The Writings of Sam Houston, Volume VII

510

WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1860

The Executive desires to pursue the most efficient course to in- sure the protection of life and property upon the frontier. Sam Houston. 1Executive Records, 1859-1861, p. 91, Texas State Library. Levi Perry- man was born in Lamar County, March 29, 1839. His parents had come to Texas in 1837 and had settled in Lamar County, but both father and mother died of cholera when their son was only a few months old. He was reared by an uncle, Jack Perryman. In 1856, Levi Perryman married Josephine Price, the widow of Pleasant Price. They had nine children. From 1873 to 1879, Perryman was the sheriff of Montague County. Sea B. B. Paddock (ed.), History of North and West Texas; 701-704. Judge F. W. Fauntleroy [the name should be wdtten Faunt Le Roy, the man himself said, but it is usually found as one word] was born in Virginia in 1818. Both parents were Virginians, but the boy was educated in Indiana; and it was in Indiana that he had his first remunerative job, clerking in a general mercantile store. In Indiana, also, he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1842 he raised a company of soldiers and came to Texas. He and his men participated in several expeditions against the Indians in protection of the Texas frontier. When his com- pany was disbanded in 1843, he joined the ranging service and served until 1845. He then went to Mississippi, and raised a company of volunteers at Jackson; this company was· later known as Company A of the Jeff Davis Regiment of Mississippi Rifles. At the head of this company Fauntleroy served throughout the Mexican War, and distinguished himself for bravery at the battle of Buena Vista. He returned to Texas in 1856, and settled at Palestine, but later moved to Gatesville. During the Civil War he was engaged in frontier service in the Confederate army under Colonel Norris. For several years after the close of the war, he was clerk of the Federal Court at Brownsville, also master in Chancery for the United States Com- mission at Brownsville. Several years later he was elected judge of Coryell County. In 1855 he married Mary Ann Tratler, of Cameron, Texas. See B. B. Paddock (ed.), Hiisto1·y of North and West Texas,. 711-713. Since no initials are given in this document for Price, and because vari- ous documents show more than fifty men in Texas in 1860 by that name, who were more or less before the public eye, no serious effort has been made here to identify the man to whom Houston sent handbills, or circulari: giving instructions concerning the raising of companies of minute men. 2 See preceding document. To T. J. HARR1s 1 Executive Department, Austin, March 9, 1860. Mr. T. J. Harris, Peoria, Ill. Dear Sir: Your letter of 21st February is to hand. Replying I would say that no provision has ever been made for granting land to sailors, that I am aware of. Sam Houston.

1Executive Record, 1859-1861, Texas State Library.

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