biography – Page 24 – Texas History Notebook

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.

George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon Custer

George Armstrong Custer is probably best remembered for the defeat of members of the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. He was thirty-six years old at the time of his death. Prior to that event, he had enjoyed a mostly successful military career. About ten years after his death, his widow, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, published a book called “Tenting on the Plains” in which she described their military life including the period in which Custer served in Kansas and Texas.

Mow-way (Shaking Hand or Hand Shaker)

This individual was a Comanche leader of the Kotsoteka branch or band of the tribe. He is thought to have been born about 1826 and he died in 1886. He was known to have been a warrior and participated in some of the earliest treaties between the tribe and the Confederate government in 1861. The Confederate negotiations were led by Albert Pike (1809 – 1891) who had been appointed in March of 1861 to serve as Indian Commissioner by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to attempt to draw up agreements with the tribes west of the Arkansas River. Pike was trained as an attorney and in the past had represented other tribes in negotiations with the United States government. In the summer of 1861, Pike worked on treaties with the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Osage, Senaca and Shawnee. In August, 1861 he met with representatives of four bands of the Comanche tribe and Mow-way was a representative of the Kotsoteka. The agreement with the Comanche tribe seems to have been that they would give up their captives and receive compensation and confine themselves to agreed areas. Pike went on to serve in the Confederate Army. He eventually resigned his command after a disagreement over leadership decisions and did not serve to the end of the Civil War.