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Some Memories of Brother Dolph 1852 - 1886
By Eudora I.
Moore Dolph Phineas Moore William Jerome Moore Family Pictures William Erastus Moore
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Some
Memories of Brother Dolph 1852 – 1886 Dolph P. Moore was born in Indianola, Texas, Oct. 6, 1852. There were three brothers and one sister older than he and two brothers younger. He had a very pleasant home situated on a lake shore, afterwards known as Moore’s Lake. Here he and his brothers spent much of their time in good weather, wading in the shallow water, catching crabs or paddling in a skiff. This lake was a great resort for wild game. In summer, hundreds of cranes and pink flamingoes could be seen swimming on its waters. Dolph very early learned to use a gun and often shot ducks, sometimes they were only wounded and would swim away, when he would jump into the water and chase them until caught. Running rabbits with the dogs was one of his favorite pastimes.
He, with his brothers, was required to do the chores, such as getting in wood, milking the cows and driving them over to the prairie for pasture. He was always willing to do his part. Father bought quite a large tract of land and all that above our home was bounded by the lake and Powderhorn Bayou and was grown up with bushes by various kinds but no large trees, the lignumvitae being the largest.
When we moved to Indianola there were only a few houses there but it gradually grew to be quite a large town. Ocean vessels and many smaller boats loaded and unloaded at its wharves. Old Town, three miles above on the Matagorda Bay was first built and there we did our shopping for a while—but as the lower town grew in importance, many of the houses were moved there. Our nearest neighbor, about a quarter of a mile away, was the Ashworths—then the Liebolds and next the Swartzes. The latter were living there when we came.
During the four years of war when all our ports were blockaded, we had to practice many self denials and resort to many makeshifts to live. I have often thought that it must have been harder on mother than on any of the family. We lived principally on cornbread, beef, vegetables, molasses, milk and butter. Once in a while we got a little wheat flour. The question of clothes for a family of seven was quite a serious one.
After the Federals evacuated the town our boys picked up many cast off garments, which mother soaked for days in lye water, then boiled and dyed with the fruit rinds and leaves of the pomegranate, then made them into clothes for the boys. In summer I made them hats of shucks and palmetto and in winter mother converted pieces of cloth into caps for them.
(I have written all this so as to show the environment in which Brother Dolph lived in his childhood days.)
When old enough to attend school he first went to a young girl who had little or no education. We soon found out her incompetency and took him away from her tutelage. His next teacher, as well as I can remember, was Reverend Tays, an Episcopal minister, think he was a very good teacher. He was a fine teacher and exerted a good influence over the boys in his school. He had a class in Astronomy, of which Dolph was a member. Some of the other boys in the class were Charles Milby, Ned Crosland, Joseph Huck, ____ Fromme and others I cannot recall. Mr. Henry Crane, who afterwards became a fine lawyer was teacher of mathematics. Dolph was always a good student and did not waste his time in school. He was rather a quiet boy and one to be relied on. Every one liked him though he never seemed to care for many companions though he always had a few particular friends. He would not be imposed on and would fight whenever occasion called for it. He was not without a sense of humor. A little episode of St. Valentine’s Day stands out in my memory. A letter came to me from a would be lover, begging me to reconsider, etc. He happened to be present when his letter came. Dolph supposing it was a valentine, snatched it from me and began reading it out aloud, meanwhile I was trying with all my might to rescue it. I finally succeeded before he had read more than a line or two. (The discomfiture of the writer could be easily imagined.)
The Yankees took possession of Indianola the latter part of Dec. 1863. One regiment of infantry under Col. Oran Perry was camped close to our place. They were western men, mostly from Ohio and Indiana. The boys used to play about their camp and they were pretty nice to them. Among them was a waif about Dolph’s age, whom they had picked up somewhere. One day when playing together they got into a difficulty and this boy caught Dolph’s ear with his teeth and bit him severely. While the Federals were there we fared pretty well, could buy sugar, flour, coffee, etc., from the commissary department and could get a permit from them for beef. They would drive up a penfull of cattle belonging to the people there and slaughter them. Out of twenty milk cows, think we had one or two left, not to speak of our young cattle. A writer who was there at the time stated they killed two thousand head of cattle. They evacuated Indianola on the 13 of March 1864.
In the spring of that year we were called upon to bear a great sorrow. Our eldest brother, who belonged to Col Buchell’s regiment of cavalry, was taken sick and died at Alexandria, La. His Col. and many of the men were killed at either the battle of Mansfield or Pleasant Hill. Mr. Dan Sullivan wrote his uncle, who was a friend of ours, the sad news. He sent a messenger to tell us. The boys came running in from the pen that morning crying and saying “Brother Joe is dead.”
When Brother Will married Mary Swift he brought her home to live with us for awhile. One time she decided that we ought to go to Chocolate after dew berries, so she got Brother Dolph to hitch old Grey Eagle to the cart. This was the horse that Brother Joe rode, up to the time of his death. The three of us struck out for Chocolate which is a few miles south of Port Lavaca. We spent the night at Mr. Joe Collins residence. They were away at the time but left a man there in charge. That night a norther blew up but next morning we bundled up, mounted some horses and struck out for the dew berry patch only to find that the berries were not ripe. On returning home Sister Mary and I were so used up we had to stay in bed all next day.
One time after heavy rain I decided to get into the skiff and push out into the lake. The boat was pretty wet so I stood up in the stern and started to push off, when Brother Dolph held the boat saying I would slip down. I was so angry because he wouldn’t let go and hit him with oar. That was the only time I ever remember to have had a fuss with him.
Baxter was the brother nearest to Dolph in age, there being less than two years between them. They were always together, in infancy I can see them tussling over the floor, sometimes getting angry and having to be separated. Poor Baxter was taken ill while camping with his brother Spencer on Wilson’s Creek in Matagorda County. He died at the home of Mr. Jack Elliottt near Elliott’s Ferry where they took him in hopes of getting medical attention. That was a sad day for us all when they brought him home in his coffin, in June1867. He was almost thirteen years of age at the time. In July of that year the yellow fever broke out at Indianola and many of its citizens fell victim to the plague.
When about sixteen year of age, Dolph had a small sail boat. He and Ed took me across the Matagorda Bay and on into Carancahua Bay to the home of Mr. Ben Ward and his sister, Miss Mattie, where I visited for awhile. On returning across the bay, the boys encountered a gale from the north which carried them swiftly over the water and landed the boat high up on the shore near Blind Bayou. It seemed almost miracle that the boat did not turn over or swamp with them.
Dolph used to make frequent trips between Trespalacios and Indianola. One time when I was with him, we were becalmed somewhere below Hamilton’s Point. All one night and part of a day our boat scarcely moved. It was in the fall of the year and we could hear the loons calling to one another in the distance. They sounded very like human voices. Dolph would imitate their cries and they would answer back.
He came near having a very serious accident on one of his trips up the creek. When at the mouth of Wilson’s Creek, he was poling the boat as there was no wind. The pole stuck in the mud and he was jerked over board. He was a good swimmer but when he threw out his arms to swim the long stems of the water lilies would wind about his arms and legs and prevent his moving. His shouts brought Tom Williams, who lived near, to the rescue and he no doubt saved his life.
Brother Will was away most of the time buying cattle for shipment, so Dolph and I stayed with sister Mary at the “Oaks,” as the place on Wilson Creek was called, during his absence. She was with Mother at Indianola when Maggie was born and Dolph went down in the boat and brought her home when ready to come. He was about eighteen years of age at the time. Here he did his first, and probably last, plowing. They had a small corn field and a vegetable garden also a fine peach orchard. While staying there he made two or three trips to DeWitt Co. with Sister Mary, to visit he relatives there. They drove through in a covered hack. One time Sister Mary’s cousin, Ella North came back with them, she was a beautiful girl with black sparkling eyes and brown curly hair. After leaving the Oaks, Dolph clerked for awhile at Rancho Grande for Mr. A. H. and J. E. Pierce. They kept a small store of general merchandise. He boarded with Mrs. J. E. Pierce who became quite fond of him. She was a good woman and it was a privilege to be her friend. While clerking there he became acquainted with all the people in that part of the country and decided to buy goods and take them around the country to sell. He procured a pair of mules and a covered hack and did quite a thriving business, going east to the Colorado to Caney and other places. While I was teaching school at Mr. Tom Kuykendall’s, Ellen Swift was married to Ed Partain. She was living with Brother Will and Sister Mary at the time. Dolph, the groom and I went down to the wedding on horse back. It seemed there had been a misunderstanding between the bride and groom as to the time of day the wedding was to take place, Ellen thought it was to be in the morning and Ed at night, so they had a turkey dinner prepared and invited a few of the neighbors to be present. As the groom did not appear at the supposedly appointed time, the dinner was eaten regardless and when we and the minister arrived, we found the bride to be in tears and nothing but the frame of the turkey was left. Any way, the wedding took place turkey or no turkey. About the 18__, Brother Dolph built a store house on the Colorado River a few miles from where Bay City now stands. He kept general merchandise and got Brother Ed to clerk for him. After a time he raised cotton as many of the farmers in that locality were doing and they brought their cotton to his gin. Dan Moore ran it for him. The cotton seed was burned to get it out of the way.
While keeping store, Dolph borrowed a buggy (think he had his own horse) and took me for a trip to Carancahua to visit some old friends. The first night we spent at Mr. LaBeauve’s [Labauve]. There was a large family of boys and girls and they were very hospitable people. From there we went to the Bay and spent a day or two at the home of Mrs. A. H. Pierce. George Gifford was there, also Mrs. Hattie Pierce’s niece, Betty Compton. On Sunday we went with Mrs. Pierce and niece to the little country church near by. Next day we visited at the home of the widow Ward. There were five young people there and we had a very pleasant time. Next we went to the old Ben Ward place where Miss Mattie Ward lived. Her insane sister, who was in an asylum when I visited there before, was at home. We did not see her but heard her terrible shrieks in the night. Miss Mattie said she always did that when company was there.
On returning we stopped for a few minutes at the home of Mr. Ben Ward and met his young wife and baby for the first time.
I remember attending a party with Brother Dolph at the home of Mr. Jack Elliot near Wilson’s Creek. People were there from all the country round. Among others I recall, the Dawdy girls, Lila and Fanny Robbins and Georgia Lawson. Ben Hasley with his fiddle afforded the music. The dances were mostly cotillions and the figures were called by someone familiar with the dance. The Virginia Reel was usually the closing dance. The mode of travel in those days was horseback. Girls and boys would sometimes go twenty miles or more to attend an all night party. Refreshments were always served and often the table would stand with its viands all during the night ready for any who wished to partake.
About the year ’73 or ’74 there was a big camp meeting held on the Colorado River below Dolph’s store. Reverends St. John and Phair were the two principle ministers and they were both fine. People were there from all over Matagorda County. Brother Will and Sister Mary and I attended and at the last meeting we all joined the M. E. Church. We stayed with Dolph and Ed at night and slept in the rooms over the store. Most of the people camped. Mr. Patillo [Pertiller] Lee had a long table built, hired a cook, and had a beef or two killed and provided food of various kinds. At meal time he invited everybody to eat and his table was usually well filled. I was told that it was a custom of his to do this at all camp meetings held near his home. The young people certainly had a good time at these meetings and many new acquaintances were made.
In September 1875 Brother Dolph had an addition built to his store. Brother Will was there doing the work. On the 15th of that month there came a terrific storm of wind followed by a deluge of rain. Will wanted to come home but could not get his horse ferried across the river. It happened that Albert Shoultz had left his horse on the west side, so they exchanged horses and Will came home. Soon rumors reached Dolph of the terrible havoc wrought by the storm at Indianola, so he came to Wilson’s Creek and he and Will went in the boat to Indianola. Our hearts were filled with the awful forebodings of what might have happened to Father and Mother. Soon after the boys left we heard that Mr. Abel H. Pierce had come from down on the coast and had news of the storm so I went to Mr. J. E. Pierce’s to find out what I could from him. He told me that Father was drowned and that the storm had taken a heavy toll of life and property. It was several days before the boys returned bringing Mother and Corinne Miller. Poor Mother! I never shall forget how sad and weary she looked. She had somehow gotten to a large salt cedar tree just back of the house and clung to that all night with the aid of a sheet which she had fastened around her. Her whole body was covered with stripes where the branches of the tree had lashed her. When morning came and the water had subsided, Mother went to the house she could see some distance off. It was the home of a family names Mylius. They took her in and cared for her till the boys came and took her away. Spencer was living on the south side of Powderhorn Lake at the time. He found Father’s body where the wind had carried it to the shore and thinking that Mother too was drowned, went up the lake shore for miles in search of her.
Our home, rent houses and everything we possessed had been swept away. Brother Will found our old family Bible in a very dilapidated condition. He tore out the family record and brought it home. When Mother had fully recuperated she went to Brother Dolph’s store and kept house for him and Ed. He had built a small house separate from the store for kitchen and dining room and here she had things very snug and homelike. After staying there for awhile a sad accident happened to her. While up stairs over the store (there was no railing around the stairway) she stepped off and fell down the stair, breaking some of the small bones in her right wrist. This incapacitated her from using it for some time so she came to stay with Brother Will and Sister Mary.
About this time Dolph took Dan Moore to live with him, he was twelve years of age, I believe. His mother had died and he was homeless. He seemed to appreciate Dolph’s kindness to him very much and often spoke of the good example his Uncle Dolph had set for him.
(This information I obtained from Brother Ed.)
“Dolph and I commenced building the first store on the River in June 1875. He continued to peddle goods for over a year and was often gone for a week at a time. He bought the land on which part of Bay City now stands, along about 1876 or 1877 at 75 cents an acre without interest. We could have bought plenty of land around there at that time at from $1.50 to $2.00 per acre.”
Brother Dolph and Louise Wendell were married December 17, 1879 by Judge Ramie. Her parents were living on Cotton Wood Creek at the time. After the ceremony, we all went to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Walt Thompson near by to attend a dance which they tendered the bride and groom. It was quite largely attended and a merry evening was spent. After the County seat was moved from Matagorda to Bay City, the first newspaper, The Bay City Breeze, was published by Mr. N. M. Vogelsang in the loft over Dolph’s store. It was quite a breezy little paper and was a credit to the publisher.
In August 1886 I went to Matagorda Peninsula to visit my friend Mrs. Lucy Swartz Phillips. While there Brother Will and family, Brother Dolph and the Methodist Minister, Mr. Holt, came down on a fishing excursion. After spending a few days at Palacios Point, they came to the Peninsula to take me home. We all walked on the Gulf beach that morning. It was cloudy and looked like it would rain. Lucy served dinner for us all and immediately after we went to the boat and started across to bay to Palacios Point where we expected to spend the night. The wind was blowing when we left and before we got across the bay it was blowing a gale. Brother Will, who was at the helm, found it impossible to round the point and anchor in the harbor there, so he stopped on the south side of Palacios. We didn’t feel the wind so much there. The boys threw the casting net and caught lot of mullet which we fried for supper after when Brother Will suggested that Mr. Holt, the women and children should go up to the Burkhart house to spend the night, while he and Brother Dolph would stay on the boat. He had two anchors, one at the bow the other at the stern and these were buried in the sand on the bank. The wind increased in violence with dashes of rain at internals. It was a moonlight night and we could see quite plainly. Sometime in the night Will felt that it was not safe to stay longer on the boat, so he awoke Dolph and they came up to the house. About day break he went down to the shore and found the boat was gone. All our provisions were aboard, my carpet bag and Mr. Holt had left his watch and some theological books. The wind continued to blow hard all next day, and the water was rising. Scores of dead sheep and some cattle from the Peninsula floated on the shore, logs, planks and a skiff floated by. The question of what we were going to live on stared us in the face. Fortunately for us there were some people camped in a vacant house down the point a ways, and our men went and helped them to move to the Burkhart house as it was on higher ground. They kindly shared their provisions with us. I remember Brother Dolph carried a sack of flour, and as it sprinkled on him, he was smeared with paste.
We were quite worried over the problem of how we were going to get home. The second day after landing there the wind somewhat subsided. In the distance we saw a sail boat which seemed to be headed south east, we went to the shore and waved towels, handkerchiefs, etc., but she kept right on. The third day we sighted a boat coming from the direction of Indianola. Our waving of white rags had a better effect on her and she came ashore. It proved to be Capt. Hicks’ boat, The Mystery, and was the only one that weathered the storm at Indianola. He had Capt. Cookenboo, who had lost his boat in the storm, and another man aboard. He said he had to take them to Matagorda before going up the creek with us. Brother Will went along so as to get back as soon as possible. When they arrived we lost no time getting aboard and headed for the Trespalacios. At Red Fish Point we saw two horsemen who proved to be Brother Ed and Caspar Bell. They were on the look out for us and gave us some canned stuff and bread which they had brought along. We went on up the creek but pretty soon the wind died out and the men had to pole the boat. Brother Dolph and Mr. Holt decided it was too slow for them, so they left us and footed it up to the ranch where they had left their horse and buggy. After awhile we saw a wagon headed our way. Kirk Moore who had taken charge during the absence of the family was coming to meet us. One time at least we were all mighty glad to take a wagon ride.
Portions of our boat, The Dauntless, were washed up on the shore and some of our friends thought we had all gone to “Davy Jones’ Locker.” The Galveston News published an account of our loss.
Members
of the Moore family buried in Indianola Cemetery, Calhoun County: |
