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TOLDIAT
Rrs. 14edgertom Jiree44* PA,
ReLeasen Oseaty, Tates
Distriot So,
,Agnaat
liargarite Beat, twee, Ihenee.44Wit fbiee, Tame *isoberY• *Wier
INC
mow vita 301104
is* *40
Pee* lei 2,
PPPA T444.1
"Of ihterest to ell the people of ;,see md Isisimsin dinsty* ie the
3tery of lire. Meissaien, wife of Jell Xelsninesi; the -tint pioneer ts
Wad it haw near 4see* km Wawa was bon in'SOotiSiki and sewsIs
North Caroline with her perents, where idie iserriddrVell Ilhaanbee. taste
of Seotieride in MO, she and her 40,4hsidi olia4 Urea small ehildren, via
ease relatives and Mende, *end to florid** *MU it "pal sadeir
104Inish ruts-. After rourtioa yam ianortis, they *aided to oday to
ftwas* The mmon nut tato' the folmitto lot down lefs„ sad mate a eshiaciear
bores enough to holdlieverel fealliese
"thsles los S tbntLUa',VINO **rose the Gulf *UMW*** On the
treys, theyoore e*Pbere4 by pireiss*,_A storm arose and the ilibleaseWe
boat key% brooking ego-1mA the pint** toot* tearing their bola 1,00111kb•
V wreaks 4, they released the sehoonera, moll to the deligh of the lialseasenifs._
when the lititit of day broke over the waters,*
*fflihont further mishap, they landed at the ot the arallegit
014 their sehooner, came to Yours *Week. ildier Port near
the present town or asseresk, in vhet is new Fiall,te eennty. They found
the Indiana reelieices arid .atirdereart.
*Time and tin* *gain, Neil Ifidahnen had to thaw down the plow end
floe with 1* '1 family t.J the, 'fort et eld ideekviiio„ twelve *Ilse illittent,
MOst of tne ugy as nershy and oftsa they hallo weds in ih4ter hose deo,*
and be frightened to death tor fear the baby vosild try and cell attention
to thew*
nLE
Mrs. Kdgerton Arnold, R.W.
Aie3Lennan County, Texas
District No. 8
File No. 240
Page No. 2
murdered 14r. UoLennants brother, Laughlin, one. day when he eas repairing
a fence. His wife blew the dinner horn and when he did not came, she
went to find him, only to find him.killed. They ouptured her, and her
two eons, end baby and burned the house rith the old grandmother in it.
A few days later, the baby became ill, nd they dashed its brains out
against a tree. She and one of the boys died, and the other, John, later
knon as Bosque John, as kept a prisoner fcr twelve yaLirs. Ale Dial
10Lennans kept his lend -and the revenue free it, and when he as released
by the Indians, following e council at aeo Springs-, they gave him his
inheritance.
Once, when lien tcLennan WU3 eith 1,,ajor ..useth near 'emu), he saw
the hills around. South Besque4 Be said- they looked just like Scotland,
and sori,u day he was going to live there. In 1845, their double log cabin
was completed on the banks of South Bose e, needs a spring.
"In 1932, the henry Down's Chapter, D.A.B. pluced,a boulder a few
yards from it with a bronze inscription on it, pointing the site out as
the first site of the first home in lecLennan County.
"The UbLennans eore very hospitable to new settlers, letting them
stay with them until their home eas finished, and erten eiving them chick-
ens, hogs, etc., for e start. -n one'oceesion, the ieoLennans refused to
sell corn to a settler, preferring to keep it te give it to some one -ho
could not buy it.
"They yore Soeihh Presbyterians and very religious. On Saturday
afternoons the cows are milked and turned into the pastures until after
the -Sabbath. Feted was. repared, cof(ese eas ground for Sunday. The
larger. part of the day was spent in reading the Bible and worshipping
God. They never punished the children on Sunday, but they always re-
FOLKWAYS
Mrs. Edgerton Arnold, P.W.
McLennan County, Texus
District No. 0
File No. 240
Page No. 3
membered to give it t them the next day.
"In 1849, the town of Waco was laid off by !ileo Spring on the Brazos
and a year luter, the surrounding county was authorized to be formed into
a county. It was called itioLennan County for the Neil McLennans, the
first settlers. Their son„ John McLennan, helped Major Erath survey
and lay off fico, frici incidentally, owned the first .piano in 'taco,
brought by ox wagon from Galveston. Their piano is now in the Log House,
in Harrington Park, Waco, owned by the Daughters of the Confederacy.
"Mrs. McLennan was a gentle, unassuming woman, spinning and working
to make her home in the wilderness a pleasant place in which to live.
They had six children and their descendants are among the prominent citizens
of 1:cLennan County, and atill own a great deal of land, inherited from
the first leLennans. They are both buried in the old family b,)rying
grund at South Dosque.
"Another colorful figure f Central '.i.exas and t.cLennan County
was rs. Shapley 'one. Se was born jn.Vissouri, September 27, 1817,
and at the age of seventeen, married Captain Shapley hoes. They moved
to Iowa, and, in 184J came to the RepubiJo of Texas, settling near
Cmeron.
Here the children, had fur -pets, at one time, two buffalo calves.
The girls liked to feed them buckets of milk, and when the feeding was
over, they were rewarded for their pains by being knocked down.
"The Indians paid a visit to the lioss home wid pointevl to everything
in the doss kitchen. Li's. Ross gladly complied with their wishes, and,
to her astonishment, they left, leaving the house and fanily unharmed.
"Another times young Sul ''03 oi;t in the woods with his father.
Seeing Indians, Ur. 4oss picked up the boy, ran 71th him to -the house,
FOLK YS
Mrs. Edgerton Arnold, P.w.
McLennan County, texas
District No. 8
File No. 240
Page No. 4
cautioning him not to tell his mother that the Indians were near. kr. Ross
that day was wearing a buckskin shirt that was long and belted at the
waist. Young Sul in the house kept remarking, "Papa's shirt sure was
flapping. These facetious remarks soon disclosed the fact of the
Indians.
In 1849, knowing that Waco was to be laid off as a town, the 'losses
moved to the Brazos and camped where at Nacso now stands. This land of
future eloo. belonged to }Jr. Snyder in Galveston. Lajor Erath reeeived
permission to sDrvey the land and sell it off as lots. OA the eventful
day, kajor Erath began at '4aco Spring and laid off Bridge Street. The
men were ttere with axes ready t,:; out down trees and build houses, as
soon as the sale of the lots was over. The lots were auctioned off, and
1 cheap as they were,, people thought they were too high.
lar. Shapley Ross bought the first two lots at five dollars a piece,
the being between what is no the Suspension Bridge and the blew County
Bridge. Here, they built a -double log cabin. P,11 the cooking was done
out of doors, and they carried their water from Wuco Spring.
"Later, this house bactme too small and a two-story log house was
built on the 1::;nd where now stands the Cotton Palace, and at one time, was
Mwelfth and Ross Streets.
"Two daughtrs, Lary and Uargaret, want to school at Independence,
making the trip on horseback. t one time they met the Indians, but when
they found that they were the daughters of Shapley Ross, they were
reL)ased.
"kr. Ross ran a ferry boat ,cress the Brazos near the Spring for
seventeen yA,trs. One day, when Largaret was sitting on the porch of the
log cabin, she vcAohed the ferry, pulling up to the bank. On it stood
FOLKWAYS
Mrs. Edgerton Arnold, P.W.
McLennan County, Texas
District No. 8
File No. 240
Page No. 5
a handsome young man. He was George Barnard, who ran a trading post
on the Tehuaoana Creek. He was the firat man in McLennan County, and at
his colorful post frcm 1844, many Indians had come to trade deer, bear
and buffalo skins. Seeing him, Mary facetiously remarked he was going
to be her fuVire husband.
"So it turned out. Her sister Nargaret at the same tie became
engaged to frank Harris. The girls decided upon a daable wedding and sent
a negro to Houston for supplies fur the redding. He returned two months
after the wedding was over. Captain Ross gave each of them ton acres of
land aro nd where the LASsouri, Kansas, and Texas Rail Road station now
stands. Mary Street was name. fur Nary Ross, and Barnard Street for
George bornard.
"Sul Ross, later, became a celebrated Indian fighter and governor
of Texas.
Mrs. Ross was a gentle, true pioneer woman, enjoying the early
growth of Waco and her descendants are among -the moat prominent citizens
of Texas."