Fannin County TXGenWeb
Recollections of
Mrs.Nicy Hampton of
Fannin County
Sent in by Donna Rogers
See
the Handbook of Texas Online -Mabel Gilbert Entry
Charity
Gilbert is buried in White Rock Cemetery, Fannin County
Also
See Donna Rogers Home Pages of Genealogy
Gilbert,
Pace, & Rogers
Days of Indian Raids,when
the torch aided the knife
and rifle in desolating
settlements.
Bonham, Fannin County,
TX, Nov. 17.
Appeared in the Dallas
Morning News
November 18, 1893.
Last night the News reporter
called at the residence
of Mr. S. J.Hampton editor
of the Review, for the purpose of interviewing his mother, Mrs. Nicy A.
Hampton, who resides with him, in regard to her recollections of early
times in Texas.
Mrs.
Hampton is one of the few surviving pioneers in Texas, and is the daughter
of Mabel Gilbert, a fearless, brave, and nobel pioneer, who settled in
Fannin county as early as 1837, a few months after the fall of the Alamo,
and about the time the resolution of censure against President Jackson
for the removal of United States money from the national bank was expunged
from the records of the senate of the United States, very largely through
the efforts of Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. The panic
of 1837 burst upon the
country as the family was en route to Texas. Thousands of business
men found themselves ruined, and even states became bankrupt. The
government was forced to an irredeemable paper currency. Farm credit
was annihilated.
The President of the United States could not get his salary when due from
the United States Treasury. This panic was due to assaults on capital
following a fever of speculation, such as Texas has witnessed
the last two years. And
much foreign and American capital was withdrawn from industries and commerce
that necessarily collapsed.
Mabel Gilbert
and family settled on a claim about three miles south from where Bonham
now stands,and about the same distance from Fort Inglish,which was strongly
garrisoned and kept as a place of refuge
for the early settlers
in case of an Indian uprising against the whites.
It is said
that Mabel Gilbert made friends with the Indians and for a while he and
his family lived in peace. Such was his tact in gaining
the friendship of the
Indians he was called a second William Penn. But this did not last
long. The Indians became more excessive....(a line, or some lines,
missing)....hostilities against him. Finally the savages were guilty
of so many outrages he joined an expedition from the fort and rendered
signal service in assisting them in capturing an Indian village situated
in Cooke county, and recovering a large number of stolen stock, and other
property belonging to the settlers.
This and many other tales are told of Mabel Gilbert, the father of Mrs.
Hampton,who, in answer to questions said:
"I am the daughter of Mabel Gilbert, was born in Dixon County, Tennessee
in 1822, came to Texas with my father in 1837. He settled on 1280
acres of land donated to him by the government about three miles south
of where Bonham now stands. We arrived here Oct. 1 of that year.
Where now you see the thriving little city of Bonham there was nothing
to be seen but buffalo trails, wild turkey, deer, antelope, wolves, coyotes
and occasionally a few buffalo. My father erected a substantial house
on his claim and for a time we lived in peace. Indians frequently
came
to our house and partook
of the bounty of my Father, who always treated them kindly. Finally
the Indians went on the warpath, killing and scalping a number of settlers
and carrying off their property. This created consternation in the
settlement, and we frequently went to Fort Inglish for protection.
This Fort was situated in the Northeastern part of where Bonham now stands.
I can recollect one day when the Indians had made a raid, killing and murdering
a number of settlers. My father and all the men folks went in pursuit
of the savages."
"At that time we had a small block house at our place, built by my father
for protection in time of danger. We saw about twenty Indians approaching
the house all in war paint. There being no men left to
defend the block house,
my mother, then having a nursing babe, realized that it was impossible
for her to escape. She called all of us children to her and told
us to flee through the forest to Fort Inglish and give the alarm, if we
could evade the savage foe. She said she was tired of this kind of
life and would stay and die. Of course we were all greatly..(some
more missing lines)..
The next morning after many assurances of friendship to my mother, the
Indians departed for their village in the West."
"About 1840 I married Berkley Fuller, and we settled on a piece of land
just across Bois D'Arc creek east of where Fisher Mills now stands.
One day I went down to the creek to wash. Along late in the evening
I heard turkeys gobbling, wolves howling, and cries of strange birds in
different parts of the woods near by,I knew these sounds came from Indians
and fled to the house, where we barricaded the doors, expecting
an attack every moment
during the night. But day dawned without our being molested.
During the day we visited the place where I had left all my clothing hanging
out to dry, and found that they had indeed
been there and stolen
all our clothing. Going further into the settlement they had stolen a lot
of stock.
The alarm was given and
a large party of settlers gave pursuit. In their retreat they dropped
a number of the articles of clothing they had stolen from us.
The pursuing party followed the Indians to their village, burned it, recovering
a large number of horses and cattle which had been stolen from the settlers.
These were brought back
to the fort and restored to their owners."
"Some time after this, my father, Mabel Gilbert, went out on an inspection
tour. He went as far west as Little Wichita River, when he suddenly
rode upon a thousand Indians camped in a valley. He thought he was
lost, and seeing that the Indians were aware of his presence, he knew it
was useless to retreat, so, putting on a bold face he rode down into their
camp, and through it unmolested, for there were many Indians there who
knew him and whom he had favored at some time or other."
"In the meantime my first husband died. About the year 1849, I married
John Hampton. Soon after this marriage the small pox broke out in
our settlement, and in defiance of all we could do there were many
deaths. Our graveyards,
small heretofore, were enlarged to an alarming extent. Many a home was
made vacant and desolate, sorrow and mourning was in the settlement.
It took many weary months for the settlement to recover."
"My nearest neighbor was Sheriff Cotham and family. Game was plentiful
in those days."
"I remember one day while the men folk were all absent, the hounds
jumped a large buck and were pressing it so close it ran into Sheriff Cotham's
yard where the hounds succeeded in seizing the deer. Thereupon began
a terrible struggle between the buck and the dogs. After a while
the buck was about to come off victorious when Mrs. Cotham who was standing
in the door witnessing the struggle, seized a large stone from the rude
fireplace, ran out and after repeated blows succeeded in despatching the
buck. When her husband arrived, she surprised him with a fine venison,
well dressed and ready for the pan, pot or coals."
"Ah",sighed the old lady as she gazed thoughtfully into the fire,
"those were happy days, even when exposed to hardships. After household
duties were over I spent my time carding, spinning, weaving, and making
clothes for the family. I kept my cows milked, made butter and cheese and
raised poultry in abundance. But things have changed since then.
When I look around me on the streets of this thriving little city, I see
the women and girls going about dressed in the height of fashion.
Now days it seems to be considered a disgrace for a woman or a girl to
go into the kitchen and cook a meal of victuals, wash the
dishes or go to the wash
tub and wash the clothes. Ah yes, things have changed, and it seems
now that it is growing to be the fashion to consider woman's only mission
on earth is to shine in the parlor in society, in the ballroom, and to
spend their leisure moments in thumping the piano.
We were happier in those
days than many of our sisters of today. Old as
I am I never, unless
I am sick, permit anyone to wash my clothes, and I yet assist in the household
duties of my home, and am not happy unless I am doing something useful.
And as my days are growing to a close and I can only look into the great
beyond for a renewal of my youth and everlasting happiness,I cannot help
but reflect with pleasure on the incidents of my pioneer days."
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