Armenta Missouri Davenport · Moore Family Stories

Armenta Missouri Davenport

Sue's eyes were on the rope thrown over the rafters of her Fathers big barn. The Tory soldiers had caught her and her sister Amanda, riding horses. They had already driven off all their other horses and cows. But now the Tories believed the rumor that the Davenports had some finer horses hidden. (They had their pigs hid out in the woods, too.)

The Tories were saying, "We'll hang you, if you don't tell us where the other horses are." Sue thought about her Father and five brothers, fighting the Tories---and they needed those horses. She thought of her friend Marsh, whose Grandfather was 'Little Red Deer'. He was fighting the Tories, too. He was smart and he would know what to say.

"Oh, Amanda, we've got to get to the house and help Mama cook supper for the General and his men." --- The Tories left in a hurry---- She had done it!

When she was younger, the Yankees would set her up on the table and ask, "Now tell us where your Daddy and Brothers are." She would get sassy and it would tickle them.

The Yankees had already taken all they had. Searching for money, they would rip open their fine feather beds and pillows. The women and children would refill them with dried corn shucks. The shucks wouldn't come out of the holes as bad. Sometimes the soldiers would even steal them.

"People up North didn't have to suffer like we did. We used to have n-----s, and white women were raised to sit and sew, not work. They saw that the n-----s did things right.
When we tried to plow, and grow a garden or raise a crop, the soldiers would gather it all. Both sides, took our food and livestock. They even hauled off our split rail fences for fire wood."

Two old maid neighbors run out of food. There was an old stiff cowhide hanging on their fence. They worked it off the fence and boiled a piece for days---they ate it. It was all they had to eat---they finally ate it all---they didn't starve. Southern women had a hard time trying to feed their children and themselves.

Southern soldiers usually looked pitiful. Most of them wore whatever clothes they had, and shot their own guns. They seldom had enough food and supplies. As they moved along, the people gave them what they could. The Yankees would have to camp, to let food and supplies catch up with them.

The Davenport women suffered no real bad troubles from the soldiers.

Yankees outnumbered the South, with men. They had ships and blockaded all the ports. The South could not get food or supplies to fight with, it was a short war, four years.

The Civil War--The War of Northern Aggression
The original 13 states won their battle for independence. They were left with a big debt. Around 1800, the Federal government assumed this debt. An export tax was set up to pay for the debt.

The North mostly manufactured things used in this country, and had few exports. The South was agricultural and exported most of its products. Some of the money raised on Southern exports, was spent in the North. The South was being bled dry by the tax, and tried hard to get it changed.

The Southern states had freely joined the United States. Finally Southern leaders decided their only option, was to withdraw from the United States, and form their own nation, The Confederate States of America.

President Lincoln believed that the North could not survive alone. President Lincoln fought the war to keep the union together.

More than 200 slave ships had left Northern ports for years. The Zulu's in Africa were very powerful. They would overrun a large area. They would finance their next campaign, by selling whole political families and soldiers that they captured. They almost drove the British from Africa. They might have succeeded, except that the British come up with the Gattling Gun. The slave ships went to Africa and bought the people. Usually from the Zulu's or sometimes their own tribesmen, to be sold in slave markets, at enormous profits.

The very poor people in the north were afraid that slaves would be brought in to take their jobs. Some of them had harder lives than the ordinary slave in the South Most of the people living in the North, had no feelings, either way, about slaves. They owned slaves--- if it was profitable to them, like the Southerners did.

Two years into the war, Lincoln added the abolition of slavery, to the Union demands Even then, it was used in the hope of starting a slave uprising. It did not.

Slavery gave the Yankee troops, moral justification for the fight. Most of the Southern men fought because their homeland was invaded. Homes and crops were burned, livestock stolen and business were wrecked, And wells were poisoned. 600,000 men on both sides died.

Military historians consider Robert E. Lee as one of the greatest commanders of all times. Only Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonaparte, had such good military campaign strategy and received such reverence from their men.

Sue's Father come home safely, he was a 3rd Corporal, Co. B, 27th Alabama Infantry. He was paroled May 2, 1865 in Salisbury, North Carolina, after the war ended.

The Northern Army had a printed parole form. that was filled out and given to all captured Confederate Army soldiers, after the end of the war. It was a permit for them to return home, as long as they obeyed the laws.

Her brother, Pleasant Brown, was fifteen years older then Sue. He fought in the battle of Mission Ridge on November 24, 1863. He was killed in the Atlanta campaign
soon after.

Her brother, George Hewlett was six years older than Sue. He was captured when the Ten Mile Island Fort surrendered to the Union Army on April 8, 1862. He was sent as
a prisoner to Camp Douglas, Illinois, and then on to Madison, Wisconsin. There he escaped and returned to Miss. He was discharged in April, 1865, at Okalona, Chickasaw
Co. Miss.

Three other brothers fought, as did both her brothers in law. The Northern government put all prisoners on half rations. It was to save the money. They exported grain to Europe throughout the war, they were not short of food. Yankee prisoners in Confederate hands, received the same food and medical care as their Confederate guards.

One of Sue's brothers was in a Yankee prison. His Mother saw him coming home after the war He was walking up the road, he was just skin and bones. She cooked him good food, but he couldn't eat a cup full, his stomach had just growed up. He didn't live very long.

General Grant made the decision to not exchange prisoners, one on one. The North had plenty of men and didn't need their men back, like the South did. Southern prisoners could sign an "Oath of Allegiance", and get out of prison. Few did that, and when they did, they seldom went home afterwards.

Sue's parents were George W. Davenport and Mary Elizabeth(Polly) Weems. Mary was reported to have been born in Greenville County, South Carolina, ca 1802. They married when she was 19, and he was 20. His first ancestor in America was Launcelot Davenport.

The parents of Mary Elizabeth (Polly) were William Weems and Martha. William Weems and family moved to Jefferson County, Alabama in 1815. William and Martha were recorded in Jefferson County, giving consent to the marriage of their daughter Fanny to Nathaniel Cooper on July 17,1820. William made a land purchase February 2, 1822 in Jefferson County. William died in 1822 in Jefferson Co. Martha was in the 1830 census. She was recorded giving consent to the marriage of a daughter, Martha, to William Montgomery, on December 30, 1833.

The Davenport tavern was on a hill in Jefferson County, Alabama. It was on their plantation, near the town of Warrior. Travelers slept in a room that had a big china wash basin and a water pitcher. They could park their buggies or wagons and stay a day or longer. The horses, oxen and livestock could be fed and watered.

They owned slaves to help them. They treated them like humans. Sues sister, Amanda was born in 1840. That year the census listed her father as owning four slaves, a father, mother, and two children.

The plantation across from them had lots of slaves. There was a special place out behind, where their slaves were put across a barrel and whipped. Sue's Mother would hear them screaming and she would tare out down the hill She would plead with the overseer, "Turn that n----r loose, beat on me." Sometimes she could ease their punishment.
Her husband and sons would catch her and hush her. "Those n-----s belong to them and they can do what they want to."

Maybe that's where Sue got her impetuousness. She was the baby of the family. They all worried about her. She wasn't careful cooking. She had a friend visiting and the friend broke one of the china wash basins. Sue's Mother didn't say a word to the girl and she whipped Sue---- Sue never forgot that whipping. The worst thing--- was that Sue was overly friendly with that Gill boy, Marsh. The Gills had a reputation of being wild. One of his brothers went to a party and rode right on into the house, on his horse. It was a disgrace to know you were part Indian. Little Red Deer was their grandfather. However they were Cherokee, the top brand of Indians.

Sue was almost 20. Sue's family helped pick out a fine young man, she was to marry him tomorrow------- IT WAS GOING TO BE A BEAUTIFUL DAY. Sue slipped
off from home that night.

She and Marshall Messer Gill married the next day. August 22, 1865,in Morris, Ala. Sue's Mother got real mad, and she probably never saw her again. They went to his sister, Matilda Rogers. The Confederacy had surrendered, Marshal had been paroled for three months.

He enlisted in the Confederate Army in December 27,1861 in Jefferson Co.,Alabama. --Co. G, 17th Ala. Inf. Some of this Co.later served in the 58th.Alabama Inf., Confederate. January and February, 1864, he was absent, wounded and a first Sergeant. March 6,1964, he was admitted to the General Hospital, Selma, Alabama
Hospital Register number 3673, Complaint 'Velnus Sclopeticusn'.

Returned to duty March 17, 1864. Prisoner of War records show that he surrendered May 4, 1865, and he was paroled at Meridian, Miss., May 10, 1865, a 1st Sergeant.

(Anne, his youngest daughter, had his original parole, it was framed, She died. Margaret Hamby, a great granddaughter, was at her house when Dora and Don were going through her belongings. They quickly filled up a big box at the back door. Margaret bought several things. They told her, "If there's any thing you want out of that box, you can have it." Margaret dug in the trash, and come up with the parole. "Well I would like to have this." She used the patrol to get him a Confederate tombstone that she put on his grave.)

His parole lists him as being in the 32nd and 8th. Alabama Inf., Holly Clows Brigade. Confederate States of America. They were cut to pieces in the last battles. He carried a little round bullet in the fleshy part of his arm, to his grave.

The Brown family
George Brown 1787-1853 and Jane Barton, 1789-1840 were married and lived in Alabama. His father was John Henry Brown 1765-1841. His mother was Betty Crawford
1762-1809, her father was Chief Little Red Deer, Cherokee Chief.

John Henry Browns father was Andre Jackson Brown, Revolutionary War Colonel. His mother was Jane Young, sister of Brigadier General Nathan Young, of the British
army. It is said that when General Young met his sisters husband face to face after one battle, he decided he could not fight his 'own family'. He resigned his commission and returned to England.

Young John Henry Brown was a 12year old drummer boy for the American troops. He served with his father, a Colonel, in various Indian actions. He later served in the South Carolina and Alabama legislatures.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a cousin. He was a Calvary General during the Civil War. He was responsible for several victories. He was the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Although he ordered it disbanded in 1869 because of the group's excessive violence.

George Brown was a prosperous farmer and slave owner. He and Jane Barton Brown had two daughters, Lucenda (Louisa) and Martha. Louisa and Joseph Mote Gill were married January 26, 1868,in Jefferson County. Census records show that they could not read or write.

Jane Barton Brown died and Martha Brown came to live with her sister, Louisa and her husband, Joseph Mote Gill. Louisa had a young niece, Salena. Her mother, Mary Nail Brown died. Louisa raised both Martha Brown and Salena Brown.

The Hittson Connection to the Gills
Salena Brown married John Nathan Hittson in 1851, she was 14. Three years later Martha, age 18, married his brother, William. (Uncle Billy Hittson) The Hittson's were very prosperous in the land and cattle business. They had much land and cattle in Texas and Colorado.

Lucinda Brown Gill and Joseph Mote Gill are buried in a little cemetery in Morris Alabama, where their daughter Matilda always lived. Joseph Mote and Lucenda had four sons, that we know about--- Marshal Messer, Harrison, George Washington and Thompson. Harrison was a young man when he was shot in a duel, over a bad woman.
Their sons, Tom and George moved to Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Their daughter, Matilda, she stayed in Alabama all her life.

Their son Marshal Messer married Armenta Missouri Davenport (Sue) on Jan.,25, 1865.

Sue's brother, Lafayette, moved his family near Yellville, Arkansas, in Marion County, in 1872, and her sister Francis Hancock and her family, moved to Crawford County
Arkansas in the early 1870's.

Federal census records, show that Sue and Marshal Gill were in Marion Co. Arkansas from 1867 thru 1869. Their first son, John was born there in Feb. 28, 1867. Their second son Joseph Mote was born there in May 11, 1869. Sometime Marsh had to be gone several days. Sue was afraid to stay alone. Some women lived up the mountain and Sue would ask them if she could spend the night. They would always let her. She would carry her two babies up the mountain. In the next room Sue could hear men and women laughing and talking. She would leave early the next morning and never see them.

Census records show that they were back in Jefferson Co., Arkansas in the 1870. Their first daughter Sudie, was born there on Nov., 18,1873.

Marshal Messer Gill heard tales of Texas. He knew that his Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha were in Texas and he wanted to find them. Marsh and Sue----'Had sand in their shoes'. They were looking for---'The fritter tree and the honey pond',--'New Country', she said

Traveling by wagon, they slept on the ground at night. They could smell skunks and knew they were around. The baby got sick. He was just a sucking baby. He kept trying
to bite and Sue always believed that he had been bitten by a skunk and had hydrophobia.

They camped in the first settlement they come to. They worked with the sick baby and Sue was exhausted. Some man near there was real sick and had to be set up with.
Other women told her that she needed a rest. They would care for her baby, if she would go sit with the man. Sue went and was sitting and it was quiet--- in the night. She heard a horse coming lopity, lopity, lopity, lopity. [[ I can still hear my Mother's four fingers, as she always reached for the wooden chair arm, and softly pecked them, one after another, and softly, "lopity, lopity, lopity, lopity." The horse's feet---coming down---in rhythm. Always four times Just as her Granmama had told her--- when she was a little girl.]]

Sue worried, "Oh, I hope my baby is not sicker." Sure enough, they had come after her--Her baby was worse and lived two more days. His name was Doc Brown Gill. He was the first baby boy that they buried on their trail to Texas.

It took a long time to get any place. Horses and a wagon---four miles in open country a day, was fast. The horses had to stop and rest and. food had to be cooked.

Travelers camped by water. Sometimes a bench would be built on the waters edge. Women would dip their family's dirty clothes in the water, lay them on the bench and beat them with a wooden paddle. Dip and paddle, dip and paddle and then twist and wring most of the water out and spread them on the bushes to dry. If a cow come around to drink, she would probably chew on the clothes.

Matches weren't invented, they had to carry their own fire--to start their next one. They carried salted meat, molasses, or honey, flour, meal, potatoes and dried beans. The wagon bounced and was so rough to ride in, they had rather walk, alongside. They found berries and poke salad along the way. Women gathered them in the long aprons that they wore. Marsh shot rabbits, possums and squirrels, anything he could find.

One night they woke up and the wagon was burning. They saved the horses and one of Marsh’s boots. He used to tell, "I got to Texas with only one boot,"

Marsh asked Sue, "What will we do?" She told him, "You got us into this mess. Now you get us out."

Marsh and Sue stopped to visit his brothers, Tom and George in Arkansas. George had a son, Joseph Mote (Little Mote). Joseph Mote, had a daughter, Margaret. George had a daughter Stella, she had a son, Billy.

Marsh and his brother George were going some place on horseback. They come to a farmhouse in the evening and asked if they could water their horses and camp for the night. The man was glad to see company, and made them feel real welcome. "My woman almost has supper ready and you should eat with us". Marsh and George were hungry and glad to hear that. The table and benches were outside, and they soon set down to eat.

A big ol' sow and her pigs were rooting around. The ol' sow kept grunting and begging for food. When the ol' sow got nearly under the table, Marsh took his fork and come down on that ol' sow. The fork stuck in her back and she jumped and nearly turned the table over. That was George's favorite tale. And they would laugh and laugh every time they got together---We heard that for years.

Uncle Billy
Marsh did not want to settle down. He was looking for Uncle Billy Hittson. Sue and Marsh were married in 1865. Ten years and three children later, [two baby boys had died], they found him in Texas...

He found his Uncle Billy in Palo Pinto County.He owned a thousand-acre ranch - in a big bend of the Brazos River. It became known as the Hittson Bend. It is the longest river in Texas. Indians lived on the wide bank of the river, down the bluffs behind his big barns.

Uncle Billy was riding alone, on his horse, on his land. An arrow was shot into his shoulder. He pulled it out, it made him mad. The Indians all moved out in a hurry. They might have thought they killed him. They could have.

Uncle Billy had joined a company raised for service in the Confederate Army. It's Captain ordered it disbanded, when it was ordered to cross the Mississippi River.

A Hittson family burying ground was started there. Lumber was hauled from east Texas, and a school was built. There was a blacksmith shop and a primitive cotton gin. The little settlement died out, before it ever had a name. Joseph Mote, Sue and Marsh's son, bought the big Hittson Ranch in 1905.

Sue called him Marsh, but he was known by the nickname of Simon, "Uncle Simon". She called him "Mr Gill" to anyone that wasn't in the family. She was very polite. She always thought that anything he did, was smart.

I called them "Grandad and Granmama." I was Joseph Mote Gill and Julia Hess Gills' first baby, born on our farm across the road from them, Nov. 4, 1896. ANNE MINERVA GILL. Anne after Dad's youngest sister Mama's older sister had a daughter three years older than me, Julia Minerva.

I always loved Granmama, Armenta Missouri Davenport Gill. I stayed with her more than any of the other grandkids, except Fred {Fredda]. She had lived with her since she was seven months old. Sometimes I spent the night to go to school or just to visit. Fred and me were the same age, we didn't have much to do. We couldn't clean house good enough to suit Granmama. On long evenings she would tell these old tales, that she wouldn't tell in front of anybody else.

When they first got to Texas in 1875, they lived in a dugout on the east Brazos River bank, near a big crossing(Oaks Crossing,later) Uncle Billy's big ranch was on the west bank. An old, well-known trail crossed the Brazos there. No other crossing were near. Buffalo herds, Indians and stagecoaches used it. There were old rock pens on the east side of the crossing. They had been used as a stage coach stop. The wooden stage coach wheels would be taken off and laid in the river to soak. If they let them dry out, the wood would shrink. That would make the wheel come apart, and there would be an accident.

Probably the first white man saw Palo Pinto County in 1837, its first settlers in 1850. The last white man to be killed by Indians in Palo Pinto county was in 1873. He was killed when the Indians made a final stand at Barber Mountain. It is a tiny mountain, a mile west of Oaks Crossing. Whites killed all but one Indian. One young Indian left on foot--no one fired.

They hoped he got back to the reservation, and that would be the end of raids on settlers. Whites did not consider the Indians as humans. They did not bury them.

The last Indian fight in Palo Pinto County was at Oaks crossing. It was maybe, the year before Granmama and Grandad moved there. A group of Indians had a herd of horses, stolen from anywhere they could get them. They were driving them to Oklahoma. Neighbors heard about the herd, and they knew it would cross there. They gathered and waited. The Indians were surprised and most of them were killed. The horses were kept in the rock pens, until their owners heard about their capture, and come and claimed them
.
A few months later, Whites were chasing an Indian who had robbed a house. He had his body packed around, under his shirt, with books that he had stolen. The books were to protect him from being shot. The Brazos was up some. His horse slowed down a little, when he started across the water at Oaks Crossing. That time the books didn't work and he was shot. Palo Pinto, Parker, Jack and Young Counties had more men killed and women captured by Indians, than other areas of Texas.

Granmama and Grandad bought good land, on Pollard creek---112 acres of land about a mile east of Oaks Crossing. They paid $56.10 down on it and they made three yearly payments of $56.10, at 10% interest.

Water, from a well, drilled 2 miles north of their home, was found to be able to cure---'whatever ails you.' Word got out, and everybody wanted to drink some of that water.

The little town that grew there---was called Mineral Wells. Fifteen years later, there were still only a few houses there that were built of wood. Most people lived in tents or covered wagons, flocking to get to the magical water. Water was hauled--25 cents a barrel, to the people living there. It was a week by wagon to Weatherford, the nearest town east. 876 was the first train to Mineral Wells, 1880 the first train to Santo, fifteen miles south.

One man could build a house with his axe. He notched the logs at the corners and didn't have to use nails, which they didn't have. He could build a stone chimney, with a claw hammer. It was long hard work. The only way to get a house.

They built a nice big one-room log house, on the bank of the Pollard creek. It had a dirt floor. Later, wood was put down for a floor. It was turned to catch the best breeze. It had three horizontal sliding windows, each with four panes of glass. Cooking was done at the big fireplace, in a big hanging iron pot. A kitchen room, the same size, was soon added. It had a long hall, open at both ends, between it and the first cabin. They bought a big cook stove to put in the new room. The big first room was so much cooler, when they didn't have to cook in it.

The table and benches were in the hall, in good weather, they were made of split logs. They were smoothed real nice, us kids played games there. The flies liked that cool hall too. There was no way to keep them out, no one had screens. When food was put on the table, at least two people would have to wave papers or cup-towels, to keep flies off the food. If they "blowed", there would be maggots before supper. Sometimes the mosquitoes would get thick and we would start a little smoking fire in a bucket and carry it around. Granmama wouldn't let the house get messed up with smoke. Granmama was an expert house keeper, she was always neat.

A good tasting water well was important. They dug a well just outside the kitchen door. The water tasted good. Later it was cemented and rocked three foot high around it. Their well dried up sometimes. No one knew where the water went-- it just went. They finally figured out, that it always went dry, just before a Norther. They dug it deeper and it never went dry again.

The opening was three foot across. You got water out of the well with a bucket that was tied onto a rope that went over a pulley. You held onto the rope and let it go down slowly. The water bucket went down under the water and filled up with water. You drawed water up, out of the well, by pulling on the rope, the water was cool. If the well was deep, or you had a lot of water to draw, or you were small--- it was hard work

Us kids were never allowed around that well. But what the grownups never knew --- that us kids had a test. TO SEE IF YOU ARE A COWARD. Each of us had to crawl across the three foot opening of the well. It was really scary for the younger kids. We had to watch that that the grownups didn't catch us--- ["I'm 101 years old and I bet this is the first time it's been told."]

First thing, they set out an orchard, using the best stock, peach, pear and plum trees. Grandad always claimed the grapes, sometimes he peddled the extras. He bought 100 pounds of sugar to make wine every year. He gave a little glass to guests and he had a little on Sundays. Nobody ever got drunk---and us kids never got any.

Granmama could grow berries better than anyone around. She picked the black berries, dew berries and raspberries every day, after they "come in". Some days she would be real busy and let us, or a neighbor, have a "picking". She still had good berries in July.

The land was fertile, they always had a good garden and lots of vegetables. They had crab apples, but real apples weren't developed yet, that would grow here. There were thickets of sand-plums, persimmons groves and mustang grape vines, along the river, and agarita berry bushes on the hills. Pecan trees grew along the Brazos. There were still a few deer around. The last bears had been killed out, a year or so before they came. Everyone liked their good sweet meat. and they used the hide too. The grease from their fat was valuable to use on guns and wheels.

There were no ticks, but we got plenty of chiggers. --Oh, how I hated to pick berries. When a spot itched, we would touch our finger in a saucer of fried meat grease, and rub a little bit on the spot. The meat was real salty and that kinda changed the itch. The grease cut the air off to the chigger and it died. t was the only thing we had to doctor with.
Oh, how I hated to pick berries! ----------------I just scratched and clawed.

She put up a lot of fruit for pies, and some jars would always get broke. Granmama was an expert on jelly, hers wasn't ever runny. Every spring she got 100 pounds of sugar to make jelly, when Grandad got his 100 pounds to make wine.

Granmama set hens and sold eggs, and sometimes chickens, when she got more than she needed. She milked 3 cows and would sell the milk and butter. She cooled the milk in crock jars, and set it in a pan of fresh drawed well water. A wet cloth was laid on top. She had regular routes and peddled it all in town, with "Old Coot" pulling her buggy.
Fruit, berries, vegetables, jelly, milk, butter, eggs, anything extra that she raised. Nothing ever went to waste. She wore her buggy out, gave it to us, and got her a new one.

Granmama managed her own money. I didn't think Grandad ever gave her any, or that she ever asked for any. He never told her where he was going and she never asked him. She always seemed pleased with what he did. In later years they had a bank account. It averaged $300. The biggest check was $5, that seemed to be their weekly spending. Granmama signed some of the checks

July 4, 1877 was A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY. Granmama took her four children and went to visit the Hittson girls, on their ranch across the river. She liked them. The Brazos River was up a little. Old Coot could not walk thru the water to ford the river.

Oaks' Crossing
George D. Oaks and his wife Lucy, come from Virginia in 1872. They had one child, John. He married Sudie, one of Dads sisters, in March 1892.

They bought land and built a big rock house on the bluff overlooking the river, at an old, well known, heavy traveled crossing. The only crossing for many miles. It had long slits for windows, on the bottom floor. Neighbors thought it was for defense, to shoot Indians from. He said, "No, that's the way they build them back in Virginia" It burned and they rebuilt.

In 1878 Uncle Billy Hittson gave George D. Oaks, the 'legal right of landing' on his land across the river with his ferry. Old Man Oaks, (that's all I ever heard him called) was not down at the crossing. John was 10, he blowed on the cow horn that hung there, and he was glad to come down and ferry them across, and make 'two bits' (25 cents). He led Old Coot up onto the Oaks ferry. They rode in their buggy across the Brazos River.

John was 10, Mote 5, Sudie 4 and Jennie was a year old. They were tired after their two mile buggy ride. The boys wanted to play outside with a little black boy who lived at the ranch. They soon sneaked down to the river to look. Then they waded and it was fun until John got to brave. He got into swifter, deeper water, swifter, deeper water----

------Five year old Mote run to his Mama, out of breath--- bawling---He got behind her and grabbed onto the folds of the long tail of her dress, where she couldn't reach him--- bawling. Finally she said, "If you don't tell me what is the matter, I'm going to whip you." Mote choked out, "John's Down-ded."

Granmama went strait up. It took three days to find his little body. It was caught on a little underwater snag just before Oak's Crossing. The little black boy was so scared that it took him several days to come out of hiding. They didn't blame him to much

Granmama and Grandad buried their third son. Mote never learned to swim till he was grown. He wasn't allowed near the water. If he had his way, none of his kids would have ever got in the water. But after the boys got older---and he went to town---they went to the river.

Another version by Fred Daniels.
Marsh and Sue brought the little n----r boy with them from Alabama. After the drowning, he run off and they never heard of him again.

Fairview Baptist was organized in 1884. Grandad donated land for it, along the road on the south side of his land. Lumber was hauled by wagon from east Texas, to build one big room. A circuit rider came once a month, usually the second Sunday, and preached. It is one of the oldest rural Baptist churches in Texas.

One Sunday after preaching
The preacher come to dinner at Granmama and Grandad's. Granmama had the dinner started. She built a big fire and got the oven hot. They were all setting at the table in the long cool hall. She set the food on the table. The biscuits browned and she set a big plate of hot biscuits on the table.

Grandad reached for one. Granmama said, "Marsh, shall we let Brother Smith pray before we eat?" Grandad said, "Oh, Hell Yes,---Go ahead and pray, preacher."

Later that year, the weather had cooled some. The big fall revival had started. It was held in the brush arbor, that was built by the side of the church house. Everybody in the community always come. Songs had already been sung, and the preacher was just getting started good

In the distance, a hound dog was baying. He come closer, louder, closer-circling. He was chasing something and it was trying it's best to get away. A rabbit come running---right up the center aisle of the tabernacle. Grandad's 'Old Yeller'-- right behind--- baying at it's heels. It was loud.

Grandad jumped up and down, slapping his britches with his hat. "Git him Yeller!! Git him Yeller!!"

When it got quiet again---The preacher said, "Well now that Mr. Gill has taken care of Old Yeller, shall we go on.?"

Old Yeller had been shut up in the smokehouse--- so he could not go to church. Dad was a teenager and had let him out.

Members decided in 1916 to move the church to a more traveled corner. The building was raised and loaded on two wagons. Teams of horses pulled it. They got it moved in two days, one mile southwest, where it is still thriving. January 1, 1922, the church deeded the land back to Granmama. We have their letter of thanks and appreciation.

SHE WAS MY GREAT GRANMAMA---Anne Louise Moore
I thought she was so pretty and nice, my Mama was (Anne Minerva Gill Knight). She had told me lots of stories about her, I was always interested. Granmama always had her long hair, it got thin, she pulled it up in a flat coil on top. Mine has been fixed that same way for years.

I spent the night with her when I was 13.She had three big bars of chocolate candy. Someone had given it to her. It wasn't wrapped. It was in with apples, in a big fruit bowl on the table. She broke off pieces for me to eat. She didn't like it very much, but I sure did. I would have liked to have listened to her radio, we didn't have one at home. She didn't turn it on.

It bothered her to have a woman staying with her, so she lived alone. Three years later, she fell by her bed, on a chilly night in May. Alone in the house, she lay there unable to get up. The next morning, her daughter Sudie, come over to see why she didn't answer her phone

She took pneumonia, and lived three days, her four children at her bedside. Mote Gill, Sudie Oaks, Jennie Jordan and Anne Coleman.

Armenta Missouri Davenport Gill died at 94. May 30, 1939. Her granddaughter, Anne Gill Knight, always added, "And then it was an accident."