The Scofield Letters TEXAS PIONEERS

By

G. Griffith Brown

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Copyright © 2004 by

G. Griffith Brown 323 South Monroe Street

Canton, MS 39046 historyf@netdoor.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, or transmitted by any means

without written permission from the author.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 1-59196-769-4

Printed in the United States of America by

InstantPublisher.com

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For my husband Dick Brown and in memory of our parents: Russell Richard Brown and Helen Headrick Brown

and Talmage Elwin Griffith and Sue Little Griffith

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Contents

Introduction..................................................................................vii Chapter 1 The Surveyor..............................................................1 Chapter 2 My Henrietta...............................................................10 Chapter 3 The Texas Interior......................................................17 Chapter 4 The Parting.................................................................21 Chapter 5 The Orphans..............................................................26 Chapter 6 The Settlement...........................................................44 Chapter 7 Return to Texas..........................................................46 Chapter 8 Virginia........................................................................53 Chapter 9 Idlewild........................................................................58 Author’s Note................................................................................93 Final Thought................................................................................94 Bibliography..................................................................................95

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks …

To Carolynn Knauff Waldon, her knowledge and years of family research has made my job much easier. To P. Jeannine Headrick who was so helpful with the history of her Uncle Russ’s family. To Sharon Scofield for getting me started on the California end. To Executive Editor Mark Vasche and “The Modesto Bee”…courtesy is alive and well. To Bob Santos and the McHenry Museum and Historical Society for their generosity. To Cathy Lazarus and the Robertson County, Texas Historical Commission. To R. E. Moore, Editor, TexasIndians.com for sharing his knowledge. To Amanda Griffith, last but not least, my niece and friend, always my best help!

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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis I: 27, 28

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Introduction

Texas of 1838 was different than it had ever been before or would ever be again. It became a republic in 1836 after winning independence from Mexico. The gritty Texas Colonists defeated Santa Anna’s army at San Jacinto, and the door soon opened to immigrants who came swiftly and in number. Many were the grandchildren of America’s first freedom fighters who had inherited an indomitable spirit along with the freedom that was made so dear by their grandfathers. They are often referred to as the “old Texans” though they were young at the time. They possessed a courage that was not always obvious but was an abiding and reaching kind that comes when ordinary people live more than ordinary lives. Many came and then left, moving on to the next new frontier, but there were some that stayed and lived out their time. A few even left their memoirs as a record of their many hardships and accomplishments. Finally, there were those that died early, and they often left their dreams and memoirs in a hidden crevice of time.

James and Henrietta Scofield were destined to fall into the last category. Their physical lives were short-lived with their citizenship being only during the Texas Republic period. Their existence and times are recorded in a handful of rare and treasured letters that were written to their family members back home. They have been transcribed into this book with the original spelling and grammar and only the occasional editorial touch for ease of readability. Each transcription is followed by the letter published in its original form. The letters contain not just the usual family correspondence but tell a story that spans several generations and provides the reader with a snapshot of a time, a place, and a people. It is a story that may have happened more than once on the frontier.

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Chapter 1

The Surveyor

Modesto, California, April 17, 1915, “The Modesto Morning Herald”

PIONEER ANSWERS THE SUMMONS OF DEATH. John W. Scofield Dies at the Ripe Old Age of 80 Years; Family Survives.

Funeral services over the remains of John Watson Scofield, 80 years of age, who died yesterday morning at the family residence 109 I Street, will be held from the chapel of Howell & Ryce at 3 o’clock today, the Rev. J. H. McCartney, pastor of the Christian Church officiating. Interment will be made in Modesto Citizens Cemetery.

The next paragraph of the obituary only touched on the California history and

addressed none of the distant past that was the other pioneer story. There was only silence about those early years and the fact that he was the last member of a family of four that had lost its brief hold on a dream that was Texas.

The letter written by James in July of 1838 is the earliest of the Scofield letters and is marked San Augustine, Texas. He, his wife, Henrietta, and their two small sons arrived in Texas in 1837. Like many immigrants, they were feeling the effect of a financial panic that had struck the American economy that year. They were looking for free land and a fresh start. He wrote…“we failed to get here in time to save land which was one grand motive in my coming.” James was referring to the fact that the legal deadline for an unconditional land grant had passed [by the time he arrived], and he had to settle for the class 3 designation grant that was conditional upon a period of citizenship in the Republic.

The couple had been married in Prince Edward County, Virginia on April 2, 1832 and had lived there prior to their move to Texas. James was born in Bazetta, Ohio where his father, Edward, a Connecticut native, was a pioneer surveyor and was elected to the 1817 Ohio State Legislature. Edward built the first mills in Bazetta and was a deacon in his church and had even preached the gospel for many years. He was described as a cultural man with an independent personality in one historical account.

Like his father, James was a surveyor, and it is fairly clear that he landed in Texas riding and surveying with great zeal. Surveying was a vital and sought after skill in Texas at the time and required not only knowledge and courage but toughness and a strong will for survival. It required men with a desire to explore their surroundings. It may have also required some elusive quality that is hidden somewhere in the commentary James gave of the land as he recalled his ride upon it in 1838. The surveyors were the “men’s men” of early Texas, and history has often forgotten them and the contribution they made. J. W. Baker, in A History of Robertson County, Texas, wrote:

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When the work of the brave surveyors was over their ranks had been reduced and their graves were in many places; on the prairies, in the woodlands, and in the little cemetery in town. Their working tools had been the compass, axe, and pistol; and they were skillful at their jobs and expert fighters. The result of their labor was the marking of boundaries of over twenty Texas counties, and their reward was small.

While land was the major attraction, it was not the only one that Texas offered to

those looking to make their fortune. There was a great opportunity to make money by providing the goods that were in such shortage on the frontier. If James had not known this before he left Virginia, he learned it when he got to his destination as is evidenced by his request to be sent flour for the purpose of resale. James listed some of the high cost of provisions in his letter, but the price of some had decreased a little by the time Henrietta wrote her letter home in December of the same year.

Another attraction that drew the American pioneer to Texas was the great adventure that the experience promised those willing to sacrifice the safety and relative predictability of life in a more settled environment.

Most immigrants were farmers, but the professional men came also. They were lawyer/planters who were after land too, but they were often ambitious to get in on the initial political arena of a community as well. There were fewer physicians yet even when their services were available they often lost business to the self-doctoring methods that were prevalent and that James boasted of in his letter.

James had taken quite a shine to Texas, and his correspondence included a fair amount of praise for its different aspects. He praised the constitution, writing that he had read most of the constitutions of the various States and thought that the one belonging to the Republic of Texas was not only superior but beyond reproach. He remarked on the society of Texas writing that it was “mixed” but then compared it with other States of the Union saying that it was more refined than in the States of Mississippi and Arkansas but compared well with other more Northern States. San Augustine was an old Mexican town and as such was more settled into the civilization of the day, but much of Texas was still unsettled at the time. His own description of the land testifies to this fact and requires some qualification of his claim. Natchez was a wealthy Mississippi River port town and compared well to New Orleans in that day, so the refinement of society would have depended more on a particular location in a state or county. It was probably as mixed in Mississippi and Arkansas as it was in Texas at the time.

In this letter we first learn of Henrietta and become aware of James’ love for her as is evidenced by his affectionate address of her as “my Henrietta” and “my H.” His discussion of her unhappiness in being separated from their family leads one to believe that he may have heard more than one plea for them to return home after their arrival in Texas.

James wrote of two trips. One was a journey for the purpose of surveying that took him to the northward of his home in the San Augustine area. He wrote that he left out the fifth day of March and finished the last of May. He returned home three or four times during the trip and in all traveled the distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. His

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description of the land was short and to the point. No excitement can be detected in his description so it must have been just “ok” to his way of thinking.

James described the second journey as a trip made to the south and west for the purpose of exploration. Besides acquiring knowledge of the country, he was probably making it to determine the best available area in which to settle and make a home for himself and his family. Initially he headed to the south, saying that he rode almost to the Gulf of Mexico. He wrote that the country had large areas of grass and was poorly watered. He thought the area would be unhealthy but then concluded that it was an untested theory due to the isolation.

It was at this point that he told of being overtaken by a party of five Indians. He seemed almost casual in the writing of the incident, but it would be no stretch for one to think that his heart had raced away in his chest at the onset of this unexpected encounter. He was in a very isolated part of the country and must have experienced some fear for his safety. Similar meetings on the frontier often ended in violence and death. James would have wondered if he was to lose his life also---besides according to him, it wasn’t a meeting at all but an overtaking. It is the one section of his letter that stands out with the want of a better tale. Was that all? Did the party of five just ride into his life and back out once more? Were there no details that James might have conveyed in his letter? The Native American that spoke English may have shared much concerning the land and his people, but James gave no indication of this and other than a brief mention of them, he carried on with his own evaluation of the land. According to Mr. R. E. Moore, historian and editor of www.TexasIndians.com (in a personal communication, October 22, 2003), James must have ridden along the Texas coastal plain in the vicinity of Corpus Christi (southwest of San Augustine) to have spent so many days in isolation and to have encountered such a grassy and poorly watered land.

This letter provides an excellent and rare early tour of Texas. As the reader absorbs the words on its fragile pages, he may find that he has slipped past the bonds of time and become seated along side that tame and beautiful Indian pony as it carried the Scofield man along the unfettered and lonely frontier.

After riding along the Trinity River, he turned southwest and finally west where he found what to him was almost paradise. His words were---“the country is undoubtedly the finest I ever saw.” James had traveled into the central interior of Texas and then included in his correspondence a wonderful description of the land.

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Letter 1

San Augustine, Texas 16th July 1838

D. Brother, Your very kind favor of the 17th Dec. last was received some time in March, during my absence from home on a surveying expedition to the northward of this. It affords us much satisfaction to hear from you & hear of the general welfare of all our dear relatives. I have very much regretted not coming to see you all on our way here, since we failed to get here in time to save land which was one grand motive in my coming. I should have written you sooner but having a trip westward in view, I delayed, to be able give you some more information of the country. About the fifth of March I started to the northward of here on a surveying tour, which I continued till the later part of May, coming home three or four times during the time. I made about three dollars a day. I found the country as far as I went, say about one hundred and fifty miles, generally fertile, well watered & healthy. Since my return, I have spent about four weeks to the south & west on an exploring trip. I found a great deal of very poor country to the south of here, nearly to the Gulf of Mexico, & generally badly watered. This section of the country affords a great quantity of grass, where immense herds of cattle might keep fat summer & winter. I am inclined to think that section would not be healthy; tho there are not inhabitants enough in some parts of it to test that fact, as I at one time travelled for four days without seeing the face of a human being, & then one & a half days without seeing a white person. During the four days I had no other companion in the wilderness but my Indian poney. I turned him loose at night, & I always found him near me in the morning. The fifth day I was overtaken by five Indians with whom I travelled & Day & a half & by whom I was treated very friendly. One could speak English. Along the Trinity River, the lands are generally good & tolerably well settled, & improve from there to the Brazos. In going south west & west from here the country is undoubtedly the finest I ever saw. The woods are generally open, timber, Oak, Hickory, Elm, Musket, Mulberry, Walnut, Pecan etc. etc. There is also a good deal of prarie; the whole covered with grass. I have seen land in the woods that I have no doubt would give a ton of good hay to the acre. In many places the soil is from 3 to 6 feet deep. The face of the country is rolling, streams clear and healthy with fine springs. Good lands can now be had on the frontier for fifty cents per acre but in the older settlements they are worth from 5 to 10 dollars; being nearly as high again as about here. I have no dobt but lands could be bought for fifty cents pr acre now that in five years will bring 20 dollars. I think there is certainly a much greater opening for a man to make a fortune here, than in any part of the U.S.

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The society here as in other new countries is very much mixed. It is however admitted to be better & more refined than in, the states of Mississippi or Arkansaw, & in my opinion is not behind Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and some others. We have regular preaching here every Sunday; also Sunday school & three or four very respectable daily schools. I have seen nearly all the constitutions of the several states of the Union; but have seen no one I thought as unexceptionable as that of Texas. The laws are generally similar to those of the States. Provisions are high, owing to the great number of emigrants. Bacon 25 to 30 cents, beef 10 to 12 cents, butter 25, eggs 37 ½, chicken 25 to 37 ½, flour 30 dollars pr barrel, meal 3 dollars & 50 cents pr bushel. People now begin to use new corn, so that the meal will get no higher. Flour could be brought for 5$ from Cincinnati here. If you will forward me ten barrels of flour made of new wheat, I have no doubt but I could sell them for a neat profitt of from 75 to a hundred dollars, & will give you half of the profitts. I have no dobt, if I had a correspondent there, who would from time to time forward me such articles as are in demand here, but there would be a neat profit of two to three thousand dollars a year realized. Cheese is never less than 25 cents, & keg butter from 25 to 50 cents pr pound. Whiskey is two dollars pr gallon. We had a very backward spring tho crops look very well. We have all enjoyed remarkable good health since our arrival here until last Monday, when my Henrietta had an attack of the Ague & fever, but she only had two Agues til I succeeded in breaking them. She is now mending. I do my own doctoring. It is generally healthy here. My H… is not well satisfied to live here tho she can find no fault with the country, but thinks she cannot be satisfied without some of her or my relatives where she can see them. We contemplate making a visit to Ohio & Virginia next year & at farthest the year following. We all unite in sending our love to you in hopes of a better acquaintance, to Sister Lydia, & especially to Mother. Tell her my enquiries concerning the estate was not on my own account but on hers as it was left to her disposal, I am entirely satisfied. Give our love to all our brothers & sisters. Our best respects to all our friends. Tell Brother Edward I shall expect him to come to this country with me, when I visit you all.

Health & peace be with you all thro’ the mercies of our Heavenly Father. As ever your affectionate Brother & well wisher Jas Scofield ( N.S. Write me soon) N.S. Should you send me any flour you will have to pay the freight to Cincinnati.

Mark to: Jas Scofield, S. Augustine, Texas, Care of J. D. Saunders, Cincinnati O. Tho. Ary, Natchitoches, La.

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Chapter 2

My Henrietta

There is only one letter that was written by Henrietta. It was found tucked away between those of her husband and the later ones written by her sons. One has only to read a few lines of the letter that Henrietta wrote in 1838 to grasp the fact that she did not have the same ability for spelling or sentence structure as James. This is not surprising since a formal education for women during this period was of less importance than the pursuit of good social graces and fine needlework. Fortunately, her education was not totally neglected, or we could not have made her acquaintance these many years later.

There are no known images of her, but the imagination provides one of its own. Was her hair soft brown with golden highlights that bounced about as the sunbeams of old Texas danced a lively turn upon it? She would have worn it up in a bun of sorts during the daylight hours, but would it have fallen loosely past her waist at bedtime? Was she attractive? Since a photo of her youngest surviving son presents a fairly distinguished pose, one can only assume that neither parent was unattractive.

Henrietta Evelina Scofield was born in Virginia in 1813. Her father, James Bondurant, was a prominent planter of Farmville, Virginia. His ancestor, Jean Pierre, was a young Frenchman who sailed from London to the James River in Virginia on the Huguenot ship Peter and Anthony in 1700. Her mother, Sarah Josephine “Sallie” Watson Bondurant, was born in Virginia in 1791. Sallie’s family history certainly owed no apologies to that of the old French Bondurants, for the Watsons had been around Virginia for a little longer than the Bondurants.

Her letter was written to her sisters back in Virginia. She wrote that they had written her twice both in the middle of August and again in September but that she had waited to write them a return letter in the hopes that James would return home.

She wrote of the shortage of paper, sugar and cloth and complained that she would have had cloth for herself and her boys if a “weal” and “lome” (wheel and loom) were available. She further explained that there was no cloth made in Texas and that---“the conty is to new tho be some after a will.” (the country is too new though be some after a while) She informed her sisters that their nephew, “James Ed,” attended school where he read from his Testament, spelled from a dictionary and would have been able to write if there had been any paper in town.

Henrietta sent word to “Brother George” that if he could eat cornbread and drink sassafras tea without sugar he could live in Texas and become rich. Her own ability to do without such basic items was a matter of pride to her, and her manner of writing was somewhat boastful especially when she told of her new ability to perform such tasks as cooking and washing. It is evident that she had not been in the habit of performing them before coming to Texas.