biography – Page 20 – Texas History Notebook

Edward H. Tarrant

Edward H. Tarrant (1796 or 1799 – 1858) was the namesake of Tarrant County. He was born in South Carolina and was the son of Samuel A. Tarrant and Nancy Anna Hampton Tarrant. He was the youngest of at least four children. His father died in 1799 and his mother remarried after many years. Tarrant was living in Muhlenburg, Kentucky at the outset of the War of 1812 and is said to have participated throughout the war, including the Battle of New Orleans. After the war ended, he lived for some time in Tennessee before moving to Texas after 1830, settling first in Red River County.

Jim Perry

Jim Perry was the name of an African American cowboy who lived from about 1858 to 1918. He resided mostly in West Texas and the Panhandle. Perry was considered a top hand and was skilled in all aspects of ranching including roping, riding, breaking horses and the like. He was also considered to be a good cook and a good musician on the fiddle. Perry is generally noted along with the most well known African American cowboys including Bones Hooks, Bose Ikard, Bill Pickett and Addison Jones.

Knox Beall, Foster Son of Quanah Parker

Knox Beall was one of several youths who lived at least for a while at Quanah Parker’s home in Cache, Oklahoma. Others included Rudolph Fisher, David Grantham, Charles Hart and Tom Burnett.

Knox’s parents are believed to have been Otho Washington Beall (1845 – 1878) and Almira or Elmira Parker Beall (1853 – 1878). Knox is believed to have been born in 1878 in Rockdale, Milam Co., Texas which is located roughly midway between Austin and College Station. Little is known about his birth parents, but the accepted story is that Knox was orphaned soon after he was born, perhaps the same year he was born. His mother Almira/Elmira was also said to possibly have been a cousin of Cynthia Parker in some accounts (as was Zilpha Parker Hart, the mother of Charles Hart). After they passed, Knox was sent first to an orphan’s home. He was later placed in the home of a German couple in the Fort Worth area. At one point, the tale continues that Knox ran away from home literally to join the circus (a vaudeville troupe associated with the Mollie Bailey Circus). A more sensational and probably less likely account has him being kidnapped to join the group. In any event Knox was associated with this traveling troupe until he was about seven years old.

Death of William Marsh Rice

William Marsh Rice was born on March 14, 1816 and died September 23, 1900. Rice was eighty-four at the time of his death. During his lifetime, Rice had been a successful businessman in numerous fields. He left his fortune to fund the founding of the educational institution now known as Rice University in Houston, Texas. William Rice died in New York City though he had lived in Texas for many years.

Two Texas Grigsby Families

There have been numerous families with the Grigsby name who lived in Texas around the time of the Texas Revolution and the Republic of Texas. We mention two families today. They both had interesting stories. One settled near the eastern border of Texas, generally in Jefferson County and the other more in and around Houston County.