TWO SISTERS

n August 24, 1830, two young sisters from Troup County, Georgia – Flora and Margarett Wilkerson - gave their hands in matrimony to two young men from Morgan County, Georgia. The girls would continue their lives together with their adventuresome young husbands. They were married in Troup County, Georgia, most likely at their home, but possibly at the newly formed Presbyterian Church where they were founding members. These young ladies were my aunts, four times removed.

The girls had recently migrated with their parents from the Fayetteville area of North Carolina to Troup County, which was a new county recently formed from Indian lands distributed through the Georgia Land Lottery. Their father did not participate in the lottery but purchased land from another early settler. Early settlers to Troup were often well off and moved from eastern Georgia or the Carolinas with household goods and slaves, and suffered no major hardships.

The two young men had grown up together in Morgan County, Georgia. Their names were Pleiades Orion Lumpkin and George Washington Browning. Historic records indicate that P. O. took the nickname Dan. Who could blame him? He was most likely named by his parents for the biblical reference to Pleiades and Orion, but his father was also well versed in the classics. Could this be the origin of the name?

"Amos 5:8 The seven stars - A constellation, whose rising about September was usually accompanied with sweet showers. Orion - Which arising about November brings usually cold, rains and frosts intermixt very seasonable for the earth. The shadow of the earth - The greatest adversity into as great prosperity."

Quite a lot to live up to! Dan's father was Wilson Lumpkin, elected to the Georgia Congress four times, Governor of Georgia from 1831-1835, US Commissioner to the Cherokee Indians from 1836-1837, and US Senator from 1837-1841. Wilson Lumpkin was a great statesman, a man of letters and a devout Baptist. The city of Atlanta, Georgia was originally named Marthasville after Dan’s half-sister.

In 1808 many young men were named after George Washington who had only recently died in December of 1799. I believe GW took the nickname Wash - a whole lot less to relate to new friends! His father was a wealthy cotton planter in Morgan County, Georgia and was friends with Wilson Lumpkin. Wash's father died when he was only fourteen, but left a stipulation in his estate that his children should receive a proper English education. I don't know what that meant in Wash's case - perhaps he was an early attendee of the University of Georgia.

It is a little known fact that Alabama had a gold rush from 1834 to 1835 and I suspect that Dan and Wash were drawn to the opportunity, since it was just across the river from Troup County, in Chambers County and adjacent westward counties. The Lumpkin’s only daughter was born in Alabama. The two young men may have read or heard Stephen Austin’s impassioned pleas for settlers in the Tejas territory of Mexico. Austin described the beautiful acres just waiting to be cultivated.

The journey would have been a daunting one by ox cart with young babies and young wives – over 700 miles from eastern Alabama to what is Anderson County, Texas today. There were major rivers to cross, by ferry or raft, and the terrain was and is hilly and rolling. It’s a pleasant drive today over freeways, but I couldn’t help imagining driving a wagon and a team of oxen over those hills – not much fun!

A probable route for the two families, which included three toddlers in the Lumpkin family by this time, would have been straight across the southeast from Alabama to the Vicksburg area, then down the Natchez Trace or the Mississippi to cross over into Nacogdoches. Travel routes at that time were barely as wide as the wagons, having been originally made by the buffalo which roamed freely across the southeastern states, then adopted by the Indians.

In 1835, Dan registered as an emigrant and first settler of Houston County, Texas. I believe he was probably entitled to a First Class Headright Issued to those who arrived before March 2, 1836. Heads of families received one league (4,428 acres) and one labor (177.1 acres). I have not yet found a record of Wash and his family, but I imagine they all registered as part of Dan's party. In October of 1835, the battle for freedom from Mexican rule broke out in Texas. Dan attended West Point, so he was probably anxious to get into a fight and test his mettle. He had the dubious distinction of being last in his class, and had so many demerits that they ran over onto Robert E. Lee's page. Like Custer, he proved to be a great fighter, if not a great student.

Both Dan and Wash served in the fight for independence. Dan was with Capt. L. H. Mabbit's company from April 24 to July 24, 1836. Dan came away from that service with the title Major, even though there is no record of him attaining that rank in the Texas army. He was known as Major Lumpkin from then on. He received a bounty warrant for 320 acres for his service. Although it is probable that Wash fought as well, it is difficult to determine because another George Washington Browning, born in 1808 also but from Scotland was also in the fight at San Jacinto. There is a record of a G. W. Browning fighting under Elisha Clapp, who was later sent to the defense of Fort Houston, where Browning was then living.

The two families were among the first settlers at Fort Houston, which was built on the public square of the town of Houston in 1836 (then in Houston County) as protection against marauding Indians. Wash and Dan were probably among the ten settlers commandeered to build the fort, since they were young men in their mid twenties.

The fort was only 25 feet square, but the settlers often slept there for protection. Wash Browning was the commissary of the fort. In September of 1836, Capt. Clapp received orders to come to the aid of the settlers in response to this Plea for Help issued by the settlers on August 25, 1838, signed by both P. O. Lumpkin and George Washington Browning. Clapp was ordered to take a detail of eight men in response to the plea.

All this must have been terrifying for Margaret and Flora with their young babies, so far from home, friends and family.