Researching William Dikes leads to Texas History Lesson

In my genealogy research meetings, I was sharing some of the history of towns I was researching as I was looking for my great great grandfather;
As some of you know I am hunting down Mr. William Dikes circa 1830-1875 Texas. Census records, children's birth records, land deeds have identified cities in Texas to continue my research for vital records on this gentleman. One city I have Mr. Dikes living in 1870 presumably 6 years before his death is:Burnham, Ellis, Texas
This being the last known address I have on the gentleman. I began researching the city for land deeds, burial information, newspaper articles of why he died at such a young age.

The 1870 census indicated:
1--- Mr. Dikes real property in this area was worth 1500---
2--- That little Charlie down there is Grandma Etta May's father
3--- Yes I know his wife was named Abigail--- this is just a translation problem ---it appears from several records that she was known as Abby.

Name: William Dike
Birth Year: abt 1837
Age in 1870: 33
Birthplace: Texas
Home in 1870: Burnham, Ellis, Texas
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate: View image
Post Office: Cummins Creek
Household Members: Name Age
William Dike 33
Ann Dike 26
William Dike 11
Jonathan Dike 8
Lena Dike 5
Charles Dike 4

In looking for articles and records of Burnham ---I found this interesting bit of Burnham history. It appears Burnham, Ellis, Texas was set to be the Texas headquarters for the Houston and Texas Central Railway. But another city was chosen for the economic growth promised by railroad success.

Per The Portal of Texas History
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth33018/m1/?page=4

Ennis, Texas was:
Named for Col. Cornelius Ennis, a railroad official of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, Ennis was established in 1871. 647 acres were purchased by trustees for a land company in 1872 and the townsite was selected in May of that year by. Capt. W. G. Veale. Theo Kosse platted the town.

Angry citizens from the bypassed town of Burnham, Texas attacked Ennis - killing one hapless citizen and wounding several others.
and

Per Handbook of Texas on line http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/EE/hje11.html

Citizens of Burnham, a small town to the south, responded violently to being bypassed and attacked the new community, killing one man and wounding several.

The references and newspaper articles are fascinating to read. I certainly got a flavor of the WILD WEST and the COWBOY WAY.

Another city I am researching for records for Mr. Dikes is Gonzales, Texas. Again this Rough Cowboy town had a history that I found very interesting

Gonzales is the site of the first battle in the revolution for Texas to revolt against Mexican rule.

Per Gonzales, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1831, the Mexican government gave the settlers a small cannon (believed to actually have been a swivel gun) for protection against Indian attacks. At the outbreak of hostilities, a contingent of Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon. On 2 October 1835, they were met by Texans under the command of John H. Moore. The Texans had fashioned a flag with the words "Come and take it". The Texans successfully resisted the federal troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales.

Gonzales also sent men to the Alamo--- but the

Come and Take It Battle

was first.

A Photo of the flag:



I think of the hours and hours of work I have stacking up to record and verify all this data and then I get side tracked with stories like this. There is a lot more to investigate about Mr. Dikes in these cities, and I am planning a research trip to the area this year. Also interesting is to note: Ebay sales small replicas of this flag: I thought that was so cool. But if I started purchasing all the cool artifacts I come by --- I would need another house to store it all.

OK I need to not beat myself up for getting side tracked ----- this is a hobby -- not a government contract!!! So I will relax and enjoy the journey.

More to follow---- Aunt Ruth