The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, July 1930 - April, 1931 Page: 61
359 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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History of Fainnin County, 1836-1843
were two Virginians, one native of Ohio (rather an exception),
one Kentuckian, one Marylander (reared in Kentucky), one Ten-
nesseean and one North Carolinian. Of twenty-nine pioneers whose
movements we can trace completely, twelve came to Texas directly
from the state of their birth, ten lived in one other state than that
in which they were born, four lived in two other states, two in three
other states, and the doughty Daniel Dugan dwelt in eight states
and territories prior to coming to Texas.
The immigrant into the Fannin area was, in most cases, a
native of North Carolina, Tennessee or Kentucky. If he was a
young man he had come very likely from his native state to Texas,
but if he was older the chances rather favored his having lived
for a number of years in either Tennessee or Arkansas on his west-
ward hegira.
In ability and possessions these men were neither better nor
worse than their frontier contemporaries of other sections. They
were, on the whole, poorly educated in books but abundantly
capable in dealing with the perplexities of pioneer life. Produced
in the inexorable school of the wilderness they were versatile, self-
reliant and sturdy. Their wealth generally consisted of land but
all of them should not be judged by the same financial yardstick.
If on the one hand there were Holland Coffee, Daniel Rowlett or
Daniel Montague who possessed large numbers of slaves, on the
other hand there was the poorer single man whose entire estate
consisted of a land certificate and a cow and a calf. From a will
probated in 1839 a fair knowledge of the wealth of an unmarried
adventurer may be obtained. He wrote simply,
I bequeath to John Stephens my own headright of six hundred
and forty acres of land, & one black horse & one rifle gun, one
bullet pouch, & all my corn and kettle and skillet.'
Leadership in a pioneer community passes as inevitably into the
hands of men of proven ability as it does in more developed areas.
In Fannin County of the formative period there appeared several
men who stood out among their fellows as leaders. Daniel Rowlett
held the most important position among this group of pioneers, if
we may judge by education, wealth and versatility of accomplish-
ment. He was a physician, an attorney at law, a slaveholder, a
'Probate Minutes for Fannin County, A, 33.
2Deed Records for Fan'in County, A, 51.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, July 1930 - April, 1931, periodical, 1931; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101091/m1/65/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.