DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this tale, and I'm just the voice that carries it down the road. Now settle in, because the Winters family — James and Rhoda Creel Beall Winters — they did not come to Texas looking for a quiet life. They came looking for something worth building.
It was 1834 when James and Rhoda led their large family here from Tennessee, setting roots between the east and west forks of the San Jacinto River. But the path had been scouted ahead of time. Two older sons — Wm.
Carvin and John Frelan Winters — had already come to Texas back in 1832, and on receiving their good report, the parents packed up the whole operation and moved. And when I say whole operation, I mean it: ten of their children, some in-laws, and grandchildren, all making that journey together. Not everyone made it.
A daughter — Mrs. Caroline W. Fannin — died along the way and was buried en route, on the Trinity River.
That is the kind of grief a family carries into a new place and never fully sets down. Now, James Winters was no stranger to hard seasons. He was a veteran of several American wars, and when the 1835 conflict with Mexico came calling, he answered — at sixty-two years old.
Sixty-two, and he left his new home to go fight. The following year, in the 1836 Texas War for Independence, James and his fifteen-year-old son Benjamin hauled supplies to the Texas army. Three sons — Wm.
C., J. F., and James W. Winters — fought in that war.
So did two sons-in-law, Jackson Crouch and Charles D. Edwards. The Winters family didn't just witness the birth of Texas independence — they were hauling its provisions.
The roots this family put down spread wide. Members of the Winters family helped to settle Caldwell, Frio, Hays, Lavaca, Live Oak, and McMullen counties. And Wm.
Winters ran a mill whose work shows up in a place you might not expect — much of the furniture for the 1857 Texas Capitol was made right there. Then there's this: in 1901, James W. Winters served Texas by helping mark the battlefield at San Jacinto — the very battlefield where he had fought sixty-five years earlier.
A man returning to the ground where history was made, this time to make sure it wouldn't be forgotten. The senior James Winters, born in 1773, died in 1848. He is buried two miles south of here, at Waverly.
Rhoda, born in 1784, lived until 1859, and she rests at Oakville, in Live Oak County. Winters Park — the land you may be standing near right now — was set aside to honor all of them. A family that crossed rivers, buried their own along the way, and still kept moving.
That's the Winters story, and Texas is wider for it.
What the marker says
Winters Park, Set Aside to Honor Family of James and Rhoda Creel Beall Winters. Pioneers who led their large family here in 1834 from Tennessee. Two older sons, Wm. Carvin and John Frelan Winters, came to Texas in 1832. On receiving their good report, the parents moved to this land between east and west forks of San Jacinto River. With them came 10 of their children, some in-laws, and grandchildren. A daughter, Mrs. Caroline W. Fannin, died and was buried en route, on the Trinity River. James Winters, veteran of several American wars, was 62 when he left his new home to fight for Texas in 1835 conflict with Mexico. In the 1836 Texas War for Independence, he and a 15-year-old son, Benjamin, hauled supplies to the Texas army. In that war were three sons, Wm. C., J. F., and James W. Winters; and two sons-in-law, Jackson Crouch and Charles D. Edwards. Members of the Winters family helped to settle Caldwell, Frio, Hays, Lavaca, Live Oak and McMullen counties. The mill of Wm. Winters made much of the furniture for the 1857 Texas Capitol. In 1901 James W. Winters served Texas by helping mark battlefield at San Jacinto, where he fought 65 years earlier. The senior James Winters (born 1773) died in 1848; he is buried 2 miles south, at Waverly. Rhoda (1784-1859) is buried at Oakville, Live Oak County.