Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 478 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
401
these were kept the county records, together with
groceries, general merchandise and whisky, which
was a leading article of traffic and untaxed. It
was a rare thing to see a drunken man, notwithstanding
nearly every body drank liquor, it being
considered a great medicine and preventive of
chills. In the other building was a blacksmith
shop. The same year he went to Clarksville, Red
River County. In the winter of 1846 the Doctor
removed to Sabine County, near Milam, the then
county seat, where he practiced medicine for about
twelve years, removing to Nacogdoches in January,
1857, where he remained about twenty-seven years,
engaged in the practice of his profession and
merchandising. In thle spring of 1883 he removed
to Terrell, Kaufman County, Texas, where he has
since resided.
He was an active practitioner for upwards of
fifty years and was familiarly acquainted with nearly
all of the noted men of Texas of early days. Gen.
Sam Houston was his first patient in Texas, the
Doctor attending him after his return from New
Orleans, where the General had gone to receivemedical and surgical attention after having been
wounded in the battle of San Jacinto. For a time
during 1846, while the Mexican War was in progress,
Dr. Griffith was in charge of a field hospital
at San Antonio.
Eight children have been born to him, four of
whom, three boys and one daughter, are living.
His wife dying some years since, his maiden
daughter has charge of the household and is caring
for him in his declining years. One of his sons, L.
E. Griffith, Jr., is in the drug business at Terrell;
another son, Dr. W. C. Griffith, is a practicing
physician at Terrell, Texas, and the third son, T. B.
Grifflih, is engaged in the Land, Loan and Insurance
business at Terrell, Texas.
Although Dr. Griffith is quite a small, spare
man, his general health is much above the average,
and he bids fair to reach the one hundred years
mark.
Rather retiring in disposition, he is very jovial
and talkative when once interested and can relate
anecdotes and reminiscences of early days in Texas
which are very interesting.D. H. TRENT,
GOLDTHWAITE.Daniel Henry Trent was born near the town of
Fayetteville, Washington County, Ark., in 1842.
His father was John Trent, and his mother bore
the maiden name of Jane Conner, natives, probably,
of Tennessee or Kentucky, but early settlers
in Arkansas. The father was a type of that class
of men common on the Western frontier fifty years
ago, whose memory has survived to this generation
only in the fireside stories of a few of their number
of exceptional prominence like Boone, Crockett,
and Carson. Such men cared but little for wealth
and less for the applause of the world. Their
home was in the forest; their pursuits those of the
chase, which yielded them both the necessities and
the luxuries of life. John Trent moved with his
family to Texas in 1850, and was a resident, successively,
of Bastrop, Williamson, Burnet, and
Llano Counties.
Growing up on the frontier, where the training
of the young was restricted to a desultory sort of
drilling in domestic duties, far from any schools
worthy of the name, the early years of Daniel H.
26Trent were passed in a manner exceedingly unfavorable
to future success. His entire schooling'did
not amount to two months, and he had no opportunities
to neutralize these disadvantages in any
industrial or commercial pursuits. Still, fortune
favored him with a liberal endowment of energy,
application and force of character, which qualities
bore good fruits in after years. When about
fifteen he began to " work out" at twenty-five
cents a day, and soon coming to have a little
money he was fired with an ambition to accumulate
a fortune and become independent. He was, even
at that early age, the chief dependence of his
father's family, to discharge his duty to whom he
obtained permission to hire himself out on condition
that he turn over the bulk of his wages to
the family, being allowed to retain the balance for
his own use. He hired to one Eldredge, then
engaged in freighting between Port Lavaca and the
town of Burnet, for fifteen dollars a month, ten of
which was to be paid to his father. He worked
for Eldredge for six months, earning $90, thirty of
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Related Items
Other items on this site that are directly related to the current book.
Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Book)
A history of pioneers in Texas and their confrontations with local American Indians.
Relationship to this item: (Has Format)
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/478/: accessed March 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .