Banking on Cattle: Texas Settlers Growing with the West

By Sue Presnall Wise Dyke

This story examines the rich historical context of the nineteenth century in the state of Texas when the Presnall family, Louisiana cotton farmers, ponders the pros and cons of migrating to Texas. The story cannot be told without appreciating the familys Christian faith and its impact on the many difficult decisions they had to make during these years. As with any family story, there are, in fact, many stories. The same is true of history. It is written through many different lenses. Getting a clear vision and accurate story can be challenging. The author relied on many historical documents as well as a genealogy book authored and researched by a Presnall ancestor, Mary Louise Donnelly. The Presnall story is one of the many settler stories who helped to settle the West.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781504396745

Sue Presnall Wise Dyke

Born in rural South Texas covered by thousands of acres of mesquite ranchland and cotton farms, Sue returns to her early years to uncover the story of her grandfather, a cattleman during Texas Gilded Era. Sue is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with post graduate work at San Diego State College and Louisiana State University. Having lived a nomadic life married to a Petroleum Engineer (now deceased), Sue lived in several locations in Texas, one assignment to Benghazi, Libya, then to West Virginia, and Louisiana, and traveled extensively in Europe.

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Copyright © 2018 Sue Presnall Wise Dyke.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-9673-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9674-5 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/25/2018

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Author’s Note

CHAPTER ONE — 1853

The Decision

Harrison’s Trip to Texas

CHAPTER TWO — 1853

Texas

San Antonio Plazas - 1850

CHAPTER THREE — 1853 - 54

Preparing To Till The Soil

Asa and Harrison Talk about Slavery

CHAPTER FOUR — SPRING 1855

Life On The Medina River

The Trip to Fredericksburg for Cattle

Adding to the Presnall Herd

CHAPTER FIVE — 1856 - 57

Trailing Home

Starting a Cattle Ranch Announcements

CHAPTER SIX — 1856

Laura And Hiram

The New Cattle Ranch

Tensions in the Union

Prior to Civil War 1856

CHAPTER SEVEN — 1860 - 1865

The War Between The States

Harrison Returns Home

The Old Spanish Trail

Arriving Home

CHAPTER EIGHT — 1865

Pope A. Presnall

The Plan

Reconstruction Era in Texas

The Birth

CHAPTER NINE — 1865

Baby Pres

Harvesting Cotton (12)

Hauling Cotton

CHAPTER TEN — 1865 - 1872

Childhood

The Mexican Circus in San Antonio 1871 (13)

Jesse, the Ranch and Harrison.

CHAPTER ELEVEN — 1877 - 1883

The Unexpected

Harrison

CHAPTER TWELVE — 1883 - 1887

Pecos County

Leaving the Medina River Property

CHAPTER THIRTEEN — 1886

Barbed Wire And Fencing

The Seven-D Ranch

Moving the Herd to the Seven-D

Cattle Drives

The Drive

CHAPTER FOURTEEN — 1886 - 1889

Final Days In Pecos County

Plans to Leave Pecos County

Seven-D Ranch Bought

Going Home

Business in San Antonio

The Dance

CHAPTER FIFTEEN — 1890 - 1894

Presnall-Moser Bank

A Plan

Pope Goes to Alice, Texas

The Meeting

CHAPTER SIXTEEN — 1895 - 1897

Pope And Alice Clare

A Surprise

Lots of Cow Talk

1895 – 1897

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — 1897 - 1904

Seven Happy Years

1897 – 1904

Back Home

Motherhood

Alice, Texas

Something Difficult to Imagine

Epilogue

Stories Of Pope A. Presnall’s Later Life

1929 Economic Crash

A Historical Summary Of The Presnall Family From Progenitor James Presnall, Dating Back To 1648 – Origin Of The Presnall Name

Origin Of The Applewhite Family

Addendum

A Collection Of Separate Documents Relative To The Story Of This Book

Historical Information

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

M OST BOOKS CONTAINING historical information are not written by one person but by many people who help to put the story together. This book is an accumulation of information from many contributing sources including personal interviews, family documents, books, pictures and the vast family information from Presnall/Presnell , by my ancestor, Mary Louise Donnelly. Encouraging help that began the process of writing came from my niece, Sherry Willome who not only offered encouraging words but sent me the first of many emails containing researched information. Major editing help came from faithful friends like Kate Roos, PhD in Anthropology, Pamela Jucknies, a retired English and Spanish professor, Verna Benham, formerly with the US State Department at various Embassies around the world and now a newspaper columnist. Boardman Chambers (now deceased), a retired English professor at Schreiner University with a background in the history of the Civil War.

In the very early stages of writing the book, I was fortunate to be introduced to Mark and Peggy Watson Oppelt in San Antonio by my niece Sherry. The Oppelts established a nonprofit group named the Land Heritage Institute (LHI) that is currently developing the land on the Medina River (referred to in this book as the Medina River Property) which the Presnalls and Stephen Applewhite purchased when my family moved to Texas in 1853. LHI is currently creating a Living Land Museum on this property. Peggy’s family, the Watsons, had purchased the land from the Presnalls and Applewhites back in 1884 after the Presnalls and Applewhites moved on. Thanks to the efforts of the LHI organization the land is now a State and National Historical site. Pre-historic artifacts dating back 10,000 years have been excavated on the property. The Oppelts have been an asset to the writing of this book. (See the addendum section at the back of this book for more information about the Medina River property.)

Joan Walker, my next-door neighbor and a whiz on the computer, kept me in business. As fine as they are, computers can cause problems and Joan faithfully answered my calls when something went wrong.

Brett and Laura Walker, my niece and nephew, took me on a special trip to Alice, Texas where Pope Presnall, my grandfather and my family lived for thirty-eight years, Brett gave me a copy of the Alice Texas Centennial Book for research, and Laura recorded our visit with many pictures.

My friends with whom I have consulted about the book, Mary Burchell, Clifton Fifer, Jeanie Ahern, and Leonard Rhodes, were very kind to loan me their personal books on Texas History for research. I have used all of them.

Totally indispensable were the libraries and the Jim Wells County Museum. Laura Bechtel, Head Librarian at the Kerrville Butt-Holdsworth Library and her staff, were so helpful with ordering books from the Loan Library. Other very helpful libraries were the UTSA Rare Books Center, the Texana Library at the San Antonio Central Library, and the St. Mary’s University Library in San Antonio. Thanks, too, to Mike Bolin for helping with some research. Alice McDaniel told me she actually witnessed a successful dowsing.

There were many phone calls to the Fort Stockton Texas Historical Association which published a monumental two-volume book on the history of Pecos County, sent to me through the Loan Library. Part of the story in this book took place in Pecos.

Family and special friends who gave encouragement with the frequent question How is it going with the book? were my son Rick Dyke (who frequently helped with book pictures) and daughter-in-law Barbara, Margie Cole, and Leroy Schlechte cheered me on and was interested in my progress. Rick played a special role in reading the final proof copy as did friends Kate Roos, Howard and Carole Hovde, Pam Jucknies, and Verna Benham. Margie Cole, Leroy Schlechte, and Carolynn Cobbs were always interested in my progress.

Later into writing a special person, Lily Bolton, arrived on the scene to help format the book pages into one document. She is a new friend who has many skills and accomplishments, including being an author herself.

The collaborative work of my friends made this book possible. I am forever thankful for all they did.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my mother, Mary Presnall Wise, daughter of Pope A. Presnall.

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Mary Presnall, age 19 years (1920). Duchess at Jim Wells County Fair.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

D RAWING FROM MEMOIRS and stories told by her mother Mary Presnall Wise, the author writes about her family, Texas settlers who dared to leave the security of their Louisiana cotton farm and migrate to Texas to become Texas cattle ranchers. The saga of this family’s story conveys the challenges these hearty men and women faced during the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods. Their story is a testament to the faith and perseverance of this family during these historic periods in Texas.

The book begins with the lives of Harrison and Susan Presnall, parents of the author’s grandfather Pope A. Presnall. They were Texas settlers whose sons joined the large number of cattlemen who founded the cattle industry in Texas. It was during this era that the Texas iconic cowboy was created and remains today. Pope A. Presnall at age twenty-six is pictured on the cover of this book. His picture along with his brother Jesse Presnall’s picture, hang in the Cattlemen’s Gallery at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas.

Written in a creative non-fiction style, the author relied on a genealogical book, Presnall and Presnell and Allied Families, by Mary Louise Donnelly, a deceased Presnall ancestor, for locations, dates of births, deaths, marriages and anecdotal information of family members. Researched information for the period 1852 to 1904 came from the loan library for books, the San Antonio Texana Library, UTSA Rare Books, St. Mary’s University Library, old newspapers, Bexar County Land Office records and Bossier Parish Louisiana public records.

From the founding of our country, generations of Presnall men were active churchmen, planters, ranchers, and businessmen. They served their local governments as county officials and earned the respect of their fellow citizens. And they were soldiers, first in the Revolutionary War, then the War of 1812, and finally the Civil War.

Of note, and to put the life of the principle person of this story, Pope A. Presnall in historical perspective see the following: The Civil War was considered to be ended at Appomattox with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, the pride of the Confederacy, led by General Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865. On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. A few months later, on July 26, 1865, Pope A. Presnall was born. He was raised a Reconstruction child.

This book has an Addendum section which includes:

1. An Epilogue of life events in the later life of Pope A. Presnall.

2. Edited information from the Donnelly book about the early history of the Presnall family. Included are public records dating back to the seventeenth century in Cheshire County, England.

3. A copy of the actual purchase of the Medina River property by Harrison Presnall. Source: Bexar County Land Office.

4. Historical summary of the Medina River property.

5. Historical references in support of the story. (refer to: Numbers in parenthesis in the story)

map.jpg

When Texas was annexed into the Union in 1845, western boundary lines of the state were in dispute. It was not until The Compromise of 1850, after complications were resolved, that the western boundaries of Texas were set. Prior to the Compromise, as shown on the map, the West Texas boundary extended as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1. Texas-historical atlas - A Ray Stephens; cartography by Carol Zuber-Mallison.-ISBN 978-0-8061-4307.4307. Refer to (1) Historical Information, page 183 for more.

CHAPTER ONE

1853

THE DECISION

N IGHT FELL QUICKLY on the cotton fields in Bellevue, a small town in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Inside a modest house set amid those fields and scattered Hackberry groves, a couple talked quietly of a decision that would soon change their lives. Harrison Presnall and his wife, Susan Applewhite Presnall, sat across the table from one another. The oil lantern atop the table made a bright circle of light on the cotton tablecloth. Harrison and Susan spoke in hushed tones so as not to wake their sleeping children, little Sophronia and brother Jesse, and fifteen-year-old Laura. Should they pick up stakes, as so many other Southerners were doing, and move to the new state of Texas? After all, Susan’s father, step-mother, and brother Stephen and children had already moved there. So too had Harrison’s older sister, Julia Ann Presnall Long and her husband, Charles Young Long, who had moved there from Minden, Louisiana in 1849. The Longs had been working cattle in Texas and the reports to family back in Louisiana were full of how they were establishing a ranch and marketing their cattle. Their letters were full of good news, it seemed, even though they complained of the very warm summers. There was no complaint about the cheap land, however. The Longs had purchased theirs for only $2.00 per acre.

Still, even with such positive news from the family now in Texas and the enticement of joining them there, the decision for Susan and Harrison was not easy. Harrison, more than Susan, wanted to go. Susan, on the other hand, loved her home and worried about stories she heard of Indian raids in Texas. They talked, weighed options, and talked some more. But they grew weary of this heavy decision, and it was late. The oil lamp was flickering, and the diminished light danced in faint marks on the tablecloth. It was time to retire. Susan’s last words to Harrison that evening were, I’ll pray about this.

For Harrison, the opportunity to better himself was important. He knew that cotton farming in Louisiana was not stable. The thought of entering the cattle business, which was beginning to thrive in Texas, was enticing especially if he could earn more money than he did raising cotton in Louisiana. The responsibility of picking up and moving his family, though, was a daunting commitment. What if things did not work out as he expected? It seemed as if a day could not pass without Harrison raising the issue of relocating. Often, when he had asked Susan for her opinion, she withdrew into pensive memories of their life in Bellevue. Susan knew Harrison wanted to go, and he was right about needing more income for their growing family. But the babies…

She still remembered them, now buried beneath the Hackberry tree in the backyard. Susan and Harrison had married in 1836, and their first child, Laura Jane, was born in 1837. She was a healthy and beautiful baby. But the next four years were marked with sadness. Susan birthed two babies during this period, a boy in 1839 and a girl in 1842. Both died early. There was no medical science at that time to determine the cause of these deaths. Harrison and Susan, completely shaken by their losses, wondered what was happening to them. Their grief ran deep. After losing the babies they took comfort from each other and God. In time, they found peace, but they never forgot. One can only imagine that such experiences granted them early maturity, teaching that life can have great sorrows but also great blessings. Laura, the light of their lives, was a beautiful child. She was as precious as ever. It would be nearly a decade before Laura had a sibling. She was nine years old when her baby sister was born. They named her Sophronia. The year was 1846. Jesse and Susan were born a few years later.

Most of the time, however, Harrison had little time during the long days laboring in cotton fields to focus on the potential move, nor did Susan whose chores in the house and tending to