biography – Page 14 – Texas History Notebook

Jimmie Hudson Kolp

Jimmie Allene Hudson was born April 13, 1904 in Copperas Cove, Coryell County, Texas to Robert L. Hudson (1871 – 1912) and Ollie Maye Thompson Hudson (1873 – 1961). Jimmie was the middle child of three siblings. In the 1900 census, Robert’s profession was listed as “dreyman” which was a term to describe a person who drove a flat bed wagon. In 1910, Robert’s profession was listed as being a carrier for the United States mail. No cause of death is noted, but Robert passed away two years later at the age of forty when Jimmie was just eight years old. In 1914, Ollie Maye married a doctor named William Arthur Gault (1867 – 1950). Dr. Gault had been born in Travis County and was a member of the large family that included lawman Maney Gault, who was a cousin. Dr. Gault and Ollie later settled in Electra, Texas were he continued his medical practice.

Goliad Massacre

The Goliad Massacre occurred March 27, 1836 and is considered to be one of the pivotal events in the Texas Revolution. After the battle at the Alamo, Colonel James W. Fannin and around 350 men were surrounded by Mexican forces under Santa Anna at the presidio at Goliad. One week earlier, after the battle at Coleto Creek, Colonel Fannin had surrendered to General José de Urrea of the Mexican Army with the understanding that they would eventually be released.

United States Marshal Harrington Lee “Hal” Gosling

Marshal Hal Gosling was killed in an escape attempt aboard a train in Comal County on February 21, 1885. James Pitts and Charles Yeager were convicts who were in the process of being transported back to San Antonio and then on to Federal prison to serve their sentences. Gosling was the son of William Gosling (1812 – 1876) of England, and Lucinda Harrington Gosling (1825 – 1896). Hal was one of several siblings in the family. He was born to the couple on June 2, 1851 in Tennessee. William was listed as a manufacturer in the 1850 and 1860 census reports. The 1870 census referred to the cotton industry. William died in 1876 of unknown causes and Lucinda appears to have survived him for many years.

James A. Brooks, Texas Ranger

Ranger James Abijah Brooks was one of the “Four Great” captains in Texas history, along with Captains John R. Hughes, William J. McDonald and John H. Rogers. Brooks was born in Kentucky in 1844 to Dr. John Stroke Brooks (1802 – 1862) and Mary Jane Kerr Brooks (1818 – 1912). His father was a doctor and a farmer. John Stroke Brooks died in 1862. In the 1860 and 1870 census forms, James was living in Kentucky with his family. He left Kentucky for Texas in 1876, settling in Collin County. There, he worked on ranches until he joined the Rangers in 1883, at the age of twenty-seven. Brooks enlisted as a private and over the years was promoted to corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant before being promoted from lieutenant to captain by Governor Sul Ross while serving with Company F in 1889.

Azellia and Hulon White

Hulon Lincoln “Pappy” White was a native Texan. He was born on December 10, 1912 to Henry White and Lela F. Askey White in Gonzales, Texas. He earned his pilot’s license in 1941 and between 1941 and 1945, he was a civilian employee of the Army Air Corps in Tuskegee, Alabama. At the Tuskegee Army Air Base, he was a mechanic and instructor for cadets, many of whom went on to serve in the 332nd Fighter Group, the “Tuskegee Airmen.”