SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS Biographies here are DeWitt Colonists (surnames beginning H-N) who were in the colony by census, land or other records through Dec 1828. Other biographies can be found at The Battle of Gonzales-Old 18, Gonzales Alamo Relief Force, Land Grantees & Residents, Gonzales Town Residents and Citizens-Free State of Lavaca. For additional biographical information, Search Handbook of Texas Online HAVEN. Eben Haven was born in 1805 in New York and died in 1867 in Gonzales County. He was buried in the Hinton-Haven-DuBose Cemetery next to the property where he lived for many years. On February 17, 1831 he married Drusilla Lockhart. Eben Haven went to Texas from Missouri with DeWitt's colonists July 23, 1827 and received title to one sitio of land on June 24, 1831 in Victoria County near the DeWitt County line. Marriage Bond Number 15 was issued in Gonzales County for Eben and Drusilla and read as follows:
Drusilla and Eben Haven were parents of three children: Sarah Lockhart Haven (February 11, 1833-December 21, 1889) married November 29, 1850 William Louis DuBose; Amanda (March 4, 1835-May 5, 1847); and Elizabeth J. (December 19, 1836) married David DuBose (February 2, 1836).
HEATH. Richard Heath's quarter league land title indicates he arrived in the colony 24 Oct 1828 as a single man and is possibly the first or second settler along with the Smothers in the Lavaca River valley. Author and resident of that part of the DeWitt Colony John Henry Brown in History of Texas:
Heath's land grant was just south of what later became the Zumwalt Settlement. Heath contracted with Andrew Kent in 1834 for 3500 shingles of precise dimensions. Along with the Kent place, the Heath homestead was looted (his cabin survived) by Mexican troops passing through the area after the Alamo defeat in which neighbor Andrew Kent died as part of the Gonzales Alamo Relief force. Heath's daughter, Sarah Heath, married Edward D. Zumwalt, a son of Gabriel (Gabe) Zumwalt, brother of Capt. Adam Zumwalt. Heath furnished 300 canisters of powder and $500 worth of beef to the newly organized Texas Republican Army in late 1835 and early 1836 for which he later petitioned the State of Texas for compensation. He may have been the Heath, a carpenter, referred to by William Fairfax Gray at the time of the Texas Independence Convention at Washington on the Brazos in March 1836:
Heath was in Capt. "Black" Adam Zumwalt's Lavaca River area minuteman company in most, if not all, of its actions in maintenance of the security of the area including the Comanche Raid on Linnville/Battle of Plum Creek and Battle of Salado. HENRY. John Henry received a sitio land grant on the east bank of the San Marcos River in current Guadalupe County. Land records indicate that he arrived with a family of 7 on 20 Feb 1831 receiving title on 5 May 1831. It is unclear if this is the same John W. Henry who was in the colony in the 1828 census as a single man from Louisiana. HIBBENS. John Hibbens (Hibbans, Hibbins) settled in the DeWitt Colony near Concrete in current DeWittCo where he married the widowed Sarah Creath McSherry. In Austin Colony land grant records, there is reference to an "invalid" grant of a league to a John Hibbins. He is said to have lied on his application regarding his marital status claiming he was married in Dec 1832. He was in the DeWitt Colony as early as 1825 and in a letter to Amasa Turner from Phillip Howard in 1853 was described as the "largest stock raiser on the Guadalupe River," which is verifed by his 100 cattle listed in the 1828 census. In Feb 1833, Hibbins was with a herd of cattle at the camp of John and Margaret Hallet on the east side of the Lavaca River in the Austin Colony. He had an order to survey a league of land adjoining leagues of the Hallets and Joseph Campbell. Austin Colony surveyor William R. Hensley, deputy of John H. Borden, surveyed the land and was paid in cattle by Hibbins. Hibbins married the widow Sara Creath McSherry. Sarah is one of the remarkably hardy Texas pioneer women and one who probably suffered more continuous savagery from Indians than any other in history of the State. She and her families are the subject of nearly all Texas histories relating Comanche Indian depredations in Texas. The story of Sara Creath McSherry Hibbins Stinnet Howard and her families is related in detail in John Henry Brown’s The Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas: "In 1828, there arrived on the Guadalupe river a young married couple from the vicinity of Brownsville, Jackson County, Illinois--John McSherry and his wife, Sarah, whose maiden name was Creath. They settled on the west side of the Guadalupe, near a little creek, which, with a spring, was some two hundred yards in front of the cabin they erected [According to a DeWitt Colony History article by Ms. Marion Lane, McSherry build a log cabin facing Little Carlisle Creek, 200 yards from a spring on Green DeWitt's League, on the west side of the Guadalupe River southeast of the Arthur Burns league-WLM]. This was in the lower edge of DeWitt's Colony, as it is now in the lower edge of DeWitt County. Their nearest neighbor was Andrew Lockhart, ten miles up the river, and one of a large family of sterling pioneers on the Guadalupe, bearing that name. Mrs. McSherry was a beautiful blonde, an excellent type of the country girls of the West in that day, very handsome in person, graceful in manner and pure of heart. Mr. McSherry was an honest, industrious man of nerve and will. They were happily devoted to each other. Early in 1829, their first child, John [James Lewis McSherry, born 7 Jan 1833-WLM], was born in that isolated cabin, in one of the most lovely spots of the Southwest. Later in the same year, about noon on a pleasant day, Mr. McSherry went to the spring for a bucket of water. As he arose from the bank, bucket in hand, a party of Indians with a wild yell, sprang from the bushes and in a moment he was a lifeless and scalped corpse. His wife hearing the yell, sprang to the door, saw him plainly and realized the peril of herself and infant. In the twinkling of an eye, she barred the door, seized the gun and resolved to defend herself and baby unto death. The savages surveyed the situation and maneuvered to and fro, but failed to attack the cabin and soon disappeared. Thus she was left alone, ten miles from the nearest habitation, and without a road to that or any other place. But truly, in the belief of every honest person of long frontier experience, the ways of providence are inscrutable. About dark John McCrabb, a fearless and excellent man, well armed and mounted, but wholly unaware of the sad condition of matters, rode up to the cabin to pass the night. Hearing the recital his strong nerves became stronger, and his heart pulsated as became that of a whole-souled Irishman. Very soon he placed the young mother and babe on his horse and, by the light of the stars, started started on foot, through the wilderness, for the house of Andrew Lockhart, reaching it before daylight, where warm hearts bestowed all possible care and kindness on those so ruthlessly stricken in the wilderness and so remote from all kindred ties." "Mrs. McSherry, for a considerable time, found a home and friends with the Lockharts; but a few years later married John Hibbins, a worthy man, who settled on the east side of the Guadalupe, in the vicinity of where the town of Concrete now stands, in DeWitt County. In the summer of 1835, with her little boy, John [James] McSherry, and an infant by Mr. Hibbins, she revisited her kindred in Illinois. She returned via New Orleans in the winter of 1835-6, accompanied by her brother, George Creath, a single man, and landed at Columbia, on the Brazos, where early in February, 1836, Mr. Hibbins met them with an ox cart, on which they began the journey home. They crossed the Colorado at Beason's and fell into the ancient La Bahia road on the upper Navidad. In due time they arrived at and were about encamping on Rocky creek, six miles above the subsequent village of Sweet Home, in Lavaca County and within fifteen or sixteen miles of their home, when they were suddenly attacked by thirteen Indian warriors who immediately killed Hibbins and Creath, made captives Mrs. Hibbins and her two children, took possession of all the effects and at leisure moved off up the country with perfect unconcern. They traveled slowly up through the timbered country, the Peach creek region between the Guadalupe and the Colorado, securely tying Mrs. Hibbins at night and lying encircled around her. About the second day, at one of their camps, the baby cried with pain for some time, when one of the Indians seized it by the feet and smashed its brains against a tree, all in the presence of its helpless mother. For two or three days at this time Mrs. Hibbins distinctly heard the guns in the siege of the Alamo, at least sixty miles to the west. That she did so was made certain a little later by her imparting the news to others till then unaware of that now world renowned struggle. In due time her captors crossed the Colorado at the mouth of Shoal creek, now in the city of Austin. They moved on three or four miles and encamped on the south edge of a cedar brake, where a severe norther came up and caused them to remain three nights and two days. On the third night the Indians were engaged in a game till late and then slept soundly. Mrs. Hibbins determined, if possible, to escape. Cautiously, she freed herself of the cords about her wrists and ankles and stepping over the bodies of her unconscious guards, stole away, not daring even to imprint a kiss on her only and first-born child, then a little over six years of age. Daylight found her but a short distance from camp, not over a mile or two and she secreted herself in a thicket from which she soon saw and heard the Indians in pursuit. The savages compelled the little boy to call aloud, 'Mama! Mama!' But she knew that her only hope for herself and child was in escape, and remained silent." "After a considerable time the Indians disappeared. But she remained concealed still longer, till satisfied her captors had left. She then followed the creek to the Colorado and, as rapidly as possible, traveled down the river, shielded by the timber along its banks. The crow of a chicken late in the afternoon sent a thrill through her agonizing heart. The welcome sound was soon repeated several times and thither she hastened with zeal born of her desperate condition, for she did not certainly know she was in a hundred miles of a habitation. In about two miles she reached the outer cabin on the Colorado, or rather one of the two outer ones---Jacob Harrell occupying the one she entered and Reuben Hornsby the other. She was so torn with thorns and briars, so nearly without raiment, and so bruised about the face, that her condition was pitiable. Providentially (as every old pioneer untainted with heathenism believed), eighteen rangers, the first ever raised under the revolutionary government of Texas, and commanded by Capt. John J. Tumlinson, had arrived two days before and were encamped at the cabin of Hornsby. To this warmhearted and gallant officer Mrs. Hibbins was personally known and to him she hastily narrated her sad story." Sarah Creath married first husband John Sherry in 1829 in Illinois and they probably came to Texas within the year. Their cabin was on Little Carlisle Creek on one of Green DeWitt's leagues on the west bank of the Guadalupe River across from the Arthur Burn's league. A son, James Lewis McSherry, was born 7 Jan 1833. The spring where John McSherry was killed and scalped by Comanches was about 200 yards from the cabin. John McCrabb owned a league just south of the area. John Hibbins is said to have lived in the current Concrete area of current DeWitt County when he met and married Sara Creath McSherry in 1835. On 10 Jul 1835 DeWitt Colony surveyor Byrd Lockhart divided a league north of current Cuero belonging to George W. Davis with Hibbins and there the Hibbins family built a home. The Comanche attack on the Hibbins happened just as tensions between colonists and the centralista Mexican government were reaching a peak prior to the Alamo defeat in early 1836. It is thought that Indian attacks increased particularly in this period since settlers were pre-occupied with the troubles with their government. It was two days later on 23 Feb that word reached Gonzales of the siege of the Alamo and the Gonzales Rangers were activated to aid them. The Comanches were pursued by Capt. Tumlinson’s troop and the Hibbins child was recovered. Capt. Tumlinson related the scene when the child, John McSherry Jr., was delivered safely to Mrs. Hibbins who was staying at the home of the Harrells: "Lt. Rogers presented the child to its mother, and the scene which here ensued beggars description. A mother meeting with her child released from Indian captivity, recovered as it were from the very jaws of death! Not an eye was dry. She called us brothers, and every other endearing name, and would have fallen on her knees to worship us. She hugged her child to her bosom as if fearful that she would again lose him. And---but ‘tis useless to say more." After return of her son, Mrs. Hibbins lived with the Hornsby family near current Austin and took flight with the Hornsbys to East Texas on the Runaway Scrape in front of Santa Anna’s army from the Alamo. Claiborne Stinnett met and subsequently married Mrs. Hibbins in Jun 1836 while she and son James were in Washington County on their way back to the homestead. Stinnett received a quarter sitio grant east of Gonzales town on the Guadalupe River as a single man arriving in 1830. Stinnett was a representative from Gonzales at the first Texas Independence Consultation at San Felipe in 1 Oct 1832. He was elected sheriff of GonzalesCo in Jan 1838 and served as administrator of the estates of his wife's former husband John Hibbins and brother George Creath in the same month. The Stinnetts had a daughter in 1838. County records show he traded livestock with William Byas, B.D. McClure, William Taylor, Kimber Barton, Adam Zumwalt, Reuben Hornsby and Si Bateman. In 1838, Stinnett mysteriously disappeared while on a business trip to Linnville. With a loaded packhorse and $700 cash, he took a shortcut across the prairie above Victoria and approached a campfire late in the evening. Speculation was that he was killed by Indians, but five years later in the fall of 1842 two runaway slaves in Mexico confessed to Col. Andrew Neill while he was a prisoner in Mexico that they had murdered and robbed him while in flight to Mexico. They related the exact spot where the event happened and where his body lay in such detail that his remains were located. On 30 May 1839 three times widowed Sarah Creath McSherry Hibbins Stinnett married a fourth time to 25 year old Colonel Phillip Howard in Gonzales in a wedding performed by Edmund Bellinger. Howard was a native of Kentucky who had arrived in Texas in 1836, served in the Texas Army under Captain Joseph and was involved in "vending goods, wares and merchandise as a pedlar, contrary to the dignity of the Republic" in Jackson County in 1838. In 1840 the Howard family moved to a homestead near the ancient Mission of San Juan outside San Antonio where they were aided by neighbors Byrd Lockhart Jr., a young McGary, Jonah Powers and a brother, a Grimes and some others. There 7 year old James McSherry was again attacked by Comanches while tending horses and barely escaped with his life. The Indians were pursued. After a heavy shower that wet the pursuers weapons, they dried them off and test fired them at which time they were encircled by about seventy Comanches posing as friendly Tonkawas. Six pursuers were surrounded, killed and scalped and 13 year old Jonah Powers taken captive. Powers escaped two nights later. This time Sarah and son were able to avoid serious casualty. The Howard family later moved south on the San Antonio River in current GoliadCo in spring of 1842. Soon after their neighbors the McGillilands were murdered by Indians, looted what they could and destroyed the rest of the property. Children William and Rebecca McGilliland were carried off, but soon after rescued by local minutemen. The Howards again escaped this depredation unhurt. Soon after the Howards moved to LavacaCo near Hallettsville where Howard was a County Judge in 1848. Howard was involved in settlement of estates of numerous original DeWitt Colonists including James B. Patrick, William A. Matthews, Almond Cottle, James Hinds, Valentine Bennett and Mathew Caldwell. He was involved in extensive disputes over his wife's relatives' estates of Creath, McSherry, Hibbins and Stinnett. The Howards, John McSherry Jr. and daughters Eugenia, Minta and Susan. Howard was very active politically and was a loyal Unionist up to and during the Civil War where he acquired the title Colonel. His activism continued during Reconstruction in Meridian in Bosque County. For over 30 years, Sarah lived lived in peace and prosperity after over 13 years of severe Indian depredations. She died in Bosque County in 1876. HINDS. Gerron, James B. Levi and Susannah Gerron Hinds were the parents of James B. Hinds who was born in Kentucky December 5, 1796. Levi (circa 1776 Randolph County, North Carolina-August 7, 1838 Brazoria County, Texas) married Susannah Gerron February 11, 1795 and was the son of Levi (August 25, 1742-August 28, 1817 Wayne County, Kentucky) and Sarah Hinds. Levi, born in Morris County, New Jersey, was the son of Joseph (circa 1702 Morristown, New Jersey) and Ruth Higgins Hinds (circa 1720-1772 Gilford County, North Carolina). Joseph's parents were James (christened February 27, 1647 Salem, Essex, Massachusetts) and Mary Lee Hinds (will probated September, 1731 New Jersey), the daughter of Thomas Lee. James B. Hinds was the firstborn of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters. Ten in the family migrated to Brazoria County, Texas in 1820. James B. Hinds arrived in DeWitt's Colony February 24, 1830 with "five in the family." He was one of the "Old Eighteen" defenders of Gonzales and had a home in the Inner Town of Gonzales before 1831 on Lot 3, Block 2. James' first wife, the mother of his two sons Levi and Gonzales and his two daughters, Minerva and Martha Jane, died between 1831 and 1835. His second marriage was to Louisa Cottle Jackson. James died December 12, 1845 in Gonzales. Searches did not disclose whether he was buried on his own land or in the Gonzales City Cemetery. Gerron Hinds, brother of James Hinds, arrived in DeWitt's Colony April 13, 1825 with "two in the family." Gerron was married to Margaret Smith, daughter of Cornelious and Elizabeth Roberts Smith. They had no children but adopted Sarah Jane Goodin, daughter of Margaret's sister Elizabeth. Gerron was one of the six men who set out from Brazoria with James Kerr to locate the spot upon which to found the capital of DeWitt's Colony. He was a close associate of Erastus "Deaf" Smith and was on a buffalo hunt with "Deaf" when the frontier settlement of Gonzales was attacked by a party of Indians in July, 1826. Gerron Hinds was a participant in the Confrontation at Velasco of June 1832. Gerron died December 11, 1870 in Caldwell County and was buried in the McNeil Cemetery near Luling. Both James and Gerron received land grants through the Empresario which included leagues of land in Gonzales County extending into what later became Caldwell County. The 1850 census of CaldwellCo lists household: HINDS: Gerrin 49 m KY; Margaret 39 f KY; HARRIS: Lorenda 27 f KY; SMITH: William C. 8 m TX Minerva Hinds, daughter of James B., was born November 14, 1829 in Brazoria County, Texas. She was just three months old when James B. took his family to Gonzales and was seventeen when she married James Hanson July 16, 1847. There were six children born to that union: James Adam, Mary J., Lee G., Harrison Gonzales, John M. and Alice Belle. James Hanson died either in 1857 or 1858. Minerva then married Joseph G. Hinds, a cousin, November 27, 1858 in Caldwell County. Joseph G. was a son of John B. Hinds who was a brother of James B. Hinds, Minerva's father; hence, Minerva and Joseph were first cousins. Joseph and Minerva had three children: Benjamin Taylor, Eli Clemmons and Monte Rhea. Minerva was a true pioneer, raising her children alone as Joe was a trail driver from Port Lavaca to Austin and was gone from home for months at a time. Joe was a volunteer in the Confederate army, 16th Regiment, Texas Cavalry. Family stories stated that Joe was wounded in the war and died "not too long" after going home to Texas. Minerva often told of taking the ten-gauge "Long Tom" shotgun with her, because of the Indians, when she went down to Clear Fork to do the washing. It was also known that Minerva boarded a freight train in 1894 or 1895 and rode from Luling, Texas to Ardmore, Oklahoma when she received word that her daughter Monte Rhea was dying. Minerva died July 16, 1903 and was buried in the family cemetery on the "Old Home Place" near Luling. The land was part of the headright league of land granted James Hinds and was situated in Caldwell County on Plum Creek about twenty miles above Gonzales. It was assigned to Minerva at the death of her father James B. Hinds and remained in the Hinds family. Minerva sold some acreage from time to time for as little as ten cents an acre to buy a new buggy, a team of horses or other needed items. The old house was abandoned in the late 1930's and the lumber was sold during World War II. The well and family cemetery remained on the site. Slaves as well as family members were buried in the family cemetery and a fence was erected for the protection of the graves. The property was maintained by the Hinds descendants. Benjamin Taylor Hinds (February 7,1859-December 14, 1914), son of Minerva and Joseph G. Hinds, married Addie Shade December 20, 1896 and was buried in the family cemetery. They had three children: Benjamin Marvin (January 13,1899) married Margaret McGill in Gonzales October 26, 1939 and had no children; Dan Leon (June 13, 1903-March 27, 1947 Luling Cemetery) married Bertie Bowles August 4, 1933 and had one son Ben Leon (June 23,1934 Luling); Lexia (March 16, 1905) married Hollie O’Connor Allen October 8, 1922 and had one son Hollie O’Connor Allen Jr. (September 26, 1923). All three children were born on the "Old Home Place." Frank Hinds and Kathryn F. Allen (From The History of Gonzales County, Texas. Reprinted by permission of the Gonzales County Historical Commission). LA BAUME. Joseph (Jose) De La Baume (1731-1834) was a French army officer who came to North America with the Marquis De Lafayette and fought in the American Revolution. According to his last will and testament he was the oldest son of Joseph Philip Comte de La Baume and wife Mary Isabel Dalton who were of the countship of La Baume in the Province of Avignon, France. La Baume came from Montpellier to America. He later joined the Royal Spanish army serving under Don Juan Filhiol, also a Frenchman by birth, a captain in the Spanish army since 1779 and commander of Ft. Mir�, the single Spanish fort in the 1790's responsible for the Ouachita Valley in current northern Louisiana around Monroe. Lieutenant La Baume was second in command of the fort from 1793 through probably 1800. In 1795, he became as well as Filhiol a close friend of Dutch Guiana-born Philip Hendrik Nering B�gel known in Texas as Baron de Bastrop (Baron Felipe Enrique Neri de Bastrop). He was a resident of San Antonio de Bexar and his stone house called La Baume Place was on the south side of The Alameda, or Cotton Wood Grove, (now E. Commerce St.) at the Alamo (current St. Joseph's St.). On the south was the property of last Spanish governor Antonio Martinez. La Baume and Bastrop were apparently close associates through their lives since Bastrop left some of his property to de La Baume's daughter. The La Baume property was purchased by permission of Joaquin Arredondo from Maria Rosa Marques and Baron de Bastrop in 1808. La Baume willed his rights of inheritance to the countship and any properties in France to his daughter Victoriana (Victorine) with the provision that should female succession be prevented, his son Joseph would receive it. La Baume received a pension from the United States government for services a captain in the "glorious struggle for Independence from Great Britain." La Baume is said to have visited the legendary gold and silver mines of San Saba and sent specimens from the Los Almagres mine to Mexico City which came into the hands of Baron von Humboldt and judged "the finest he had ever seen." La Baume first married Ana Maria Kentree of Ouhachita, LA and then Louise Cuturie from Nacogdoches. With the latter, he had children Victorine, Joseph, Gertrude and Sancir Pierre. La Baume lived until about 1834 when he died at the age of 103. Daughter Victorine inherited a fifth of the estate of Baron de Bastrop for "services rendered him by her father." She married Alexander Vidal, a Frenchman from Louisiana.
JOSEPH DE LA BAUME by Sylvia Villareal Bisnar JOSEPH DE LA BAUME, a
native of Montpellier, parish of Sainte Marie, France, was born on 6 January 1730/31, the
son of Count Joseph de la Baume and Mary Isabel (Elizabeth) d’Alton (Dalton), of the
Seignory of Baume, Province of Avignon, France. According to the Character Certificate
completed by De La Baume when he applied to “Empresarios Austin & Williams,”
for permission to enter Texas, he stated: I
am European by birth……my name is Joseph de la Baume born in Montpelier and
originally of the Canton of B---, (Baume), enclave in the Canton of Avignon in
France.” De la Baume came to America during the
Revolutionary War as a Captain in the French Army commanded by the Marquis de Lafayette. According to his Last Will and Testament, he
“was present and commanded his company in all the battles where La Fayette was
present and at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.” At the Texas State Capital Building in Austin,
there is a brass plaque put up by the Texas Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
listing Joseph de la Baume’s name along with others from Texas who served in the
American Revolutionary War. The end of the
revolution found de la Baume in Louisiana. The first records, dated 13 June 1777, show
that the Chev. De Clouet, commandant of the Opelousas Post certified a petition to the
Spanish Governor, Bernardo, Comte de Galvez, for de la Baume as a “habitant” for
the Vacherie or cow-pasture within the king’s land.
De la Baume was granted a 40-arpent concession located on the bayou on
the Prairie des Nez Pique. Joseph de la Baume owned property on both
sides of the Ouachita River adjacent to that of Jean Filhiol, through the town of Monroe,
Louisiana, as shown on an undated early plat map for area around Monroe, Louisiana. On 26 February 1778, in the Post of Opelousas,
before the "Captain Civil and Military Commandant for the (Spanish) King of the Post
of Opelousas" Joseph de la Baume married Dame Marie LeKentric (Ana Marie Kentree),
widow of Saintmont, daughter of Mr. Joseph le Kintrek and Dame Marie leBoeuf, native of
New Orleans. However, she died the following
year. It is believed that she was the niece
of Jean-Baptiste Filhiol. In 1783,
Jean-Baptiste Filhiol, who had seen service under Governor Bernardo de Galvez during the
Florida campaigns against the British, was appointed the military and civil commander of
the Ouachita Post. He named Joseph de la
Baume as his First Lieutenant and second in command of the Post. This military district
was created to “help Spain hold lands and discourage the encroachment of English,
Americans and vagabonds.” During de la Baume’s military service
at the post, the Osage and Choctaw Indians were constantly attacking the colonists and
stealing their horses, therefore, Commandant Filhiol felt it was necessary to build a fort
to protect the Ouachita settlement. In May
1787, he issued a formal request to Colonel Estevan Miro, who succeeded Bernardo de Galvez
as governor of Louisiana, that the king should supply the funds needed to build a fort. However, this request was denied as Gov. Miro felt
a fort was unnecessary. As the Indian
depredations continued, Filhiol continued to press Miro, but when no help came, he and de
la Baume formulated plans to build the fort themselves.
Filhiol asked his men for a petition explaining the need for a fort, which
he would then forward to Miro. The
petition, written in French and dated August 19, 1790, was written by de la Baume. His signature as well as that of 17 of his
soldiers appears on the document. Gov. Miro denied the request as he still felt that the
fort was unnecessary. Construction of the
fort began on September 8, 1790, under the direction of de la Baume and was completed on
February 11, 1791. They named the 18,000
square foot stockade “Ft. Miro,”
after the governor, and it soon became the center of all activity in the Ouachita Valley. Here, Commander Filhiol held his court sessions,
made announcements, marketing took place and soon they were holding dances, which became
“Creole-style balls.” The city of Monroe, Louisiana now sits on
the land of the former fort. There is a
historical marker located across the street from the present-day courthouse states
"Fort Miro -- Original stockade built on this site in 1790 by Commandant Jean Filhiol
and Lieut. Joseph de la Baume of Ouachita District. The
land was donated by Filhiol, and half of timbers furnished by officers; half by garrison
and settlers. Joseph de la Baume is
considered one of the founding fathers of Monroe, Louisiana, as a result of his
contributions to building the fort. When the
Indian threat continued through 1792, Filhiol created a cavalry unit at the request of the
Baron de Carondelet to which he named de la Baume as Lieutenant. After Spain ceded the east bank of the Mississippi
river to the United States in 1796, Ouachita as a defense post became more vital. Commander Filhiol was ordered to reorganize the
fort into two Dragoon Companies, however, he felt it better to have one Dragoon Company
and one Infantry. Joseph de la Baume was
named Captain of the Dragoon Company. However,
the Indian depredations continued without fear of reprisals as there were only 134
soldiers, most of them over 50 years of age, to defend the fort. The disillusioned Filhiol soon decided to resigned
as his continued requests for more funds and soldiers were denied. In his absence, de la Baume continued as the
executive officer and carried the commandant’s insignia. While at Ft. Miro, de la Baume formed a
life-long friendship with Felipe Enrique Neri, colonizer, legislator, and self-styled
Baron de Bastrop, who had established a colony in the Ouachita valley. After Louisiana was sold to the United States in
1803, the Baron moved to Spanish Texas and was permitted to establish a colony between
Bexar and the Trinity River. The Baron is
best remembered in Texas history for his intervention on behalf of Moses and Stephen F.
Austin to allow the establishment of their Anglo-American Colony. In 1823, he was
appointed commissioner of colonization for the Austin Colony." De la Baume left the fort to live in Natchitoches,
Louisiana, presumably with the Baron, when he heard rumors that Louisiana was being ceded
back to France. In the May 1802 report of
post activities at Nacogdoches, Texas, which the authorities filed monthly with the
Spanish Governor in Bexar, de la Baume and his family’s arrival was noted as a
colonist. At that time, his family consisted of himself and eight Negro slaves. He evidently then began an interesting career as a
trader between Bexar and Natchitoches, Louisiana. In about 1805, de la Baume married Luisa
Cuturie (Curturie) in Nacogdoches, Texas, who had already had a young son, Valerio, from a
previous relationship. Four children were
born during this marriage: Victorina, born in about 1805; Joseph, born in about 1806;
Sancir Pedro, born in about 1809; and Gertrudis, born in about 1811. On August 4, 1803, de la Baume wrote to
Commandant General Nemesio Salcedo from Nacogdoches for permission to settle in Bexar or
La Bahia Texas with his family "because he wished to follow the Spanish Flag." He called himself a physician and herb doctor. Records from a long-involved lawsuit with one his
slaves reflect that he lived in Nacogdoches until 1806.
Joseph de la Baume left for Bexar when he received a Spanish land grant of
about 27,000 acres in Texas for his service to the Spanish crown, as well as permission to
settle in the Villa de Bexar. In
1806 the Villa de Bexar had a population of 2,000 inhabitants, most of which lived
in mud-daubed, grass-roofed houses. However,
having the accumulated substantial funds, he built a large two-story double-stone house
among the cottonwood grove known as "Las Alamedas." The house was built in 12
acres of gardens just two blocks south of the Alamo, across from St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church on East Commerce Street. It
was known as “LaBaume Place” for many years.
The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce building now stands on this
site. De la Baume established the El Capote
Ranch on the 27,000 acres Spanish land grant, however, there is no evidence that he ever
lived on the ranch. The ranch is located on
both sides of the Guadalupe River, near Capote springs, east of present Seguin (12 miles
southeast of Seguin) and west of present Belmont, in present Guadalupe and Gonzales
Counties, near the headwaters of O'Neal Creek.
The highest of these hills, Porter Knob, stands 670 feet above mean
sea level, 150 feet above the surrounding landscape.
Part of the property later became part of the DeWitt Colony. There is a historical marker in front of the
El Capote Ranch gate which states, in part: “The
founder of El Capote Ranch was Jose de la Baume (1731-1834), a French Army Officer who
came to North America with the Marquis de Lafayette and fought in the American
Revolution…” The ranch is presently owned by Gilbert Denham, Jr. of San Antonio. In 1813, a seldom-remembered revolution
took place in Texas, which was put down in the bloodiest battle ever fought in this state. The Spanish Royalists reconquered Texas and de la
Baume was arrested as a "traitor." At
the advance age of 82, he was imprisoned in a granary located on the north side of Main
Plaza. He spent seven months in chains and
was fined 7,000 doubloons. All of his
money and papers, including his military records, were confiscated at that time. When Mexico again threw off the Spanish, he was
pardoned, however, his fortune of 7,000 gold ducats, 50,000 silver pesos and the deed to
El Capote were lost. De la Baume was pardoned on March 8, 1814, by Jose Antonio Saucedo,
Governor of Coahuila y Texas. The notice
states, in part: "insurgents pardoned
and of the families, that are able to be suspected and disturb the quietude and public
tranquility of this province... That of the Frenchman LaBaume." Joseph
de la Baume later employed Stephen F. Austin as his attorney and began to petition for the
restitution of his property. His petition,
dated December 19, 1825 states that he had been a resident of San Fernando de Bejar since
1806. Petitions accompanying the request were
signed by a number of residents of San Antonio who later became historic figures; namely,
Sam Houston, Jose Antonio Navarro, Erasmo Seguin, Green de Witt, John W. Smith and others. On November 4, 1828, the ranch property was ceded
back to de la Baume by the Mexican Government. The
deed was issued in 1832 by the State of Coahuila y Texas.
De
la Baume is listed on page 54 of the "1830 Citizens of Texas," written by
Clifford White: "Esteban F. Austin and
Samuel M. Williams, 21 Dec 1832. I am
European by birth and married in Nacogdoches (wants to be admitted). My name is Joseph de la Baume born in Montpelier,
France. Married ... 5 children, 3 males
and 2 females. My spouse is Maria Louisa
Couturier, native of New Orleans, of age 50 years..." Also on pg 75: "Special Grant by Jose Antonio Navarro and
Green DeWitt in DeWitt's Colony -- 133 - Joseph de la Baume, here since 1816, in San
Fernando de Bejar since 1832. Concession 22
Jan 1826." In a petition dated 15 of February, 1833,
de la Baume applied, through his lawyer, Stephen F. Austin, and certified by Sam Houston,
for an American Veteran's pension for his service in the American Revolution. The
government denied the petition based on the fact that he had served less than six months. When de la Baume was old and infirm at the age of
103, he called several citizens of San Antonio together to his home in the Alamedas. He asked that they sign and authenticate his Last
Will and Testament. Stephen F. Austin
was present as his attorney, along with Francisco Xavier Bustillo, Bachelor Francisco
Maynes, Fernando Rodriguez, John W. Smith, Erasmo Seguin, J. Antonio Padilla, and Manuel
Yturri Castillo. His will was dated 4 April
1834, and "Filed in Court this 6th day of July, A. D., one thousand eight hundred and
forty-four. Thos. H. O. Addicks, Cl'k,
Probate Court."
John W. Smith testified by affidavit as
follows:
“In the spring of the year 1834, I was called upon to visit the room of Jose
de la Baume. On entering the room I
found there assembled several of the citizens of the city of San Antonio. Shortly after entering the room, the said Jose de
la Baume, in the presence of the persons present, drew from under his pillow a written
document and exhibited the same to the persons present and then declared that he was old
and infirm, and was desirous to make and execute a last will and testament, and that he
had invited those present to see him sign and authenticate the document then in his hand
as his last will.” In the will de la
Baume stated: “I am a resident of the
City of San Antonio de Bexar in the State of Coahuila and Texas of the Mexican Republic,
and although I am ill, I am in sound mind, memory, and natural understanding.” He went on to state that he “truly believed
in all the articles and mysteries of our sacred Catholic faith…” He stated that he had reared as a son, Valerio la
Baume, since his tender, issue of his present wife, and directed that Valerio enjoy the
same share of his estate as his other children. His
property was listed as being: His own
property the dwelling and land situated in the Alameda (his home); a tract of land with 300 varas frontage and 600
varas depth on the far side of the acequia; six sitos of land situated at Capote Springs
on the Guadalupe River; one sito of land between Brazos and Colorado Rivers in the colony
of the Empresarios, Stephen F. Austin and Samuel M. Williams; a ranch with farm land
within the boundaries of Nacogdoches composed of two sitos of land along Loco Creek; as
well as his household furniture and farm implements found at his house. He also requested that all debts be paid. He directed that his title of Count de la Baume
be handed down to his daughter, Victoria, or, if the French government disallowed a
female, then title would pass to his son, Joseph. His
wife, Luisa Couturier was named testamentary executor of his will along with his son,
Joseph, and Juan Antonio Padilla. He directed
that he be buried “without any pomp whatever, in a sacred place where all faithful
Christians are laid to rest.” It is believed that his grave is unmarked somewhere in
Austin County near Bellville. Not long after
the will was filed with the court, de la Baume died. In 1840, Michael Erskine purchased the El
Capote Ranch. Erskine is famous for a cattle
drive in 1854 from the El Capote Ranch, through hostile Indian country to California. He started out with 1,000 head of cattle and ended
up in the gold fields with the same number. A
wooden cabin from the ranch and believe to have been inhabited by French Smith, the famous
Indian fighter, was restored and donated to the Texas Tech Ranching Heritage outdoor
museum by Gilbert Denham, Jr., whose grandfather purchased the property from Erskine in
1897. One of the signers of the deed was
Theodore Roosevelt, who owned a horse from the El Capote Ranch. Contributed Dec. 2003 by Sylvia Villarreal Bisnar,
27 Russel Lane, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677, 562- 400-1320, fourth Great-Granddaughter of Joseph de la Baume through daughter Victorina
MCCOY. Daniel, Green, Jesse, John "Devil/Padre", John, Joseph, Prospect, Samuel. [In addition to diverse sources, the following was compiled in large part by analysis of articles in the History of Gonzales County Texas by Linda Alford and Jackie Paschal and data supplied by May Thompson Yoss] Like many DeWitt Colonists including founders Green DeWitt and James Kerr and the author's five related Burket, Kent and Zumwalt families, the McCoy families were pioneers in the Missouri Territory of Upper Louisiana while it was still or had just been released from Spain. The McCoys begin with John and Martha Humphrey McCoy who had children Daniel, Samuel, John McCoy Sr., Catherine, Sarah, Hester, Margaret, Joseph Hill and James. Daniel McCoy (b. aft 1762, bef 1774 in VA or KY; d. 1844; m. Rachel Zumwalt in 1797 in HarrisonCo, KY, daughter of Johann Henrich and Mary Catherine Hiatt Zumwalt), along with brothers John McCoy Sr. (b. abt 1771 PA?; d. 30 Aug 1836 VictoriaCo, TX) and Joseph Hill McCoy, came to the Missouri Territory in 1797 with Daniel's father-in-law Henry Zumwalt and related Zumwalt pioneers from Kentucky. Daniel and Rachel Zumwalt had children John (b. abt 1754), Frances, Sarah, Nancy, Mahala, Margaret, Joseph and Elizabeth. Texian pioneer Frank W. Johnson History of Texas and Texans, who was from the same area of Missouri and knew Green DeWitt well relates:
Six McCoy's received land grants in the DeWitt Colony. Land records indicate a John McCoy Sr. (John "Devil/Padre" McCoy) arrived married 9 Mar 1827 with family of 4, Joseph McCoy arrived married 29 Jan 1829 with family of 7 (son of John McCoy Sr., by census he was in the colony in 1828), another John McCoy (believed son of John McCoy Sr.) arrived married 9 Mar 1827 with family of 4, Jesse McCoy (son of John McCoy Sr.) arrived single 9 Mar 1827, Samuel McCoy (son of John McCoy Sr.) arrived single 4 Jan 1829, Daniel McCoy arrived married 20 Mar 1830 and Joseph McCoy Jr. arrived single 20 Mar 1830. Grants to father John Sr. and sons Joseph and Jesse were next to each other southeast of the Gonzales town tract on the east bank of the Guadalupe River near the current Gonzales-DeWittCo line while those to putative brothers, John and Samuel McCoy, were further south on the east bank in current DeWittCo. The grant to Daniel McCoy was on Peach Creek between Gonzales and the FayetteCo line while that to Joseph McCoy Jr. was further east in current FayetteCo northeast of current Waelder. Relation to the John "Padre" McCoy clan of Joseph McCoy Jr. and Daniel McCoy, who list the same arrival date in land grant records, is unclear, but they are thought to be a father and son pair, brother and nephew of John "Padre" McCoy, respectively. John McCoy Sr., son of John and Martha Humphrey McCoy, arrived with wife Martha and children Daniel and Louisa in 1827 and are listed in the 1828 census of the colony. They were among the first settlers of the DeWitt Colony at Old Station on the Lavaca. John McCoy, known as "Devil" or "Padre" McCoy Indians and Mexicans, respectively, was apparently the head of the McCoy clan and an accomplished Indian fighter as were other McCoys serving under both Daniel Boone and son Capt. Nathan Boone in Missouri. John and Martha McCoy Sr. had children Joseph Hill, John Jr., James, Thomas, Jesse, Timothy, Samuel, Daniel and Louisa. Sons Jesse (b. 1804 in MO) and Joseph Hill (b. abt 1791 in KY) came to TX with their father in 1827 and are also listed in the 1828 census. The single John McCoy listed in the 1828 census from PA is believed also to be a son, John McCoy Jr. (b. abt 1794 in KY; d. BlancoCo, TX). Son Samuel McCoy (b. 1806 in MO) arrived later in 1829. Son James McCoy (b. 1796 in KY; m. Matilda?) also came to Texas and died at Goliad in 1836 while serving in Capt. Pettus' Company of San Antonio Grays. Daniel McCoy (b. 1813 LincolnCo, MO) married an Elizabeth and sister Louisa McCoy (b. 1816 LincolnCo, MO) married Thomas M. Mathews. John McCoy, age 33, from Pennsylvania with a wife in the USA, was listed in the 1828 census of the colony. A John McCoy listed in DeWitt Colony land records as having arrived married in 1827 with family of 4 received a sitio land grant on the east bank of the Guadalupe River on Queens and McCoy Creek in current DeWittCo, south of the cluster of grants to the John "Padre" McCoy relations (Joseph, Jesse and Samuel). These John McCoys are believed to be one and the same and the son of John "Padre" and Martha Dunbar McCoy Sr. A John McCoy participated in the Battle of San Jacinto in Capt. Hayden Arnold's 1st Infantry Company, 2nd Regiment of Volunteers. Dixon and Kemp in Heroes of San Jacinto described him as born in Missouri in 1794 having emigrated to Texas with wife, two sons and a daughter in 1828. He enlisted in the Republican Army on 6 Mar 1836 for 6 months. In 1871 he was living in BlancoCo, receiving a pension and died there. This John McCoy married Elizabeth Ann Castleman 15 Mar 1830. Probably this is the John McCoy family of the 1850 census of CaldwellCo: McCOY: John 55 m KY; Elizabeth 50 f TN; Rimber 19 m TX; John 12 m TX; Green 10 m TX. Jesse McCoy, son of John and Martha Dunbar McCoy, was a member of the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force and died in the Alamo in 1836. A letter from Empresario Green DeWitt to Jefe-Politico of Bexar in 1829 suggests that Jesse played an important emissary or intelligence role early in the colony's history in its relationship with Indians. "His Excellency, Ramon Musquiz, Chief of the Department of Texas, May 8th, 1829. Dear Sir, On last evening a man by the name of Jesa McCoy who is a resident of this colony who has been with the Comanche Indians for several weeks passed arrived here, and gave me the following information; the principal chief of the Tawaccanes, and the principal chief of the Wacoes, called upon the head chief of the Comanches and solicited from him to join them the Wacoes and Tawaccanes in a general war against the Mexicans and the American settlements---Saying at the same time that the Mexicans had taken from them a Caveard and the Americans had killed some of there men, and therefore they have declared war against both; he further states that the Comanches entirely refused to join in the war fare; saying that they were now at perfect peace with the people of this country and wished to remain so. I believe my informant to be a man of truth and that what he has stated my be relied on. God and Liberty. Gonzales, 8th May, 1829 Green DeWitt. (From The Austin Papers, E.C. Barker, ed.)
Prospect Clark McCoy (2 Jan 1816 St. Charles or LincolnCo, Missouri) was thirteen when the family arrived in Texas. During the Texas Revolution, with other members of his family, he contributed to the cause of freedom serving with Captain Albert Martin's Company of John H. Moore's Regiment. To his marriage to Elizabeth Ann Davis were born eleven children among them three sets of twins.
The family of Prospect McCoy lived near old Sandies Chapel. They and most of their children, some of their grandchildren, his mother Catherine, two of his paternal uncles and Rosa Chinault Davis, mother of Elizabeth Ann, were all buried in Sandies Chapel Cemetery. To the Edward T. Pearsons were born three children: Elizabeth Ann "Bettie" married James Robert Gordon, a Confederate veteran; Fillmore M. "Phillip" became the husband of Rachel T. Smith, an orphan girl Phil's uncle Jesse befriended and brought home to Texas from one of his trail drives; and Zachariah C. Pearson who died when not quite a year old. Linda Ivy Alford (Adapted from The History of Gonzales County, Texas by permission of the Gonzales County Historical Commission) Green McCoy was the "boy from Gonzales" described in the 13 men and boy volunteers under Capt. George B. Erath who intercepted a group of about a hundred Indian raiders on the way to a nearby settlement known as Erath's Fight on 7 Jan 1837 at Elm Creek in current MilamCo. Other participants were Lishley, Robert Childers, Frank Childers and soldiers McLochlan, Lee R. Davis, David Clark, Empson Thompson, Jack Gross, Jack Houston. Other boys were Lewis Moore, Morris Moore and John Folks. David Clark, a brother of Green McCoy's mother, Catherine, that came to TX with the McCoys from LincolnCo, MO, was killed in the fight. Green McCoy was also in Ben McCulloch's company that responded to a night raid by Indians on the town of Gonzales in 1841. The troop comprised of Arthur Swift, James H. Callahan, Wilson Randle, Eli T. Hankins, Clement Hinds, Archibald Gipson, W.A. Hall, Henry E. McCulloch, James Roberts, Jeremiah Roberts, Thomas R. Nichols, William Tumlinson, William P. Kincannon, Alsey R. Miller and William Morrison, pursued up the Guadalupe to near the headwaters and killed all but 8 of the raiders. Samuel McCoy. Samuel McCoy was born in 1806 in Lincoln County, Missouri and on 19 Feb 1832 married Mahala Zumwalt who was born in 1814 in St. Charles, Missouri. Before going to Texas, the McCoy and Zumwalt men had served together in Daniel Boone's Mounted Rangers. They served under his son, Captain Nathan Boone, in Lincoln County, Missouri where in April, 1814 James McCoy was killed by Indians one and one-half miles north of Riggs Ford. Samuel McCoy was a son of John "Padre" McCoy, so called by the Mexicans because he was head of the McCoy family who went with DeWitt to Gonzales March 9, 1827. Originally Samuel did not go to Texas with the family. According to land records, he arrived in Gonzales January 4, 1829 and received his one-fourth league of land on the east bank of the Guadalupe River just north of current Hochheim 9 Jul 1831. Samuel also had four lots in the inner town of Gonzales: Block 7, Lots 4 and 5, deed dated December 28,1833 and two outer town lots, Tier 1, Lots 15 and 16 east of Water Street, deed dated September 28, 1835.
Daniel McCoy was among the band of Gonzales volunteers under Dr. James H.C. Miller who responded to a Comanche depredation in 1835 on a French and Mexican pack train on its way to Mexico. Daniel McCoy with Mathew Caldwell and Ezekial Williams were sent forward to determine the bands position when from behind Daniel was grasped by the tails of his long coat by an Indian from the bushes. According to author John Henry Brown ..."but 'Old Dan' as he was called, threw his arms backward and slipped from the garment without stopping, exclaiming, 'Take it, d--n you!'" The relationship of Daniel McCoy to the John McCoy's of DeWitt Colony and whether this is the same Daniel McCoy receiving title to the sitio east of the Gonzales town tract on the Sandy Fork of Peach Creek is not completely clear. The fact that Daniel and Joseph McCoy Jr. list identical arrival dates in DeWitt land records suggest that they may have been related. The reference to "Old Dan" suggests that he might have been up in age in 1835. Daniel McCoy (b. bef 1774), son of John and Martha Humphrey McCoy, brother of John "Padre" McCoy Sr., would have been at least 61 years old and maybe older at the time. Daniel and Rachel Zumwalt McCoy had children John Lewis (b. 1798), Frances (Fanny), Sarah (Sally), Nancy, Mahala, Margaret (Peggy), Joseph (b. 1811) and Elizabeth (Betsy). Daughter Margaret (b. 1809-1812) married first Ambrose Tinney in 1828 in St. CharlesCo, MO. According to descendant Tory Crook, this is Ambrose Fenney. Margaret McCoy and Ambrose Tinney had children John, Griffin (b. 23 Sep 1834), Addison B. (b. abt 1837) and Jacob (b. abt 1840). John (b. 14 Mar 1830 in MO) and a son who died before the 1850 census arrived with the Ambrose Tinney family. The marriage record of 30 Oct 1828 of an Ambrose "Tena" and Peggy McCoy is in St. CharlesCo, MO records. Ambrose Tinney died before 1845 and Margaret McCoy Tinney later married Alexander Morris in 1848 in GonzalesCo, TX, but later divorced. They had children George Washington, Isabel and Alexander Jr. The 1850 census of CaldwellCo lists household: MORRIS: Alexander 28 m PA; Margaret 35 f MO; TINNEY, John 20 m MO; Griffin 17 m MO; Austin 13 m TX; Jacob 10 m TX; MORRIS: George W. 2 m TX; Isabella 6/12 f TX SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS |
[Entrance to current El Capote Ranch on State Road
466 between Seguin and Gonzales in Guadalupe County.] For his services to Spain, La
Baume received title in 1806 to 27,000 acres of Texas land which encompassed the original
and historic El Capote Ranch. 
The children were: Jesse
M., Elizabeth L., Mary M., Zachariah Davis, Prospect C. Jr., Constanna Katherine, Rosanna,
Emaline, Adaline, Vianna and Lavinia. His eldest son Jesse M. was named for his great
uncle, a brother of Joseph, who fell at the Alamo, married first Jane Shelton Bivin
January 9, 1867 in Guadalupe County, Texas and second in Kansas while on a trail drive in
the late 1870's Lucretia L. Contplin. His eldest daughter Elizabeth L. married George W.
Lookingbill. Mary M. McCoy, the second daughter, became the wife of Edward T. Pearson
November 2, 1859 and after bearing three children died May 16, 1869. Zachariah Davis
McCoy, the second son and fourth child, married Mollie Dees and died but a week after
their nuptials were celebrated. The story came down that he swam the river to obtain the
marriage license, became ill and died February 20, 1869. Prospect C. Jr. died at age
seventeen. Constanna Katherine wed first William Pinckney Moore and second following a
divorce C.B. "Bon" Burris. Her twin Rosanna married E. Fred Morris and in 1886
went with their family to Harvey County, Oregon. Emaline (1853) died at age eleven about
the same time as her brother Prospect Jr. Her twin sister Adaline wed W.H. Little October
14,1872. Vianna "Fannie" (May 19, 1856-July 25, 1886) married Benjamin L. Lynch
October 4, 1875 and died eleven years later. Her twin sister, Lavinia, was found dead in
the family yard when she was only fourteen. 
Wife Mahala Zumwalt was the daughter of