Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2026 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== USGenNet Data Repository Notice: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ============================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. ============================================================================= Texas Coastal Pioneers of Chambers County As Compliled in 1952 by Varuna Hartmann Lawrence Royal Pub. Co., Dallas, TX The Gulf Coast Pioneers of Texas Authentic Reports Gathered from Many Reliable Sources. (Many things cannot be verified as the old Record Book burned in the fire that destroyed the old Court House at Wallisville, then County seat of Chambers county 1875 or '76) Have talked with many of those who had lived in these bygone days, and in whose word there was no question, concerning the things given here. Varua Hartmann (Mrs. A. B.) Lawrence ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [p. 78] RHEA: The RHEA Family consisted of the parents, four daughters and two sons. One daughter married ?? KELLY; another daughter married ?? CAREY; JULIA married FREEMAN (BUD) LAWRENCE; AMANDA never married; CHRIS died soon after he was married, leaving one daughter; BILLIE never married. SHARP: CHARLEY SHARP was a widower with two children, FRED and CARRIE. He kept FRED with him, CARRIE was cared for as a daughter by the SMITH’S, old friends of the SHARPS. SHEPHERD: An English family settled on Cedar Bayou, consisting of Father, Mother, Son and Daughter. The son THOMAS married ELLEN CASEY; they had four children; MARY, HENRY, FRED and VELMA, a tiny child who with her mother was drowned in Galveston storm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [p. 79] of 1900. MARY died some time before that date THOMAS married again to LILLIE WESTBROOK, a new family that had moved in near the old Shepherd home. TOM and LILLIE had several children, then TOM passed on. TOM’S sister married first a man named BRADFORD. A widow for years, she then married TOM WRIGHT and they had two daughters, ROSE and LIZZIE. ROSE married ELMER KILGORE. LIZZIE married LAYFITTE JONES. COLONEL ASHBEL SMITH: COLONEL ASHBEL SMITH was the Officer commanding the Second Texas Division of the Army of the Con- federate States of America. He was a very learned and brilliant . officer, looked up to by his neighbors at hore, as well as highly regarded by those under his Command during the War between the States. His home on the Bay was known as Evergreen. Like many of those old time mansions it had a name of its own. The old Buyland Orphans Home was not far from Evergreen and was under the super- vision of a relative of the Colonel’s. This was Mr. HENRY GILLETTE and the home of the DUKES was nearby. I think Mrs. Duke was a sister of HENRY GILLETTE’S. On further along the Bay was the home of MR. GAILLIARD in a beautiful setting; on further was MAJOR SIMMONS home and CAPTAIN HARE’S home. CAPTAIN CHRISTIAN’S home was near and there were numerous ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [p. 80] homes scattered above and below Baytown as it was called. When COLONEL SMITH called for volunteers for the Confederacy, the place of enlistment was Baytown, as shown by the papers issued then. After the close of the War COLONEL SMITH was sent as a Minister to France and England and remained prominent in foreign affairs. His sister, MRS. KITTREDGE, was a leading figure in social life of that day. When she came to visit her brother in his country home, there would be dinners on a par with those of the cilties, given to large numbers of friends. The Colonel attended the Church at Cedar Bayou at times and was known and respected by everyone that knew him. I remember seeing him, a short man in a rather long snuff-colored coat, and asking who he was, one time in the Methodist Church at Cedar Bayou. COLONEL SMITH left a very valuable library to the College in Austin and interesting papers and reports of his services to Texas. DUTCH SMITH: These Smiths lived near Barbers Hill and were a friendly lot of Dutch people, and well liked. There were five children, two boys and ties girls: JOHNNIE who married MARTHA FISHER (daughter of JEREMIAH FISHER.) AMOS who married EMMA BUSCH. ELIZABETH who married SOL FISHER. ANN who married BARNEY DONNELLY. MARY who married GUSTAVE GENNESSEE (called KELLY) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [p. 81] JOE SMITH: (Descendents of CHRISTIAN SMITH) JOE SMITH and his wife NANCY had five sons: MONROE, ED, AUSTIN, HARMON, COLLINS. MONROE married LAURA WEEDEN ED married MATTIE HUNT AUSTIN who married a widow late in life. HARMON who married a young girl of European parentage. COLLINS who married a relative of HARMON'S wife. STUBBS FAMILY: ANN FISHER, daughter of MARY HANEY FISHER and her husband, ? FISHER, married a MR. STUBBS, a man living on a small piece of land on ‘Lawrence’s Island.’ Her children were: CORNELIUS, married CAROLINE ?; HELLEN married a widower, BAPTISTE DUGAT; FIELDING (DOC) married PAUVA TILTON; MARY JANE married first ? DAVIS, then ATWELL, later married HENRY DUTTON, a widower; FRANCIS married SALLY BARROW, widow of BEN BARROW; JOANNA married JIM SOUTHERN; WASHINGTON (WASH) married EVA BRASHEAR. ===============================================================================