Copyright © 1998, Scott McKay
Virginia Point, Texas
October 22, 1861
My Dear Father:
Your welcome letter of the 5 of Sept was rec'd a few days before I left home & I concluded to wait until I arrived here before I answered it & in order that you may get the hang of my movements. I will commence at the beginning. When I wrote you before, I belonged to a company of cavalry which had been organized previous to my joining it but on the last of Sept. we re-organized & I was elected 2nd Lieutenant & our company was reported to the Gov. as being ready for service but before our report reached the Governor there was a call for a company of Infantry from our county & Capt. Brice Hartgraves accepted the call for immediate service at Galveston as they were daily expecting an attack at that place & our company was to unite with portions of other companies in the county & we were to to meet on the 10 of Oct. & reorganize but when the time came there was only about 50 men met & they were willing to go into the service for 12 months & we elected our same capt. & I was elected 1st lieutenant & on the 11th we received out Flag from the Ladies, which was presented by Miss Lizzy Morris in a most beautiful address which was replied to by Wm Collard, after which we set out for Galveston to join Col. Allison Nelson Regiment. The neighborhood furnished 8 hacks & 2 horse wagons to bring us to Millican, the present terminus of the Houston & central R R, which place we reached on the 17th where we were met by Col. Nelson who informed us if we went into service at all it must be for the war which caused us to lose some 8 or 10 of our men which reduced our numbers so much we could not get in without uniting with some other company. This we finally did with a portion of a company from an adjoining county. The terms that they proposed was that we had the capt. & they had the 1st Lieutenant which our company rejected until I settled it by resigning my place contrary to the wishes of the company, but I got them reconciled to it when Col. Nelson promised them that he would give me an appointment in the Quartermaster department. What it will be I cannot tell as the Col. has been absent ever since we reached here, but I suppose he will have the regiment full in a few days as there is (sic) 6 companies here & 4 others will be in today or tommorrow. We are now in about 5 miles of Galveston on the mainland at the Railroad Bridge that crossed the Bay and connects Houston and Galveston.
I was in Galveston yesterday & witnessed the review of 4000 troops that are stationed at the City. There will soon be a large number of troops in this neighborhood so that I think we will be able to give the republicans a warm reception. John is with me & the company is in fine health & spirits & I think if we get a showing we will not disgrace our country. The inscription on our Banner is States Rights & the name of the company is Coryell Yankee Hunters & it is composed of the largest & finest looking men that I have seen & they are decidely the most civil crowd of the size that I have ever met. I have never been in a situation which enabled me so fully to appreciate the blessings conferred on me in giving me parents who inculcated (cq) the principles of Religion & morality. We are getting along finely, have plenty to eat & will soon have every thing we need. I want you to write as often as possible & direct to Nelson's Regiment, Hartgraves company. Give my love to all. As ever, your affectionate son, O.F. Davenport.
[Overton Daveport's Great Grandson, Joe Davenport of San Antonio, Texas]
Notes
The letter above is the first known letter, to date, of a member of the 10th Texas Infantry to his family. Although there are surviving letters written by the officers of the regiment that predate this letter, this is the first one of a personal nature. The following is a biography of Overton Fletcher Davenport.
Capt. Overton F. Davenport - Age 41 upon enlistment as Pvt. to Co. H, 10th Texas Infantry, at Houston, Harris County, Texas, on October 18, 1861, by 1Lt. Jesse Sparks He was a native of Campbell County, Georgia, a successful farmer and family man from Station Creek, Coryell County. He was detached on Recruiting Service on February 22, 1862, promoted to 2Jr. Lt. (3Lt.) and transferred to Co. K, 10th Texas Infantry, on March 29, 1862.
3Lt. Davenport was captured with the Command at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, on January 11, 1863, arriving at Camp Chase Prison, Columbus, Ohio, on January 30th. He was paroled from prison for exchange on April 10, 1863; arriving at Ft. Delaware on April 12th. He was exchanged at City Point, Virginia, on April 29th. According to his exchange certificate, Lt. Davenport stood 6'1" tall with blue eyes, brown hair, and a fair complexion.
Overton Davenport was assigned with his Command to the Army of Tennessee, where he assumed was promoted to 1Lt. on May 23, 1863, and placed in Command of the Company. As Captain of the Company, Davenport was wounded twice at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on November 30, 1863, but returned to his Command several days later; his jaw was shattered by a minie ball at the battle of Nashville, on December 15, 1864. His son, William G. Davenport, 6th Texas Cavalry, collected he and Pvt. John A. Davenport, Co. K, 10th Texas Infantry, wounded in a Franklin hospital, and retreated with the army. William loaded his father Overton on a westbound train at Tuscumbia, Alabama, on December 23, 1864. Capt. Davenport was admitted to the hospital at Okolona, Mississippi, on January 10, 1865, and later captured there then sent to Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, where Overton was paroled on May 12, 1865, by order of General W. T. Sherman. He was the brother of Pvt. John A. Davenport, who was under his Command.
The following entry was written by Davenport Descendant, Doris A. Thompson, for the 1985 book, Coryell County Families; 1854-1985:
"'Tell Ma to save me some apples for I have a fine specimen of gold for her. Now I must close as the time has come to go to work.' This ended the last letter of Overton Davenport written to his father, William, in Georgia. Overton was in California mining gold, the date was Oct. 5, 1851. The letters written over a period of 18 months describe his adventures traveling to California, working and living in the west during the Gold Rush.
Overton Fletcher Davenport was born in Oglethorpe County, Georgia Feb. 10, 1820. He married Margaret Susan Roberts Dec. 29, 1842 and had two sons, William Grant and Harbert. Both Margaret and Harbert died before 1851. After the California trip, he settled down to farming in Georgia and married Eliza Agnes Pennington August 5, 1852. Two sons were born in Georgia - Thomas Henry 1853 and Ephraim Pennington 1854. In 1855 the family emigrated to Coryell County, settling at Station Creek near Eagle Springs. The following children were born in Coryell County: Caroline Agnes (1856/1956), John Jewett (1857), Parks Edward (1859), Lucy Elizabeth (1862), Sarah Maria (1864) [Ed: "Betty," conceived in April 1863, while Overton was on leave from Camp Chase Prison, after his capture at Arkansas Post], Albert Sidney (1867), James Samuel (1869), Baldwin Piercelee (1871), George Lovick (1873).
In 1892 the Davenports, Harrisons and other related families moved to Eastland. Overton lived in Eastland only a short time, then moved to Ranger where he lived until his death, June 22, 1909. Eliza died in San Antonio Dec. 20, 1924. Both are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery, Ranger, Texas.
Ephriam Pennington Davenport and brother Thomas H. married Laura Virginia Roberts, his half-brother, William Grant married Mary J. Shook, his uncle John A. and John's son Overton Vol married Sarah Ellen Backstock moved to Pearl in 1875. E. P. my grandfather, married Inez Estelle Whitney Nov. 6, 1861 in Stephenville and lived in Pearl. The two children born at this time were not born in Pearl. A daughter, Winnie (1882) was born in Stephenville and Overton Royal (1886) was born at Ealgle Springs. Ephriam and his cousin, Overton Vol, were operating a store in Pearl when it was called Wayback. He became postmaster March 28, 1890 and was instrumental in changing the town's name to Pearl. Vol's son, William Pearl, eight years old had been bitten by a rattlesnake, survived the bite and lived until Dec. 27, 1951.
In 1892 the cousins sold the store and move to Eastland. The two sons born in Eastland were Ernest Vernon (1892) and Travis Ephraim (1894). E. P. was a merchant and banker during this time. The family moved to San Antonio about 1915 where E. P. continued in banking. E.P. died July 25, 1935 and Inez died Oct. 4, 1950. Both are buried at Mission Burial Park, San Antonio.
Travis E. served in the A. E. F. in France during W.W.I and worked in San Antonio after for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He married Eleanor Anne Lucas Sept. 5, 1925. In 1931, Travis, Eleanor and children Travis Jr. (8/24/26) and Doris Anne (8/1/28) moved to Houston where they reside presently.
I know of no Davenport living in Coryell County except me, Doris Anne Davenport Thompson. I transferred here in 1981 from Huntsville, where I work for the Department of Corrections. My husband, Robert Bruce Thompson, Jr., died May 21, 1979. Our sons, Robert BruceThompson III, (11/24/60) and Travis William Thompson (11/26/62) presently live in San Antonio and Denton, respectively.
The family possesses a collection of letters written by Overton to his family in Georgia. The letters reflect a man of deep religious, moral and patriotic beliefs. This first Davenport of Coryell County set a noble example for all of us who follow - Doris A. Thompson"
The next entry is by Joe Davenport, the contributor of this page's letter:
"Overton Davenport after the war. O.F. served for a time as Station Creek postmaster before being elected to a full term as Coryell County, commissioner. (Four commissioners and county judges make up commissioner courts in Texas.) He was then elected to represent Coryell County in the 13th Texas Legislature (1873) which repealed most of the carpet bag laws imposed upon the residents.
He continued farming and he and wife Eliza Agnes Pennington continued having children. Overton and first wife had one surviving child: William Gran. Overton and Eliza had 11 surviving children, including one named Albert Sydney, who became a district Judge in Eastland County. Overton accompanied by his family as well as those of brothers John Andrew and Jouett Harbert (a major in Co. D, 30th Texas Cavalry during the war) moved to Eastland County. For a brief period Overton engaged in a mercantile business and aided brother Jouett in starting the county's first newspaper while beginning, again, a farming operation. He engaged in some land speculation in the town of Eastland and later in Ranger. Overton died June 22, 1909 at age 89. He and wife are buried in Pioneer Cemetery three blocks from downtown Ranger, Texas.
John Andrew [Ed: Pvt. John A. Davenport, Co. K, 10th Texas Infantry], born December 20, 1830, farmed in Coryell County and served a term as Station Creek postmaster. He also farmed in Eastland County near Ranger. He died October 18, 1916, and is buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Ranger under a tombstone that has his name spelled, improperly, as DEAVENPORT.
Overton had 6 brothers. All entered CSA service. Three were killed or died, the other four were wounded."
Copyright © 1998, Scott McKay