[1] Bertha Emmerson Horne Sanders is the granddaughter of James & Patience Crain Black through their daughter Julia Montgomery Black and her husband, William Emmerson "Will" Horne 

[2]  Note from Sandra Smith Gwilliam:  The relationships of the persons mentioned in the letters are often complicated because quite a few family members married relatives and some of their relatives married kin of the in-laws.  I have tried to explain as best I could how the relationships intertwine with as much documentation as I have for proof.  If anyone has information to add or correct, please contact me:

[3] Columbia is another name for the United States of America.  It honored Christopher Columbus.

[4] Texas did not remain long as the "brightest star in the United firmament".  Within three years from when Patience wrote her essay, Texas seceded from the United States and was accepted by the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America as a state (March 1, 1861) .  The firing on Fort Sumter in South Carolina (April 12, 1861), became the first battle in the Civil War.  On June 8, 1861 Tennessee seceded from the Union, along with the rest of the eleven Southern states who fought with the Confederacy. The Confederate States of America was established. 

Texas was not accepted back into the United States until April 16, 1870, (the date Texas was officially re-admitted into the United States as a state).

[5]   Patience is understandably proud of her Texas heritage.  Her grandfather was James Smith, for whom Smith County was named when it was created on 26 Feb 1846.  When Rusk County was created in 1843, James Smith, who had settled on the site of Henderson in 1836 donated 69 acres of land for the proposed County Seat.  [The land plat in his 1855 probate shows the area marked with the donation.]

James and Sam Houston were both colonels in the Tennessee militia in 1835.  James Smith became a Mexican citizen March 30, 1835 at Nacogdoches, Texas.  His sponsor was John M. Dor.  This same John M. Dor sponsored Samuel Pablo Houston, April 21, 1835.  James Smith settled in Nacogdoches, and established an extensive plantation—He owned 53,000 acres in Texas according to the 1850 census. 

.                Sam Houston wrote a letter of introduction for James Smith to a real estate broker in New York:

To Mr. James Prentiss
Wall Street  New York
[left bottom section:   Col Smith]

Nacogdoches
9th Apr 1835

Dear Sir,
Colonel James Smith, a friend of mine, will hand you this letter.   He visits your city with a view of transacting business, and any information* which you may have at your command, I hope you will be kind enough to impart to him, to forward him in his business. 

Colonel Smith is a Gentleman and any civilities which you may be so kind as to extend to him, will be gratefully received by him, and appreciated by your oft [?] s___ [?] & friend.

Sam Houston  [scrawl]      

                                             Mr. James Prentiss 

[*Spelling corrected on this word – Transcribed by Sandra Smith Gwilliam  from an original copy of the letter found in the collection in the Center for American History, the University of Texas at Austin; Sam Houston Papers, 1814-1957, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.  Box  2E250 General  correspondence, 1815, 1835-1843;  General correspondence, 1844-1863 and undated]
               

James Smith wrote from New York to Sam Houston on November 28, 1835, that he was shipping 100 first-rate rifles to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and planning to bring well-equipped troops to Texas from Tennessee to fight against Mexico. Smith's wife and children arrived in Nacogdoches on January 1, 1836, along with his sister and brother-in-law, Andrew Hamilton.

Smith arrived with his troops and entered the service of the revolutionary army as captain of cavalry of the Nacogdoches Mounted Volunteers on April 11.   Patience Crain's uncle Henry Madison Smith also served as a Captain in the Texas Revolution and was injured with a permanent disability at that time.  They both received land for coming to Texas by 1835 and for serving in the War to liberate Texas.  [Original Grantee: James Smith  File number: Nacogdoches-1st-445   Headright Certificate #89  February 1, 1838, James Smith appeared before the Board of Land Commissioners for the County of Nacogdoches, and proved according to the law that he arrived in the Republic April 1835 and that he was a married man and entitled to one league and one labor of land (4605.5 acres), upon the condition of paying at the rate of three dollars and fifty cents for each labor (177.1 acres) of Irrigable land two dollars and fifty cents for each labor of temporal or arable land and one dollar and twenty cents for each labor of pasture land which may be contained in the survey secured to him by this certificate.]

After the victory at San Jacinto, James Smith went immediately to army headquarters there and, on May 4, 1836, was appointed inspector general with the rank of colonel by Gen. Thomas J. Rusk. He served with Rusk from headquarters at Victoria until September 5, 1836. On September 8, 1836, he was appointed by Sam Houston to raise companies to build forts and protect settlers west of Nacogdoches. During 1837-38, when relationships with Indians were particularly troublesome, the Smith plantation at Nacogdoches became a refuge for the harried settlers of the surrounding counties.

James Smith letter to Sam Houston 5 Oct 1836 
Nacogdoches, Texas, Oct 5th 1836
To Genl. Samuel Houston Commander In Chief,

Sir I hav to in form in hast [haste] of the movements of the different tribes of Indians on our Northwest part of the ____ when I first [word crossed out] went up I threw much Difficulty got your letter to them   They appeared glad to reciev it and agread to comply with it and to Return what property they had taken but they hav Fail to comply with Evry part [“of” crossed out] ameadatly [immediately] of after We left them they all gathered up all they had and Put off   In two or three [days?] after we went to the Villeg [Village] To see if all was Rit [right] but there was not on [one] Indian to be Seene we took there trail and persude [pursued] them About thirty miles by this tim we Discovered large trails coming in from differrant dirrection intill their trails becom Verry large and there must be [a? ink blot over word] large Number of them they skinned the trees and [smudged]inted [painted ?] them as they went and all the men that was acquanted with them said they intended war And our number was Small and we Return back for we know we could not overtake them befor they got to the main body which is on Trinity at the mouth of a streem call the Bodark where at this tim there is not less than Seven or Eight hundred warriors of Different Tribes which I stated to you in my letter sent by Major Lusk also Williams who lived amonst [amongst] the Cadawes [?written over] Cam to inform me that all the wariers was gon to that point   there is no doubt but they intend Hostilities.   The peple are Verry much [inserted above] alarmed they wanted Me to call on men and fall on them but nowing it Was my Duty to in form you of the fact I [word crossed out] would not But told them I new as soon as you was inform you would order me to call out men anuff to Defeat Them   and I do not think less than three or four Hundred I hav acted with caulhion [caution] and will continue To do so I have give the facts, please answer me in hast
I am truly your friend             James Smith Coln

 [Sam Houston Papers, 1814-1957, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin as transcribed by Sandra Smith Gwilliam from an original copy.]

James Smith commanded the second battalion of Rusk's regiments at the battle of the Neches, in which Chief Bowl was slain, in July 1839. On March 7, 1840, he was elected a brigadier general and took command of the Third Brigade on the northwest frontier with Mexico. He remained there until August 19, 1844, when he was ordered by President Sam Houston to command the troops detached to suppress the Regulator-Moderator War in Shelby County.

When Rusk County was created in 1843, Smith, who had settled on the site of Henderson in 1836 offered to donate 69 acres of land for the proposed County Seat.

Smith represented Rusk County in the Texas House of Representatives from February 16, 1846, until December 13, 1847.  According to a historical marker Corner of S Main & Henderson Sts, Henderson (which may be missing now), James was also the first Judge of the Rusk District in Texas.  His son, Andrew Jackson Smith became the first Judge of Rusk County .

(Historical facts from the history of James Smith by L. L. Stevens, [the GGreat Grandson of James Smith]; Overton, Texas Centennial Book, FHL US Can  976.4185/01  H2o   Editor Ora Gillispie  1973; also from numerous census, letters, probate, court documents and head-right land records.)

 [6] The first settlers to the Texas territory had to become Mexican citizens in order to obtain land and settle there.  Patience's grandfather, . James Smith, became a Mexican citizen March 30, 1835 at Nacogdoches, Texas.  His sponsor was John M. Dor.  This same John M. Dor sponsored Samuel Pablo Houston, April 21, 1835.

[7] Martín Perfecto de Cos was a Mexican general during the Texas Revolution and led an attack against the Alamo and at San Jacinto.  He was captured by Sam Houston, but was released. 

[8] A timeline of the history of the Texas Revolution is found at the Alamo website:                                                                               <http://www.thealamo.org/texas_revolution.htm

[9] It is said that the Lone Star emblem was created because when they needed a seal for the State of Texas. They cut off one of  General James Smith's buttons which had the impress of a star.

From Handbook of Texas, online:  In an address of 1873, Guy M. Bryan attributed the Lone Star emblem to Smith:

"A half century since, overcoats were ornamented with large brass buttons.  It happened that the buttons on the coat of General Smith had the impress of a five-pointed star.  For want of a seal, one of these buttons was cut off and used."                 article by  Rev. L. L. Stevens.    

Note from Sandra:  Robert Mathis, Chair of the History Dept at Stephen F. Austin State University wrote to me stating it could have been Gen. James Smith’s button which was used -see Guy M. Bryan’s note above and article about Governor Henry Smith in the Handbook of Texas online: “During the period of the provisional government, Governor Henry Smith used his private seal on an official document because no seal of office had been provided. Some historians speculate that the seal Smith used was actually a button with an eight-petaled daisy design, but this cannot be confirmed by an examination of the original document at the Texas State Archives. On March 12, 1836, the general convention of the provisional government adopted a resolution offered by George C. Childress providing for "a single star of five points, either of gold or silver" as the "peculiar emblem" of the Republic of Texas. There is no known record that this emblem was ever used as an actual seal.”        

[10] James Pinckney Henderson was the first governor of the state of Texas. 

"In 1835, became interested in news of the Texas Revolution, and began enlistments for the Texas service. He arrived at Velasco, Texas, on June 3, 1836, and was commissioned by David G. Burnet as brigadier general and sent to the United States to recruit for the Texas army. Henderson organized a company in North Carolina and sent it to Texas, reputedly at his own expense. Upon his return to Texas in November 1836, he was appointed attorney general of the republic under Sam Houston and in December 1836 succeeded Stephen F. Austin as secretary of state.

… Largely through his efforts both England and France entered into trade agreements with the republic and ultimately recognized Texas independence…. Henderson was a member of the Convention of 1845, was elected governor of Texas in November 1845, and took office in February 1846. With the declaration of the Mexican War and the organization of Texas volunteers, the governor asked permission of the legislature to take personal command of the troops in the field. He led the Second Texas Regiment at the battle of Monterrey and was appointed a commissioner to negotiate for the surrender of that city. Later he served with the temporary rank of major general of Texas volunteers in United States service from July 1846 to October 1846. After the war he resumed his duties as governor but refused to run for a second term. He returned to his private law practice in 1847. After election by the Texas legislature to the United States Senate to succeed Thomas J. Rusk, Henderson served in the Senate from November 9, 1857, until his death, on June 4, 1858…. Henderson County, established in 1846, was named in his honor.

                                 By Claude Elliott  

Note from Winona and O. M. Wilkinson:  James P. Henderson's mother was Elizabeth Carruth, who married Major Lawson Henderson.  Her parents were Colonel John Carruth and Elizabeth Cathey.  Elizabeth Cathey descended from the John Cathey of Ireland who was the father of Eleanor Cathey who married John Moorhead.  This Moorhead line connected back down to the David Smith family (General James Smith's sister, Delilah married the Great grandson of John & Eleanor Cathey Moorhead).

[11] Patience is referring to "The Father of Texas", Stephen Fuller Austin.  In 1821, when the Texas area was still a part of Spain, Stephen F. Austin's father, Moses, traveled to San Antonio to try to obtain permission from the Spanish Government to settle 300 families in what is now the State of Texas.  Moses died soon after receiving the grant.

"… Moses Austin developed a plan in 1819 for settling an American colony in Spanish Texas. Characteristically, he took an aggressive tack in times when holding the line seemed best. After the Adams-Onís Treaty clarified Spanish title to Texas, he traveled to San Antonio, where he arrived on December 23, 1820, seeking permission to bring his colonists. Spurned by Governor Antonio María Martínez, he chanced to meet the Baron de Bastrop in one of the most famous turns of history in Texas. Austin and Bastrop had chanced to meet nineteen years earlier when in New Orleans on unrelated trips and had had no contact during the interim. Nevertheless, the two recognized each other. After Bastrop, a resident of San Antonio, heard the enthusiasm with which Moses spoke of his colonization plan, the baron returned with him to the governor's office to request permission to establish the colony. On December 26, 1820, Governor Martínez endorsed and forwarded the plan to higher authority.

On the trip out of Texas, Moses contracted pneumonia from four weeks of wet and cold weather; he subsisted for the last week on roots and berries. Shortly after he reached home, he learned that permission for the colony had been granted, after which he neglected his health and devoted all of his energies to the "Texas Venture." Austin lived barely two months more. Two days before he died, he called his wife to his bed. "After a considerable exertion to speak," she wrote in one of the most famous letters in Texas history, "he drew me down to him and with much distress and difficulty of speech, told me it was two late, that he was going...he beged me to tell you to take his place tell dear Stephen that it is his dieing fathers last request to prosecute the enterprise he had Commenced." Moses Austin died on June 10, 1821."  

by David B. Gracy II    

Stephen F. Austin decided to finish what his father had begun, but Mexico 
won its independence from Spain and the new Mexican government would 
not honor the grant.  Stephen F. Austin traveled to Mexico City and was able 
to convince that government to allow settlers to have land grants in the Texas colony as promised to his father.

It took years of battling with varied laws and Mexican governments and complications with being paid for his services, but Stephen F. Austin 
persevered when I think many other men would have given up.

It was through his efforts that the Port of Galveston, Texas was built.  Galveston is an important site in the letters between James and Patience 
Crain Black, since that is where James Black first served in the Civil War.

More of the interesting story of Stephen F. Austin's role in the colonization 
of Texas is written in the Handbook of Texas Online by Eugene C. Barker:   AUSTIN, STEPHEN FULLER." The Handbook of Texas Online.  l >

"In 1836 Stephen P. Austin, 'the father of Texas' died of pneumonia at 
age 43. His importance in early Texas history cannot be exaggerated as he was more responsible than any other person for the Anglo-American's movement to Texas and their success in conquering the wilderness.

For more information about how Stephen F. Austin's father decided to try to have people settle Texas and his deathbed request to his son, see:      or

 "AUSTIN, MOSES." The Handbook of Texas Online.  

[12]  Thomas Jefferson Rusk

"Rusk settled in the Nacogdoches area where in 1835 he organized a company of volunteers to aid in Texas' cause for independence. He was elected as a representative from Nacogdoches to the Convention of 1836, and thus became a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The convention elected him secretary of war, and he soon afterward participated in the Battle of San Jacinto. "

Rusk was elected to the Second Congress of the Republic, and later led several campaigns against Indians in east Texas. He became president of the Convention of 1845, and was a strong advocate for the annexation of Texas into the Union. In 1846, Rusk and Sam Houston were elected the first Senators to represent Texas in Washington, DC."

 Website with a picture of Rusk: 

More is found at: 

[14]  M. A. Childress is Margaret Childress (born about 1839 in Alabama-most likely in Marshall County where her brother Ruphus was born.  Marshall County, Alabama is where James Black's parents also lived ca. 1845 according to BLM land documents there for David S. Black). 

The Childress children are cousins of Patience Crain Black's mother, Sarah Elvina Smith (b. 1818), although the Childress children, Ruphus, Margaret, Francis ["Frank"] and Andrew John ["Jack"] are closer to Patience's age. 

Hannah Parker Smith (b. 1799) was the sister of Sarah Parker Childress (b. 1806).  They were both the daughters of Isaiah and Elizabeth "Betsy" Guyton Parker, and both were listed in Union District, South Carolina Writs of Partition vol 12 p. 197 Magazine of Ancestral Research 975.7 B2sc in the partition papers of Isaiah and Elizabeth Parker. 

They were also listed in a lawsuit of the Issac Parker children against the second wife of Hannah Smith and Sarah Childress' grandfather, Isaac Parker. (Hannah Parker Smith and Sarah "Sally"Parker Childress' father, Isaiah Parker was dead, so they were listed as heirs) :  No. 167  Union District, South Carolina,  John Parker, Bill for Partition Acct. Vs. Susannah Parker (second wife of Isaac Parker) the 6th day of April 1827:                

Humbly complaining, shew unto your Honors your Orators and Oratresas, John Parker, Rachell Parker, now the wife [of] David Malcombson, Aaron Parker, James Smith and Hannah his wife formerly Hannah Parker, Sally Parker, Isaac Parker, and Joseph Parker the children and heirs at law of Isaiah Parker the eldest Son of Isaac Parker, William Bland the only child of Rachell Parker the Second child the Said Isaac Parker the Intestate, Joseph Guyton and Hannah his wife formerly Hannah Parker, Archibald Crockett and Elizabeth his wife formerly Elizabeth Parker, and Silas R. Parker that on or about the 8th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and twenty five Isaac Parker the grandfather of some of your orators and oratryes, the father in law of others and the father of others again departed this life Intestate, being of the time of his death seized and possessed absolutely in his own right of a considerable estate bothe real and personal situate and being in the District and State aforesaid, and that the Said Isaac Parker, at the time of his death left your orators and oratryes as above named his widow and her son Eleazer Parker and her daughter Naomi Parker the Defendants to this bill his next of kin and heirs at Law him surviving.

And your orators and oratryes further shew unto your Honors that the Said Isaac Parker the Intestate in his life time had had Issue of two marriages that the complainants mentioned in this Bill as the issue of the first marriage, and that on or about the year 1804-he intermarried with Susannah Gibson the Defendant now his widow, by whom he had issue which subscribed here as above Stated Naomi Parker who died in October 1825 Intestate leaving her mother and her brother Eleazer Parker of the whole blood.

And your orators and oratryes shew unto your Honors that the whole of the real estate of which the Said Isaac Parker died seized and possessed was his own absolute property and that no part of the Same ever had belonged to his widow, and the Said Susannah Parker the widow and her Son Eleazer Parker have been in constant possession and enjoyment of the most valuable part of the Said Intestate Real Estate and have received the rent and profits of the Same ever since the death of the Said Isaac Parker…(transcribed by Margaret Humphries Dillard)

A few notes on the Childress family: 

1850 Federal census Rusk, Texas

1850 Rusk County, Texas Federal Census  Reel:   315-316  Page:  501

18  36   36  Childress     James   48   M    W    Farmer SC  [b. abt 1802 d. Jan 1862 in  Rusk County, Texas]

19  36   36  Childress     Sarah    43   F    W                  SC  [b. abt 1806 in Union District, South Carolina, the daughter of Isaiah & Elizabeth Guyton Parker "Betsy Guyton".  She died before 1860 in Rusk County, Texas.]

20  36   36  Childress      Agnes          14   F    W AL [Mary Agnes Childress born abt 1835 Married Isaac Newton Smith on  2 May 1849 in Rusk County, Texas.]

21  36   36  Childress      Ruphus         12   M    W AL [Born Oct 1838 in Marshall County, Alabama]

22  36   36  Childress      Margaret       11   F   W   AL 

23  36   36  Childress      Frances         8    F    W   AL [nicknamed: Frank]

24  36   36  Childress      Andrew         5    M   W  TX  [Andrew John- nicknamed Jack]

Sarah Jane Childress is not on this census with her family.  She was born 15 Mar 1836 in Alabama.  She married her cousin William Jasper Smith 16 Jul 1851 in Henderson, Rusk County, Texas.  She died 30 Dec 1917 in Bosque County, Texas and was buried in the Meredian Cemetery, section M in Bosque County.

The following sketch of James Childress, a citizen of Rusk County from 1845/1862, was excerpted from the book entitled Family Affair by Jimmie Ruth Childress Mounger:

"James Childress descended from the Childers-Childress line of York, England. Born on a plantation in upcountry South Carolina in 1802, James was removed by oxen-drawn wagon to the newly acquired Mississippi Territory, when his father and mother sought frontier pastures. He grew up in what became Madison County, Alabama, and when Marshall County was carved out of Madison in 1836, James became the County's first Commissioner of Roads, a Justice of the Peace, Post Master of Warrenton, Alabama, and one of the organizers of the new county's first election.

James' first love was his land and after his father died, he assumed the duties of his father's plantation, with his mother's guidance, and married Sarah Parker. James appears to have gotten the fever of going west. He began by divesting his political responsibilities and his land for the move to Texas. The question naturally arises: Why this move? The History of Marshall County, Alabama renders one telling clue when it quotes an early citizen, "the jail is easier to get out of than to get into." If Texas were also rugged, the family of James and Sarah Childress would soon find out, for they landed in Rusk County in 1845, and began adapting to its culture by acquiring 320 acres of Texas farmland.

The Federal census of Rusk County in 1850 lists James and Sarah Parker Childress and their children: Sarah Jane, Ruffus Green, Mary Agnes, Margaret, Frances, and Andrew John. Three of their children listed in the 1840 census of Alabama, are not shown. Included in the 1850 census next to the Childress family are the members of the James Smith and Hannah Parker Smith family and their children: William Jasper, Marion, and Bert. That year and the following, marriage records reveal that Mary Agnes was married to Isaac Newton Smith, and Sarah Jane Childress was married to William Jasper Smith.

By the time the 1860 census rolled around, James was farming; his two daughters had married the well-known General James Smith's two sons; his two single daughters were listed; Ruffus Green was in the service of the Texas Rangers and Texas-born Andrew John was fifteen years old. But Sarah Parker Childress was dead. And by September 20, 1860 Rusk County Records show the remarriage of James Childress to Margaret M. Cunningham.

James Childress' marriage to Margaret M. Cunningham came to a tragic end in January of 1862, brought to light by the probate proceedings of his estate, when his widow asked the court to appoint S.N. Berry to administer the estate; to sell perishables on the farm to pay medical bills due a Mr. Berry and to collect two large notes owing the estate. The court set aside the farm for the use of the widow, the bills were paid but the two notes due the estate were never shown to have been collected; probably because they were owed by his relatives."  

[15] Patie and Patia are both nicknames for Patience Crain.

[16] Rusk County, Texas

[17] William Jasper Smith (the son of General James & Hannah Parker Smith) was a first cousin of Margaret.  Jasper was married to Margaret's sister, Sarah Jane Childress on 16 Jul 1851 in Henderson, Rusk, Texas.  Jasper and Sarah Jane's mothers were sisters.  

William Jasper was born 28 Mar 1830 per tombstone records in Bosque   
SMITH, William Jasper--(Section M)  28 MAR 1830--01 MAY 1894    

[18] Reverend Smith is probably not related to the James Smith family.

[19] Matt is most likely Margaret Ellison (future wife of  Major Wiley Jones-the cousin of James Black).  Margaret's "folks" are Jesse and Isabella Stuart Ellison who married in Morgan County, Alabama (where James Black's parents used to live, as well as the Ditto and Jones families.  The Ellison, Ditto and Jones families also lived in Tennessee. before moving to Alabama, then to Texas.  The Ellison family moved to Brazos County, Texas where Jesse Washington Ellison was born 22 Sep 1841.  Jesse Washington Ellison was living with the Jones family in McLennan County, Texas in the 1860 census, but his name is transcribed incorrectly as Jesse Allison.)

[20] Susan is most likely Susan Melvina Smith (daughter of Patience Black's uncle Henry Madison Smith & aunt Sarah Susannah Hall Smith).  She later married Jesse Washington Ellison (14 Feb 1864), the brother of Margaret "Matt"Ellison. 

[21] Mr. Christie is probably a relative [perhaps a son through an unknown wife] of Sampson Christie born 1810 in South Carolina, the second husband of Frances E. Smith (married 27 Jan 1853 in Rusk County, Texas).   She must have died within about a year after they were married because he married Margaret S. Kelley 3 Sep 1854 in Rusk County, Texas.  He is listed in the Probate records of the Guardianship of Mary Ann Timmons et al as having some money and land belonging to the daughters of Frances & Thomas Timmons.

Frances E. Smith born about 1823 in Lincoln County, Tennessee  to General James & Hannah Parker Smith, First husband  (marriage 1 Aug 1837 in Nacogdoches County, Texas) was Thomas G. Timmons born 1815 in Tennessee died abt. 1854 in Rusk County, Texas, buried in Smith Park near General James & Hannah Parker Smith. Their living daughters, Barsheba and Hannah Ann lived with their uncle Isaac Newton Smith in the 1860 census.  He was their guardian.  More information on them is in Part 3 of the letters. Notes: Nacogdoches County Board of Land Commissioners#156 1838: Arrived in 1834.  Served tour of duty in 1836 received 1/4 league of land entitled to 3/4 league and one labor of land.

Davis S Kaufman vs. James Smith  "Big Shawnee Town is where Thomas G. Timmons now resides 8th October 1840"

Land records  VAN ZANDT County Texas  THOMAS G TIMMONS T. TIMMONS 848

  [Thomas and Frances Smith Timmons are Uncle and Aunt of Patience Crain's].

[22] "Mr. Black" could possibly be James Black.  His brother, William was married and lived in Milam County, Texas in 1860.  James and the rest of his family still lived in Marshall County, Alabama.

[23] Rufus Green Childress is actually Patience Crain Black's mother's first cousin although he is only 4 years older than Patience. [see earlier note for more information]

[24] Probably written about 1862.

[25] William L. Ditto [James Black's cousin] born 16 Aug 1834 in Alabama to William & Mary DAVIDSON DITTO (who divorced before 23 Nov 1842, (the date William, the father, married Margaret Haslett).  William L. Ditto was the grandson of Josiah and Jane Starr DITTO.  He married Mary Stewart  1 JAN 1879 in Milam County, Texas .  [Mary was born about 1854 in Tennessee].  William L. DITTO died about 1893.  He was in the 1880 Enumeration District 102 Milam County, Texas

[26]  Jesse Washington Ellison, the future husband of Susan Melvina Smith, the daughter of Henry Madison & Sarah Susannah Hall and granddaughter of General James & Hannah Smith.  Jesse lived with a cousin of James Black and her husband in the 1860 McLennan County, Texas Census.  But the census taker wrote his last name as Allison.

[27] This Manassas, Virginia, battle was also called "Bull Run".  According to the World Book Encyclopedia, Civil War battles often have two names because the Confederates named them after the nearest settlement and the Northerners named them after the nearest body of water. (A creek named Bull Run ran through the area.)  During the first Manassas/Bull Run battle in July 1861, General Thomas J. Jackson stood his ground so firmly that he was nicknamed "Stonewall Jackson".   The second Manassas battle was fought Aug 29, 1861.  General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were able to overcome Pope's Yankee army and send them back to Washington in a heavy rain.  (World Book Encyclopedia 1979 ed. p. 464.)

[Thomas Stribling  was in Virginia by 1710.  On Sept.4, 1752 Thomas received a land grant of 1050 acres at Bull Run.  The Battle of Manasas occurred on land that he had owned. Thomas is the ancestor of Elreeta Crain Weathers who provided the copies of the letters to type and has spent many hours posting them online.]

[28] Patience and "Frank" Childress are actually 1 st cousins once removed.  Francis "Frank" Childress is really the cousin of Patience Crain's mother although Patience and "Frank" were both born in 1842.

[29] P. M.  probably is an abbreviation for Postmaster.

[30] Possum Trot, Texas, is located in southeastern Shelby County near Huxley. This small, rural, predominantly black community probably originated in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

[31] It is unknown whether this Debi Draper who married George Birdwell in 1869 is related to James Black's sisters.   Two of James Black's sisters married Draper men—

Elizabeth Ann Black, (born about 1834 in Alabama to David Simpson & Mary "Polly" Ditto Black), married Weston Draper (or Western Draper born abt 1812 in Virginia.).  They lived in Talucah, Morgan County, Alabama and had two children, Ella Lee Draper and David W. Draper.   Elizabeth died abt 1864 and Weston/Western Draper married 18 Dec 1867 in Morgan County, Alabama, a woman named Mary Brown Winton (a widow of William Winton).  They had at least one daughter, Arie Alta Draper.

Mary Jane Black (Mollie Black born 25 Nov 1839 in Alabama to David S. & Mary Ditto Black), married 25 Nov 1863 in Morgan County, Alabama to Dr. Nicholas Draper (born abt 1837 in Alabama).  They had at least one son named Preston Draper born abt 1866 in Alabama.  Mary Jane died 30 Mar 1875 in Morgan County, Alabama.  Nicholas [Nick in the 1880 census] remarried:

1880 Madison County, Alabama Federal Census 
Family History Library Film 1254021  
Film Number T9-0021 Page Number 114D

Nick W. DRAPER  43 <1837>  AL  Physician Married W Father's Birthplace AL Mother's Birthplace AL

Missouri DRAPER  Wife M Female W 24 AR Keeps House AL AL

Preston DRAPER Son S Male W 14 AL Attends School AL AL

Mary DRAPER Dau S Female W 4 AL AL AR

Nicholas A. Draper  served as a Confederate in the Civil War:  Regiment 24 Battalion Alabama Assistant Surgeon   Film Number M374 roll 13

[32] Sallie is probably their sister Sarah Jane Childress who married William Jasper Smith.

[33] A still house could be referring to the place he distilled liquor.  Many people made their own and sold it in those years.

[34] Carrie and Wallace are the children of William Jasper Smith and Sarah Jane Childress Smith.   Carrie is Caroline Smith born about 1863 in Texas.  Wallace is William Wallace born 16 Feb 1868 in Texas.  He died 15 May 1894 in Texas and is buried in Meredian Cemetery, section M, Bosque County,  Texas .

[35] Martin Hudson Jones, born 28 Nov 1839 in Blount County, Alabama to Aquilla and Delila Ditto Jones.  He is James Black's cousin.

[36]  Patience is probably referring to James Black's cousin, Cale Jones [Caleb Jones], son of Aquilla and Delila Ditto Jones.   He was born about 1832 in Blount County, Alabama and died a few months after this letter was written of pneumonia he contracted while fighting in the Civil War. 

[37] John Ditto is most likely related to James Black.   He could be a nephew of James' mother, Mary Ditto Black.

[38] Hatt is Hannah Ann Timmons, Patience Black's cousin.  Her parents, (Thomas and Frances Timmons) were both dead..  Hannah and her sister, Barsheba Ann were living with their Uncle Isaac Newton Smith in McLennan County, Texas.  "Hatt" died when she was 18 years old.

[39] Mr. Riley is most likely Joseph E. Riley, future husband of Patience's sister Martha Crain "Matt".

[40] Ida is Patience Crain Black's 4 –year-old sister.  Matt is her 16-year-old sister Martha.

[41] Martha Ann Crain, Patience's 16-year-old sister.

[42] Henderson, Rusk County, Texas where their Grandmother Hannah Parker Smith and some of the other Smith family lived.

[43] Mary Agnes Childress Smith, the wife of Isaac Newton Smith who lost an arm in the Civil War in the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, 6-7 Apr 1862.  They are the Aunt and Uncle of Patience. 

[44] Mollie is James Black's sister, Mary Jane Black.  She had been taking care of their very ill mother who had been bedridden for about two months.  James and Mary's parents, David Simpson & Mary Ditto Black, both died less than a month from when this letter was written.

[45] Mr. McDaniel could be John Thomas McDaniel.  Evelina Hall McDaniel was his wife.  They lived in Nacogdoches, Texas then moved to Bald Prairie, Robertson County, Texas about 1855.  John Thomas MCDANIEL was also the brother-in-law of Patience's Uncle Henry Madison & Aunt Sarah Susannah HALL SMITH.  Evelina HALL SPARKS MCDANIEL was Sarah HALL SMITH's sister.  Evelina married her first husband, Eli G. SPARKS, on the same day as Henry M. & Sarah were married (9 Jan 1840)..  Their daughter, Mary Susan MCDANIEL married Patience's brother, James Smith CRAIN.  Their son William may have died fairly young as a result of having served in the Civil War, because he was either given leave or released to go home for being very ill in later letters-From James to Patience from Fort Hebert June 17^th,  1862 & Patience to James from South Bosque June 23^rd (1862).

John Thomas McDaniel was also the uncle of James Black's second wife, Texana Smith Milner Black.  Texana's father was Joseph P. Smith, brother of Patience's mother, Sarah Elvina, and Texana's mother was Minerva Ann Hall Smith, the sister of Henry Madison Smith's wife, Sarah Susannah Hall Smith (daughters of John Hall and Susanna).

[46] Probably Jesse Washington Ellison, the future husband of Sarah Melvina Smith (daughter of Henry Madison & Sarah Susannah Hall SmithBPatience Black=s Uncle and Aunt.  Jesse W. Ellison was born 22 Sep 1841 in Brazos County, Texas.)

[47]   Widow Anderson could be Nancy Anderson who is found in the McLennan County Texas 1860 Federal Census.

581-581   Nancy ANDERSON             45            f   NC

                                J. O.                                        26            m  Miss  Farmer

                                Jane                                        30            f   NC

                                Elizabeth                                28            f   FL

                                Jennet                                    18            f   Miss

                                Barbary                                  16            f   Miss

[48]  1860 McLennan County, Texas Federal census      

111-111   John McFALL      39  m  SC  Farmer

                                Nancy E.                39  f  Ohio

                                Mary Cloyce         14  f  TX

                                Virginia P.              12  f TX

                                Martha                   9  f  TX

                                Elizabeth                6  f  TX

                                James NICHOLS   10 m TX

[49] Possibly this family found in the 1860 McLennan Federal Census:  217-217  Wm. M. CARTER 33 m Farmer AL. Mary Ann 28 f  Miss; Jas. P. 8 m TX; Wm. H. 6 m TX; Joe H 4 m TX; Chs. J. 1 m TX; Robt. HAGS (Hagy) 20 m Farmer  TN

W. M. CARTER enlisted 21 Sep 1861 in Waco, Texas- the same day as James BLACK. 

[50] Ruphus Green Childress (son of Patience Crain Black's Great Aunt Sarah Parker Childress and Uncle James Childress) Ruphus is the brother of two of Patience Black's Aunts (Mary Agnes who married Isaac Newton Smith & Sarah Jane who married William Jasper Smith –the sons of General James Smith who were also their first cousins).

[li] "Aunt Dellia" is Delila DITTO JONES (age 50 TN in 1860), the wife of Aquilla JONES (age 50 TN in 1860).  They married 18 Sep 1828 in Morgan County, Alabama.  They are found in the 1860 McLennan County Texas Federal Census in household 178-178. Delila DITTO JONES is the sister of James BLACK'S mother (Mary "Polly" DITTO BLACK). Their daughter, Ann Elizabeth "Annie" Jones married Patience Crain Black's brother Ambrose H. Crain.

[lii] Hatt is probably Patience's cousin, Hannah Ann TIMMONS, daughter of Frances E. SMITH & Thomas TIMMONS whose parents died before Sept. 1854.  On the 1860 Federal census, the TIMMONS girls are listed with their Grandmother, Hannah SMITH in Rusk County, Texas dated 13 June as H Ann TIMMONS, 13 and a squabble that looked like a W which made it W. A. TIMMONS, 11. (The census had the same mark for Barsheba MOREHEAD), and with Isaac Newton SMITH [also known as I. N. or Newt], their uncle in McLennan County 11 June 1860.  They were listed as H. A. TIMMONS, 13, and Boshiba A. TIMMONS, 11 in McLennan County.  In the probate records they are listed as Mary Ann TIMMONS, Hannah Ann TIMMONS, and Barsheba Ann TIMMONS. They are listed in the Rusk Probates #407 page 423 with their uncle IN SMITH [Isaac Newton Smith] as guardian.   In the Harris Creek Cemetery Records in Waco is:  Hattie TIMMONS, dau of Thos & Frances TIMMONS d. February 14, 1865, age 18 yrs.  Birt [or Burt SMITH], son of General James & Hannah Parker SMITH listed Hannah Timmons in his will:  "and the heirs at law of Francis Timmons [Birt's sister] to wit. Barsheba Ann Timmons & Hannah An[n] Timmons…the only heirs I intend to provide for of said Francis Timmons." Rusk County Court probate records Vol. J No. 747 page 9 LDS FHL film # 1020932   [See the marker info on Hannah Ann Timmons who was the first burial in the Harris Creek Church Cemetery]