Fort Worth Star Telegram
Saturday, August 19, 2006
A paper trail to a Ranger's past
By BILL MILLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Descendants of Samuel McFall knew he had been a prominent rancher in Central Texas, but until about 30 years ago, they knew nothing about his exploits as a scrappy and traveled fighter for the Republic of Texas.
McFall, a Kentucky native, served in various Ranger and militia companies in the 1830s and '40s, including the doomed 1842 Mier Expedition into Mexico, which landed him in a prison until he escaped a couple of years later.
R.C. McFall, a longtime Johnson County commissioner, said his great-great-grandfather's past was finally revealed in the 1970s when the family opened a long-forgotten safe-deposit box in a bank in West.
It contained several historical documents, including an 1845 land grant printed on lambskin. The certificate held an original seal and the signature of Anson Jones, the republic's last president.
On Friday, McFall donated the documents to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on Interstate 35 in Waco.
"That old Ranger -- undoubtedly he liked to mix it up a bit because he was re-upping all the time," said McFall, 61. "Now [his] documents will belong to all the people of Texas. Hopefully this will help people know how we all got to be here."
Museum officials said the land grant, coupled with an 1844 discharge letter from the Rangers, is proof that Samuel McFall's property in Hill County was payment for his service. The historians said that was a common method of paying Rangers because the republic was usually short on cash.
The McFall documents are among the oldest items in the museum's archival collection, said Christina Stopka, deputy director of the museum.
Judy Shofner, the museum's librarian, said the items are unique because they come directly from a family, not secondhand or thirdhand from an estate sale or antique shop.
"It's extremely rare to receive a land grant with the seal intact and signed by the last president of the Republic of Texas," Shofner said. "Usually they come to us folded and creased because the family doesn't know the difference between a land grant and a Sunday school certificate."
There is no definitive source on Samuel McFall, although he does appear in numerous colorful accounts from other Rangers.
One story, Shofner said, paints McFall as being a "lean, lithe and audacious" Ranger who once traveled alone on foot about 120 miles to warn settlers at Bastrop of a possible Indian raid. He chose shoe leather over a saddle horse, because he thought it would be easier to sneak past the Indians, Shofner said.
Other accounts say McFall avoided a Mexican firing squad by drawing a white bean in the infamous lottery that the Mier Expedition prisoners were forced to play; those who drew black beans were executed.
He frequently rushed at his Mexican prison guards, pretending he was insane. Shofner said the stunt earned him the label lunatico, and the guards feared that killing him would release a crazed ghost.
McFall also served in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Zachary Taylor, some accounts say. He was 60 when he died in 1867.
Family accounts of his exploits, however, were lost with the death of his son, Sam Houston McFall, whose son, Emmett, was R.C. McFall's grandfather.
"My granddad's mama and daddy died pretty close together," R.C. McFall said. "There were four little kids and the grandparents on their mother's side took them over to Glen Rose and they raised them. My granddaddy knew where his daddy was buried, but he didn't know his own granddaddy was a Ranger until they opened that box.
"It just tickled him to death, not just because he was a Ranger, but also because he finally knew something about his folks."
Saturday, August 19, 2006
A paper trail to a Ranger's past
By BILL MILLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Descendants of Samuel McFall knew he had been a prominent rancher in Central Texas, but until about 30 years ago, they knew nothing about his exploits as a scrappy and traveled fighter for the Republic of Texas.
McFall, a Kentucky native, served in various Ranger and militia companies in the 1830s and '40s, including the doomed 1842 Mier Expedition into Mexico, which landed him in a prison until he escaped a couple of years later.
R.C. McFall, a longtime Johnson County commissioner, said his great-great-grandfather's past was finally revealed in the 1970s when the family opened a long-forgotten safe-deposit box in a bank in West.
It contained several historical documents, including an 1845 land grant printed on lambskin. The certificate held an original seal and the signature of Anson Jones, the republic's last president.
On Friday, McFall donated the documents to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on Interstate 35 in Waco.
"That old Ranger -- undoubtedly he liked to mix it up a bit because he was re-upping all the time," said McFall, 61. "Now [his] documents will belong to all the people of Texas. Hopefully this will help people know how we all got to be here."
Museum officials said the land grant, coupled with an 1844 discharge letter from the Rangers, is proof that Samuel McFall's property in Hill County was payment for his service. The historians said that was a common method of paying Rangers because the republic was usually short on cash.
The McFall documents are among the oldest items in the museum's archival collection, said Christina Stopka, deputy director of the museum.
Judy Shofner, the museum's librarian, said the items are unique because they come directly from a family, not secondhand or thirdhand from an estate sale or antique shop.
"It's extremely rare to receive a land grant with the seal intact and signed by the last president of the Republic of Texas," Shofner said. "Usually they come to us folded and creased because the family doesn't know the difference between a land grant and a Sunday school certificate."
There is no definitive source on Samuel McFall, although he does appear in numerous colorful accounts from other Rangers.
One story, Shofner said, paints McFall as being a "lean, lithe and audacious" Ranger who once traveled alone on foot about 120 miles to warn settlers at Bastrop of a possible Indian raid. He chose shoe leather over a saddle horse, because he thought it would be easier to sneak past the Indians, Shofner said.
Other accounts say McFall avoided a Mexican firing squad by drawing a white bean in the infamous lottery that the Mier Expedition prisoners were forced to play; those who drew black beans were executed.
He frequently rushed at his Mexican prison guards, pretending he was insane. Shofner said the stunt earned him the label lunatico, and the guards feared that killing him would release a crazed ghost.
McFall also served in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Zachary Taylor, some accounts say. He was 60 when he died in 1867.
Family accounts of his exploits, however, were lost with the death of his son, Sam Houston McFall, whose son, Emmett, was R.C. McFall's grandfather.
"My granddad's mama and daddy died pretty close together," R.C. McFall said. "There were four little kids and the grandparents on their mother's side took them over to Glen Rose and they raised them. My granddaddy knew where his daddy was buried, but he didn't know his own granddaddy was a Ranger until they opened that box.
"It just tickled him to death, not just because he was a Ranger, but also because he finally knew something about his folks."
Fort Worth Star Telegram
Saturday, August 19, 2006
A paper trail to a Ranger's past
By BILL MILLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Descendants of Samuel McFall knew he had been a prominent rancher in Central Texas, but until about 30 years ago, they knew nothing about his exploits as a scrappy and traveled fighter for the Republic of Texas.
McFall, a Kentucky native, served in various Ranger and militia companies in the 1830s and '40s, including the doomed 1842 Mier Expedition into Mexico, which landed him in a prison until he escaped a couple of years later.
R.C. McFall, a longtime Johnson County commissioner, said his great-great-grandfather's past was finally revealed in the 1970s when the family opened a long-forgotten safe-deposit box in a bank in West.
It contained several historical documents, including an 1845 land grant printed on lambskin. The certificate held an original seal and the signature of Anson Jones, the republic's last president.
On Friday, McFall donated the documents to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on Interstate 35 in Waco.
"That old Ranger -- undoubtedly he liked to mix it up a bit because he was re-upping all the time," said McFall, 61. "Now [his] documents will belong to all the people of Texas. Hopefully this will help people know how we all got to be here."
Museum officials said the land grant, coupled with an 1844 discharge letter from the Rangers, is proof that Samuel McFall's property in Hill County was payment for his service. The historians said that was a common method of paying Rangers because the republic was usually short on cash.
The McFall documents are among the oldest items in the museum's archival collection, said Christina Stopka, deputy director of the museum.
Judy Shofner, the museum's librarian, said the items are unique because they come directly from a family, not secondhand or thirdhand from an estate sale or antique shop.
"It's extremely rare to receive a land grant with the seal intact and signed by the last president of the Republic of Texas," Shofner said. "Usually they come to us folded and creased because the family doesn't know the difference between a land grant and a Sunday school certificate."
There is no definitive source on Samuel McFall, although he does appear in numerous colorful accounts from other Rangers.
One story, Shofner said, paints McFall as being a "lean, lithe and audacious" Ranger who once traveled alone on foot about 120 miles to warn settlers at Bastrop of a possible Indian raid. He chose shoe leather over a saddle horse, because he thought it would be easier to sneak past the Indians, Shofner said.
Other accounts say McFall avoided a Mexican firing squad by drawing a white bean in the infamous lottery that the Mier Expedition prisoners were forced to play; those who drew black beans were executed.
He frequently rushed at his Mexican prison guards, pretending he was insane. Shofner said the stunt earned him the label lunatico, and the guards feared that killing him would release a crazed ghost.
McFall also served in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Zachary Taylor, some accounts say. He was 60 when he died in 1867.
Family accounts of his exploits, however, were lost with the death of his son, Sam Houston McFall, whose son, Emmett, was R.C. McFall's grandfather.
"My granddad's mama and daddy died pretty close together," R.C. McFall said. "There were four little kids and the grandparents on their mother's side took them over to Glen Rose and they raised them. My granddaddy knew where his daddy was buried, but he didn't know his own granddaddy was a Ranger until they opened that box.
"It just tickled him to death, not just because he was a Ranger, but also because he finally knew something about his folks."
Saturday, August 19, 2006
A paper trail to a Ranger's past
By BILL MILLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Descendants of Samuel McFall knew he had been a prominent rancher in Central Texas, but until about 30 years ago, they knew nothing about his exploits as a scrappy and traveled fighter for the Republic of Texas.
McFall, a Kentucky native, served in various Ranger and militia companies in the 1830s and '40s, including the doomed 1842 Mier Expedition into Mexico, which landed him in a prison until he escaped a couple of years later.
R.C. McFall, a longtime Johnson County commissioner, said his great-great-grandfather's past was finally revealed in the 1970s when the family opened a long-forgotten safe-deposit box in a bank in West.
It contained several historical documents, including an 1845 land grant printed on lambskin. The certificate held an original seal and the signature of Anson Jones, the republic's last president.
On Friday, McFall donated the documents to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum on Interstate 35 in Waco.
"That old Ranger -- undoubtedly he liked to mix it up a bit because he was re-upping all the time," said McFall, 61. "Now [his] documents will belong to all the people of Texas. Hopefully this will help people know how we all got to be here."
Museum officials said the land grant, coupled with an 1844 discharge letter from the Rangers, is proof that Samuel McFall's property in Hill County was payment for his service. The historians said that was a common method of paying Rangers because the republic was usually short on cash.
The McFall documents are among the oldest items in the museum's archival collection, said Christina Stopka, deputy director of the museum.
Judy Shofner, the museum's librarian, said the items are unique because they come directly from a family, not secondhand or thirdhand from an estate sale or antique shop.
"It's extremely rare to receive a land grant with the seal intact and signed by the last president of the Republic of Texas," Shofner said. "Usually they come to us folded and creased because the family doesn't know the difference between a land grant and a Sunday school certificate."
There is no definitive source on Samuel McFall, although he does appear in numerous colorful accounts from other Rangers.
One story, Shofner said, paints McFall as being a "lean, lithe and audacious" Ranger who once traveled alone on foot about 120 miles to warn settlers at Bastrop of a possible Indian raid. He chose shoe leather over a saddle horse, because he thought it would be easier to sneak past the Indians, Shofner said.
Other accounts say McFall avoided a Mexican firing squad by drawing a white bean in the infamous lottery that the Mier Expedition prisoners were forced to play; those who drew black beans were executed.
He frequently rushed at his Mexican prison guards, pretending he was insane. Shofner said the stunt earned him the label lunatico, and the guards feared that killing him would release a crazed ghost.
McFall also served in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Zachary Taylor, some accounts say. He was 60 when he died in 1867.
Family accounts of his exploits, however, were lost with the death of his son, Sam Houston McFall, whose son, Emmett, was R.C. McFall's grandfather.
"My granddad's mama and daddy died pretty close together," R.C. McFall said. "There were four little kids and the grandparents on their mother's side took them over to Glen Rose and they raised them. My granddaddy knew where his daddy was buried, but he didn't know his own granddaddy was a Ranger until they opened that box.
"It just tickled him to death, not just because he was a Ranger, but also because he finally knew something about his folks."
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