Thomas Jones Stell
Meet Thomas Jones StellDear Cousins,
Here is another in the series of character sketches written by Nancy Rebecka Stell about our ancestors beginning with Revolutionary soldier John Still (Stell). Nancy had written these for her adopted son, John Thomas, son of John Milton, her brother. I hope you will enjoy reading them and sharing them with your families, in the hopes their memories will be perpetuated. With a little research, I have unearthed Col. Thomas Stell's military participation in the Indian Wars and his mother's father for which he was named, Capt. Thomas Jones' revolutionary war record in the Battle of Cowpens. Please let me know if I can help you in obtaining your DAR or SAR membership. As Stell descendants, we have so much to be proud of!
Mary McBurnett Bynum (fifth generation Texan and Great-granddaughter of Georgia Rebecka Stell)
THOMAS JONES STELL
Your great Grandfather, Thomas Jones Stell, son of Robert Malone Stell and Elizabeth Jones Stell, was born in 1799 in Georgia. Married first wife, Sallie Hogg of Georgia, a relative of ex-governor Hogg of Texas. To them were born two daughters, Elizabeth and Amanda Stell.
After the death of his first wife he married Rebecka Cook, daughter of a Mississippi planter. She is our grandmother. To Thomas Stell and Rebecka Cook Stell was born four daughters - Minerva, Martha, Eliza and Josephine Stell, and four sons - Randolph, John, Benjamin, and Robert Hamilton Stell.
Your great Grandfather, Thomas Jones Stell, was a somewhat colorful character. After the death of his father his Irish blood seemingly burst its maternal bounds, consequently, his mother bound him out to a shoemaker. In that age the law permitted parents of difficult children to bind them to some authorized person who would teach them a trade. The shoemaker promised young Tommy the sales price of every extra pair of shoes he made, so using both brains and hands, he astonished his employer by the extra number he turned out. On completing his term with the shoemaker, he used his money to pay his tuition in some university, majoring in law, and here the Stell tongue enters, in that he was said to be the most eloquent lawyer at that time to have plead at the legal bar of Marianna, Florida. Although great grandfather Tommy loved his drama, he never let it destroy his ambition to reach his cherished goal, for during his time he made and lost three fortunes, but always came back. In his first home in Georgia he owned a plantation and a retinue of slaves, where he lavishly entertained distinguished guests, the state governor and staff, often being among the number. Nor did he neglect the humbler class, being a true and trusted friend of all. His marriage with the influential Hogg family, coupled with that of his ancestral prestige, gave him a wide field in which to dispense his characteristic hospitality.
After the death of his first wife he married Rebecka Cook and moved to Florida, where he engaged in the mercantile business. On the outbreak of the Seminole war, on returning from a business trip he discovered the bridge over the river crossing blocked by painted Indian warriors, who grasped his bridle reins and refused to let him pass. Burying his spurs into his horse, causing him to rear and tear loose from their hold and plunge into the swift steam, reaching the opposite side amid a hail of arrows which both he and his horse miraculously escaped. Then dashing on he found his store going up in flames. Rushing on to his home he placed his wife and children in the family carriage, bidding the trusted black coachman to hasten them to the fort, where women and children were being rapidly brought in. Then hurrying on to the town square, where the home guard, (of whom he was captain), were swiftly mobilizing, he sent out couriers for all men in the surrounding territory to arm and join them. It took several months of vigorious scouting with much bloodshed on both sides before they succeeded in rounding up the majority of the Indians, but Chief Billy Bowlegs escaped to the Everglades, where his descendants may be found today. On being commissioned by the government, Commander Stell, led the advance guard in driving the sullen savages like cattle over the long arduous trail from Florida to the Indian reservation, now Oklahoma, where he delivered them to Federal authorities. But the urge for adventure was still strong in Thomas Jones Stell, so the Lone Star State was his next objective. Texas, having but recently won independence, he decided to seek a location there for his slaves. On his arrival he found ready employment, assisting in surveying city lots for the new addition to San Antonio. After touring most of the state, and being the deeded a Spanish grant free- land assigned by the government to new settlers, he selected a site northwest of San Antonio, returned to Florida, and while making preparations to move, was stricken with rheumatic fever, from which he died.
Later his family moved to Texas, but had lost the official papers, so the land went back to the State, and today Fredericksburg stands on the spot. His widow, Rebecka Cook Stell re-wed a Mr. Christian, who squandered quite a sum of money which rightly belonged to the Stell heirs. In 1855 they moved to Texas, bringing the slaves - settled in DeWitt County, leased land in what is now the northern suburb of Cuero. No wire then for fencing, so the blacks cut trees, grubbed stumps, and split rails to use instead. Old Uncle Abe, (Ned's father), a young buck was among the number. While living here Christian was accidentally killed in attempting to jump his horse across a ravine, known afterwards as Christian's Hollow in the Irish Creek Hills. (I am sure, son, you have crossed it often.) Grandmother Stell then leased her slaves to Col. Stephens, moved to Concrete, and placed the children in Covey's college. After a number of years she bought a tract of land extending from one mile east of the Guadalupe River to just beyond where the Railroad town of Edgar years afterward was built. Soon the slaves had the cleared land in cultivation, leaving some prairie and timberland for pasture and firewood, the only fuel to be had in that time. Then she had a dwelling house and slave quarters erected a short distance from Cuero Creek, which her land crossed. In 1858 her son, Robert, with his wife and young son came from Florida to manage the farm for her. In 1861 came the Civil War, freeing the slaves, and leaving her with quite a bit of land unpaid for, which went back to the former owner, therby leaving only a small percentage of the fortune, starting with Thomas Jones Stell. But his name lives on, a symbol of industry, honesty, justice and liberty, planted in the 17th century of the first John Stell, it has been unsullied by most of his descendants. It is an asset that far outweighs the gold-filled coffers of King Midas, and I am sure, that you son, will ever strive to keep its colors floating from the masthead of honor.
post script: And John Thomas Stell did just that as a naval soldier of World War I and II.