Charles Fordtran

In Jan. 1831 Charles Fordtran, a German of Huguenot descent, joined the colony of Stephen F. Austin and first surveyed land for Austin's partner, Samuel May Williams, receiving a league (4,428.4 acres) as his fee. He soon brought in two families of settlers who worked for him for a time before obtaining their own land in present Fayette County. On July 4, 1834, he married Almeida Brookfield (1817-1887), daughter of a noted Indian-fighting family. Fordtran also fought Indians who stole livestock and kidnapped the wives and children of colonists. During the Texas war for independence, he joined the Spy Rangers under Capt. John Bird, defending civilians fleeing the Mexican invaders. One of the first Teutonic settlers in Texas, he arrived years before the main wave of German immigration. Music and good living abounded in his home. He and his wife had 14 children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. Of their four sons who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1861-1865), two survived. His descendants contributed to Texas history as industrialists, engineers, lawyers, physicians, and teachers.

Texas · United States