Biography of Samuel P. McInnis
Samuel P. McInnis was born November 6, 1839 in Decatur Co., GA five miles from Attapulgus.* He died of pneumonis in July 1931, Brown Co., TX.Martha Elizabeth Baugh Cox was age twenty five when her husband, McDonald Cox was killed at the Battle of Dove Creek in 1865. His death left her three months pregnant and with two children under age four. According to family tradition, she moved from Comanche County back to the Baugh Ranch in Brown County where she met Samuel Patterson McInnis.
Samuel Patterson McInnis was born in Florida on 6 November 1839.* His father was from Scotland and his mother was born in Georgia.
On October 24 of 1861, at the age of 22, S. P. McInnis enlisted in Company D. of the 7th Texas Calvary in San Antonio. His commander was Captain William H. Cleaver. Sam's younger brother, John McInnis, had also enlisted in San Antonio for the same unit on September 20, 1861. Both McInnis brothers show their residence in Angelina County.
Other Civil War Records show both McInnis brothers were with 7th Regiment of the Texas Mounted Volunteers and the 3rd Regiment of Sibley's Brigade. During July of 1863, Samuel McInnis was in the Confederate States Hospital at Petersburg, Virginia. According to Tevis Clyde Smith's, Frontiers Generation, Sam P. McInnis came to Brown County in 1865.
At Angelina County, Sam McInnis met an old friend, Dr. Windham. Windham wanted to come to Brown County. McInnis helped the family to move. For his part, McInnis got a job punching cattle for Lev Baugh. It was not easy work, in the cold wintertime, when the cattle would stray from the range, but McInnis liked his job. He enjoyed many phases of it, particularly the chance elements of his work. There was no telling when he would lose his scalp to some hostile Comanche or Kiowa; on the other hand, the Indians stood some risk themselves when they brushed up against McInnis.
Then, there were other kinds of game; an occasional black bear wandered into the Bayou bottom. McInnis killed one with his six-shooter. He also had brushes with catamounts. The panthers were a nuisance to the stockmen. They killed many valuable cattle. McInnis shot several of these animals. He killed one near Cross Cut, while the lion was eating a yearling. After he had finished the cat, he noticed a slight movement on the part of the yearling. The cow was still alive; three-fourths of its back had been eaten away by the feline, and McInnis killed it to put it out of its misery. On other occasions, he trailed lions, with the help of his dogs, into the hills, where he had some thrilling hunting experiences.
Martha Elizabeth Baugh Cox married Samuel Patterson McInnis about 1869. They appear on the 1870 Brown County Census in household #60-60 as Samuel McKinnis, age 30, born in Florida, raising cattle. His wife, Elizabeth, was age 29. Their daughter, Mary was 10 months old. Elizabeth's other three children were also listed in the household: David Cox (age 9), Texanna Cox (age 6), and McDonald Cox (age 5). Sam McInnis reported the value of his real estate as $200 and a personal estate worth $8,000.
By 1880 Brown County Census, Byrds Store Precinct, S. P. McInnis was age 40, born in Florida. He was married to Martha E McInnis (age 40) born in Alabama. Martha's older children in the household of 1880 include David S. Cox (age 19), Maggie Texanna Cox (16), and Mitchell McDonald Cox (age 15). McInnis children include: Mary (age 10), Emma (age 9), Gus (age 7), Susan (age 5), John T. McInnis (age 3). All children were born in Texas.
The 1880 Brown County Agricultural Census has additional information on the S. P. McInnis household living near Byrds Store Precinct. He owns 1190 acres of farmland, of which 90 acres are tilled, 500 are improved pastures or meadows, and 500 are unimproved old fields. The value of his farm is $3000, equipment is $100. Livestock is valued at $500. He has a variety of livestock including 15 horses, 40 swine, 21 cows, 25 barnyard fowl including chickens, 6 working oxen, 4 sheep shod, 3 sheep killed by dogs, and 30 other animals. Sixteen new calves have been born during the year, 50 cows were sold, 1 slaughtered, and 15 cows strayed. He farmed 40 acres of indian corn, yielding 950 bushels; 5 acres of oats yeilding 50 bushels; 20 acres of wheat yeilding 160 acres; 1 acre of sweet potatos yeilding 25 bushels. He estimated the value of farm products sold as $1311.
Sam and Martha McInnis appear on the 1880 Brown County Census in the same Byrds Store precinct vacinity as Pency Baugh, Sam and Amazon Baugh Windham. Lev Baugh and Caughman (Kaufman) Baugh's properties were in the adjacent precinct area.
Tragedy struck the McInnis household on 9 June 1894 when Martha and Sam's daughter, Francis B. McInnis (age 12), was killed in a buggy accident when returning from school. The horses pulling the buggy ran wild, tossing Fanny from the buggy onto barbed wire fencing which severed an artery in her leg. She bled to death.
1900 Brown County Census, precinct 2, showed S. P. McInnis age 60, born in Georgia. He had been married 30 years to Martha E., age 60. She had given birth to 10 children, 9 of whom were living. Children noted in the household of 1900 included: Augustus McInnis (born March 1874), Mattie McInnis (born September 1880), Mary C. McInnis (born August 1870), Emma E. McInnis (born March 1872), and Susan McInnis (born November 1876). In Precinct 7, 1900 Brown County Census, Mitchell Cox (age 34) was living with his brother, John McInnis, (age 22). They are correctly half-brothers.
The adjacent household was Mitchell's brother, Dave Cox, and Dave's wife, Cora Cox. By the early 1900's, two sons of Samuel and Martha McInnis (John and Gus McInnis) had married. John and Gus continued ranching and farming in the Brown County area near their parents. Martha Elizabeth Baugh Cox McInnis died 20 July 1914, at age 74, after a long spirited life during the pioneer days of Brown County.
Samuel Patterson McInnis died 21 July 1931. He was 92 years old. Both are buried in the Macedonia Cemetery located on the Weedon Ranch, near the entrance to the State Park on Lake Brownwood in Brown County.
END NOTES:
The Baughs of Brown Co., TX, a family history manuscript written and published by Barbara Cox of Lafayette, CA
bjcox@home.com.
From the Memories of Men, by T. C. Smith, Jr., 1954.
Frontier's Generation, by Tevis C. Smith, pages 35-36, Moore Printing Company, 1980.
Indian Depredations of Texas, by J. W. Wilbarger; Hutchins Printing House; 1889.
Early Days in Central Texas, F. M. Cross, 1910.
Indian Fights on the Texas Frontier, by Floyd J. Holmes, 1927.
The Nice and Nast in Brown County, by Ruth Griffin Spence, 1988.
Founder of Cattle Empire Dies Here, Brownwood Bulletin, January 28, 1960.; page 1.
submitted by Barbara Cox
*These do not correspond...does anyone have other information?