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Matches 7,551 to 7,600 of 7,713
| # |
Notes |
Linked to |
| 7551 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
James died at Granville County Hospital. He was 66 years old at his death. He died of acute congestive failure due to myocardial failure. He is buried at Locust Lawn off Stovall Road. James had lived on Raleigh Road in Oxford. He was a farmer and the proprietor of a retail grocery store. | Burwell, James Morton (I16150)
|
| 7552 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
John & Elizabeth had 2 sons who died in infancy. | Parris, John J. (I16155)
|
| 7553 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
John was "of Oakland" in Kittrell township.
He and Sally lived in Lynesville, NC. | Burwell, John Spotswood (I16136)
|
| 7554 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
John was made the first Episcopal Bishop of N.C. He was the son of John and Lillian Miller Ravenscroft. | Ravenscroft, John "Mad Jack" (I16178)
|
| 7555 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Joseph was called "Sonny Boy". | Burwell, Jr. Joseph William Thomas (I16099)
|
| 7556 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Joseph's death certificate states he was divorced and then gave the name of his surviving spouse as "Ann H. Lee". He died at age 72 of "cardio-vascular attack" at his home. He is buried at the Burwell Family Cemetery. His son, William L. Burwell, was the informant. Joseph had been a farmer. | Burwell, Joseph William Thomas (I16106)
|
| 7557 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Laura became the third wife of William Henry Burwell. | Burwell, Laura (I16160)
|
| 7558 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Lewis & Matilda did not have any children. Matilda was his cousin. Lewis was a Judge. They moved to Rome, Georgia. | Burwell, Lewis Dandridge (I16137)
|
| 7559 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Burwell, Margaret Venable (I16103)
|
| 7560 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Martha & her husband lived at "Oakland". Sarah Elizabeth Burwell told that the old biscuit block used at "Oakland" for three generations was given to the Williamsburg Foundation. | Burwell, Martha Harrison (I16265)
|
| 7561 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Martha was widowed at age 26, by her first husband. In May 1758, Martha & George Washington became engaged. They married the following year and honeymooned at Williamsburg. George, Martha, & the 2 children from her first marriage, then took up residence at Mount Vernon in May. In 1775, Martha began spending every winter at Army headquarters. | Dandridge, Martha (I16184)
|
| 7562 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Mary had 3 daughters. | Travis, Mary Alice (I16154)
|
| 7563 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Mary is the daughter of Alanson and Martha Christmas Williams. | Williams, Mary Graves (I16157)
|
| 7564 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Nancy died young. | Burwell, Nancy Meade (I16058)
|
| 7565 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Nathaniel died in infancy. | Burwell, Nathaniel Daniel (I16105)
|
| 7566 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Panthea and Richard's final residence was "Rose Hill" which stood on the edge of Boydton. It was purchased for them as a home when, in 1824, Col. Boyd was bankrupt. | Burwell, Panthea (I11307)
|
| 7567 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Rudd, Percye Carrington (I16056)
|
| 7568 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Printed on the outside of the Henley Bible is the name and date: "Elizabeth Dandridge, 1749". On the inside leaf is written, "Elizabeth Dandridge, her Bible, given her by her affectionate mother, March 6, 1773" (just before her marriage).
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0089]
After death's of her husband in 1776 and two children the following year, Elizabeth wrote the following in her (the Henley) bible: "Stay, my dear children, take thy dear mother too, not leave her here, a spectacle of woe." | Dandridge, Elizabeth (I16230)
|
| 7569 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Records state Armistead "died young". He is buried at the Old Burwell Cemetery, now called Locust Lawn by present owner. | Burwell, Jr. Armistead Ravenscroft (I16132)
|
| 7570 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Robert and Jessie resided at "Forest Home". | Burwell, Robert Randolph (I16112)
|
| 7571 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Roy is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park. His obituary appeared in the Durham Morning Herald/Sun on 9 Jun 1958. His death certificate listed the cause of death as "Pneumonia due to hemolytic staph aureus" and stated the onset was only three days. He died at Watts Hospital. At the time of his death he'd been living on Shaw Road in Durham. The death certificate also listed his occupation as a bridge foreman for N.C. SH & PWC. Alice's father brought Roy home to clean fish after their fishing trips. Roy and Alice were attracted to each other and wanted to date, but her Dad thought they were too young. Roy was stationed in Va. (working on bridges) and would ride a train to Oxford, spend Sunday at her house, and then ride the train back to Va. to be at work for Monday morning.
Roy would write her exciting letters and her sister, Elizabeth, would get hold of them and wait until company came...then start reading the letters out loud!
Roy and Alice decided to run off to Halifax County, VA to get married at the courthouse by a Justice of the Peace. (She had to have her Mom's written consent because she was only 14 years old.) Wm. Henry Wilson loved Roy like a son, but thought Alice was too young to get married.
Alice said she was so nervous and excited when they got married she exclaimed, "I do! I do!" - even as her knees where knocking! Roy's daughter, Phyllis, remembers his great sense of humor. He once got up on the roof and pretended to be Santa Claus! She said he chased them in the yard and "washed" their faces with watermelon rind - just to be funny! He was a great teaser.
Phyllis recalled his jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. Once when he put on a suit to go to a funeral, she was startled to notice how handsome he was!
Phyllis recalled hog killing day - that is was "interesting". Roy loved to fish and he would go with his father-in-law, who he affectionately referred to as "the old man".
Roy would meet his daughters' dates with his shotgun. He commented that if the dates ran, then they were no good anyway! Phyllis remembers him cleaning the gun a lot.
When Phyllis was about in the 4th grade, she recalls her father taking her coon hunting. Phyllis remembers the respect given to parents at dinner time. The children were expected to be there on time and the parents filled their plates before the children. If there was misbehavior, the offending child was removed from the table. Roy and Alice liked country music. | Cates, Roy Allen (I16236)
|
| 7572 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Sallie did not have any children. | Burwell, Sallie B. (I16110)
|
| 7573 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Burwell, Sallie (I16104)
|
| 7574 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Spencer, Sallie Spottswood (I16087)
|
| 7575 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Sally was the daughter of Col. Armistead Green of Amelia County, a veteran of the Revolution. | Green, Sally Edwards (I11115)
|
| 7576 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Samuel & Martha lived in Petersburg, VA, where he was an official in a wholesale merchandising business. | Burwell, Samuel (I16263)
|
| 7577 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Spotswood married Mary in St. John's Episcopal Church. Spotswood was attending a military school in Hillsborough, NC when the War Between the States broke out. He was too young to be enlisted, but was placed in Raleigh to guard soldiers who were taken prisoner. He and his wife attended St. James Episcopal Church in Kittrell & later in Henderson at Holy Innocents Episcopal Church. | Burwell, Spotswood (I16264)
|
| 7578 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
Spottswood was the first in this line of the Burwell family to migrate to NC. He came to Granville Co., NC in 1808. He lived at "Spring Grove" in Vance Co., NC on the Townsville Hargrove Road. He lived near Crooked Run Creek. A Granville Co. newspaper RR Thur 13 Oct 1808 3:5 contained his marriagement announcement: "A few days ago, Mr. S. Burwell/Mecklenburg Co., VA to M. Marshall, dau. of Mr. Wm. M. Marshall of Granville county." | Burwell, John Spotswood (I11308)
|
| 7579 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
They had 11 children. | Burwell, Mary Ann Spottswood (I16111)
|
| 7580 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
They lived at Williamsburg. | Dandridge, Anna Maria (I16224)
|
| 7581 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Parker, Jr. Walter Ray (I16234)
|
| 7582 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
When George and his wife died, their five children moved to "Buena Vista" from VA, to live with George's brother, Henry. They brought with them their carriage, slaves, and a diary showing provisions that had been made for their education. | Burwell, George Washington (I16140)
|
| 7583 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
William lived in Granville County, NC where he owned a large tobacco farm. He married Alice at her home at "Level Green" in Walnut Grove. They are both buried in The Burwell Cemetery (now called Locust Lawn by the present owner). He and Alice were married by Rev. Marsh, a Baptist minister.
His obituary appeared in the Oxford Public Ledger on 12 Nov 1943. It read in part, "...a well-known farmer of this county, died at 9:30 o'clock Monday night at his home in the Hester Church community. Mr. Burwell, 88 years of age, had been in ill health for about six years. Funeral rites were conducted at the home at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday with Rev. J.W. Younge, Presbyterian minister of Stovall, in charge of the service...He spent his entire life as a resident of Granville County." His death certificate stated he died at age 88 of "Toxemia & Exhaustion" due to "Senility". He died at 9:30 pm. | Burwell, William Spottswood (I16240)
|
| 7584 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 7, Ed. 1, Tree #3244]
William married his cousin. | Dandridge, Jr. William (I16190)
|
| 7585 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 8, Ed. 1, Tree #2491]
Nicholas Washington Eastland, after his marriage to Frances Bates Moore,
made Sparta, Tennessee their home. In the meantime, John H. Moore, who
would in time become a colonel in the Texas military forces, migrated to
Texas in 1827. So impressed was he by the opportunities in the newly
opened lands that he wrote back to Sparta and Eastland describing the
possibilities in Texas and firing the imagination and adventurous spirits
of the Eastland men.
It was William Mosby Eastland, Nicholas's brother, who first decided to
follow Moore to Texas. In 1833 he settled at La Grange, erected a
sawmill, and engaged in the lumber business. the following year, Nicholas
Washington Eastland and Nicholas Dawson, a cousin, with their families
also established themselves nearby; and they were soon followed by others
Eastland family, all eager to make their marks in the La Grange area.
John H. Moore, Nicholas Dawson, Nicholas W. Eastland, William Mosby
Eastland, and a nephew, Robert Moore Eastland, were destine to play
courageous and spectacular roles in the History of Texas. Three of them,
Nicholas Dawson, William Mosby Eastland and Robert Moore Eastland, were
to suffer tragic deaths at the hands of the Mexicans. And one, William
Mosby Eastland, was to be honored when the legislature of Texas named
Eastland County for him. The rest were public figures in Texas for years,
occupying themselves as office holders, farmers, teachers, and
businessmen.
William Mosby Eastland engaged in the sawmill business. The La Grange
area was covered with ash, cypress, hickory, pecan, and other trees; and
all the milled lumber he could turn out. A large number entering Texas
were well educated with special training in legal and clerical matters,
and, while they were not versed in Spanish law, their talents led them to
participate in local governments. Nicholas W. Eastland, for instance,
combined legal and clerical work with farming.
Among the colonists there soon evolved two distinct parties. a
conservative "Peace Party" favoring tranquil, peaceful relations with the
Mexicans was led by Stephen F. Austin and was concentrated around San
Felipe de Austin and Washington-on -the-Brazos. the "War Party" had its
strength in the newer settlements and was led by William H. Wharton of
the municipality of Columbia. the War Party was soon demanding separation
from Coahuilla and a few of its adherents spoke privately of outright
independence from Mexico. The imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin in Mexico
in 1834 helped to unite the two parties and convinced even Austin that
the time for some sort of aggressive action had arrived.
The Eastland families for the moment were busy building their home and
earning a living. The Indians raid , loot, and kill all along the western
frontier. Texans living on the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe rivers
were disturbed because they had no adequate means of defense. On May 8,
1935 the first committee of Safety and Correspondence was formed to deal
with the Indians, and discussed dissension between Mexicans and Texans.
Nine days later, a similar committee was organized at Gonzales.
It is not know who suggested the formation of a Committee of Safety and
Correspondence. It is generally believed that it was an attempt to
organize committees patterned after those of the same name that had
functioned so well during the American Revolution. Neither has it been
determined whether the committee was meant to solve the Indian problem or
to cope with a potential invasion. Either way they were guarding
vigilantly against the approach of any enemy.
Even as the various committees of safety were formed, events approached a
crisis. General Cos, with instructions to disarm the Texans, arrived in
September of 1835. He at once sent Lieutenant Francisco Castonado to
Gonzales to take possession of a four-pounder cannon used by the
colonists to defend themselves against the Indians. The Gonales men
refused to release the cannon, and, while eighteen of them held the
Mexicans at bay, hurried appeals for help to the committees of safety in
Mina, Victoria, and elsewhere. Colonel John H. Moore at La Grange
immediately gathered some 160 volunteers and rushed to the relief of the
besieged eighteen. In his force were men from all sections of the Mina
municipality, including several of the Eastland family. On October 2,
1835, Moore with his men attacked and routed the Mexicans, who fled to
San Antonio.
Nine days later, the Texans elected Stephen F. Austin to command them and
bean a march to San Antonio. Upon approaching the city, defended by
General Cos, Austin delegated to James Bowie, James Fannin, and ninety
men the duty of locating a suitable campsite. Moving well ahead of the
main force, the Bowie men camped on the evening of October 27, 1835, near
the old mission Conception. The following morning several hundred
Mexicans surprised the Texans who took refuge along the river banks. The
ensuing battle lasted three hours, and the Mexicans were decisively
defeated with a loss of about sixty men. Among the Texans there was only
one death. Oddly, historians state categorically, without citing sources,
that no Texans was wounded; yet according to his military service record
in the Texas State Archives, Thomas Osborn was transferred from Captain
Fannin's Company to Captains Parrett's Battery because of a wound he
suffered in the Battle of Concepcion.
With Thomas Osborn in the campaign around San Antonio from October to
December 1835 were Samuel Wolfenberger and William Mosby Eastland.
Wolfenberger served as a private soldier in the Mina Volunteers, joining
the Texas forces on November 17, 1835, and serving exactly thirty days.
Two years later, he was to draw pay of $231.07 for a year and three
months of service, including the month spent in the Bexar Campaign.
During the siege, William Mosby Eastland lost a fine, black horse for
which he asked compensation. Captain Thomas Alley had the value of the
horse determined by N. B. Breeding and James Curtis who appraised it at
sixty dollars, a sum which satisfied Eastland.
Colonels J. C. Neill and James Bowie undertook the defense of San
Antonio...Fannin, given the rank of colonel, brought together a force of
about 450 volunteers (destined to be the principal characters of a major
tragedy) and established his headquarters at Goliad.
Events moved to a crescendo, and in the latter part of February Mexican
forces appeared at both San Antonio and San Patricio. On March 6, 1836,
Santa Anna succeeded in breaching the walls of the Alamo and annihilating
the defenders.
General Jose Urrea Began an advance on Fannin, who, unable to obey
earlier orders to relieve the Alamo, remained a Goliad. With the fall of
the Alamo he was again ordered to retreat.
In the meantime, Captain Albert C. Horton and fifty-two mounted men from
towns along the Colorado joined with Fannin. Among the fifty-two were
Thomas Osborn and Nicholas W. Eastland.
When Fannin did begin his retreat on March 19, 1836, knowing that General
Urrea was near with a strong force, he ordered Captain Horton and
Nicholas Eastland , to reconnoiter the rear and flanks of the Texans and
report the first appearance of the Mexicans; Horton was, moreover, to
locate a suitable spot at which to cross Coleto Creek.
After Horton led his men away, Fannin moved slowly, and when one of his
wagons broke down halted his force of less than three hundred men on the
open prairie a short distance from the Coleto. General Urrea immediately
recognized his opportunity and took advantage of it to surround the
Texans. When the battle began, Captain Horton, hearing the firing,
hastened to rejoin the main force only to find his return effectively
prevented by hundreds of Mexicans who had taken position between him and
Fannin. Apparently, Horton wanted to fight his way through Urrea's
cavalry, but some of his men refused to follow his lead and thus they
could do no more than to observe the battle from a distance.
Momentarily expecting the return of Horton and his men, Fannin stood off
the Mexicans throughout the afternoon and night but surrendered on March
20, 1836. A few days later Santa Anna ordered the execution of Fannin and
all his
command, and the orders were faithfully carried out on the twenty-fifth.
Nicholas Eastland and Thomas Osborn, along with the remainder of Horton's
small company, were by then safely in Victoria.
Frightened by the successive Mexican victories and the hasty retreat by
Houston, thousands of the Texas colonists packed what little belongings
they could and fled toward Louisiana. Most of the Watterson folk then
living along the Colorado and Brazos rivers also took flight while others
of the Watterson fold helped to protect the refugees.
His victories and the flight of the colonists coupled with Houston's
precipitate retreat convinced Santa Anna that the revolution was ended,
and the therefore divided his army into smaller units which he sent on a
variety of missions. The division of the Mexican forces furnished Houston
with the opportunity he sought, for with each errand on which Santa Anna
dispatched his men size of the Mexican army had decreased to about nine
hundred men, while the Texas army had increased to nearly a thousand. The
disparity of the two armies was not so whittled down the Houston could
afford to risk an all-out battle. On the 21st however, Santa Anna,
reinforced by General Cos, had an army or some fourteen hundred, while
Houston's numbered somewhere between nine hundred and a thousand. Houston
determined to attack, moved forward, and surprised the Mexicans during
their afternoon siesta.
Lasting only eighteen minutes, the action at San Jacinto is one of the
astounding battles of military history. Of the Mexicans, 630 were killed
and 730 were taken prisoner. Only a few escaped. Nine Texans were slain
and thirty-four were wounded. The ferocity of the fighting can best be
judged by one account of William Mosby Eastland actions in the battle as
quoted in ANSON JONES, by Dr. Herbert Gambrell:
"General Houston gave orders not to kill any more but to take prisoners.
Captain Eastland said Boys take prisoners, you know how to take
prisoners, take them with the butt of you guns, club, and said remember
the Alamo remember Laberde, and club guns, right and left, and knock
their brains out. The Mexicans would fall down on their knees and say me
no Alamo me no Laberde."
In view of all that had gone on before it was no wonder that the Texans
were bloodthirsty. The marvel was that Houston was able to halt the
slaughter in only eighteen minutes. Eastland's reversal of Houston's
order is evidence of the unwillingness of the Texas soldier at San
Jacinto to desist from killing as long as the enemy seemed to resist.
Only William Mosby Eastland and Nicholas Dawson actually fought in the
battle of San Jacinto. Eastland family tradition, however is that
Nicholas W. Eastland was left in Harrisburg as a part of the camp guard,
and since he was enrolled in the Texas army at the time and drew pay for
that service it seems logical that he should have been somewhere near the
main force.
"THE YEARS OF THE REPUBLIC"
Bastrop County in 1836 suffered more Indian attacks than in any previous
years; a militia was formed to guard the rim of settlement, called the
Ranging Service. During the Republic, the Ranging Service was enlarged
and used to patrol the frontier and to punish Indians raiders. One
company, commanded by Robert Coleman, headquartered at Coleman's Fort on
the Colorado River; William Mosby Eastland served in the Coleman Company
as a First Lieutenant , and engaged in several Indians skirmishes.
Once, in 1837, while Eastland was acting as Captain of the company of the
company at Coleman's fort, he made an excursion in the vicinity of Pecan
Bayou in Mills County. He was under orders to make no hostile
demonstrations that would stir up the Indians. When he had completed his
inspection of the area, he ordered a return to the fort. Some twenty of
the rangers, however, refused to obey his orders and compelled a further
exploration of Pecan Bayou. Some distance up the Bayou they encountered
a small camp of friendly Delawares who, in the past, had sometimes served
as guides for the whites. While visiting with the Delawares a lone
warrior of another tribe approached and in spite of protests by the
Delawares one of the rangers, something of a bully, rode out to drive him
away. And, although the lone warrior gave the proper signs of friendship,
the white man killed, scalped, and robbed him of his tobacco, and upon
returning to the Delawares bragged that he would kill any Indian for as
much. The Delawares, warning that revenge would be exacted by the other
tribe, took their departure hurriedly. Hardly were they out of sight when
the whites were attacked by a force of a hundred Indians who demanded
custody of the murderer. Eastland and the remainder of the rangers,
although sickened by the action of their comrade, refused to give him up
and entrenched themselves in a ravine for defense. To drive the rangers
out of the ravine, the Indians set the surrounding grass on fire and as
the whites tried to fight their ways to safety all but five were killed.
Eastland, one of the survivors, was wounded. it seems always to have been
his fate to suffer for the miscalculations and actions of others.
In the meantime, because the Comanches and Kiowas were increasing the
intensity of their raids, William Mosby Eastland and Noah Smithwich
formed a company of Bastrop men, and with Eastland in command, joined two
La Grange companies led by John H. Moore. The three companies included
only sixty-three whites and sixteen Lipans and Tonkawas. At the mouth of
the San Saba River, they surprised a small Comanche camp and in an
attempt save Matilda Lockhart and four Putnam children from captivity
attacked and defeated it but were unsuccessful in their rescue attempt.
In the fighting William Mosby Eastland was again wounded. During the
battle, Nicholas W. Eastland ( ( Kay's GGG Granddaddy) killed the chief,
who, in addition to silver rings in his ears and on his fingers, wore a
beautiful six-foot-long beaded belt that was long treasured as a souvenir
by the Eastland family. The fight was followed by an anticlimax, for on
their way home they stopped overnight in the new capital, Austin, and
were entertained with a dance. During the celebration, Indians succeeded
in stealing all of their horses and mules except for three belonging to
Nicholas Eastland.
In the following autumn, John H. Moore organized another expedition into
Indian country, this time to retaliate for the earlier Linnville raid by
the Comanches. With about ninety men from Bastrop and La Grange, he led
the way far up the Colorado where an unsuspecting Comanche camp was
discovered. In the ensuing battle, forty-eight Indians were slain and
eighty were drowned. Only two Texans were wounded. The surprise raid into
Indian territory had been earlier planned, for, on September 1, 1840,
Nickolas W. Eastland wrote President Lamar requesting a leave of absence
from his duties on the Fayette County Board of Land Commissioners so he
could serve under the command of Colonel John H. Moore in an expedition
against the Comanche Indians. This last campaign by Moore and his men
practically ended the major wars with the Indians, in small parties,
continued harassing the white man in more isolated areas.
Although the major fighting had ended, there were still many interesting
contacts with the Indians. In one instance, about 1840, Nicholas W.
Eastland captured a small Comanche boy whom he took home to rear, naming
the child Sam Houston. The youngster was extremely frightened, for the
elders of his tribe had told the Comanche children that should the be
captured the white men would murder them and make soap of their bodies.
For a time, therefore, Sam Houston cowered whenever he was approached by
a white man. But the Eastlands gave him such kind treatment, good food,
and good clothing that soon the apprehension disappeared. For at least
two years he remained with the family, working with the others, going on
hunting and camping trips, and attending church. He might have remained
with the Eastland family until he was a grown man, but two years after
his capture the Texas government ordered that all Comanche children
living with white families would be exchanged as ransom for white
children with the Indians. At San Marcos Sam Houston was exchanged. He
left the family promising that when he was older he would return to live
with them. Several years later, when he was only eighteen, he was killed
during a Comanche raid near Lockhart.
Then came the Mexican invasion of September, 1842, when 1500 soldiers
commanded by General Adrain Woll marched into Texas and recaptured San
Antonio...Erasmus "Deaf Smith" escaped and carried news of the invasion
to Seguin and Gonzales, whence it spread to the rest of Texas. Under the
command of Matthew Caldwell, 250 volunteers advanced toward San Antonio
and camped on the Salado, a small steam thirty to forty feet wide with
twelve-foot banks, beyond which was a mesquite flat. Even as Caldwell's
forces took position, companies were being formed at La Grange and
Bastrop intending to join his command.
After a delay of a day and a night, General Woll attacked the Texans in
mid-morning. Although he utilized artillery, cavalry, and infantry, he
could not dislodge the Texans, and in late afternoon he ordered a
withdrawal. But as the Mexicans retired the observed a small detachment
of Texans, from La Grange and under the command of Nicholas Mosby Dawson,
attempting to join Caldwell. Woll directed that they be intercepted.
Dawson's men at once took position in mesquite thicket, well protected
from small arms fire but exposed to artillery. Carefully staying out of
rifle range, Woll's artillery blasted the Texans with field pieces, which
soon compelled Dawson to surrender. Raising a white flag on his rifle
barrel, he tried to approach the Mexicans but was shot down even as the
remainder of his command discarded their weapons. After a day of
frustration, the Mexicans were in no mood to accept surrender from so
small a detachment; and as quickly as the Texans threw down their arms
they were slain, twenty were taken captive, and two escaped. Among those
who died with Dawson was his Seventeen-year-old cousin, Nicholas W.
Eastland's son, Robert Moore Eastland. He was the first of three Nicholas
Eastland's sons to die for Texas.
Following the massacre, the clothing was stripped from the dead and the
bodies left on the mesquite flat where Caldwell's found them the
following day. General Woll on being informed that Colonel John H. Moore
was approaching with a goodly sized body of reinforcements ordered a
hasty retreat from San Antonio.
The Woll Invasion and the atrocity of the Dawson Massacre led to the Mier
Expedition. A call went out for volunteers to invade Mexico.
Among the companies that gathered near San Antonio were one from Bastrop
led by Bartlett Simms and one from La Grange commanded by William Mosby
Eastland. Many of those in Eastland's company had had relatives in
Dawson's company, and Dawson was Williams Eastland's Cousin and Robert
Eastland was his nephew. The Eastland company therefore was eager for the
expedition to be organized and to get on its way. Houston named General
Alexander Somervell commander.
In spite of procrastination by Somervell, on November 22, 1842, the
regiment began a march to Laredo, expecting there to encounter the enemy.
The route normally required a week to cover, but rains caused the
expedition to take seventeen days. The deluges turned the usually
semi-arid region into a boggy mass of mud, described by the soldiers as
"The Devil's Eight Leagues, " "The Devil's Bog," or the "Bogs of
Atascosa." Upon reaching Laredo, they found that Woll's army had already
departed and they were greeted instead by a sprinkling of laughing,
grinning children and aged men and women. After a few days, Somervell,
under instructions not to cross the Rio Grande, gave orders to return to
San Antonio.
Angered, some three hundred refused to obey the command, drew off,
elected Colonel William S. Fisher to lead them, and proceeded to organize
into companies. William Mosby Eastland was one of the captains.
Since they were now well below Laredo, the three hundred continued on
down the Rio Grande, some of them traveling in flat boats and some
marching down the river on the Texas side. Finally, they came opposite
the little town of Mier, noted only for its manufacture of fine, woolen
blankets.
The Texans sent out scouts and, finding no opposition, marched into the
village, the mayor surrendering upon assurance that there would be no
looting. He also promised supplies, but he dallied in providing them. As
the men waited, disgruntled, news came of the approach of General Ampudia
with a large force. Upon conferring, the Texans decided against retreat,
and a general battle ensued. Although the Texans held off the enemy, the
disparity of the two armies led Colonel Fisher to agree to terms of
honorable surrender; terms that were not carried out, for the Texans were
at once shackled together and began a forced march of eighteen to twenty
miles a day to Monterey, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, and the hacienda of
Salado.
The hardships of the march led the Mier men to contemplate escape;
moreover, a number, including Ewen Cameron, Dr. Richard Brenham, and
Thomas Jefferson Green, had been on the ill-fated Santa Fe Expedition and
feared that reason their lives were forfeit. For most, escape seemed the
only road to comfort; for others, it was the only path to life.
At he hacienda of Salado shortly before Valentine's Day a number,
including William Mosby Eastland, made the attempt. The arid nature of
the country, the mountainous terrain, and the cold combined with their
thin clothing and weakened conditions made it extremely chancy. After a
week, the Texans began to return to their captors, suffering from cold
and hunger, their tongues swollen from thirst, and near to death. Some,
including Brenham, did not return at all, having lost their lives in the
attempt.
Angered, Santa Anna decreed as punishment that one out ten should be
executed, those to die being chosen by lottery. 170 beans, seventeen
black and the remainder white, were placed in a jar, the mouth of which
was covered by a handkerchief. The prisoners were assembled, the sentence
was read to them, and each prisoner, as his name was called, thrust his
hand into the jar and withdrew a bean. The white bean meant life; the
black bean meant death. Each man made his draw with composure; but one, a
private soldier from Brazonia County, James C. Wilson, realizing that the
jar had not been thoroughly shaken and that therefore the black beans
were near the top, advised each officer as he drew: "Dip deep, Captain,
dip deep." This was sheer heroism, for Wilson's name was near the last
alphabetically, and each black bean that was drawn increased his own
chance of surviving, while that was drawn decreased them.
Shortly, it was William Mosby Eastland's turn. To the rhythm of Wilson's
chant, Eastland reached into the jar, and when he withdrew his hand he
held the first black bean. In turn, the rest drew until sixteen more had
found death.
Each was allowed to say good by to his comrades and to send a last word
home. William Mosby Eastland, in two statements attributed to him, told
those who were to live: "Say to my friends that I addressed you an hour
previous to my arraignment before my God. For my country I have offered
all my earthly aspirations and for it I now lay down my life. I have
never feared death, nor do I now. For my unjustifiable execution I wish
no revenge, but die in full confidence of the Christian faith.." And he
also said: "Let no Texan lay down his arms until peace has been
permanently established. It has been said that I am a timid man, but as
God is my witness I am not afraid to die for Texas."
The latter remark may have been directed at Thomas Jefferson Green; for,
after Eastland was dead, Green was to make such an implication in account
of the Mier Expedition. William Mosby Eastland's record in Texas history,
however, reveals no act of cowardice; and no man who died as bravely as
did he before the firing squad could be described as "timid."
Under the preaching of the Reverend M. Shanks, William Mosby Eastland had
professed religion not quite three years before, September 19, 1840, at
Starkville, Mississippi, while on a journey to Tennessee to visit his
family. His faith now supported him in the face of death; for, within the
hour, March 25, 1843, the seventeen were shot; but the tragedy was not
yet played out; for, although he had not drawn a black bean, exactly one
month later Ewen Cameron was executed because of his part in the escape.
The survivors of the expedition were confined in Perote Castle until the
last of them were released in September, 1844.
Thus did the second Eastland die for the land he loved. For five years,
his body remained in Mexico with those of his companions. In 1848,
however, Major Walter P. Lane, on a scouting expedition to San Luis
Potosi, detoured to Salado, exhumed the bodies and had them taken under
the escort of Captain John E. Dusenberry to La Grange.
Arrangements were made to bury the victims of the Dawson Massacre and the
Salado Massacre on a hill outside La Grange and overlooking the Colorado
River. On September 18, 1848, a large crowd assembled for the rituals.
Sam Houston was the special guest of Nicholas W. Eastland. After
appropriate services and speeches, the bodies, in a home-made,
black-walnut casket, were interred in a single vault. William Mosby
Eastland's namesake, five-year-old Will Eastland, [ Kay's Hemphill
Swafford, GG Grandfather} witnessed the ceremonies just as he was to
another, fifty-six years later.
Years past and the Sepulcher, which was unmarked, had been desecrated by
youngsters who had actually used the bones for game ball.
Plans to mark the tomb suitably and thus correct the people's
forgetfulness were formulated at once. J.F. Wolters was invited to make
the Memorial Day address at the La Grange Opera house on April 21, 1904.
The observances were well publicized, and visitors traveled to La Grange
from all over the state. Among them was Will Eastland Sr. A plea for a
marker to commemorate the heroes of the Dawson and Meir Massacre was made.
And in 1933 the state erected a beautiful and enduring monument to those
who slept within properly inscribed on the outside. Will Eastland Sr.
missed being a part of the third ceremony only because of illness which
caused his death just one day after the new and permanent monument was
unveiled to the public, September 18, 1933.
Nicholas Washington Eastland was to lose one more of his family in wars
with the Mexicans. Two of his sons, Thomas Butler Eastland and Charles
Cooper Eastland served with the Texas Rangers unit during the Mexican
War. Their departure from their father's home had more than the usual
touch of sadness, for it was to cause their little brother, Will
Eastland, to remember their going away with guilt for the rest of his
life. At that time it was the custom to hang weapons over the door so
that they could reach it easily during an emergency. When the two young
soldiers were ready to leave and as they reached for their rifles above
the door, one of them stepped on Will's foot causing him to cry. Although
they attempted to console him, he refused to tell them good bye, and they
departed with no word of farewell from him. He never saw Charles Cooper
Eastland again; for, on December 20, 1847, Charles Eastland died of
disease in Monterey, Mexico. The older brother, Thomas Butler Eastland
came back. | Eastland, Nicholas Washington (I13409)
|
| 7586 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 8, Ed. 1, Tree #2491]
The Eastlands came to America sometime during the early part of the
eighteenth century, and, like so many of yeomen stock, during several
generations they drifted westward. By 1800, Thomas Butler Eastland, from
whom descends the Texas line, had reached Kentucky, acquired a plantation
called Woodlands, married Nancy Mosby, and was Quartermaster-General of
the Kentucky Militia.
When the War of 1812 began, he volunteered and spent most of it fighting
under the command of General William Harrison. In recognition of his
military services, particularly in the Battle of New Orleans, the
government awarded him several grants of land in Tennessee, the last of
which was made in 1838.
After the War of 1812, he moved with his children (Nicholas Washington,
William Mosby, Thomas, James, Robert, and an unidentified daughter) to
Tennessee. In his new home, following the death of Nancy Mosby, he
married again, this time to a Miss Swan. Four more children were born to
his second marriage: Edward, George, Cumberland, and another unidentified
daughter.
A man of some wealth acquired though military service and the
accumulation of land, Thomas Butler Eastland was able to provide a
substantial education for his children. His eldest son Nicholas
Washington (who was to live most of his life in Watterson), was enrolled
in 1818 in the United States Military Academy at West Point, holding his
appointment from Tennessee. The other children were given as fine an
education as was available for the time and place. William Mosby was also
afforded at least a smattering of the military education which was to
stand him in such good stead on the frontier and the Mexican border.
Thomas Butler Eastland soon attained an enviable position in the
Tennessee community of Sparta in White County, and as his wealth
increased founded the little town of Eastland, only a short distance away. | Eastland, Thomas Butler (I13472)
|
| 7587 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 9, Ed. 1, Tree #3342]
After Zoa Belle (Mom) died, Grandpa came to Cannelton to live with us. He
was a great help when Mother (Mary Agnes) had a second bout with
rheumatic fever. He did the washing and ironing and he and Mary Frances
did the cooking. David said it was a chore to eat Mary Frances' biscuits.
David tells of the time he and Grandpa were in the basement and Daddy
came down to complain that his shirt collars were too heavily starched.
Grandpa slowly replied, "Well, Leo, if you don't like the way they are
done I guess you can do a little work around here by doing it yourself."
(And David thought "Go! Grandpa!!!)
One day when Jack was about three and playing happily on the floor,
Grandpa decided to go "over in town" but did not just leave. He announced
to Jack that he was going to do so. Of course, Jack said, "Can I go,
too?" and Grandpa answered, "No, you can't go along" and left. In
consternation, Jack (whose temper tantrums manifested themselves by his
banging his head on the wall) went to the three glass paned front door,
hit his head against one panel and broke the glass! | Spencer, Isaac Seymour (I13612)
|
| 7588 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 9, Ed. 1, Tree #3342]
I answered yes to addictions because Daddy was very addicted to nicotine;
hence his death from a coronary at age 49. He smoked three packs a day,
or as his wife said, he burned up three packs a day, because the carpet
around his chair had numerous cigarette burn marks. I did not answer yes
to mental illness even though I believe he could be helped with a drug
such a Prozac today. I really believe the circumstances of the time and
the family being the way it was made him try to solve all his problems
himself, and he was naturally unable to do this with little or no support.
Daddy was a very intelligent man, hence his interest in many hobbies.
However, after reaching a reasonable degree of excellence, his interest
would wane. The one he liked the longest and kept his hand in until his
death was his "magician acts."
I remember little of Daddy being home at night and once asked Mother
where he spent his time--she said over at Pie's playing cards. Pie Huber
had a saloon on the corner of Sixth and Main in Cannelton. Dr. Bush used
to join them but he would never take a drink (the result of growing up
with an alcoholic father).
Daddy really loved great music, but I daresay he would not like many
contemporary composers: Bartok, Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, etc. He also
liked to drive--fast! He would not have done well in the days we had the
55 mph speed limit.
I remember walking home from church with Daddy when I was quite young,
and he teased me all the way home by walking fast and taking big steps; I
could hardly keep up with him.
When the older children were old enough to help with Easter Baskets we
really had a lot of fun. Even the adults in our family received baskets,
or rather boxes, and they were all hidden from the recipient. One year
Daddy's was in an empty candy bar box and David and Mary Frances thumb
tacked it to the bottom of the kitchen table. He never did find it
without help from the "hide-ees." | Spencer, Leo Celestine (I13512)
|
| 7589 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 9, Ed. 1, Tree #3342]
It is reported that Phoebe did not get along with her father's second
wife. | Mosby, Phoebe A. (I13616)
|
| 7590 |
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 9, Ed. 1, Tree #3342]
Mom hand pieced many quilts, each about 72" square. She gave an unquilted
quilt top to Mary Frances, David, Lucille, and Nancy. She had pieces cut
for Jack's but did not get to sew them together. I have no idea of what
happened to the pieces, which were in the closet of Mary Agnes and Leo's
bedroom in Cannelton when I was in high school. I have a "Trip around the
world" quilt she made that I currently (1995) keep on a quilt rack. I
won't let anyone use it because I don't want it to become more worn. It
is very fragile. | Mitchell, Zoa Belle (I13608)
|
| 7591 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | King, Lenna (I13635)
|
| 7592 |
[From "The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families"]
For this identification see Mr. Loyd's paper 'The Origin of the Family of Warenne' in Yorkshire Arch. Journal, vol. xxxi, pp. 97-113. The hamlet of Varenne lies on the river Varenne c. 2 miles S of Arques and c. 13 miles N of Bellencombre. The latter place, arr. Dieppe, cant. Bellencombre, where there was a castle, became the caput of the Warenne honour in Normandy.
WILLIAM DE WARREN
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J. R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874..
"De Garenes i vint Willeme" is all we learn from Wace about his appearance at Hastings, except that his helmet fitted him admirably, "Mult li sist bien et chief li helme;" for the mention of which interesting circumstance I suspect the gallant knight is more indebted to rhyme than to record — to the art of poetry rather than to the skill of his armourer. Fortunately we have made his acquaintance some time previous to the Conquest, and there are circumstances of much more importance and interest connected with him than the well-fitting of his helmet. His parentage has been variously represented, and that of his wife the subject of the keenest controversy.
To begin with the beginning. Without bewildering the reader with the conflicting accounts of the early contemporary chroniclers, and the unsatisfactory conclusions of more recent writers, I will at once refer to the earliest mention of William de Warren in history that I am aware of, which occurs in Orderic Vital's account of the battle of Mortemer and its results in 1054. "Duke William," he tells us, "being enraged by the shelter and safe conduct granted by Roger de Mortemer, who commanded the Norman forces on that occasion, to the Comte de Montdidier, who had fought on the side of the French and taken refuge in the Castle of Mortemer, banished Roger from Normandy and confiscated all his possessions;" but being afterwards reconciled to him he restored them to him, with the exception of the Castle of Mortemer, which the Duke gave to William de Warren, "one of his loyal young vassals," whom Orderic makes the Conqueror describe as a cousin or kinsman of De Mortemer, acknowledging no consanguinity to himself.
The probabilities are that he was the son of a Ralph de Warren, a benefactor to the abbey of La Trinité du Mont about the middle of thee 11th century, who, as well as Roger de Mortemer, Nicholas de Basqueville, Walter de St. Martin, and many others, were the issue of some of the numerous nieces of the Duchess Gonnor ("Nepotes plures predicta Gunnora"), who have been inaccurately set down as kinsmen instead of distant connections of her great-grandson the Conqueror.
William de Warren, to whom the Duke of Normandy gave the Castle of Mortemer, was a young man, we are told, at that period, and would, therefore, scarcely have attained the prime of life in 1066. He is named amongst the principal persons summoned to attend the Council at Lillebonne, when the invasion of England was decided upon, and was no doubt present in the great battle, for his services in which he received as his share of the spoil some three hundred manors, nearly half that number being in the county of Norfolk.
In 1067, on the King's departure for Normandy, William de Warren was joined with Hugh de Grentmesnil, Hugh de Montfort, and other valiant men in the government of England, under the superior jurisdiction of the Earl-bishop Odo and William Fitz 0sbern.
In 1074, on the breaking out of the rebellion of Roger, Earl of Hereford, and Ralph, Earl of Norfolk, we find him associated with Richard de Bienfaite as Chief Justiciaries of England, and summoning the rebels to appear before the King's High Court; and on their refusal, William de Warren with Robert, son of William Malet, marched against Earl Ralph, and routing the rebels at Fagadune, pursued them to Norwich, taking many prisoners, whom, according to the barbarous practice of the age, they mutilated by chopping off the right foot—an unmistakable proof that the sufferers had taken a step in the wrong direction.
Of his personal prowess no special anecdote has been preserved, and it is as the husband of the mysterious Gundred, or Gundrada, that his name has descended to the present day with any special interest attached to it.
Whether the hand of this lady was bestowed upon him previously to his services at Senlac, or as a part of his reward for them, does not appear, and our ignorance of the date of their marriage has been the principal obstacle in the way of those who have so hotly disputed her relationship to William the Conqueror, for could we even arrive at an approximate date it might enable us to calculate her probable age at that period, and whether she was born before or after 1053, on which fact depends the whole question.
That they were married before 1078 is certain, as in that year they founded the Priory of Lewes in Sussex, and we have the charters of King William, which he granted to that establishment for the health of the souls of his lord and ancestor, King Edward, of his father Count-Robert, of his own soul and that of his wife, Queen Matilda, and of all their children and successors, and for the souls of William de Warren and his wife Gundrada, his (William's) daughter and their heirs.
The words "my daughter" — "filiæ meæ" — would be decisive of her being the acknowledged child of the King; but independently of their being scarcely legible, it is contended that they are in a different and later hand; and there is this to be observed, which I do not remember having seen noticed, that the King has just previously used the expression "our children and successors" (filiorum atque successorum nostrorum"), so that his particularising Gundrada as "my daughter" would imply that she was not by his wife Matilda.
Exactly in opposition to this is the declaration of William de Warren himself, in whose charter to the priory, granted after the death of Gundred in childbirth (6 kalends of June, 1085), he states his donations to be for the salvation of the souls, amongst others, of his lady Queen Matilda, mother of his wife ("matris uxoris meæ"), excluding in turn King William from any share in her parentage. Was she then the sister of Gherbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester, as Orderic Vital distinctly describes her, without the slightest allusion to her parents? And, if so, was Queen Matilda the mother of both by a previous marriage, which has been utterly ignored by contemporary writers, and never yet established by recent investigators? Mr. Freeman accepts that interpretation, and I can advance no argument in dispute of it. It is much more likely, as he observes, that a stepfather should call the daughter of his wife his daughter, than that a husband should speak of the mother of his wife in anything but a strictly literal sense.
Then how are we to account for the universal silence of the chroniclers, native and foreign, on the subject? Mr. Freeman quotes the instance of their apparent ignorance of the marriage of Robert the Devil with the widow of UIf; but this is a much more important case. We have the unequivocal declaration of William de Warren, that Queen Matilda was the mother of his wife, and unless that charter is spurious, of which there is not the slightest suspicion, the evidence to that extent is conclusive.
But we have not yet done with riddles. Amongst the benefactors of Bermondsey, I find one Richard Guett, recorded as brother of the Countess of Warren, and the donor of the manor of Cowyke to the monks of that abbey, 11th of Rufus, A.D. 1098.
Gundred at that period had been dead thirteen years; but that she is the person alluded to there can be no doubt, as she is styled only "Comtesse Warenne;" whereas Isabelle de Vermandois, wife of her son, the second William, was Countess of Warren and Surrey.
Then who was this Richard Guett? Was he another child of Matilda of Flanders, a brother or halfbrother of Gherbod and Gundred, or a brother-in-law, for the old writers pay little attention to these nice distinctions, as we have seen in the case of Odo of Champagne? Had Matilda of Flanders as many husbands as Adelaide, Countess of Ponthieu, and, like her, issue by each? What was the real cause of the inhibition of her marriage with William, Duke of Normandy, — its delay for six years? What truth is there in the story of her unreturned affection for the Angio-Saxon Brihtric Meaw, and of her vindictive conduct to him after she became Queen of England? I have hesitated to believe in the popular tradition that Duke William grossly assaulted the daughter of Baldwin in the street or in her own chamber, not that I have any doubt about his being capable of such an outrage, but because he was too politic to commit it, and she was not the woman to have forgiven it, assuming that the offence was the simple refusal of his hand on the ground of his illegitimacy. It is obvious, however, that the early life of Matilda is involved in mystery, and it is highly probable that a clearer insight into it would enable us to account for much which we now reject as legend, or fail to reconcile with acknowledged facts. If there be any foundation for the story of William's brutality, the outburst of ungovernable fury might have been due to a much greater provocation than has been assigned for it. Brihtric, the son of Algar or Alfar, sumamed Meaw (Snow), from the extreme fairness of his complexion, an Anglo-Saxon Thegn, possessor of large domains in England, had been sent on an embassy from King Edward the Confessor to the Connt of Flanders. Matilda, we are told, fell desperately in love with him, and offered herself to him in marriage! Either disgusted by her forwardness, or preferring another, he declined the flattering proposal. "Hell hath no fury like a woman foiled," and she kept her wrath warm till she was in a position to ruin the man she had so passionately loved. She had no sooner become the Queen of England than she induced William to confiscate, on some pretence, all Brihtric's estates, and obtained the greater proportion for herself. The unfortunate Thegn was arrested at his house at Hanley, in Worcestershire, on the very day Saint Wulfstan had consecrated a chapel of his building, dragged to Winchester, and died in a dungeon! The truth of this story is supported by the impartial evidence of Domesday, in which Hanley and the principal manors held by Brihtric in the time of King Edward are recorded as the possessions of Queen Matilda, and the remainder passed to Fitz Hamon.
After her hand had been rejected by the noble Saxon, it is presumed she became the wife of a Fleming, named Gherbod, who appears to have held the hereditary office of Advocate of the Abbey of Saint Bertin, in St. Omers, and by whom she had at least two children, viz., Gherbod, to whom William gave the earldom of Chester, and Gundred, "the sister of Gherbod," and wife of William de Warren. Was this a clandestine or an informal marriage, which, as it has never been acknowledged by any chronicler, contemporary or other, might have been unknown to the Duke of Normandy, when he proposed to one whom he believed to be the maiden daughter of the Count of Flanders, and the corporal chastisement inflicted, however unworthy of a man, passed over, sub silentio, for prudential reasons, by the parties wlio had been guilty of a disgraceful suppression of facts? The subsequent marriage under such circumstances will awaken no surprise in any one who has studied the character of William. Utterly unscrupulous, destitute of every generous, noble, or delicate feeling, every action of his life was dictated by POLICY alone. An alliance with the Count of Flanders might be considered by the crafty schemer sufficiently advantageous to warrant his overlooking any objectionable antecedents in the conduct of a granddaughter of a king of France, his first discovery of which had provoked his savage nature into a momentary ebullition of fury. Her being the mother of two children was a point in her favour with a man whose sole motive for marrying was the perpetuation of a dynasty, and the fair prospect of legitimate issue, in whose veins the blood of the Capets should enrich that of the Furrier of Falaise, would overcome any hesitation at espousing the widow of an Advocate of St. Bertin. On the other hand, Count Baldwin would be too happy to embrace the opportunity of reinstating his daughter in a position befitting her birth, and, as well as the lady herself, gladly condone past insults for future advantages and the hope of smothering, in the splendour of a ducal wedding, the awkward whispers of scandal.
I have said thus much simply to show the view that may be taken of these mysterious circumstances, in opposition to the rose-coloured representations of some modern historians, who, upon no stronger evidence, elevate the Conqueror into a model husband, and describe Matilda as the perfection of womankind. To return to Gundred: her mother, Matilda, the third child of parents who were married in 1027, could not well have been born before 1030, and would therefore be some three years younger than the Conqueror.
In 1047, the time named as that of the Duke's first proposal, she would have been seventeen, and at that age either passionately in love with Brihtric, or already the youthful bride of the Advocate of St. Bertin.
In either case her rejection of William — and in the latter the Papal inhibition — is perfectly understandable. Assuming the marriage, she could scarcely have been the mother of the younger Gherbod and his sister Gundred before 1050; and the Countess of Warren, who died in childbed in 1085, would, according to this calculation, have then been in her thirty-fifth year. These dates are fairly presumable, and are uncontradicted by any circumstances that I am aware of.
No date has ever been assigned to the marriage of Gundred, but it is probable that it took place subsequent to the invasion, and about the same time that the earldom of Chester was bestowed on her brother Gherbod, with whom she may have come to England in the train of their mother, Matilda, on her visit in 1068, for there is not the slightest trace of Gherbod's presence at Hastings; and the magnificent gift of the County Palatine of Chester to a foreigner unknown to fame must have been owing to private family influence, as no service of any description is recorded for which it could be considered a merited reward.
In the foundation charter to Lewes, William de Warren himself tells us that he set out with his wife, Gundred, on a journey to Rome, but was unable to pass the German frontier in consequence of the war raging between the Emperor and the Pope. They therefore visited the Abbey of Cluni, where they were most hospitably entertained by the Prior and the community in the absence of Hugh, the Abbot. No date is mentioned, but the circumstances to which he alludes enable us to arrive at an approximate one.
in the Council of Worms, 23rd of January in that year, sentence of excommunication was passed upon the contumacious Kaiser, and his subjects absolved from their oath of fidelity; and in the following year, Henry, accompanied by his wife and infant son, Conrad, presented himself as a penitent before the walls of the Castle of Canossa, in Lombardy, where the Pontiff was then residing; and after remaining for three days, with naked feet and without food, in token of his contrition, was admitted, on the fourth, to the presence of the triumphant Pontiff, in consequence of the mediation of his cousin, the Countess Matilda, the Count of Savoy, and the Abbot of Cluni, who were at that period at Canossa with his Holiness.
This latter event occurred on the 26th of January, 1077, and we therefore know that Abbot Hugh was then in Lombardy. How long he was absent from Cluni on that occasion I cannot say, but we may fairly conjecture that William and Gundred were the guests of the Prior towards the close of the year 1076, or in the early part of 1077, in which latter year, they having long before resolved to found some religious house for the welfare of their souls, determined that, in gratitude for their reception at the Abbey of Cluni, it should rather be of the Cluniac order than any other. Having obtained the licence of King William, Abbot Hugh, at their request, sent over four of his monks, the principal of whom, named Lanzo, became the first Prior of St. Pancras at Lewes, which was founded and endowed by the Earl accordingly.
The Countess died, as before stated, in 1085, and was buried in the chapter-house at Lewes.
On the breaking out of Bishop Odo's rebellion, in the first year of the reign of Rufus, William, Earl of Warren, stood fast by the King, and served him most loyally both in the field and the council-chamber, for which good service he was created Earl of Surrey.
He enjoyed his new dignity but for a brief period, dying in 1089, 8 kalends of July (where, or of what disorder, is not stated), and was buried near his wife in the chapter-house of Lewes.
The discovery of their coffins a few years ago raised the controversy respecting the parentage of Gundred, which can scarcely even now be considered absolutely decided.
As in the case of Adelaide, Countess of Ponthieu, some charter or trustworthy document may yet be discovered which will clear up, by a simple fact, the mystery surrounding the early life of the Queen of the Conqueror, and not only enable us correctly to affiliate Gherbod and Gundred, but also to identify the hitherto unnoticed claimant to the honour of being one of their nearest relations, Richard Guett, the benefactor of Bermondsey, "brother of the Countess of Warren." From the register of Ely, in the Bodleian Library, Dugdale quotes the following tale of wonder: — " It is reported that this Earl William did violently detain certain lands from the monks of Ely, for which, being after admonished by the Abbot, and not making restitution, he died miserably; and though his death happened very far off the Isle of Ely, the same night he died, the Abbot, lying quietly in his bed, and meditating on heavenly things, heard the soul of the Earl in its carriage away by the Devil, cry out loudly and with a known and distinct voice, 'Lord have mercy upon me! Lord have mercy upon me!' and moreover that the next day the Abbot acquainted all the monks in Chapter therewith; and, likewise, that about four days after there came a messenger to them from the wife of the Earl with one hundred shillings for the good of his soul, who told them that he died the very hour the Abbot heard that outcry; but that neither the Abbot nor any of the monks would receive it, not thinking it safe for them to take the money of a damned person."
"If the first part of this story," adds honest old Norroy, " as the Abbot's hearing that noise, be no truer than the last, viz., that his lady sent them one hundred shillings, I shall deem it to be a mere fiction in regard the lady was certainly dead about three years before."
What appears more incredible to me is that there was not one monk to be found in the convent who would pocket the money "for the good of the soul" of the departed delinquent, who had "died miserably," — a statement which, taken in conjunction with the preternatural communication of the event to the holy Abbot, conveys to my mind an ugly idea of a guilty foreknowledge of it. | de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey William Earl of Surrey (I37726)
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| 7593 |
[From Burke' Peerage - see source for details]
John (King of ENG) prevented her (Isabel, youngest daughter of William FitzRobert) taking a second husband at all for the time being, however, and exchanged the Earldom of Gloucester with Aumarie de Montfort, son of William FitzRobert's eldest daughter Mabel, for the Comte of Evereux, which he then used as a dowry to secure the marriage of his niece Blanche with the King of France's son. Aumarie died childless. | FitzRobert, of Gloucester Mabel (I8776)
|
| 7594 |
[From Burke's Peerage-see source for details]
An undoubted Earl of Gloucester, perhaps the first authentic one, at any rate after the Conquest, is Robert FitzHamon's son-in-law, another Robert, who was an illegitimate son of Henry I and was so created 1122. The Earldom passed to his eldest son, William FitzRobert, and from him to John, later King John and husband from 1189 to 1199 (when he divorced her) of Isabel, the youngest of William FitzRobert's three daughters. On John's coming to the throne the title did not merge in the Crown for it was not his in his own right but in right of his wife. | de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert (I1836)
|
| 7595 |
[From Burke's Peerage-see source for details]
An undoubted Earl of Gloucester, perhaps the first authentic one, at any rate after the Conquest, is Robert FitzHamon's son-in-law, another Robert, who was an illegitimate son of Henry I and was so created 1122. The Earldom passed to his eldest son, William FitzRobert, and from him to John, later King John and husband from 1189 to 1199 (when he divorced her) of Isabel, the youngest of William FitzRobert's three daughters. On John's coming to the throne the title did not merge in the Crown for it was not his in his own right but in right of his wife. | FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester William (I8775)
|
| 7596 |
[From Burke's Peerage-see source for details]
An undoubted Earl of Gloucester, perhaps the first authentic one, at any rate after the Conquest, is Robert FitzHamon's son-in-law, another Robert, who was an illegitimate son of Henry I and was so created 1122. The Earldom passed to his eldest son, William FitzRobert, and from him to John, later King John and husband from 1189 to 1199 (when he divorced her) of Isabel, the youngest of William FitzRobert's three daughters. On John's coming to the throne the title did not merge in the Crown for it was not his in his own right but in right of his wife. | FitzHamon, Earl of Gloucester Robert (I36702)
|
| 7597 |
At least one living or private individual is linked to this note - Details withheld. | Harris, Corporal, U.S. Army Ida Ann (I53344)
|
| 7598 |
[Mickey's Combines.FTW]
[Beck.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)
Bettie Mae Gough's parents were James C. Gough and Amanda Mathews.[briggs.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)
Bettie Mae Gough's parents were James C. Gough and Amanda Mathews.[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)
Bettie Mae Gough's parents were James C. Gough and Amanda Mathews.[Hedrick.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)
Bettie Mae Gough's parents were James C. Gough and Amanda Mathews.[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)
Bettie Mae Gough's parents were James C. Gough and Amanda Mathews. | Gough, Bettie Mae (I53295)
|
| 7599 |
[Mickey's Combines.FTW]
[Beck.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)[briggs.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)[Hedrick.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998)[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, a descendant, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) | Harris, Lora Gough (I53285)
|
| 7600 |
[Mickey's Combines.FTW]
[Beck.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, her daughter, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) Juanita Jewell Harris Salmons was a Methodist.[briggs.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, her daughter, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) Juanita Jewell Harris Salmons was a Methodist.[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, her daughter, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) Juanita Jewell Harris Salmons was a Methodist.[Hedrick.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, her daughter, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) Juanita Jewell Harris Salmons was a Methodist.[Harris.FTW]
[Beck2.FTW]
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 40, Ed. 1, Tree #0127, Date of Import: Mar 1, 2000]
Source: Betty Heath, her daughter, 501 Marcus Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057 (1998) Juanita Jewell Harris Salmons was a Methodist. | Harris, Juanita Jewell (I53252)
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