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Chapter
1 - Prologue
In this account of the history of Bend, Texas, it
may sound like that my ancestors invented the earth, inhabited it, created Bend,
Texas, and hung the moon. It is not my intention to leave that impression, but
I can only write what I have heard and learned of them. There are many other pioneer
families that contributed to the history of Bend. I will list some of them but
I know that I will leave out some. Early family names in the Bend area other than
my relatives are: Baxter, Smith, Millican, Cate, Turner, Gibson, Gorman, Marley,
Morris, January, Buckhannan, Bearden, Matsler, Byrd, Scott, Lewis, Barefoot, and
many more, some of which will be mentioned later. |
| | Doss
and Sons General Store - early 1900s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
Our story begins
in the 1700s in Pitt Co., North Carolina when William B. Moore married Nancy Hardison
(widow of Joshua Hardison). Their son, William Moore was born in Pitt Co., N.C.
He married Frances Forrest who was born in 1790 in Greene Co., N.C. This couple
had six children: (1) Alfred Moore was born in 1813 in North Carolina (More about
him later), (2) Martin E. Moore, born 1815, (3) Grove Moore, born 1818, (4) Ruel
Moore, born 1827, (5) Mary Moore, born 1833, and (6) an Unknown Daughter, (No
other info).
Alfred Moore was the beginning of the next generation. He
was married to his first wife, Elizabeth Frances Phillips, born in 1814, Pitt
Co., N.C. (Her father was Thomas Isaac Phillips.) Their first son was William
B. Moore, MD, born 9-15-1835. He practiced medicine at Brownsville, Haywood Co.,Tn.
The second son of Alfred Moore was Thomas Isaac Moore, born 1837 in Haywood Co.,
Tn. Number three son was Seth Martin Moore, my great grand father. (More about
him later.) Number four son was John Alfred Moore, born 1842. (One document also
lists him as a doctor practicing with his brother W.B. and a half brother, B.
Moore, MD.) Then there was a daughter, Frances Moore, born Nov. 22, 1845 and died
Sept. 8, 1851.
Elizabeth Frances Phillips Moore, Alfred’s 1st wife died
Aug. 12, 1849. Alfred Moore was married a second time to Nancy Smith, born 1827
in Tn. They were married in 1850. The first set of children, with the exception
of Frances who died young, were brought back into this home and to this second
union 5 children were born. (1) Elizabeth (Betty?) born 1851. She was 9 years
old according to the Dist.1, 1860, Census. (No other information on her.) (2)
Henry Moore, according to the 1860 census, he was 7 and was born in 1853. (3)
B. Moore, There is some confusion about his name. He is listed as Ben---, Bennie,
& Benonie. His biography simply uses the name B. Moore, M.D. He became a doctor
and practiced medicine with his half brothers W.B. and J.A. Moore. ( When Seth
Martin Moore wrote his biography in about 1914, he had lost contact with B. Moore
and apparently never knew that he made a doctor) (4) Jimmie Moore, (Nothing is
known about this person except that he also was mentioned in the biography.) (5)
Martha Moore, (Mattie) was listed in the 1860 census as a one year old daughter.
Seth Martin Moore wrote of his childhood and growing up in Haywood and Hardeman
Counties in Tennessee. (This article has been transcribed and is available under
another title) On Nov. 11, 1861, Seth Moore enlisted in the 1st Confederate Cavalry.
He served with the famous Morgan’s Raiders. He was captured and and spent
time in the POW camp in Douglas, Ill. He was apparently released in a prisoner
exchange action and went back to his Cavalry Unit. He was engaged in another conflict
and severely wounded. His chin and lower lip was torn away and he was again taken
captive. He almost died from his wound but was later released and was discharged
in the spring of 1864. (His Civil War activity is also recorded in another article
by this writer.) He returned to Haywood County, Tn.
At about this time
in history the Alexander family came into the same picture as the Moore family.
Silas Newton Alexander, son of Silas Alexander Alexander was born July 14, 1814.
Silas Newton Alexander Married Marande May on April 13,1832 in Lawrence Co. Alabama.
They apparently moved to and settled for a while in Hardeman Co., Tn. where Damaris
Frances Alexander was born March 22, 1844. I have not been able to establish where
Silas Newton Alexander and his wife lived all that time but they had four sons
born before Grandma Damiras. Those sons were: (1) William Robert Alexander, 1833,
(2) James Newton Alexander, 1834, (3) John Van Buren Alexander, 1836, and (4)
Napoleon Woodson Alexander, (this was Uncle Poe, born in 1842). There is a story
which I have not been able to document, about this family living in the Cabot
area of Prairie County, Arkansas in 1847 when Silas Newton Alexander was killed
in a family feud. William Robert Alexander, the eldest son , apparently assumed
the roll as head of the family. The family evidently lived in Haywood Co. Tn.
after that. Damaris married Seth Martin Moore, Sept.6, 1865, in Haywood County,
Tenn. One document titled “Early West Tennessee Marriages” gives the date as “8-30-1865”.
I suspect that the license was obtained on 8-30-65 and the ceremony actually took
place on Sept. 6, like Grandma Damaris said it did. Living conditions during their
early married life must have been very difficult at the Old South lay in ruin
and the economy was shattered. It was a very difficult time to start a family.
Their first son, David Franklin Moore was born July 28, 1866, in Haywood County,
Tenn. A little over two years later their second child was born. They named her
Ella Lorena Moore. She was born August 14, in Haywood County, Tenn. |
Forum
Subject: Dr. Doss and Harland Moore
Dear Editor: I am a physician
practicing at _____. I am a family practitioner by training. Several years ago,
when I was nearing a burn-out point in my career, I took my family for a camping
holiday in Texas. One of the places we camped was at Colorado Bend State Park,
and we had a wonderful time.
We went to the small country store outside
the entrance to the park in Bend, and I noticed a monument across the road. I
went over to take a look.
As I read the inscription, I started to get
a lump in my throat. And then I shed a few tears. The monument was erected in
the memory of Dr. Edward Doss, a pioneer physician. The monument has a photograph
of Dr. Doss and his horse, gives a brief description of his life, and has a poetic
quote at the end: "No night too dark or road too long to serve his fellow man".
But what really got me, and still sends chills down my spine, is that the
final line reads:
"Erected by those who loved him - July 1965" (This
was for a man that died in 1928!!)
Discovering this, completely by surprise,
was, and still is, an emotional experience for me.
Finding this monument
forced me to rethink my place in the world, why I went into medicine, and who
I truly am, way deep down. It made me re-evaluate the true meaning of success.
A year or so later, I returned to that monument, just to think things over, again,
to try remind myself about that part of Dr. Doss that is in me, buried beneath
the myriad complications of modern medicine.....
Through the marvels
of the internet, I found texasescapes.com, and some writings by Mr. Harland Moore,
who is a descendent of Dr. Doss..... I thought that Mr. Moore might enjoy hearing
about this. - Sincerely, __________, M.D., October 20, 2006
Anyone
wishing to share stories, memories or historic photos of Bend, Texas, please contact
us.
See Bend, Texas
More "They
shoe horses, don't they?" |
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