Texas historian Len Kubiak of Rockdale Texas.

BURLESON COUNTY BULLETIN BOARD

If you have a question or wish to post photos and family information, please send me an email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com

Got the following email from Charles G. Maddox,screen name: Alex Autrey:

Just found the forttumbleweed website. You did a good job representing the history of Burleson County and I will explore the website some more. However, under towns and settlements, you left out the Birdsong Community. I know about Birdsong, because my ancestors lived there. Birdsong is located next to Birch. Birdsong encompasses a larger area than Birch. Zgabays Ranch, is part of Birdsong. Birdsong has a cemetery, also know known as the Beard Cemetery. The Birdsong Cemetery is located where intersections of Burleson County Roads, 136 & 127 & 140. come together. Birdsong had a community race track known as Race Prairie, where the community people came together to race horses and to sell and trade things. I don't have an establishment date for the Birdsong Community, but my Maddox ancestors were there by the 1880's. Most of the older people who knew the true history of Birdsong and are now deceased. I would appreciate it, if you would do some research and then add the Birdsong Community, to your website, towns and settlements.

I am one of the caretakers of the Old Birch Creek Cemetery at Birch. The Old Birch Creek Cemetery, is cared for by the Flippin Family Reunion, including myself, (Charles Maddox), Gary Flippin of Bernie, and Richard Marek of Chriesman. The cemetery was established on the James Buchanan league around 1865, when Mary McGee Buchanan, wife of James Buchanan who died at the Alamo, was buried there. This pioneer cemetery is made up of, 70 plus burials which includes 5 Confederate Soldiers. Attached to the south end of the Old Birch Creek Cemetery, is the Marek Catholic Cemetery. The Marek Cemetery dates from about 1884 and is made up of about, 20 burials. Both cemetery's are on private property belonging to Craig Supak and are accessable via an abandoned oil field lease road. The cemeteries are well marked, including highway and county road signs. The cemetery, exact location, cattle guard entrance, is where the Burleson County Roads 146 & 162 intersect.

Now, about the Burleson County Historical Society revised Burleson County Texas Family History Book, in the Buchanan Family History article, written by Naris Braley, formerly of East Texas, she has the land the Old Birch Creek Cemetery is located on, as being donated by John & Julie Marek. The James Buchanan Family owned the land prior to the Marek's ever owning a piece of the James Buchanan league. So, how could the Marek's have donated the land for both the Marek Catholic Cemetery, and the Old Birch Creek Cemetery. Wendy Tharp, also left out a whole article concerning my Maddox ancestors. The article reference is there, but the article is not.
Very Truly Yours,
Charles G. Maddox, age 64, screen name: Alex Autrey
1. Descendant of: Stephen F. Austin's, first 40, "Old 300" Texas colony of 1821, through Elijah and Nancy Hodge Allcorn of New Years Creek, at Brenham.
2. Decendant of Stephen F. Austin's Colony of 1824, through Captain Joseph Bell Chance, army of the republic of Texas, battle of San Jacinto.

Got the following email from Tommy Ryan (tdryan4144@gmail.com):

The descendants of Capt. John Bird (1795 - 1839) are having a reunion May 30th at the Caldwell Civic and Visitors Center. Attached is a flyer of our program for the day. Is it possible to list this on your website? It is an educational/historical theme. Hopefully it will be of interest to kids and adults. You may be interested in attending yourself. In case you are not familiar with John Bird, you can find him on the Burleson County website. He was one of the first Texas Rangers appointed by Stephen F. Austin. They say he was as popular as Sam Houston in this part of Texas.

John Bird Reunion Flyer (Caldwell on May 30th)

The Burleson County Historical Society has just completed their revised Burleson County Texas Family History Book with over 550 Burleson County family histories. The price for a book is $65.00.

For more information, call Windy Tharp at 979-272-1933 or Linda Chamberlain at 979 567-3301.

HISTORY OF BURLESON COUNTY, TEXAS

This website provides a brief history of Burleson County and includes a bulletin board for visitors to the website.

EARLY HISTORY OF THE BURLESON COUNTY REGION

The area midway between present day Milano and Sommerville has a rich history dating back thousands of years when it was inhabited by bands of roving hunters called the paleo people somewhere about 12,000 and 15,000 B.C. Many of these early hunters crossed over from the frozen regions of what is now Siberia over a land bridge across the shallow sea that separated the two continents. Others travelled by boats from Europe (clovis points have been found in France). These ice age hunting bands were following the herds of wooly mammouth and bison. Over time, some of the paleo hunters settled down in the central Texas region and became part of a hunter and gatherer civilization much as our ancesters did in Europe. By the Woodland period (started about 900 A.D.,) the local inhabitants were using bows and arrows and herds of buffalo and elk roamed the grassylands along the Brazos valley. Life was good for the Native Americans.

By the 1500's, the area between the Colorado River and the Brazos River was home to some 20,000 native americans known as Tonkawas. The Tonkawas were successful hunters and masters of working flint into all kinds of tools including Spearpoints, arrowheads, knives, tomahawks, scrappers, azes, and more. They traded for agriculture products with their neighbors to the east, the Caddeos and Cherokees.

BURLESON COUNTY IN THE HISTORIC ERA

In 1519, the Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pi�eda sailed along the Gulf Coast to the Rio Grande. As a result, Spain laid claim to Texas. Later, other Spanish explorers came to Texas looking for gold without success.

The arrival of the Spanish explorers ha a devastating effect on the Native Americans living in the region.

Small Pox, measles and influenza killed over 80% of the population estimated to be around 25 million in the 1500's. This eliminated the power of the native dwellers to protect themselves against the onslaught of the Europeans who came in ever increasing numbers.

Comanches Claim the western half of Texas

By the late 1700's, the Comanches (Southern Shashonies)began moving into Texas from the northwest region of Wyoming known as the Wind river Range. The Comanches (which translates to "dreaded enemy") became the dominant Native American force in the Texas until their defeat at the battle of Palo Dura Canyon near present day Amarillo in the 1870's. The Comanches were superb horsemen and could shoot arrows from underneath their steeds while riding at full speed.



With the arrival of the Comanches, the Apaches were driven south out of the Panhandle and joined forces with the Tonkawas in what is now Williamson and Milam counties for survival.

TEXAS OPENED UP FOR SETTLEMENT (1820)

In 1820, Spain formally opened Texas up to foreign settlement. Moses Austin was the first American to take advantage of this opportunity.

In January 1821, Moses Austin proposed to bring 300 Anglo American families to Texas. The notion of a colonizer or empresario had existed in Spanish settlement laws dating from 1573. A colonizer was empowered to settle a region in return for governing powers over the colony. It also gave the colonizer four square leagues of land for every 30 families he settled.

Towns were to be set out in a grid pattern. Each family who settled in the colony would receive a town lot for a house, farmland, pasture land and certain tax exemptions. Colonists were required to settle on the land and use it before being allowed to sell it. Under the terms of Moses Austin's proposal, colonists were to become loyal subjects of the Spanish king and promised to obey Spanish laws and adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. Many Americans were eager to settle in Texas under these conditions. In turn, Spain hoped that Americans "of good character" who received generous portions of land would be loyal and prevent a takeover of Texas by their countrymen.

Although Spain had claimed Texas since 1519 and had controlled it since permanent occupation in 1716, the king never made its extensive settlement a primary concern. Instead, Spain concentrated on maintaining hold over the area. Preventing foreign encroachment upon Texas by France and the United States was important because Texas served as a protective borderland of New Spain (Mexico). Partly for this reason and partly because of the destruction caused by the Mexican War of Independence, there were only three Spanish settlements in Texas at Mexican independence in 1821. These settlements were located at La Bah�a (Goliad), San Antonio and Nacogdoches. Only 5,000 Spanish subjects lived in Texas; of these, 1,000 were soldiers.

In the early 1800's, Spain ruled a territory that included all of present-day Mexico northward to Colorado and westward to present-day California. To increase its hold on the land, Spain was eager to attract settlers to the area.

1822 MOSES AUSTIN GRANTED APPROVAL FOR 300 FAMILIES TO SETTLE IN TESAS

In 1822, Texas was opened to Anglo-American colonization when the government of Spain granted Moses Austin permission to bring in three hundred families from the United States. He died while planning his enterprise, and his son, Stephen F. Austin, replaced him as contractor or empresario.
Then Mexico won independence from Spain, and the newly elected emperor, Iturbide, confirmed Austin's contract. However, General Santa Anna overthrew Iturbide, and a federal republic was established with Coahuila and Texas joined together as a state under military control of Mexico.
In 1825, the Mexican government passed a general colonization law under which Austin and several other empresarios were given contracts to settle additional families from the United States in designated territorial grants.

ROBERTSON'S COLONY (1834-1835)

The decree of May 22, 1834, awarded a colony to Robertson and confirmed the boundaries as they had been defined in the Nashville Company's contract of October 15, 1827. Beginning at the point where the road from B�xar (San Antonio) to Nacogdoches, known as "the Upper Road," crossed the Navasota River, a line was to be run along that road on a westerly course, to the heights which divided the waters of the Brazos and Colorado Rivers; thence on a northwest course along that watershed to the northernmost headwaters of the San Andr�s River (Little River), and from the said headwaters, northeast on a straight line, to the belt of oaks extending on the east side of the Brazos, north from the Hueco (Waco) Village, known as the "Monte Grande" ("Great Forest"), and in English as "the Cross Timbers," and from the point where that line intersected the Cross Timbers, on a southeast course along the heights between the Brazos and Trinity rivers, to the headwaters of the Navasota, and thence down the Navasota, on its righthand or west bank, to the point of beginning. That included all or part of the 17 counties listed above, under Leftwich's Grant, plus the 13 additional counties shown under the Nashville Colony, constituting an area 100 miles wide, beginning at the San Antonio- Nacogdoches Road and extending northwest up the Brazos for 200 miles, centering around Waco.

In that 1834 session of the legislature, Robertson was recognized as the empresario of the colony, and he was to introduce the rest of some 800 families into the colony before April 29, 1838. Each family that dedicated itself solely to farming was to receive one LABOR (177.1 acres) of land; those who also engaged in ranching were to receive an additional SITIO (1 league, or 4,428.4 acres) . Single men were to receive 1/4 league (1,107.1 acres). For each 100 families introduced, Robertson was to receive 5 leagues and 5 labors (or a total of 23,027.5 acres) of premium lands. William H. Steele was appointed Land Commissioner of the Nashville (or Robertson) Colony on May 24, 1834, and he appointed John Goodloe Warren Pierson as Principal Surveyor, on September 17, 1834.

The capital of the colony was laid out at the Falls of the Brazos (about 6 miles northwest of the Reagan area and named Sarahville de Viesca: "Sarah" for Empresario Robertson's mother, Sarah (Maclin) Robertson, who had loaned him the money for the project, and "Viesca" for Agust�n Viesca, the Mexican official who was presiding over the state legislature when it granted the contract to Robertson. All the Robertson Colony land grants were issued in Viesca, Texas.

The first land title was issued on October 20, 1834, but all the colonial land offices were closed, by the Provisional Government of Texas, on November 13, 1835, because of the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, thus preventing Robertson from completing the full quota of 800 families. However, according to a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court of the State of Texas, in December of 1847, Robertson was given credit for having introduced a total of 600 families.

Following the Texas Revolution, the Robertson Colony area was broken up to form all or part of the thirty present-day Texas counties which have been listed under Leftwich's Grant and the Nashville Colony.

HISTORY OF BURLESON COUNTY

The area that would become Burleson County include the Brazos River basin which had settlers as early as 1825.


Burleson County Historical Marker

Tenoxtitlan (established in 1830), was one of three forts built by Mexico in Texas. Tenoxtitlan was situated above El Camino Real (The King's Highway) crossing on Brazos River. To the north of Tenoxtitlan was Sterling Robertson's colony. To the south was the village of San Felipe established by Stephen F. Austin.

On 1840 on the old road (El Camino Real or old San Antonio Road), civil engineer George B. Erath (1813-1891) platted town of Caldwell, named for Indian fighter Mathew ("Old Paint") Caldwell.

In the first legislature of the State of Texas (1846), a bill was introduced creating a new county called Burleson County carved out of land in Milam and Washington Counties. Burleson County was named for Gen Edward Burleson (1793-1851), who had fought in the Texas War for Independence and in Indian Wars.

Gen. Burleson was a congressman, senator, and vice president of the republic of Texas; and also served in the first state senate. Burleson County lost some area in 1874 when Lee County was created. In 1880 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built into Burleson county followed by the Houston & Texas Central railroad.

BURLESON VOTES FOR SECESSION IN 1861

On Feb. 23, 1861 the citizens of Burleson County voted for secession and on March 1, the "Burleson Guards" were organized. Most Guards were mustered into Co. G, 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment; others served in Walker's Texas Division, Waul's Legion, Terry's Rangers, and Hood's Brigade. On the home front, the 3rd Regt., 18th Brigade, Texas State Troops, was organized to protect local citizens, and the county commissioners court provided funds to supply food and other necessities to the families of soldiers fighting in the war.



Historic Lutheran Church in Caldwell





John Mitchell Early Burleson County settler

New Burleson County Courthouse (1927)

The Burleson County Courthouse, built in 1927, is located in Caldwell, Texas and is a 4-story rectangular building with classical details (Classical Revival Style) and Italianate cornice. The windows on the first (raised basement) level are square, the windows on the main level are round arches, and the windows on the third and fourth levels are rectangles. Architect was J.M. Gover of Houston, Tx.

Towns and settlements in Burleson County

Birch
Birdsong Community
Bridge Creek
Carrington Creek
Caldwell (County Seat)
Chriesman
Cooks Point
Damn Branch
Danes
Deanville
Fort Tenoxtitlan
Grant
Hickory Creek
Lexington
Lyons
Merle
Moseley's Landing
Myers
Oldham
Pittsbridge
San Antonio Prarie
Sand Hill
Schofield
Sealy
Second Creek
Snook
Sommerville
St. Matthew
Tunnis
Whittaker
Wilcox

Annual Kolache Festival (second Saturday in September)

The Caldwell Kolache Festival is an annual celebration of Burleson County's Czech heritage featuring such Czech skills as quilting, woodcraft, carving, sculpturing, and of course dancing to polka music. The festival gives you the opportunity to taste foods of the area's Czech heritage including some of the best Kolatches to be found in the country.

Annual German Fest-Deanville(Sunday, May 17, 2015)

St. Johns Lutheran Church of Deanville is again presenting its annual German fest on the grounds of the Deanville Fire Department (HW60 south of HW21). German Fest features authentic German Music, foods, fun and auctions all day long. There are kid's events (bounce houses, Face Painting, and the Maypole dance) and fun for the adults (antique tractors and cars, a crosscut saw competition, live music and great costumes.