| Notes |
- •Event: Fact 12 FEB 1836 collected $5.75 from the government of TX to pay for supplies used.
•Event: Fact mentioned in a Missouri history book
•Event: Fact JUL 1835 accompanied John Henry Moore in an expedition against the Tawakoni (or Tehuacana) Indians
•PROP: 15 JUN 1831 1 League, 4428.4 ac, Texas General Land Office
The inscription on plaque at The Criswell Family Cemetery in West Point, Texas states as follows:
Criswell FAMILY CEMETERY 1835
John Y. and Eleanor V. Criswell emigrated to Texas with their 8 children in 1829-1830 from KY as members of Stephen F. Austin Third Colony. Granted a league of land by Mexican Government in Matagorda Co. on Colorado River. In 1834 the family moved to the West Point-Plum Grove area in Fayette Co..
John Y. Criswell, Sr. served as a Texas Ranger under Col. John H. Moore to protect the area against Indian raids in 1835. Sons Leroy V. and William V. Criswell fought Mexican regiments in "Come and Take It" Battle at Gonzales and Battle of Bexar at San Antonio against Gen. Cos (Santa Ana's brother-in-law). Leroy was wounded at Bexar but accompanied his family on the "Run Away Scrape" while William joined Gen. Sam Houston's army which defeated Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto. Younger sons John Y. Jr., Andrew, and Joseph E. fought in 1845-46 U. S. Mexican War.
In 1838 John Y. Criswell, Sr. donated this cemetery site located on his land to the Hopewell Baptist Church, the first Baptist Church west of the Colorado River.
Eleanor Criswell was one of the first buried in this cemetery. She died in 1835.
Gene Brownlow
The turn off to the cemetery is located off highway 71 at 29°56'32.94"N and 97° 1'12.51"W which is the exit for 543. This would be north off 71 and follow 543 to West Point Loop exit at 29°56'38.44"N and 97° 1'28.68"W. Go north on West Point Loop to the first right at 29°56'43.70"N and 97° 1'28.87"W. Go right on the gravel road just over 1/3 of a mile to the cemetery. From the W Point Loop turnoff aproximately 1/4 mile on the left is where i believe John Yancy's house was located some 250 feet on the left at 29°56'54.80"N and 97° 1'23.63"W. from that point to the cemetery gate would be aprox 575 feet.
The Cemetery is located at 29°57'0.40"N and 97° 1'22.00"W.
The Criswell Family
JOHN YANCY Criswell, Sr. b. 1786 (between 1780 and 1790) Pa.; d. 9-30-1839 Plum Grove, Fayette Co., Texas; m. abt. 1811 (no marriage record found in K Co., KY.) a Miss Vannoy (I believe), b. abt. 1791 (between 1790 and 1800) KY. d. in Texas (either in Matagorda Co. or Fayette Co. which was part of Austin's Colony until the county was organized 1838) before 1839, as no wife was mentioned in the settlement of John Y.'s estate. He died without a will. His probate record in Fayette Co. is Case #48. His oldest son, Leroy Vannoy Criswell was Administrator. Leroy V. was appointed Guardian for the minor Joseph E. and Andrew Jackson Criswell. A neighbor, William Madison Scallorn Sr., was appointed Guardian for the minor, John Y. Criswell, Jr. John Wesley Scallorn, San Jacinto hero, son of William's brother Stephen, was Guardian for James H. Criswell. (Wm. Scallorn, my great-great-grandpa, was the first Baptist Deacon of record ordained in Texas--on July 11, 1840 at old Hopewell Baptist Church in Plum Grove. Hopewell was begun in the winter of 1838 with prayer meetings held in Wm. Scallorn's home, with Rev. Z. N. Morrell conducting the first services.
The maiden name of Mrs. John Y. Criswell, Sr., is not positively known now 1957, but the fact that the middle name of their first two sons, Leroy and William, was "Vannoy" shows it to be a name of importance. For that reason I thought that her maiden name was probably "Vannoy" So when I first had a chance to search the 1830 Knox Co., KY., microfilm census while in Austin, I looked for a Vannoy as well as for a Criswell. In that census I found John Y. Criswell (40-50) with a wife (30-40), their 8 children and an extra male (20-30) whom I can't identify. (He may have been a brother of either of them or a son of John Y.'s by a previous marriage, but only the 8 known children were named in the settlement of his estate.) I also found a WILLIAM Vannoy (50-60) who was the right age to be the father of Mrs. John Y. Criswell, an Alex. Vannoy (20-30) and a Joel Vannoy (30-40). It seems reasonable to assume that the maiden name of John Y.'s wife was "Vannoy", and that she was the daughter William Vannoy, although this is not proof.
On 7-23-1821 in Knox Co., KY., John Y. Criswell witnessed the will of Lurena Sumner. In December 1830, John Y., a married man, arrived in Texas. They were still in Knox Co. when the 1830 census was taken there. They probably left the fall after the crops were in. Most likely they came by boat rather than covered wagon since they settled near the port of Matagorda.
John Y. Criswell, Sr., received 2 Land Grants, One was a Spanish Grant dated 6-5-1831 for one League of land in Matagorda Co. situated on the west side of the Colorado River below H League, title being issued in Austin's 3rd Colony. It was signed by Stephen F. Austin. The other was a Republic of Texas Land Grant for one Labor of land issued in Fayette Co. 3-1-1838 which stated he arrived in Texas with his family December 1830. On 3-6-1838 he assigned this Certificate to William Clinton. Title for 1 League of land in Polk Co. on Long King's Creek was issued in Vehlein's Colony 3-25-1835 to Ann D. Criswell a widow, whose husband may have been related to John Y. Criswell.
Note: At long last, on 2-3-1964, I found William Vannoy's will which mentions "the children of my deceased son-in-law, John Y. Criswell and daughter, Eleanor". The will was made 7-12-1845.
In July 1835, John Y. Criswell, Sr., was one of the men with Col. John H. Moore who went to the aid of Capt. R. M. Coleman and his company of 25 men who were on a mission to make peace with the Tehuacana Indians near Parker's Fort. The Indians, mistaking their purpose, attacked them instead. When Col. Moore arrived the Indians were gone. The several groups of volunteers joined forces under Col. Moore and pursued them as far as the forks of the Trinity.
[There is some info missing here, LWPriest]
William Madison Scallorn who was appointed Guardian for the minor, John Y. Criswell, Jr., when his father died in 1839--(Wm. Scallorn was my g.g.grandpa--SRD). The old Plum Grove Cemetery at West Point is on this land. A church was built after the deed was given, but it burned many years ago.
This Church began in 1838 with the first meetings being held in the home of Wm. Scollorn, Sr., and was first called "Hopewell Baptist Church". It was organized early in 1839 under the articles of the United Baptists of West Tennessee, with Z. N. Morrell as its first pastor. This was the first Baptist Church west of the Colorado River. Wm. Scallorn, Sr., was ordained Deacon at old Hopewell Church July 11, 1840, his ordination being the first one of record in Texas. In 1842 there were 22 members when a rift occurred in the church over the Missionary question. Stephen Scallorn, brother of William, was also deacon, and was one of the nine members who called themselves "the faithful" and kept the Book (Church Record) and Church House. The other 13 missionary members, including Wm. Scallorn, Sr., then called their group the "Plum Grove Baptist Church". Both groups, without doubt, considered themselves the "original" church. This is all carefully explained in Stephen Scallorn's obituary when he died 12-24-1887. Another church building was erected about 1870, Dr. Eugene C. Routh says. It is still standing--just barely--and is now used as a barn, in the present town of Plum. The Plum Grove Church the John Click deed refers to is not this one. (Torn down abt. 1959)
If John Y., Sr., were a Baptist, as many of his later family were, then he probably was a member of old Hopewell Church, as he was a friend and close neighbor to Stephen and William Scallorn, Sr., in the Plum Grove area.
John Y.'s sons, Leroy Vanoy Criswell and William Vanoy Criswell were in the first fight of the Texas Revolution, the "Come and Take It" battle at Gonzales Oct. 2, 1835, as proven by the record in Archives showing they purchased 5# of sugar there @ $1.00 on Oct. 4, 1835.
John Yancy Criswell, Sr., and his wife had 8 known children.
In MILITARY RECORDS at ARCHIVES IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, and in PUBLIC DEBT PAPERS. I found some interesting papers. #7486, issued to John Y. Criswell on 5-16-1838 for Supplies was filed by Genl. Burleson, examined and Audited for $18.00. The following seem to be part of this $18 payment:
"Feb. 11, 1836 This is to certify that we in behalf of a squad of Volunteers travelling to St. Antonio being out of provisions called upon John Y. Criswell who fed us in his own house with his own provisions for the night & next morning breakfast eight of us two meals @ 25 cts say five dollars for which the government will no doubt renumerate him, we being authorized to draw on said gov. for provisions.
(signed) M. Autry
(signed) D. W. Cloud
Agents for squad"
(Note by SRD: Both Micajah Autry, of N. C., and Daniel Wm. Cloud, of KY., fell at the Alamo 3-6-1836)
"This is to certify that the Ranging Corps under the command of Col. E. Burleson made use of 3 bushels of corn at one Dollar and fifty cents per bushel and one bushel of potatoes at one dollar, property of J. Y. Criswell. Colorado July 22, 1836 (signed) John G. McGehee Captain M. V. Corps
(signed) Edw. Burleson Colonel"
(and on another scrap of paper) "The Government of Texas will pay Jno. Y. Chriswell on order four dollars and fifty cents for provision furnished my Company. (signed) Wm. M. Eastland
Capt. of Rangers
Let this be audited 5-15-1838
(signed)A. S. Thurston"
(Note by SRD:
Wm. Mosby Eastland was at San Jacinto, and in 1842 with the Mier Expedition. He captured, and was the only officer to draw a black bean at Haciendo Salado in Mexico where he was shot [executed] 3-25-1843.)
On 2-12-1836 John Y. collected $51.33 pay for his son Wm. V.'s service in the Volunteer Army from 5-28-1835 to 12-13-1835, including the Siege of Bexar, where Wm. V. conducted himself so gallantly. John Y. wrote on a scrap of paper: "Recd. of J. W. Moody, Auditor, a draft drawn in favour of William Criswell for $51.33 on account of which I promise to keep him harmless.
(signed) J. Y, Criswell."
On this same day, 2-12-1836 John Y. also collected $5.75 owed to Leroy and Wm. V. which they had paid for Coffee, Sugar, etc., in the fall of 1835 (see Leroy and Wm. V.).
Wm. V. also assigned to his father his pay of $24 for Service in the Army of the Republic of Texas from 3-27-1836 to 6-27-1836, including the Battle of San Jacinto. This was Audited 11-1-1838 and draft #9795 was issued on that date in the form of a tiny certificate. This certificate was not cashed before John Y.'s death in 1839, and on 8-24-1851 it was sent to J. M. Swisher, Auditor of public accounts, by Leroy for his father's estate. Another certificate was issued 9-1-1851 for $24 on the Public Debt form of the late Republic of Texas. On 5-25-1857 Leroy V., Wm. V., Jos. E. and John Y., Jr. give F. W. Nowlin their power-of-attorney to collect this $24. It was finally paid in full 7-23-1857--over 21 years after the Battle of San Jacinto was fought! (Records in the Land Office in Austin show that Wm. V. also assigned to his father his Bounty Grant of 120 acres for this same Service in the Army from 3-27-1836 to 6-27-1836.)
On 11-2-1838 John Y. collected $41.66 for Leroy's Service in the Indian Campaign from 7-23-1835 to 9-13-1835, stating his son owed the Government nothing.
From The Criswell Family by Sue Ragland Diggle, dated 1957 and added to in 1964, retyped in 1988 by Nada Moon Alexander. page 83
Leroy V. and Wm. V. Criswell enlisted 9-28-1835. They served in Capt. J. C. Neill's Artillery Company. (J. C. Neill also enlisted 9-28-1835, as Captain, and was made Lt. Colonel during the Siege of Bexar, Dec. 5-9, 1835. General Cos raised a white flag Dec. 9th and signed capitulation papers the next day. On 2-14-1836 Col. Neill, because of illness in his family, left the Alamo in charge of Wm. B. Travis and thereby missed becoming an immortal hero. Later he was wounded at San Jacinto in the skirmish on April 20.)
Capt. Neill signed Leroy's Honorable Discharge 11-24-1835 at Camp Bexar, just 11 days before the Siege began. William V.'s Honorable Discharge was signed 12-13-1835 by Capt. Almeron Dickinson (who was killed 3-6-1836 at the Alamo. His wife Suzanna was present and later wrote eye-witness accounts of the battle) and Col. Neill. It stated that Wm. V. had discharged his duty "with honor and applause", and that he was "also one who so gallantly distinguished himself in the Siege of Bexar."
The fact that Leroy was discharged at Camp Bexar so soon before the Siege, coupled with the fact that $2.00 was paid to a Doctor in Gonzales 12-27-1835, seems to indicate that he was somehow physically incapacitated, possibly because of injuries sustained at Gonzales. Certainly every ablebodied man was needed in those perilous times, and Leroy would not have been allowed to leave the Service for any but the strongest of reasons.
Leroy, Wm. V. and their father all knew personally many of our early Texas heroes. Eight men en route to the Alamo, spent the night in John Y. Criswell, Sr.'s home 2-10-1836. He fed them that night and gave them breakfast the next morning. On 2-ll-l836 H. Autry and D. W. Cloud signed a statement that they were a squad of Volunteers travelling to "St. Antonio", and that they were authorized to draw on the government for provisions. The total signed for was $5.00 which included 2 meals each for 8 of them @ 25 cents. I found this in Military Records at Archives in Austin, had a photostat made of it, and in 1961 presented it to the Alamo. It is now framed and hangs on the wall of the Alamo. This is my personal tribute to the Criswell Family, both living and dead, of whom I am so very fond.
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From the Handbook of Texas Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/index.html.
Criswell CREEK (Fayette Co.). Criswell Creek rises about a mile west of the Southern Pacific tracks and 2½ miles southwest of West Point in northwestern Fayette Co. (at 29°54' N, 97°03' W) and runs northeast for about five miles, crossing the Southern Pacific tracks, State Highway 71, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas tracks, before reaching its mouth on the Colorado River (at 29°58' N, 97°01' W). South of West Point the creek traverses an area with a fine sandy loam surface soil over a very firm clay subsoil. This land is of marginal value for agriculture and is used primarily as cattle pasture. Between West Point and the Colorado River the stream runs through gently rolling terrain surfaced by firm calcareous clay layers overlying gravel deposits. This land produces good corn and hay crops, but much of the soil has been stripped to allow access to the gravel. The creek is probably named for John Yancy Criswell, an original settler in the area who in July 1835 accompanied John Henry Moore in an expedition against the Tawakoni (or Tehuacana) Indians.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Leonie Rummel Weyand and Houston Wade, An Early History of Fayette Co. (La Grange, Texas: La Grange Journal, 1936).
More from the Handbook of Texas
PRAHA, TEXAS. Praha, on Farm Road 1295 three miles east of Flatonia in southern Fayette Co., was originally known as Mulberry and Hottentot, the latter apparently referring to a band of outlaws. James C. Duff, William Criswell, and Leroy Criswell first settled the area.
DARBY, TEXAS. Darby was near an old Indian trail and campground about four miles west of Moscow in central Polk Co.. The area was settled by Europeans before the Civil War;qv among the early settlers was an Irish family named Criswell, who arrived in 1835. The community was eventually named for Augustus Darby, a slaveowner who moved to the area during the 1850s. It is unique among Polk Co. settlements, as many of its early residents were from Ireland and Germany. Darby had a Catholic church and became a leather-tanning center for local hunters. A school was also established there. Residents formed the Darby Farmers Alliance, which met from at least 1886 to 1890. Darby was still a rural community during the 1930s, and in the 1940s it had the only Catholic cemetery in the county. Maps from the 1980s do not show the settlement.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Emma Haynes, The History of Polk Co. (MS, Sam Houston Regional Library, Liberty, Texas, 1937; rev. ed. 1968). A Pictorial History of Polk Co., Texas, 1846-1910 (Livingston, Texas: Polk Co. Bicentennial Commission, 1976; rev. ed. 1978).
by Robert Wooster
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EVENT: LAND GRANT 15 JUN 1831
1 Lg. 4428.4 ac Texas Gen Land Office
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From: Kristi Braun,
Hi Larry,
If you tell me how I will send you my files from FTM. The only thing is that I have all of the in one big file. I would have to seperate them first. Have you been to Plum Grove Cemetery in West Point? R. R. Criswell has put a new monument and an plaque for John Yancy Criswell, Sr. and Eleanor Vannoy Criswell. Also they they found some sandstone monuments for John and Eleanor Criswell when a fence was placed around that section of the cemetery. My other ggg-grandmother from my father's side is buried next to them at Plum Grove, her name is Elizabeth McClure Karnes. This is my line in short version.
Candace Ann Criswell Fitzgerald
Amanda Jane Fitzgerald Hale
Nettie Lee Hale Collins
Robert Leroy Collins
Shirley Jean Collins Tuttle
Kristi Kay Tuttle Braun
I have been working on getting my mother into the Daughter's of the Republic of Texas. I went to LaGrange last week and now all I have to do is type the papers.
Nice to hear from you, Kristi Braun
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Note from Larry Priest: I found a John Criswell born 1790 to 1800 in the Abbeville, SC census of 1830. pg 15
I found the following info at http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/data/tn+index+18133957271 0+F
Tennessee PENSION ROLL OF 1835
Henry Criswell
Wilson COUNTY
PRIVATE SOUTH CAROLINA LINE $80.00 ANNUAL ALLOWANCE
Found at: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ifetch2?/u1/data/ky+index+61308306850 0+F
KENTUCKY PENSION ROLL OF 1835
DAVID Criswell Henry COUNTY PRIVATE
PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA
$26.66 ANNUAL ALLOWANCE
$79.98 AMOUNT RECEIVED
JANUARY 3, 1834 PENSION STARTED AGE 73
SAMUEL Criswell LEWIS COUNTY PRIVATE
VIRGINIA LINE $96.00 ANNUAL ALLOWANCE
$1,525.03 AMOUNT RECEIVED
APRIL 16, 1819 PENSION STARTED AGE 73
$240.00 AMOUNT RECEIVED SEPTEMBER 11, 1833 PENSION STARTED AGE 75
Book Criswell Creswell
Knox gounty 1320 Census. JOHNY. CHRISWELL,age 26-44; wife 16-.25;
son 10-15; two sons and two daughters under 10. [The Ky. Genealo ist, vol. I, p. 39]
K... cmmy 1830 Census. JOHNY. CRISWELL,age 40-49; wife 30-39;
male 20-29; and eight children. [copied by Sue R. Diggle]
Kentuclgy Land Warrants - see page 82.
|
1786 - 1839 (53 years)
