Kinsey / Coskrey Update, Page 519

[Kinzey, Continued from Page 518]

Old San Antonio Road and reached the Brazos River in late December 1821. Between the spring of 1822 and the fall of 1823 the Gillelands returned to Arkansas. In 1824 they settled with the Moores and the Rabbs on the Colorado River in what was then called Colorado Municipality. In 1825 all three families traveled to Arkansas again, in hope of reclaiming land taken from them by the United States government under the terms of an 1825 treaty signed with the Choctaw Nation. They returned to Texas to stay in 1828, when they received a labor of land in Bastrop County.” Thomas Williams received title to a sitio of land in present Matagorda County on August 16, 1824, and he is listed in the 1825 census of the Colorado district. Robert Kuykendall is enumerated on December 31, 1825 in Colorado District, Austin’s Colony census where he is shown as a farmer and stock raiser with wife, two sons and two daughters.

These earliest settlers led a difficult life. In “Colorado County Chronicles,” W.B. DeWees described the settler and their lifestyle: “Those of us who have no families of our own reside with the families in the settlement. We remain here, not withstanding scarcity of provisions to assist in protecting the families of the settlement. We are obliged to go out in the morning, a party of us to hunt food, leaving a part of the men at home to guard the settlement from the Indians, who are very hostile to us. Indeed, we dare not go out to hunt except in companies, as we are obliged to keep on the lookout. Game is so scarce that we often hunt all day for a deer or a turkey and return empty handed. It would make your heart sick to see the poor, little half-naked children, who have eaten nothing during the day watch for the return of the hunters.”

The book goes on to say, “These were rough times for the Texas pioneers. Yet they were engaged in a good work, and met and overcame difficulties with manly firmness. They had no other luxuries than such as were afforded in beholding the loveliest natural scenery, and in taking part in the stirring adventures of the chase. The common dress of the men and children was made of buckskin, and even the women were often obliged to wear a like dress. Rarely were they able to obtain from some strolling peddler a piece of ‘domestic’ or calico, at the high price of seventy-five cents per yard.”

Sarah Gilleland’s first husband, Robert Hardin Kuykendall, was born 1788/1790 in Princeton, Kentucky. He died 1830/1831 in Matagorda County, Texas and was buried in Section E of Matagorda Cemetery, Matagorda County, Texas. There is a Texas Revolutionary War Veteran emblem on the stone.

Sarah and Robert Kuykendall had the following children: 1) Robert H. Kuykendall, born 1816 and died 1846; 2) Mary “Molly” Kuykendall, born 1818 in Arkansas Territory, died 1856 in Matagorda County, Texas, married Howard Decrow on October 18, 1837 in Matagorda, Matagorda County, Texas; 3) Jane Kuykendall, born 1820 in Miller County, Arkansas; 4) Joseph Kuykendall, born December 1822; 5) Albert Benjamin Kuykendall, born January 21, 1829 in Bay Prairie, Wharton County, Texas, died 1865 in Matagorda County, Texas; and 6) Thomas Kuykendall, born January 21, 1829 in Bay Prairie, Wharton County, Texas, died January 11, 1904 in Matagorda County, Texas.

After Robert’s death, Sarah married Peter Kinzey, probably in Matagorda County, Texas. It is possible that Peter fought in the Texas’ revolution against Mexico and very likely that Sarah participated in the Runaway Scrape. According to the Colorado County Chronicles, “The settlement at Columbus continued to grow and has been in continuous occupation with the exception of the few weeks in March 1836 during the ‘Runaway Scrape.’”

On 6 January 1838, Peter received a headright situated in the Milam District, less than 30 miles from where our Thomas Kinsey Sr. later settled by 1849 in Milam County (Bell and Coryell Counties were formed from Milam County in 1850 and 1854 respectively.). Peter’s land would later be described as being in Bell County and Williamson County (Williamson County was formed from Milam County in 1848). Although the exact boundaries of Peter’s land have not been located, it has been discovered that the Goode Cemetery is located in the Peter Kinsey Survey, so a portion of the lands can easily be visited today by going to the cemetery near the junction of FM 2115 and FM 487 south of Salado and northeast of Jarrell. At this time, it is not known whether Peter and Sarah ever resided on this land.

[Kinzey, Continued on Page 520]

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