The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913 Page: 284
464 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
DUGALD McFARLANE
ADELE B. LOOSCAN
About the year 1829 or 1830 there came to Texas, from the state
of Alabama, a Scotchman named Dugald McFarlane. He left his
native land when a boy of eighteen years or less, and settled first
in South Carolina. After a few years he removed to Alabama,
where he married Miss Eliza M. Davenport, and lived at or near
the town of Tuscaloosa. He was about thirty-three years old when,
following in the footsteps of many worthy sons of the South, he,
together with his wife and children, emigrated to Texas.
The family traveled overland by private conveyance, and ex-
perienced the usual hardships attending a long journey over an
unsettled country. Arriving at San Felipe, the seat of govern-
mental authority for Austin's colony, the head of the family
selected Matagorda as their future home, and located his head-
right on the Colorado river, eight miles above the town. He
identified himself with the interests of the settlers about him, and
became a most useful citizen. His only surviving child, Mrs.
Eureka M. Theall, is living at Bay City, at the home of her
daughter, Arie Davenport (Mrs. B. F. Sweeney, Sr.), and from
her recollections the leading incidents of his life have been
obtained. At the time of the immigration to Texas she was a
little toddler, just old enough, as she afterward told, to slip her
father's pocket knife into a water jug, which was carried along
for the use of the family during a day's journey. She recalls
the days of her childhood at Matagorda, when the Indians roamed
about the neighborhood, and, as they were Carankawas and reputed
cannibals, their visits were greatly dreaded. At that early period
the Mexicans traded extensively with the Texans, and their trains
of burros loaded with silver dollars to be exchanged for tobacco
and other commodities were frequently seen and always welcomed
at Matagorda. Mrs. Theall says that, although her parents owned
slaves, they were left in Alabama in the care of an uncle, since
the laws of Mexico, were such that they would have been free on
Texas soil. The first servants her parents had in Texas were284
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, July 1912 - April, 1913, periodical, 1913; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101058/m1/292/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.