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Bend,
Texas
Chapter
3 - The Doss Family by
Harland Moore
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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. |
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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. |
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