 |
||
|
Robertson County Pioneers HENRY REED, early settler in Robertson County Henry Reed my great-great-great grandfather was born in Lebanon, Tennessee November 10, 1800, where he grew to manhood, and married Agnes M. (Nancy) Carruth on July 27, 1825. In 1829 Sam Houston resigned as Governor of Tennessee, and went to Arkansas to join the Cherokee. Ironically Henry Reed moved his family to Arkansas, where he developed his skills as a military man. In 1833 Sam Houston left Arkansas, and went to Texas. In like manor, Henry moved to Texas in December of 1834, with his wife, eight year old daughter (Mary Jane), and six year old son (Walter). He received a grant of one league along the Muddy Creek in the Sterling C. Robertson colony, and was sworn in as a colonist on February 2, 1835. By 1836, the town of Old Franklin had become the home of Henry Reed and his family. He is listed as one of the early County Surveyors, and Chain Carriers. On June 4, 1836 under the command of Brigadier General Thomas J Rusk, Henry Reed organized a company of volunteers at San Augustine. Later at the battle of San Jacinto he served as third sergeant in Capt. William Kimbro's Company 8 of Col. Sidney Sherman's 2nd Regiment, Texas Volunteers. Henry was issued Donation Certificate No. 446, for 640 acres of land, for having participated in the battle. He received the certificate on July 10, 1838. On June 15, 1836 prior to receiving the Donation, Henry Reed was promoted to Captain. Later he became brigade quartermaster in Edwin Morehouse's regiment. Record shows that he owned 4,560 acres in 1840, and on June 10, 1844, after he left the military, he was appointed Chief Justice of Robertson County. On December 29, 1845, the Congress of the United States voted to accept Texas as the twenty-eighth state in the Union, and that day was declared the official date of annexation. On February 20, 1846, one day after newly chosen state officials were sworn in, Henry Reed, the Robertson County Judge, assembled county officials and the general public in front of the Franklin courthouse, where the Lone Star Flag of the Republic of Texas was lowered and the banner of the United States with twenty-eight stars in it’s field of blue, replaced it.
Our family has no records of the burial site of Henry’s wife Nancy or their two children Mary Jane Patrick and Walter Reed. It is my belief that they are all buried at the side of Henry Reed within yards of the old family homestead. Robert Scott Patrick |
||
 |
||
Mrs. Reed died in 1839 and Captain Reed on November 11, 1854.
Mary Jane Reed, their daughter had married William Wilson Patrick in
1844, and Capt. Reed was buried on the Patrick
Farm, owned by his grandsons Walter S. and James A. Patrick, located
six miles east of Calvert Texas. The State of Texas had a
Centennial Monument erected at his grave in 1936. This farm was
originally part of Henry Reed’s early Texas Land Grant, but the
property is now owned by Mr. Watson Shafer of Franklin, Texas.
Being a true Texan, Mr. Shafer has faithfully looked after Capt.
Reed’s burial site for the last 40 years.