| Notes |
- Handbook of Texas, San Augustine Co.:
In 1819 William Ward erected the first sawmill in Texas between the Ironosa
and Attoyac Rivers, and Lewis Holloway constructed the second one in the
same area soon after. Cotton cultivation began in 1825, and the following
years John Sprowl and John A. Williams built the first local gins.
During the Fredonian Rebellion in 1827, the citizens of Ayish Bayou, invited
to challenge the Mexican goverment with Haden Edwards chose instead to abandon
their little villiage and flee from his forces as well as those of the Mexican
army. Only Alexander Horton, STEPHEN PRATHER, and Edward Teel stayed
behind, raising a combined force of Anglos and Indians that drove the rebels
from the vicinity.
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Neches Saline, Texas:
By 1830 there were two trading posts on the salt plain, one belonging to
Chates H. Simms and the other to James Hall.
In March 1833 Bean signed a contract with Stephen Prather to start a salt
business, but Prather died in June. His plan was to copy the indian art
of taking water from salt wells and allowing the water to evaporate,
leaving usable salt.
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Stephen Prather owned a trading post at Ayish Bayou.
Stephen convinced his nephew, Thomas Freeman McKinney, that the
Nacogdoches area was the best area for trade.
Thomas McKinney whose mother was Eleanor Prather, sister of Stephen Prather.
Thomas McKinney had one sister, Euphemia McKinney Austin and his two brothers
James Prather and Charles Chastian McKinney in Travis Co., TX. in the 1850's.
Thomas traveled widely; lived Christian Co., KY. 1811 to 1818, by 1822 he
and allied kin had moved to Southern IL. and Randolph Co., MO., in 1823
he went to Santa Fe and then Chihuahua, Durango, Saltillo, and Baxar,
in 1824 he received a league of land on the Brazos River from Stephen
F. Austin (the "Old 100, Austin Colony"), but by 1827 he was with his
uncle Stephen Prather at Nacogdoches where Thomas kept a store on the
square. In 1830 he traded in Cotton and piece goods traveling by keelboat up
the Neches and Angelian Rivers to Saltillo and traded them for livestock
and specie. In 1830 he moved to San Felipe and continued trading to the
south. He also had interest on the lower Trinity, where Michael B. Menard
developed a sawmill. In 1834 he bacame senior partner with Samuel May
Williams. Williams supplied the bookeeping and commercial contacts in the
United States, while Thomas collected and shipped the cotton.
In 1835 They used their credit to help finance the Texas Revolution, to
the amount of $99,000, which was never repaid in full.
His ranch became "McKinney Falls State Park.
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Stephen Prather, early colonist, merchant, and soldier, was born in Mercer
Co., KY. He was married in Natchez, MS.
He was a merchant in Harrisburg, LA. from 1810 to 1820. He served as a Colonel
under Gen. Andrew jackson at the battle of New Orleans.
He moved in 1820/1 to the Ayish Bayou District, now San Augustine Co., TX.
He owned and operated an Indian trading post at the forks of the Angelina and
Neches Rivers, but was a resident of the Ayish Bayou District.
In Dec. 1826, when all the other settlers of the area fled during the
Fredonian Rebellion, Stephen Prather, Edward Teel, and Alexander Horton, with
Prathers two sons, Stephen E. and Thomas Freeman Prather, Ross Bridgers, James
Bridgers Sr., James Bridges Jr., Peter Galloway, John McGinnis, and sixty
Indians took the Fredonians' Fort and 200 soldiers by surprise with firing
a shot.
A bronze marker on Highway 21, Route of the old San Antionio Road, in San
Augustine commemorates Stephen Prather's actions in the "battle of Fredonia".
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He was born in Parish of Kentucky, Lincoln Co.,Va. (now Mercer Co., Ky)
in 1782 and later moved to Nacogodoches, Texas where he died in 1833.
He lead the decisive battle at the battle of "New Orleans". His success was
largely due to the support he alone gained from the Indians, who fought under
his command. Texas awarded him 4000 acres for his services.
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Prater/Prather Genealogy* 120,000+ Family Members
1782 - 1833 (51 years)