History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 793

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HISTORY OF TEXAS.793

and the latter a native of Alabama. An
orphan when quite young, Joseph T. was left
to the care of his maternal grandparents,
Thomas Curry and wife, with whom, at the
age of ten years, he came to Texas. He remnaiped
a member of their family until he
reached his majority. While his educational
advantages were limited. he was fortunate in
receiving good training otherwise, his grandparents
being industrious, moral people, who
instilled into him good principles, their daily
lives being in accord with their teachings.
On coining to Texas, Mr. and Mrs. Curry
took up their residence, about January 5,
1835, in the settlement then constituting
Robertson's colony,-what is now Robertson
county. There the grandfather. died in 1840,
leaving to young Daniel his right to a league
of land which he had located in what is now
Milani county. This county was then unorganized
and was practically unoccupied territory,
the Indians being too numerous and
hostile to permit of its settlement. Mr.
Daniel was yet young and not desirous of settling
down, so he held the papers but made
no attempt to improve the land. In the
meantime, his services being called for in defense
of the settlers, he entered the various
organizations as they were raised, and helped
through several years to protect the frontier
against both the Indians and Mexicans. In
1840-1 he was a member of the organization
known as the ", Minute Men," and participated
with this organization in a ntimber
of expeditions against the redskins. In 1842
he joined the expedition against Mexico, unuder
General Sumervell, and was out on
duty several months. Later, he was in the
celebrated Snively expedition, organized to
intercept the Mexican train on its way to St.
Louis with gold and silver, which expedition
failed in its purpose to get the precious metal

but succeeded in getting some fighting out
of the Mexicans. Then, in 1846, he enlisted
in Ross' regiment for the Mexican war, and
served on the Rio Grande for three months,
or until the close of hostilities.
Marrying in 1847, Mr. Daniel moved out
to the claim which his grandfather had left
him in Milam county, and on this tract of
land he afterward made his home. Live stock
was the principal source of revenue at an
earlier day, and Mr. Daniel was profitably
engaged in raising and selling horses and
cattle until the opening of the late war,
during the first two years of the war managing
to hold his business pretty well in
hands, but on the call for volunteers in 1863,
he entered the Confederate service and was in
it until the cessation of hostilities, serving Qn
the Gulf coast and in the vicinity of Galveston.
When he returned home after the close
of the war he found most of his property
gone, and it was not until after several years
of hard work and close economy that he was
able to replace what he had lost. In 1879
he turned his attention to the mercantile business.
In this venture however, he was unfortunate,
losing not only the ready cash he
had, but also having to sacrifice some of his
land in order to save his credit. He then retired
to his farm and thereafter gave his attention
strictly to farming pursuits, the place
comprising about 200 acres of black soil,
well located, most of which is under cultivation
and productive.
Mr. Daniel was twice married. In
March, 1847, he wedded Miss Nancy House,
daughter of John House, who moved to
Texas from Mississippi in 1836, dying shortly
afterward in Robertson county or colony as
it was then called. This lady was a native
of Mississippi. They became the parents of
seven children, as follows: Frances, who

HIlSTORY F EX8

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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. (Book)

History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties.

Book containing a brief overview of the state of Texas and more specific focus on six specific counties, with extensive biographical sketches about persons related to the history of those places. An alphabetical index of persons who are included follows the table of contents at the front of the book.

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Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties., book, 1893; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29785/m1/849/ocr/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

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