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Loranzo Davis "Dave" Shuptrine was born in
Houston County at Grapeland on August 16, 1862. His
parents, Nicholas Daniel Shuptrine, born in Wilkes County,
Georgia on August 23, 1823 and his mother Rebecca Allen, born in
Holmes County, Mississippi in 1825, were married in Holmes
County in the 1840's. The Nicholas Daniel Shuptrine family
moved to Houston County about 1850. Their children who
lived to adulthood were Columbus "Lum", born in Holmes County,
and George, Jim, Dave, Martha Caroline, and Calvin, all born in
Houston County.
Nicholas Daniel Shuptrine served in the Civil
war and received wounds which left him crippled for the rest of
his life. When he returned after the war, he found his
wife, Rebecca, and his only daughter, Martha Caroline,
critically ill with typhoid. Both died within a few days.
Several years later, Nicholas Daniel married Sarah Rusk.
One son, Joe, and two daughters, Lizzie and Maggie, were born to
this union.
When Dave was still in his teens, he went to
Wimberly where his brother George was living and found work
nearby. At one time or another, most all of the boys lived
for a while in this southwest section of the state. Also,
Nicholas Daniel was living there with his son, George, at the
time of his death in 1903 and was buried at Wimberly.
Three of the boys each returned to Houston
county to marry. They must have thought that Houston
County produced the most attractive girls, particularly the
Harrison family, because the three brothers married sisters,
daughters of William Daugherty and Jane Patton Harrison.
Jim married Elizabeth, Dave married Sarah Molisia "Sallie' and
Calvin married Eliza. Other children in the Harrison
family were Martha, William, Jonathan, Mary, and Amanda.
Both the Harrison and Patton families moved to Houston County at
a very early date. William Daugherty Harrison was born in
Tennessee and Jane Patton in South Carolina.
Jane Patton, when a very small child,
underwent a terifying experience. Two Indians made a raid
on the school and killed the teacher and every child except
Jane. She, being very small, managed to escape during the
massacre by crawling between the legs of one of the indians in
the doorway and hiding in a barrel outside.
Following their marriage on July 11, 1882,
Dave and Sallie Shuptrine lived in Houston County near Center
Hill. Their first child, William Edward, who was born
about 1883, died before he was two years of age. Other
children were Margaret Jane "Maggie", Martha Caroline "Carrie",
Catherine Bell "Katie", Eliza Rebecca, Vannie Molisia, and
Jonathan Davis "Johnny".
The first school attended by the children was
the Crossroads School, a very small school near their home.
It was close enough for them to go home for lunch. Later,
the attended Center Hill School. It was a larger school
taught in the Center Hill Methodist Church. Their first
teacher, after starting to this school, ws their cousin, Evan
Morgan. Later, for several years, their teacher was Hannah
Patton. They walked to school by a path that they made
throught he woods. When Maggie was older, she rode
horseback to school in Kennard.
Dave and Sallie continued to live in Houston
County for twenty-nine years after marrying. He farmed and
served as constable for several years. Seeking a higher
and drier limate for health reasons, Dave and family moved in
November, 1911, to Bandera County. Moving with the family
were the two new sons-in-law, James H. "Jim" Whitmore, who had
married Maggie, and James C. "Jimmie" Gallant, who had married
Carrie. The group traveled in three covered wagons and two
buggies for more than three weeks before reaching their
desitnation, where places were bought and new homes were
established near Medina.
Children born to Jim and Maggie Whitmore were
Ralph and Paul. Born to james C. and Carrie Gallant were
Archie, Thelma, and James Arthur. In 1918 Katie married
Ewell Wyatt and they had one son, Charles. Rebecca married
John F. Langford; their children were Johnny, Clinton, Beatrice,
Joe, and Travis. Johnny married Thelma Kelly and born to
them were Edna, twins Edith and Beth, John David, and Kelly.
Vannie married Foster Stevens and they had one son, Wesley.
Dave died in 1946 and Sallie in 1947.
They were good Christian people, an honest, hardworking couple,
a couple for whom children and grandchildren alike always had
much love and respect.
Sources:
By: Thelma Gallant
"History of Houston County Texas
1687-1979" |
