Thomas Dodson Cayce (1795 - 1856)

Born 13 Sep 1795 in Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah Elizabeth (Stanley) Cayce — married 14 Oct 1815 in Williamson County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 1856 at about age 60 in Brazoria County, Texas

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Biography

Thomas was born in 1795. He passed away in 1856.

Move to Texas

He moved to Texas from Tennessee in 1818, coming "by boat from Memphis, Tenn., and landed at the mouth of Brazos River in Texas. He lived for a year or two on Cedar Lake in Brazoria County until [he] had his headright located, which was one league and labor [4,605 acres]. He located it on the Colorado River near the place Bay City is now built."^[1] In 1822 he built in the first ferry on the river which was known as Cayce's Ferry.^[2]

Texas Revolution

In 1835-36 he served as in Captain Thomas Stewart's Matagorda Volunteers^[3] which fought at the Siege of Béxar.^[4] Soon after Thomas was mustered out of the army, "there was a small army post, garrisoned by some thirty or forty men stationed at Cayce’s Ferry […] known as the First Colorado Station. […] This army post was in existence from the latter part of November, 1836, until about June of 1837, when the capital was moved from Columbia to Houston."^[2] In 1938 Thomas Dodson Cayce became a charter member of the Matagorda Masonic Lodge.^[5]

Move to Brazoria County

On January 22, 1839, George Elliott purchased the the league and labor from Thomas Cayce; and the ferry became known as Elliot's Ferry.^[2] In exchange, Thomas got. one third of a league in Brazoria County five miles from West Columbia, and where he established "a good farm."^[1]

In March of the next year, his oldest son, Washington, was killed in San Antonio by a band of Penateka Comanche Indians. And then, after the invasion and retreat by the Mexican army in 1842, Thomas Cayce "found he had to make a new start, and he chose a less exposed sitationon a ridge between Caney and Cedar Lake, near the coast, and about forty miles from Columbia. On this newly chosen spot he opened a cotton plantation and established his family residence. ^[6]

Description

We have a description of Thomas Cayce from August 1843 by a Dr. Copes:

"Mr. Cayce was then forty-eight years of age. His stature was about, possibly more than, six feet. He weighed two hundred pounds. His flesh was well distributed. His hair was abundant, beginning to gray at the temples, worn a little long, parted lightly on the left side and brushed back behind his ears. His complexion was florid with health and open-air exercise. His dress was appropriate for his age and condition. He had held the rank of Major in the volunteer army and had a decided military bearing. He could not help knowing that was fine looking."^[6]

Cayce passed away on his farm in the fall of 1856.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Cayce, Henry Petty, Jr. "From a Native Texan," copy of a letter written to the Dallas News, no date. Copy in possession of Smitty Smith.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Matagorda County Historical Marker, Elliott's Ferry.
3. ↑ "Muster Roll of Captain Stewart's Company, Matagorda Volunteers, July 15, 1836" Historic Matagorda County, Volume I, page 658.
4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. "The Siege of Béxar," "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 4, 2019.
5. ↑ Winnett, Don, A History of Matagorda Lodge #7 A. F. & A. M. Matagorda, Texas. Accessed on May 4, 2019.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} McCormick, Andrew Phelps, "Scotch-Irish in Ireland and America," privately printed, 1897.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #204349134
• Cayce, Newnan, Copy of The "Family Bible of Shadrach Cayce, Sr. and his son D. N. Cayce," contained in Andrew Phelps McCormick, "Scotch-Irish in Ireland and America," privately printed, 1897.
• Parks, Nancy A., "Letter to A[ndrew] P[helps] McCormick," dated Dec. 16, 1893. Contained in his "Scotch-Irish in Ireland and America," privately printed, 1897.
• "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch, Hannah Standley and Thomas Cayce, 14 Oct 1815; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.