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[ Family History | The Chisholm Trail | A Brief History by Zenna and Bonnie | Chisholm Brands ] The Early Life of George Langford Chisholm by Zenna Chisholm Snowden and Bonnie Chisholm Helten July, 2003 In remembering the life of George Langford Chisholm, we need to go back to his heritage. We need to go back through history books, word of mouth, and census records. In the Atascosita Census of July 31, 1826, we find Richard H. Chisholm as an unmarried 27 year old male, born in Georgia, and blacksmith by trade. History books tell us that he cast the first cannon ball for the Texas Revolution. He married Hardina Taylor (daughter of Josiah and Hephzibeth Looker) on October 7, 1827, in DeWitt County, Texas. From this marriage came four children: Glenn Thornton, Bradford, Maryann, and Richard A. Richard H. died April 8, 1855 and was buried in the Old Clinton Cemetery. The date and place of Hardina's death is unknown to us. Our heritage comes through Glenn Thornton Chisholm, born in 1831 on the Old Chisholm Ranch in Clinton, Texas. He married Jane P. Fore (daughter of Daniel Fore and Mary Pollard Wofford) on May 27, 1852 in Clinton, Texas. From this marriage came six children: George Langford, Jessie, Effie, Cora, Annie, and Daniel Fore. Thornton was killed in March of 1868 while freighting. There were four mules hitched to the wagon, and Thornton was riding the wheeler or the one next to the wagon. The breast chain broke on the mule he was riding and it fell, throwing Thornton under the wagon wheel and killing him. Fellow freighters cut up the side boards from his wagon and made a coffin, burying him along the trail among four live oak trees near Fort Concho, Texas. Jane P. died on September 27, 1904 and was buried in Uvalde, Texas. The eldest, George Langford Chisholm (our grandfather), was born on June 23, 1856 in Clinton, Texas. He married Fannie Maude King (daughter of Martin U. King and Margaret Lowrence) in 1882. From this marriage came eleven children. While visiting relatives in California, George Langford died on September 15, 1938 and was buried in the Evergreen Memorial Park in Dos Palos, California. Fannie died September 15, 1917 and was buried in the Rest Haven Cemetery in Glendale, Arizona. The Chisholm Ranch, George Langford's birthplace, was a Land Grant of one league of land to Richard H. Chisholm on September 6, 1831. The town of Clinton was located near the convergence of Chisholm creek and the Guadalupe River. George's grandfather, Richard H., died before George was born; thus, in his memoirs written in 1932, he told of those times from the stories that were passed down. At one time, Richard H. owned most of DeWitt County, thousands of head of cattle, and a large ranch on Clear Creek. In 1832, Richard H. was one of the first ranchers to have a cattle brand recorded in Gonzales County, Texas. In the DeWitt County census of 1850, Richard H. was characterized as financially well to do valued at approximately $15,000. Richard H. also started the town of Clinton in 1827 by donating 5 acres of land for the Court House Square, and land for the jailhouse. Blazing the Chisholm Trail in October of 1866, Glenn Thornton Chisholm drove 1500 head of Crocket Cardwell cattle to Kansas. At that time, Clinton was the County Seat of DeWitt County and George Langford was 10 years old. George Langford grew up with Uncle Creed Taylor as his mentor. Creed was a brother to George's grandmother, Hardina, and the Taylor Land Grant was nearby. When Creed sold his rant at Clato in 1870, George helped move the last herd of cattle to the ranch on the James River in Kimble County, Texas. Uncle Creed was a very colorful and well known person in his day. When he was young, he was a captain in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, and he was said to be the best Indian trailer in the area. Creed owned and enjoyed the grandest home in Kimble County, but in later years, his beautiful home unfortunately burned down. George Langford was just 16 years old when he was working for his Uncle Creed. They would gather cattle for a week and then brand 400 to 500 at a time, keeping up the pace for months. The going wage was $15 a month. In the book, "Tall Men and Long Rifles" by James T. De Shield, Uncle Creed tells stories of skirmishes, trials and tribulations, and the great men that he fought with during the war. When George was with the Taylor boys at their home, imagine them sitting under a big shade tree with their eyes and ears wide open as Uncle Creed relives the battles of the Texas Revolution. Imagine his feeling of greatness as he tells of his fighting along side the great heroes of the war including General Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, James Bowie, William Travis, and many others. After working three months with Uncle Creed, George Langford returned home to visit his mother. During this time, George Langford held other odd jobs working the cattle, and eventually met and worked for John Wesley Hardin. Hardin told George Langford, "I never killed a man that was worth a damn." George also knew Pat Garrett, the lawman who claimed to have killed Billy the Kid. Additionally, George met and spent a short time with Jessie James, the infamous Missouri train robber and outlaw. George later returned to work with his Uncle Creed branding cattle and fussing with the Indians. He had only one pair of pants and was very proud of them as they were black corduroy. An old cow pulled them out for under his head while he was sleeping and chewed both legs off up to the things. He was in a fix because he had to ride the 35 miles to Kerrville to obtain another pair of pants. In 1880, with other cowboys, George Langford helped drive a herd of cattle up the Chisholm Trail to Cardwell, Kansas. Sam Fore, his cousin, was the boss. The boss told the men that Top (George) would rope all their mounts night and day, so, he roped night and day. After the drive, he had many stories to tell. In his memoirs, George wrote about the Taylor-Sutton feud adding that he would record more information later. If he did, we never found it. Uncle Creed would not talk about the feud because he lost so many members of his family in the fighting and bloodshed. After a few years and several trips to Arizona, George Langford finally moved his family there in 1916 via covered wagon. He lived the rest of his life in the Peoria area. After Fannie's passing, George married Mary Magdeline Damron producing two children: Mae and Stanford. How we all wish we would have listened and remembered the stories the old timers told us.