Re: G-G- Granddaughter of Fruzie E. (Blair) Gotcher
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In reply to:
G-G- Granddaughter of Fruzie E. (Blair) Gotcher
11/09/01
Hi Carla,
My GG grandmother was Julia Ann GOTCHER b. 1833 Clay Co., MO, d. 1859 Collin Co., TX, bd. Old Richards Cemetery, Blue Ridge, Collin Co., TX, marr. 25 Aug 1853 Collin Co., TX to John BOREN b. 9 Jul 1823 AR. d. 1892 Collin Co., TX, bd. Old Richards Cemetery, Blue Ridge, Collin Co., TX.
As yet, I have not been able to connect my line of GOTCHERS to the ones in the story below, but they may be the ones that you mentioned being killed by the Comanches.
The Gotcher Massacre
This is an excerpt from A History of the James Gotcher Family by David O Emison. Mr. Emison was often in the company of his grandfather, Riley Carrol Gotcher. Riley Carrol's father was William Riley Gotcher who was kidnapped by a group of Comanches in 1837. Mr. Emison recorded the account told him by his grandfather. I am indebted to Mr. Emison for allowing me to reprint this portion of his book.
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Following Texas Independence in April 1836, one of the sons (of James Gotcher), Samuel Gotcher, enlisted in the Texas Rangers and served under the command of Captain Billingsley. Samuel obtained his land grant from Texas which was due him, having been of age and a single man when he immigrated to Texas. Single men were granted one third of a league of land as their headright. The one third league given to Samuel was Certificate No. 50 and was located in the downtown area of Austin, Texas.
The present Capitol building rests on the Samuel Gotcher land grant. The approximate north-south center line of the grant is Congress Street in Austin, and extended south to the Colorado River. It is the same land that Great-Grandfather William Riley (Gotcher) later inherited.
In November 1836, Samuel returned to his home in Bastrop. (Bastrop on that day denoted a very large area, generally encompassing present Bastrop, Lee, Williamson, and part of Travis County). The following March 1837, was the date of the tragic event in the story of the family of James Gotcher.
The family was in their home on Rabbs Creek in present Lee County. The home was located on a hill about 400 yards east of Rabbs Creek and 100 yards north of the Gotcher Trace. Their now widowed daughter Jane Crawford, and her baby girl, Margaret Elizabeth were living in their household also. Mrs. Gotcher, Jane, her baby, William Riley and James, Jr., were at the homesite. Mr. Gotcher and his oldest sons being Samuel and Nathaniel were in the forest preparing firewood. Jane and William Riley went to a small creek nearby to get water for the family use. Comanche Indians were then approaching the Gotcher home and when Jane and Riley saw them, they immediately attempted to return and warn Mrs. Gotcher. However, the Indians captured them both and Mrs. Gotcher heard them. She then very bravely defended her home and her loved ones inside as best she could. Before she fell dead, her body pierced by many arrows, she had shot and killed five of the attackers. Mr. Gotcher and his sons, hearing the shots, quickly ran to defend their loved ones, however, they were all quickly killed. Jane struggled to free herself that she might comfort one of her dying brothers nearby, but her captors would not permit.
The Indians scalped Mrs. Gotcher. She had long beautiful hair which they placed on a pole for their ceremonial. The survivors, Jane, her daughter Margaret Elizabeth, James Jr, and William Riley were forced to participate in the Indian ceremonial dance around their mother's scalp. Immediately afterwards the captives were forced to leave with the Indians. Besides the survivors, horses, hogs, and salt were the only things the Indians took from the Gotcher home. Before the day ended, some settlers took chase to the Indians, unaware of the Gotchers being among them. The settlers soon lost track and had to return to their homes. That night, the Indians ate the hogs they had taken and became violently ill from fresh pork and their hard ride from the settlers.
Three days after the tragedy, Colonel Edward Burleson came upon the Gotcher home and found the terrible scene. He buried them directly across the Gotcher Trace from their home. A Texas State Historical Marker has been placed on the burial site. Colonel Burleson buried the Indians which Mrs. Gotcher killed near a very large oak tree between the homesite and the family graves.
For the survivors, life was completely miserable on the trail. Their food consisted of whatever could be found, or a morsel occasionally tossed them by an Indian. William Riley remembered having some skunk to eat. Jane learned to prepare a broth made from acorns. The Indians treated them with extreme cruelty, and on one occasion tried to kill Jane's daughter. Being a baby, no doubt hungry and weary, she cried very much. This annoyed the Indians. One of them took her and threw her into a stream of water to drown. Jane immediately retrieved her and the Indian moved to take the baby again. Jane hit him over the head with a stick of wood. The Indian leader observed this and intervened. He gave Jane her baby, admired her bravery and told her that her baby would not receive such treatment again.
Onward in a northerly direction the party went, with the Indians on ponies and the Gotchers on foot. Jane obviously was a remarkable person to keep her daughter and two brothers alive. At night they were closely guarded or tied securely to prevent their escape. It was near the present Oklahoma border that escape did occur only to be captured again. The Comanche party encountered another party of Indians and a skirmish between them began. During the skirmish Jane with her daughter and her brothers did escape only to be captured by the other party of Indians who were Choctaws and who resided in Oklahoma. The Choctaws took the little family of Gotchers to their camps in the Arbuckle Mountain area of Oklahoma.
During this period of Texas history, it was very common for Indians to take captives to the Red River area of Texas where they were able to trade them for their desired bounty to other Indians, or to white traders at trading posts. It is believed that this was the Comanche's intent as they approached the Red River area and encountered the Choctaw party. No doubt the captured family was considered by the Indians to represent very attractive trading possibilities.
The Choctaws were not cruel to the family. They were required to work for them as servants and they were closely guarded to prevent escape. It became William Riley's chore to keep the camp fires burning. The village chief would wake him with the exclamation "Sosh-comma-rye-ah", being their language for "get wood on that fire!" Quite obviously William Riley was a fearless and actually a wild lad who at first was in disfavor with the Choctaws. In their games that he was forced to participate in, he was usually the winner. One game involved sticks in the hand of each player within a marked off area on the ground. Players would be required to be within the "ring" and attempt to hit the other player or cause him to leave the ring. An opposing player would ward off the other player's attack with his stick. William Riley became an undisputed winner, and even injured an Indian lad. Many in the camp were opposed to his action and his obvious superiority over the Indian lads and were annoyed by his presence. However, the chief was attracted to William Riley, admired his bravery and skill. With his influence, the chief won the acceptance of all the Indians for William Riley and although he was a captive, he became one of them. On one occasion, the chief kept him hidden for several days in a buffalo hide to protect him from the village people.
In January 1838, the Choctaw chief and his party took the family to Coffee's trading post on the Red River to negotiate a trade with the whites or some other Indians. Colonel Coffee was the owner of the trading post and he and his wife, "Aunt" Sophia Coffee resided in the post. When the Indians approached the post with their captives, "Aunt" Sophia saw the pitiful little family and pleaded with the Colonel to negotiate for their release. Charles Spaulding was also in the post and was there in search of the family. He and Colonel Coffee traded with the Indians for their captives. Many stories have been given as to the actual trading items, but no doubt the family brought a handsome amount of goods, trinkets, and usual items desired by Indians.
Charles Spaulding was very attracted to Jane and after a short romance, married her on February 1, 1838. Charles and Jane then left for Bastrop with the children.
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Another retelling of this tale is Indian Depredations in Texas: Reliable Accounts of Battles, Wars, Adventures, ... by JW Wilbarger. That version erroneously lists Lemuel Crawford, Jane's husband, as being killed in the Gotcher massacre. In January 1836, Lemuel joined with a group of volunteers headed for the Alamo and there Lemuel died with his fellow volunteers on March 6, 1836. His name is listed on the monument outside the Alamo.
This version of the story makes for lively reading, and there is an illustration of Jane rescuing her infant daughter, Margaret from "a watery grave." Mr. Wilbarger reports that the barter for the release of the Gotcher family consisted of "four hundred yards of calico, a large number of blankets, a quantity of beads and some other articles."
The recounting in Volume 1 of A Comprehensive history of Texas edited by Dudley G. Wooten states that the tribe was Caddoan, rather than Comanche.
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The massacre of the Gotcher family occurred in March 1837 near Serbin, Lee Co., Texas. Father Jamer Sr., sons Samuel and Nathaniel, and mother, Nancy, were all killed by a band of Comanches at their home on Rabbs Creek. Three of the children and a grandchild were taken as slaves by the Indians.
Lee County, Tx Query Forum
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GOTCHER, GOACHER, GOTIER
Posted by Barbara Gotcher
Surnames:
James Gotcher (Goacher or Gotier)and his family emmigrated to Texas from Alabama between 1825 and 1834. Him and his son are listed in Stephen F. Austin's Register of Families Vol. II in 1834. The family first settled in San Felipe de Austin, then Rabb's Creek in present day Lee County, and finally Pin Oak Creek. James was selected in 1830 to build a road to connect San Felipe and Mina (the present day town of Bastrop). This was known as Goacher or Gotier's Trace. James and two of his sons- Samuel and Nathaniel received land from the Ayuntamiento.
In 1837, most of the family was killed in an Indian attack on their farm. A married daughter, Jane Crawford, her baby, and two small brothers, James Jr. and William Riley, were the only survivors and were taken captive by the Indians. After about two years, they were ransomed by a trading agent on the Red River. Charles Spalding escorted them back to Texas. Jane and Charles were married and raised a large family. They lived on the farm where the raid occurred.
William Riley married Rhoda Hancock at McLennon County in 1855. They lived in Coryell County then moved to Brown County near May Texas. They had five sons. John Harvey, Joel Alexander,Riley Carroll, Samuel Nathaniel, and Charles Lloyd. Charles Lloyd was my husband's great-grandfather.
I need information about the family before they came to Texas. After the raid James' estate was mentioned in the minutes of the Mina Court in the regular term for May 1837 and a special term for May 8, 1837. I can find no settlement of the estate of James, Samuel or Nathaniel. I can not understand why this family is not mentioned among the first settlers of Texas. I also need a list of names of the people buried in the Goacher Cementery in Lee County. I have been told that the cementery is on the farm where the Indian raid occurred. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
atly appreciated.
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The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association.
GOTIER, JAMES (?-1837). James Gotier (Goacher, Goucher, Gotcher), a native of Alabama, settled on Rabbs Creek in southern Lee County, Texas. In 1831 or 1832, under the authority of the ayuntamientoqv of San Felipe, he built a trail, later called Gotier's Trace,qv from Bastrop to San Felipe. In 1835 he moved his family to Bastrop County, where he planted cotton and raised cattle. He is said to have built the first house in the county. The Gotier family was attacked by Indians in 1837. Gotier, his wife, son-in-law, and two sons were killed, but his daughter and her two children were taken captive and later released.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frank Brown, Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin (MS, Frank Brown Papers, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin). Kenneth Kesselus, History of Bastrop County, Texas, Before Statehood (Austin: Jenkins, 1986). William Henry Korges, Bastrop County, Texas: Historical and Educational Development (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1933). J. W. Wilbarger, Indian Depredations in Texas (Austin: Hutchings, 1889; rpt., Austin: State House, 1985).
The following individuals are related (*) to the Gotchers and/or (==) interested in the family.
*David Emerson 19110 Candletrail Dr., Spring, TX. 77388
*Brenda Jackson 3720 Ransom, San Angelo, Tx 76903 (915) 653-7391 (Linda spoke with her and she is happy to hear from anyone)
==Larry Repper 130 E. Reed, La Grange Tx 78945(409) 968-6339 He is a member of Oak Historical Assn.
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Gotcher Family Genealogy Forum
Re: James Gotcher, Jr
Posted by: Madelyn Wearden Aaland Date: October 20, 1999 at 22:50:24
In Reply to: Re: James Gotcher, Jr by Clyde Gotcherof 129
Well, this is what happens when you're writing several messages in a row about some of the same people to different addresses. You are quite right. Jane Gotcher Crawford's second husband was Charles Spalding. Her grand-daughter Mary Jane Timoney's second husband was Sterle Stroud.
I received information from my great-grandmother - Margaret Ann Bundrant, Mary Jane's daughter - that her foremother was Mary Nancy Arledge who married James Gotcher. However, the Aldridge/Aldredge/ Arledge researchers can't place Mary Nancy. My cousin Vivian Quinn, a descendant of Mary Nancy and Charles Spalding, has been in touch with Francis Aldridge. It is their belief that "Mary Nancy Arledge" was "Nancy Margaret Aldridge." And certainly the names and dates match.
Nancy Margaret Aldridge was the daughter of Nathaniel Benjamin Aldridge Jr. and Jane Armstrong of North Carolina. She was born in 1793 in South Carolina.
I have very much enjoyed the book "Albion's Seed" which discusses emigration patterns from Great Britain. There is also a good discussion of common naming patterns.( At the moment, the author's name escapes me; I will forward it to you ASAP.) It does seem significant that two of the Gotcher children were named Nathaniel and Jane. Until further information surfaces, I am accepting Nancy Margaret Aldridge. In geneology, it seems that even the stuff written in stone may be arguable. I believe the historical marker in Texas refers to Goucher?
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Lee County, Texas Query Forum
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James Gotcher Family
Posted by Susan L. Derrick
Surname: Gotcher, Derrick, Tedford, Murdock, Roberts, Kelly, Hancock, Spaulding, Arlege, Arledge, Malone, Crawford, Johnson
Following is information gathered from several sources and compiled for my husband, John Michael Derrick who is a direct descedent of James Gotcher. I hope everyone will find this information as useful and interesting as I have!
William Gotcher, DOB: before 1770 married Mary Malone from Virginia around 1787. They had two children - William Gotcher II and James Gotcher. William II was born about 1797 in Alabama and married Mary Ann Box around 1860. They had 3 children: Joshual Newton Gotcher, John M. Gotcher and Winnie Malone Gotcher.
James Gotcher, DOB: 1787 in Alabama married Mary Nancy Arlege in 1811 in Tennessee. She was born around 1790 in Tennessee and was described as being of German background and blond. They had five children - Jane Gotcher, Samuel Gotcher, Nathaniel Gotcher, James Gotcher, Jr. and William Riley Gotcher. The massacre of the Gotcher family occurred in March 1837 in Bastrop County (present day Lee County), Texas. Father James Gotcher, Sr., sons Samuel and Nathaniel and mother Mary Nancy were all killed by a band of Comanches at their home on Rabbs Creek. Three of the children - Jane, James, Jr. & William Riley along with Jane's daughter Margaret Elizabeth Crawford were taken as slaves by the indians.
Jane Gotcher was the oldest child of James & Mary Nancy Gotcher. Her date of birth is listed as 1812 in Tennessee or Alabama. She married Lemuel Crawford in 1831 in Texas and had one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. Lemuel Crawford died at the Battle of the Alamo on Mar. 6, 1836 in San Antonio, Bexar County, TX. Jane and her daughter and both brothers were bought back from the indians at Coffee's Trading Post on the Red River near Preston. She married Charles Spaulding Sr. on Feb. 01, 1838. It is believed they married at Coffee's Trading post and at some point traveled back to Bastrop County to live. They had six children together: John Spaulding, George Spaulding, Charles Spaulding, James Spaulding, William Spaulding, and Sara Jane Spaulding.
Samuel Gotcher, son of James & Mary Nancy Gotcher was born in 1813 in Alabama & died in Mar. 1837 in the indian massacre at the family home on Rabbs Creek near Serbin, Lee County, TX. He was listed as in the military in 1836, Texas Rangers. He served under Captain Billingsley.
Nathaniel Gotcher, son of James & Mary Nancy Gotcher was born in 1817 in Alabama. He died in Mar. 1837 in the indian massacre along with his parents and brother.
James Gotcher, Jr. son of James & Mary Nancy Gotcher was born in 1823 in Alabama and died about 1850 in Texas. He lived with his sister Jane and her family in Bastrop Co. TX and was listed as in the military about 1840, Texas Rangers.
One Bastrop Co. census shows him as a teamster.
William Riley Gotcher was the youngest son of James & Mary Nancy Arledge Gotcher and was born on Aug. 17, 1830 in Alabama. He survived the massacre of most of his family in 1837 and after being traded back from the indians along with his sister, brother and niece he returned to Bastrop County, TX and lived for a while with his sister Jane. He married Rhoda Margaret Hancock on May 10, 1855 in McClennan Co. TX. She was born on Dec. 24, 1838 in Mississippi. They had five children: John Harvey Gotcher, Charles Lloyd Gotcher, Joel Alexander Gotcher, Riley Carrol Gotcher, and Samuel Nathaniel Gotcher. William Riley Gotcher died March 20, 1897 in May, Brown County, Texas. May be buried in Lost Creek Cemetery. Rhoda Margaret Hancock Gotcher died Nov. 01, 1908 and may be buried at Hog Creek Cemetary near May, Brown Co., TX or Lost Creek Cemetery.
John Harvey Gotcher, oldest son of William Riley and Rhoda Margaret Gotcher was born Mar 1859, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Coryell Co., TX. Before 1880 be married Ida Texas Kelly and they had eight children: James William Gotcher, Ludie Ida Gotcher, Charles Aston Gotcher, A B Gotcher, L Z Gother, John Cecil Gotcher, Ettie Gotcher, and Ida Ethel Gotcher. Date of death for John Harvey Gotcher or Ida Texas Kelly Gotcher was now known by me at the time of this writing.
Charles Lloyd Gotcher, Sr., son of William Riley and Rhoda Margaret Gotcher was born April 17, 1863, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Coryell Co., TX. He married Amanda Emmaline Roberts on Sep. 12, 1883, Eastland Co., TX and they had four children: John William Lloyd Gotcher, Charles Loyd Gotcher, Mertle Gotcher, and Sallie Edna Gotcher. Charles Lloyd Gotcher, Sr. died in 1942.
Joel Alexander Gotcher, son of William Riley and Rhoda Margaret Gotcher was born April 17, 1863, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Coryell Co., TX. He married Susan Alaska Watson on Aug. 14, 1892 in Gatesville, Coryell Co., TX. They had four children: William Albert Gotcher, Judie Ethel Gotcher, Bertie C. Gotcher, and Lee Gotcher. Date of death for Joel Alexander Gotcher was not known to me at the time of this writing.
Riley Carrol Gotcher, son of William Riley and Rhoda Margaret Gotcher was born in 1867 or 1868, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Coryell Co., TX. He married Mary Gertrude Brizbee on April 15, 1890, Brownwood, Brown Co., TX. They had one child: Henry Ellis Gotcher. Date of death was not known to me at the time of this writing.
Samuel Nathaniel Gotcher, son of William Riley and Rhoda Margaret Gotcher was born Nov. 19, 1870, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Coryell Co., TX. He married Elise Kathrine Teague on July 19, 1890, Brownwood, Brown Co., TX. They had three children: Lela Rue Gotcher, Nettie Katherine Gotcher and Rhoda Carroll Gotcher. Samuel Nathaniel Gotcher died Jan. 29, 1948, Brownwood, Brown Co., TX.
James William Gotcher, son of John Harvey and Ida Texas Kelly Gotcher was born Aug. 12, 1880, Coryell Co., TX. He married Sarah Lavinia Roberts about 1896, Brown Co., TX. They had at least three children: Bertie Calvin Gotcher, Born Aug. 17, 1897 or 1898 in Brown Co., TX, she married Ephriam Smith White. She died Aug. 20, 1969. Lola Maude Gotcher, born Sep. 23, 1899. Otis Gotcher, born Nov. 21, 1902.
Most of the following information is gathered from the family bible of Lola Maude Gotcher Derrick, passed down to her grandson, John Michael Derrick......
Lola Maude Gotcher, daughter of James William Gotcher and Sarah Lavinia Roberts Gotcher was born Sep. 23, 1899. Lola married James B. Derrick on March 17, 1923 in Brookshire or Miles, TX. James B. Derrick was born June 4, 1904 and died in Snyder, TX on Nov. 18, 1957. They had five children: Leslie Russell Derrick, born Jan. 12, 1924 in Miles, TX and died March 17, 1956. Thelma Oma Derrick, born March 1, 1926 in Miles, TX and died Jan. 12, 1930. Bobby Dean Derrick, (John Michael Derrick's father) born Oct. 21, 1928 in Ballinger, Runnels Co., TX and died Dec. 9, 1972 in Monahans, TX. Delma Jean Derrick, born Aug. 3, 1931 in Brownwood, TX. James Berron Derrick, Jr., born Sep. 27, 1935 in Ballinger, Runnels Co., TX and died Oct. 2, 1994 in Robstown, TX. J.B. Derrick, Jr. is buried in Brookshire Cemetery, Runnels Co., Tx next to his dad.
Bobby Dean Derrick, son of James B. and Lola Maude Gotcher Derrick, married Margaret Murdock on Jan. 27, 1951 in Snyder, TX. They had four children: Bobby Dean Derrick, Jr., born Nov. 9, 1951 in Midland, TX and died July 8, 2000 near Marble Falls, TX. John Michael Derrick, born Aug. 1, 1953 in Midland, TX. Joe Ted Derrick, born July 8, 1957 in Kermit, TX. Carolyn Sue Derrick, born March 5, 1960 in Kermit, TX. They have a beloved half sister named Penny Hurt.
Bobby Dean Derrick, Jr., son of Bobby Dean and Margaret Murdock Derrick had two children: Steven Derrick and Christopher Derrick.
John Michael Derrick, son of Bobby Dean and Margaret Murdock Derrick had two children: Jennifer Lee Derrick and Michael Wayne Derrick. He married the former Susan Loehr Johnson on Sep. 8, 1995 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada and has a stepson, David Matthew Johnson. They reside in the Giddings, Lee County, TX area. John has two grandchildren: Brandon Lee and Jordan Nicole.
Delma Jean Derrick, daughter of James B. and Lola Maude Gotcher Derrick, married Ted Tedford on Sep. 11, 1948 in Lovington, NM. They had three children: Ricky Lynn Tedford, born Apr. 27, 1950 in Snyder, TX. Connie Jean Tedford, born Apr. 18, 1951 in Snyder, Tx. Ronald Glen Tedford on March 10, 1955 in Midland, TX.
Ronald "Ronnie" Tedford is married to the former Betty Dube and they live in Giddings, Lee County, TX. He and John Michael Derrick are first cousins.
I hope this helps,
Fred Downs
1/2 Boren