McFadden Brothers

The McFadden family were the early settlers who made their home east of the Sabine River. The brothers, John, William, and Bailey, sons of Sam McFadden, settled in the south-east of the county, and the nearby creek was named after them.

Joseph Goodbread mentioned in one of the previous posts was related to McFaddens. Some of his relatives joined the group of Moderators organized after Joseph’s death, in response to the actions taken by Charles Jackson (the man who shot Joseph) and his supporters known as Regulators.

When the legal ways failed - Jackson's trial, mentioned in the previous post, was a total fiasco. Jackson was not sentenced/went free, despite the fact that he had shot Goodbread in broad daylight. Therefore. his friends and relatives took matters in their own hands.

As mentioned before, Jackson was killed in an ambushed and the McFadden brothers were known to be part of the Moderators group who retaliated after the death of Goodbread.

Charles Watson (Watt) Moorman became the leader of the Regulators after Jackson’s death. He had been with Regulators when Jackson was their commander. Subsequently,  John T Middleton (first deputy)  deputized Moorman and a few other Regulators, and the posse after Jackson’s killers was organized.

The Regulators approached a group of Moderators, when they were going towards Grimes County. During a fight, one of the Moderators by the name of Joe Bledsoe was killed at Crockett, others managed to escape. However, later, the Regulators apprehended  a Moderator called One-Eyed Williams, and made him tell where the McFadden brothers were.

 The men were staying then not far from the Montgomery town,  at the house of Mr. Whitaker. Surrounded by the Regulators , the brothers barricaded themselves  and fought back, shooting from the inside of the house. The Regulators threatened they were going to burn the house down. The McFaddens agreed to surrender when they were promised a fair trial which was to be done by the vote of the Shelbyville inhabitants, not the jury. 

I am not sure about the fairness of that trial since the Regulators controlled Shelbyville. Their motto was “those who are not for us are  against us”, and each person who was not willing to align with them was treated as a member of the opposition, a Moderator.  According to one source (3) , Regulators’ representatives were members of every grand jury. Thus, the people of Shelbyville voted 174 to 0. which decided of the brothers’ fate. In such circumstances, even if any of the voting man was against the hanging, fearing for their own lives, they would not have dared to stand up and say, “I am against it”. John and William McFadden were hanged. Bailey, the youngest of the three brothers, was spared due to his young age. He was ordered to leave the town after he was beaten 25 times with a “blackjack”.

Clipping source: The Morning Star. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 256, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 26, 1841, newspaper, October 26, 1841; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1497679/: accessed February 8, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

Clipping source: Cruger & Moore. Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 48, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 27, 1841, newspaper, October 27, 1841; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth48157/: accessed February 8, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

The “Tenaha gang” mentioned in the newspaper piece was the Tenaha Militia who participated in the Battle of Nacogdoches (Tenehaw Municipality was the original name of Shelby County). The wounded Moderator was Henry Strickland. He was hit by Hansford Hanks, Regulator.

I wish I was able to find out more about the brothers’ and the names of John’s and Bill’s wives. 

Mary Elizabeth McFadden (1800-1847) is one of our direct ancestors (5 generations  back - great-great-great-grandmother). She was the daughter of Sam McFadden and Lucy Hampton. Perhaps, the brothers ment6ioned above were her brothers?

Sources:

1. East Texas Genealogical Society. East Texas Family Records, Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 1984, periodical, Spring 1984; Tyler, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38042/: accessed February 3, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting East Texas Genealogical Society.

2. Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 1, Number 1, November 1965, periodical, November 1965; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433634/: accessed February 3, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.

3. Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 35, Number 5, May 1975, periodical, May 1975; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391259/: accessed February 3, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

4. Abernethy, Francis Edward; Lincecum, Jerry Bryan & Vick, Frances Brannen, 1935-. The Family Saga: A Collection of Texas Family Legends, book, 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc701341/: accessed February 3, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.

Texas Handbook Online

Photos: Sept. 2020

About Lost Sheep

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to offend anyone. It is not meant to offend anybody's feelings either. It is my search for understanding the matters described below.

✷★★

Some stories (parables) which I have heard many times since my early childhood never made any sense to me, even when I was little. Especially the three ones, well known to many, seem to be rather nonsensical and made me wonder what their meaning was.  At some point, the understanding of their meaning came to me on its own. 

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Probably you have heard a parable about a shepherd, his 100 hundred sheep. When one of his  sheep got lost, he left the other ones and went to look for the missing animal. I used to think, “What shepherd would leave 99 sheep “in the open country” – unattended – and go to look for one sheep”? They would lose most of those 99.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a parable is “a short, simple story that teaches or explains an idea”. A story that explains an abstract matter by using familiar situations listeners can relate to.

What if 

The sheep in the above mentioned parable represent our thoughts? We may have 99 positive or neutral thoughts and one only negative. The latter one could for example be a fear, recollection of a traumatic moment in our life, an encounter with an unpleasant person, an unjust or unkind word about us spread by somebody, resentment, and/or many more. The negative thought gives us unpleasant feelings, triggers harmful reactions in our body. It makes all the prior positive thoughts move to the background and disappear. They no longer exist as they have no meaning when we focus on that negative one only. 

“Take captive every thought (1)”.

To avoid self destructive dwelling on the unpleasant thought, we do need to look closer at what bothers us and deal with it. What are we afraid of? What is it that makes us feel gloomy or resentful? Why should you re-live that particular negative experience/unfair treatment, or focus on somebody’s unkind word again and again? This one lost sheep needs to be found to join the rest of the herd. You need to find it to regain peace of mind and balance in your body. 

Focusing on the negative thought makes it grow, lowers down our frequency and subsequently attracts negativity and darkness.  It is not just my words. It is science. According to Quantum Physics* the multiple outcomes of our current life situation already exist in time and space. We choose which way our life goes by deciding which thoughts we stick to. Whatever we focus on, grows. No matter if it is positive or negative. Why would you choose negativity if you do not want to live it through?  

It is all not about pretending that there is no negativity in the world. There is a lot of darkness and dreadfulness around us. Noticing and observing it is one thing, but why would you want to surrender your mind to it? Choose Light, Peace, and Harmony. You can replace an adverse thought with a constructive one. 

“Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - (… ) think about such things.” (2)

Each of us can find their own way to make dark thoughts go away. Whatever works for you – a prayer, a chosen mantra - positive words that make us focus on peace, harmony, and Divine abundance. Repeat them every time when your mind is overwhelmed by a negative thought or belief. Continue practicing it and guarding your thoughts. Be their careful shepherd. It takes some time, but you can make a destructive thought go away, and dissolve your mental connection with it. 

*At high school, I studied expanded curriculum of Physics. Quantum Physics was never mentioned in classes, though. I was familiar with the name of Max Planck, physicist, but I knew not much about his works. It’s been recently only that the Quantum science is talked about more and more often.  It all made me think that is a rather new scientific approach regarding Physics and the world as it is. I was surprised to read that the beginnings of Quantum Physic go back to the early years of 1900s and Max Planck, as well. I guess for all those years those ideas where discarded and neglected because you cannot measure or weigh the quantum world contrary to the material objects/world.

1. 2 Corinthians 10:5

2. Philippians 4:8

TBC

S for Sauerkraut

 This post relates both to My Polish and My Texas Alphabets.

A few days before Christmas, we were invited to the Christmas song concert which took place at Pecan Grove Store. While waiting for the program, we ordered something to eat. On the menu, I saw one item served with sauerkraut - it was ”Fred Dog”. The sauerkraut caught my attention so I thought I would  give it a try. I had not eaten good sauerkraut in 15 years. Last time, it was when I was still in Poland. I had tried to find some after I cane to Texas, but with no satisfying result.

T & C Miller at Pecan Grove - Christmas program

To my utter surprise, the Fred Dog was sooooo delightfully  good! It was the good brand of sausage and, most of everything, the super tasty sauerkraut. I ate it all very quickly. That was it! The sauerkraut – not to sour, not too sweet, perfectly thin pieces of cabbage. Just right! It was so delicious and I was so happy having it, I almost ate the aluminum foil the dog was wrapped in.

The music program was very nice and Christmassy. We also really enjoyed the instrumental part presented by T. Miller, not to mention the time spent with friends. However, the culinary experience both unexpected and wonderful.

at Pecan Grove Store

After the music performance, I talked to the owners, praising their sauerkraut. It tasted just like home made stuff served by my mom long time ago. The man showed me a jar of the product – Bavarian Sauerkraut, made in Germany. One of its ingredients is wine, instead of commonly used vinegar. To my total surprise, the jar was also gifted to me. Thank you so very much! I am now enjoying eating the sauerkraut again and again!