History of Mrs. F. M. (Della Bunt) Edwards, Coosa, Alabama http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/coosa/bios/edwards.txt ================================================================================ USGENWEB NOTICE: All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed and copyrighted by: Della Edwards ================================================================================ June 2000 Written by Della Bunt Edwards on August 11, 1937 My Father, Zebe Bunt of Scotch/Irish descent was born in Georgia. My mother moved with her family to Rockford, Alabama when she was a small child. The Indians were still there and her father - a Doctor - kept a trading post there. My father served in the Mexican War, and on his return stopped at Rockford, Alabama. He was ill and was treated by my grandfather. (Dr. John S. McDonald). There he fell in love with my mother. They were married and lived in Rockford quite awhile. They then moved to Camden, Ark. where my father was in the bakery business. Lived there five years and my mother became ill, they moved back to Rockford, Alabama until my mothers parents died. I was born in Rockford, Alabama, May 14th, 1862 and am the 6th child of 9 children. I was a small child when my parents moved to Texas, we went by wagon to Montgomery, Alabama - sold our wagons and teams, took a steamboat down the Alabama river to Mobile, Alabama - then to Galveston, Texas. I was very sick crossing the Gulf of Mexico. We stayed in Galveston several days until my father was able to get his freight straight as it was sent wrong. We then went by rail to Calvert, Texas. Here we bought two wagons, one team of horses, two team of oxen, and two saddle horses. We started on to Bernards Mill then in Johnson County - we lived in 3 counties and never moved. Hood County was cut off Johnson county and Somervell cut off Hood. Mr. Bernard had a trading post there with the Indians. They had a Mexican girl captive, who he bought from the Indians, then married her and lived for a long time at the trading post which was on the Brazos River, east of Granbury. My father was forced to stop on account of rheumatism in Milam county and rented a farm near Mayesville -- he had two grown sons who helped him with the farm. The following winter we went on to Bernards Mill where the county was changed to Somervell. They made a town from the Mill and called it Glen Rose. Soon after we got there a strange man came into the neighborhood. He was handsome I thought. I was a small girl at the time. He lived at Glen Rose and Granbury for a long time, then became violently ill while he was boarding with Mr. Finis Bates of Granbury and thought he was going to die. He went by the name of John St. Hellen, and told Mr. Bates that his real name was John Wilkes Boothe the slayer of Lincoln. He recovered and went to Oklahoma under the name of David E. George. Mr. Bates kept his secret. His neice Miss Blanch Booth said he died by his own hand of poison at Grande Avenue Hotel, Enid Oklahoma, January 15th, 1903. My father bought land four miles from Bernards Mill and helped to build a log school house. It had plank shutters, no glass windows, split logs for seats, a large fire place, and a shelf on the wall for a writing desk. When it was real cold the teacher would let part of us stand in front of the fire until we got warm, then let the others come to warm. We carried water from a well about a quarter mile away. Two of us would go together. It was fun to go for water. The cemetary was about one and one half miles from the schoolhouse. When some of the neighbors died the teacher would dismiss school and have us march to the cemetery for the funeral always held at the cemetery on Squaw Creek. My mother, father, two brothers and three sisters are buried there. The name of the school was the Porter School. This August 11, 1937. I am 75 years old Della Edwards,