If a young man could have had his druthers in the generation following the Civil War it might have been to have had no Dixon or Boren blood in his veins. They were neighbors, friends and kin at first but later they were "cussing kin." Better said, "shooting kin. Another kinsman was Daniel W. Lee, also a neighbor, known to have been as thick as molasses, according to legend. Richard and Henry Boren lived in the Lee household. Henry was the leader of the Lee Gang, a band of young hellions whose pastime and livelihood was derived by rowdy civil disobedience - Like robbing travelers and hijacking freight wagons along the Jefferson Road; after the war murdering freedmen and patriotic American citizens, (locally known as Unionist), stealing cattle and horses, only the latter was considered a serious crime at the time. The happy family, as far as the Lees and Borens were concerned, began to fare badly when the families took opposite sides as the war clouds began to grow. Lees, though they had no slaves, espoused the rebel cause. The Borens avidly took the Union cause. 
    The inevitable was not long in coming. In a bare knuckle and skull contest Henry came out winner over one of the Lee boys, by a large majority, something no prideful Lee could endure.  Dan took his sons' part, helped by some of his other numerous sons, stooges and his trusty blacksnake whip, an item which, along with a double-barreled 10-gauge shotgun, completed Dan's everyday dress. The whip was to teach the freedmen and white trash proper respect. The shotgun was for more worthy opponents. Dan was not at all averse to killing for lesser cause and why he did not kill Henry is left to conjecture, kinship perhaps.  Dan "snaked" a goodly portion of hide off Henry's backside and turned him loose. Henry Boren was a bit of a prideful man himself. He promised Dan, his sons and the aforementioned stooges that he would extract a bucket full of bright red Lee blood for every inch of hide taken. 
    The story above was related to me many years ago by my cousin, W. R. Watson, and foster cousin Mike Scolam, and explains why Henry betrayed his cousin, Robert Lee, to the military for a promised portion of the reward and, of course -- revenge.
    Some of the Dixons settled in Limestone and Freestone counties when they came to Texas. Three others settled along the Jefferson Road. Jack (sometimes known as John) started a freight wagon business at the Mounds, 2 miles south of Pilot Grove. His contribution to infamy was Billy and Simp, the latter a sometimes member of the Quantrill gang. Their careers would have shown brightly, except that they were overshadowed by Bob Lee, whom they idolized and were fiercely loyal to. 
    The Colonel (sometimes called the General) settled near Blue Ridge. He had a family of four girls and two boys. The Colonel was said by the family to have committed suicide, Of course, there were rumors that it was a family affair, but no investigation was ever made. 
    Doctor Dixon settled in Black Jack Thicket, near present day Sulphur Springs. His contribution was Charley, who disappeared, or at least no trace of his fate can be found today. 
    The Dixon brother who settled in Limestone County contributed Tom, Bud and another whose name I cannot now remember. These worthies were the prime movers in an episode, dimly recorded in history as "The Freedman's Revolt." This was a name contrived to indicate that the ex-slaves had revolted against their former masters, and used to cover up a blood binge in which blacks were murdered, man, woman and child. This largely unrecorded reign of terror began to wind down when some civic minded citizens discovered Bud and Tom in jail for some other matter of civil disobedience. Finding the two boys in jail unarmed resulted in a tremendous upsurge in public spirit. A mob rushed the jail, where they also found Joe Hardin, Wes' brother. They grabbed him too, mostly because his name was Hardin and strung him up with Bud and Tom. Simp had been terminated at the Springfield gin three years earlier by a possee. The other unnamed Dixon disappeared, yet we must always remember, it was a time when justice was often a personal thing. 
    Contrary to legend there is not one bit of evidence that Henry actually shot Bob Lee, even though he was in the posse.  All the Borens had not espoused the Union cause.  Some of the young bloods had admired and ridden with Bob Lee. Bill Boren had ridden with Quantrill during his forays into Texas. News of his uncle's shooting of Bob was more than Bill could take. Early the next morning he went to his uncle's house and called him to the door, engaged him in a cussfest, drew his gun and shot him down in cold blood. 
    The shooting of Bob Lee is amply covered in dozens of yarns, legends and some fairly accurate history.  However, very little is known of how it blew the Boren family apart. Bill's killing of Henry ignited a Boren-Boren feud that wiped out all the male members of one family and caused the death of many others. It was an inter-family affair. The warring families apparently didn't want any interference of law officers, simply went to hoshwacking each other with gusto. Descendants today are probably not aware that such a feud ever existed. 
    The killing of Henry by his nephew was never officially authenticated, except I have a letter in which Bill tells how he baited his uncle into a gun fight and shot him down. It is known that Bill disappeared a few years later. It is not generally known that Bill was baited back and killed by Henry's son. Forgotten is that three Borens were ambushed nearby and buried in a wagon bed in the Dulaney Graveyard.
William Sherrell