The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900 Page: 211
294 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Capture and Rescue of Mrs. Rebecca J. Fisher. 211
in Pennsylvania, surrounded with everything to make life pleasant,
when they became so enthusiastic over the encouraging reports from
Texas that they concluded to join the excited throng and wend their
way to this, the supposed "Eldorado of the West." They hastily,
and at great sacrifice, disposed of their property and leaving their
home near Philadelphia set sail for Galveston with their three
children. Not being inured to the hardships and privations of
frontier life, they were ill-prepared for the trials which awaited
them. I know not the date of their arrival, but it must have been
some time between the years of '36 and '38. 'From Galveston they
moved to either Brazoria or Matagorda, I am not sure which, and
finally to Refugio county near Don Carlos Ranch, which proved to
be their last earthly habitation.
'My father belonged to Captain Tumlinson's company for some
months, and when not in active warfare was engaged in protecting
his own and other families, removing them from place to place for
safety, frequently having to flee through blinding storms, cold and
hungry, to escape Indians and Mexicans. The whole country was
in a state of excitement. 'Families were in constant danger and
had to be ready 'at any moment to flee for their lives.
The day my parents were ,murdered was one of those days, which
youth and old age so much enjoy. IThat day was in strange con-
trast to the tragedy at its close, when the rich lamps of human life
were so brutally extinguished and the ground soaked with precious
blood, We were only a few rods from the house, my parents ex-
patiating upon the beauties of nature, the goodness of God, and
the dangers surrounding us. Nature full of life -and beauty was
all .a glow, but a death-like solemnity seemed to pervade the hearts
.and mantle the faces of my parents as though some great calamity
were near at hand. Suddenly the war whoop of the Comanche
burst upon our ears sending terror to all hearts. My father in try-
ing to reach the house for weapons was shot down, and near him
my mother, clinging to her children and praying God to spare them,
was also murdered, and as she pressed us to her heart we were bap-
tized in her precious blood. We were torn from her dying embrace
.and hurried off into captivity, the chief's wife (for so she was said
to be) dragging me to her horse and clinging to me with a tenacious
grip. She was at first savage and vicious looking, but from some
cause her wicked nature soon relaxed, and folding me in her 'arms,
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, July 1899 - April, 1900, periodical, 1900; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101015/m1/224/?rotate=270: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.