The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-12-08
THE DEWITT COL0NISTS.
MR.. D. S. A. DARST IN a REMlNlS.
CENT MOOD.
He Tells Some Interesting Stories About
the Early DAYS In and Around
Gonzales.

Gozalcs Texas. December 5.--m viewing
Gtrlulcs today. with it~ modern two aul
hrec.story business houses and hotels, It's
oil mill water power aud cotton mill urst-
class high school. churches and numer-
Gus Industries. few tcms Of the early
history of the country would also he utter
estlng
Mr.. y. ~ II. uClsL an old aud respected
citizen Of Gonzales, ha, favored your cor
respondent with some Of the carly history
Of this part of TcNas Mr Darst, who was
then a toy Of @ years of age, came with
his fuiher and mother Jacob {, aud Mar
garet Darst, from Montgomery county, Mo-
In the year 1880, To Texas, travelling In a
one.horse curryau and An OK wagon They
were several mouths on the way and bnlily
arrived here on January 5, 1851 some
sixteen cr eighteen families lived hero them
amona them being the Dewitt, EAmluson,
Suwcll, pUtuck, HumWalt, Mug dtd tdlt"l
fpmlieH ID Was called thc bvNttt Cu,All
and Mas under the conuoi of y. Il. fatilch'
who was ulcalde
In addition TO the log houses there was
small stockIdc Tort with jWo block houses
used fov protection against the indians
who Tor several years would come through
the country on moonlight nights ~ steal
horses Occasionally the Indians would XIII
white man aud the settlers would turn ont
10 pursuit aud avenge the death Of their
mel ghbor by killing some ot the Indians.
AT that time game was plentiful, ana there
item, as very little corn was raised and
Bra2oria was the nearest place whore sup
plies could he bought Deer aud turkey
were pler t,ful Bear aud even hufinlo were
Killed occasionally. During the year 1881
several families came 10 the colony and
small store was put up with few gro
Ccrles and some liquor for safe. A0long
the emlgrauts were two men who were hat
ters, and, though boy then, Mr.. narSt re-
members very well the hats they made
out OF wool aud rabbit fur--not very hand,
some, but servlceahie. Corn was ground
into course meal ON what was called then
a steel mill They were run by hand
power clbow greI SCI The writer rcmcm.
ters engineering one himself before the war
back IN the 5Os.
In 1896 the nrst min was built that ran
by horse lower and a sixty saw cotton gin
was attached 20 Il, though hardly any cot.
ton WA raised then. About the urst "
Independence and on the 9th Of March the
fen Of the Alamo and death Of so many
brave men reused the neople 10 throw on
the Mexican rule. Air. Darst's father was
his lie Gghtiug Ike others for thcr homes
and families. On the nth ~ March
al the Families OF the Dewitt colony left
here In what was called the runaway
seFGpc, fearing that the McXlcans would at
tack them. They went East, ana the most
Of them never returned. MIR. Darst and hts
mother went 10 the Trinity river near
Crockett, and after moving 70 several
places, came back to Gonzales In july. 1880.
This place was named after q Geueral
Gonzales IN the Mexican army. Ia pecem.
Der, lst5, Mr.. Darst was married 10 Miss
Emell za%w' isla hy District Judge Nm
Gonzales Mr.. Alfred House, who was a
snail child when Mr. Dnrsi cRms here ia
1891. j. stll living al his home near .har-
wood IN this county, and Is the only per