Eva H. L. Karling
(In another section of this paper there appears a complete history of Hill's
Prairie; the following is a supplement to this story, dealing principally with
the more outstanding settlers of Hills Prairie in the pioneer days fome of the
descendants of whom still reside there.)
I often wonder if there is as much interesting history in other communities as there
has been enacted at Hill's Prairie. It is impossible in the brief time and
space to do ought but touch it in high places.
During the years of 1839-40, Mr. Wylie Hill's two brothers, Middleton, and Thos. B. J.
Hill returned to Texas to live, and settled in what became known as Lower
Hill's Prairie.  There were other
relatives and connections, as the Olivers, McGehees, etc., and a splendid
community was established.  Mrs. Hill's
three brothers settled in Hills Prairie.
When Mr. Miller Hubbard's wife, who was a Beavers, sister of Mrs. Adolf Erhard,
died, he married Miss Mattie Price, a sister of Bob Price.  His eldest son, Bennett, and his
daughter,
Mollie, who married Judge B. G. Neighbors of San Marcos, received good school
advantages and were splendid people. 
Mr. A. M. Gus ubbard had four lovely daughters, and two sons.  Anna, the eldest daughter, was
the second
wife of Maj. A. W. Moore.  She only
lived two years after their marriage, leaving an infant, Woddie Moore, who grew
to manhood, and died in Houston in 1906. 
The next daughter was Emma, who married B. F. Wamble and lived at Waco
many years until she passed away. 
Lizzie was the next, known for her beauty and gentle ways.  She married E. P. Robinson of
Round Rock,
and after his death, was married to W. Y. Penn of Georgetown.  She is also dead.  Martha, the
youngest daughter, died when about 20 years of age,
leaving two heart broken lovers.  I do
not know the after life of one, but the other lived and died a bachelor, making
no secret of the fact that his heart was buried with Martha Hubbard.  The eldest son was
Robert.  He died in Forth Worth several years ago.  Cliff Hubbard lives in the old home his
father established in 1845.  This house
is one of the historic places of the neighborhood.  In the Colorado River overflow of 1869,
the flood waters entered
every house in the valley except the Wylie Hill and the Woods Moore homes.  Into the Hubbard
home it came, and climbed
nearly six feet on the walls.  After the
overflow, Mr. Gus Hubbard came to Bastrop and bought a clock, which he put on
the high mantle. During the overflow in 1913, the flood waters again entered
the doors of the old house and climbed the high mantle and stopped the clock at
2:20 am, showing the family at what hour the water touched its pendulum.
Into
this home Clif Hubbard brought his bride, Miss Agnes Tuttle of Flatoino in
1883.  Their living children are
Clarence Hubbard, who is at present in Kerrville for his health, which was
impared during the World War, and Miss Lizzie, who keeps the home for her
father, who is now nearing his eightieth year. 
Harold Hubbard, whose tragic death just before Christmas left a widow
and daughter, Virginia Ray.  Mildred is
Mrs. Oscar Jenkins, and has one son, Elbert. 
Mr. Robert W. Hubbard's wife died in 1872, leaving him with three
children, the youngest an infant. His widowed sister, Mrs. Cynthis Lawrence,
came from Penfield, GA., to help him care for his family.  She will be remembered as a pretty
old lady
with beautiful, natural wavy hair.  She
never ceased to talk of Penfield, and it gave rise to the saying of the younger
members of the family that they could go to Penfield and know half the people
they met, and find their way around, from hearing her tell of it all.  Mr. Hubbard's oldest
daughter, Mary, after
attending school in Bastrop spent two years at Weslyn Female College in
Staunton, Virginia, and married Khleber Trigg, living in Hill's Prairie a good
many years.
Col. Thomas
C. Moore, brother of Judge Dyer Moore, came during the first part of the
fifties with his family, and lived for several years in the Prairie, moving to
Bastrop and later to West Point.  In
1851, Major A. Woods Moore moved there and lived until his death in 1888.  He served the
county in the Senate for
several terms.  His children, were Worth
Moore, who was for many years a business man in Galveston.  Maj. Moore's second son was
Thomas K. Moore, who married Miss Olivia Grady of Hill's Prairie in 1871.  Their children are
Mrs. Forrest Reed and Mrs. Mary Long of San Antonio, Mrs. Sigur Jordan of San Marcos, and Jim
Moore of Gonzales.  Dan Moore, the second son,
is dead, leaving a widow and four grown children all living elsewhere.  James Moore died in
Galveston in 1905.
Mr. Marsh Trigg died in 1888.  His children
were Mrs. Sue Green and Mrs. Chester Erhard, Mr. Jones Trigg and Mr. Khleber
Trigg.
Mr. And Mrs. R. J. Price made a home in Hill's Prairie which for a number of years was
one of the ideal homes of the community. 
Mr. Price was a member of the Legislature for two terms and was a man of
high principle, a steward in the Methodist church.  His children were Mr. Bobbie Urice, who married Miss Bettie
Trigg; Tom Price, who died while a student at A & M College; Joe, who was
Judge J. B. Price and was District Judge for several terms; Charlie Price, died
in 1912; David Price was a merchant in Houston for a good many years; Worth
Price of Waco married Miss Mary Leigh Burleson of San Saba; and Col. Wright Price,
of the United States Navy.
Maj. Moore's daughters were Beatrice, who married Leigh Burleson of San Saba, and
Abbie, who married P. J. Gill.  These
have all passed away.
Dr. John Watson died a few years after the close of the war between the
states.  His widow with her three
childrenmade their home with her father, Wylie Hill.  The daughter, Eva S. Watson, after attending Miss McKay's School
in Bastrop, spent three years in Virginia at school.  She afterwards studied art in New York and Chicago, and became
one of the foremost artists of the state. 
She married Maj. P. M. Woodall of Taylor.  They have both passed away. 
L. W. Watson and Robert Watson received their education in Bastorp,
Sweet Home and A & M College, Robert Watson married Miss Vollie Owens and
after living many years in Hill's Prairie, moved to Bastrop four years ago.
Mr. H. K. McDonald came from Mississippi to Texas. 
He owned the Ferry Boat across the river for a few years while living in
Bastrop.  He sold it to Sidney Green.  It was he who donated the land for the
Christian Church in Bastrop. He moved to Hill's Prairie where he bought a large
farm and lived until his death in the nineties.  His wife was a Gill. 
Their sons were Tom, who married Miss Ella Petty, daughter of Capt.
Petty who was killed in the Battle of Plesant Hill; S. H. who, when he was a
little fellow, named himself Sam Houston. One day he was on his father's ferry
boat and General Sam Houston was crossing, and asked his name.  When told, he gave him a big
silver
dollar.  Hugh McDonald another son, died
in Shreveport, LA., in 1930.
In 1880 Miss Ida Holmes came out from Shrevesport, La., to visit her sister, Mrs. A. M.
Hill.  She went back home after two years stay, engaged to Sam McDonald. 
One year later he went ther efor her, and they were married.  They lived for about 16 years
in Hill's
Prairie, adding much to the community in church, school and social life.  They then moved to
Austin.  They had six fine daughters, Mr. And Mrs.
McDonald are both dead.
After
Mr. Lance Trigg's death, his wife married Mr. Bill Young.  Mr. Young was one of the pillars of the
Baptist Church in Hill's Prairie.  He
and his wife are both dead. Their living son is John Young, who lives in the
old home.  His wife was Anna Pierce, a
daughter of John Pierce, who was a gallant Confederate soldier.
Capt. Jack J. Moncure and Mr. Walter Norment, though not living actually in the
neighborhood, sent their children to school and their families attended church
in Hill's Prairie.
Capt. Dan Grady was a Captain in the Mexican War of 1845.  His wife was Miss Sarah Lester, a
niece of Judge James Lester who
represented the district of Mina in the Council of San Philiipe in 1835.  Capt. And Mrs.
Grady had two children: Him,
who died in the service of the Confederacy, and Olivia, who married T. K. Moore
in 1871.  Capt. And Mrs. Grady made
their home in Hill's Prairie until 1885, when they moved to Bastrop, residing
there until Capt. Grady's death, after which Mrs. Grady lived with her daughter
in Hill's Prairie until her death in 1903. 

In 1883, the Oldfields came from Mississippi. 
There were related to the McDonalds. 
There are none in Hill's Prairie now, but they were so ling identified
with the interests of the neighborhood, that a history of the community is not
complete without their names.  Mrs. Anna
Oldfield who was always to be found where there was sickness or sorrow, giving
comfort and aid, lives with her son, Malcolm, in Bastrop.
Mr. And Mrs. Jim Craft, with their children, lived for several years in Hill's Prairie
before coming to Bastorp.  Mrs. Craft
was Miss Della Trigg daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Lance Trigg, and a sister of Mrs.
Bettie Price and Mrs. Willie Jenkins.
Mrs. Willie Jenins and her husband, Charlie Jenkins, both are dead.  Their son, Ernest,
married mrs. M. A.
Craft's daughter, Winnie.  Leslie Craft
and his mother are residents of Hill's Prairie.  Mr. Wallace Craft and his family live in his
father's old home.
In 1897, Mrs. Bettie LeSueur, a sister of W. C. Powell of Bastrop moved to Hills
Prairie from Mississippi with her son, Charles. Tom and Henry LeSueur, two
other sons, had been in Texas several years. 
They bought the McDonald farm of 400 acrews.  Mrs. LeSueur died in June 1908. 
Charles LeSueur died in August of the same year.  Henry died in 1915.  Tom is still living.
In 1887 the MK&T railroad laid its track and ran the first trains through the
valley.  Jay Gould and other notables
visited and inspected the Prairie during the construction of the road.  Dr. A. M. Hill built
a store near the tract,
and secured the post office and ticket office and R. A. Watson was clerk. T. K.
Moore and P. J Gill built a cotton gin, and several small houses and a
blacksmith shop composed the village. 
On Saturdays during the cotton season there were sometimes as high as
200 tickets to Bastrop sold. That was in the Nineties.
In
1905, Joe Taylor of Todedo Ohio, bought the old Moore homestead, repaired and
renovated it, and brought his bride there. 
In 1910, he sold the place to J. C. Lundell and returned to Ohio. After
living there seven years, Mr. Lundell sold the place to Dave Reed, of Austin,
and he moved to Dallas.
The small store, now owned by Lee Alexander, and the gin is practically all of the
present Hill's Prairie. There is no ticket office, only a flag station, and
very few passengers from there ride on the train to Bastrop.  There is no post office; the
mail is delivered on a rural route from Bastrop.
There have been other fine families who have resided in the community for short or
longer periods. After the war of the Sixties, and the slaves were freed, many
of them drifted from place to place, and the planters could not depend on them
to finish a crop they had begun.  Quite
a number of white familes were brought out from Alabama, and most of these
people afterwards bought small farms in adjo8ining neighborhoods and were good
citizens.
How different now are conditions, modes of life and even the appearance of the
country from that of the past, and it brings an ache to the heart when I think
of all the splendid people and the lovely homes which are now only a
memory.  And I close with this little
poem, written several years ago.
Little Granmother
By Eva Hill Lesueur Karling
Oh!
Little Grandmother - with tender eyes,
I remember your wise and quiet replies
To my childish questions about the sky,-
And earth and heaven - and why folks die!
I remember well all your gentle ways
A halo lingers about those days!
And often in memory I hear you repeat
True maxims to guide my unwary feet.
Dear little Grandmother - so fragile and frail-
How bravely you followed the pioneer...