frontier times – Texas History Notebook

John B. Denton

John B. Denton is the namesake of Denton County and the town of Denton. There has been some question regarding what his middle initial stood for. His middle name has variously been shown as “Bernard,” “Bunard” or “Bunyan” but the wife of a descendant said that his middle name was “Bunyan.”

Denton was born in Sparta, Tennessee on July 28, 1806 to James Denton and Sarah Clarkson Denton. He was the oldest of about eight children. Some accounts say that he was orphaned around 1815, but his father and mother are believed to have died in 1827 and 1846, respectively, according to current genealogical information available. Other accounts suggest that Denton ran away from home as a young boy and held various jobs including apprenticing as a blacksmith and working on steamers on the Mississippi River. For whatever reasons, he was residing in Arkansas when he was marred on June 23, 1825 to the former Mary Greenlee Stewart. The couple started their family with the birth of the first of their children the next year.

His wife Mary is credited with helping him learn to read. From that point, he was self educated and became a Methodist minister in the mid 1820s. For the next 10 years or so he was a traveling preacher in Arkansas and Missouri for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Denton and his young family came to North Texas after 1836.

The following incident was reported in the February 3, 1957 issue of the Denton Record-Chronicle. The article stated that the real “and almost unknown” reason for the family leaving Arkansas was due to a murder trial of Mrs. Denton. The couple had separated for a time due to some family disagreement and Mrs. Denton had moved to Fayetteville to set up a millinery shop. Living as a single woman, she was in her room one night when a local merchant, described as “a man of wealth and influence,” tried to enter her room. She refused and he broke the door down. Mrs. Denton was armed with a gun and shot him, leading to his death. She was indicted for murder and put in jail. The day of the trial came and Mrs. Denton had no defense counsel. Her husband was in the court room and volunteered to defend her. The trial proceeded and Rev. Denton was said to have done a stellar job in her defense. Mrs. Denton was found not guilty of murder. The article concluded by referencing a previously published account of the trial from a Clarksville newspaper.

The family’s relocation to Texas was said to have been influenced as well by a fellow Methodist minister, Rev. Littleton Fowler, who was preaching in East Texas. Rev. Denton was described as being a natural orator. Once in Texas he began to serve as an itinerant minister as he had done in Missouri and Arkansas. After some time, apparently frustrated in his desire to establish a similar ministry in Texas, he began his legal profession in Clarksville, Red River County, in Texas. He was called one of the leading lawyers in Clarksville and for a time was the law partner of Edward H. Tarrant. Denton also was interested in politics and was defeated in what was called a bitter campaign to Robert Potter, also of Clarksville, for a seat in the Texas senate.

Rev. Denton had joined the Texas militia in 1839, earning the rank of captain. He was one of around 70 members of a company of the Texas Militia organized by Captain E. H. Tarrant to defend settlers against raids from various Native American tribes in North Texas. The group had been responding to deadly attacks across the area over the years. At least one fatal attack had occurred in Clarksville. As an aside, several members of Tarrant’s company went on to have Texas counties named for them including W. C. Young, Daniel Montague, William Cooke and Tarrant himself.

The account of the incident in which Denton died was retold by Mrs. Annie Baker of Corpus Christi, the wife of Denton’s grandson, as Mrs. Baker was being interviewed for a newspaper article. Mrs. Baker said that she had personally spoken with Rev. Andrew J. Davis, a former member of Tarrant’s company. In the spring of 1841, the troupe had been riding through the frontier beyond Fort Warren, Fort Graham and Bird’s Fort coming across occupied and abandoned Indian camps. One account says that on an occasion in May of 1841, they came across a Keechi village that had as many as 200 dwellings and an estimated 1,000 defenders. The encampment was located in what is now Tarrant County. The company attacked the village in an incident that became known as the Battle of Village Creek, inflicting a few fatalities as the inhabitants dispersed. After calling the scattered troops together, the group took an inventory that included a half dozen head of cattle, around 37 horses, pounds of lead, powder and bullets.

Scouts reported several trails leading away from the camp. Denton and at least two other men were assigned to follow one trail. Mrs. Baker said that on May 24, 1841 as they were riding on one side of a creek, they they spotted a band of warriors on the other side. As he was raising his rifle to fire, Denton was fatally wounded by a arrow that passed through his body. Rev. Denton was the only fatality. Several others in the party were wounded but were able to escape. The warriors dispersed and his fellow militia members remained at the site long enough to recover Denton’s body before taking it to a safer location where they could bury him. To prevent anyone else from recovering Denton’s remains, they dug up turf and placed it on the grave.

Denton and his family had resided in Clarksville for some time and residents were deeply affected by news of his death. His story continued to circulate and five years later on April 11, 1846, the Texas legislature voted to name a new county in his honor.

The same February 3, 1957 issue of the Denton Record-Chronicle suggested in another article that Denton had been buried three times. The first burial was as described above and located beside a creek. Some time later, cattleman John Simpson Chisum recovered the remains and transferred them to his Texas ranch. Chisum’s father Clabe had been a member of Tarrant’s company.

Finally, in late November of 1901, his remains were reinterred to his final location outside the Denton County courthouse, sponsored by a group called the Old Settlers Association. A formal ceremony was held. It began in the District Court room with 600 or more people in attendance, including several early settlers and a number of Rev. Denton’s descendants. We understand that there are inscriptions that date back to the time of this ceremony. 35 years later in connection with the Texas Centennial, a granite marker was installed which reads as follows:

Born in Tennessee
July 26, 1806, came to Texas in January, 1836
As a Methodist circuit rider
Killed in the Village Creek Indian Fight
May 24, 1841
In what is now Tarrant County
Named for Gen. Edward H. Tarrant
Who commanded the volunteers
Denton City and County were named for the
Pioneer lawyer, preacher, soldier
Of that name

Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Legend of Indian Emily

There is a considerable amount of legend and folklore connected to the Fort Davis and Big Bend area. Whether it is fact or fiction, the tale of “Indian Emily” is an interesting one. The story supposedly originated in the mid to late 1800s at Fort Davis. According to the National Park Service, it first appeared in print in a 1919 book called “The Romance of Davis Mountains and Big Bend Country” written by Carlysle Raht. About ten years later, the story reappeared in a Texas newspaper and southwestern periodical with more detail. It was essentially the same narrative but with slight variations.

Isaac Parker, Legislator

Isaac Duke Parker was a son of John and Sarah White Parker. He was born in Georgia on April 7, 1793 and came to Texas as an adult with his family, finally settling in a stockade fort near the current town of Groesbeck in the early 1830s. The circumstances of the raid are probably familiar to many. To summarize, the Parker family consisted of about two dozen people and there were numerous others living in the compound. Many names are similar, adding to the confusion, but below is a rough listing of the family members and close relatives in or near the fort at the time of the attack:

John Parker (“Elder John Parker”) – a widower
Silas Mercer Parker, Sr. – husband of Lucinda Duty Parker
Lucinda Duty Parker – wife of Silas Mercer Parker, Sr.
James W. Parker – son of Silas, Sr. and Lucinda
Cynthia Ann Parker – daughter of Silas, Sr. and Lucinda
John Richard Parker – son of Silas, Sr. and Lucinda
Silas Mercer Parker Jr. – son of Silas, Sr. and Lucinda
Orlena Parker – daughter of Silas, Sr. and Lucinda
Sarah Pinson Duty (“Granny Parker”) – mother of Lucinda and Clara Elizabeth
Clara Elizabeth Duty Kellogg – sister of Lucinda and recently widowed
Benjamin Franklin W. Parker – brother of Elder John
Isaac Parker – brother of Elder John
Sarah Parker Nixon – daughter of James William
Lorenzo Dow Nixon – husband of Sarah Parker Nixon
Luther Martin Thomas (“L. T. M.”) Plummer – husband of Rachel
Rachel Parker Plummer – wife of Luther, daughter of James William Parker
James Pratt Plummer – son of Luther and Rachel
James William Parker – father of Rachel
Abigail Parker – sister of Elder John
Daniel Parker – brother of Elder John
Martha “Patsy” Dixon Parker – wife of Daniel

Ferdinand Jakob Lindheimer

Perhaps less known than others of his time, botanist and naturalist Ferdinand Jakob Lindheimer is called the Father of Texas Botany. Lindheimer was born May 21, 1801 in Frankfurt, Germany. He received his early education in Germany and was teaching there before he was 30 years old. According to accounts, he held political views that were controversial and unpopular for the day in Germany and around 1833, he decided to leave Germany. At that time the prevailing form of government was described as being a loose union of 39 states, dominated by Austria. It is presumed that Lindheimer held to a minority opinion favoring liberalism and democracy. Lindheimer relocated to the United States, living for a while in Illinois and for a year and several months in Mexico with other German expatriates until around 1836. About this time, articles note, he served in the Texas army. Some say that he fought in the Battle of San Jacinto while others hold that he joined soon after the battle.

Frances Cooke Lipscomb Van Zandt and Isaac Van Zandt

Although her husband Isaac Van Zandt is probably better known, Frances Cooke Lipscomb Van Zandt’s pioneer story is interesting. She was born March 4, 1816 to William Lipscomb and Ann Day Cooke Lipscomb. Isaac was born July 10, 1813 in Franklin, Tennessee to Mary Margaret Isaacs Van Zandt and Jacob Van Zandt. Isaac’s ancestry was Dutch, but both his grandfathers had participated in the Revolutionary War.

Acknowledging Frances’ 90th birthday, she and her daughter Ida gave a newspaper interview in which they provided more details about Frances’ life in the early days on the frontier of Texas. Frances was married to Isaac Van Zandt in Franklin County, Tennessee on December 18, 1833 when she was 17 and he was 20 years old and working as a merchant in the family store. Around two years later, the couple decided to make their home in Coffeeville, Mississippi along with their daughter Louisa and son Khleber. Life was good, but only for a short time until 1837 when there was a widespread economic depression, leading Isaac to close his business. Isaac studied law and was admitted to the Mississippi bar. Then in 1838, the family decided to move to the Republic of Texas and set out to make the journey by wagon. They got as far as the Louisiana-Texas border before running low on funds. Isaac and the family stopped at an abandoned garrison known as Camp Sabine, formerly a post of the United States Army, located east of the Sabine River. There they remained for the rest of that year before moving on to northeast Texas.