History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 528
[7], iv-vii, [2], 10-826, [2] p., [56] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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528
528 HISTORY OJ TEXAS.
1826 to Alabama, settling in Russell's valley,
where four of their children were born and
all of them reared. Mrs. Flanniken died
there in 1846, and the father shortly afterward
came to Texas and made his home here
until his death, which occurred in 1873. The
children of this couple were: Robert H. of
this article; Joseph L., Elias O., Martha J.,
Cyrus A., John W., and David W. Besides
the subject of this sketch three of these,
Joseph L., Elias O., and David W., are still
living, being residents of Bell county, this
State.
Robert H. Flanniken was reared in Russell's
valley, Franklin county, Alabama, growing
up on a farm. He came to Texas at the
age of twenty-one, making his first stop in
what was then Milam, now Burleson county,
securing work at a sawmill then in operation
at a point near where Cedar creek einpties
into the Brazos river. This was in 1840,
at which date there were no settlers northwest
of the place just mentioned, the settlements
being confined to points along the
Brazos river. Mr. Flanniken thus became
one of the first settlers of this region, and as
he was young, active, and, as he expresses it,
"considerably on the go," his recollections of
Ihose days are of interest and value to this
work, and some of them will here be given in
practically the same language in which he
narrated them to the writer.
"Yes," said Mr. Flanniken, "I have been
in Texas a good while,-longer, it seems to
me, when I measure the time by the progress
of events than when I reckon it by years.
I have witnessed the making of a great deal
of Texas history, and I have known at different
times in life many of Texas' most eminent
men. Like most of those of ny age
whom you will meet, my mind dwells more
on the Texas of the past than that of thepresent or the future. This was indeed a
great country when I first came to it, a
beautiful country and one that was inhabited
by a brave, generous, splendid people. Settlers
were few in those days, and I had not
been here long before I knew personally
every man, woman and child within a radius
of forty miles of where I first stopped.
Whether for merit or not, it would hardly be
becoming in me to say, but for some reason
or other my admiring fellow-citizens soon
called me to office after I took up my residence
in this locality; and from a stripling of
a young fellow, comparatively inexperienced
in the ways of the world, I soon came to be a
public functionary of considerable authority,
and a man who was looked up to in a general
way by a large number of my fellow-men.
While this was naturally gratifying to my
Irish spirit, it brought with it its due weight
of responsibility, and in many instances its
hardships and personal annoyances. The office
of Sheriff is the one to which I was first called,
and filled. I was made Sheriff in the early '40s,
my title being Sheriff of Milam county, my
bailiwick extending from the Brazos river to the
Rocky mountains, and beyond, including the
then important town of Santa Fe, New Mexico,
and my duties varying from the collection of
taxes and the execution of the processes of
court to the catching of runaway negroes,
and the apprehension of those who refused to
pay proper respect to the laws of the Republic
of Texas. I had a rich and varied experience
as Sheriff, as you may suppose, and
if you had the patience and my wits were
sufficiently collected, I could tell you a good
many things that would probably interest
you. I was in the sheriff's office almost continnously
from the time I came to the county
in 1840 until the Republic was annexedin
.fact, 1 remained in office a year after anHISORYOP TXS
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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. (Book)
Book containing a brief overview of the state of Texas and more specific focus on six specific counties, with extensive biographical sketches about persons related to the history of those places. An alphabetical index of persons who are included follows the table of contents at the front of the book.
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Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties., book, 1893; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29785/m1/570/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.