Handbook of Texas Online: DENNIS, JOSEPH

format this article to print

DENNIS, JOSEPH (1810-1894). Joseph (Uncle Joe) Dennis, early settler and
Bell County official, was born in Warren County, Tennessee, on December
10, 1810, the son of Joseph and Ann (Bybee) Dennis. The elder Dennis was a
farmer of Irish extraction. Dennis moved to Madison County, Arkansas, in
1839 and served in the state legislature from 1846 to 1848. He moved in
1849 to Milam County, Texas, where he became a herdsman in a ranching
partnership with Judge Orville T. Tylerqv near Belton. At the 1850 Charter
Oak election in newly established Bell County, Dennis was appointed
chairman of a commission to locate the county seat at the site of Nolan
Springs or present Belton, establish the county boundaries in Milam County
territory, obtain the deed to the county seat from Mrs. Connell of
Williamson County, plat the site, and advertise the lots for sale. He then
served for eight years as first treasurer of Bell County. In 1854 he
purchased more than 1,000 acres of land on Friar's Creek and the following
year established a residence seven miles east of Belton. He subsequently
purchased a larger farm on the Leon River, where he raised crops and
livestock. But in 1861 he lost his house and possessions and returned to
Friar's Creek to pursue a spinning and weaving business in addition to
farming.
Dennis owned several tracts of land in Bell County; he operated a
gristmill on Bird's Creek near the Midway Gravel Pit at Marietta and a
lumberyard at Nolanville. When the Civil Warqv began he was considered too
old for active duty, so he remained at home aiding families whose men were
in the army. He contributed to the outfitting of Capt. H. E. Bradford's
Company from Bell County, served as a Democratic political leader, and was
a member of the Primitive Baptist Church. After the war he sold his farm
and mill on the Leon River, moved to new land on the Leon purchased in
1871, and in 1875 moved to 1,900 acres eighteen miles west of Belton,
purchased from John Marshall. This site, known as Elmore Ranch, was
continuously owned by his descendents until the 1970s. Dennis later
divided his lands among his children, rented the farm, and moved to
Temple, where he built three tenement houses. Sometime later he bought 600
acres in Callahan County and moved there.
Dennis married Isa (Ice) Seitze on March 15, 1836, and they had eleven
children. In 1890 they broke up housekeeping and moved to California to be
with their children. At his death on October 19, 1894, Dennis owned 870
acres of land in Bell, Callahan, and Eastland counties valued at over
$7,000; he also had forty cattle and twenty-two horses. He died at the
home of his daughter Margaret Neal near Temple and was buried in Hodge
Cemetery there. His grave is marked by a Texas historical marker.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Memorial and Biographical History of McLennan, Falls,
Bell, and Coryell Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893; rpt., St. Louis:
Ingmire, 1984). Texas State Gazette, November 1, 1851.
Polly Peaks Elmore


top of page | about | search | browse | help | home - contribute -
bookstore - credits
how to cite this article | report an error or correction | suggest an
article topic
The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries
at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical
Association.

_ The Texas State Historical Association, 1997,1998,1999.
Last Updated: February 15, 1999
Comments to: comments@www.tsha.utexas.edu