My great x 3 grandfather in my mom's side fought in the Texas Revolution. He was at the Siege of Bexar and, with another soldier, carried Ben Milam's body into the Verimendi House. According to him, Milam was "shot in the head with a musket ball." He later fought at San Jacinto where he was wounded in the thigh but still carried a message from Sam Houston to the town leaders of Nacogdoches. On my dad's side tow great, great uncles where kidnapped by a Comanche/Kiowa raiding party in Wise County. They were 8 years old and spent time in the Great Plains (one with the Comanches, the other with the Kiowas) until they were ransomed.

Mom's side - direct descendent of Thomas Purefoy, Sr, arrived in Jamestown in 1613. Probably hung out with and maybe even hooked up with Pocahontas. (Longtime running joke on my mom's side of the family)

Dad's side - My 2nd Great-Grandfather was Henry J. Heinen of Comfort. Born in 1844 in Germany, he immigrated to Texas and settled in Comfort. Forced to join the Confederacy at 17, but believing in the Union, he "voluntarily" went south with "Kampmann's Company" in 1861. He escaped across the Rio Grande and resurfaced in New Orleans after joining the 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment (Union) out of New Orleans, LA. After being captured with 35 other Union soldiers by Confederate forces led by John S. "Rip" Ford on June 25, 1864, Henry remained a prisoner at Camp Groce until exchanged. He rejoined his company in January of 1865, and became Company 1st Sergeant on April 1, 1865.

My prior post about Italy was the story of my mother's father's family.

My mother's mother's family is Brazos Valley Sicilian (from Trapani). The maiden names are Salvaggio, Spadacene, Scarmardo, Allegro). I suspect that many people on Texags have a deep knowledge of that ancestry. Can anyone share?

This John Salvaggio, in the article included below, was my great-grandfather. I remember him. I discovered the article on 20 Nov 2025, thanks to the good work of the folks at the Carnegie Library in Bryan.

On my father's side, I know little about his father's ancestors before 1900.

My father's mother's genealogy is heavily documented. In 2013, I submitted a sample to 23-and-me. I was subsequently contacted by a distant cousin. His grandfather was my great-grandfather's brother, and he had documentation of that family back to 17th century in England. That distant cousin made me particularly happy, as he had in his possession a picture of my grandmother's father, which she had never seen. I won "best grandson" points for that one.

Need this thread to keep going

My great grandfather went to Texas A&M and was called up to serve in WW2 along with his whole graduating class. Of course it was a military school back then.

My 3rd great grandfather came from Denmark and settled in south Texas. Built a very nice hotel that is long abandoned. My 2nd great grandfather was from Austria.

My great grandmothers family were Tejanos who had been in Texas since it was a part of Mexico, and possibly Spain. My ancestor got a huge land grant in what is now Cameron county. Ended up settling a bit more north in south texas.

She also had some ancestors who came from Alabama and other southern states after the civil war.

I am descended from a former mayor of Dallas, Bryan T. Barry. His uncle (I believe) was Buck Barry, a Texas ranger who has had books written about him.

Also some ancestors that came from Germany (then Pennsylvania and finally Texas), Ireland, and other southern states after the civil war.

On my father's side, he is likely very near 100% British ancestry, all of his ancestors pretty much came to Texas from various southern states after the civil war. Settled in place likes Tarpley, TX, and Mason, TX.
Also some of the first settlers of the southern colonies and states in general. He also had a French Huguenot and a German ancestor that came to Virginia, but that was in the early 18th century.

He does have 1 line that was here before the CW, and as a result we are descended from William Howard Bourland, who has a Wikipedia page. He was a speaker of the house of Texas for a short time.

Other than that, nothing too crazy. My ancestors were some of the first to come into northern Arkansas and made friends with the Indians to varying degrees. One of my ancestors uncles was a polygamist that had two Indian wives on the frontier in Arkansas. This caused him lots of trouble with the Indians I believe.

Lots of interesting stories from my ancestors in Marion county, Arkansas, but after the CW they came to Texas.
and some of our cousins were killed by the Mormons on their way to California, in the "Mountain Meadows Massacre".

Coming to Texas after the ruins of the civil war seems to be why most of my ancestors came here. Was it reconstruction, or the possibility of new lands that enticed them? The idea of ranching over farmings (which was said to be easier?) no clue! But I am glad they did. I do still feel a connection to the south.

One more thing to add. My father always thought he was part Injun but it didn't show up in my ancestry test, and I didn't find any ancestors that were confirmed to be part Indian. But it could have washed away by now. I believe there are more people who descend from Indians than we believe, and in many cases it has been washed out of our dna through decades and centuries of mixing (in some cases with newer European immigrants who wouldn't be part Indian of course)

But, he has 2 ancestors who married Indian wives after their white wives had passed away, and they did go on to have children, although we descend from the white wives who had passed away.

Funny, we've been in Harrison, Ark, just west of Marion County, for a couple of days. Harrison is where the emigrants began their journey to California, but were murdered at Mountain Meadows.