Stirpes, Volume 40, Number 4, December 2000 Page: 6
80 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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DAVID BROWN. SURVEYOR PROMOTER ARRIVED IN SAN AUGUSTINE IN JUNE 1833
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. SHAKESPEARE.A week and a half after Robert F.
Stephens killed his wife, Maria, the April 26,
1833 issue of the Columbia Telescope carried
a short notice on the murder:
"Murder committed by ROBERT F.
STPEHENS on the body of his wife MAIRA
[MARIA] STEPHENS in Laurens District. The
said STEPHENS is about 30 or 31 yrs. of age,
6' high, of a fair complexion, with sandy hair,
bald headed and draws the hair from the back
of his head, over the bald part to hide it."
Columbia, South Carolina is about sixty
miles southeast of Laurens. Whether it was
the day of the murder, or a short time later,
Robert F. Stephens took his daughter, Mary
E., and fled the country. Thus, on May 14th,
only thirty-six days after Stephens killed his
wife, a "Proclamation" issued by his
Excellency, Robert Y. Hayne, Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of South Carolina,
appeared in the Columbia Telescope. The
notice stated that "...a flagrant and most
atrocious murder, committed by one ROBERT
F. STEPHENS, on the body of his wife, Maira
[Maria] Stephens..and..the said Robert F.
Stephens has fled from..Public Justice." The
next paragraph went on to say: "Now Know Ye,
That..I do hereby offer a reward of Two
Hundred Dollars for the apprehension and
delivery of the said Robert F. Stephens to
any Sheriff or Jailer of said Sate..."
Near the end of the reward notice, a
Stephens' mannerism was described as: "talks
quick and low smiling while talking and with
something of a down look." The man with a
$200.00 reward on his head had escaped. The
long arm of the law searched but couldn't find
Robert F. Stephens.
Although the authorities in South Carolina
didn't have any way of knowing, Robert F. and
Mary E. Stephens were on their way to Texas.
They arrived on the east bank of the Sabine
River in early June 1833. On the west bank
was freedom.Z.N. Morrell, in his book FLOWERS AND
FRUITS IN THEWILDERNESS, gives a
poignant account of one fugitives' escape
across that thin strip of water-that narrow,
twisting ribbon that separated the Mexican
territory of Texas from the United States.
He wrote:
The river at this crossing was the dividing
line between Louisiana and Texas. A few days
before, a man rode up on the Louisiana side,
evidently under great excitement and at the
top of his voice ordered the ferryman to
bring over the boat. Supposing there was
some emergency, the boat was promptly
carried to the opposite shore, and the man
landed as quick as possible on the Texas side.
Just as he was ashore, an officer, with a body
of men in pursuit of this refugee from justice
hailed on the eastern bank. The man,
recognizing his pursuers, mounted a horse,
rode up the hill entirely out of reach, and
very deliberately made this short and pointed
speech: "Gentlemen, I am just a little too fast
for your sort. You have no authority out of
the United States. I am entirely safe."
Alighting from the horse and kissing the
ground, he continued: "The Sabine River is a
greater Savior than Jesus Christ. He only
saves men when they die from going to hell;
but this river saves living men from prison."
Although he had brought his daughter
with him, Robert F. Stephens had left his
past and South Carolina behind. He left
something else behind-he left his name. He
left Robert F. Stephens. This fugitive from
justice, once named Robert F. Stephens,
arrived in the Ayish Bayou District in June of
1833. Although existing records are not clear
on this point, it's almost certain Mary E., his
daughter, was with him at this time. Both had
new names-David and Mary E. Brown. Their
old names were left behind, somewhere
between South Carolina and the Texas side of
the Sabine River.6
STIRPES
b)ECEMBEP. 2000
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Texas State Genealogical Society. Stirpes, Volume 40, Number 4, December 2000, periodical, December 2000; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39842/m1/8/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Genealogical Society.