Bend, Texas
Chapter 3 - The Doss Family

by Harland Moore

‹ Chapter 2

In the decade which began in 1880 The community of Bend continued to grow and more of my ancestors came into the picture. Edward Doss and his wife Arabella and three Children, Ollie, Lycurgus and Ella moved to Bend. Edward Doss' father was James Jefferson Doss who was born October 21, 1829, in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He married Rebecca Susan Tinney on October 26,1848, and later married Lodesky Jane Taylor on May 26, 1862. James Jefferson Doss enlisted in the Confederate Army on September 4, 1862. He was reported to have died in the battle at Bean Station, Tennessee of November of 1862. (His service record indicate that he was in Co. A, 42nd Infantry Regiment of Georgia and that he died of disease on 20 November, 1862, while stationed at Bean Station. The battle of Bean Station did not occur until Dec. of 1863.) Edward Doss was 13 years old when his father died in the war. His mother was already dead so his grandmother Saleta Doss cared for him. He later went to Franklin County, Arkansas, to live with Barnett and Lucinda Green. While here he met and married Arabella Tomlinson. They had two children born in Franklin County, Arkansas. They were Ollie Mae Doss, born September 11, 1873, and Lycurgus E. Doss, born January 23, 1875. That family of four moved to Eastland County, Texas, to a place that was named "Rising Star" while they lived there. Here in Eastland County Ella Ann Doss was born on October 2, 1877. Shortly after they moved to Bend in 1878. There he soon began to practice medicine after he studied and took exams at different places and obtained diplomas and license to practice. He served this part of the country for about 40 years before he retired and moved to Ralls with one of his sons.

Dr. Doss and horse and buggy, Bend, Texas

Dr. Edward Doss, his buggy, and his horse, Old Ross.
Photo courtesy Harland Moore

By 1880, three different families of my ancestors had settled along the Colorado River at a place named Bend, Texas. The Alexander Family, the Doss Family and the Moore Family were the pioneer settlers and citizens of that area. Seth Moore was the first postmaster and he built and operated a ferry boat across the river. This helped to unite the people on both sides of the river. Dr. Edward Doss practiced medicine and made house calls on both sides of the river, crossing on the ferry with his horse and buggy. We have a large picture of Dr. Doss, his buggy, and his horse, Old Ross. It was said of Dr. Doss that he was always available and ready to serve his fellow man. Some of his house calls would take him many miles from home and he would stay with his patients many hours or even days if needed. Some times in the wee hours of the night he would start home. He would sit in his buggy and sleep while he gave Old Ross free reign. That old horse would bring him right up to his home where Grandma Doss would wake him and help him unhitch and get into the house. The old country doctor did not get much pay in the form of money but he served anyway. I remember seeing one of his ledgers on one occasion. It had such notations as: Delivered baby for _____ family -- Paid $2. and a half wagon bed of corn. Set broken arm for _____. Paid one half side of bacon. Others would pay little or nothing for his services but maybe furnish him in fresh eggs or frying size chickens. These items came in handy as they usually had some of their children or grandchildren living with them. Census records show that they usually had a boarder or two living with them. That was quite common at that time. The 1910 census listed Edward Doss and his wife “Belle”. It also showed Lycurgus, 30, Robert, 26, Lawrence, 23, Gertrude (Aunt Zula), James M.,28, and his wife Agnes and their daughter Virginia. Then the census report shows Henry W. Alexander living there as a boarder. That was quite a house full.

My great grandfather, Dr. Edward Doss had several children that grew up and reared families around Bend. Aunt Ollie married William O. Alexander and their children were: Doss Alexander, Jessie who married Dan Doyle, Florence who married Rex Parsons, John Alexander, Bill Alexander and Ruth who married Bill Sargent. Grandpa Doss’ next child was Lycurgus (We called him Uncle Curg). He married Lorena Yates and they had seven children: (1) Clarence Truman “Jack” Doss, DOB 12-18-03. (2) Glendon Eugene Doss, DOB 8-22-05. (3) Stanley Alexander Doss, DOB 6-23-07. (4) Ella Mae Doss, DOB 6-3-09. (5) Norris Bell Doss, DOB 12-5-15. (6) Gladyne Francis Doss, DOB 11-1-19. And Virginia Lee Doss, DOB 12-30-24.

The third child of Dr. Edward Doss was my grandmother, Ella Ann Doss and she was married to Silas Alfred Moore. They had eight children: (1) Silas Jarrell, (2) Floyd Napoleon, (3) Vada, (4) Hettie, (5) Alma, (6) Beatrice, (7) Seth and (8) Raymond. The fourth child of Dr. Doss was Ethridge Doss who married Frances Gibson (Aunt Fan) and they had one son, Worth Doss. Grandpa Doss’ fifth child was James M. Doss. We called him Uncle Jim. He became a doctor and practiced medicine for years in the Rio Grande Valley area and at San Antonio. The sixth child was Robert E. Doss, born at Bend in July, 1884. We called him Uncle Bob. The seventh and youngest child of Dr. Doss was Lawrence F. Doss. He was born at Bend, Texas. in August of 1887. He married Zula Cornelius and they operated a drug store and general store at Bend until they moved to the Lubbock Area, around Ralls and Morton. They had two children born at Bend: Truman , 2-18-17, and Cleo Eunice, 4-30-20. A third was born after they moved to west Texas. Marvin Doss was born Oct. 11, 1928. He was married to Leona Redden and they had Carla Shawn Doss who married a Quisenberry.

There was a Cornelius family that lived around Bend. I did not know them as a family as they were all older than I. There was a Robert Cornelius that later moved to Comanche County. He had four sisters that I knew. (I think there were others that I did not know) One of the sisters, as we have already stated, was married to Uncle Lawrence Doss and known to us as Aunt Zula. One of the sisters was Nannie and she was married to Pizarro Marley. They had four sons: Glenn, the oldest; Luster Marley who married Margaret Elizabeth Moore (She was my third cousin, the daughter of Autrey Moore and the granddaughter of Will T. Moore.) The third Marley son was was Thurman. He was a fine Christian man with a disability. He was crippled with polio at about nineteen or twenty years old. The youngest Marley was Milford. I went to school with him. He was an accomplished athlete in high school.

Another one of the Cornelius girls was Nell who married Ed Hopper, the son of Charlie and Rebecca Hopper. Nell and Ed had two boys, Wilton and Delbert. Then there was Annie Cornelius who married Charley Anderson. They had sons, Junior and Kenneth and maybe another that I can’t remember. I went to school at Bend with most of the children of the Cornelius girls except Aunt Zula’s kids. They moved away before I started to school at Bend. Actually, I did not start there in the first grade. I started in the first grade at Donna then to Edingburg. I went to Sloan School in the second through the fourth and then started at Bend in the fifth grade in 1933.

Chapter 4 - The Alexander Family ›