Francis Menefee White, settler, soldier, and public official, was born at Pulaski, Tennessee, on August 11, 1811, son of Jesse and Mary (Menefee) White. The family moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama, and then to Jackson County, Texas, in 1830. On October 1, 1835, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Texas army and later participated in the Siege of Bexar, the Grass Fight, and several other minor skirmishes while serving under Rawson Alley and George Sutherland. Voters in the Matagorda district elected White as their representative to the Consultation in San Felipe, but, occupied with his military duties around Bexar, he was unable to attend. White later left the army to care for his pregnant wife. After independence, White was named commissioner of Jackson County in 1837 and was elected justice of the peace in 1838, 1839, and 1840. White attended the Convention of 1845 and as a member of the House represented Jackson County in the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth legislatures. He was a member of the Board of Land Commissioners and also served as chairman of the House Committee on Public Lands. In 1857 he won the post of commissioner of the General Land Office, which he held until 1862. Provisional Governor Andrew J. Hamilton recalled White to oversee the Land Office during the early stages of Reconstruction, and he served until 1866, at which time he left public life. White returned to his Jackson County home and spent his remaining days farming and practicing law. He died on March 22, 1897, and was buried in the Wells family cemetery ten miles southeast of Edna.
Moore, Luke
Luke Moore, soldier and member of the Old Three Hundred, received title to a league of land in what is now Harris County on August 3, 1824, and located his claim on Bray’s Bayou. William B. Travis was retained as attorney in a title suit against Moore in October 1833. Moore died before December 1837, when Thomas Earle, administrator, was offering land in the Moore estate for sale. In 1838 Moore was issued a headright certificate for a labor of land in Harrisburg County, after his death; he received 640 acres for his service from July 15 to December 15, 1836, and a bounty warrant for 320 acres on February 2, 1838, for his service, including his presence at the Siege of Bexar, from September 27 to December 18, 1835; patents of 320 and 640 acres in Limestone County were issued to a Luke Moore on February 9 and May 20, 1846, respectively.
Fuentes, Antonio
Antonio Fuentes, Alamo defender, was born at San Antonio de Béxar, Texas, in 1813. He was one of a group of native Texans recruited by Juan N. Seguín for six months’ service during the Texas Revolution. He took part in the Siege of Bexar as a member of Seguín’s company. Fuentes figured in the rift that occurred between William B. Travis and James Bowie just before the siege of the Alamo. He had been found guilty of theft by a jury that included both Travis and Bowie and had been sentenced to jail by Seguín, who acted as judge. When Bowie was elected commander of the volunteers among the troops at Bexar, he got drunk and freed the prisoners. Fuentes was ordered back to jail by Seguín, but at the arrival of the Mexican troops on February 23, 1836, he entered the Alamo with the rest of Seguín’s command. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
Walker, Jacob
Jacob Walker, Alamo defender, was born in Rockridge County, Tennessee, in May 1799. Walker was a resident of Nacogdoches. He took part in the Siege of Bexar and afterwards remained in Bexar as a member of Capt. William R. Carey’s artillery company. Susanna W. Dickinson recalled that, during the siege of the Alamo, Walker often spoke to her about his children. She also recalled that during the battle, Walker rushed into her room pursued by Mexican soldiers who shot and bayonetted him to death as she looked on. Walker was the cousin of fellow Alamo defender Asa Walker and brother of the famous mountain man Joseph R. Walker.
Harris, John
John Harris, Alamo defender, was born in Kentucky in 1813 and lived in 1836 in Gonzales, Texas. He took part in the siege of Bexar and later served in the Bexar garrison in Capt. Robert White’s infantry company, the Bexar Guards. Sometime before the siege of the Alamo began, Harris returned to his home in Gonzales, where he was mustered into the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers on February 23, 1836. He returned to the Alamo with this group on March 1, 1836, and died in the battle of the Alamo five days later.
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