texas women – Texas History Notebook

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.

Elizabeth Powell

As San Jacinto Day, April 21, approaches it is interesting to reflect on the events of those days and the people who participated in them. Author Gregg J. Dimmick has written several books about that time. In his recent volume, “Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army After San Jacinto, An Archaeological Investigation,” he described the days that followed April 21, 1836 as they pertained to the Mexican Army. The author noted that General Vicente Filisola was second in command to Santa Anna when the Mexican leader was captured. Filisola was camped elsewhere, to the west and near the current community of Thompsons, near the Brazos in Fort Bend County. Thompsons got its name from a crossing and ferry that once was operated by a Thompson family there. Filisola’s forces were to serve as a rear guard for Santa Anna. The General had just been informed of Santa Anna’s defeat, though the whereabouts of Santa Anna were yet unknown. Filisola decided to gather his troops even further west near the current community of Kendleton, more than half the distance between Richmond and Wharton.

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.

Carrie Marcus Neiman

Carrie Marcus was born in Louisville, Kentucky on May 3, 1883 to Jacob Marcus (1846 – 1929) and Delia A. Bloomfield Marcus (1848 – 1919). Both Delia and Jacob were born in Prussia. Jacob was listed as a merchant in the 1870 federal census and was shown to be a clerk in a store in the 1880 census. The family was still living in Kentucky when Carrie was born. Carrie was the youngest of six children. A few years before 1900, the entire family moved to Hillsboro, Texas and lived near the downtown area on Franklin Street. In 1899, when Carrie was about sixteen years old, she and her older siblings moved to Dallas. Many of them had secured retail jobs. Carrie and her brother Herbert were hired by Max Goettinger to work at A. Harris and Company. Carrie had a good eye for clothing and first worked in the ladies’ blouse department.

Kitty O’Neal

Kitty Linn O’Neil was likely best known as a stunt woman in television and films, but she led a very active life. She was born on March 24, 1946 in Corpus Christi to John Thomas O’Neil and Patsy Linn Compton O’Neil. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother’s ancestry was Cherokee. Her father died in March, 1950 in California, apparently from complications of an earlier heart attack. Photographs of him often show him in a rugby uniform. He had competed in the Olympic Games in 1924. A death notice in the San Antonio Light issue of March 26, 1950 tells that he had been in the oil business in San Antonio since 1933. Marriage records show that he and Patsy had married in 1940. Two children were born to the couple, Kitty in 1946 and John in 1947. However, in the death notice, there is no mention of Patsy, Kitty or John. Their marital status at the time of his death is unknown.