Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 420 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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352
INDIAN W1ARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.
DANIEL LANDES,
GALVESTON.Daniel Landes was born in Botetourt County,
Va., July 4th, 1804, and was reared in Muhlenberg
County, Ky., whither his parents moved and
settled early in the present century. He subsequently
settled in Trigg County in that State,
where he married Adeline H. Thompson and engaged
in the mercantile business at the little town
of Cadiz. Later he turned his attention to farming,
became sheriff of Trigg County, represented
that county in the Legislature and finally, in 1851,
to better his condition, sold out and came to
Texas. He was accompanied to this State by one
of his old neighbors, named Batteau, both settling
in Washington County. The caravan in which
they came was made up of their families and slaves
and wagons loaded with a considerable part of
their household effects.
The route followed was the usual line of travel,
extending through Western Kentucky, Southeast
Missouri, and Central and Western Arkansas; striking
Texas not far from the present city of Texarkana.
The time occupied in making the journey
was forty-eight days. Mr. Landes settled on a
farm between Chappell Hill and Brenham, where he
soon took a prominent place in the community and
engaged successfully in agricultural pursuits.
Having been active in public matters in Kentucky,
he at once interested himself in such matters in
his new home. He signed the first call ever made
for a meeting of the people to take action in the
matter of building a railroad in Texas, this movement
orignating in Washington County and finally
leading to the building of the Houston and Texas
Central Railroad. He was identified with the movement
in its earlier stages, advocated and worked for
the success of the enterprise and was chairman of
the general convention which met at Houston and
took the first decisive steps toward the construction
of the road. In this connection it may be remarked
that the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was
originally chartered by act of the Legislature at its
second session after annexation, March 11th, 1848,
under the name of the Galveston and Red River
Railroad; but it was not until 1853 that the building
of the road actually began. The intention, at
first, was to begin at Galveston and build northward
to the settlements on Red river; but a
number of enterprising gentlemen, of whom Mr.
Landes was one, conceived the idea of deflectingthe road from its northward course and constructing
it westward through the then rich and populous
county of Washington, hence the railroad movement
just referred to and the convention at Houston
over which he was called to preside. As the
presiding officer of that convention Col. Landes
gave the casting vote, whereby the town of Houston
was made the initial point, instead of Galveston,
his reason for this action being that since Houston
was at the head of tidewater on Buffalo bayou, it
could be easily reached with vessels of light draft,
and the proprietors of the road would thus be
saved the cost of constructing and operating fifty
miles of road
a considerable item in the then
primitive condition of railway development in
Texas. The building of the road was begun at
Houston in 1853, the name being changed from
the Galveston and Red River Railroad to the
Houston but, being
past the age for military duty, was never under
arms. As was the case with many of his neighbors,
he lost nearly all of his possessions by the
war, including his slaves, after which he practically
retired from all active pursuits, and spent the
remainder of his life among his children. He continued,
however, to take an active interest in politics
and attended almost every Democratic Convention
which met in Austin County for the next twentyfive
years, he having moved across the line from
Washington to Austin County in 1858. He was
also a delegate to many Congressional and State
Conventions, and was once a delegate to a National
Convention, that of the Southern wing of the
Democratic party which met at Charleston, S.
C., in 1860, and adjourned to Baltimore, Md.,
where Breckenridge and Lane were nominated as
secession candidates for the presidency and vicepresidency.
The last State Convention which Mr.
Landes attended was that of 1886, which met at
Galveston. He was present in the interest of his
old friend, Col. D. C. Giddings, of Brenham, who
was defeated for the nomination for Governor by
Gen. L. S. Ross.
Mr. Landes was a life-long Democrat, and never
belonged to any organization, secular or religiouS,
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/420/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.