Some of the earliest residents of Caldwell County were originally DeWitt Colonists, such as the families of Ambrose Tinney and Leasel Harris.
Most of the early settlers of Caldwell County, Texas, came in family groups. A group of families from Alabama arrived about 1851 who came through Arkansas. They included the family names of Jeffrey, Hellums, Fleming, White and others. They did not all travel together, but have been found in the same places and intermarried along the way.
Talladega, Alabama, contributed many families who did not all arrive at one time, but came in groups, mostly in the early 1850's. Some individuals arrived in Texas earlier, such as Daniel Fuller whose pension application says he came to Texas in 1834. Groups of people related to Daniel Fuller included the Foreman, Fuller, Lawler,Gilliland and Sims families who intermarried in Talladega, Alabama and the Carpenter, Long, and Whittenburg families who had intermarried in Tennessee, moved to Alabama about 1832 and on to Texas together about 1852. G. B. Gilliland married Jane Long in Alabama. Five of Gilliland's siblings also came to live in Caldwell County, Texas.
Once in Texas, intermarriage occurred between families such as the Carpenters and earlier settlers from Gonzales such as Charles Kelley. The sixth child of Mary and William Carpenter married Mary Jane, daughter of Charles Kelley. Mary Jane's brothers married Foreman sisters.
A number of the early settlers of Caldwell County had connections to other early settlers in Gonzales. Members of the Roberts and Ellison families came to Gonzales County from Mississippi. Two men of the Ellison family were married to daughters of Nancy Martin and George Martindale. When George and Nancy Martindale emigrated to Caldwell County, their party included four sons-in-law. It is supposed that those sons-in-law included the Ellison men, who led the party to Caldwell County, in which their kinfolk had already settled. George and Nancy Martindale's daughter, Vashti, was the wife of Lee Murphy Hargis, who was most likely another of the sons-in-law who came with the Martindale family group. Soon thereafter, John H. and Susannah Jones Hargis, parents of Lee Murphy Hargis and more of their children came to the Lockhart area.
The Hargis and Fortune families were joined in 1859 when Robert William Fortune married Francis Emily Hargis, daughter of John H. and Susannah Jones Hargis.
An old photo from the Shook family show Caldwell County in an early day. A group picture shows folks from the McMahan community about 1892. The oldest gentleman in center front is J. W. Shook, who was a school teacher there.