County, Texas”, Doctorial Dissertation Education, University of Houston, 1961, p. 157. 94

BCDR: O 36/37 & P 598 95

BCDR: M 230/33

24


Messrs. Dargan & Tobyn of Galveston.96

In the spring of 1877 Asa E. Stratton renegotiated his

mortgage with Ball Hutchings & Co. of Galveston as his debt with them had now grown to over

$12000.97

Asa E. Stratton Sr. died at his home in Luling, Texas July 22, 1877 and was buried in

Cedar Lake Cemetery along with his last wife Mary Jane Chisholm who had died in1872.

After the death of Asa E. Stratton Sr., his son Asa E. Stratton Jr. became the executor of

his estate. An additional $5000 was borrowed from Ball Hutchings & Co. by the estate to run the

plantation the last part of 1878.98

For the year 1879 Ball Hutchings & Co. required that all the

crops of corn, cotton, and sugar would be sold thru them and that George O. Jarvis would be put

in charge of the plantation until all the crops were harvested.99

Ball Hutchings & Co. brought suit

against the estate of Asa E. Stratton and sought to liquidate the plantation.100

In May 1880 a 200

acre homestead was reserved for Stratton’s heirs.101

96

BCDR: O 556/59 & P 371/73 97

BCDR: Q 9/12 98

BCDR: Q 522/23 99

BCDR: S 110/11 100

BCDR: V 723/27 101

BCDR: S 548

25


Jesse and Asa E. Stratton Jr. received the 200 acre homestead and earlier in 1880 they

leased part of the homestead area to build a storehouse and gave permission to run a store on the

property to Aaron Lewis, a local merchant.102

In 1883 Jesse D. T. Stratton sold his half of the homestead to William H. Crofton and Asa

E. Stratton Jr. sold Crofton his interest in1885 ending the ownership of the Stratton family.103

After the turn of the century George Littlefield purchased the 1000 acre tract in 1906.104

McCroskey League Abstract 84 Courtesy Brazoria County Historical Museum 1994.005c.0012

102

BCDR: S 507/08 103

BCDR: V 393/94 & X 444/46 104

BCDR: 69 137/38

26


The Brazos Valley Plantation Co. gained control of the 1000 acre tract and initially

worked to build a pecan and fig orchard. Later they started to subdivide the plantation.

Mrs. R. E. L. Stringfellow purchased a parcel out of the Skinner Tract on which the

residence for the Stratton Plantation was located in1946.105

She preserved the building for

twenty-five years until a proper restoration could be completed. After her death in 1971, her

nephew, Percival T. Beacroft undertook the task of restoration. Mr. E. J. Lueckemeyer of

Brenham worked for four years with Mr. Beacroft in restoring the house as accurately as

possible. All the late 19th

century material was removed and handmade cedar windows and doors

were added. The “chinking” between the logs was replaced. In 1983 the home received a marker

from the Texas Historical Commission.106

The home still appears to be in very good condition.

Photo Courtesy of the Brazoria County Historical Museum 2009.011p.0012

105

BCDR: 406 245/46 & Plat Book: 2 132 106

The marker, of course, contains many mistakes in ownership of the home. The accompanying brochure for the

1983 dedication also contains a great many errors due to a misunderstanding in the location of the several tracts of

land owned by the Reese and Winston families. The author is not sure what the remedy is for this situation. The

Brazoria County Historical Commission can take it under consideration.

27


In addition to this home site location there should be in the McCroskey League, the

homestead of Charles H. Bennet and his family in the NW corner, the home of B. B. Binion in

the SE corner, the home of Solomon Williams in the lower 1/3 of the league 1840’s, the

residence of the Ewing plantation and the home of Stephen P. Winston and his sugar mill, all

pre-Civil War era locations. No archeological investigations have been done at any of the sites.

There are foundations on the east side of County Road 316 along the slough made of

handmade brick probably indicating the location of the machinery for the cotton gin.

Across the road from the home site is the location of an unusual brick structure made of

cement and all partial handmade bricks, purpose and date of construction unknown.

Photos December 2, 2012

The author has not located the ruins for the sugar mill to determine if any walls or

support bases are remaining. The Cedar Lake Cemetery is also located in the near proximity on

property that was once the Shadrack Rowe Plantation.

Map Courtesy of the Brazoria County Historical Museum 1988.070c.0086

28


Appendix A

Joseph Reese Family

Joseph Reese b. 1/12/1784 Shenandoah County, Virginia d. 12/2/1845 New Orleans, Louisiana

m. August 18, 1806 Jefferson County, Kentucky

Margaret Bowman Reese b. 1787 d.8/3/1844 Brazoria County, Texas

1. Harriet Hite Reese b. 7/26/1807 d.11/18/1840 Texas

m. 1st 11/27/1827 Warren County, Kentucky

Dr. Christopher G. Cox b. 1803 Warren County, Ky. D. 8/23/1833 cholera Brazoria

Christopher R. Cox b.~ 1829

m. 2nd

by bond 2/25/1835 & m. 11/27/1837 Brazoria Co.

Dr. Thomas Rivers Erwin b. 1810 Davidson Co., Tennessee d. ~1857

Thomas R. Erwin d. 1861

Harriet W. Erwin

2. Hetty Mariah Reese b. 1/21/1809 Jefferson Co., Ky. D. 9/19/1813 Warren Co. Ky.

3. Charles Keller Reese b. 11/13/1810 Jefferson Co., Ky. D. 10/14/1858 Matagorda Co.

m.10/18/1843 Brazoria County, Texas

Sarah Tait Norris b. 3/2/1829 Alabama d. January 7, 1858 buried Cedar Lake Cem.

Charles Keller Reese died infant age 3 mos. Buried Cedar Lake Cemetery

Mary Ellen (Molly) Reese b. 1843 Texas

James Norris Reese b. 1846 Texas

Harriet Caroline Reese b. 1848 Texas buried Cedar Lake Cemetery

Charles K. Reese b. 1850 Texas

Joseph Perry Reese

Sarah Emma Reese b.11/19/1854 Texas d.4/4/1890

Kate Burford Reese

Henry Jones Reese

4. Elizabeth Amanda Reese b. 5/6/1812 Warren County, Kentucky d. 9/4/1812

5. Eliza Jones Reese b. 6/16/1813 Warren Co. Ky. D. 1/31/1848 buried Cedar Lake

m. 2/25/1830

Charles H. Bennet b. 1807 New Jersey d. 11/28/1865 buried Cedar Lake Cemetery

Lewis T. Bennet b. 1832

Caroline C. Bennet b. 1835

Catherine E. Bennet b. 1837

Joseph Perry Bennet b. ~1839 d. 1841 Age 18 months buried Cedar Lake Cem.

Margaret A. Bennet b. 1841

Joseph Reese Bennet b. 1843 d.

Robert M. Bennet b. 1846 d. 5/16/1855 buried Cedar Lake Cemetery

6. Washington Perry Reese b. 10/8/1815 Warren Co., Ky. D. 8/27/1839 Killed by Indians Williamson

Co., Texas

7. Peyton Randolph Reese b. 7/19/1817 Warren Co., Ky. D. 8/28/1818

8. James Monroe Reese b. 6/2/1819 Warren Co., Ky. D. 12/2/1821

9. Ellen Jane Reese b. 5/18/1822 Warren Co., Ky. D. 7/15/1842 Brazoria Co.

10. Andrew Jackson Reese b. 1/1/1824 Warren Co., Ky. D. 9/8/1838 Brazoria Co.

11. William Erwin Reese b. 7/15/1825 Warren Co., Ky. D. 1/?/1851 California

m. 1/12/1847 Galveston, Texas

Henrietta Isabella Robinson b. 2/22/1825 Alabama d. 2/1/1917 San Francisco, Ca.

m.2nd

November 18, 1845 Jackson, Hind County, Mississippi

Anne Branham Robinson b. 4/14/1804 d. 1868

29


Appendix B

William Winston Family

William Henry Winston d. April 7, 1857 Alabama

m. 1st Mary Cooper

1. John Anthony Winston b. 1812 d. 1871

2. William Henry Winston b. 1817 d. 1886

3. Permelia Virginia Winston b. 1820 d. 1857

m. 2nd

Judith McCraw Jones

1. Stephen Park Winston b.1828 Alabama d. 1878??

m. 1st

February 5, 1848 Greene County, Alabama

Ann Catherine Winston b. August 1, 1829 Alabama d. November 10, 1860 Mobile,

Alabama

Mary C. Winston b. 1849 Alabama

Sarah Mary Winston b. 1851 Texas

Annie C. Winston b. 1857 Texas d. 1928

John A. Winston b. 1860 Alabama

m. 2nd

~1863

Mrs. Sallie Winston b. 1846 Mississippi

Mattie Winston b. 1863 Texas

Stephen Winston b. 1867 Texas

Henry Winston b. 1870 Texas

2. Mary K. Winston b. 1828 d. 1900

3. Sarah A. Winston b. 1831

4. Sarah Miller Winston b. 1832 d. 1905

5. Martha Bacon Winston b. 1834 d. 1895

6. Thomas E. Winston b. 1836 d. 1869

7. Susan E. Winston b. 1837 d. 1840

8. Judith Winston b. 1842

9. Rosa Octavia Winston b. 1844 d. 1845

10. Anna Helen Winston b. 1846 d. 1860

11. Edmund C. Winston b. 1848

30


Appendix C

John Jones Winston Family

John Jones Winston b. May 31, 1785 Virginia d. 1850 Greene County, Alabama

m. 1st

Mary “Polly” Walker Jones b. 1787 d. 1819

1. John Milton Winston b. 1808 d. 1847

2. Minerva West Winston b. 1810 d. 1882

3. Elizabeth Easley Winston b. 1816 d. 1868

4. Mary Francis Winston b. 1817 d. 1843

m. 2nd

April 20, 1820 Nashville, Tennessee

Susan B. Johnston b. October 11, 1801 d. June 20, 1858 Brazoria County, Texas buried Cedar

Lake Cemetery

1. Anthony A. Winston b. 1823

m. 1852

Catherine E. Moseley

Virginia C. Winston b. 1853

Milton R. Winston b. 1856

Annie Kate Winston b. 1859 d. 1909

2. George White Winston b. 1825 d. 1827

3. Ann Catherine Winston b. August 1, 1829 Alabama d. November 10, 1860 Mobile,

Alabama married Stephen P. Winston

4. Fountain Winston b. 1832 Alabama d. 1905 buried Confederate Cemetery Alvin,

Texas

m. 1856 Gainesville, Alabama divorced 1865

Christina Rebecca Moseley. b. 1821 Mississippi

5. Lafayette F. Winston b. September 12, 1835 Alabama City, Alabama d. September 11,

1919 buried Confederate Cemetery Alvin, Texas

m. July 2, 1855 Port Gibson, Mississippi

Rebecca Katherine Cooper Moseley b. February 11, 1834 Kemper, Mississippi

d. October 25, 1915 buried Confederate Cemetery Alvin, Texas

John Stephen Winston Sr. b. 1856 Texas d. 1926

Lafayette Fontaine Winston Jr. b. 1859 Texas d. 1899

George Winston b. 1860 d. 1861

Amos Winston b. 1862 d. 1862

Katherine Rebecca Winston b. 1863 Texas d. February 6, 1901

Edmund Cooper Winston b. 1865 Texas d. November 22, 1920

George b. 1868 Texas

Frank b. 1870 Texas d. 1870

William Anthony b. 1876 Texas d. 1947

Mary Susan b. 1878 Texas d. 1956

Mordella Olivia Winston b. 1882 d. 1954

31


Appendix D

Family of Asa Evans Stratton Sr.

Asa Evans Stratton Sr. b. June 13, 1798 Athol, Massachusetts d. July 22, 1877 Luling, Texas

m. 1st

March 1824 Jasper Co., Georgia

Mary Graves Alexander d. 1838

Dorcas Elizabeth Stratton b. 1824 d. 1826 Jasper County, Georgia

Jane Alexander Stratton b. 1827 Jasper County, Georgia

Mary Elizabeth Stratton b. 1830 Jasper County, Georgia

George Henry Stratton b. 1833 d. 1861 Jasper County, Georgia

James Marshall Stratton b. 1835 d.1837 Jasper County, Georgia

Cassandra Victoria Stratton b. 1838 d. 1844 Panola County, Mississippi

m. 2nd

February 26, 1843 Marshall Co., Mississippi

Amanda Ann Gibbons Wood d, June 9, 1847

Asa Evans Stratton b. 1844 Panola County, Mississippi

Sarah Emily Stratton b. 1847 Panola County, Mississippi

m. 3rd

Mrs. Caroline Ann Steger Pearson d. 1854

James Thomas Stratton b. 1849 Mississippi

m. 4th

Mary Jane Chisholm d. 1872

Jesse David Tait Stratton b. 1857 Mississippi

Edward Everett Stratton b. 1858 d. 1858 Mississippi

George Stratton b. 1861 Texas

Amanda Ann Stratton b. 1863 Brazoria County, Texas

32


Appendix E

Deed Records John McCroskey Abstract 84

GRANTORS GRANTEES Kind of

Instrument Book Page Month Day Year Acres Description

Mexican Government

John McCroskey Deed SR Aug 26 1824 4428 John McCroskey League

John McCroskey John Williams Deed ST 155/57 April 12 1825 1400 $55 Lower 1/3 John McCroskey League

John McCroskey Joseph Reese Deed ST 229/30 1831 ?

107

2800 NW 2/3 John McCroskey League $1500 on left bank of Cedar Lagoon

John Williams Oliver Jones Deed ST 103/05 July 14 1829 Forced sale $280 Lower 1/3 League

Anne B. Robinson Reese

Eliza Jones Bennett

Charles Keller Reese

Deed D 191/96 June 8 1846 $3600 Sold her interest in Plantation and livestock

William E. Reese Charles K. Reese Deed E 136/38 Mar 17 1849 532 $5.00/acre his ¼ right to his parents estate Charles to pay $1444.77 in debts + cash

Charles K. Reese William E. Reese Mortgage E 146/47 Mar 27 1849 500 Paid other William’s debts lowered cash required

Oliver Jones Austin County

Robert J. Townes Deed E 411/12 Oct 26 1849 $1252 Lower 1/3

Robert J. Townes Henry W. Rhodes Charles K. Reese

Deed E 412 May 10 1850 1400 $10 Lower 1/3 McCroskey League Conveyed by Oliver Jones

Charles H. Bennett Charles K. Reese

Henry W. Rhodes Deed E 432/34 May 3 1850 800 $10000 Old Reese Place

Henry Williams Matagorda County

Henry W. Rhodes Charles K. Reese

Deed E 413 May 10 1850 1400 $1000 Lower 1/3 McCroskey League on which Solomon Williams had lived until his death

Henry W. Rhodes Charles H. Bennett Charles

K. Reese

Mortgage E 434/37 May 20 1850 800 Old Reese Place

Charles Keller Reese

Burton B. Binion Deed F 306/07 Nov 13 1850 250 $1100 250 acres SE corner League did not file papers until 25Jan 1852

Henry W. Rhodes Alexander Ewing Alabama

Deed E 550/52 Nov 29 1850 800 Old Reese Place

Alexander Ewing Alabama

Charles K. Reese Deed E 562/64 Dec 11 1850 800 $10000 Old Reese Place

Charles K. Reese Stephen P. Winston

Deed F 200/02 Jan 21 1852 1000 $10536.76 include improvements lately occupied by Reese 300 bushels corn, yoke of oxen, 1 lot of hogs

Charles K. & Sarah T. Reese

Stephen P. Winston

Deed F 440/41 Oct 26 1852 1300 $20000 lower 1/3 league not already sold to B. B. Binion & Winston ¼ interest 2000 head of cattle 1000 bushels corn

107

This document not dated but signed by 2nd

Alcalde Juan Austin. This would put the date 1831-1832.

33


Lambert & Sarah Mims

Abraham & Adaline Woodcock

Deed F 130/32 Aug 31 1851 666 2/3 $1000 Susan Cummings League SE Corner

Abraham & Adaline Woodcock Mobile, Alabama

Austin & Lavinia Ledyard

Deed F 379/40 Jan 10 1852 666 2/3 $2666 Susan Cummings League

Austin & Lavinia Ledyard

Susan Winston Deed F 426/28 Dec 2 1852 666 2/3 $3000 Susan Cummings League SE corner

Susan Winston Fountain Winston Deed F 442/43 Dec 16 1852 666 2/3 $2135 Susan Cummings League

Stephen P. Winston

William Winston Franklin Co.

Alabama

Deed G 110/11 Nov 1 1854 1400 $20,000 –His father All plantation & livestock

Stephen P. & Ann Winston

D. Hardeman Matagorda

Mortgage G 229/32 Feb 1 1855 1000 $6551.50 note tract bought F 200 as security

Stephen P. & Ann Catherine Winston

Fountain & Lafayette Winston

Deed G 696/98 April 28 1856 1000

$28,000 Plantation on which they resided together and all livestock

Fountain & Christina Winston

Lafayette Winston Deed G 695/96 Aug 7 1856 666 2/3 $5000 ½ interest

Stephen P. & Ann Catherine Winston

John A. Wharton Clinton Terry

DT H 361 Jan 18 1858 1300 $11108.97 note R. & D. G. Mills & Co. 1300 acres + 15 slaves as security

Lafayette Winston Charlotte Purcell Mortgage H 426 March 20 1858 $1031.23 note 1 slave as security

Fountain Winston Charlotte Purcell Mortgage H 428 March 20 1858 $1460 note 2 slaves as security

Fountain Winston John A. Wharton Clinton Terry

DT H 433/36 March 23 1858 1000 +

666 2/3

$6330.55 ½ interest note to Stephen P. Winston acreage + 14 slaves security

Lafayette Winston John A. Wharton Clinton Terry

DT H 437/41 March 23 1858 1000 +

666 2/3

$15000 ½ interest note to Stephen P. Winston acreage + 18 slaves security

Hillary Moseley Lafayette Winston Deed H 658 Dec 10 1858 $8000 8 slaves

Fountain Winston Gerard Munson Mortgage J 88 March 5 1859 $2582 note 3 slaves as security

Fountain Winston Bryant Cherry Mortgage J 97/98 March 25 1859 $855.48 note 1 slave as security

Lafayette Winston R. & D. G. Mills Mortgage J 123 March 17 1859 $2500 note ½ entire 1858 crop of sugar & molasses

Stephen P. & Ann Catherine Winston Mobile Alabama

Joel W. Jones Mobile Alabama

DT J 349/50 Jan 12 1860 1400 2 notes John A. Winston $14000 each acreage + 22 slaves as security

Sheriff Harrison P. Dance

C C Millican Deed J 521/22 Aug 7 1860 666 2/3 ½ interest 666 2/3 acres lost suit

35 C. Millican

Tax Assessor

E. D. Nash Deed J 620 July 10 1860 500 Seized and sold 500 acres of Lafayette’s McCrosky League

Fountain Winston R. & D. G. Mills Deed J 636 Jan 7 1861 $2500 40 bales cotton

Lafayette Winston R. & D. G. Mills Deed J 636 Jan 7 1861 $4000 75 bales cotton & 30 Bbls molasses

Sheriff William B. Maxey

Orange Swan Davidson County

Tennessee

Deed K ½ Jan 3 1861 1000 $14,500 ~1000 acres, sugar mill, steam engine at auction due to suit McCroskey League

34


Fountain & Lafayette Winston

Asa E. Stratton Sr. Deed K 6/7 Jan 7 1861 1000 Release their ownership Fountain Winston resided

Asa E. Stratton Sr. Clinton Terry DT K 8/11 Jan 7 1861 1000 $21800 Note to Orange Swan acreage + Steam Engine, Sugar Mill, fixtures security

C. C. Millican Fountain Winston Deed K 42 Feb 5 1861 666 2/3 $1826 ½ interest in 666 2/3 acres

Lafayette Winston Hillery Moseley Mortgage K 44/45 Feb 6 1861 $8000 note 11 slaves as security

Lafayette Winston Fountain Winston Deed K 380/81 Feb 2 1863 666 2/3 $5000 His ½ interest land he now resides on

Fountain Winston A. T. Morris Deed K 788 Jan 18 1867 666 2/3 $1200 ½ acreage

Sheriff Joseph Yerby

M. S. Munson Deed L 551/52 June 3 1868 666 2/3 Lafayette, Fountain, & Anthony Winston lost civil suit-$71.00

Lafayette Winston M. S. Munson Deed L 582 Aug 5 1868 $1800 I labor Matagorda County summer home on beach + 360 head of cattle

Lafayette Winston S. L. S. Ballowe Deed L 554 Aug 7 1868 $250 all his running stock of cattle less 5

Thomas G. Masterson Trustee

Orange Swan Deed L 615 Oct 7 1869 1300 Foreclosure on note due Mills Bros $2100 paid

Asa E. Stratton Sr. Ball, Hutchings, & Sealy

Mortgage M 230/33 Jan 25 1870 1000 $9000 note Steam Engine, Mill and sugar crop 1870 as security

Edwin Kulkow Sherriff

Joel W. Jones Deed M 718/19 Dec 24 1871 666 2/3 $144 3/7 interest in ½

Stephen P. Winston

G. W. Stancel Bnkruptcy N 422 Mar 27 1871 List of assets exempt from sale

T. H. Duval U. S. Judge

Stephen P. Winston

Bnkruptcy N 413 May 30 1871 Declared Winston Bankrupt as of December 26, 1870

Edwin Kulkow Sherriff

William P. Ballinger

Deed N 233/34 Dec 24 1871 666 2/3 Lafayette lost 2 suits-$857 4/7 interest in ½

J. B. Copes Sheriff Estates of Orange Swann John D. Winston

Deed N 275 Oct 1 1872 1400 $6281.38 1/3 Orange Swan 2/3 John A. Winston Estates

William P. Ballinger Asa E. Stratton Deed N 281/82 Oct 14 1872 666 2/3 $1100 4/7 ½ intrst

Judith M. Winston Executrix

Asa E. Stratton Deed O 36/37 Oct 1 1873 $1500 All interest William Winston

Asa E. Stratton Sr. Robert M. Tevis Trustee

DT O 556/59 Feb 17 1875 553 12 Creditors stock & land as security

Asa E. Stratton Sr. Robert M. Tevis DT P 371 March 6 1876 All cotton & corn crop 1876 extend payment

Harris F. Bennett Asa E. Stratton Deed P 598 July 10 1875 500 Part of Cox’s heirs land 3 tracts

Asa Stratton Sr. Asa Stratton Jr.

Ball, Hutchings & Co.

DT Q 9/12 March 31 1877 1000 553

$13624.84 note Land & Livestock as Security

Asa Stratton Sr. Estate & Asa Stratton Jr.


Mortgage Q 522/23 Feb 2 1878 $5000 to run Oct. 1878-Jan 1, 1879 Sugar & cotton

Asa Stratton Sr. Estate & Asa Stratton Jr.


Mortgage S 110/11 Aug 7 1879 All crops of cotton, corn, & sugar with George O. Jarvis running the Plantation til 1

st year

35


J. D. Stratton A. E. Stratton Jr.

Aaron Lewis Lease S 507/08 April 2 1880 1 Lease 1 acre to build store house to be sold back to Strattons after 5yrs

Jesse D.T. Stratton Asa E. Stratton Jr Trustee

DT T 14/16 Feb 8 1881 ½ interest in homestead security 2 notes $300 each

Sheriff W. H. Sharp C. R. Cox H. Masterson

Deed U 237/39 May 10 1882 1000 $143. 28 back taxes Less Binion 250 & 200 ac homestead 529 acres

Sheriff E.N. Wilson Harris Masterson Deed U 661/64 Jan 5 1883 1000 553

$400

Sheriff E. Wilson H. Masterson Deed U 657/59 Jan 5 1883 1000 1000 + 529 acre tracts- $50 & $25

Asa E. Stratton Jr. Ball Hutchings Co Deed V 723/27 Jan 11 1883 1000 553

J. D. T. Stratton William H. Crofton Deed V 393/94 Aug 17 1883 200 Homestead $1500

Sheriff E. N. Wilson

Estate Orange Swan

Deed V 97/99 May 11 1883 1400 $300 int, of Lathrop, Stratton, Masterson

John A. Winston H. Masterson Deed V 414/15 Aug 27 1883 75 $500 part of 200 acre homestead tract

William C. Crofton Erwin N. Wilson Deed X 266/68 March 3 1885 1000 553

$800 ½ Interest Stratton Plantation & Susan Cummings League

Annie C. Winston Huntsville Alabama

Lucretia Higgins Deed X 305/06 March 17 1885 75 $100 part of Homestead tract

E. M. Wilson Sheriff

W. H. Winston Mrs. A. W. Goldsby

Deed X 393/95 June 2 1885 1400 $1800 Old Reese Place less 200 acre homestead all rights of Annie & John Winston

Asa Stratton Jr. Erwin N. Wilson William H. Crofton

Deed X 444/46 July 21 1885 1000 553

$750 All his interest

Asa E. Stratton Jr. J. V. Hinkle & Co. Deed X 484/85 July 23 1885 $1400 cotton , corn livestock & rents

E. M. Wilson Sheriff

W. H. Winston Mrs. A. W. Goldsby

Deed X 651/53 Nov 3 1885 1400 $500 Old Reese Place less 200 acre homestead right of estate of Orange Swann

W. H. Crofton George F. Crofton Deed 1 450/51 Aug 1 1886 Stratton Homestead ¼ Int. Jesse Stratton

H. Masterson Ben Ward Deed 1 419/20 March 29 1888 60 Part Winston Homestead

W. H. Crofton Chris Rippe D. F. Rowe

Deed 3 353/55 Jan 14 1890 1000 $5000 ½ interest in 1000 acre & 553 acres & store

Ella Wilson Chris Rippe D. F. Rowe

Deed 4 313/16 Jan 16 1890 $9000 same + additional tracts

John D. Winston Heirs

John H. Craig Deed 34 300/04 Jan 27 1896 $4545.45 3 tracts out of the old Stephen Winston plantation

American National Bank

George Littlefield Deed 69 137/38 Jan 29 1906 1000 $19,593

George Littlefield S. E. Cole Deed 69 178/79 Jan 1 1906 1000 ½ interest $9796.56

J. G. & T. L. Smith George Littlefield S. E. Cole

Deed 77 522/23 Jan 1 1908 200 Homestead $2500

Sheriff Brazos Valley Plantation

Deed 202 187/91 Feb 2 1927 1000 Several Tracts

Brazos Valley Plantation Co.

Dr. Nelson M. Percy

Deed 202 192/94 Jan 6 1927

M. B. Kimmey Mrs. Nannie M. Stringfellow

Deed 406 245/46 July 22 1946 6.93

36


Appendix F

35 Slaves Owned by Joseph Reese Estate 1849

Jim 32 Ned 10

Sam 18 Angelina 4

Horace 16 Infant girl of Jriece

Lewis 12 Mabinola 28

Reuben 10 Henry 12

Mariah 9 Isaac 30

Mary 7 Ann 28

Mike 6 Lucy 28

Amy 45 Nancy 9

Bill 45 Charlotte 3

Tom 30 Nelly 7

Louisa 30 Infant child of Ann

Kit 15 Infant child of Lucy108

Buck 13

Bob 11

Harrison 4

John 3

Arsu 45

Archo 28

Hannah 45

Jriece 20

Frank 13

Partition of Slaves Joseph Reese Estate January 1, 1850

Bennet Heirs Charles K. Reese William E. Reese Cox & Erwin Heirs

Arsu 35 Jim 30 Bill 45 Isaac 28

Archo 24 Sam 30 Tom 28 Mabinola 26

Hannah 48 Horace 17 Louisa 33 Anne 28

Jriece 22 Lewis 11 Kit 15 Infant of Anne

Angelina 5 Reuben 10 Buck 12 Lucy 28

Lemuel 2 Mariah 8 Harrison 5 Infant of Lucy

Frank 12 Mike 4 John 3 Henry 12

Ned 10 Mary 6 Bob 10 Nancy 9

Nelly 7

Charlotte 4109

108

Record of Wills: E 213/ 17 109

Record of Wills: E 262/67

37


Slaves Owned by Anthony A. Winston 1852

Guy 60 Tiney 32

Thorton 29 Lucinda 14

Carter 27 Ellen 9

Daniel 25 Dorley 5

Bill Henry 21 Isabella 4

Rueben 30

Jack 36

Alfred 16

Owen 14

Collin 12

Pleasant 14110

Slaves Owned By Stephen P. Winston 1858

Anthony 40

His Wife Joyce 40

Shepperd 25

His Wife Judy 30

Her Children Jim 16

Louisa 14

Margeance 9

& child 2

Ruffan 28

Peyton 28

Abe 21

Alfred 16

Bob 25

His Wife Ardenia 22

Their Child 2

Pompey 21111

Slaves Owned By Fountain Winston 1858

Sam 48

Lucky (female) 49

Jo (boy) 11

Libey (female) 20

Her child

Edgar 32

110

BCDR: F 168/79 111

BCDR: H 361/63

38


Ann 32

Her child Guy 12

Jenny 9

Henry 10

Nancy 6

Bob 27

Ed 20

Tiller (female) 50

Slaves Owned By Lafayette Winston 1858

Ben Lou 31

Green 22

Little John 25

Chris 22

Lewis 19

Little Ben 21

Mary 25

Her Child

Rachel 19

Her 2 Children

Mandy 10

Edy(female) 12

Little Andrew 9

Rhody (female) 8

Mary 4

Deny(female) 6

Tinker 6112

Appendix G

John A. Winston v Stephen P. Winston et al

District Court of Brazoria County, May 1883

Conclusion of fact—

I conclude from the evidence in the case that Wm. Winston died in Alabama prior to June 1857,

leaving a will which was probated in Alabama in June 1857, and in Brazoria Texas on the 30th

Nov. 1858. That at the time of his death and for several years prior thereto, said Wm. Winston

was the owner of the 1400 acres of land and improvements in controversy in this suit. That in

said will said Wm. Winston gave said land and improvements to Stephen P. Winston upon

condition that he (Stephen P. Winston) paid to Wm. Winston’s estate the sum of ten thousand

dollars with interest thereon from Apl. 3, 1857, one half to be paid by Dec. 25, 1858, and the

112

BCDR: H 437/41

39


other half by Dec. 25, 1859, and that said bequest was accepted by said Stephen P. Winston upon

the conditions named. That prior to the probate of Wm. Winston’s will in Brazoria County,

Texas and while said land appeared to belong to Wm. Winston’s estate, according to the records,

Stephen P. Winston on the 11th

January 1858, executed to Orange Swan the five notes sued on by

the Executor of said Swan and received by deed of trust as alleged and that said deed of trust was

recorded same day. That afterwards in January 1859, Stephen P. Winston transferred and

delivered to Orange Swan as collateral security for said five notes, two notes, both bearing date

March 23, 1858, and bearing 12% interest from their date, and both one January 1st 1859, one

drawn by Lafayette Winston and one by Fountain Winston, one for $6330.50 and the other for

$3000, said notes being good and well secured. That afterwards on the 12th

January 1860, and

while Orange Swan was still the holder of said five notes and the notes of Lafayette and Fountain

Winston as collateral security as aforesaid, and while the purchase money ($10,000) under said

will remained unpaid, the said Stephen P. Winston had for said purchase money and for other

money borrowed from John A. Winston, executed to said John A. the two notes for $14,000 each

and the deed of trust dated January 12th

1860, being the same notes and deed of trust sued on by

the plaintiff in this cause. Said deed of trust was recorded in the proper records of said Brazoria

County, on 25th

Jany 1860.Said notes are due and unpaid. I further find and conclude from the

facts that in consideration of the last named notes and the deed of trust in connection therewith,

that John A. Winston assumed, and on the 14th

Jany 1860 did pay to Wm. Winston’s estate the

$10,000 and interest, for said land and improvements as under said Wm. Winston’s will, the said

Stephen P. was required to do. I further conclude from the facts, that on the 20th

Dec. 1860,

Orange Swan without the knowledge or consent of John A. Winston appropriated the said notes

of Lafayette and Fountain Winston to his own use, by agreement with Stephen P. Winston, by

crediting said five notes with the sum of $3781.25, and by assuming certain other liabilities for

Stephen P. Winston, independent of the said five notes, and of Stephen P.’s liability to John A.,

and that the said sum ($3781.25) credited as aforesaid, and the amount assumed by Swan for S.

P. Winston, are about equal to said two notes of Fountain & Lafayette Winston, except that

according to the face of the notes, Swan got the advantage in the matter of interest. I further find

that in January and February 1861, Swan collected the Lafayette and Fountain Winston notes,

and surrendered to them the same, and that when they were so surrendered they amounted to

more than the amount then due on the aforesaid five notes, the interest on said five notes to Jany

1/61 having been paid by S. P. Winston. I further find Stephen P. Winston is dead, that his estate

is insolvent, that he died intestate that there is no administration and none necessary, that there is

no property of the estate except what is herein sought to be subjected in this suit and that the land

in controversy and the funds in receiver’s hands are not worth one fifth of the plaintiff’s debt that

John and Annie Winston are the only heirs of Stephen P. Winston. I further conclude that the

$10,000 purchase money and interest owing by Stephen P. Winston for the land in controversy is

a part of the purchase money for which the notes sued on by plaintiff were given and that the

same are now due and owing to John A. Winston’s Executor plaintiff herein.

I also conclude that the two notes referred to in the account of the Exrs of Wm. Winston

in Alabama date Jany 14, 1860, were executed by Stephen P. Winston and his mother Judith M.

Winston for the purchase money of said land, required to be paid under said will of Wm.

Winston.

I also conclude that Thos. G. Masterson as substitute trustee on Oct.9/69 sold the land in

controversy under Swan’s deed of trust and that a

40


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

UNPUBLISHED PAPERS Brazoria County Historical Museum Library, Angleton, Texas

McCroskey Cabin File

Stratton Family File

Texas State Archives, Austin, Texas

Republic of Texas Claims 1835-1846

Texas Agricultural Census 1850

Texas Agricultural Census 1860

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

Democrat and Planter, Columbia, Texas

San Luis Advocate, San Luis, Texas

Texas Planter, Brazoria, Texas

Texas State Times, Austin, Texas

The Texas Republican, Brazoria, Texas

The Texas Sun, Richmond, Texas

The Tri-Weekly Telegraph, Houston, Texas

The Weekly Telegraph, Houston, Texas,

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS Deed Records Brazoria County, County Clerk’s Office, Angleton, Texas

Probate Records Brazoria County, County Clerk’s Office, Angleton, Texas

Brazoria County Tax Records on microfilm Brazoria County Historical Museum, Angleton,

Texas

Federal Population Schedule, Seventh Census of the United States.

1850 The State of Texas, Brazoria County

“Schedule 2—Slave Inhabitants in the County of Brazoria, Texas”

41


Federal Population Schedule, Eighth Census of the United States.

1860 The State of Texas, Brazoria County

“Schedule 2—Slave Inhabitants in the County of Brazoria, Texas”

Federal Population Schedule, Ninth Census of the United States.

1870

Federal Population Schedule, Tenth Census of the United States.

1880

Secondary Sources

BOOKS, ESSAYS, THESES, AND DISSERTATIONS

Boddie, Mary Delaney, Thunder on the Brazos, Taylor Publishing Company, 1978

Champomier, P. A., Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1852-53, With An

Appendix, New Orleans, 1853





Champomier, P. A.Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1855-56, With An

Appendix, New Orleans, 1856.




Appendix, New Orleans, Cook, Young, & Co., 1861

Green, Gen. Thomas J., Journal of the Texian Expedition Against Mier, The Steck Company,

Austin, Texas, 1935

Nance, Joseph Milton, Dare Devils All, Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, 1998

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I Vol.

19, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1905

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I Vol.

XXXIV, pt. 2, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

42


Platter, Allen Andrew, “Educational, Social, and Economic Characteristics of the Plantation

Culture of Brazoria County, Texas”, Doctorial Dissertation Education, University of Houston,

1961

Reese, Charles Keller IV, “The Reese and Allied Families”, January 1981

Stratton, Harriet Russell, ed., A Book of Strattons, Vol. II, Frederick H. Hitchcock, New York,

1918

Strobel, Abner J., The Old Plantations and Their Owners of Brazoria County, Texas, Lake

Jackson Historical Association, 2006

Willaims, Villamae, ed., Stephen F. Austin's Register of Families from the originals in the

General Land Office, Austin, Texas, Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1989

Wooster, Ralph A., Civil War Texas, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, Texas, 1999

Handbook of Texas Online

Documents

Joseph Reese/Charles Keller Reese/Stephen P. Winston/Fountain …lifeonthebrazosriver.com/ReeseWinstonStratton.pdf · 2014-08-10 · 3 [email protected] September-October