DEPOSITION
Welder-Lambert Lawsuit
No. 449, District Court, Refugio County, Texas
Date: 1896
Rosalie B. Priour was born in Balomy, County of Wexford, Ireland,
August 1, 1820. Her maiden name in which she was baptized as an
infant was Bridget Hart, but she was confirmed in the Catholic Church
by the name of Rosalie B. Hart. This is a copy of the deposition,
in which she answered questions, in a suit between Dolores Welder
and Phil Lambert, recorded in the District Clerk's office in Refugio
County, in the year 1896. These answers reveal much history concerning
the arrival of the colonists brought over to this area by James
Power in 1833. She was about 12 years old when she came to Texas
with the colonists, and was 71 years old when this deposition was
given. Her remarks are as follows:
Deposition of Rosalie B. Priour
I was born in Balomy, County of Wexford, Ireland, I do not remember
the Parish in which I was born, but the Parish in which I was born
joined the Parish of Balleygarrett. After waiting some time at Liverpool
for our ship to start for America and after spending Christmas in
Liverpool, we embarked upon the ship and started for America, shortly
after Christmas of the year 1833 or in the early part of 1834.
My father's family consisting of himself, my mother and three children;
two sisters and myself, came to America as colonists, in a colony
brought out from Ireland by Mr. James Power, Sr.
My father's name was Thomas Hart, my mother's name was Elizabeth,
nee Elizabeth O'Leary. My father's family together with all the
colonists who came over on the same vessel with me settled in Refugio
County, in the town of Refugio, upon lots donated to each head of
a family. I do not remember whether these homesteads were donated
to the colonists by Mr. Powers or the Mexican Government.
Mr. James Power held meetings at the home of his sister, Mrs. O'Brien
in Ireland, where he told his friends and acquaintances that gathered
there, about America and the advantages to be secured there by the
colonists and among other inducements told them that each family
or head of family would receive a land grant of one league and one
labor of land from the Mexican Government, and that each single
person would also receive a land grant, but of smaller quantity.
Mrs. O'Brien, sister to Mr. James Power, also came to America as
a member of the colony. I was not personally acquainted with any
of the relations of Mr. James Power except the family of his sister,
although my mother was well acquainted with all his relations that
lived in County Wexford. I think Mrs. O'Brien had three or four
boys and about three girls. The only names of her children that
I can now remember are those of her sons, Morgan O'Brien and John
O'Brien and her daughter Agnes (Aggie) and Mrs. Bowers, whose Christian
name I have forgotten. All of the children of Mrs. O'Brien died
within two years after her family settled at Refugio, except her
son John and her daughter Mrs. Bowers. Farming was the occupation
of Mr. O'Brien and his family. His son Morgan being about 25 years
old and John about 16 when they left Ireland. As well as I can remember,
the family of Mr. O'Brien, as well as all the reset of the colonists
who came to America on the same vessel on which I cam were tenant
farmers. None of them owning any land in Ireland. Their reason in
coming to America was to acquire lands of their own, my recollection
being that under the law in Ireland at that time no Catholic was
permitted to own land, with only a few exceptions, most of the lands
in that country being also entailed and not subject to be sold or
divided.
My father's family started over to America in a ship containing
about 350 persons, colonists. These colonists embarked upon one
of the largest sailing vessels afloat in those days. These colonists
were going to America with the expectation of receiving grants of
land which they would own and occupy and enjoy as their own property.
I do not know what arrangement was made between Mr. Power and the
other colonists, but think it was the same as he made with my father.
Mr. Power was to charter the ship and land us at Copano, Texas for
a certain sum of money, amount not remembered, payable in Liverpool
before we would embark. My father paid him the money and got his
receipt for same, the day before we embarked. I think the colonists
furnished the money to pay for the ship. I have often heard my father
and mother say that all of the other colonists made the same arrangements
and the same payments for their passage to America. Each head of
a family provided himself and his family with provisions and supplies
enough to last for one year, and brought it along on board the ship,
including farming implements etc., all of which was paid for by
the colonists themselves. The colonists supported themselves after
landing in the colony in America. They were never aided in any manner
by Mr. Power as far as I can remember, or have ever heard.
The colonists who came over in the ship with me were Irish people,
from Ireland and all farmers with the exception of four or five
who came out as hired men and servants. They all sold every thing
they owned, none owned any land, but all seemed to have more or
less money. They sold their personal property, such as horses, cattle,
sheep etc. I have often heard my mother and father and other members
of the old colony say that the colonists paid all their own expenses
from the time they left their old homes in Ireland until they reached
their new homes in America.
My father had a written contract with Mr. Power, written on the
back of my upon which he should be landed in the new colony in America,
which writing acknowledged full payment for the passage of his family
from New Orleans to Copano, Texas. This additional sum my mother
refused to pay and produced from her pocket where she always carried
it, her marriage certificate containing on the back of it the original
contract between my father and Mr. Power for transportation to America.
I have heard my parents say that Mr. Power made the same demand
at New Orleans upon all the colonists for an additional payment
of passage money to bring them from New Orleans to Texas and that
some of the colonists acceded to Mr. Power's demand, but others
did not.
I saw Mr. James Power, Sr. frequently and his family several times
after we reached Refugio from Ireland. Mr. Powers' family was living
about 400 yards from the old church at Refugio and between the Church
and the Mission River. They lived in a picket house of two rooms
with thatched roof. I understood that he owned very little property
of his own except the land which he expected to receive from the
Mexican Government for his services in bringing out colonists, though
the general understanding at that time in the colony, was that Mr.
Power's wife was a Mexican woman, whose father owned considerable
property and that his second wife was the sister of his first wife.
When James Power, the Empresario, came to Ireland for colonists,
socially and financially, he seemed to be in about the same condition
as the colonists who went with him to Texas. I never heard of Mr.
James Power inheriting any money from his family in Ireland, or
receiving any money from them.
My understanding as gained from my parents and other colonists,
(was) that the ship upon which the colonists came to America was
especially hired for that purpose by Mr. James Power Sr. and paid
for out of the money paid to Mr. Power Sr. by the colonists as before
stated. My recollection is that the ship had three masts. I do not
know how to describe the rigging of the vessel or what sort of ship
it would be called. I do not remember the dimensions of the ship,
only that I have often heard it alluded to by my parents and others
as one of the largest ships going in those days.
At the time we landed at the Mission or the town or Refugio, Mr.
James Power Sr. owned no other property that I have ever heard of
except the house and lot where he lived in that town. His family
did not appear to be well off and with reference to comforts of
life lived about as other colonists did.
My recollection and understanding from my parents and others is
that Mr. James Power Sr. had made a personal canvass in various
parts of Ireland in search of colonists who would come back to Texas
with him and accept land grants offered them through him by the
government of Mexico, Texas being at that time a part of Mexico.
These colonists assembled at various times and in various ways in
Liverpool preparing to embark on the ship at the time fixed, stated
for sailing. I do not remember how long we waited in Liverpool for
the sailing of the ship, only that it was during the Christmas holidays
of 1833. The vessel departed from Liverpool very soon after Christmas.
The exact date and departure of the ship, I do not now remember.
The voyage from Liverpool to New Orleans was in the main uneventful
except a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay when all passengers were
ordered below deck with hatches fastened down. My father having
been a customs officer, or "waterguard" in Ireland, I
was accustomed to the water and not afraid of the storm, so I concealed
myself in one of the old hatches and remained on deck throughout
the storm in order to watch the storm on the ocean. I remember seeing
another large merchant vessel following close to our vessel for
several days and that the people on our vessel were alarmed for
fear we were being pursued by pirates until finally the other vessel
came in biding distance and proved to be a friendly merchant man.
Our ship was so crowded that all available space was occupied by
the colonists, who furnished their own bunks or beds and their own
provisions and did their own cooking and household duties, the same
as they did at home.
I remember that on reaching the coast of Florida our Captain was
afraid to venture through Florida Straits on account of the great
size of the ship and to avoid danger coasted around the Island of
Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. While passing Cuba, owing to the great
heat of the sun on the ship's deck, my little sister, Elizabeth
Hart, then about five years old, received a sunstroke from which
she soon died and was buried at sea, which occurrence I remember
very distinctly. She was a great favorite with the officers and
crew of the ship and my parents were unable to prevent her from
staying on deck in the hot sun. Our ship was 60 days out of sight
of land and about two months and a half making the trip from Liverpool
to New Orleans, which voyage in the main was rather pleasant and
all the passengers kept healthy. After reaching New Orleans, all
the passengers remained or had their belongings on the big ship
where we had to wait, to the best of my recollection two or three
weeks (a part of which time I was sick) before we were transferred
to the two schooners that brought us to Aransas Pass. One of them
named the "Wildcat" made the trip in 24 hours. I cannot
remember the name of the schooner which my father and family came
on, but it was about 48 hours making the trip. On nearing Aransas
Pass, we could see the schooner "Wildcat" and that it
had run ashore. Col. Power ordered the captain of our schooner,
in my hearing, at the point of his pistol, to change his course
and avoid running his vessel aground. After casting anchor for the
night, the captain of our schooner weighed anchor, and in the night,
also ran our schooner ashore. My understanding at the time of the
grounding of both schooners, was, and has been ever since, that
both of them were unseaworthy and heavily insured, and their owners
had arranged with the captains to wreck them in order to obtain
the insurance money. Luckily, no lives were lost by the grounding
of the two schooners, and the remainder of the colonists were transferred
by lighter to Copano, where the old Mexican Customs house then stood.
It was a small brick house near the shore of Copano Bay, but the
building has since been destroyed. My impression is that this building
stood near the mouth of the Mission River. After the grounding of
the two schooners off Aransas Pass, an epidemic of cholera, supposed
to have been contracted in New Orleans, broke out among the colonists.
My recollection is that about 250 persons died and were buried at
sea. A child of Mr. St. John's brother, William St. John, now at
the Mission, died and through sympathy for the grief stricken parents
and their horror of burying their child at sea, I remember seeing
my father and Mr. Paul Keogh take the child in a little boat to
St. Joseph's Island where they buried it. After burying the child,
Mr. Paul Keogh fell sick with the cholera and died on St. Joseph's
Island and was buried there also by my father, who remained with
him to his death.
After an absence of about 48 hours from the schooner, my father
returned. As soon as my mother and I saw him, we were frightened
by his gaunt and distressed appearance and we could see that he
was seriously ill, but he told us that he was only weak from hunger,
that he had had no nourishment except water, which he found by digging
with his spade on St. Joseph's Island. After my mother and I had
ministered to my father's wants, giving him food etc., he was taken
suddenly very ill and died about 24 hours afterward, and one hour
after our landing from the lighter, at Copano, where he was buried
by my mother and a Mr. Hart (no relation to my parents), who was
already living in Texas and happened to be at Copano. I saw them
wrap my father in a blanket and bury him. I was sick and lying on
the pallet with him when he died. I thought at first he was only
sleeping, but when I tried to awaken him, I found he was dead. For
some reason, which I do not now remember, we had to remain, to the
best of my recollection, about two or three weeks on the schooner
after we were grounded, waiting for the lighter to transfer us to
the landing at Copano. After landing there, we were put under quarantine
and guarded by Mexican soldiers about two weeks on account of cholera
epidemic, amid the greatest suffering and distress. I do not remember
the name of the Mexican officer or commander. Finally we were hauled
on ox-wagon from Copano to the Mission Refugio.
Most of my information as to the means of support of the colonists
after they reached the Mission was obtained from my mother and other
members of the colony, but I remember seeing the colonists working
their fields, planting their crops and making their living in various
ways. At first most of them farmed together in one large field which
they fenced together in the bend of the river by way of convenience.
My cousin, Mertha Cullen, who had been educated for the priesthood,
but married and came out with the colony, also had a fine medical
education, though not a regular practicing physician. He was rich
and never made any charges and never collected any fees for his
services. He afterward settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Most of the wealth of the colonists was brought with them in the
shape of money, supplies, etc. I saw some of them have considerable
money. Most of my information regarding the property matters of
the colonists prior to their settling at the Mission was from hearing,
except as I have already stated.
I do not know positively as to what property Mr. James Power Sr.
owned at the time we reached the Mission, but I remember that he
dressed and lived and looked like a poor man. His house as already
described was about like those of the colonists. There was very
little difference in the houses in the colony or they all used the
only material available at that time.
I do not remember the names of Mr. James Power's father and mother.
I always heard my mother say that Mrs. O'Brien, already mentioned,
was his only sister. I do not know the names of his brothers, but
remember his nephew named Martin Power, who was also one of the
colonists, and a cripple, who walked by aid of crutches or a stick.
Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien and their daughter, Aggie, all died at Refugio
within two months after our arrival there. I was then living in
the colony.
If the colonists had not brought supplies with them, it would have
been impossible to have obtained even the necessities of life in
Texas at that time, to say nothing of luxuries. The manner of life
of the people in Texas in those days was very simple and very much
the same in all families of my acquaintance.
On our arrival at the Mission, a Mr. Quirk had a lumber house of
one room, which was for many years the only lumber house in the
colony as lumber could not ever be procured to make coffins and
the dead were buried in blankets.
Rosalie B. Priour
7th day of February A. D., 1896 I. C. Crisp, Notary Public
Bee County, Texas
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