New Treasures out of Old!

The Author with my new granddaughter.

So much has happened since my last Post.  I have been travelling and working so much that I haven’t written much in the last few months.  Since my last post I have been to India with my father , working with a mission that we support there.  My father and I travelled to Mississippi in connection with that work and while there we did some family research on the Norwood side of the family. I have gone several times to the Woodlands, near Magnolia , Texas to be with my daughter at the birth of a new granddaughter, Malory Lane Tolbert.  Here at home I began working for a new company at the mine called Kiewit Mining , now working 12 hour shifts instead of 10. Long days , Longer nights.

So you can readily tell that finding time to sit and write has been problematic for me.  That said , several interesting things have transpired that give me renewed desire to write and share the many things that I have discovered in the form of family history.  My mother’s brother uncle Richard Davenport has been giving me some wonderful things in the form of family correspondence and manuscripts and photos that have filled in so many holes in my understanding of the Davenport family history. I have chronicled many stories already that come from that side of the family in this blog and I cannot wait to share some of the new things discovered. I am so indebted to my uncle whom we call “uncle Dickie” for his foresight in saving these family heirlooms.  He has been the family historian so to speak and I am amazed at all that he was able to keep for future generations.

letter from John McCormick dated 1882

Some of the things include letters from family members dating back to early pioneer times.  One letter from aunt “bird wish” is dated 1873 and was written from Piedras Negras Mexico to my great great grandmother Emma Davenport.  Also in the collection is letters from Judge John McCormick who was one of the early pioneer judges of Uvalde County.  He was also one of the principal surveyors of the County laying out many of it’s boundaries along with help from John M. Davenport and James Davenport. In later years he served as a school teacher in the fledgling community of Uvalde.  In his letter dated July of 1882 He writes to John Davenport describing what’s going on in Uvalde and encouraging John to do some bear hunting. McCormick says he wants to come for a visit to get some good fresh air in Johns mountain ranch home.  Many of the letters are of the early 1900’s.  One series of letters written back and fourth from John W. Davenport to his wife Emma , were written while John was on a horse buying expedition . Texas was experiencing a major drought period in the early 1910’s and the letters range from 1911 through 1912. They show that the family was considering pulling up stakes in Uvalde county and moving if the rains did not return. At one point the family was urged by some of the Kelly cousins to come up and move to Oregon.

Many documents of interest that have been preserved by my uncle were the documents pertaining to the pension of my GGG grandfather John M. Davenport who was a captain of a company of minute men in Uvalde county.  The minute men were the early form of Texas rangers who were formed for the protection of the settlers from Indian depredation.  The minute man term dates back to the early American Revolutionary war patriot militia who volunteered as Part of George Washington’s Army of  Colonial America.  When Texas became a republic the Governors organized the volunteers into ranger companies and created districts for them to patrol across Texas.  John’s widow Mary  eventually procured a pension from the state after John Davenport was killed by an Indian ambush not far from his home on the old San Antonio, Road on the morning of October 18, 1859. 

receipt dated february 1894

Other items include the receipts from the supplies bought at various early turn of the century stores in Sabinal. Listing what was bought and it’s price and so forth.  They date as early as the 1880’s through  early 1900’s.

bound volume from the World War one era.

One of the great treasures preserved by my uncle is the pioneer newspaper , The Sabinal Sentinel.  He had the bound volumes of this early paper dating back from the late 1880’s and well into the 1930’s. My great grandmother Pearl Davenport was one of the last editors of that paper and family lore says that she literally salvaged them out of the fire as the contents of the papers office was being destroyed and renovated. They are in various degree of preservation but most at very legible and interesting to read.  I am in the process of trying to have them digitized so that they can be preserved for posterity.

newspaper dated february 15, 1918 

One of the little treasures is a receipt from the tax assessor stating that my great great great grandmother Mary Davenport , who was wife of the late John M. Davenport had paid her taxes in 1864 with 24 pounds of bacon. 

July 8, 1864 

I have so much more that were my uncle’s gifts that I have not as yet fully been able to sift through all that he preserved.  I literally have two pickup loads of documents , letters, photographs and so forth and who can tell what treasures may yet be discovered in these boxes. 

Stay tuned for I shall share my research in time and hope that you may enjoy with me interesting discoveries about our families.