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John Neely Bryan & his wife Martha Beeman Bryan
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I am a native Houstonian, but my roots run deep in Fort Bend County. My family has been in Texas since it was a Republic, starting with my great, great, great grandfather, John Neely Bryan, who founded the town of Dallas. He was a native of Fayetteville, Tennessee.
John Neely Bryan attended the Fayetteville Military Academy and after studying law was and admitted to the Tennessee Bar. Around 1833 he left Tennessee and moved to Arkansas, where he was an Indian trader, and with a business partner laid out the town of Van Buren, Arkansas.
Bryan had visited the Dallas area in 1839 looking for a place to create a trading post. After finding a good spot at the forks of the Trinity River, he returned to Arkansas to settle affairs. In November 1841 he returned to Texas, where he learned that a treaty had forced half of his prospective customers, Native Americans, out of North Texas. Bryan decided that a trading post was no longer feasible, so instead he established a permanent settlement, which eventually became the burgeoning city of Dallas. Bryan was very important to early Dallas — he served as the postmaster, a storeowner, a ferry operator (he operated a ferry where Commerce Street crosses the Trinity River today) and his home served as the courthouse. In 1844 he persuaded J. P. Dumas to survey and plat the site of Dallas and possibly helped him with the work. Bryan was instrumental in the organizing of Dallas County in 1846 and in the choosing of Dallas as its county seat in August 1850. When Dallas became the county seat, Bryan donated the land for the courthouse. In 1843 he married Margaret Beeman (pictured, at left), a daughter of the Beeman family who settled in Dallas from Bird's Fort. The couple had five children, and one of them, Luther, was my great, great grandfather.
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Confederate Headstone for John Neely Bryan at the Austin State Hospital grounds
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In 1849, Bryan went to California during the gold rush, but returned within a year. In January 1853 he was a delegate to the Texas state Democratic convention. In 1855, Bryan shot a man who had insulted his wife and fled to the Creek Nation. The man he shot made a full recovery, and Bryan certainly would've been informed, but still Bryan did not return to Dallas for about six years. During that time he travelled to Colorado and California, probably looking for gold. He returned to Dallas in 1860 or 1861.
Bryan joined Col. Nicholas H. Darnell's Eighteenth Texas Calvalry regiment in the winter of 1861 and served with the unit until late 1862 when he was discharged due to his old age and poor health. He returned to Dallas in 1862 and again became actively involved in community affairs. In 1863 he was a trustee for the Dallas Male & Female Academy. In 1866, during a Dallas flood, he was very prominent in aiding those affected. He also chaired a citizens' meeting that pushed the Houston & Texas Central Railway to complete the railway through the city, and presided at a rally that sought to get full political rights for all ex-Confederates. In 1871 and 1872 Bryan became one of the directors of the Dallas Bridge Company, which built the first iron bridge across the Trinity River. He also stood on the platform at the welcoming ceremonies for the Houston and Texas Central Railway when the first train pulled into town in mid-July 1872.
By 1874 Bryan's mind was clearly impaired, though it is not known exactly how. Family lore has it that he was an alcoholic-one has to wonder if he imbibed in rot-gut whiskey in the gold fields. He was admitted to the Texas State Lunatic Asylum in February 1877 and died there on 8 September 1877. He is believed to be buried in a now-unmarked grave in the southeast quadrant of the Austin State Hospital Cemetery, although some believe he is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2006, family members from across the country held a ceremony to dedicate the confederate headstone in his honor at the Austin State Hospital grounds.
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Minor L. Woolley & Jennie Lou Bryan Woolley
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John Neely Bryan's granddaughter, Jennie Lou Bryan married my great grandfather, Minor L. Woolley, who was Sheriff of Fort Bend County during the early 1900's off & on for close to 30 years. Jennie Lou was Minor's second wife. As often happened in those days, Minor's first wife, Rebecca Wilson, died after having several children, 3 of whom survived. Of those 3, 2 (Lorena & Willie) died early in life. The oldest daughter, Bertha (called Sister by the family) became the pricipal of Jane Long school. Minor remarried Jennie Lou Bryan and they had 7 kids, one of the youngest was my grandmother, Norma Beatrice Woolley Box.
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The Woolley family on the porch of their home on Thompsons Road, the site of the present development of the Dell Webb subdivision
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The Woolley's first settled in Needville, but when the 1900 storm destroyed their general store, they moved to Richmond and established a general store on Thompsons Road across the street from where the current Episcopal Church is located at Thompsons & Austin Street. That store was flooded during a flood of the Brazos River in the early 1900's. The home to the left is located where the current Dell Web subdivision is being built on Thompsons Highway, and you can see the family on the porch.
My grandmother was one of 10 children, and they grew up living on the bottom floor of the historic Fort Bend County jail whenever my great grandfather was serving as Sheriff. My great aunt, Zora Dell Cole, was the first woman deputy in Fort Bend County and District Clerk for many years.
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The Woolley family posing in front of the Fort Bend County jail
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Woolley's store at Thompson Road & Austin Street during the Richmond flood
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3 of my grandmother's siblings, Bertha, Willy & Lornea pose in front of the jail
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M. L. Woolley with Bertha & Lorena
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M. L. Woolley family
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Sheriff M. L. Woolley
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J. E. Woolley's Club Saloon in Needville pictured with his father, Virgil Woolley & other family members
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The Woolley family lived in Needville, & Minor's parents are buried in the Needville Cemetary. My grandmother's uncle, J. E. Woolley, had a saloon in Needville in the early 1900's. This is a photo of the saloon along with a number of family members, all piled on a wagon.
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Deputy Dink Hagan, Sheriff M. L. Woolley & unidentified man
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Sheriff Woolley & Dink Hagan with another man
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Minor's parents, Virgil Woolley & Martha Woolley
My great aunt told stories about Virigl having the relatives of those people he had put in jail or killed trying to kill him. At night she remembered her father, M. L. Woolley, telling of having to stand guard at the front of the house while his brothers would be at various places around the house & property armed with shot guns, with orders to shoot. They did this so the rest of the family could eat their dinner! M. L. had written that for 8-10 years there was never a light in the dining room or sleeping rooms unless someone sat on the porch to watch the house.
In 1902 Virgil & Martha moved to Fort Bend County & purchased a home in Needville where M. L. Woolley had previously moved. There he farmed until he died at the age of 75 & was buried in the Needville Cemetery. My great Aunt Zora Dell said she never knew her grandfather but was told he was a small man, about 5' 8" or 5' 9" tall, slender build and very agile. He was a brave & patriotic man all his life.
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Virgil Woolley was M. L. Woolley's father and quite an interesting fellow in his own right. Virgil was born in Bibb County, Alabama in 1836. He left Alabama against his family's wishes in 1854, at the age of 18. As his family would not provide him with any money for his trip, he left Alabama with one dollar to his name. He walked from Selma, Alabama behind an ox wagon to Washington County in 42 days. Along the way, he swam rivers & endured many hardships. When he arrived at "Old Evergreen" in Washington County, he was employed driving an oxen team wagon hauling freight. He later purchased his first farm for $300 worth of beef hides. Virgil accepted a position with John R. Baylor as a cowboy driving cattle to Fort Belknap on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. While on this trail Indians murdered a family named Jackson & took 2 children prisoner who were later recovered by Texas Rangers under Bill Burleson. He later joined Ford's Rangers & was involved in a battle against 400 hostile Indians resulting in 70 dead Indians & the capture of about 400 head of horses. He had many adventures with Indians one of which took place when he was lost in the Palo Pinto Mountains & attempting to return to Washington County. He was able to escape the hostile Indians & return to marry Martha Ann Boswell on May 5, 1859.
Virgil joined the Confederate States Army as a member of Company A, Willis's Calvary Battalion, Waul's Texas Legion. When Washington County was subdivided, Virgil ended up living in Lee county & became a deputy under Sheriff J. M. Brown. Family lore has it that my great-grandfather would say that when Washington County was subdivided, all of the thieves stayed in Lee County. Once when he was with the Sheriff & other deputies pursuing cattle thieves the Sheriff was shot with 17 slugs made from bar lead. The Sheriff recovered & was able to return to work and went on to hang or shoot many outlaws as in those days cattle theft was a capital offense because people needed their cattle for their very existence.
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Martha Woolley & an unidentified woman
Martha was buried next to her husband in the Needville Cemetary, however she did not have a headstone. My cousin & I attempted to find out exactly where she was buried, however records did not show her grave site. We elected to put a stone next to Virgil since that is what we thought they would have wanted and she now has a headstone.
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A shot of the Sheriff with a group of men.
Note the spittoon in the lower right corner next to M. L. Woolley
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My great Uncle, Truman Woolley in M. L. Woolley's general store
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Sheriff M. L. Woolley
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Fort Bend County jail circa 1904
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Current photo of the Fort Bend County jail
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My great uncle, Glen Hamlink with his family
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A photo of my great uncle, Glen Hamlink. Hamlink Road in Beasley is named after his family. Uncle Glen lived to be 100 years old & was an active member of the Fort Bend County are community for most of those years!
In 2010 my husband & I purchased the old Home Lumber building from Lee Leaman and moved it to Beasley, at the corner of 7th & Avenue G. We remodeled the historic building, built in 1932. After being in the building almost a year, I found out by chance that my great uncle, Glen Hamlink was the brother-in-law of Lee Leaman's grandfather and at one time was part owner of Home Lumber. Quite by accident, the building has remained part of the family!
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Current location of Gremillion Enterprises 203 S. 7th Street in Beasley, Texas
The remodeled Home Lumber building, built in 1932
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Yes, my roots run deep in Fort Bend County and I strive improve the lives of the people who live here. I hope to be instrumental in preserving the historic roots of the Beasley area, while enabling the people who live there to continue to raise their standard of living & make this part of Fort Bend County all that it can be. I started my career in commercial real estate and currently work with residential, farm and ranch, undeveloped land and commercial real estate & development.
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