History & Culture
The Past Speaks to Us, Long Prairie Homestead Cabin
Post author: Mark Glover
Post published: August 20, 2015
It’s only been a little over a week since word of the Long Prairie Homestead Cabin was revealed to the public. The cabin is already speaking to us about its past and its past inhabitants.
This past Saturday, over 2300 local residents toured this cabin with an open house sponsored by Vaquero Development and The Flower Mound Foundation. Several visitors stated they felt a special presence when stepping into the cabin. Several shared that they were overcome with emotion. An overwhelming number has a strong feeling that they want this cabin preserved at its present location.
Stories of log cabins, ghosts, and paranormal activity are common if you google these terms together. Mary King, the previous owner and occupant of the cabin, tells of a ghost from the cabin’s past, “If you believe in ghost I have a good story to tell. Right after my husband, daughter and I moved in my husband started smelling something cooking during the night. Not too long after that my daughter started smelling what she thought was pot roast during the night. We had never said anything to my daughter about what her dad had smelled. They both continued to smell something cooking very frequently during the night time. No I wasn’t up cooking or have the crock pot going. Then when we moved my mother in with us in 2002 she would ask me in the mornings what was I cooking all night, when I told her nothing she always said ” well I guess some little old lady was in there cooking!” So my husband and mother would always get up saying well “the old lady was cooking again last night!” They all said the smell was stronger in the living room with the cabin fireplace”.
Ancestors of the cabins occupants are surfacing since the stories of the cabin broke about a week ago. Larry Briscoe saw the story and writes to us about the cabin’s original inhabitant, William Gibson, ““The discovery of this log cabin is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. The idea of being able to step back 150 years into the past and preserve it forever fires the imagination. I appreciate so much the efforts of all who are trying to preserve it. William Gibson was one of three Gibson brothers — James, Jesse and William — who brought their families along with the Eads, Halfords, Allens, Fosters, Smiths and others to Texas from Missouri. Jesse was my 3rd great grandfather. As an amateur genealogist, I have been researching this side of my family for the past two years. I told my daughter that buried treasure of gold and silver would not have been as exciting as this log cabin for me to find. Thank you Mark Glover for such a welldone report and the incredible amount of research you put into it.”
Lindsey Troublefield, Another William Gibson descendant speaks to us through the Facebook Page on the Log Prairie Homestead, “Here is what I know about William Gibson…. He married Rebecca Wallis about 1826 in Missouri. They had 9 children, 8 of which were born in Platte County Missouri. The Gibson’s were a group on 12 families that headed from Platte County, Missouri to Texas in 1844. They are mentioned in The History of Clay and Platte County Missouri book (1885). I’m not sure how William died. He died at the age of 64. I am hoping to one day find an obituary. Our line is through William Gibson’s daughter Nancy Ann Gibson. She died in 1933 in Gainesville, TX at the age of 98. The story of her coming to Texas with her family is written about in the Cooke county history past and present book, pg. 597. She married Nathaniel Thompson and after his death she married John White. Our family has stayed in Texas since. I’ve also read about William Gibson in ‘History and Reminisces of Denton County’ (1918) pg. 29 Fort Worth, Outpost on the Trinity (1953) pg. 30. Their story of coming to Texas is also mentioned in the Denton Record Chronicle 7-28-1915 pg. 3”.
After William Gibson, the earliest known owner of the cabin was WW Kerr. The Kerr’s owned this cabin from 1890 to 1928. We are not sure if WW Kerr is William Ward Kerr who brought his family to Flower Mound in 1897, or William Wallace Kerr who was William Ward’s son. William Wallace Kerr married Jenny McCombs in 1889 and it seems quite possible that this cabin was their honeymoon cottage.
Ralph Felton Kerr tells a story of his father who was William Wallace Kerr’s son in the book Sweet Flower Mound, “My father, Lee Olin Kerr was born in a log cabin set among the trees on the west side of the George farm, about three miles west of the Flower Mound Church. I believe William Ward and William Wallace were both working for George McCombs at that time”. The story goes on to tell of a Tornado on a hot muggy day in April of 1912. When the storm hit, Olin was knocked unconscious and woke up with a huge tree on his chest, only to realize that he was still in the eye of the storm. The tornado lifted the tree off of him and all the family survived.
Rose Mead, who lives in Bartonville, read about the Long Prairie Cabin in and saw the mention of the Kerr family. Rose reached out to us, “In the article, to my surprise, I saw that William Ward Kerr lived there. I was so excited to see that. I actually have a picture of a Ward Kerr that was his son. I would like to get more information on this family if possible. And, I would love to see the cabin. I’m very fascinated by the history of our area”.
It’s amazing how many people have been touched and affected by the cabin in the few days since it has been revealed. The Long Prairie Homestead Cabin holds many secrets about its early residents. We have only seen a glimpse of this cabin and heard a small sample of the stories the cabin will tell. As more of this cabin is revealed, the early pioneers that lived within its walls will speak more to us about their past and about the heritage they have left for us.
Part of the fun and excitement of this cabin is to imagine and discover more about it. We can all be ‘history detectives’ and research the amazing story of this log cabin as new details are revealed. What clues will be revealed next about the cabin? How will these clues speak to us about our early pioneers? We can only imagine at this point.
Journey of Our Earliest Settlers
Post author:Mark Glover
Post published:September 9, 2015
Post category:Blog
Part 2 of a Series on the Long Prairie Homestead Cabin
Since announcing the marvelous find of the Long Prairie Homestead Cabin inside of a Flower Mound farm house, several descendants of William Gibson and other early settlers have come forward to share information. Many thanks to Larry Briscoe, Lindsey Troublefield, Jeff & Lori Hallford, and Rose Mead for providing ancestry information and sharing in the excitement of this log cabin discovery. William Gibson patented this property in 1854 and appears to have been the builder and original occupant of this cabin when it was constructed in about 1860. William Gibson’s parents were William Gibson Sr. and Margaret Armstrong. His parents moved from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1796-97, after the birth of their first son, Jesse. Brother James Gibson was born to them in 1797 and William Gibson in 1801, both in Tennessee.
William married Rebecca A. Wallis in 1826. William, his two brothers, and several family members migrated to Township No. 53 in Platte County Missouri in the 1830s. William and Rebecca Gibson’s children were: Margaret Jane Gibson, 1828 – 1914; John Meritt Gibson, 1830 – 1875; George S. Gibson, 1832 – 1881; Nancy Ann Gibson, 1835 – 1933; Mary Ann Gibson, 1837 – 1885; Martha C. “Mattie” Gibson, 1840 – 1934; Ludecia L.E. “Ludicy” Gibson, 1843 – 1860; and Thomas Benton Gibson, 1848 – 1892. One source shows a tenth child, William Gibson III born in 1850.
The call for settlers to Texas reached Missouri shortly after the Texas Revolution. Sam Houston and the Republic of Texas had cleared the way for the settlement of North Texas with the signing of treaties with nine tribes of warring Indians at Bird’s Fort in 1843, six miles South of Flower Mound.
In May of 1844, sixteen families from Platte County Missouri loaded their wagons to brave their move to the wilds of North Texas. Most were related by blood or marriage. William Gibson, was among this group of early pioneers, as were James Gibson, Jesse Gibson, John Hallford, James Hallford, Owen Medlin, Hall Medlin, and others. They brought their families, their dogs, their guns, and their Baptist religion with them.
The journey was not easy. Swollen rivers and hostile Indians plagued the journey. The 1844 settlers had to camp for three weeks waiting to cross the Trinity River.
The Missouri Colony stayed in the Hallford Prairie area for several months before expanding into unsettled areas of South Denton and North Tarrant County. Many settled in Flower Mound on Long Prairie, where William Gibson built what we now call the Long Prairie Homestead Cabin.
In 1845, James Gibson and John Hallford returned to Platte County Missouri to convince other relatives to return with them to this new land of opportunity in Texas. Between May and September of 1845, several related families sold their holdings in Missouri in preparation for the trip to Texas.
Twelve ox carts of Missouri Colonists were ferried over the Red River on November 1 of 1845, with this second wave of migration. In addition to the families mentioned above, families of Fosters, Allens, Eads, Larkins, Bakers, and Andersons came in the second migration.
Pearl O’Donnell Foster in her book Trek to Texas, 1770-1870 describes life on the trail for these pioneers: “Walking to Texas” – This Statue in Grapevine honors the early Missouri Colonists who walked along side their wagons to Texas seeking the promise of a better life for themselves and their children.
They traveled through the wilderness with few trails, fording the creeks and rivers at their most narrow or low points by oxen and covered wagons, “prairie schooners”. The oxen traveled more slowly than the horses or mules, but were much more rugged and able to take day after day and even months of almost daily travel. The wagons had heavy homespun canvas covers fastened over arched strips of wood …which protected their supplies…At night, they would stop near some spring or flowing stream where fresh water could be found. Here they would start a fire with logs and small underbrush, and prepare their food over the camp fire. Their bread was made principally of crushed corn. The corn was crushed with pestle in a mortar when grist mills were not available. Flour, which had to be milled from wheat could not be milled at the grist mill, so biscuits and white bread were a luxury to be enjoyed only on special occasions on the frontier. Their meat consisted of venison other wild game, which was abundant.
They carried plenty of seed which was carefully guarded as it was needed to seed their fields in the new unsettled lands… On and on they went, traveling by night in the areas known to be inhabited with hostile Indians or bandits…ten miles was a good days journey. The women and children walked much of the time, and the men, when not driving the wagons, rode horseback ahead to determine the best route. These brave, rugged men and women were ever ready to protect themselves against any foe – hostile men or animal. The old trusty flint lock, for which they melted and molded their own bullets, was always at hand and their unerring aim as they would lift their shoulder to this old-time fowling piece, seldom failed to drive away an enemy or bring down game as meat for themselves and loved ones.
Foster describes the trip of the 1845 Missouri Colony migration from Bonham to the Three Forks of the Trinity River:
There were a few settlements along the way but widely scattered along the trail. They passed Col. Geary’s Ranger Station not far from the East Fork of the Trinity. They found no settlers along the Trinity. In the Cross Timbers were droves of wild turkey, buffalo, deer, antelope and wild horses. Panthers and wolves lurked in hidden places, and they were constantly alert for small bands of marauding Indians. Game of all kinds, honey and wild grapes were plentiful. This was indeed a wild but lush and enchanting land. These men were skilled in lumbering, acquainted with hardship and the use of the musket — a strong healthy people who knew how to endure the privation of the early settlers.
They were well adapted to the life of a pioneer as this had been the life chosen by their people for more than one generation. Unlike some of the driftwood who migrated west for various reasons and seldom owned land or anything of value, we have found records of purchase and sale of land by several generations in several states.
John A. Freeman came with the second migration of the Missouri Colonists and was brought because he was a licensed Baptist preacher. In those days, a preacher had to carry a bible in one hand and a carbine in the other; he had to be prepared to fight he devil or fight Indians at any moment.
Freeman wrote his version of the trip in 1845. He crossed the Red River into Texas just north of Bonham on the 1st of November of 1845. They took a direct route to the Three Forks of the Trinity River and passed a company of Rangers stationed on the East Fork of the Trinity. The Rangers were dressed in buckskins and some wore coon-skin caps. Many spent their time drinking bad whiskey and playing cards, in between chasing marauding Indians.
Freeman further states, “From Rowlett’s Creek to the Elm Fork of the Trinity there were no settlers; nothing to be seen but bands of wild horses and droves of deer and antelope. We crossed the last named stream about the 15th of November, 1845, six miles west of Elm Fork, and (settled at) the house of James Gibson” (brother of William Gibson). Timber Creek in Flower Mound is six +/- miles from the Elm Fork and
early ownership maps confirm James Gibson patented property at this location in Flower Mound.
Ed F. Bates writes of the Missouri Colonists in History and Reminiscences of Denton County, first printed in 1918. “They were a peculiar people in some respects. They had but little property among them, and yet they were well enough to do. All seemed to be on an equality, and the sole object in living was to do all they could for the comfort and satisfaction of one another, and to make their way to a better world than this. They were a good people, and could have ruled this county for many years had there been business men among them”.
Our earliest settlers left us a proud history and heritage. They suffered severe hardships, fought savage Indians, and built homes, churches and schools in a wilderness we now call Flower Mound. They were caring people that would risk much to help a neighbor. We should remember them for their strength, sacrifice and compassion. We should honor the lives they led.
This is the second in a series of articles about our early settlers in Flower Mound and the Long Prairie Homestead Cabin. Mark Glover is a native of Flower Mound & Lewisville. Mark is a student of local history, a sustainability advocate, and is well known for his hobby farm – Rheudasil Farms. He is married to Penny Rheudasil Glover, daughter of Flower Mound’s First Mayor, Bob Rheudasil. For over 25 years Mark has helped local businesses to buy, sell, lease, develop, and invest in commercial real estate through his company iMark Realty Advisors. To support Save the Cabin, go to www.TheFlowerMound.com.
