My Sporadic Journal

         Henry Clay Cravey, was considered by most folks to have been a hard, hard man. He lived at a time in Texas where a man strapped a gun belt around his waist before venturing out. It was as normal as putting on your boots. Justice in Texas often was determined by who was left standing once the smoke cleared. Henry was a hard man, living in a hard time.
         His youth was stolen by a war fought between brothers. He served the Confederacy as a member of Capt. Richardson's Co. A, Wood's Regiment, Bonner Brigade, of Walker's Division. As a boy of sixteen he marched of to fight in a war he most likely didn’t know for what he was fighting. He emerged on the other side a man undoubtedly scarred by the experience.
         Henry was a rolling stone with a wandering spirit, constantly looking for something else that was just over the next rise. Nevertheless, he lived his entire life within the borders of the State of Texas. He was born in San Augustine County, lived in Milam County, Limestone County, San Saba County, Sabine County, died in Kent County, and was eventually buried in Dickens County.
         His restless spirit encountered seventeen year-old Mary Ann Phillips shortly after his return from the War. She was the daughter of a preacher who fell in love with a dashing twenty-two year-old cowboy. Henry married Mary and promptly moved her from the familiar support of her family and friends. The couple had a child soon after their marriage, which was the first of two children to be produced in their short six year marriage. It was a marriage which has been politely characterized as being tumultuous at best.
         A pregnant Mary (my great-great-grandmother) fled from an abusive home with her son Robert, before their second child, Mollie (my great-grandmother) was born. Enraged, Henry followed after her. Upon finding them, He savagely took Robert from her and threatened to kill her if she tried to get him back. The law was on Mary's side and chased after Henry for kidnapping his son, Robert.
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         In his senior years Robert would relate to his grandson, “I remembered sitting in front of Pa in the saddle, with his hand held over my mouth, under a bridge as the posse rode over “ Robert never again saw his mother. She eventually remarried and had one other child from that union. Henry would marry twice more and have thirteen children from the combined three marriages. No doubt the other side of the family has a different take on the relationship of Henry and Mary. But, that was a long time ago in a time of which we cannot identify with today.