In the first part of this story I wrote about the patriarch of my Attebery line, William Attebery, who was convicted in London as a thief and was sentenced to transportation to the North American colonies for seven years of indentured servitude. He was taken to Annapolis in 1733 to begin his sentence which he completed in 1740. He then married and became a successful farmer, and raised a large family. His greatgrandson Stephen Clement Attebery was my 2nd greatgrandfather who was born in 1820 in Kentucky.
During the 80 years before Stephen’s birth the Atteberys proliferated. There were large families and each generation moved south and west for new farmland. It was very difficult to trace all the Atteberys for several reasons. Attebery was spelled in many, many ways (I’m using the ATTEBERY spelling because that is on Stephen’s gravestone) and the Attebery men seemed to use only a few first names: William, Thomas, Charles, Stephen. In any particular year there might be several Thomas Atteberys in several different states, and I was unable to sort them out. Fortunately a distant Attebery cousin of mine (Robert Atteberry) has recently published a very well-researched and detailed family history which allowed me to trace my Attebery family tree. There is however a still unknown reason why Stephen’s father was known as Thomas “Jockey Tom” Attebery except to distinguish him from other Thomas Atteberys. I have found no record that he raced horses, but perhaps there may be an answer sometime.
Jockey Tom was born in South Carolina and moved to Kentucky. He married Elizabeth Clement who had moved to Kentucky from North Carolina, and Stephen was born in 1820 in Kentucky. The family moved to Green County, Illinois in 1834 where Stephen lived until 1846. Another family became important to this story: Martin Rawlins was born in Kentucky in 1796 and moved to Green County, Illinois some time before 1830. He was a well-known frontier preacher who became one of the founders of the Churches of Christ. His daughter Isabella was born in 1830 in Green County and the Rawlins family moved to Lancaster (in Dallas County,Texas) in 1846 during the Mexican War.
The Mexican War (1846-48) was fought over Texas. In 1836 Texas was a province of Mexico, which had become populated by gringos from the U. S. There was a great deal of support for revolutionaries who wanted to break away from Mexico. The famous battle of the Alamo was a defeat for the revolution but the battle at San Jacinto a few months later turned the tables and Texas became independent, although the boundary between Texas and Mexico was not clear. By 1846 Texas wanted to become a U. S. state, but the boundary with Mexico of the new state of Texas could not be agreed upon between the U.S. and Mexico. The war was over the boundary.
The regular U. S. Army was not sufficient to counter the Mexican army; there had been no major battles for over 30 years. Most states recruited regiments for the U.S. Army, and in June 1846 Stephen C. Attebery enlisted as a Private in Company C, First Illinois Regiment. After very little training the First Illinois entered Mexican territory at Presidio on the Rio Grande. While the U.S. Marines were fighting in the “Halls of Montezuma” the First Illinois marched overland for 140 miles to reach Saltillo and the battle at Buena Vista in February 1847. They were under the command of Zachary Taylor and although the U.S. forces were outnumbered the Mexicans were defeated. Zachary Taylor was commended for his leadership, and he was elected President in 1848.
By June of 1847 the men of the First Illinois were discharged and were given their choice of free transportation home to Illinois, or accept a small amount of money and find their own way home. Stephen didn’t go home.
He made his way across Texas to Lancaster. He obviously knew that the Rawlins family had moved from Green County to Lancaster, and Isabella Rawlins had turned 17, and it is clear that they had been “courting” before the war separated them. Stephen and Isabella were married on July 22, 1847.
Stephen became a successful cattle rancher and a Captain in the Texas militia. When the Civil War broke out and Texas entered the Confederacy, Stephen Attebery refused to enter the Confederate Army. He was said to say: I have fought for this flag and I love it and I will not raise a hand against it.
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