3 posts tagged “column”
It’s true. There is something about Major James Kerr that few people in Kerrville know. I have used the past two columns trying to get to the new information, though limitations of space have prevented me (so far) from reporting what I’ve learned.
And it’s also true, if we followed the historical fact I’ve learned, it would change the way we think about our community’s name.
A chance meeting with Walter Womack, a descendent of Major James Kerr, intrigued me because of one small comment Mr. Womack made: “You know,” he told me, “there is one thing few people know about James Kerr.”
James Kerr, you may remember, is the person for whom our county and are named. Joshua D. Brown, the founder of our community, named the small village he’d begun after his friend; the state, in 1856, named our county after him. Yet it’s unlikely Kerr ever visited the community which carries his name, and he never knew of the honor the state had given him when it named the county for him, since he’d died years before the frontier county was named.
Last week I reported that Mr. Womack sent me a link to a sketch written in 1957 by Maj. Gen. James Kerr Crain, a descendent of Major James Kerr.
“After the war [of 1812] ended,” writes Gen. Crain, “James Kerr was elected Sheriff of St. Charles County [], then extending to Boone's Lick. He held the position of sheriff for four years. On July 23, 1818, James married Angeline Caldwell of Ste. Genevieve County. She was the daughter of Major James Caldwell.”
This marriage, and an odd conflict Kerr had with his father-in-law, are the reason Kerr and his family decided to move to . If it weren’t for a state senate election, who knows what our community would be named today.
“In 1819 or 1820 the young couple moved to Ste. Genevieve County to live,” writes Crain. “Kerr’s father in law, Major Caldwell, was one of the most popular men in . He had lived in before removing to and had represented in the lower branch of the Kentucky Legislature in the years 1800, 1807, and 1808. Angeline Caldwell was born in on February 8. 1802.
“James Kerr was very popular with the young man of the community, and in 1822 he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. Major Caldwell was at that time a member of the State Senate, and then occurred on of those unfortunate events which change the lives and destinies of men. In 1824, against the wishes of James Kerr, he was elected to the State Senate defeating his father-in-law Major Caldwell. The old gentleman was so indignant at his first political defeat, and this at the hands of his son-in-law, from that time he refused to speak to him.
“Because of this unpleasant situation and because of his wife's health, James Kerr that same year resigned his seat in the State Senate which had been thrust upon him, and made plans to move to . Green DeWitt of Ralls County, Missouri, was interested in organizing a colony to go to , and James Kerr agreed to assist DeWitt and to become surveyor of the colony.”
Well, I’ve done it again. I haven’t made it to the one new thing I’ve learned about Major James Kerr. I hope you’ll bear with me; I’ll try to get it all squeezed in next week.
Until then, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a native who would make a lousy radio announcer.
A chance meeting with Walter Womack, a descendent of Major James Kerr, intrigued me because of one small comment Mr. Womack made: “You know,” he told me, “there is one thing few people know about James Kerr.”
James Kerr, you may remember, is the person for whom our county and are named. Joshua D. Brown, the founder of our community, named the small village he’d begun after his friend; the state, in 1856, named our county after him. Yet it’s unlikely he ever visited the community which carries his name, and he never knew of the honor the state had given him, since he’d died years before the county was named.
Little is known about Major James Kerr – it would be hard to fill up several pages with facts about his life – and the few sources of information we have tend to be repeated in only a few older books – so gaining new information about this man is always helpful (and somewhat rare).
Last week I reported that Mr. Womack had sent me a link to a sketch written in 1957 by Maj. Gen. James Kerr Crain, himself a distinguished Texan from Lavaca and DeWitt counties, a graduate of and an Army veteran of both World Wars. Our Major Kerr was Crain’s great-grandfather.
Major James Kerr was born in , on September 24, 1790, one of ten children born to a circuit-riding Baptist preacher and a woman named Patience.
“Despite the fact their father was a minister of the gospel,” writes James Crain, “or perhaps because of that fact, the Kerr boys were not overly observant of his precepts. On one occasion just as the Reverend James Kerr's small congregation was emerging from a Sunday morning service a group of whooping boys came rushing by with one of their number astride an astonished and cavorting cow, The scandalized preacher recognized the equally horrified rider as his son James. Thus James junior gave early indication of a fondness for the unconventional. Perhaps he had inherited it from that part of his father's character that had led the latter to elope to the wilderness with little more than a charming bride and a single horse.”
Our Major James Kerr served in the War of 1812.
“The Adjutant General of the Army wrote … that one James Kerr served in the War of l812 as a sergeant in a company designated at various times as Captain Daniel M. Boone's [the son of the famous frontiersman, Daniel Boone] and Captain James Callaway's Company of Mounted Rangers, United States Volunteers. His Federal service began 19 May 1813; was reduced to private 14 January 1814, and his service ended 19 May 1814. The Adjutant General of Missouri sent me a copy of the receipt roll signed by James Kerr for his pay and allowances for the period April 29-May 18th 1813, while in the service of the Territory. The amounts covered by the receipt are interesting because of their size. It is startling to note that for twenty days service his pay was $5.17; and his subsistence allowance was twenty-eight cents! Not quite a cent and a half a day. His travel pay was fifty cents. But his allowance for his horses was $48.00 which was more than his pay plus all other allowances.”
The sketch includes an account of Kerr’s actions as a soldier:
“In 1813 he was second in command to Captain Boone in Boone's defeat on the , and Kerr received great praise for his conduct during the retreat. During that same summer he and two others were ambushed by seventeen Indians at the mouth of the Salt River in . in the ensuing fight his horse was wounded three times and finally killed under him. The party escaped because of his cool daring and a well contrived ruse. My mother told me the ruse consisted in securing a camp kettle to the end of a log to represent a cannon, and the Indians were unwilling to close in on what they thought to be that much feared weapon.”
Clever, indeed.
Well, I’ve done it again: I’ve run out of space before coming to the new information I’ve found about Major James Kerr. I hope I’ll be able to get it all in next week’s column.
Until then, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a native who is thinking about writing a book on the history of our area.
I have discovered something new about Major James Kerr, the man for whom and are named, and this new fact was discovered after a chance encounter with one of his descendants a few weeks ago.
As some may know, I serve on the board of the Kerrville Folk Festival, I think as their token non-Folkie. While visiting the grounds there during the past festival, Stuart Vexler, chairman of the festival board, introduced me to Walter Womack, a descendent of Major James Kerr. “You know,” he told me, “there is one thing few people know about James Kerr.”
I listened closely. If true, it would add an interesting new fact to the slim biography we have of the man for whom our community is named. Mr. Womack promised to send along additional information, and, after a few weeks, I received a link to a website which included family history, complete with a lengthy sketch about James Kerr.
The sketch was written in 1957 by Maj. Gen. James Kerr Crain, himself a distinguished Texan from Lavaca and DeWitt counties, a graduate of and an Army veteran of both World Wars. Our Major Kerr was Crain’s great-grandfather.
“My mother's maternal grandfather was Major James Kerr, for whom I am named,” wrote James Kerr Crain. “The title of Major derived from a commission he held in the army of the . This James Kerr played a prominent part in the early days of and of and like all who stood out in those days he was a hardy character. Major Kerr's grandfather, also named James was born in . He is described in John Henry Brown's Family Register, prepared in Indianola, Texas, in 1853, as "an Irishman fresh from the bog, very fond of his grog, and when groggy very piously inclined." This same Register relates that this James Kerr married the widow Hyde in in about 1746. From this marriage there were three children, two daughters and another James Kerr. The son, James Kerr, was born in October 8, 1749. He became a circuit rider of the Baptist church in what was then . in the course of the circuit riding he became acquainted with the family of Richard Wells. He fell in love with Patience Wells, reputed to have been so named because she was one of twenty-four children. His affection was reciprocated by Patience, but not by her parents, so the young couple eloped with Patience riding double behind the impetuous parson whose worldly goods consisted of one horse.
The newly married pair removed to and settled about two miles from , now (in 1853) . There in 1790 my great-grandfather James was born on September 24th. He was one of ten children. As this number crowded the family nest several of the young brood removed to which was then a part of French Louisiana. The Preacher and Patience visited their children in and there Patience died. Preacher James returned to and later married Phebe Bonham; there were no children of this marriage. By 1808 all of the Kerrs, including the father and his second wife, had removed to . The elder James Kerr is said to have been the first Protestant minister west of the .”
Well, Gentle Reader, I really hate to see that I’ve run out of room in my column this week: I haven’t gotten to the new interesting thing about Major James Kerr yet. Perhaps I can squeeze it in next week.
Until then, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a native who hopes to write a book about the history of our area.
