DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for the Bradford Davis Family in Houston County tells it like this, and I'm just the voice carryin' it forward. Now, 1838 is where this story starts — and Texas was still young enough to be dangerous in ways most folks back East hadn't reckoned with. Bradford Davis came up from Mississippi and put down roots right here in Houston County.
He farmed the land, and he hunted bees — which, if you've never heard of it, means he was tracking wild hives for their honey, following the bait he'd set out to lure them. It was patient, quiet work. The kind of work that takes a man out into the deep wood alone.
And that's exactly where Bradford Davis met his end. He was killed by Indians as he checked his bee bait. Out there in the timber, doing what he did.
That's all the marker tells us about how it happened, and maybe that's enough. Some silences say plenty. He left behind sons.
Three of them are buried here, along with many family slaves — people whose full stories the marker doesn't name, but whose presence this ground holds all the same. John A. Davis, born 1825, died 1888.
Bradford Davis the younger, born 1831, died 1886. James Jones Davis, born 1836, died 1888. Three sons of a man killed in the wilderness, all of them buried in the county where their father settled.
John A. married Isabella Wingate — born 1829, died 1886 — and he built himself quite a life. Farmer, gin operator, merchant. He even shipped goods down the Trinity River, which tells you something about the reach of what he was doing out here.
Their children were Bradford, James F., Samuel, Laura Irene McCrory, and Addie. And then there was James Jones, the youngest of the three brothers. He became a teacher — taught at a place called Bumpover, which the marker notes is now known as Rock Hill.
He married Mary H. Murchison, born 1836, died 1910. Their children were George and Laura.
One father from Mississippi. Three sons in the ground. A river carrying goods south.
A schoolhouse with two names. The Davis family put a lot of Texas into this one patch of Houston County — starting from that quiet morning Bradford Davis went out to check his bee bait and never came back.
What the marker says
In 1838 Bradford Davis from Mississippi settled in Houston County. He farmed, hunted bees and was killed by Indians as he checked bee bait. His sons John A. (1825-1888), Bradford (1831-1886) and James Jones (1836-1888) and many family slaves are buried here. John A. married Isabella Wingate (1829-1886). He was a farmer, gin operator, merchant, and shipped goods down the Trinity River. Their children were Bradford, James F., Samuel, Laura Irene McCrory, and Addie. James Jones taught at Bumpover (now Rock Hill) and married Mary H. Murchison (1836-1910). Their children were George and Laura.