Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 343 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
293
Roeder, died there. We buried her under
'Three Lone Trees.' We were all down v
chills and fever. Four Mexican prisoners wai
on us. Their principal occupation was to gat
oysters, pack wood from the beach of the gi
make fires, wash dishes and clothing, and pi
the deer which Mr. v. Roeder and myself kill
which, together with the fish and oysters, was
chief means of subsistence. We had neither bre
nor coffee, nor sugar, and the water, of cour
was brackish. Finally under these distressing c
cumstances we became despondent and dishea
ened; so, late in October, 1836, we again board
our boat, taking along every thing we had with u
including our Mexican prisoners, who acted as oai
men, and once more made for the main lan
landing at a place called Liverpool, a small villal
at the head of Chocolate bayou. The house (
Galveston Island was abandoned, there being no or
to whom we could sell; there were no other familii
at that time residing on the island. Only Morgan
FQrt was situated near the east end of Galvesto
Island. There were about 400 Mexican prisonei
held there. Capt. Turner, Col. Morgan, and Judg
Chas. Mason were there, but no families that
recollect."
The colonists, including the subject of this sketch
again located where they had made the first settle
ment, at a point known as Cat Spring, now it
Austin County. This was in the month of Novem
ber, 1836. Here Judge Kleberg and his family
resided until the fall of 1847, when they removed
to DeWitt County. At Cat Spring were born the
following of his children: Clara Siegesmunde,
November 28, 1835; Johanna Caroline, November
29, 1838; Caroline Louise, January 15, 1840, and
Otto Joseph, October 27, 1841; Rudolph, June
26, 1847. In DeWitt County, Marcellus Eugene,
February 7, 1849; Robt. Justus, December 5,
1853, and Louise Rosalie, September 2, 1855.
While living in Austin County, Judge Kleberg did
much to develop the new country, which was then
but sparsely settled, and was still inhabited by
Indians. He frequently spoke of one occurrence
during his residence at Cat Spring, where a numerous
tribe of Comanches passed by his house to the
city of Houston to interview the President of the
Republic of Texas on the question of making peace.
He speaks of the appearance of these savages upon
their return from Houston as most ludicrous.
Many of them had adorned themselves with stove
pipe hats, red ribbons and all kinds of fancy dress
articles, all of which was in strange contrast with
their usual wearing apparel. They stopped at the
Judge's house on their way from Houston, andthe requested his wife to mend their flag, which she
vith readily consented'to do. Being well acquainted
ited with the prominent citizens such as Sam Houston,
her Burnet, J. S. Hill, J. P. Borden, Judge Waller,
ulf, and many other distinguished citizens of that day,
ack Mr. Kleberg's services in the War for Independence
ed, and his ability were soon recognized by the young
our Republic and as early as 1837 he was appointed by
mad President Sam Houston as Associate Commissioner
se, of the Board of Land Commissioners. In 1838, he
-ir
was appointed President of said commissioners by
rt
J. P. Borden, Commissioner of the General Land
ed Office. In 1841, he was commissioned by Mirais,
beau B. Lamar, President of the Republic, Justice
rs
of the Peace, which was then an important office as
d, there were few lawyers, and few law books, and
ge important and perplexing suits to be decided in
)n these courts. In 1846 he was elected Chief Justice
ae in Austin County, and commissioned by Sam
es Houston, Governor. In 1848 he was elected
's County Commissioner of De Witt County, and
on commissioned by Governor G. S. Wood.
:s In 1853 he was elected Chief Justice of De
re Witt County, and commissioned by Governor Bell.
I He was re-elected as Chief Justice of De Witt
County in 1854. When the war broke out he
, became a strong Confederate and raised a company
of militia, but was on account of his ada
vanced age not received in active service, but
finally commissioned as collector of war taxes,
r which position he occupied during the entire period
I of the war, and administered with skill and fidelity.
After the war he accepted the situation and filled
several positions of trust and honor, such as member
of the county school board, etc. Upon his
arrival in DeWitt he found but few settlers, among
them the following prominent citizens: John Pettus,
the Yorks and Bells, Judges Wofford and
Baker, Dr. Robert Peobles, Capt. Dick Chrisholm,
Judge Young and others. At that time there were
hardly any schools and churches in De Witt County
and Judge Kleberg, together with Messrs. Albrecht
v. Roeder, John Pettus, the Bells, and Yorks,
erected with their own hands a log cabin on the
Colita creek, near the old York and Bell farm,
which was probably the first school-house in the
county.
Hostile Indians still made their accustomed raids
on the settlements and as late as October, 1848,
the pioneers of De Witt County had a fight with the
savages, in which Judge Kleberg participated, and
of which he gives the following account:"One
October morning Capt. York and Mr.
Albrecht v. Roeder and my brother, Ernst Kleberg,
summoned me to go with a party of volunteers to
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/343/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.