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Post by rangermatthews on Aug 16, 2007 19:30:17 GMT -5
Here are some facts about my Ranger ancestor Robert Harve Matthews:
Was a member of a Ranger company led by Thomas O. Smith and also by Eli Chandler.
His area was north Texas. He was in a battle with Chief Jose Maria, wounding the chief.
He came to Texas in 1835 from Tennessee and settled in Franklin, Robertson's Colony.
Does anyone have any information on units led by Smith or Chandler?
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Post by Herb on Aug 16, 2007 20:51:07 GMT -5
Have you seen Stephen Moore's Savage Frontier Series?
I just did a quick index scan and found you ancestor in the index of Volume II, and it talks about the fight with Maria.
Moore gives a roster of the rangers that fought there, though he lists it as Bryants' Company, both Matthews and Chandler are listed as privates.
Chandler's Company is talked about in Volume III, although only a partial roster is given, no Mathews is included in the partial list though it says that the men came from Robertson's Colony.
I'll look some more in the morning.
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Post by rangermatthews on Aug 16, 2007 21:49:10 GMT -5
Thanks so much for your quick research on my ancestor. I'm a past Alamo Society member (soon to be re-instated) and have a lifelong love for the Alamo and its place in history. As a War for Southern Independence re-enactor, I've also got an interest in the Alamo's role in that conflict, also.
My Texas Ranger ancestor, Robert Harve Matthews, was a member of the Texas Revolutionary Army, Texas Rangers, and Confederate States of America army (19th Texas Militia, Beat No. 5, Navarro County). And he finally settled down as a leading citizen in Spring Hill, Texas, at age 72, and married for the first and only time, a woman of 21! Don't know which of the preceding events took more courage!
He joined the Texian army in 1835 and was sent north to treat with the Indians, so missed the south Texas conflict with Santa Anna's forces. His sister, Catherine Minerva, married George Washington Hill, whom Hill County is named for. Hill owned an Indian trading post in unsettled north Texas, and was in President Sam Houston's cabinet. They are all buried at Spring Hill Cemetery, the oldest in Navarro county, which is overlooked by G.W. Hill's last homeplace.
Thanks again, Monty
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Post by sloanrodgers on Aug 16, 2007 23:48:44 GMT -5
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Post by Herb on Aug 17, 2007 13:25:10 GMT -5
Going back to Moore's books,
Volume I lists a Robert H. Mathews in Company A, of Coleman's Battalion. The muster roll covers the August - December 1836 time period.
Volume II lists him as a member of James D. Mathews company of Robertson County Rangers from March 8 - June 8 1839.
And it of course lists him as a member of Bryant's Company in January 1839 at the fight with Maria. The Bryant Company was raised as a local response to the Marlin Massacre on January 14. The Maria fight occurred on Jan 16. There's a state marker at the battleground 4.5 miles South of Marlin on State Highway 6 in Falls County.
Volume III has quite a few listings for Chandler and his company, but I could find done for Mathews.
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Post by rangermatthews on Aug 24, 2007 11:54:21 GMT -5
R. H. Matthews is referenced in the book Indian Depredations in Texas I've seen at the bookstores. Thanks for the great information!
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