frontier times – Texas History Notebook

Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross

Sul Ross was born September 27, 1838 to Shapley Prince Ross and Catherine Hanby Fulkerson Ross in a family community in Iowa, then still a territory. He was the fourth of their eight children. Per Judith Ann Brenner’s fine biography, he was named for three family members including his great grandfather Lawrence Ross and an uncle in the Ross family named Giles Sullivan. As a child he was known as “Little Sul” and later just “Sul,” the nickname by which he became known. The biography notes that his great grandfather Lawrence had been captured by Indians from his Virginia school when he was six and lived with Cherokees until he was twenty-three and had to be persuaded to return to his family.

James Gaines, Namesake of Gaines County

James Gaines was born in Culpepper County in Virginia in November of 1776. His parents were Thomas and Susana Strother Gaines. James was born Robert Thomas Gaines but later changed his name to James Gaines around 1810. He was a double cousin to Edmund Pendleton Gaines (two brothers married two sisters). Edmund’s parents were James and Elizabeth Strother Gaines. Edmund and James were born one year apart. They are both descended from James Henry Gaines and Mary Lillie Pendleton, whose ancestors had come from England to Colonial Virginia around 1650.

Elizabeth Boyle Smith and Henry Clay Smith

Elizabeth Boyle Smith was born in Blair Mains, Dairy, Ayrshire, Scotland on July 12, 1848 to Allan Boyle and Elizabeth Orr Young. She came to the United States in 1871 after the death of her mother that year to follow four of her brothers who had had come to America. The siblings and their families first lived in Missouri before settling in Texas. Elizabeth was a single woman keeping house for her brothers when she met Henry Clay Smith. They were married on April 10, 1874 in Palo Pinto County.

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.

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.