biography – Page 72 – Texas History Notebook

Sally Scull

Depending upon where you may have heard of Sally Scull, you might get the impression that she was a Texas Civil War heroine, a “black widow” husband-killer or just about anything between the two. You may also see her name spelled Skull as well as Scull, but for this purpose, we will use the latter. She had a reputation for being able to shoot as straight with her left hand as with her right. She usually carried two six shooters, often wore mens’ clothing and had a rough vocabulary that she used freely, and often.

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James Buchanan Gillett, Texas Ranger

If you are looking for a good book about Texas history, Six Years With the Texas Rangers is very well written and quite interesting, first published in 1921. Though James B. Gillett was a Ranger for only six years, these were some of the six most important years for the post-Reconstruction Rangers in the Frontier Battalion.

James Earl Rudder

rudder

James Earl Rudder was born in the community of Eden, Texas in Concho County to Dee Forest Rudder and Annie Clark Powell Rudder. Upon graduation from high school, he attended college in Stephenville at the former John Tarleton Agricultural College in 1928 and 1929 before transferring to Texas A&M, previously known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. After receiving his degree in Industrial Education, he began teaching and coaching football at Brady, Texas. He remained in Brady for a few years before becoming an instructor and coach at John Tarleton Agricultural College in 1938.

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Mexia, Texas

Mexia is located in Limestone County in east central Texas. It was founded in the 1800s and lies just north of Fort Parker with Groesbeck being the nearest town to the south of the fort. Before the Anglo settlement began in the area, it was home to Native American tribes including the Comanche.

John B. Jones, Texas Ranger

Ranger John B. Jones was born on December 11, 1834 to Col. Henry Jones and Nancy Elizabeth Robertson Jones in South Carolina, the only son of five children. The family moved to Texas in 1839, settling near current day Austin. Mrs. Jones’ brother, Dr. Joseph William Robertson had settled in the area a couple of years earlier and at the time he was practicing medicine from a log cabin around what is now Congress Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets in Austin. Henry Jones had served in the militia and commanded a regiment under future President of the Republic Mirabeau B. Lamar. He had fought at the battle of Plum Creek and others and was elected to the first Texas Legislature that convened in February, 1846.