TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: Robert Baxter Moore

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: Robert Baxter Moore (1807-1875)

Of all the historic lives I have researched and covered for Tombstone Tuesday, I believe the life of Robert Baxter Moore, and that of the children he raised has to be one of the most interesting. Calhoun County is steeped in Texas History, and it is not often when you find someone who was not only there at the beginning of the story but also had a hand in developing and leaving behind an account so rich in the day-to-day happenings of this place we call home.

Robert Baxter Moore was born on April 11, 1807, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. His mother was Nancy Fillicul Moore, and his father was Robert Moore, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. According to the St. Helier Church of England in New Jersey Robert was baptized on December 23, 1807. In 1832 he met Mary Crowell Layton and on July 2, of that same year they were married. 

The couple moved to Texas in 1846 living in Victoria for a little while and then moving to the port town of Indianola in 1849. The couple brought two sons with them to Texas. Joseph Layton was born in 1833, and his brother William Erastus was born in 1836. Mary gave birth to their third child, and only daughter Eudora Inez while in Victoria in 1847. When she was a year old, in early 1849, the family moved and settled in Indianola. There, the family grew by four more sons, Spencer C., born 1851, Dolph Phineas, 1852, Robert Baxter. 1855, and Henry Edgar, 1857.

Robert was a carpenter by trade. According to his daughter Eudora it was that occupation that brought him to Indianola. It was Eudora who authored a book “Recollections of Indianola” which gives one of the best firsthand accounts of life in Indianola from the ports beginning to her end in 1886. Eudora’s book is included in the “Indianola Scrap Book” on pages 94-132, and it is a fascinating read. 

Robert B. Moore shows up twice in the U.S. Census 1860 and 1870. Robert is shown in both to be a carpenter and shows his real estate value at $1000 and personal estate value at $300 and real estate value at $900 and personal estate value at $250, respectively. The negative in values between the two censuses was not from the lack of business during that decade, but because of the Civil War and Reconstruction between the two that locked down the southern states. 

When Robert and Mary moved to Indianola, he bought a good-sized parcel of land from the Howerton Brothers. It was located “on the western part of the island, partially bounded on the north by a lake and on the west and south by a bayou flowing from the lake and connecting with Powderhorn Lake on the east” according to Eudora. He built a house overlooking the lake and it was a beautiful location. There was a lot of chaparrals growing on the land that had to be cleared in order to plant a garden and a field. Robert used brush for fencing. The Howerton brothers had already cleared a piece of the land, and their garden was left there so the Moore’s were able to keep a garden going from the beginning, the family called it Howerton’s Patch. Having a garden already there was important because when they moved to Indianola their home was only one of 3 to 4 homes in the entire area. There was no local mercantile and anything that was needed outside of what could be made or grown on their own had to be brought in by boat or a trip to Lavaca or Victoria was needed. 

At that time Indianola had its share of dangers too. Rattlesnakes were abundant and would strike at animals and humans who did not hear its warning before striking. Luckily for the Moore Family neither they nor their animals were bitten by one. The boys were very handy and quick with the gun when it came to taking care of striking snakes. There were also wolves. Eudora tells of one morning when her brother Will saw a wolf near the house and called for his father who took a shot or two at it. The wolf was able to jump the brush fence and get away. Later, a calf was missing from its shelter, after a long time its bones were found in the bushes where the wolf pack had devoured it. Wolves were also caught trying to have themselves a chicken dinner as well. Robert hid behind the fence in the garden and when the wolf came to get himself something to eat, he got a load of buckshot which ended his hunger forever. The third danger was, and I imagine, also the biggest nuisance were the mosquitoes. I read a wonderful book once about the women who pioneered Texas entitled “Texas Dames” by Carmen Goldwaite. In this book I vividly remember the comments about the mosquitoes in South Texas and how fierce they were. They were, as one woman put it, so bad that it was a major consideration when choosing where to settle. The choice being more inland around DeWitt and Lavaca counties and beyond and having to deal with the Comanche Indians and other unfriendly tribes or stay on the coast and deal with the constant misery that the mosquitoes gave settlers. I think of the ones that plagued us after Hurricane Harvey and understood completely all the misery that surely entailed. The danger was the spread of diseases like yellow fever, malaria, and others that would send people to their graves, often in a plague. The Moore family had no screens on the windows and with the heat of most of the year in this area the windows being open was necessary. Mosquito netting was nailed over the windows in Robert and Mary’s bedroom, and mosquito bars of netting were set up in the other rooms and parts of the house to give the family a respite from the swarms of bites. 

When the Moore family moved to Indianola in 1849, there were only 3 or 4 homes in the whole place. The first home that was built was by Mr. Swartz who moved there from Galveston in 1844. John Henry Brown was another early settler, and there was also a hut built on the beach by an old man named Carol who died there after a brief time. The other home was built by Prince Karl zu Solms Braunsfelt, a German explorer who visited earlier in 1814. He had gone to Germany and made a deal for German immigrants to make a new home in Texas. He brought the first ship loads into Indianola in 1845, which was at that time called Indian Point. He renamed it Karl’s Haven, but what they found was far from the land of milk and honey he had promised. They were expecting land that was rich for farming, abundant in natural resources and had buffalo, deer, and other wildlife by the thousands, what they got was one house, unceasing swarms of mosquitos, brackish water, no place for food or even to rest themselves that was warm or dry, and be somewhat comfortable. Most lived in shelters they dug in the sands and covered with whatever brush or branches they could find. Many died of sickness like cholera and yellow fever and many more died on the way to Victoria and inland places where the settled the cities of New Braunfels and Castroville, Fredericksburg, and other German settlements. Mrs. Lucy Swartz told Eudora about the Prince. She said the prince rode around with long feathers in his hat and that he liked to make a display of himself. There was a man and his wife named Wilde were hired as the head of the colony. The wife of Mr. Wilde thought everyone should show great reverence to the prince but there was one fat German with a pipe in his mouth that refused to take his hat off as the prince rode by saying “ damn the prince, this is a free country.” The settlers were not there long as they began migrating inland. After they left Mr. Leibold became the owner of the prince’s house and land. He planted fruit and ornamental trees, built summer homes, and arbors that were covered in grapevines. He put benches and tables out and even built a bowling alley and had a regular beer garden there. The Germans and the other residents in Indian Point, also called Old Town, would go there on Sundays, to enjoy the day. Some of the first settlers were names we are familiar with in this area, Huck, Slondier, Miller, Messrs, Buchell, Fromme, and Runge were prominent citizens. They built warehouses and businesses in Old Town. Robert Moore was a busy carpenter during the growth of both Indian Point and later Indianola. 

Around 1855 lightening struck the Moore house. The back part of the house had three rooms, one above the other and then a high raised roof, all three were wrecked. The blast broke every window in the house, and the roof was raised several inches off the structure. It struck one of the feather beds and feathers were flying everywhere. Robert ran up the stairs with two buckets of water thinking the house was on fire. It was not but that part of the house had to be rebuilt. To supply his family milk and butter he bought two milk cows and brought them home. Back then people did not know about feeding cattle in winter so in the fall they were turned out to find food themselves. One of the cows got bogged down eating marsh grass and could not be saved. Butter was churned and then placed in large stone jars and buried in a cool place so it would stay fresh.

Robert Moore had a skiff he kept on the lake; it was used to go out and trap crabs, and hunt ducks and geese to feed the family. Powderhorn Lake also had some of the best oyster beds there were in the area. Robert would often go out and harvest a gallon of oysters for dinner. There were also white mushrooms with light pink underneath that grew on the prairie that they harvested and fried in butter, and the garden produced the rest of the food the family needed. 

Robert was a trained mechanic and building contractor. He had a great and lucrative business in the building of Indianola. There was one job that did not go well and cost him a good deal. He was building a warehouse near Powderhorn Bayou for a woman who lived in Old Town. He told the woman that she did not furnish enough wood to complete the warehouse. Robert warned her that if it were not finished a strong wind could blow it down. Before she got the rest of the wood to finish the job, just as Robert told her a strong wind came through and the warehouse fell. She sued him for damages. The trial date and time was set and before Robert got to the courthouse, the lady’s lawyer relative had it pushed through and Robert ended up having to give over his harness, new carriage, and team to pay for the warehouse. After two wharves had been built for the shipping that was coming from and going to the port town of Indianola, buildings and homes were erected at neck break speed. It was at this time that homes and businesses were being moved from Old Town down to Indianola. Teams of mules provided the power needed to move the structures. Germans and immigrants from other nations were still landing in the port city and making their move inland. Robert built some homes that he rented to people who were new to town or waiting to move inland. During this time soldiers that were being sent to the frontier were landing there as well. Some of the immigrants walked on four legs instead of two. Jefferson Davis was the secretary of war under President Pierce; he had camels brought through Indianola to be used to carry supplies to forts that were built in West Texas. They were not popular with the citizens of Indianola as they trampled through their gardens eating any vegetation that stood still and knocked over cisterns, clothes lines, and fences as they went. Horses and livestock were afraid of them as well, luckily the Camel Corps proved to be a failure and Indianola was rid of them quickly. 

Robert and Mary’s children attended school in Indianola as well as Sunday School. At Christmas, Christmas trees were not what we know them to be today. They were Yaupon bushes or Mesquite trees mostly although Evergreen trees could be shipped in, but they were expensive and by the time they arrived they were already dry wilted and the worse for wear. Sunday School had a Christmas tree annually and since there were no suitable trees in the area, they would have one shipped in. Robert convinced them that he could provide one he built that would be good enough for the church. He took a young China Tree that was symmetrical in shape and sawed off the top branches then he inserted those of the lignum Vitae which was an evergreen with glossy foliage and stuffed it in the top of the China tree. It made a good-looking tree and when he presented it to the church, they looked to him to furnish a tree every Christmas after. The Moore children, Eudora and the younger boys went to school in Indianola. It cost $2.50 a month for a child to attend, however for families with more then one child attending the cost was cut to $2.00 each. The Moore children were all educated and their lives after they were grown and had their own families showed the value of that $2.00 a month for, they were all successful. Some of the Moore boys worked for local ranchers and drove beeves from the ranch to Indianola to ship them out for New Orleans, and when Texas succeeded from the Union on March 4, 1861, a couple of the Moore boys joined the Confederate troops from Indianola and South Texas.

The citizens of Indianola backed the C.S.A. with their husbands and sons and they did their part in making supplies, munitions, and clothing that was needed for the local troops. In the spring of 1862 yellow fever went through the camp at Fort Esperanza and several of the local boys died from it. Some were brought back home and buried in the Indianola Cemetery. During the years of the war the Moore’s made their own clothes and shoes as the Texas ports were blockaded by the Federal Union forces and trade was used by the troops. On the last day of November 1863 news came that the ports on the Texas coast were under threat Capt. George and his company were ordered to Fort Esperanza. The Federal fleet was outside of the pass, and they bombarded the fort for several days. They landed a large force of men and were about to surround and cut off Matagorda Island and the fort from the mainland. The soldiers were ordered to blow up the lighthouse and all the munitions and supplies so the Yankees could not use them and retreat to Indianola. From there they moved on to Port Lavaca for a short while and then were ordered to Galveston. The fleet came into Matagorda Bay and Indianola surrendered to them by the mayor, Mr. Cleveland. From there they went up the bay and bombarded Port Lavaca for some time. The citizens of Indianola could here the firing of the cannon as they pelted the town. 

That winter was a cold one and on New Years night of 1864 the Moore house was awaken by a dozen Yankees who were freezing and demanded that they be given shelter in the home for the night. Robert made a fire in the kitchen stove so they could bed down there but before they did, they searched the house and gave the children a fright. It was not the last time that the Moore family would play host to Union Soldiers during the war and during reconstruction. They were not always friendly to the family either, sometimes destroying property and stealing the chickens to feed themselves. It was more than once that the family had to run and find an officer to stop soldiers from trying to cause harm to the family. During the Civil War William Moore was shot through the body during a battle at Murfreesboro Tennessee and after many days of worry they received a letter telling them that he was out of danger and returning to his regiment. He had three horses killed from under him in three different engagements. The eldest son Joseph Moore last visited home in 1863, it was the last time the family saw him. Joseph died in 1864 as a casualty of the war in Alexandria LA. 

In 1867 William Moore bought a place in Matagorda County and he was fixing it up to live in. His little brother Baxter was staying there for a time and while there he got sick and died. The family did not find out until his body was brought home for burial. Baxter was 13 years old and he was buried in the Indianola Cemetery. It had been raining very hard and the only place in the cemetery not under water was the west end. His grave was dug, and he was buried there on June 30, 1867. In July of that same year, a ship carrying fever infested people came into port and yellow fever ran through Indianola. Many of the people that the Moore family knew were sick and many died. Eudora Moore had gone to the cemetery to visit the graves of friends and came down with the fever. Her mother had to nurse her back to health. She also had to nurse both her husband, Robert, and little Edgar who both got sick with the fever as well. Neither of them had severe symptoms and were not that sick. All the family escaped that tragic time with their lives. They would not be so lucky in 1875.

On September 16, 1875, a powerful hurricane hit the little port town of Indianola. The Moore children all had a place of their own in other towns along the coast. Eudora was staying with Williams's wife in Tres Palacios and Dolph had a home and business in what is now Bay City. They went through the storm there, and at home Robert and Mary endured the brunt of the storm. It was days before news reached the children about the condition of Indianola and the fate of their parents. When the boys brought her to live with them, she told them of the night's events. The wind was blowing for two days and the water from the gulf had filled the bay, lakes and bayous and were overflowing. The water came into the house on the morning of the 16th, and they had to carry their provisions upstairs. By the evening, the water was up to the second floor. They thought a tall China tree and a ladder that was leaning up against it had crushed into the side of the house, when this happened the door on the back of the house burst open and would not stay shut. Robert backed up and leaned against the door to hold it shut. Mary and Corrine, a girl who lived there with the family, took some new sheets, and tide them together and tied them to each of them to keep them fastened to the cedar tree behind the house where they planned to escape if necessary. She was the only one who reached the tree and she did not know how she got there. The house gave way and Robert was hit in the head with a piece of the house and drown. Corrine was found in a wardrobe that had fallen over with her in it. It came to rest on chaparral bushes where it stayed through the rest of the storm. Mary rode it out in the tree with the branches whipping her without mercy throughout the rest of the storm. The town of Indianola was laid to waste. Robert’s rent houses and all the houses around them were washed away. Mary and Corrine both survived the storm but were beat up both physically and mentally. Robert’s body was recovered along with many of the friends and neighbors that were lost and he was buried in Indianola Cemetery along side Baxter. 

In the 26 years that Robert Moore and his family lived in the coastal city of Indianola they overcame many dangers and hardships, none of which they had any control over. Robert however saw each one through and kept his home and his family together, and those who remained under his roof alive. He never gave up on the home where he chose to raise his family, and he became an important part of the community. His legacy was left through the children that he raised who each, in their own way, contributed greatly to the areas of South Texas they lived in and in the State of Texas. 

Written by Sheryl Cuellar

Memorial and genealogical record of southwest Texas in “History of Texas”

Indianola Scrap Book 

“Recollections of Indianola” by Miss Eudora Moore