Notes:

- Per his 1918 World War I Draft Registration Card, Walter was tall, with blue eyes and dark hair. He registered at Portsmouth, Norfolk County, Virginia, while working at "Labor Camp #2" as a time keeper for Wise Granite & Construction Company. (I believe this company had some connection with the United States War Department.)

Notes:

- Weekly Democractic Statesman (Austin, Texas)
Thursday, 29 August 1878 - pg. 4 [via GenealogyBank]
GUARDIAN'S SALE.
The State of Texas to all persons interested in the guardianship of SIDNEY and MARY L. DURHAM, minors:

Walter W. Durham, guardian of said minors, has filed his application in the County Court of Travis county praying for a sale of certain real estate belonging to them for their education and maintenance, which will be heard at the next term of said court, to be held at the court house thereof, in Austin, on the Third Monday in September, 1878, when and where all persons interested may appear and make objections thereto...

- For the 1880 Austin, Travis County, Texas Federal census, it appears Walter and brother Sid were living in the "family home" on Pecan Street. Their sister "Lela" was boarding a few doors down in the Ben J. Smith household. Both Ben and wife Eliza were school teachers. Twelve-year-old Lela's occupation was "at school."

- From Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874 by Lois Wood Burkhalter (1965):
[Pg. 84] "George and Cassandra's son, Walter W. Durham, became a prominent Austin cotton buyer and named one of his sons for his father."

- Per his 1929 death certificate, the cause of Walter's death was "Chronic Endocarditis, Hypertension & Nephritis."

- According to Walter's obit in Austin American Statesman, 10 Mar 1929, he was a "pioneer cotton man". Services were held at St. Mary's Catholic Church, with burial in Oakwood Cemetery.

Buried:
Oakwood Cemetery, Section 1

Walter married Marie Augusta Packenius on 12 Oct 1889 in Travis, Texas, USA. Marie was born on 13 Oct 1868 in Germany; died on 31 Jan 1947; was buried in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

- According to the 1910 Travis County, Texas Federal census, Agusta had seven children. Six were living.

Buried:
Oakwood Cemetery

Notes:

- George, his mother Ester, and his siblings arrived in New York, New York 17 Sep 1833 from London, England upon the ship Sovereign. His father was not listed with them. [Source: Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: (1) Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C. (2) Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, 8892 rolls); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

- He immigrated to the United States in 1835 and moved to Texas from New Jersey in 1837. The next year he became chief clerk in the comptroller's office, which was located in Houston, Texas at that time. He moved to Austin with the government in 1839. He was there when surveyors laid out the site for the new capital in 1839 and purchased 28 of the original lots. He served as an officer in the Travis Guards in 1840, and in 1842 he resisted the moving of governemt documents from Austin during the Archive War. After annexation he was chief clerk in the comptroller's office under James B. Haw and Clement R. Johns. George was the auctioneer in Austin in December 1850, when the governemt sold town lots to raise money for the construction of a building for the land office. He married Cassandra Lincecum, the daughter of Gideon Lincecum, on 23 December 1852; they became the parents of 7 children, three of whom lived to adulthood. ["DURHAM, GEORGE JOHN." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- Texas Land Title Abstract about Geo. J. Durham:
Grantee: Geo. J. Durham
Certificate: 171
Patentee: Geo. J. Durham
Patent Date: 22 Jul 1844
Acres: 320
District: Fannin
County: Fannin
File: 22
Patent #: 29
Patent Volume: 1
Class: Fan. 3rd [Source: Ancestry.com. Texas Land Title Abstracts [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Texas General Land Office. Abstracts of all original Texas Land Titles comprising Grants and Locations. Austin, TX, USA.]

- Texas State Gazette (Austn, Texas)
24 November 1849 - pg. 6 [via GenealogyBank]
NOTICE TO TRESPASSERS.
ALL PERSONS are hereby forewarned against cutting or destroying any of the timber on the tract of land belonging to me, lying on the West bank of the Colorado River, in the County of Travis, about 1/3 of a mile below Stone's Ferry, as I will prosecute any and all persons so offending to the utmost rigor of the law, GEORGE J. DURHAM.

- In 1854, while the Mayor of Austin, Texas, George shot and killed a man who had repeatedly threatened his life; he was acquitted. ["DURHAM, GEORGE JOHN." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- George served for a short time as an orderly sergeant in the Confederate Army, but was recalled to act as state war-tax collector. In 1865, after the break-up of the Confederacy, he successfully resisted armed men who tried to remove funds from the comptroller's office. George ran for state treasurer in 1866, but was defeated. He served as secretary of the Democratic state convention in 1868. ["DURHAM, GEORGE JOHN." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- From Gideon Lincecum (1793-1874) by Lois Burkhalter (University of Texas Press, 1965):
[Pgs. 82-3] "Durham holds something of a record in Texas history, having held a political job during the administration of every president and governor until after the Civil War...He was one of the signers of the petition for a people's secession convention...

Durham was talented ornithologist, an authority on Texas grapes, and an excellent marksman..."

- From Case Files of Applications from Former Confederates for Presidential Pardons ("Amnesty Papers"), 1865-67 via Fold3.com:
[Image of handwritten letter from George J. Durham, dated 24 August 1865 at Austin, Texas.]
"...He [George] would further respectfully state, that he is 45 years of age, is a man of family, of limited means of support and has been a resident of this city and state, for 26 and 27 years respectively, and has always endeavored to discharge his duty as a good and law abiding citizen of the governments under which he has lived, and has never been guilty of a crime or misdemeanor..."

- He was also an orinthologist, an authority on Texas grapes, an excellent marksman, and a writer. Under the pen name De Los Llanos he contributed a series of hunting articles entitled "Shooting in Western Texas" to the London Field magazine. George was a correspondent of the Smithsonian Institution, and he wrote 2 articles on grape culture and several articles on game in Texas published in the 'Texas Almanac' of 1868-1869. In 1867 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia. He died of typhoid in Austin on 10 April 1868, buried in the family plot at Oakwood Cemetery. ["DURHAM, GEORGE JOHN." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- Per Oakwood Cemetery Database
George J. Durham
Disease: Typhoid Fever
Where Buried: New Cemetery

- Tri-Weekly State Gazette (Austin, Texas)
Monday, 12 April 1869 - pg. 2 [via GenealogyBank]
Death of George J. Durham.

We constituted one of a large concourse of mourners, who on yesterday accompanied the mortal remains of George J. Durham to their last resting place in our city cemetery. His disease was typhoid fever, and after a painful illness of four weeks, he departed this life on the 10th instant, at one o'clock, p.m., at is family residence in this city. As Mr. Durham was among the oldest and most prominent of our citizens, and was also held in high estimation by Texans in every quarter of the State, we deem it not inappropriate, in announcing his death, to give a short sketch of his life. At our request, a friend of the deceased has furnished us with the brief outline that follows. We need hardly add, that not only we, but every person in this community whose opinion is valuable will heartily endorse its praise of our deceased friend.

He was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, on the 12th of May, 1820, and was at the time of his death in his forty-ninth year. His family removed from England to the United States in the year 1835, and after living ashort time in the State of New Jersey, removed to the State of Texas, when he was in his seventeenth year; and hence, havin lived here from his youth, he knew no other country. He was devoted to Texas, and always served her with a willing heart. In 1838, he became connected, as clerk, with the government department of the republic at Houston; and from that date, for more than twenty-five years -- the best years, the flower of his life -- he was uninterruptedly in the service of the government. In October, 1839, when the archives were removed from Houston to Austin, the new seat of government, he accompanied them to this city. In 1842, he was one of the participants in the "Archive War," so famous in the history of our growing city. From 1839 up to annexation, he shared, in common with the other frontier settlers, (many of whom, like him, we mourn, have been gathered to their fathers,) the excitement and dangers attending a frontier life, and was frequently out on the border, engaged in Indian scouts.

After annexation, owing to his well known probity, his good business habits and his familiarity with the internal affairs of the government, he was appointed by James B. Shaw, Comptroller, chief clerk in that office; and during his term of service, as well as during the term of his successor, our worthy fellow-citizen, the Hon. Clement R. Johns, he held the same position, and for many years had the almost entire control of the Tax Bureau of the State. In his office, he was prompt, courteous, and obliging; and, during his whole course of public service, invariably secured and enjoyed the fullest confidence of those with whom his official duties brought hm in contact.

During the late civil war, he ardently espoused the cause of the Confederate States, and was appointed, without solicitation, by the government, collector of war tax for the State of Texas. The duties of this office, he discharged ably and honestly, up to the time of the downfall of the Confederacy. Upon the surrender he stubbornly and manfully refused to deliver the gold and silver in his hands, at the demand of robbers and murderers, who were then here to plunder the State Treasury. Neither threats or the display of deadly weapons could deter him from treading what he believed the path of duty and of honor. He held, that on the surrender, the funds in his possession, lawfully passed to the victor, and were subject to his control, and he accordingly, with the assistance of his friends, guarded the funds faithfully, until the arrival of the United States authorities, when he turned them over to persons authorized to receive, and took an honorable acquittance in full. On more than one occasion during the absence of Mr. Shaw and Maj. Johns, the duties under the law of Comptroller devolved on him, as Chief Clerk. These duties he always discharged in the most satisfactory manner, and showed himself fully equal to the discharge of all the duties of that honorable office, and responsible position. Since the close of the civil war, he held in 1866 and part of 1867, the post of Secretary to the Auditorial Board, created by the Act of 1866, for the adjustment of the public debt of Texas. Without intending in the slightest degree to detract from the acknowledged merits of the able members of that Board, it is but due to the deceased to say, that such was his aptitude for business -- his industry -- his thorough acquaintance with the fiscal affairs, both of the late Republic and State, and above all such was the conspicuous integrity of the man, that he very greatly lightened, if he did not entirely relieve the gentlemen, composing the Board, of the most difficult portion of their labors. In fact, during his whole life, he brought to the discharge of all his public duties, such punctuality, order and industry, sustained and aided by an unblemished reputation, as a thoroughly honest man in the broadest acception of the term, that his name was almost proverbial throughout the State for honesty. He served his country well, for more than a quarter of a century. He never enriched himself at the public expense. Texas may be well and greatly proud of such a citizen, and she should write upon his tomb the inscription "Well done, thou good and faithful public servant." The crown of ivy, the laurel wreath, the golden medal, the marble column, pointing heavenward, have been bestowed by gratful [sic] States on men possessing less public and private virtue, than the deceased.

It is not alone however on account of his long and interesting connexion with the early and late history of the Republic and State, that Mr. Durham deserves to be held in honorable remembrance. He was eminantly a useful citizen. He had not only a fine practical but also a scientific acquaintance with that branch of farming, known as Horticulture, and was exceedingly fond of the garden, an occupation to the honor and praise of which Lord Bacon has devoted one of the most immortal of his essays. His love of flowers was as natural and sincere as that of a child or poet. He also devoted considerable attention to the culture of fruits, and his articles "on the grape in Texas" in Richardson's Texas Almanac for 1867, and on the Golden Chasselay and its culture, in the same work for 1869, though necessarily too brief to exhaust the subject, contain many valuable observations on that interesting topic, and show thoroughly he had studied it, in connection with the peculiarities of the soil and climate in Texas.

Mr. Durham is also entitled to honorable mention in the history of our State, on account of his studies of its natural history, more especially in the department of Ornithology, he was very familiar with this science, and of that special branch of it, which treats of the interesting winged fauna of our own State, he was a master. As to these latter, by close observation, extending through a series of years, he was enabled to correct a number of errors into which his brother naturalists had fallen, and to make more than one original contribution to the stock of scientific knowledge on this subject. Through the medium of correspondence, he had made the acquaintance of a number of celebrated naturalists. In August 1867, as a well deserved compliment to his scientific researches in this field, he was unanimously elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia. Of this body Dr. Hays, whose name with that of the lamented Dr. Kane, is imperishably connected with the subject of the Artic explorations, is the President. This recognition of the value of his labors was as gratifying as unlooked for and unexpected. The intelligence of this high honor conferred was conveyed to him in the most complimentary terms in an autographic letter from the celebrated naturalist, Mr. Cassin, whose recent death, the cause of natural science has much to deplore. He was also an occasionsl correspondent of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, and, shortly before his death, had commenced, through the kindness of our highly esteemed fellow-citizen Mr. Swante Palm, an interesting correspondence with the famous Sweedish [sic] Savant Gillegeburg, the most emminent Ornithologist of the present day. The deceased was esteemed by such men as Cassin, Professor Baird and others, whose names are highly honored, and was looked upon by them as a genuine devotee of science.

During his whole life he was at all times devotedly fond of field sports. It amounted to a passion with him. Good naturedly, skillfully and sensibly, would he defend his favorite pastime, from the attacks of the Benthamites and the Utilitarians when one of them would, with the air of a man who is stating an unanswerable proposition, propound to him their stereotyped conundrum "Cui bono."

In that special branch of the "noble Art of Venerie" known technically as "shooting," embracing all game, shot habitually on the wing, and in the pursuit of which your companion is the pointer, the setter, and the retriever, in contradistinction to the fox hound, grey hound, terrier, &c., he was an expert, and had few, if any, superiors in the United States. His articles on "Game in Texas," contributed to the Texas Almanac for 1868 and 1869, are full of information. Under the nom de plume of "De Los Llanos," he, during last fall, contributed a series of sprightly and agreeable sketches to the London Field, on "Shooting in Western Texas." These articles show him to be a through master of the subject -- but they show more; they are written with great animation and spirit, and are very creditable as mere literary performances. The London Field is under the editorial control of the famous sporting authority, "Stonepenge," (Dr. Walsh.) It is the recognized portion of the great British sporting public, and its standard of excellence is so elevated and its audience so select and intelligent, that it was no mean compliment to Mr. Durham that his contributions were always welcome to its columns.

At the time of his death he was holding the post of confidential book keeper to the banking house of Raymond & Whitis, of this city. The highly respected head of that house and Mr. Durham grew up together in Texas, and the death of the latter alone (nothing else could) has terminated a friendship which has lasted through sunshine and through storm for thirty years. The old Texans are passing away, and we, who are to fill their places, do not seem to be better men. May we so live that when we come to die we may do so in honor, and as peacefully as they.

Mr. Durham leaves a wife and four children to mourn the loss of their chief support, removed from them by the stern hand of death, while he was yet in the meridian of his days. His sorrow stricken wife and bereaved children have the heartfelt sympathies of our entire community. He, however, leaves a name honored and respected among men, and his children may well be proud to bear it.

In his untimely death our immediate community loses one of the mose respected and public spirited of its citizens.

- Tri-Weekly State Gazette (Austin, Texas)
Wednesday, 12 May 1869 - pg. 1 [via GenealogyBank]
Another Old Texan Gone.
On our outside we devote a brief space to an obituary notice of our old friend George J. Durham, whom we recollect in the first days of the city of Austin, then a sort of frontier village, as a big, hearty, ingenious young man. We recollect is old English parents who came there with him, and were those transparently honest straightforward sort of people, who have no concealments, and whom every body learns to appreciate at once. As were the parents, so was the son; he was all manliness, heartiness -- had no guile -- one of the sort of people, whom knowing as a friend once, you cherish as a friend always -- always seeming near to one -- never forgotten. We have not room for the whole article from the Gazette, which is a labor of love acceptable of course to all the people who were neighbors of the deceased and appreciated him. In brief, we bear our own tribute to one of nature's noblemen; well out of this world into a better. Farewell, George! [Clarkesville Standard.

- Tri-Weekly State Gazette (Austin, Texas)
Wednesday, 30 June 1869 - pg. 2 [via GenealogyBank]
The London Field -- Notice of the late George J. Durham.

We have before us the London Field, the first paper of its kind in the world, from which we extract the following notice of our lamented friend, George J. Durham, Esq., who, for some time before his death, had been an interesting contributor to its columns:

M. George John Durham, who, under the signature of "De los Llanos," has contributed to our columns several spirited articles on Texas sport, has, we regret to learn, died of typhoid fever at his residence, at Austin. The Texas State Gazette of April 12, which brings us this intelligence, gives us also a biography of that gentleman, our knowledge of whom has been but recent and limited. Mr. Durham was a Norfolk man, having been born at Norwich in 1820. In 1835, his family removed to the United States; and from the age of eighteen to the time of his death he was in the Government service in Texas. At the outbreak of the civil war he warmly espoused the Confederate cause; but on its downfall neither persuasion or threats could induce him to deliver up the public funds to individual members of his party, and he held them until the official authorities of the victorious Government arrived to receive the money, and give him an honorable acquittance. After the conclusion of the war, he was appointed secretary of the Auditorial Board for the Adjustment of the Public Debt of Texas, and our contemporary says: "His name was almost proverbial through the State for honesty; he served his country well for more than a quarter of a century; he never enriched himself at the public expense." Mr. Durham was not only a great lover of the gun, but paid much attention to the natural history of the birds of his State; and the originality and value of his observations caused his election as coprresponding member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science; he was also in correspondence with the Smithsonian Institute of Washingon, and with many celebrated naturalists. Horticulture, especially in relation to fruit trees, engaged a good deal of his attention, and he was the author of some scientific papers on the culture of the vine in Texas. We much regret that the acquaintance which bade fair to have so pleasant a continuance should have been brought so quickly to a close by the hand of death.

Buried:
Oakwood Cemetery

George married Cassandra Lincecum on 23 Dec 1852 in Washington, Texas, USA. Cassandra (daughter of Gideon Lincecum, II and Sarah Bryan) was born between 1832 and 1836 in Mississippi, USA; died on 8 Apr 1877; was buried on 9 Apr 1877 in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

- From Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874 by Lois Wood Burkhalter (1965) -- pg. 73:
"On November 9, 1848, M. Austin Bryan for $1,371.00 conveyed to Gideon Lincecum the northeast corner of League No. 5, containing 1,828 acres (Deed Records, Washington County, H, 355-356). The Lincecum land was disposed of, in differing lots and acreages and over a period of time until Gideon's death, to the following (Deed Records, Washington County): ...Leonora Campbell...Mary J. Rutherford...L. J. Lincecum...L. W. Lincecum...E. C. Lincecum...L. W. C. Lincecum...L. L. Lincecum...L. R. Lincecum...Sarah L. Doran...Cassandra Durham...Mary Matson..."

- From Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874 by Lois Wood Burkhalter (1965):
[Pg. 84, diary entry of Mrs. Amelia Barr, wife of Robert, who worked with George Durham] "...The Durhams lived in a small log house on the road to the ferry. Everyone coming into town and every one going out of town passed Mrs. Durham's. Her sitting room was as entertaining as the local news in the weekly paper. There was no restraint in Mrs. Durham's company; people could be themselves without fear of criticism. She was not pretty, not stylish, not clever, not in the least fashionable, but she was the favorite of women who were all these things. There were no carpets on the floors and there was a bed in the room wherein her friends congregated. She did not go to entertainments and I never saw a cup of tea served in her house, yet she was the most popular woman in Austin, and not to be free of Mrs. Durham's primitive log house, was to be without the hallmark of the inner circle."

- From Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874 by Lois Wood Burkhalter (1965):
[Pgs. 292-294, first from Gideon's letter to Sioux Doran, dated 8 July 1873] "...Cassandra and her family are all well. Cass does all the cooking herself, with Sidney's help. He supplies the wood and water, attends to setting the table, etc. Walter rises early, feeds and waters the dogs and chickens, goes to market, and then, until breakfast, fixes up anything that is out of order. That over, he goes off to the house that pays him for his services and is seen no more until dark. The little girl [Leila] is very healthy, looks handsome and though she is beginning to help her Mamma a little, she spends half her time with Monterrey who nursed and suckled her...

Gideon's grief and heartache because of Cassandra's neglect [with writing him letters] melted when he visited her in Austin. She was supporting herself and three children, Walter, Sidney, and Leila, by operating a boarding house. Her father was proud of her...

...Leonora in Tuxpan and Cassandra in Austin...my two widowed daughters. Both hold in the society to which they belong high positions. I don't know which of the two is most sought after or most beliked...Cassandra, the stately, slow moving, young looking, rather handsome Cassandra."

- Per Oakwood Cemetery Database
Mrs. Causauda Durham
Nativity: Austin
Disease: Pneumonia
Attending Physician: Taylor & Stalnaker
Where Buried: Familie [sic] Lot No. 14

Buried:
Oakwood Cemetery

Notes:

- The couple might have met through Cassandra's father. Following from Lois Burkhalter's 1965 biography of Gideon Lincecum (1793-1874):

Cassandra, the third daughter, was married to George J. Durham, an Englishman of Austin, Texas?This marriage pleased Gideon. He and Durham had been drawn together through mutual interest in ornithology and grape culture and were friends before Durham met Cassandra.

Notes:

- He served in the Georgia Militia in the War of 1812 and became a practicing physician in Lowndes County, Mississippi in 1815.

- From August to October of 1813, Gideon fought in the War of 1812. Out of Eatonton, Georgia, he tended sick soldiers. At this time, he was tax collector of Putnam County, Georgia. Somehow, this got him discharged. From Camp Hope, he was discharged from Captain Varner's company in Colonel Freeman's regiment of General Floyd's brigade of dragoons.

- In 1821, Gideon was appointed by the Mississippi legislature commissioner to organize Monroe County. Because of this he was a founder of the Franklin School in Columbus, the oldest free school in Mississippi.

- *See http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/hill-country-place-walls-tan-yard-post.html

- Gideon had an interview with a Choctaw Indian sage or "wisdom keeper" in Mississippi in 1822. Over the course of 4 years he wrote down the customs and traditional history of the Choctaw Indians. The one he interviewed was called Chahta-Immataha... The interviews became a book of "650 closely written pages on large letter paper."

- About 1848, Gideon moved to Texas. From there he went to Tuxpan, Mexico during 1868-1872. He became a friend and correspondent of Charles Darwin and other eminent naturalists. He published papers through the Smithsonian Institute and the Essex Institute. The Jardin des Plantes in Paris contains his collection of Texas flora and the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts has his collection of forty-eight families of ants and butterflies. He was elected a corresponding member of the Philadelphia Academy, a rare honor for an ameteur.

- From Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874 by Lois Wood Burkhalter (1965) -- pg. 73:
"On November 9, 1848, M. Austin Bryan for $1,371.00 conveyed to Gideon Lincecum the northeast corner of League No. 5, containing 1,828 acres (Deed Records, Washington County, H, 355-356). The Lincecum land was disposed of, in differing lots and acreages and over a period of time until Gideon's death, to the following (Deed Records, Washington County): ...Leonora Campbell...Mary J. Rutherford...L. J. Lincecum...L. W. Lincecum...E. C. Lincecum...L. W. C. Lincecum...L. L. Lincecum...L. R. Lincecum...Sarah L. Doran...Cassandra Durham...Mary Matson..."

- Gideon's headstone text: "Dr. Gideon Lincecum, a veteran of the War of 1812, internationally famous botanist friend of Charles Darwin, born in Georgia April 22, 1793, died at Long Point, Washington County, Texas November 28, 1873." Erected by the state of Texas 1936.

- The 1850 Washington County, Texas census lists G. Lincecum as a farmer with a real estate value of $9,000, who was born in Georgia.

- Gideon purchased Long Point tract of land, consisting of 1,828 acres. "My settlement developed into a thriving little village." Long Point, Texas is on Farm Road 390 and Old Rocky Creek, 10 miles NW of Brenham and 85 miles east of austin in northwestern Washington County. The name was written Long Point 'til the 20th century. The settlement was founded in 1850 on land originally owned by Stephen F. Austin. Botanist Gideon Lincecum lived there on his plantation, Mount Olympus, from 1848-1874. Lincecum named his plantation for its high ground, overlooking Yegua Creek Valley, which ended in a triangular point formed by a live oak grove. He was attracted to the vicinity by its botanical diversity. On 19 February 1851, Montville postmaster Wayne Bishop changed the post office name to Long Point, but discontinued it 26 July 1852. Gideon re-established it 23 September 1852.
The Long Point community developed into a town. Its Wood Hotel had a culinary reputation throughout Texas. Lincecum and his son Lysander practiced medicine at Long Point. In 1856 Chauncey B. Shepard of Long Point was elected to represent the 20th District in the Texas Senate. Lincecum and fellow War of 1812 veteran, Sam Lauderdale led the Long Point Minute Men's march from Mount Vernon (Washington County) to Brenham in December 1860 to support the county secession movement. In 1863, Long Point blacks organized a Confederate Ball to benefit Texas soldiers.

- Gideon in Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas: Republic Hill, Section 1, Row V, Plot 2.

- Gideon practiced medicine using mostly herbal remedies, much of which he learned from the Choctaw Indians. In 1848, he moved to TX where he practiced medicine, made geological explorations, charted drought cycles, recorded daily activities of insect life, and assembled a plant collection which included 500 species with medicinal properties.

- In 1821, acting as the first postmaster, Gideon opened the first batch of mail that came to Columbus.

- Lowndes County has long been known as one of the most prosperous and wealthy sections of the state of Mississippi. As early as 1817, some scattered settlements were made in this region, and in 1818, Dr. Gideon Lincecum built the first house on the present site of Columbus. In 1818, Gideon lived on the Tombigbee River. According to the USGS Mapping Service, it is a stream in Lowndes County, Mississippi.

- "Lincecum, Sarah, and their surviving ten children, a number of grandchildren, and ten slaves arrived in Long Point on his 55th birthday." ["LINCECUM, GIDEON." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- According to the 1860 Washington County, Texas Federal census, G. had real estate valued at $18,250. His personal estate was valued at $12,000.

- "He sought a new frontier in 1868 and, at the age of 76, with a widowed daughter and her seven children, joined a Confederate colony in Tuxpan, Vera Cruz, Mexico. He spent 5 years there working his banana plantation, exploring Indian ruins, and continuing his natural history collection and correspondence." ["LINCECUM, GIDEON." The Handbook of Texas Online. - Accessed Sun 09 Jul 2000]

- Gideon's death was covered in the NY Times, 26 December 1874:
"DEATH OF AN ABLE AND ECCENTRIC MAN
The Texas papers speak in the highest terms of Dr. Lincecum, who died recently near Brenham, Washington County, in that State, in the eighty-third year of his age. He was a native of Georgia, but lived about twenty years at Columbus, Miss., before going to Texas in 1848. After the surrender of the Confederate armies, he went to Tuxpan, Mexico, and spent about four years. The papers from which we taken the above facts says: "Among other studies he spent his idle hours for fourteen years, in Washington County, in studying the habits of the large red ant, common all over the State, and then wrote a pamphlet giving the results. It possesses the interest of a novel. For this production he was awarded costly gold medals by the Academies of Science both in Philadelphia and Paris. His writings on the grasses of Texas - its minerals and its agriculture - have been numerous and valuable. In Mexico, he stated to Hon. John H. Brown that for fifty-eight years, at daylight on each Christmas morning, he had stood in the door, barefoot, in his nightclothes, and played the Scottish air of 'Killie-crankie,' and that on forty-eight of those occasions he had used the violin then in his possession, made to order for him in Paris in 1820, whereupon he repeated the piece in his own hospitable home, opposite the City of Tuxpan. He was then seventy-five, and on his birth-night, a few nights before, had been fire-hunting, killed a deer, and carried it home on his shoulders, a distance of two or three miles. He at the same time said he had reared ten children to be married and settled. He was long the neighbor and friend of such men as Judge R. E. B. Baylor, Chauncey and James Shepard, and others of the like excellence, and was ever distinguished for his benevolence and wisdom as a citizen."

- In the book, WHO WAS WHO AMONG THE SOUTHERN INDIANS 1698 - 1907, by Don Martini, published 1998 the following is given:

LINCECUM, GIDEON- Chickasaw- Choctaw Trader, was born in Warren County, Georgia, on April 22, 1793, the son of Hezekiah Lincecum and Sally Hickman Lincecum. Sally was the sister of James and John Hickman of Tn., and was a second cousin to John Pitchlynn Sr.'s mother. Gideon's father (Hezekiah) was the son of Gideon Lincecum (died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1783), and Miriam Bowie (died at Eatonton, Georgia in 1813). Miriam was a sister to Jim Bowie's grandfather, James Bowie. Gideon and Miriam lived on the Saluda River in South Carolina for 15 years after their marriage. They then removed to Georgia, where Gideon was murdered. Their children: Hezekiah, Edward, John, Sally, Dolly, and Nancy. Hezekiah first married Sally Strange, then seperated from her and married Sally Hickman. In 1818, Hezekiah and his son, Gideon, moved to Columbus, Mississippi. Hezekiah died in Ponotoc on March 4, 1839 at age 70. Gideon remained at Columbus, was a member of the Masonic Lodge there from 1823 to 1827, and entered into partnership with John Pitchlynn Jr. in the Indian trade. He remained in Mississippi until 1848, when he removed to Texas. He died in Washington County in that state on November 28, 1874.

Sources of info:
1 GIDEON LINCECUM, written by Burkhalter
2 EARLY RECORDS OF WILKES COUNTY GEORGIA pages 40 and 42
3 MISSISSIPPI MARRIAGES AND DEATHS, by Wiltshire
4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIDEON LINCECUM, by Burkhalter

- "The Dallas Weekly Herald," 19 December 1874:

DR. GIDEON LINCECUM

"... He...was a member of Captain Varner's company, in the regiment commanded by Colonel Freeman, of General Floyd's brigade of dragoons, in the war of 1812..."

- In January 1835, Gideon joined an exploring exhibition in Texas (leaving from Monroe County, Mississippi). ["The Handbook of Texas Online"]

- Gideon was the first postmaster in Columbus, Mississippi. [A History of Columbus, Mississippi During the 19th Century]

- "Another of the settlers at Tuxpan (Mexico), Gideon Lincecum, restated his reasons for leaving Texas in an April 27, 1871 letter to John Henry Brown, who also had lived at Tuxpan and encouraged others to move there: 'As for myself, I do not, neither can I care one cent for the "United States of America." The victorious Yankee has trampled under foot every principle of justice and equality, and are now encouraging the triumphant negro to put the finishing stroke on the degraded condition of the Southerner by conjugal union with his daughters; While the Southerner, those who are most capable, and best able to do something, for the fear of losing a few dollars have joined the loyal league. No, no, John Henry Brown, I can't care for such a demoralized nation. But I can remain here in this calm, peaceful, clean washed country, where Bowie knives and six shooters are not regarded as the indespensable equipments of a gentleman, and where man shooting is not considered an honorable occupation. Where, as you know, doorlocks are not necessary, and, where indeed there is nothing to fear.'" [Gideon Lincecum to John Henry Brown, 27 April 1871, Gideon Lincecum Papers, The Center for Americam History, University of Texas, Austin]

- 14 November 1872 edition, Galveston Daily News, Galveston, Texas:
The Brenham Banner says: "By a letter received from Tuxpan, Mexico, from Dr. Gid Lincecum, we learn that Sam Houston, Jr., is a visitor at his house. We wonder what caused Sam to seek a home among a people whom his father has so often thrashed?"

- From presentation by Peggy Redshaw (wife of Jerry Bryan Lincecum):
"An Unconventional Texas Physician of the 19th Century: Dr. Gideon Lincecum"
Peggy A. Redshaw, Austin College [Texas]
Lincecum practiced medicine in both Mississippi (~1830-1848) and Texas (1848-1868). Initially he read and practiced allopathic medicine. In the 1830's, he spent six weeks traveling with a Choctaw Indian Nation doctor, Alikchi chito, who trained him in an Indian/botanical approach. For a time, he carried medicines for allopathic and botanical systems but soon became an agent for Howard Horton (1838) and destroyed his allopathic drugs. With the move to Texas in 1848, he turned his practice over to son Lucullus; however, Gideon continued to treat patients via correspondence. Additionally, he sent letters to the Galveston Tri Weekly News after the Civil War with natural cures the Texan citizens could use to treat themselves and their families. Lincecum felt very strongly that the allopathic appraoch caused the death of some of his patients. He felt just as strongly that his mixture of Indian/Botanic remedies was much more suitable for the illnesses of southerners. Specific examples of his treatments will show his approach. However, when Lincecum expressed his opinion of his profession late in life, he once stated "I practiced medicine for 40 years. It's a humbug and does more harm to humanity than all the wars."

Buried:
Mount Zion Cemetery

Gideon married Sarah Bryan in Oct 1814 in Putnam, Georgia, USA. Sarah was born between 1794 and 1799 in Georgia, USA; died on 2 Feb 1867 in Long Point, Washington, Texas, USA; was buried in Long Point, Washington, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Buried:
Mt. Zion Cemetery