| Notes |
- Notes for John Yancy Criswell Jr.:
At age 18 in late 1842, John Y., Jr., joined an independent company of Texas rangers and engaged in desultory Indian fighting. In 1842-43 he served in the Somervell Expedition led by General Adrian Woll to repel the invasion of Texas by Mexico. In 1845, John, entered the service of the Republic of Texas, along with his brother Joe. At the breaking out of the war between the US and Mexico, he joined the com pany of M.L. Gray of the Texas Rangers, served throughout the war and mustered out 17 Jul 1847. John and his brother Joe served in the Ranger Company under the immediate command of Peter Hansborough Bell.
Mexican War Reference:
In 1852, Gov. Bell gave a character reference for Joe by saying, "Among his fellow soldiers he was in the main a good one. He was fond of trading and running horses, or trafficking, etc., and participated in all the little amusements legitimate in camp. He was considered a wild young man, but generally esteemed a fit associate by his fellow soldiers. He was under my immediate command, and subject daily to my inspection of the manner in which he performed his duties as such."
After the war John was often called, "Captain Criswell".
John enlisted in the Texas Rangers for the Mexican War on July 21, 1846, Capt Gray's Texas Mounted volunteers. Discharged July 17, 1847.
In 1852, John was given a character reference by then Governor Peter H. Bell: "Among his fellow soldiers he was in the main a good one. He was fond of trading and running horses, or trafficking, etc., and participated in all the little amusements legitimate in Camp. He was considered a wild young man, but generally esteemed a fit associate by this fellow soldier. He was under my immediate command, and subject daily to my inspection of the manner in whch he performed his duties as such".
JOHN Y. CRISWELL
Dallas Morning News
13 Oct 1896
Mortuary
Criswell--Flatonia, Fayette Co., Tex., Oct. 8--
John Y. Criswell, an old resident of this county, a Texas veteran and ex president of the Texas Veterans' association, died yesterday at Waco, where he had gone for his health. He was said to be 84 years old. The funeral took place today.
Contributed by Debbie Hanson
In 1888 Candace's brother, John Y. Criswell, Jr., wrote a most interesting story for the LaGrange Journal about the Runaway Scrape. This was a Flight toward the Sabine River which started around San Patricio, Refugio and San Antonio about the middle of February 1836 when the Mexicans invaded. Sam Houston arrived in Gonzales March 11 and decided to retreat to the Colorado. His retreat, coupled with the news of the fall of the Alamo, set off the Runaway Scrape in a large way. Many Fayette County families joined the Flight the last of March. Some went in wagons, some on horseback. Those who had no ready transportation went on foot. At times they waded in mud up to their knees. Larger children helped carry smaller children. There was much suffering and disease. A number of them died, and there was at least one birth during the trip. A child of Col. John H. Moore and Eliza Cummins (dau. of James) either fell from a horse and died during the Runaway Scrape, or died somehow, and a child of Norman Woods and Jane Boyd died during the Flight. When news of the San Jacinto victory reached them, they returned to their homes. (Also, John and Mary Rabb lost a baby son.)
John Y., Jr., says in his article that his father's family joined the Flight. He should have stated that all were along except his brother William V. who was in the Army at the time, and who was at San Jacinto. John Y. also says that one of my kinsmen, John Wesley Scallorn, was along--which I seriously doubt. Wesley enlisted 3-4-1836 and was not discharged until 6-12-1836. (Military Records, Archives, #6105). He, too, was at San Jacinto. There is a remote possibility that Wm. V. and Wesley were ordered to assist with the Flight when the Fayette Co. families started out, then were ordered to join the Forces before they reached the San Jacinto battlefields, although it does not seem likely. After all, it was over 52 years before John Y. wrote his recollections of the Flight, and he was only 11 1/2 years old at the time. Wesley certainly could have been one of the soldiers at the start.
In his story John Y., Jr., referred to Candace as "Mrs. Fitzgerald" although she was the widow Underwood at the time of the Flight, and did not marry Obediah Fitzgerald till 1846, with another marriage and 4 children intervening, He states that Lee F. T. Cottle was on the Flight, and I think this is where they really got to know each other, as they married soon after they returned home. He also mentions Candace's closest friend, Lucinda Kenner Berry, as "Mrs. Gorham" although she was Mrs. T. O. Berry at the time of the Flight. Her 18 month old son, Wm. Thomas Berry, was with her. After T. O. Berry died in 1837, Lucinda married (2) 1839 Josiah O'Daniel, father of Mary Rebecca O'Daniel who married John Y., Jr., in 1847 at Lucinda's home. After Josiah died in 1845 Lucinda married (3) 1848 William Gorham.
John Y., Jr., also mentions some of my Faires and Karnes kin as being on the Flight. Noah Karnes, husband of my g.g.grandma's sister, Elizabeth McClure, was accidentally killed during the Flight by Wayne Barton near Round Top, Fayette County. In 1848 Lucinda and Wm. Gorham moved to Black Jack Springs from Plum Grove where she had been a close neighbor to John Y., Sr., and his family when they moved there abt. l839. Candace and Lucinda were the closest of friends, as well as neighbors, from then until Candace died in 1900.
1850 Census Fayette County, Texas
#412 Farmer ($600)
John Criswell 26 m Ky
Mary 19 f Ala
Leander 2 m Tex
Frances 1 f Tex
D. O. Daniels 15 m Ala
H. White 16 m Ala
Edwd Hallough 10 m Tex
Jan 25 1862, Private in the Bastrop Lubbock Guards
In 1862 John Yancy Criswell was a Justic of the Peace.
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1824 - 1896 (71 years)
