Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas Page: 551 of 894
762 p., [172] leaves of plates : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.View a full description of this book.
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T-rATTr AT WAR. A 7D PTO7TRR7R7s7 OF TV1TAS
464 I iAfl cjV rr arX J -
.
acquaintance of Dr. J. C. Nowlen, with whom he
entered into a partnership arrangement to engage
in the milling business, and in company with that
gentleman went to Missouri in the spring of 1853
in search of a locationr Not finding a place to suit
them they left Missouri a year later and came to
Texas and stopped at Gonzales. There Mr. Nowlen
located, but Mr. Townsen left that place in the
spring of 1855 and went to Lampasas County and
settled. He bought land about twenty miles north
of the present town of Lampasas and erected a
grist-mill, on the Lampasas river. A two years'
drought followed and he sold his mill machinery in
1857 to parties living in San Saba County, and
turned his attention to stock-raising. In the meantime
his nephew, Lafayette Jasper Townsen,
had come to Texas and was residing in Smith
County. Mr. Townsen paid him a visit and induced
him to join in in enterprise to establish a ranch
in Lampasas County. The two put their funds
together and purchased some stock, with which they
began in a small way near where the senior Mr.
Townsen had first located. The country was very
sparsely settled at that time, and that portion of it
was subject to Indian depredations which, with the
hardships and privations otherwise connected with
the settlement of a new country, made the first few
years of their life in Texas anything but pleasant.
Still they bore it with fortitude, and applied themselves
industriously to the task which they had set
before themselves. The war interfered very seriously
with their operations, but after the return of
peace, they gathered up the remnant of their cattl
and in 1866 moved to the vicinity of Fort Chadron,
where they hoped to enjoy for a number of yeare
an open range, and freedom from those annoyance,
with which ranchmen have to contend in a rapidlJ
settling country. But in this they were disap
pointed, for they had been there but a short whil
when the Indians and United States soldiers begai
making trouble, and after keeping up the unequa
struggle for some time, the Messrs. Townsen wer
forced to abandon it, and returned to Lampasa
County. In 1868 they bought 640 acres of land o
the Lampasas river, where they had formerly live
and; locating on that, began farming and stoct
raising on a limited scale. They had all thei
property in joint ownership, but about this dal
the farming and stock business was turned over t
Mr. J. L. Townsen, while Mr. Perry Townse
again took up the milling business. He erected
saw and grist mill on the Lampasas river in 187
and soon developed a large milling interest. Ti
saw mill part of it was never pushed to any gre
extent, but the other was, and for a number
years he manufactured a high grade of flour ai, A.. _i . W. .AM .d[..l .A ad -CL e
other mill products, for which he found a ready
sale throughout the surrounding country. He gave
his attention actively to this business until his
death, which occurred January 30, 1891, being
caused by an accident in the mill. He left a considerable
estate (consisting mostly of lands), and
a reputation of which any man might be proud.
His thorough-going business methods united with
sound habits, strict integrity and a reasonable
amount of public spirit won him the esteem and
friendship of all those with whom he came in contact,
and made him for more than thirty years one
of the leading citizens in the county where he lived.
He never held any public offices, but took more or
less interest in public matters and was very well
informed on public questions. In an earlier day
he was a Whig in politics, but after the war he
joined the Democratic party and always afterward
voted with that party. He was a high Mason and
made Masonry his religion.
Mr. Townsen was never married, though a man
of domestic habits and fond of children. He made
his home with his nephew, L. J. Townsen, whose
family looked upon him as a second father, and are
greatly devoted to his memory.
Lafayette Jasper Townsen, mentioned in the foregoing
memoir and whose life was so intimately connected
with that of his uncle, was also born in
Carroll County, Tenn., in 1833. His father was
John Garrett Townsen, eldest son of John and
Tamar Townsen, and his mother bore the maiden
name of Mary A. Mitchell. He was reared in
Tennessee, and came to Texas in 1856. Joining
, his uncle the following year he went to Lampasas
County, which has practically been his home since
and with the history of which he has been connected
as an active, earnest, law-abiding citizen. As theoutcome of his early struggles along with his uncle
e and good management in later years he has accun
mulated an estate ample for his wants, and he is
*l spending his time now in the supervision of his prope
erty and the rearing of his children. He married
Is Miss Mary A. Stanley, of Lampasas County, in
n January, 1865, whose father, John Stanley, moved
d from Mississippi to Texas, and settled in Lampasas
r
County in 1854, the issue of which union has been
ir seven sons and three daughters, all are living.
te Both the gentlemen mentioned in this article had
to many encounters with the Indians at an early day
In in Lampasas County, and suffered the loss of a great
a deal of property from Indian depredations, but their
1, experience in this respect was of that character
he which fell to the lot of all the first settlers, a full
at account of which will be found in the historical porof
tion of this work, illustrated at intervals with inciid
dents of blood, daring and personal heroism.
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Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, book, 1880~; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth6725/m1/551/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.