BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BARTON (Husband of Zilpha Baker) In 1840, Benjamin and Zilpha (Baker) Barton sold their land to a cousin and set out for Texas. They arrived near Henderson, TX, while it was still in Nacogdoches Co. Benjamin went to Marshall, TX to buy horses, and was killed on the return trip. Buried in an unmarked grave in 1843. Source: A History of Coleman County and It's People, page 413. Another source has Benjamin killed in the Regulator-Moderator War in Harrison County, Texas. This source is The Handbook of Texas Online. His grave is near where he was killed and is marked only by a triangle which states "never to be disturbed", (This was fond on a land deed). Grave is located on HWY 80 west of Marshall, TX. Benjamin had been on a horse trading expedition in Louisiana when he was ambushed near his home, robbed, and killed by hanging him from a tree. Benjamin bought 640 acres from Sam Gholson, part of a league of land surveyed for Arthur Horn. Source: Caroleen Williams THE BARTON STORY This story is written in several history books about Texas. This centers around the people who lived in Home Creek, Texas. Since the 1850's, probably the first white family living in the Home Creek area, were the Barton's, who arrived with small children, the year being uncertain. Mrs. Gay's book, "Into The Setting Sun", gave the year as 1862, but Pink Barton, a son, told late in life that it was 1867 or 1868. However, both years may be correct, because of the strange conditions of the early years. Living with the Barton's was Dave Brown, a boy whom they had reared, and who later married a Jenkins girls at Trickman, and another member of the household was an old lady, Aunt Vinnie Washington, possibly a relative. Hen Mayberry (Henry Mayberry), a freed slave, was with them through some of the years as will be told later. They first lived near the mouth of Camp Creek, plowing sod for a small field and probably branding maverick calves, as was legal and a wide custom. After the Civil War, the carpetbag governor E. J. Davis, had the State Police who look whatever they wanted without thought of pay, kept the legally elected officers from conducting the county courts and arrested anyone who resisted, shooting them if they tried to escape. The rumor came to the frontier that every former Confederate soldier was to be shot; as this included almost every man in the area, several of them decided to go to Mexico to live for awhile. So Barton and his family, (it is believed they were talking about Manelius and Lemuel Barton and their family), thought it best to go along. Some had ox-teams and horses or mules, none had camp equipment for such a flight, they had no map and none had ever been where they planned to go. But they set out, and after a few days the old wheels on the wagons began to show wear and to break, which forced the whole train to wait while repairs were made. Someone had told them about the long, waterless distance between the Concho and Pecos, and they filled every vessel, even the iron teakettles, but there would be no water for the horses and cattle. Far out towards the Pecos, a wagon wheel was crushed in going off the ledge on that road less journey. The men worked frantically but could not get the rim to hold up. Their water was gone, the children crying, the stock weak and gaunt. Three men set out with buckets on horseback, and came back with a little water and found the train on the road, but the people were near death. Bailey Barton, then a boy of eight or nine, told of the terrible plight many years later. He had never forgotten that the tongues of the children were so swollen that they could not swallow a sip of water, but could take only a few drops at a time. All were saved, but when they reached the bluffs of the Pecos some of the stock was lost in the stampede to the water. (It is believed this is when Nancy and Manelius lost their daughter Manelos). The people reached Mexico, probably near Eagle Pass and found conditions bearable there. The next year, Barton (believed to be Manelius Barton) and two other men started back to Home Creek to find out if it was safe for them to return. Months passed without news from them; in fact, they were never heard from again. Nancy Barton made a brave decision. "I'm going back to Home Creek!" she told the others. "I know my husband would have been back by now, if he had lived. I'm bound to have some cattle there. My cabin is there, and I'm going to take my children and go back!" All the others decided to come back with her, They started with four wagons, but by the time they reached the Concho, three of the worn out vehicles had to be abandoned, and all crowded into Nancy's wagon, hoping they would not meet up with any Indians. Back on the creek they called home, they found the cabins standing, and among the wild cattle were some in their own brands. Farther up the creek was Lemuel Barton, Nancy's brother-in-law, and the Mayberry's whose daughter had been Lemuel's first wife, but had been killed and mutilated by Indians in Parker County in 1862. Nancy Barton had courage enough to begin again. The little field was plowed and corn was planted, some wild hogs were butchered and salted down, and coming to help them in 1868 or 1869 was Hen Mayberry (Henry Mayberry). The Barton's probably would not have been able to stay on Home Creek if Hen had not been with them. A middle aged man who had lived all his life on the frontier, he foresaw many dangers and saved them from others. Bailey as an old man, told when he and Pink (Andrew P. Barton), in their early teens, rode to the Fiveash place to visit, while Hen went to Trickham for the mail. But the boys soon saw Hen coming, his horse in a dead run, with several Indians chasing him. They whipped up their horses, and Hen, a better rider than they, soon caught up with them, and yelled and shouted to let the Fiveash family know they were coming. The Fiveash family saw the situation and came out with guns, which stopped the Indians and turned them back. Hen taught them always to keep at least one saddle horse hobbled, in case of Indian attack, which occurred often. One day the two boys went to get the hobbled horse, not far from the house, when here came running another of their horses with a rawhide rope around it's neck, just getting loose from the Indians. The boys ran into a cedar break and hid themselves, the Indians came on and got both horses without seeing Pink and Bailey. Hen tried to provide food for them all to eat. Besides farming the little field and getting fish from the creek, he would take a wagon and train cow dogs and camp alone over Hay Creek. At daybreak he would turn the dogs loose, when they would track down and bay some of the wild hogs which were plentiful there. When he had killed, cutup and salted several, Hen would go back to the cabins with the good fresh meat. Pink and Bailey were big boys when their mother decided to move farther up Home Creek. Most of the land was free and she preempted some and bought more, near the crossing later named Ideewild. Nancy Barton died in middle age and is buried at Trickman, Texas. Mary Elizabeth Barton married a man named Marion Bailey who died early and then Mary moved in with Pink and Bailey. They all lived to a very advanced age, the brothers with keen memories of the Indian fights, the United States soldiers on the Military Road, the trip to Mexico and the Texas Rangers who camped near their cabins. Hen Mayberry, who was much the oldest lived to one hundred and five, dying in 1920 and was buried on the ranch as he wished. His grave with its granite marker is under the branches of an oak tree near the ranch house. Another source of A. P. Barton's death is the Probate Index case #1246, however this says he died 22 January 1929. Andrew Pickney Barton never married. Some sources have his name as Andrew Pickney Barton. BAKER BARTON While serving with Lt. Edward Burleson in Commander Rip Ford's Old Company in the Nueces Strip, Private's Baker Barton and William Lackey were killed in a battle against a numerically superior Comanche force near the Nueces River on 27 January 1851. Lt. Burleson and his company were returning from delivering the prisoner Carne Muerto to the U.S. military authorities in San Antonio, on their way back to Ford's main camp at Los Ojuelos when they surprised three mounted Comanches. The worriers, who were scouting the road most likely to ambush a trader's caravan, immediately retreated. Burleson took a detachment of seven men, leaving the rest of his company to guard the civilians on the road, and pursued the Comanche scouts out onto the plains. Three miles into the chase, the three scouts turned to fight, eleven more Comanche arose from the long grass where they were waiting to ambush the eight Rangers. This was, as Rip Ford later wrote about it, "One of the most closely contested Indian fights that ever occurred in Texas. It came down to a desperate hand-to-hand combat in which both the Rangers and the Comanche uncharacteristically fought dismounted; also uncharacteristically, the Comanche closed to fight to the death, hung on even after taking serious casualties, and ended up leaving their dead behind when they finally disengaged. Everyone of the Rangers took hits in the fight, including Lt. Burleson, who received a cut across the brow from an arrow, Jim Carr, William Lackey, Alf Tom, Jim Wilkinson, Jack Spencer and Baker Barton, were all wounded to varying degrees. Pvt. Barton died on his feet, pierced by arrows and bullets as he held onto his saddle horn and fired his rifle over his saddle. Pvt. Lackey lived through the fight, but his wounds later proved mortal. By the time the Comanche broke off the engagement, the Rangers had killed at least four warriors and had wounded all fourteen, some of them seriously. As usual, the Rangers dished out better than they got. James Duncan, who road back to check on Lt. Burleson's detachment when he failed to rejoin the main company, found the exhausted Rangers sitting on bloody ground near their dead or wounded horses, almost unable to move, much less to maintain the pursuit or return to the road. Duncan rode a round trip of 40 miles to bring back water and supplies. A month later, Commander Ford visited the battlefield and found it still littered with arrows the Comanche had fired." Source: Mr. Thomas' book "They Rode for the Lone Star", compiled from Ranger Commander's memoir (Rip Ford's), Brownsville Sentinel account and the Texas Rangers Papers at the Texas State Library Archives in Austin. RUEBEN PATRICK BARTON Reuben moved to Smith Co., about 1848 then to Parker Co. before 1860. He was killed in a gunfight with Indians in Parker Co., Texas. BENJAMIN K. BARTON Some sources have Ben born o 04 June 1826 vice 25 January 1826. Another source has him being killed by Indians on the Texas/Mexico border while he was with the Texas Rangers. Source: Caroleen Williams At this time I have not been able to find any documentation as to Ben Being a Ranger Source: Carl Barton MANELIUS OLIVER BARTON M. O. gave his age as 36 when he enlisted in the confederate Army on 09 November 1863. He was still in the Army in 1864, serving in the Coleman and Brown Counties under the command of Captain Isaac Mullin. Family tradition indicated he and his brother Lemuel Carroll Barton, had gone to Mexico to help put down an Indian uprising. In the ensuing battle M. O. was killed and buried in an unmarked grave in Mexico. After the death of his father, M. O. helped his mother keep the family together, providing for her and his brothers and sisters. M. O. is AKA Manelius in some documents. Source: A History of Coleman County and It's People. page 413, however, I have reviewed the book "Roster of CSA Soldiers 1861-1865" by Mr. Broadfoot and I did not find M. O.'s name on the list. I did find an Oliver Barton that served in the Texas 5th Infantry, Company I. It lists him as being a Sargent. But this still doesn't prove he was in the CSA as I have not seen any documentation that he went by the name Oliver. MARGARET M. (MAYBERRY) BARTON (First wife of Lemuel Carrol Barton) Killed by Indians in the 1860's in Parker County, Texas, Lemuel and Margaret had three children, two of which were boys that died in infancy. After Margaret was killed, scalped and mutilated by the Indians, Lem and some of her brothers tracked them to the Red River. The guilty Indians were killed, roped and dragged back to his home in Weatherford, Texas. The names of the two boys killed with Margaret is not known. they were known to be very young at the time of their death. Source: Loren Barton and Ruth Coleman. One other source has Mary's mother's name as Mariah Jones.