came to Texas in the fall of 1836 or early 1837. He was born in London, England, December 18, 1815. He came with his parents to Cincinnati when he was three years old. At the age of fifteen he went to Kentucky where he worked for a breeder of fine horses as a jockey. When he came to Texas he brought a horse with him. He lived in Houston and Galveston until 1842 when he went to Austin County, and then on to Bastrop County in 1845. In 1845 he married Marion Washington Burleson, daughter of Joseph Burleson, Sr., and Elizabeth Burleson. Mr. and Mrs. Fawcett had two children-Josephine, who became the wife of Robert T. Wilkins, a farmer of Bastrop County, and Susan, who married Murray Burleson. In 1847 Mr. Fawcett bought his first land from Thomas Hardeman for $1,000 for 150 acres. This was out of the Thomas Gazley League. To this small tract he added until he had 3,100 acres-500 in cultivation.
Mr. Fawcett was one of the most prosperous men in the county. He operated a gin on his farm. In an early day he had a sawmill. In 1862 he assisted in organizing a cotton factory in Bastrop which was discontinued after the civil war. Mr. Fawcett spent most of his time on his large farm. There were about twenty tenant houses on his place and according to his early records he raised about 150 bales of cotton annually.
(Crockett, 1990, pp. 5-6)
Fawcett's aim in coming to Texas was to sell race horses, but in 1845, he built a beautiful red brick home on a bluff overlooking the Colorado river. This home burned about the same time that the old Shipp home burned. It was constructed out of hand pressed brick, and timber from the pine hills. It was finished long before the Civil War, and its little cupola, built for the overseer of the slaves, was used as a chief lookout for the Indians. This little band of settlers, like many of the first settlers, lived in constant vigilance and terror of the hostile Commanche Indians.
(Smithville Times, 1995, p. 23)
Dr. Gazley, finding the country beautiful and healthy, settled and placed his headright, a patent to a league of land, on the banks of the creek which took his name. He sent for his wife and four sons, Thomas, Jr., William, Frank and Ed. He brought the first slaves to this locality and among them was one faithful old fellow, Jack Gazley, who is still remembered by the oldest settlers here.
Meanwhile Gazley had built for his family a one-room cedar house made by driving posts in the ground and fastening them with hand-hewn clap boards for weather boarding, and hand-make cedar shingles. The house was located on the exact spot where the Smithville Seed House now stands. It was the first house and also built the first store on the river banks (written in 1933). (Smithville Times, 1995, p. 23)
M. M. Middleton HillM. M. Middleton Hill came to Texas in 1835 from Marion County, Alabama, with his wife. He purchased the headright of Edward Burleson, but returned to Alabama at the beginning of the Revolution. His brothers, Thomas B. J. Hill and A. Wiley Hill, who had come to Texas with him, remained in the state during the revolution and participated in the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1838 M. M. M. Hill returned to Texas, settling on the land he had purchased some twelve miles southwest of Bastrop. He engaged in farming and stock raising. When he first located in this county, General Edward Burleson lived a mile and a half west of his farm, a family of Hunts about two miles; and three other settlers were the only people between Hill's farm and the town of Bastrop. Indian raids were common during the time, and the Indians stole horses more than anything else. Mr. Hill remained on his original purchase until his death in 1850. He was buried at a family burying ground on his land.
(Crockett, 1990, p. 8)
Thomas B. J. Hill
Thomas Hill was a brother to M. M. M. Hill.He bought a portion of the Burleson League, paying fifty cents and acre for it. He married Sarah L. S. Oliver in Georgia. . . . He returned to Texas in 1840 to make his residence on the land he owned. In 1850 he moved to Bastrop to educate his sons, Thomas A. Hill and Dionious Oliver Hill, and there remained until 1857. After the Civil War he was poor financially and when his sons returned from the war he gave them the management of the farm as he had no slaves left. He died there in 1873. (Crockett, 1990, p. 8)
Dionious Oliver Hill
Captain D. O. Hill came back to the family farm after the Civil War and lived there until 1891. During the war he fought with Terry's Texas Rangers. When he returned he erected a beautiful home in the present town of Smithville where he lived until he died.
(Crockett, 1990, p. 8)
Thomas A. Wiley Hill
He was born in Alabama to M. M. M. Hill. In 1862 he joined Terry's Texas Rangers and fought in the civil war along with his brother John Hill. In 1865 he returned to the family farm where he engaged in farming until he moved to Smithville in the 1880's where he died. (Crockett, 1990, p. 9)
John W. Hill
John was another son of M. M. M. Hill. He was born in Alabama in 1837 and was brought to Texas when he was one year old. He joined Terry's Texas Rangers with his brother and his cousin and fought in the Civil War. His negro slave went with him during the war. John had many holes shot through his clothing and several horses shot from under him, but was never wounded. After the war he purchased a farm in the Smithville area and remained there until 1875.
He moved to Dallas until the death of his wife Mariah Yerger after which he returned to Texas and went into the mercantile business at Alum Creek with his father-in-law, John C. Yerger until 1888. (Crockett, 1990, p. 9)
Lewis Loomis
He was one of the earliest settlers of the area.He was a native of Great Britain and applied through Stephen F. Austin for a grant of a league of land on the Colorado River. . . . He applied for the land in 1825, received it in 1827, and the title was recorded in March, 1831. . . . though Lewis Loomis received this grant, there is little evidence that he or his family actually settled in the area. . . . This league took in most of the present town of Smithville.
(Crockett, 1990, p. 4)
W. D. C. Jones
W. D. C. Jones had married General Edward Burleson's cousin, Rachael Burleson in Alabama in 1822. They came to Texas from Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were the parents of ten children. Benjamin F. Jones, one of the children, represented Bastrop County in the Legislature and remained on the family farm until his death in 1887. (Crockett, 1990, p. 10)
ShippStories of the little settlement on a beautiful river were handed about by travelers as the population began to grow. The northeast part of the surrounding land, now known as the Hugins farm (in 1933), was owned by a wealthy slave trader by the name of Shipp. His property included a lake which was named after him. Shipp built a beautiful home at the foot of the lake which was so durable that it remained standing until a few years ago when it was destroyed by fire.
(Smithville Times, 1995, p. 23)
Dr. J. B. TaylorDr. Taylor was one of the early settlers in the county . . . in 1872 came to (old) Smithville. This settlement consisted of about sixteen families and two stores. He began farming in addition to his medical practice. He bought the small store of merchandise from Mr. Fawcett and was in business for several years. He married Susan N. Burleson, sister of Murray Burleson. He was at one time the post master at old Smithville.
(Crockett, 1990, p. 17-18)
Crockett, Silky R. (1990).Early History of Smithville, Texas. Smithville, TX: Friends of the Smithville Library.History of Smithville 1827-1895. (1995, October 19) The Smithville Times Special Centennial Edition.