Dallas (summary)

Are the city of Dallas and the county of Dallas named after two different people named Dallas?
 
President James K. Polk and Vice President George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864; a former senator from Pennsylvania) were elected in 1844 on a platform cry of “Polk, Dallas, Texas, and Oregon”—that is, electing the ticket of Polk and Dallas would help both Texas and Oregon to get admitted into the United States. Texas was annexed in 1845; the Texas counties of Polk and Dallas were named for the president and vice president in 1846.
 
The website of the City Secretary of the City of Dallas and the WPA’s Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State (1940) state that the city of Dallas might not have been named after George Mifflin Dallas. The city name of “Dallas” was acquired in 1842—three years before George Mifflin Dallas became vice president. John Neely Bryan (the founder of Dallas) allegedly said that he named the town after a good friend, but he had never met George Mifflin Dallas. Other people named Dallas include: (1) Commodore Alexander James Dallas, a brother of George Mifflin Dallas and a naval commander stationed in the Gulf of Mexico; (2) Walter R. Dallas, who had fought at San Jacinto; (3) James L. Dallas, Walter’s brother and a former Texas Ranger; and (4) Joseph Dallas, who, like Bryan, was from Arkansas.
 
There is no documentary evidence, however, to support any these other people named Dallas. Histories of Dallas published between the 1890s and 1920s all state that the city was named after George Mifflin Dallas, but one Texas history from 1874 differs.
 
History of Texas (1874), by J. M. Morphis, states:
 
“This city was settled in 1842, by Colonel John Neely Bryan, and named in honor of Commodore Dallas, of the United States Navy, while the county was named after George M. Dallas.”
 
According to detailed newspaper accounts in 1876, 1925, and 1926 (see below), Mrs. Martha Gilbert—a Pennsylvania native and the first Anglo woman to live in Dallas County—chose the name that Bryan accepted. George Mifflin Dallas had been a prominent statesman, although he had no ties to Texas in 1842. W. W. Glover, the first child born in the new county of Dallas in 1846, contributed to the 1925 Dallas Morning News newspaper account. The 1876 newspaper story was based on the testimony of “Uncle Ben Christian.”
 
Differing dates (the 1876 story gives an 1837 date for the name “Dallas,” but this is too early) and differing details (one account states that Bryan exclusively gave Mrs. Gilbert the opportunity to name the new town, while another account states that Bryan had held a contest and had many submissions, with Mrs. Gilbert winning a lot on the northwest corner of Commerce and Houston streets) leave some unresolved questions.
 
 
City Secretary - City of Dallas
Origin of the Name “Dallas”
Unfortunately, the origin of the name of the town of Dallas is obscure and requires a lengthy explanation. We have no primary evidence from John Neely Bryan, the founder of the town, indicating exactly how he chose the name “Dallas.”  Bryan (1810-1877), a trader, farmer, lawyer, and land speculator, is well documented in legal and business records but left few personal writings.  Frank M. Cockrell, an early pioneer who knew Bryan, recalled that he asserted “the town was named for my friend Dallas”
(WPA Dallas Guide and History, p. 43, History of Early Dallas by Frank M. Cockrell, and Dallas: The Deciding Years by A. C. Greene, p. 7).
 
There has been much speculation about exactly who that person named Dallas was.  Cockrell believed that it was George Mifflin Dallas, vice-president of the United States during the administration of president James K. Polk.  Dallas County is generally believed to have been named for George Mifflin Dallas since Polk County, named for President Polk, was created on March 30, 1846, the same day that Dallas County was created.
 
There is no evidence, however, that Bryan ever knew George Mifflin Dallas. In addition, the town of Dallas bore that name at least three years before the county was created.  George Mifflin Dallas had no documented interest in Texas until he made a casual reference favoring Texas statehood in an 1844 letter to a senator from Mississippi—again, after the town of Dallas, Texas was named.
 
Other possibilities for the town’s namesake are:
 
Commodore Alexander James Dallas, a brother of George Mifflin Dallas, who was a naval commander was stationed in the Gulf of Mexico (Morphis, J. M., History of Texas from its Discovery and Settlement, 1874)
 
Walter R. Dallas, who fought at San Jacinto; his family had land near Bryan’s land holdings, (WPA Dallas Guide, p. 44 and Dallas: The Deciding Years, p. 7)
 
James L. Dallas, Walter’s brother and a one-time Texas Ranger, (WPA Dallas Guide, p. 44 and Dallas: The Deciding Years, p. 7)
 
Joseph Dallas, who lived in the Cedar Springs area in 1843; from Washington County, Arkansas, adjacent to Bryan’s home county of Crawford Co., Arkansas, (WPA Dallas Guide, p. 44 and Dallas: The Deciding Years, p. 7)
 
In truth, we will probably never know for whom John Neely Bryan intended to name the city. Sadly, Bryan never managed to write down memoirs or reminiscences; he died in the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin in 1877.
 
Wikipedia: History of Dallas, Texas (1839-1855)
This article traces the history of Dallas, Texas (USA) during the city’s original settlement from 1839 to 1855.
 
Settlement
John Neely Bryan, looking for a good trading post to serve Native Americans and settlers, first surveyed the Dallas area in 1839. Bryan, who shared Sam Houston’s insight into the wisdom of Native American customs, must have realized that Caddo trails he came across intersected at one of the few natural fords for hundreds of kilometers along the wide Trinity floodplain. At what became known as “Bryan’s Bluff”, the river, which was an impassable barrier of mud and water between late fall and early spring, narrowed like an hourglass where it crossed a ridge of Austin chalk, providing a hard rock ford that became the natural north-south route between Republic of Texas settlements and those of the expanding United States. Bryan also knew that the planned Preston Trail was to run near the ford — the north-south route and the ford at Bryan’s Bluff became more important when the United States annexed Texas in 1845.
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Establishment
In 1844, John Neely Bryan convinced J. P. Dumas to survey and lay out a 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) section of blocks and streets near present downtown. The establishment was named Dallas, and though it has been largely assumed that it was named after George Mifflin Dallas, who became Vice President the following March, there are problems with this theory. George M. Dallas lived in Philadelphia and never traveled very far west of the city, and Bryan had never traveled very far east of Memphis. It is doubtful that the two ever met, and there are at least five other candidates:
 
. Named after George M. Dallas’s brother Alexander James Dallas, a U.S. Navy commodore who was stationed in the Gulf of Mexico;
. Named after George and Alexander’s father, Alexander James Dallas, who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury around the end of the War of 1812;
. Named in a town-naming contest in 1842;
. Named after the friend of founder John Neely Bryan’s son, who later stated that his father had said he had named the town “after my friend Dallas” (a person whose identity is not certain).
. Named after Joseph Dallas, who settled near Dallas in 1843.
 
Dallas County was established in 1846 and the city of Dallas was set as the temporary county seat. In 1850, Dallas became the permanent seat over Cedar Springs and Hord’s Ridge (Oak Cliff), both of which now lie within the city’s limits.
 
Handbook of Texas Online
DALLAS, TEXAS. Dallas is on the Trinity River in the center of Dallas County in North Central Texas. It is crossed by Interstate highways 20, 30, 35, and 45. The city was founded by John Neely Bryan, who settled on the east bank of the Trinity near a natural ford in November 1841. Bryan had picked the best spot for a trading post to serve the population migrating into the region. The ford, at the intersection of two major Indian traces, provided the only good crossing point for miles. Two highways proposed by the Republic of Texas soon converged nearby. Unknown to Bryan, however, he had settled on land granted by the republic to the Texan Land and Emigration Company of St. Louis, headed by William S. Peters. Bryan eventually legalized his claim, and the extensive promotional efforts of the Peters colony attracted settlers to the region. In 1844 J. P. Dumas surveyed and laid out a townsite comprising a half mile square of blocks and streets. The origin of the name Dallas is unknown. Candidates include George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the United States, 1845-49; his brother, Commodore Alexander J. Dallas, United States Navy; and Joseph Dallas, who settled near the new town in 1843.
   
Handbook of Texas Online
DALLAS COUNTY. Dallas County (E-18), in north central Texas, is bordered by Kaufman and Rockwall counties to the east, Tarrant County to the west, Denton and Collin counties to the north, and Ellis County to the south. Dallas is the county seat and largest city. The county’s center point is at 32°46’ north latitude and 96°48’ west longitude.
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In 1845 voters in the future Dallas County approved the annexationqv of Texas to the United States by a vote of 29 to 3. On March 30, 1846, Dallas County was officially formed by order of the state legislature from portions of Nacogdoches and Robertson counties, and named probably for George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the United States under James K. Polk (see DALLAS, TEXAS).
   
Wikipedia: George M. Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas (July 10, 1792 – December 31, 1864) was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States, serving under James K. Polk.
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Political career
After the War of 1812 ended, Pennsylvania’s political climate was chaotic, with two factions in that state’s Democratic party vying for control. One, the Philadelphia-based “Family party”, was led by Dallas, and it espoused the beliefs that the Constitution of the United States was supreme, that an energetic national government should exist that would implement protective tariffs, a powerful central banking system, and undertake internal improvements to the country in order to facilitate national commerce. The other faction was called the “Amalgamators”, headed by the future President James Buchanan.
 
The Family party elected Dallas in 1828 to the position of mayor of Philadelphia, after they had gained control of the city councils. However, he quickly grew bored of that post, and became the district attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania in 1829, a position his father had held from 1801 to 1814, and continued in that role until 1831. In December of that year, he won a five-man, eleven-ballot contest in the state legislature, that enabled him to become the Senator from Pennsylvania in order to complete the unexpired term of the previous senator who had resigned.
 
Dallas served less than 15 months — from December 13, 1831, to March 4, 1833 — and declined to be a candidate for reelection. He was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs.
 
Dallas resumed the practice of law, was attorney general of Pennsylvania from 1833 to 1835, and served as the Grand Master of Freemasons in Pennsylvania in 1835. He was appointed by President Martin Van Buren as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia from 1837 to 1839, when he was recalled at his own request. Dallas was elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1844 with James K. Polk and served from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849.
 
President Franklin Pierce appointed Dallas in 1856 as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Britain, where he served until 1861, when he returned to Philadelphia. He died there in 1864 at the age of 72 and was interred in St. Peter’s Churchyard. Dallas County, Iowa and Dallas County, Texas, and several U. S. cities and towns elsewhere were named in his honor such as Dallas, Georgia, Dallastown, Pennsylvania and Dallas, Oregon the county seat of Polk County, Oregon. (It is debated that the city of Dallas, Texas is named after the Vice President—see History of Dallas, Texas (1839-1855) for more information.)
 
Handbook of Texas Online
GILBERT, MABEL (1797-1870). Mabel Gilbert, pioneer North Texas settler, farmer, and businessman, was born on March 4, 1797, to William and Nicy Gilbert in Dickson County, Tennessee. He was known as Captain Gilbert from his years as a Mississippi River steamboat captain. In the spring of 1837 he gave up a comfortable life in Tennessee with land and slaves inherited from his parents and moved with his wife, Charity (Morris), and their seven children to Fannin County, Texas. Gilbert’s first home in Texas was located three miles south of the site of present-day Bonham.
 
He met with immediate success in Texas. By 1839 he had participated in successful expeditions that recovered stolen stock and property from Indians, served as a justice of the peace and member of the first Fannin County Commissioners Court, and helped draw up plans for the county’s first courthouse. He also farmed 1,280 acres and established the first horse-powered gristmill in the area. By 1840 he had constructed and made operational an incline-wheel, ox-powered mill.
 
Events in 1840 persuaded Gilbert to move his family to a remote and unsettled portion of Texas. Late that year he and about forty other men accompanied Gen. Jonathan Bird on an expedition to construct a fort and settlement on the West Fork of the Trinity River, in what is now Tarrant County. The expedition, harassed by Indians, managed to raise a log stockade, a blockhouse fort (Bird’s Fortqv), and a few houses, collectively known as Birdville. Gilbert retained his property in Fannin County during the fall of 1841. He and his family remained in Birdville for six months before a legal dispute arose over the right of the community to exist on land granted to the Peters colony. During the spring of 1842 Gilbert took his family by boat down the Trinity River to John Neely Bryan’s newly established settlement. The Gilbert family became one of the earliest to settle the community that was to become Dallas, and Mrs. Gilbert was the first Anglo-American woman to live there. Bryan constructed a log cabin for them at a site that became the foot of Main Street in Dallas, where they lived until 1844.
 
The Portal to Texas History
28 September 1843, Northern Standard (Clarksville, TX), pg. 2, col. 4:
Bird’s Fort is about twelve miles above the mouth of the Elm fork, situated on the East bank of the West fork. The settlements commence at that point, and extend down the river to Dallas, a distance of about five miles below the mouth of the Elm fork. The Eastern boundary of the Colony line, as originally surveyed by Messrs. Webb and Beatty, crossed the Trinity about a mile below Dallas, and at a point known as Cook’s upper crossing.
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It is my opinion that Dallas, or mouth of Elm fork, (Col. 5—ed.) may be considered as at the head of steam boat navigation; and as a good crossing is now established at Dallas, by its enterprising proprietor, (Col. Bryan,) I will make that point from which to give distance to other places, and a farther description of that portion of he country.
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AN EMIGRANT.
         
The Portal to Texas History
22 November 1843, Houston (TX) Telegraph and Texas Register, pg. 3, col. 1:
COLONY IN THE CROSS TIMBERS.—We have heard many conflicting accounts relative to the settlement established by Messrs. Peters & Co., in the Cross Timbers.—A few months since we learned that two or three hundred emigrants from Kentucky intended to remove to that section, and we confidently expected that there would be two or three hundred families in this colony this Autumn.—We however have recently learned that the number of families now settled within the limits of the colony is only twenty-five. These are settled near the mouth of Elm creek, and the houses are scattered from Bird’s Fort to Dallas, a distance of 17 miles, along the east bank of the river. Bird’s Fort is situated about 12 miles above the mouth of Elm Fork, and Dallas five miles below it. The distance from Dallas to a point due north to Red River is only 70 miles, and the country between the two points is undulating, and could easily be travelled by wagons. It is believed that the Trinity can with little difficulty be made navigable to Dallas.
 
21 February 1844, Houston (TX) Telegraph and Texas Register, pg. 2:
There is a nearer route by the Trinity whenever it admits of steam boat navigation as far as Manolia, which is about one hundred miles by land, and two hundred and seventy miles by the meanderings of the river to Dallas in the colony.
 
6 July 1844, Washington (PA) Examiner, “Democracy of East Finley in Motion,” pg. 3, col. 3:
Resolved, That in George M. Dallas, one of Pennsylvania’s most distinguished sons, we have a candidate, who, by his talents, patriotic and long and efficient services on behalf of the Democratic party, is eminently qualified for the second office in the gift of the nation.
(Written by Albert G. Squiers. See the citation from 1872 for “one of Pennsylvania’s most distinguished sons.”—ed.)
 
The Portal to Texas History
History of Texas,
From its first settlement in 1685 to its annexation to the United States in 1846
By H. Yoakum, Esq.
Vol. II
New York, NY: Redfield
1855
Pg. 430:
When the convention met, however, and the pledges of delegates had been redeemed by casting their votes for Mr. Van Buren, and the untrammelled question was presented between that gentleman and annexation, he was rejected, and the nomination conferred on James K. Polk, of Tennessee, a civilian of considerable political talent, and of unexceptionable character (Pg. 431—ed.), who had already come out in favor of the annexation policy. George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, having similar views, was nominated for vice-president. Thenceforth the cry of “Polk, Dallas, Texas, and Oregon,” electrified the masses of the Union.
     
Newspapers.com
27 April 1867, Dallas (TX) Herald, pg. 2, col. 3:
Col. Morphis, in his recent trip to this place was delighted with the country and the town of Dallas. It was his first visit to this part of the State, and he was astonished to see the rapid strides in improvement that the famed “wheat region” is making.
(J. M. Morphis would author History of Texas in 1874.—ed.)
 
Newspapers.com
29 June 1872, Dallas (TX) Herald, “The Texas and Pacific Railroad,” pg. 2, col. 3:
Robert J. Walker, who had acted a prominent part to secure it, was a native of Pennsylvania. Here he met with names familiar at home and reminding him of it. He had passed through the county of Kaufman, an honored Pennsylvania name, and here he was speaking at Dallas, named after one of Pennsylvania’s most distinguished sons.
(“One of Pennsylvania’s most distinguished sons” could mean either George Mifflin Dallas or his father, Alexander James Dallas.—ed.)
 
Newspapers.com
30 June 1874, Dallas (TX) Weekly Herald, pg. 1, col. 5:
DALLAS.
We make the following extracts from the forthcoming history of Texas, by Colonel J. M. Morphis, mentioned in the HERALD of Sunday last:
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This city was settled in 1842, by Colonel John Neely Bryan, and named in honor of Commodore Dallas of the United States navy, while the county was named after George M. Dallas.
 
Google Books
History of Texas:
From Its Discovery and Settlement, with a Description of its Principal Cities and Counties, and the Agricultural, Mineral, and Material Resources of the State.
By J. M. Morphis
New York, NY: United States Publishing Company
1874
Pg. 516:
This city was settled in 1842, by Colonel John Neely Bryan, and named in honor of Commodore Dallas, of the United States Navy, while the county was named after George M. Dallas.
 
Newspapers.com
28 July 1876, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 3, col. 4:
The Commercial reels after the following legend of the city of Dallas, which it obtains from Uncle Ben Christian, now of Whitesboro, Grayson County: In December, 1837, Wilson Gilbert, who had commanded of English’s Fort, now Bonham, was sent for to take command of Bird’s Fort, on the Trinity River, near where Fort Worth now stands. While en route the party camped one evening a few miles from the river. The next morning John Neely Bryan made his way through the thick heavy underbrush to the bank of the river, saw that the banks were suitable, and selected his place. He went back to the party, and they cut a roadway for the ox-teams, and drove down to the river. Bryan stuck his hatchet in a tree, and announced his purpose of laying out a town. Turning to Mrs. Gilbert, he told her he would give her a corner lot on the “square” if she would name the town. Mrs. Gilbert was from Pennsylvania, and an ardent admirer of the then prominent statesman, George M. Dallas, and suggested the name of Dallas. The name was adopted, and the record shows that the lot was duly deeded. Bryan and John Beeman stopped here, Beeman making a farm near by. Gilbert and Tom Cozzens made a farm on the other side of the river, about two miles distant, but the heavy rain of the next year washed off Gilbert’s pumpkin patch, and he deserted the place, going back to Tennessee.
     
Newspapers.com
18 February 1882, Dallas (TX) Daily Herald, pg. 8, col. 2:
After a perusal of the directory of towns and cities of the United States, it is found that there are twenty-one towns named Dallas in the Union, and our Dallas is the largest and most prosperous of any of them.
 
Newspapers.com
1 September 1882, Dallas (TX) Herald, pg. 1, col. 7:
DALLAS.
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The Queen City of North Texas.
The first settle of Dallas was Colonel John Neely Bryan, who in 1841 took up residence with his family on the site of the present city. This continued to be the only family living in Dallas, or where Dallas now is, until 1843, when a few families from Kentucky and Tennessee joined Colonel Bryan’s family, and the town commenced. The county was organized soon thereafter, and both town and county named after George M. Dallas, vice-president of the United States.
 
Newspapers.com
21 June 1883, Yorkville (SC) Enquirer, “Notes of Travel: A Visit to Texas” by L. M. G., pg. 1, col. 7:
The city of Dallas, is the county seat of Dallas county. It was first settled in 1841, and named after Hon. George M. Dallas, of Philadelphia, who was vice-President in 1844.
 
The Portal to Texas History
Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas
Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company
1892
Pg. 273, col. 1:
Dallas (city, not county—ed.) was named in honor of Vice-President George M. Dallas, who was Vice-President of the United States when James K. Polk was President, 1845-1849. The town was incorporated on the 22d of February, 1856,...
     
26 January 1902, Dallas (TX) Morning News, pg. 13, col. 4:
MR. AND MRS. WM. H. BEEMAN
Incidents of the Early Days in Texas—The First Citizens of This Section of the State.
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Mr. Beeman (John, the pioneer father of Wm. H.) asked Bryan to give his camp a name, so that the new settlement could be designated. Bryan, being a great admirer of George M. Dallas, named the place in his honor.
         
21 February 1902, Dallas (TX) Morning News, pg. 10, col. 6:
DALLAS COUNTY HISTORY.
Interesting Facts Brought Out in a
Card from John Neely
Bryan Jr.
Thornberry, Tex. Feb. 18.—(To The News.)—In one of the late issues of The News I saw a letter from Mr. Nanny of Hamilton County, who claims that his wife was the first child born in Dallas County. It has generally been the opinion of every one that I claim this honor, but I claim only to have been the first child born in the city of Dallas. In order to settle this matter in the minds of many of my friends, I herewith give a brief sketch of the history of the county.
 
Prior to July 20, 1846, there was no county of Dallas. All territory east of the Trinity River was in Nacogdoches County. Therefore all born here before Dallas County was organized or formed were born in Nacogdoches County, including myself.
 
But when the pioneers came here from Bird’s Point to take up their abode with my father, John Neely Bryan Sr., they asked him to give his camp a name. He called it Dallas for George M. Dallas, vice president of the United States. After the name being applied there, I could claim the honor of being first born in the city, or rather village, as it then was.
 
If there be any honor attached to the distinction of being first born in Dallas County, it should be given to the one that was born soonest after July 20, 1846. With good wishes to all of the pioneers and the grand old News, I am
 
JOHN NEELY BRYAN JR.
   
Google Books
November 1906, Texas School Journal, pg. 14, col. 1:
In the spring of 1842 he (John Neely Bryan—ed.) erected a log cabin, and thus began the permanent settlement of Dallas. About the same time several families from Bird’s Fort, a settlement on the Trinity twenty-two miles northwest of Dallas, abandoned the Fort and, at the solicitation of Mr. Bryan, removed to his camp. The first families to arrive were those of John Beeman and Captain Mabel Gilbert. Mrs. Gilbert was the first American woman in Dallas County, and Mrs. John Beeman the second.
 
On being asked to give his camp a name, so that the new settlement could be designated, Mr. Bryan, being a great admirer of George M. Dallas, the Pennsylvania statesman, later vice-president of the United States, named the place in his honor.
   
11 January 1906, Dallas (TX) Morning News, pg. 5, cols. 1-2:
GROWTH OF THE CITY
 
JOHN NEELY BRYAN JR., SON OF
THE PIONEER, TELLS OF
TIME’S CHANGES.
 
HOW DALLAS GOT ITS NAME
 
Metropolis Is Called After Man Who
Was Vice President Under
James K. Polk.
 
John Neely Bryan, the first white male child born in Dallas County, is in Dallas. He came to spend Tuesday, his sixtieth birthday, with friends and acquaintances. He has resided for the last ten years at Thornberry, Clay County/ He is hale and hearty, with hardly a gray hair among the black locks of his head. His mother, now 81 years of age, lives with him and one brother and a sister remain from the family that once owned much of the property now covered by the city of Dallas.
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“My father owned 640 acres right in this court house part of the city, a little of it being west of the river. He gave away and sold much of it. He named the city and the county for George M. Dallas, Vice President under James K. Polk, and he was always a Democrat and I have been. We are Methodists, too.”
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“I am glad to be here, for it seems like home, though it is constantly changing so that I hardly know it from time to time. The heart of the people is the same warm heart.”
   
The Portal to Texas History
Sixty Years in Texas
Second Edition
By George Jackson
Dallas, TX: Wilkinson Printing Company
1908
Pg. 157:
Dallas (city, not county—ed.) was named for George M. Dallas, Vice-President. In the year 1844 James K. Polk and George M. Dallas were candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States of America, and were the champions of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party and favored the annexation of Texas, and the cry went up during the entire campaign (Pg. 158—ed.) for Polk and Dallas and the annexation of Texas. They were elected by a very large majority and inaugurated March 4th, 1845. The City of Dallas was named for the popular Vice-President, George M. Dallas.
 
The Portal to Texas History
A History of Greater Dallas and Vicinity
By Philip Lindsley
Volume 1
Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company
1909
Pg. 35:
CHAPTER I.
DALLAS FROM ITS FOUNDATION, IN 1841, TO 1851.
Dallas was so named, in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the United States when James K. Polk was president, 1845-1849. Before this, it was known as Peters’ Colony.
 
“Peters’ Colony,” grew out of an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, passed February 4, 1841, to encourage immigration, and under which W. S. Peters, and others, were authorized to locate colonies in the northern part of Texas. One of these, called “Peters’ Colony,” was located upon territory which now includes the greater part of Dallas county. It was under this authority, that John Neely Bryan located at Dallas, and became known in local history as the first settler of Dallas county, and the founder of Dallas.
 
1 October 1910, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “First Settler Here: J. N. Bryan Came from Tennessee in the Year 1841,” supplement, pg. 39:
The county and town were named in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President of the United States during the Administration of James K. Polk as President.   
 
Newspapers.com
21 July 1912, Wichita Weekly Times (Wichita Falls, TX), “His Leather Breeches Full of Honey” by Dick Naylor, pt. 2, pg. 4, col. 2:
The name of Dallas was given to the village by its founder in honor of George M. Dallas, vice president of the United States under Polk, Mr. Bryan being a staunch advocate of that gentleman.
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(EDITOR’S NOTE)—John Neely Bryan, the son of the man who is spoken of in the above article and who was the first white child born in the city of Dallas, is now in his 67th year, and resides on a farm 15 miles north of Wichita Falls in Clay county. He was in the city one day last week and speaking of the honey incident, ...
(It is probable that John Neely Bryan Jr. read this article. He could have corrected possible wrong information about George M. Dallas, but did not.—ed.)
           
Newspapers.com
12 September 1918, Fort Worth (TX) Record, pg. 8, col. 4:
A Story of an All-American Hyphen
And Why the “Smiths” Are Brothers
(...)
“You know, my wife claims to be about a half Texan,” said the man of accounts. “Her grandfather was old Commodore Dallas, the very man whom Dallas was named for.”
   
This is Mr. Smith’s first visit to Texas.
(H. Blair-Smith, an accountant, comptroller and general auditor of the American Telephone & Telegraph company. He was married to Trevania Dallas.—ed.)
 
18 September 1921, Dallas (TX) Morning News, Magazine sec., pg. 3, cols. 6-8:
Dallas Named for Vice President U.S.
John Neely Bryan Gave City Its Name Because of His Friendship for Distinguished Statesman. Miss Mary Thomas, Now Residing Here, Is only Living Relative.
The honor of being the only living relative of George Mifflin Dallas, for whom Dallas was named, who has resided continuously in the city named after her distinguished kinsman, belongs to Miss Mary Thomas, descended from one of the earliest families to settle Dallas.
 
Miss Thomas, who is the daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, widow of James Thomas, a pioneer business man of early Dallas, is a third cousin of George Mifflin Dallas, who served four years as Vice President of the United States.
 
Dallas was given its name by John Neely Bryan, father of Dallas, according to Miss Thomas. Mr. Bryan, whose son was the first white child born here, bestowed the name he did upon this city because of a personal friendship with the distinguished Statesman Dallas, Miss Thomas said.
 
It is doubtful if the man for whom Dallas was named ever heard of the honor that was given him. George M. Dallas died in 1864. Dallas at that time gave no evidence that it would become the greatest city of the Southwest, known all over the United States and over the world.
 
The mother of Miss Thomas’ father, James Thomas, was Miss Mary Dallas, who was a cousin of the man for whom Dallas was named. In other words the father of Miss Mary Dallas and the father of George M. Dallas were brothers. or to put it another way the father of George M. Dallas was Miss Thomas’ grandmother’s uncle.
(...)
Miss Thomas came to Texas from Tennessee with her brother Jacob Routh, and her mother, a year after she was married to Mr. Thomas.
 
The Portal to Texas History
The Encyclopedia of Texas
By Ellis Arthur Daivs and Edwin H. Grobe
Dallas, TX: Texas Development Bureau
1921-22
Pg. 45:
HISTORY OF DALLAS
By E. J. Keist
Proprietor of the Daily Times-Herald
DALLAS was named for the Vice-President of the United States, George Mifflin Dallas, under the president James K. Polk. It was formerly known as Peters Colony which was established under the instrumentality of W. S. Peters a colonizing agent who had a contract with the government as did a number of others for colonizing tracts of land in northern Texas.
   
15 February 1925, Dallas (TX) Morning News, part 3, pg. 9:
TELLS HOW DALLAS
OBTAINED ITS NAME
 
DOWNTOWN BUSINESS LOT
GIVEN WOMAN FOR HER
SELECTION.
 
PAID 25c FOR LAND
W. W. Glover, First White Child
Born After County Organized,
Tells of Pioneer Times.
BY W. S. ADAIR.
W. W. Glover, rural route No. 5, box 595, was the first child born in Dallas County after the county was organized.
(...)
“He (John Neely Bryan—ed.) seems to have been at a loss for a name for the town, for he put up a lot as the prize for the person suggesting an appropriate name, he to be the judge of the contest. I never heard how many contestants there were, but it is safe to say that everybody tried for the prize. Mrs. Martha Gilbert, wife of Dr. Gilbert, was declared the winner, and she selected the lot on the northwest corner of Commerce and Houston streets. She named the town for George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President of the United States.
 
“Nearly every one of the new States had named a county for James K. Polk, the President, and the name had become a trifle stale. Besides, Mrs. Gilbert’s refined ear probably told her that while “Polk” sounded all right as the name of a county, it was awkward as the designation of a town. In other words, it sounded more like an adjective than a sumstantive, and seemed to be in need of something after it to hold it up; whereas, ‘Dallas’ sounds complete and culminating. Thus Mrs. Gilbert has the distinction of not only having been the first white woman to appear in this part of the country, but of having selected the happiest kind of a name for the metropolis of the Southwest.”
 
Dallas County Archives
19 April 1925, Dallas (TX) Morning News, part 9, pg. 2, cols. 1-8:
WOMAN CHOSE NAME
OF CITY OF DALLAS
 
STARTED WHEN JOHN NEELY
BRYAN BUILT CABIN ON
BANK OF RIVER.
 
WAS FIRST EXPLORER
Mrs. Martha Gilbert, Wife of Pio-
neer, Won Prize for Picking
Name for Town.
BY W. S. ADAIR
Dallas may be said to have started when John Neely Bryan raised his Ebenezer, in the shape of a 10x12 cedar log cabin, on the bank of the river at the foot of Commerce street, in 1841.  Mr. Bryan, a Kentuckian, had made his way into the wilderness as far as a rude fort or settlement on Red River, about 100 miles west of Fort Smith. It seems that it did not take many persons to constitute a settlement in those days, and in some instances, a small log cabin was dignified by the name of fort. At all events, the name of this particular settlement did not find a place in history. It is supposed to have been the first stand the white man made west of Arkansas.  Being on the line of the United States and Texas, it may be said to have been the connecting link of the two Republics, from which the first explorations were, no doubt, made into Texas from the North.  Ben F. Christian, who represented Fannin County in the First Legislature of Texas, is quoted as having said that he and Dr. Gilbert penetrated as far as Tarrant County in 1839, and, erecting a fort or log cabin at Birdville, spent the winter there. Birdville, still a village, is accordingly the oldest town in this part of the country. It afterward became a military post, and when Tarrant County was organized, it became the county seat without opposition, since there was no other settlement to object.
 
Lone Horseman.
To a backwoodsman, Texas must have been irresistibly alluring, as holding all the mystery of the unknown, and Mr. Bryan animated by the spirit of Daniel Boone, set out to explore it. Whether he failed to find a man with sufficient enterprise to accompany him, or whether he preferred to imitate the example of his Kentucky model and make the venture by himself, is not known. According to the best information, he left Red River early in the year 1841.  In compliance with the frontier fashion, he wore a buckskin suit and coonskin cap, with moccasins encasing his feet, and carried a flint lock muzzle-loading rifle, a single-barrel pistol, and a Bowie knife.  Thus accoutered, he pursued his way alone, like a bird feeding, at every moment surveying the landscape to the horizon in every direction. At last, he reined in Walking Wolf, his Choctaw pony, under the shade of a clump of post oaks, near the present site of Baylor Hospital, and there went into camp. A few weeks later, John Beeman joined him. Tradition is not clear as to where and when the two men first met.  One story has it that it was at the Red River fort; another, that Beeman was on his way to Birdville with a view of founding a settlement, when he came upon John Neely Bryan by chance, and was persuaded by him to come to the forks of the Trinity. But, whatever the circumstances of their meeting, Beeman, in a short time, returned to Red River.
 
Place He Was Looking For.
With the postoak grove as a base, John Neely Bryan explored the surrounding country in search of a site for the town he was bent on founding. He marked an oak tree on the bank of the river at the foot of Main street as the center of the town.  And, by way of further warning to all comers that the land was taken, he erected the historic cabin, on the north side of Commerce street, between Houston street and the river, and abandoned the camp at Baylor Hospital. The land he marked off for his town was no better than a pile of loose sand, to all appearance, liable to slip and dump the town into the river in case it ever got top-heavy, and was thus subject to all the classic drawbacks of a sandy foundation for architecture. But, that did not bother a hardy pioneer in search of thrills.  The following spring, John Beeman returned and built a log cabin on White Rock Creek, where the Texas & Pacific Railroad crosses that stream. Then came Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert. Mrs. Gilbert was, accordingly, the first white woman to view the site of Dallas. Having provided a home, John Beeman, once more, went to Red River and brought the family. His daughter, Margaret, became the wife of John Neely Bryan.
 
Something Out of His Line.
While Mr. Bryan was at home in the role of backwoodsman, it seems that he did not know so much about towns. Try as he might, he could not light on a name that seemed appropriate, and he must have thought others would encounter as much difficulty as he had met with, for he offered pick and choice of the lots in his town to anyone who could suggest a suitable name, he to be judge of the contest. There is no record of the details of the contest, but it is safe to assume that everybody tried for the prize.  The outcome was that Mrs. Martha Gilbert, wife of Dr. Gilbert, was declared the winner, and that she selected as her prize, the lot on the northwest corner of Commerce and Houston streets. James K. Polk, was President of the United States at the time, and Mrs. Gilbert’s reason for selecting the name of the Vice President, George M. Dallas, instead of that of the President, is left to conjecture, but, in Macaulay fashion, may be easily arrived at.  Every one of the new States named a county for the President and the name Polk had become much hackneyed.  Besides, as a word to stand alone and on its own feet, Dallas sounds much better to even the dullest ear, than the word Polk, which seems to be thin, and in need of something to support it. Mrs. Gilbert, thus, has the distinction not only of having been the first white woman to appear in this part of the country, but also of having selected the name of the metropolis of the Southwest.
 
They Find Out by Trying.   
John Neeley Bryan Jr., now living at Charlie, whose photograph, grouped with that of his wife, accompanies this story, was the first child born in the village of Dallas. The settlement having been solidly established by the events of a marriage and a birth, new people began to trickle in. As they began to trade and traffic, they perceived that the county seat, Nacogdoches, distant 200 miles, and without so much as even a road leading to it, was too far away for the dispatch of business.  Clearly, the thing to do was to set up a new county.  But, nobody in the settlement had ever had any experience in erecting new counties, and there was some confusion of tongues as to how to proceed. Mr. Bryan, in the true spirit of the pioneer, suggesting that they learn by trying, called a mass meeting, the purpose of which, he, as chairman, announced to be to elect a man to represent the proposed county in the Legislature.  John Beeman was elected by a rising vote. But, he was refused a seat in the Legislature, on the ground that there was no such county as he pretended to represent. Nor, did his explanation help him much.  The Representative from Robertson County, which was separated from Nacogdoches County by the Trinity River, and which seems to have occupied all the out-of-doors that was left out of Nacogdoches, however, came to his rescue, and making him understand that his constituent had committed the old blunder of putting the cart before the horse, proposed to introduce a bill providing for the new county. Mr. Beeman came home and, when the Legislature adjourned, he made a horseback journey to Franklin, the county seat of Robertson County, to get a copy of the statute authorizing the organization of Dallas County. In July of the same year, 1846[?], the first election was held.
     
A few years after the county was organized, the Bryan cabin was moved to Markum’s Ferry, now Elam station, where it was pressed into service as a farmhouse. Sometime later, it was purchased by Billy Rupard and moved by him to a tract of forty-four acres he had acquired, east of the city. The late J. T. Bolton, rented the land and occupied the cabin as a dwelling.  James E. Bolton, son of J. T. Bolton, was a small boy when his parents lived in the cabin, in 1879 and 1880, and was present when the land was purchased by the late Dr. R. C. Buckner for the Buckner Orphans’ Home.  The cabin, still in a fair state of preservation, is inclosed within a larger building at the orphans’ home.
   
While John Neely Bryan Jr. was the first child born in the settlement of Dallas, W. W. Glover was the first born after the county was organized July 10, 1846, and Mr. Glover was born twenty-one days later. Mr. Glover, who lives on Rural Route No. 3, Dallas, speaking of early times, said: “Mother often told me, as a little fellow, of the Indians.  When she came to Dallas, the Caddo Indians were located down about Caddo Lake, and part of the Cherokee tribe lived on lands granted them by General Houston in Nacogdoches County. Both tribes passed to the north of Dallas on buffalo hunts, and to the south, on bear hunts. The Delawares, located north of Red River, ranged as far south as Dallas, and were very friendly. They were armed with rifles and were the terror of the Comanches, who had only bows and arrows.  The settlers were always glad to have the Delawares near them, since they knew there would be no danger from the Comanches, as long as the Delawares were about. Delaware Frank, chief of the Delawares, was always a welcome guest of the settlers.
 
Wild Horses Good for Something.
“But, there were no Indians in this part of the country in my time. The ground everywhere was still white with the bones and skulls of buffalo, but there were no live buffalo this side of Fort Worth, although now and then, a few scattering ones wandered as far in as Grand Prairie. Wild horses, too, had, for the most part, retired, for the settlers tried to exterminate them on account of their bad example. The gentlest plow horse, getting among them, became, in two days, the wildest of the bunch. Some people made it a business to kill wild horses and to boil the oil out of their flesh. Horse oil made the finest soap grease in the world, and it was used extensively by tanners in dressing leather in early days. There were several factories in North Texas for rendering up the fat of wild horses, and hunters killed wild horses for their fat, just as they killed buffaloes for their hides.
 
First Cattle and Hogs.
“At first, cattle died almost as fast as they were brought to Texas. Calves born here, generally lived, but were feeble and degenerate. The Cherokee Indians had a species of small, woolly cattle, by crossing imported cattle, with which settlers finally established a breed that could withstand the climate. There were descendants of these Indian cattle all over the county, until I was almost grown.  The first hogs introduced consisted of twenty-five or thirty head, driven by my father, George W. Glover, from Red River, early in the ‘40s. Having no feed for them, he turned them loose in the river bottom above Dallas, where there was plenty of meat, to shift for themselves.  But, the wolves and the panthers soon killed or scattered them, and he lost them. It was, however, no great loss as long as there were plenty of [boars].  From what I could hear, these hogs were razorbacks, with the speed of jack rabbits. They grow to a great size, provided they were permitted to live eight or ten years.”
 
1 October 1925, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “John N. Bryan Founded City 84 Years Ago,” part 3, pg. 4:
How Dallas Was Named.
Dallas was not then so called. It appears from records of the past to have been known at first as “Three Forks.” This came from the fact that the settlement was located just below the confluence of three forks of the Trinity River. The name Dallas, in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President of the United States under the administration of President James K. Polk, was given the town by the pioneer, John Neely Bryan. Mr. Bryan and Vice President Dallas were warm personal friends and in tribute to the friendship Bryan christened the settlement Dallas when, at the increase in population, he decided to lay off a town site and formally launch the new settlement.
 
28 July 1926, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 4, col. 4:
Dallas—Uncle Ben Christian, now of Whitesboro, Grayson County, furnishes an interesting legend of the founding of Dallas. The story is that John Neely Bryan,  who was one of a party with Wilson Gilbert, transferred from command of English’s fort, now Bonham, to Bird’s fort, near the present site of Fort Worth, came in December, 1837, to the place where Dallas is now located,  when Bryan stuck a hatchet in a tree and declared his intention of locating there. Bryan asks Mrs. Gilbert to name the town he proposed founding and she, being a Pennsylvanian, suggested that it be named Dallas, after the then prominent statesman, George M. Dallas.
   
26 February 1933, Dallas (TX) Morning News, sec. 2, pg. 1, col. 2 headline:
Historian Finds Dallas Perhaps Named for Hero of San Jacinto
Traces Friendship Between Southwest Pioneer James R. Dallas and John Neely Bryan, Founder of Village
 
12 March 1933, New York (NY) Times, “Texas City Trying to Find Out Which Dallas It Was Named For,” pg. 6E, col. 5:
DALLAS, March 9.—This city is wondering now in exactly whose honor it was named. Professor Herbert Gambrell of Southern Methodist University raised the question recently with his discovery that the city may not have been named for George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President of the United States in 1845, when Texas was admitted to the Union.
 
Dallas was founded in 1841 by John Neely Bryant, the first log cabin settler here. He named the city “in honor of my friend, Mr. Dallas.” It develops that he never knew Vice President Dallas. He did know Alexander R. Dallas, Walter R. Dallas or James R. Dallas, all of whom served in the Texas Revolution.
 
Professor Gambrell is of the opinion that the town was probably named for one of the three Texas patriots, but that the County of Dallas, formed later, was named for the Vice President.
 
Google Books
Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State
By the Writers’ Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Texas
New York, NY: Hastings House
1940
Pg. 226:
The first actual settlement of Dallas began in 1842, when bryan persuaded three families to move to his site from Bird’s Fort, a Ranger stockade to the northwest. Other settlers took up residence in the village, which was called Dallas as early as 1842. The origin of the town’s name is uncertain, one group of historians believing it was named for George Mifflin Dallas, a Pennsylvanian who three years later became Vice President of the United States; another group that the name honored Commander Alexander James Dallas of the United States navy, brother of George Mifflin Dallas; a third that the town was named for Joseph Dallas, a friend of John Neely Bryan, who came to the region from Washington County, Arkansas, in 1843, and settled at Cedar Springs, now within the Dallas city limits. There is no reasonable doubt, however, that the country of Dallas, which was organized (Pg. 227—ed.) in 1846, was named by the Texas legislature in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, who had been elected Vice President partly on the issue of Texas annexation.
 
Google Books
James Street’s South
Edited by James Street, Jr.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1955
Pg. 140:
A strained source even suggests the place was named for Commander Alexander James Dallas of the United States Navy, who saw service off the Texas coast. This Dallas was a brother of George Mifflin Dallas. Even so, it’s mighty thin.
 
Bryan himself is reported to have said that the name honors “my friend Dallas”. His friend Dallas was Joseph Dallas of Washington County, Arkansas, who, in 1843, settled at Cedar Springs, which is now part of the City of Dallas. That one makes sense.
 
14 August 1958, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Tolbert’s Texas: Walter R. Dallas Our Nomination” by Frank X. Tolbert, sec. 4, pg. 1, col. 2:
PERSONALLY, we think that this city was named for an obscure character named Walter R. Dallas, who lived down at William Penn in Washington County. Walter was a rough and tough frontiersman, just the type who would be a buddy of John Neely Bryan.
 
W. R. Dallas was a private in Capt. Robert Stevenson’s company at the Battle of San Jacinto. And after the war, Walter was quite a hero around Washington County.
 
ANOTHER man that John Neely Bryan might have had in mind was Walter’s brother, James L. Dallas.  James doesn’t seem to have been much of a fighting man. He was a prominent Washington County politician during the days of the Republic, though.
 
Both James and Walter were nephews of George M. Dallas.
 
Dallas Gateway
JOHN NEELY BRYAN, Jr Reveals Dallas’ Namesake
29 May 2018 22:27 น.  Dallas, Featured Dallas TX History, George Miffin Dallas
JOHN NEELY BRYAN, JR., oldest child of the founder of Dallas, returned to the city where he was born after an absence of a quarter of a century, on January 9, 1906, an especially significant date in his life because it marked his sixtieth birthday. The Dallas Morning News learned of his presence in town and sent a reporter around to inter­view him.
(...)
The failure to clear up this mystery while Bryan Sr. was still liv­ing is remarkable. It is equally remarkable that Bryan’s widow and mother of his children, the stouthearted Margaret Beeman who mar­ried the town founder about the time he was laying out his townsite, was never asked to help out in this matter.
 
Margaret Beeman was living at the home of John Neely Bryan, Jr. in Clay County in 1906 when this interview with her eldest son appeared in the Dallas News, This was noted by the reporter, who wrote: “His mother, now eighty-one years of age, lives with him, and one brother and a sister remain from the family that owned much of the property covered [today] by the City of Dallas.” Margaret Bee­man Bryan continued to live until her ninety-third year. She died in 1919.
(...)
Courtesy Dallas Yesterday by Sam H. Acheson.
 
The Portal to Texas History
Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas
Volume 13, Number 1
Spring, 2001
Pg. 4:
PIONEER MEMOIRS
An Individual Perspective on the Past
BY MICHAEL V. HAZEL
(...) (Col. 2.—ed.)
Memoirs of James J. Beeman
THE BEEMAN FAMILY ranks with John Neely Bryan as the pioneer settlers of what later became Dallas County. They settled along White Rock Creek in early 1842, only a few months after Bryan arrived, and John Beeman’s daughter Margaret married Bryan.
 
According to a typescript of James J. Beeman’s memoirs at the Dallas Public Library, they were written December 24, 1884. He is usually quite precise as to dates, and his descriptions of building his house and providing food for his family are clear and tally with the recollections of other pioneers.
Pg. 5, col. 1:
Some time during the month of January (1842), Col. John Neely Bryan came to the fort and told us he had found a place a short distance below where the West Fork and Elm Fork came together. There was a high bluff on the river which he had located and called it “Dallas,” and would lay off a town for the head of navigation.
 
He was very anxious for us to move down, as it was better country than where we were. Captain Mabel Gilbert and my brother John, went down with Colonel Bryan to look at the country, and were so well pleased they determined to move down. By this time it was February.