Gilliland Massacre

Source:  Hobart Huson's Refugio, Volume I, pages 465-469

"...there occurred in the San Antonio River section of Refugio County what is known as the Gilleland [Gilliland] Massacre.  Although Mrs. Fisher and Lieutenant Hannum both give the date as being the spring of 1840, the Minutes of the Commissioners' Court of Refugio County state that it was in 1842, and it is believed that such entry is the more reliable."

"The Gilliland massacre occurred at their home on the west side of the San Antonio River, near the ranch of Nicholas Fagan, and not far from Wellington's Ferry.  (William) Johnstone Gilliland and his wife, Mary Barbour Gilliland, and the two children, Rebecca Jane and William McCalla, were in the yard...."

"The Gilliland children were taken to the Carlos Rancho, where they were given medical treatment by Drs. Axsom and Hammond."

"The first person to come to the Gilliland home after the tragedy was Dr. Royal W. Wellington, who lived on the east side of the river, and operated a ferry as well as a plantation.  The elder Gillilands were beyond need of a physician when he found them." 

"At the same time the Comanches massacred the Gillilands they also raided several ranches in the vicinity, among them that of Philip Howard, whose wife had lost two previous husbands who had been killed by Indians.   She was the mother of John McSherry, who had been kidnaped [sic] by Indians in 1836, and rescued the same year by Lieutenant Joseph Rogers.  The Howard ranch in this county was between the Carlos Rancho and the Gilliland place.  After this raid the Howards moved to Halletsville." [See DeShields, Border Wars in Texas, pp 194-195.]

Source: Probate Minutes, Refugio County, May 30, 1842

Copy of page entered in old ledger in Courthouse basement. 
This page gives the month of March 1842 as the date of the attack.