The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 145

THE QUARTERLY
OF THE
TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
VOL. IX. JANUARY, 1906. No. 3.
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views
expressed by contributors to THE QUARTERLY.
VALENTINE BENNET.
MARIE BENNET URWITZ.
Some lives seem cast in a mould of self-abnegation, as it were;
are so unmindful of self, and so full of helpfulness for others that
they pass out into God's great eternity unnoticed and are all too
soon forgotten. Such in an eminent degree is the case of Valen-
tine Bennet, of whom it is a sacred privilege to write, to trace anew
the records of a life giving its best years to Texas; a patient, de-
voted servant of the young Republic, who esteemed no sacrifice too
great nor any hardship as such, for the beautiful land of his adop-
tion.
The Bennet family held an ancient seat in the north of England,
whence its knights issueing forth to do service for the King, bore
upon their banners the royal quarterings. It is said laughingly
that an old grandam of the family, when some misfortune had be-
fallen her children, was wont to comfort them by saying, "Oh you
have the lion's paw anyway; don't fret."
When the family came to America is not known, but it is cer-
tain that one of the sons, Valentine, a young man at the breaking
out of the War of 1812, did valiant service in a Massachusetts regi-
ment at the battles of Brandywine and Lundy's Lane. He married
a Miss Kibbe, whose family, also of English origin, is mentioned
in the charming story of Lorna Doone. The elder Mr. Kibbe, hav-
ing secured large grants of land in what was known as the "At-