-
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1860
445
a company that defeated the Indians at Waco Village in 1825, and again on the Nueces, north of San Antonio, in 1827. But he died in 1834, at Brazoria. This brief statement of the father's service will show that John Henry, from early childhood, was familiar ,vith the dangers of the Texas fron- tier. In early manhood, he became identified with the ranger service. Before his father's death he had been sent to Missouri to learn the printer's trade. After becoming proficient in this business, he returned to Texas (1845) and established himself at Indianola, and for three years edited the Indianola Bulfotin. In 1848 be moved to Galveston and became the editor of the Galveston Daily Civilian, a work that he continued for ten years. While living at Galveston, he was twice elected mayor of the city, and for several terms represented the Galveston district in the Texas Legislature. In 1858, his health broke and his physician advised him to leave Galveston. He moved to Belton. In a short time after establishing his new home, he was appointed state commissioner to sell the alternate sections of University lands that were located in McLenann, Hunt, Fannin, Cooke, and other counties. He succeeded in selling more than $195,000 worth · of these lands at the nominal expense (his own salary) of $1,700. In 1859 he established the Belton Demoe1·at, and became its editor. In this same year he commanded three different co~panies against the depredations of the Indians on the western and northwestern frontiers. In 1860, while still editor of the Belton Denwc1·at, he was elected to represent Bell and Lam- pasas counties in the Secession Convention which met at Austin, January 28, 1861. Later in 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private, but was soon given a position on the staff of General Ben McCulloch, a position he continued to hold until the death of General McCulloch at Elkhorn. Brown then served for a year as Adjutant General under General Henry McCul- loch, in Arkansas, but ill health forced him to resign this position and return to Texas. His next service was to command the soldiery that pro- tected the Texas frontier from Lampasas to the Rio Grande, a stretch of territory more than three hundred miles in length. After Lee's surrender, Brown hastened to his home, gathered his family together, and set out for Mexico. He remained in that country for five years, during which time he traveled extensively through that nation from the Rio Grande to Yucatan. In the fall of 1870, he returned to Texas and settled at Dallas, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was elected mayor of Dallas several times; he was always public spirited and took an active part in all the progressive movements of the city. As a vocation he took up writing and soon became a 1·egular contributor to various jour- nals and papers, among which some of the best known are: Deboro's Review of the Ea1·ly Life in the Southwest: the Victoria Advocate; the Galveston Civilian; the Belton Democrat; the Houston Telegraph; the Dallas Herald, and the Texas Almanac. During this period of his life, he also wrote several books, the three better known being The Life of He11ry Smith (1888); Indian Wa1·s and Pioneers of Texas; and his H1·story of Texas (two volumes), published 1892-1893. John Henry Brown died on the morn- ing of June 1, 1895. For more detailed sketches see: F. A. Battey & Com-
Powered by FlippingBook