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For
Southland Loved, Chapter
3
Texas,
A Good
Place to Start
Several years prior to their wedding,
Jane’s father had invested money in Texas land himself.
As Jane wrote in her note about her maternal
grandfather, “three
thousand acres of [his] Wilderness
track fell to my mother’s share . . . This was invested in Texas lands after the
War with Mexico in 1846, which ended in great glory for our country
and
gave many the “Texas fever.” It eventually caused my father to move
here in the
fall of 1856.” Since
William Smith (George’s brother) had
served as the surgeon-in-chief on the staff of General Zachary Taylor
in Texas
as early as the late 1840s, it put him in a position to assist George
in doing
business in the area while still living in Virginia.
On February 15, 1837, past Secretary of War
for the Republic of Texas, “Warren D. C.
Hall, had initiated a purchase agreement with George A. Smith of
Virginia to
buy 3111 acres of land in Leagues 10 & 11. (See
George A. Smith plantation report) Hall
spent a lot of his time “speculating
in several such large
tracts of land.”
Brazoria County (in pink)
Record of land purchased by
George A. Smith in 1837
43
Notice
the section for George
A. Smith
We know from Jane’s letter that the land
in Texas “eventually
caused my father to move here in the fall of 1856 - bringing his
family,
household goods, and over a hundred negroes around from Norfolk,
Virginia, to
Galveston on the bark ‘Lamertine,’ which he had chartered for the
purpose.” (Ref.
6, 2557) Another
source, Virginia Genealogies: A
Genealogy
of the Glassell Family
of Scotland and Virginia,
written by Rev. Horace Hayden,
mentions that “in 1856, he
[George] removed to Texas, chartering a vessel to take his family and a
large
number of slaves, by sea, via Norfolk. He
planted very successfully in Brazoria County until the
close of the
Civil War. Then he removed to the
beautiful and healthy county of Bell, Texas where most of his family
resides
near him.” (Ref.
6) Since James Alexander Ware and Jane Morton
Smith “were married on November 26, 1856
in Virginia and moved to Texas in 1856,” it would seem likely they
all
traveled together. (Ref.
830) For a
new lawyer fresh out of college,
there were many opportunities open in the newly settled regions of
Texas for
James to begin a practice.
First Karnes County
Courthouse in
Helena
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As can be seen in the advertisement he placed
in a Karnes County newspaper in 1858, James had some very influential
men to
list as references:
#776
The Honorable Jeremiah Morton,
who served in the House of Representatives, was Jane’s uncle and James’
cousin,
and J. M.
45
Mason
was a United States Senator. Robert A.
Grinnan, another relative, was a wealthy and
influential man
in New Orleans and, of course, Dr. William R. Smith was one of the most
well
known and beloved citizens in Galveston.
Robert
A. Grinnan house in New Orleans
By
1859, “Residents
in need of legal counseling could choose
between lawyers Charles Lovenskiold, James
Ware, William O’Docherty, and Walter Merriman.” (Ref.
3004)
Jane’s
father prospered in
the new Smith home in Texas, as did many others. “Between
1849 and 1859 plantation life in Brazoria County flourished, and the
county
became the wealthiest in Texas, with a typically Southern society based
on
slavery. Agriculture was the foundation
of the county's early economy, and some of the state's largest and most
prosperous sugar and cotton plantations grew up along the rivers and
deeper
creeks on which crops could be shipped by barges. Plantations in the
county
between 1850 and 1860 numbered forty-six, including nineteen sugar,
sixteen
cotton, and three that produced both sugar and cotton. . . . Many
planters
raised cattle, and some cultivated oranges, lemons, and other fruits.
Each of
twenty-six county residents owned more than $100,000 in property by the
year
1860.”
Handbook
of Texas Online,
Diana J. Kleiner, "Brazoria County," accessed May 10, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcb12.
Modified on March
1, 2016. Published by the Texas State
Historical Association.
46
When George Smith built his home, he became
neighbors with “Alexander Compton and
wife Elizabeth Grace Compton who had arrived in Texas by the later part
of 1840
with a large family from Rapides Parish, Louisiana.”
Brazoria
County Deed Records: A6 See George A. Smith Plantation
report. Deed Record Alexander Compton
Plantation
We
don’t know
the exact location of George’s land, but records refer to it as a
“plantation”
and we do know that Sandy Point Cemetery was located on land that was
once a
part of a sugar and cotton plantation. In
looking at some of the gravestones in that cemetery,
one name stands
out prominently – J. Glassell Smith. He
was the son of George and Julia Smith, Jane’s parents. There
are also
several entries for the family name of ‘Coffee’, and George’s daughter,
Mary
Somerville Smith married into the Coffee family.
In
the cemetery:
JAMES GLASSELL SMITH
"In memory of our loved one J. Glassell Smith, Born in Orange County, Va.
May 18, 1837, Died July 4, 1908."
 
Coffee Family Plot
THOMAS JEFFERSON COFFEE
"Sacred to the memory of Thomas J. Coffee, Born February 16, 1805 Departed this
life November 2, 1858. Erected to the memory of our father and mother"
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MALINDA GRAVES HALEY COFFEE
"Malinda G. Coffee, born November 17, 1808,
Departed this life December 24, 1857." (Wife of Thomas J. Coffee)
HENRY COFFEE
"Erected to the Memory of Our Brother, Henry Coffee,
Born November 24, 1840, Departed this life, November 9, 1857" (Son of Thomas and Malinda Coffee)
ELLEN COFFEE TANKERSLEY
"Mrs. Ellen, Wife of J.H. Tankersley, Born June 17, 1835, Died April 1, 1866"
(Daughter of Thomas and Malinda Coffee)
ROXANA COFFEE WARD
"Mrs. Roxana, Wife of Wm. Ward, Born Oct. 28, 1842, Died Aug. 22, 1860."
(Daughter of Thomas and Malinda Coffee)
There is also a grave for one young child from the Compton family. In 2004, The
Brazoria County Historical Museum Cemetery Committee did a wonderful job of
restoring this old cemetery and through their hard work and dedication, we can get a
good approximation of where George and Julia must have lived before they relocated
to Salado, Texas. According to their research:
“Sandy Point Cemetery is located on private property - on the west side of FM 521, approximately one
mile southwest of Sandy Point, Texas. A Texas State Historical marker stands beside FM 521 near the
cemetery which is in Curtis J. Mowery's cow pasture several hundred yards from the road. . . . Four
Confederate soldiers were buried at Sandy Point: brothers Aurelius J. Terry and Clinton L. Terry, J.
Glassell Smith and Harrison Tankersley. A. J. Terry was also a veteran of the Mexican War.
William Jefferson Kyle (1803-1864) and Thomas Jefferson Coffee (1805-1858), prominent local
businessmen, were also laid to rest at Sandy Point. The Brazoria County Historical Museum's
Cemetery Committee has been restoring the cemetery since 1998. Sandy Point Cemetery was granted
Historic Cemetery Designation by the Texas Historical Commission in 2003, and a marker celebrating
this status was dedicated on May 22, 2004.”
Dedication sign
48
Sandy Point Cemetery
According
to Hayden’s Genealogy,
George “removed to Texas
in 1856, chartering a vessel to take his family and a large number of
slaves,
by sea, via Norfolk. He planted very
successfully in Brasonia [Brazoria] County until the close of the Civil War.
Then he removed to the beautiful and healthy
county of Bell, Texas, where most of his family resided with him. At the age of 80, he retained his physical
and mental powers wonderfully, the result of a life spent in great
activity, in
the open air, in temperance, high purpose, and pureness of character.” (Ref.
6)
Bridge
over Salado Creek in the
1860s
Shows the old bridge behind
the modern one
Salado
Creek – current photo taken by Judy Ware 2015
Salado
Iron Top Bridge that replaced the original suspension bridge
49
Bridge over Salado Creek (Ref.
3294)
The
May 22, 2014, issue of Salado
Village Voice lists George Smith as having served as a captain in
the
Confederacy. George’s daughter Mary
(known as Somerville), married Colonel Aaron Coffee in Galveston in
1860 and
had her first child while still in Galveston in 1864.
She and her family moved further inland as
well – possibly around the same time. The
Coffee family settled in McKinney, Texas, while George
and Julia
Smith established their new home in Salado, about 65 miles away. It would be in this lovely part of Texas that
both George and Julia would spend their final days and eventually be
buried in
Salado Cemetery. George died in 1887 and
Julia predeceased him in 1880.
Graves
of George and
Julia Smith – Salado Cemetery
50
Jane
would also settle in Bell County (closer to her parents), but not until
much
later.
All
photographs of grave markers for George A. Smith and Julia Somerville
Smith in
Salado Cemetery were taken by Judy C. Ware.
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