JAMES W. KENNEDY
The subject of this sketch, Mr. J. W. Kennedy, was among the very early settlers of Bastrop county. His father was a Leroy Kennedy, an officer under Jackson in the Creek war, 1813, and afterward, a member of the Legislature of his adopted state, Alabama.
At the age of twenty-two, Mr. Kennedy left the old home land, and in company with Maj. A. W. Moore, and others, turned his face to the westward.
On New Year's day of 1849, he reached and crossed the Sabine.
This was at Gaine's ferry, and here the little band of emigrants had their first experience of Texas hospitality. The old ferryman, Mr. Gaines, had made the day a time of feasting and merry-making with his neighbors, and slaves. And to the company of happy guests the newcomers were very heartily welcomed, and, not only so, but were detained for hours in the enjoyment of the occasion.
This sort of hospitality, that compelled the stranger to stop, and that lured him to tarry, long characterized, we learn, every section of our beautiful Texas. It has of late retired to our western countries.
Mr. Kennedy reached Bastrop on the 11th, having driven from the Sabine to the Colorado, in ten days, and, at once began work as farm hand, and overseer on the lands of the Mr. Moore with he had come.
But in August of this year he joined a company of Texas Rangers, at Austin, and was soon afterward sent to the Rio Grande, where, for the next twelve months, life was made up of fighting Indians, raiding their country, and patrolling that vast extent of our frontier reaching from El Paso to the Gulf, and eastward to the San Antonio river and the Guadalupe mountain range.
More than one of his own number Mr. Kennedy helped to bury, as a result of their frays with the wily Comanche foe. What became of the enemies dead, Mr. Kennedy did not state, but we suppose they were either carried off by their comrades, or made carion for the hungry wolf or starving vulture.
Surely Texas and Texans owe more to the old Ranger, than we have ever thought, or ever paid, and it is a sad reflection, too, that if ever the delinquency is to be made good, it must be dome soon, for even now, the old heroes of our Indian times are fast passing away, and, in a little while there will be naught left us, but to honor their graves and revere their memory.
After his service as a Ranger, Mr. Kennedy returned again to Bastrop, and worked for some time in the sawmills owned by Moore & Sims. He then visited the old home land, and his parents, but, being this time fully persuaded of the superiority of Texas over Alabama, the visit was but a visit only, and he soon again sought his western, his new home.
When the writer suggested that possibly some special attraction had figured in this Alabama visit, Mr. Kennedy promptly answered, "no, I had never yet cared anything for the opposite sex." Then I thought, what a lesson for the swain of today love sick at seventeen.
Not long after his return to Texas Mr. Kennedy became a gold hunter. A man named Stewart, living then in Milam county, claimed to know of very rich mines in the Guadalupe mountains, and, calling for volunteers to help him in searching for them, Mr. K., with many others joined the company.
With wagons and teams, provisions, camp, and mining outfit, the company proceded to the western mountain country, where, alas! They made many a vain and ineffectual day's search for the rich mines, and the boundless wealth with which they had all hoped to return.
Worn out at last and discouraged, Mr. Kennedy one morning arose in the midst of their camps and called for volunteers to return home and when the evening of that day had come, Mr. K, said, himself, and thirty three others, pitched their tents far toward the head waters of the San Saba.
He still believes the mines were there all right as to find them. Those left behind, one by one, returned, some long after, but they had never found any gold. They had only been more determined, but no less unfortunate then the others.
Again, we find Mr. K, in the limber mills of Bastrop, coming finally to own this he did what, no doubt, has been the wisest thing he ever did, he married.
His bride was a Miss Elizabeth Foster whose parents had come, in 1840, from Missouri, and settled, first, near Bastrop, but afterward at Middleton Springs, in Bastrop county.
Soon after the organization of the Confederate Government, Mr. K, received the appointment of Postmaster at Alum Creek, a position he held till the close of the war. The care of a large family made necessary that he stay at home, while the office he held prevented conscription, so it happened that he experienced none of the hardships and knew none of the dangers incident to the life a soldier, yet, with all his heart, he believed in the principles of the Confederacy, and, till a late date in the progress of the war, hoped for, and believed in the success of the Southern cause.
Under the pretense that he had aided the South, by serving as a road supervisor during the war, Mr. K, was forbidden to take the ironclad oath, by the powers that were, and hence, for a year or two of the reconstruction days, he was not allowed the right to vote. But afterward he took this oath, and once more was permitted to have a part in governmental affairs of his state. When, however, he came to cast his first vote, it seems there was not much in it to stimulate his manhood, or encourage his reviving patriotism. For his was made to approach the polls between files of soldiers, with bayonets meeting over his head, and guarded and watched with the utmost vigilance till this sacred duty to his country was done, and then led away by an accommodating orderly.
When visiting Bastrop, Mr. K, says his way had been to remain till night, and have a good time with his friends, and on the above occasion he had fully intended, he says, to follow his old established custom, but to his surprise a very official officer pre-emptorily ordered him, at once, to leave town. This officer, being backed by all proper authority, and that authority not lacking in an abundant supply of "carnal weapons". Mr. K. says he thoughtit would be decidedly to his advantage to give due heed to the wishes of this very, very king? Officer, and so went home. The good wife was much surprised at the early return, and was so pleased at it, that she was nearly ready, Mr. K, says, to believe reconstruction and reconstruction officers were pretty good things after all. But he says they were not, and the writer is by no means ready to dispute the assertion.
But better days came, the administration of Davis gave way to that of Coke, and peace and prosperity returned. Owning land in the Colorado bottoms, Mr. K, followed farming till 1885, when he left Alum Creek, and moved to Paige, where he took charge of the Grange store, and grange business then but recently organized there.
In this he continued for four years after which he engaged in a little confectionery and fruit business of his own in which he is still occupied at the present time.
He owns a nice home in Paige, and though not by any means wealthy, yet lives well, and spends pleasantly the closing years of his eventful life. Everybody knows him, everybody likes him. Everybody wishes him well, and Bastrop country will lose a good citizen, and the people of Paige a kind and loving neighbor when he is no more.
On the wall of his room hangs a beautiful and nicely framed Masonic chart, giving the more important dates, and events in his life.
The blanks for the insertion of the birth are already filled and I read, "born May 26th, 1825," The blanks for the marriage date are also filled, and those for date of his connection with the Order, but below is a coffin, and over it are the words, "Called from Labor to Refreshment." But the blank space for the date of this lastevent in life's history, is yet unfilled.
Pointing to the blanks, Mr. K, feeling remarked, "It will not be long now till these spaces, too, will be filled." But the writer hopes it may be a long, long time yet, and in this wish we are joined by many, many of his kind and loving friends.
J. H. Gillaspy.
ref. Bastrop Advertiser August 13, 1898
The subject of this sketch, Mr. J. W. Kennedy, was among the very early settlers of Bastrop county. His father was a Leroy Kennedy, an officer under Jackson in the Creek war, 1813, and afterward, a member of the Legislature of his adopted state, Alabama.
At the age of twenty-two, Mr. Kennedy left the old home land, and in company with Maj. A. W. Moore, and others, turned his face to the westward.
On New Year's day of 1849, he reached and crossed the Sabine.
This was at Gaine's ferry, and here the little band of emigrants had their first experience of Texas hospitality. The old ferryman, Mr. Gaines, had made the day a time of feasting and merry-making with his neighbors, and slaves. And to the company of happy guests the newcomers were very heartily welcomed, and, not only so, but were detained for hours in the enjoyment of the occasion.
This sort of hospitality, that compelled the stranger to stop, and that lured him to tarry, long characterized, we learn, every section of our beautiful Texas. It has of late retired to our western countries.
Mr. Kennedy reached Bastrop on the 11th, having driven from the Sabine to the Colorado, in ten days, and, at once began work as farm hand, and overseer on the lands of the Mr. Moore with he had come.
But in August of this year he joined a company of Texas Rangers, at Austin, and was soon afterward sent to the Rio Grande, where, for the next twelve months, life was made up of fighting Indians, raiding their country, and patrolling that vast extent of our frontier reaching from El Paso to the Gulf, and eastward to the San Antonio river and the Guadalupe mountain range.
More than one of his own number Mr. Kennedy helped to bury, as a result of their frays with the wily Comanche foe. What became of the enemies dead, Mr. Kennedy did not state, but we suppose they were either carried off by their comrades, or made carion for the hungry wolf or starving vulture.
Surely Texas and Texans owe more to the old Ranger, than we have ever thought, or ever paid, and it is a sad reflection, too, that if ever the delinquency is to be made good, it must be dome soon, for even now, the old heroes of our Indian times are fast passing away, and, in a little while there will be naught left us, but to honor their graves and revere their memory.
After his service as a Ranger, Mr. Kennedy returned again to Bastrop, and worked for some time in the sawmills owned by Moore & Sims. He then visited the old home land, and his parents, but, being this time fully persuaded of the superiority of Texas over Alabama, the visit was but a visit only, and he soon again sought his western, his new home.
When the writer suggested that possibly some special attraction had figured in this Alabama visit, Mr. Kennedy promptly answered, "no, I had never yet cared anything for the opposite sex." Then I thought, what a lesson for the swain of today love sick at seventeen.
Not long after his return to Texas Mr. Kennedy became a gold hunter. A man named Stewart, living then in Milam county, claimed to know of very rich mines in the Guadalupe mountains, and, calling for volunteers to help him in searching for them, Mr. K., with many others joined the company.
With wagons and teams, provisions, camp, and mining outfit, the company proceded to the western mountain country, where, alas! They made many a vain and ineffectual day's search for the rich mines, and the boundless wealth with which they had all hoped to return.
Worn out at last and discouraged, Mr. Kennedy one morning arose in the midst of their camps and called for volunteers to return home and when the evening of that day had come, Mr. K, said, himself, and thirty three others, pitched their tents far toward the head waters of the San Saba.
He still believes the mines were there all right as to find them. Those left behind, one by one, returned, some long after, but they had never found any gold. They had only been more determined, but no less unfortunate then the others.
Again, we find Mr. K, in the limber mills of Bastrop, coming finally to own this he did what, no doubt, has been the wisest thing he ever did, he married.
His bride was a Miss Elizabeth Foster whose parents had come, in 1840, from Missouri, and settled, first, near Bastrop, but afterward at Middleton Springs, in Bastrop county.
Soon after the organization of the Confederate Government, Mr. K, received the appointment of Postmaster at Alum Creek, a position he held till the close of the war. The care of a large family made necessary that he stay at home, while the office he held prevented conscription, so it happened that he experienced none of the hardships and knew none of the dangers incident to the life a soldier, yet, with all his heart, he believed in the principles of the Confederacy, and, till a late date in the progress of the war, hoped for, and believed in the success of the Southern cause.
Under the pretense that he had aided the South, by serving as a road supervisor during the war, Mr. K, was forbidden to take the ironclad oath, by the powers that were, and hence, for a year or two of the reconstruction days, he was not allowed the right to vote. But afterward he took this oath, and once more was permitted to have a part in governmental affairs of his state. When, however, he came to cast his first vote, it seems there was not much in it to stimulate his manhood, or encourage his reviving patriotism. For his was made to approach the polls between files of soldiers, with bayonets meeting over his head, and guarded and watched with the utmost vigilance till this sacred duty to his country was done, and then led away by an accommodating orderly.
When visiting Bastrop, Mr. K, says his way had been to remain till night, and have a good time with his friends, and on the above occasion he had fully intended, he says, to follow his old established custom, but to his surprise a very official officer pre-emptorily ordered him, at once, to leave town. This officer, being backed by all proper authority, and that authority not lacking in an abundant supply of "carnal weapons". Mr. K. says he thoughtit would be decidedly to his advantage to give due heed to the wishes of this very, very king? Officer, and so went home. The good wife was much surprised at the early return, and was so pleased at it, that she was nearly ready, Mr. K, says, to believe reconstruction and reconstruction officers were pretty good things after all. But he says they were not, and the writer is by no means ready to dispute the assertion.
But better days came, the administration of Davis gave way to that of Coke, and peace and prosperity returned. Owning land in the Colorado bottoms, Mr. K, followed farming till 1885, when he left Alum Creek, and moved to Paige, where he took charge of the Grange store, and grange business then but recently organized there.
In this he continued for four years after which he engaged in a little confectionery and fruit business of his own in which he is still occupied at the present time.
He owns a nice home in Paige, and though not by any means wealthy, yet lives well, and spends pleasantly the closing years of his eventful life. Everybody knows him, everybody likes him. Everybody wishes him well, and Bastrop country will lose a good citizen, and the people of Paige a kind and loving neighbor when he is no more.
On the wall of his room hangs a beautiful and nicely framed Masonic chart, giving the more important dates, and events in his life.
The blanks for the insertion of the birth are already filled and I read, "born May 26th, 1825," The blanks for the marriage date are also filled, and those for date of his connection with the Order, but below is a coffin, and over it are the words, "Called from Labor to Refreshment." But the blank space for the date of this lastevent in life's history, is yet unfilled.
Pointing to the blanks, Mr. K, feeling remarked, "It will not be long now till these spaces, too, will be filled." But the writer hopes it may be a long, long time yet, and in this wish we are joined by many, many of his kind and loving friends.
J. H. Gillaspy.
ref. Bastrop Advertiser August 13, 1898
JAMES W. KENNEDY
The subject of this sketch, Mr. J. W. Kennedy, was among the very early settlers of Bastrop county. His father was a Leroy Kennedy, an officer under Jackson in the Creek war, 1813, and afterward, a member of the Legislature of his adopted state, Alabama.
At the age of twenty-two, Mr. Kennedy left the old home land, and in company with Maj. A. W. Moore, and others, turned his face to the westward.
On New Year's day of 1849, he reached and crossed the Sabine.
This was at Gaine's ferry, and here the little band of emigrants had their first experience of Texas hospitality. The old ferryman, Mr. Gaines, had made the day a time of feasting and merry-making with his neighbors, and slaves. And to the company of happy guests the newcomers were very heartily welcomed, and, not only so, but were detained for hours in the enjoyment of the occasion.
This sort of hospitality, that compelled the stranger to stop, and that lured him to tarry, long characterized, we learn, every section of our beautiful Texas. It has of late retired to our western countries.
Mr. Kennedy reached Bastrop on the 11th, having driven from the Sabine to the Colorado, in ten days, and, at once began work as farm hand, and overseer on the lands of the Mr. Moore with he had come.
But in August of this year he joined a company of Texas Rangers, at Austin, and was soon afterward sent to the Rio Grande, where, for the next twelve months, life was made up of fighting Indians, raiding their country, and patrolling that vast extent of our frontier reaching from El Paso to the Gulf, and eastward to the San Antonio river and the Guadalupe mountain range.
More than one of his own number Mr. Kennedy helped to bury, as a result of their frays with the wily Comanche foe. What became of the enemies dead, Mr. Kennedy did not state, but we suppose they were either carried off by their comrades, or made carion for the hungry wolf or starving vulture.
Surely Texas and Texans owe more to the old Ranger, than we have ever thought, or ever paid, and it is a sad reflection, too, that if ever the delinquency is to be made good, it must be dome soon, for even now, the old heroes of our Indian times are fast passing away, and, in a little while there will be naught left us, but to honor their graves and revere their memory.
After his service as a Ranger, Mr. Kennedy returned again to Bastrop, and worked for some time in the sawmills owned by Moore & Sims. He then visited the old home land, and his parents, but, being this time fully persuaded of the superiority of Texas over Alabama, the visit was but a visit only, and he soon again sought his western, his new home.
When the writer suggested that possibly some special attraction had figured in this Alabama visit, Mr. Kennedy promptly answered, "no, I had never yet cared anything for the opposite sex." Then I thought, what a lesson for the swain of today love sick at seventeen.
Not long after his return to Texas Mr. Kennedy became a gold hunter. A man named Stewart, living then in Milam county, claimed to know of very rich mines in the Guadalupe mountains, and, calling for volunteers to help him in searching for them, Mr. K., with many others joined the company.
With wagons and teams, provisions, camp, and mining outfit, the company proceded to the western mountain country, where, alas! They made many a vain and ineffectual day's search for the rich mines, and the boundless wealth with which they had all hoped to return.
Worn out at last and discouraged, Mr. Kennedy one morning arose in the midst of their camps and called for volunteers to return home and when the evening of that day had come, Mr. K, said, himself, and thirty three others, pitched their tents far toward the head waters of the San Saba.
He still believes the mines were there all right as to find them. Those left behind, one by one, returned, some long after, but they had never found any gold. They had only been more determined, but no less unfortunate then the others.
Again, we find Mr. K, in the limber mills of Bastrop, coming finally to own this he did what, no doubt, has been the wisest thing he ever did, he married.
His bride was a Miss Elizabeth Foster whose parents had come, in 1840, from Missouri, and settled, first, near Bastrop, but afterward at Middleton Springs, in Bastrop county.
Soon after the organization of the Confederate Government, Mr. K, received the appointment of Postmaster at Alum Creek, a position he held till the close of the war. The care of a large family made necessary that he stay at home, while the office he held prevented conscription, so it happened that he experienced none of the hardships and knew none of the dangers incident to the life a soldier, yet, with all his heart, he believed in the principles of the Confederacy, and, till a late date in the progress of the war, hoped for, and believed in the success of the Southern cause.
Under the pretense that he had aided the South, by serving as a road supervisor during the war, Mr. K, was forbidden to take the ironclad oath, by the powers that were, and hence, for a year or two of the reconstruction days, he was not allowed the right to vote. But afterward he took this oath, and once more was permitted to have a part in governmental affairs of his state. When, however, he came to cast his first vote, it seems there was not much in it to stimulate his manhood, or encourage his reviving patriotism. For his was made to approach the polls between files of soldiers, with bayonets meeting over his head, and guarded and watched with the utmost vigilance till this sacred duty to his country was done, and then led away by an accommodating orderly.
When visiting Bastrop, Mr. K, says his way had been to remain till night, and have a good time with his friends, and on the above occasion he had fully intended, he says, to follow his old established custom, but to his surprise a very official officer pre-emptorily ordered him, at once, to leave town. This officer, being backed by all proper authority, and that authority not lacking in an abundant supply of "carnal weapons". Mr. K. says he thoughtit would be decidedly to his advantage to give due heed to the wishes of this very, very king? Officer, and so went home. The good wife was much surprised at the early return, and was so pleased at it, that she was nearly ready, Mr. K, says, to believe reconstruction and reconstruction officers were pretty good things after all. But he says they were not, and the writer is by no means ready to dispute the assertion.
But better days came, the administration of Davis gave way to that of Coke, and peace and prosperity returned. Owning land in the Colorado bottoms, Mr. K, followed farming till 1885, when he left Alum Creek, and moved to Paige, where he took charge of the Grange store, and grange business then but recently organized there.
In this he continued for four years after which he engaged in a little confectionery and fruit business of his own in which he is still occupied at the present time.
He owns a nice home in Paige, and though not by any means wealthy, yet lives well, and spends pleasantly the closing years of his eventful life. Everybody knows him, everybody likes him. Everybody wishes him well, and Bastrop country will lose a good citizen, and the people of Paige a kind and loving neighbor when he is no more.
On the wall of his room hangs a beautiful and nicely framed Masonic chart, giving the more important dates, and events in his life.
The blanks for the insertion of the birth are already filled and I read, "born May 26th, 1825," The blanks for the marriage date are also filled, and those for date of his connection with the Order, but below is a coffin, and over it are the words, "Called from Labor to Refreshment." But the blank space for the date of this lastevent in life's history, is yet unfilled.
Pointing to the blanks, Mr. K, feeling remarked, "It will not be long now till these spaces, too, will be filled." But the writer hopes it may be a long, long time yet, and in this wish we are joined by many, many of his kind and loving friends.
J. H. Gillaspy.
ref. Bastrop Advertiser August 13, 1898
The subject of this sketch, Mr. J. W. Kennedy, was among the very early settlers of Bastrop county. His father was a Leroy Kennedy, an officer under Jackson in the Creek war, 1813, and afterward, a member of the Legislature of his adopted state, Alabama.
At the age of twenty-two, Mr. Kennedy left the old home land, and in company with Maj. A. W. Moore, and others, turned his face to the westward.
On New Year's day of 1849, he reached and crossed the Sabine.
This was at Gaine's ferry, and here the little band of emigrants had their first experience of Texas hospitality. The old ferryman, Mr. Gaines, had made the day a time of feasting and merry-making with his neighbors, and slaves. And to the company of happy guests the newcomers were very heartily welcomed, and, not only so, but were detained for hours in the enjoyment of the occasion.
This sort of hospitality, that compelled the stranger to stop, and that lured him to tarry, long characterized, we learn, every section of our beautiful Texas. It has of late retired to our western countries.
Mr. Kennedy reached Bastrop on the 11th, having driven from the Sabine to the Colorado, in ten days, and, at once began work as farm hand, and overseer on the lands of the Mr. Moore with he had come.
But in August of this year he joined a company of Texas Rangers, at Austin, and was soon afterward sent to the Rio Grande, where, for the next twelve months, life was made up of fighting Indians, raiding their country, and patrolling that vast extent of our frontier reaching from El Paso to the Gulf, and eastward to the San Antonio river and the Guadalupe mountain range.
More than one of his own number Mr. Kennedy helped to bury, as a result of their frays with the wily Comanche foe. What became of the enemies dead, Mr. Kennedy did not state, but we suppose they were either carried off by their comrades, or made carion for the hungry wolf or starving vulture.
Surely Texas and Texans owe more to the old Ranger, than we have ever thought, or ever paid, and it is a sad reflection, too, that if ever the delinquency is to be made good, it must be dome soon, for even now, the old heroes of our Indian times are fast passing away, and, in a little while there will be naught left us, but to honor their graves and revere their memory.
After his service as a Ranger, Mr. Kennedy returned again to Bastrop, and worked for some time in the sawmills owned by Moore & Sims. He then visited the old home land, and his parents, but, being this time fully persuaded of the superiority of Texas over Alabama, the visit was but a visit only, and he soon again sought his western, his new home.
When the writer suggested that possibly some special attraction had figured in this Alabama visit, Mr. Kennedy promptly answered, "no, I had never yet cared anything for the opposite sex." Then I thought, what a lesson for the swain of today love sick at seventeen.
Not long after his return to Texas Mr. Kennedy became a gold hunter. A man named Stewart, living then in Milam county, claimed to know of very rich mines in the Guadalupe mountains, and, calling for volunteers to help him in searching for them, Mr. K., with many others joined the company.
With wagons and teams, provisions, camp, and mining outfit, the company proceded to the western mountain country, where, alas! They made many a vain and ineffectual day's search for the rich mines, and the boundless wealth with which they had all hoped to return.
Worn out at last and discouraged, Mr. Kennedy one morning arose in the midst of their camps and called for volunteers to return home and when the evening of that day had come, Mr. K, said, himself, and thirty three others, pitched their tents far toward the head waters of the San Saba.
He still believes the mines were there all right as to find them. Those left behind, one by one, returned, some long after, but they had never found any gold. They had only been more determined, but no less unfortunate then the others.
Again, we find Mr. K, in the limber mills of Bastrop, coming finally to own this he did what, no doubt, has been the wisest thing he ever did, he married.
His bride was a Miss Elizabeth Foster whose parents had come, in 1840, from Missouri, and settled, first, near Bastrop, but afterward at Middleton Springs, in Bastrop county.
Soon after the organization of the Confederate Government, Mr. K, received the appointment of Postmaster at Alum Creek, a position he held till the close of the war. The care of a large family made necessary that he stay at home, while the office he held prevented conscription, so it happened that he experienced none of the hardships and knew none of the dangers incident to the life a soldier, yet, with all his heart, he believed in the principles of the Confederacy, and, till a late date in the progress of the war, hoped for, and believed in the success of the Southern cause.
Under the pretense that he had aided the South, by serving as a road supervisor during the war, Mr. K, was forbidden to take the ironclad oath, by the powers that were, and hence, for a year or two of the reconstruction days, he was not allowed the right to vote. But afterward he took this oath, and once more was permitted to have a part in governmental affairs of his state. When, however, he came to cast his first vote, it seems there was not much in it to stimulate his manhood, or encourage his reviving patriotism. For his was made to approach the polls between files of soldiers, with bayonets meeting over his head, and guarded and watched with the utmost vigilance till this sacred duty to his country was done, and then led away by an accommodating orderly.
When visiting Bastrop, Mr. K, says his way had been to remain till night, and have a good time with his friends, and on the above occasion he had fully intended, he says, to follow his old established custom, but to his surprise a very official officer pre-emptorily ordered him, at once, to leave town. This officer, being backed by all proper authority, and that authority not lacking in an abundant supply of "carnal weapons". Mr. K. says he thoughtit would be decidedly to his advantage to give due heed to the wishes of this very, very king? Officer, and so went home. The good wife was much surprised at the early return, and was so pleased at it, that she was nearly ready, Mr. K, says, to believe reconstruction and reconstruction officers were pretty good things after all. But he says they were not, and the writer is by no means ready to dispute the assertion.
But better days came, the administration of Davis gave way to that of Coke, and peace and prosperity returned. Owning land in the Colorado bottoms, Mr. K, followed farming till 1885, when he left Alum Creek, and moved to Paige, where he took charge of the Grange store, and grange business then but recently organized there.
In this he continued for four years after which he engaged in a little confectionery and fruit business of his own in which he is still occupied at the present time.
He owns a nice home in Paige, and though not by any means wealthy, yet lives well, and spends pleasantly the closing years of his eventful life. Everybody knows him, everybody likes him. Everybody wishes him well, and Bastrop country will lose a good citizen, and the people of Paige a kind and loving neighbor when he is no more.
On the wall of his room hangs a beautiful and nicely framed Masonic chart, giving the more important dates, and events in his life.
The blanks for the insertion of the birth are already filled and I read, "born May 26th, 1825," The blanks for the marriage date are also filled, and those for date of his connection with the Order, but below is a coffin, and over it are the words, "Called from Labor to Refreshment." But the blank space for the date of this lastevent in life's history, is yet unfilled.
Pointing to the blanks, Mr. K, feeling remarked, "It will not be long now till these spaces, too, will be filled." But the writer hopes it may be a long, long time yet, and in this wish we are joined by many, many of his kind and loving friends.
J. H. Gillaspy.
ref. Bastrop Advertiser August 13, 1898
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