OUR FAMILY CONNECTION TO THE ALAMO

SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS
© 1997-2004, Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights Reserved
Alamo Defenders-Index

The DeWitt Colony Alamo Defenders
Members of the Garrison & Surviving Couriers & Foragers
Alamo Widows & Mothers

The Immortal 32 Gonzales Rangers A-E F-K L-Z

For additional biography, search Handbook of Texas Online

Jonathan L. Lindley, 22, born 12 Feb 1814 in SangamonCo, IL was a surveyor for early Texas colonists and resident of Gonzales. He was a Private artilleryman in Capt. Carey’s artillery company of the Alamo garrison. He was the third child and oldest son of Samuel Washington Lindley (b. 1788 NC). Samuel Washington Lindley is said to have come to the DeWitt Colony from IL in 1833. According to descendants, after the death of his first wife Mary (Polly) Elizabeth Hall abt 1809 shortly after the birth of first child Sarah, he married Elizabeth Whitley with whom he had his remaining children, including Jonathan Lindley, and excepting Amanda. On 3 May 1835 single Jonathan was granted a quarter league of land in the William Pace survey in PolkCo, TX. He participated in the Battle of Bexar on 14 Dec 1835 after which he as many others returned home for Christmas hoping that the Revolution was over. Lindley joined Capt. Carey’s Company in the regular Texas Army in the fall of 1835. Lindley was at home in Gonzales when he joined the Gonzales Relief Force to return to his post at the Alamo. His heirs received 1280 acres bounty for service in PanolaCo, TX near Carthage. After the Battle of San Jacinto, the surviving Lindley family re-settled in MontgomeryCo, TX. In the Lindley Cemetery 5 miles north of Anderson in GrimesCo, TX is a historical marker honoring Jonathan L. Lindley.

Family records indicated that the Lindley clan originated in England and Ireland and the first family immigrated to America circa 1713 and settled in New Jersey [Some reports suggest the family migrated to Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Indiana and then Illiniois-WLM]. By 1811 they had settled in Sangamon County, Illinois and from that time and place the records were authenticated. Samuel Washington Lindley born in 1788 in North Carolina married a woman named Elizabeth [Whitley] and while living in Illinois ten children were born to that union: Barsheba (March 5, 1811); Polly (1812); Jonathan (February 12, 1814); Elizabeth (March 24, 1815); William (September 29, 1817); Martha (July 30, 1821); Samuel W. Jr. (July 30,1823); Rachel (1827); John (1829); and James (March 13, 1831). Jonathan, the third child and eldest son of Samuel W. and Elizabeth, went to Texas with his family in 1833 to colonize land in the DeWitt Colony. As an unmarried man, on July 17, 1835 he was granted a one-fourth league of land (640 acres) as a headright in the William Pace Mexican League, originally titled May 3, 1835. Jonathan was a surveyor and spent most of his time surveying the land of other colonists. Jonathan was greatly influenced by the early leaders of Texas during the pre-Texas Revolution period. Jonathan was with Ben Milam when the Texans took San Antonio in December, 1835. Jonathan with many others left San Antonio before Christmas, 1835 and returned to their families, believing that the revolution was about over. Tradition stated that Jonathan was the true spirit that kindled the flame for freedom in the Lindley family. As evidenced by a document containing information given by his father, Jonathan joined the Texas Revolutionary forces in the fall of 1835. A document of the Republic of Texas signed May 14, 1839 by General Albert Sidney Johnston, Secretary of War, Republic of Texas, further gave evidence that Jonathan Lindley joined the army of Texas December 14, 1835 and served until his death at the Alamo March 6,1836. At Gonzales in late February, 1836 after calls for aid from Travis at the Alamo, Jonathan joined Captain Albert Martin's band of men who were later known as "The Immortal Thirty-Two Men from Gonzales." Jonathan Lindley, with the other defenders of the Alamo, was killed March 6, 1836. Following the independence of Texas, the grateful Republic of Texas posthumously awarded the heroes of the Alamo bounties of land. Under certificate #9132 dated May 14, 1839, Houston, Texas Jonathan Lindley was awarded 1280 acres of land situated in Panola County, ten and one-half miles south, twenty degrees west from Carthage, Texas. It was patented March 9, 1860. The lawful heirs of Jonathan Lindley, namely his parents and his brothers and sisters, since he was not married, fell heir to the 1280-acre bounty plus his original Mexican Grant of 640 acres in the William Pace Survey in Polk County. His father, Samuel Washington Lindley, was appointed administrator of the estate of Jonathan; as such he administered and divided the estate. After the battle of San Jacinto the Lindley family opted to re-settle in Montgomery County. In the Lindley Cemetery five miles north of Anderson, Grimes County was erected an historical marker honoring Jonathan Lindley as an Alamo hero. [The Lindley family was said to be close friends of Jesse Grimes, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence after whom Grimes County was named-WLM] Virginia Stewart Lindley Ford. (From The History of Gonzales County, Texas. Reprinted by permission of the Gonzales County Historical Commission).





Answering the call of Lt. Col. William Travis, who was besieged in the Alamo, a small band of 32 men, including Jonathan Lindley, left Gonzales, Texas, for San Antonio. Under the cover of darkness the men from Gonzales succeeded in entering the Alamo on the night of March 1, 1836. Five days later all were dead.

MICHAEL MEYER PURPLE HEART

MICHAEL MEYER

Wounded in the initial assault on Bagdad, Iraq April 2003.
Michael was hit 8 times by rifle fire while he and his fellow marines were clearing the bridge to enter Bagdad.Basically what happened to me was I was -- pretty much the whole right flank of an ambush was pretty much directed towards me. What was happening is our company, Indi Company (ph), was taking -- was taking fire -- was in a firefight. And my platoon, 3rd Platoon, was in a -- was in the reserve. And usually if we're the reserve platoon, we don't have much to worry about, the Iraqis have either given up or run away by the time they even need the reserves.

So we're calmly waiting in the -- in the armored personnel vehicle, the Amtrak (ph), when we heard the call to get the reserves up there. So we unloaded. And as we were unloading and running to get behind this big berm, which was a part of an irrigation ditch, we were taking sniper fire. And as we were behind the ditch, we could see the enemy out in the field behind bunkers and bushes and other such things.

Well, while we were behind the berm, the field was constantly getting struck by artillery and Cobra helicopters were flying over and pretty much destroying everything that moved. After a good 15, 20 minutes of artillery and Cobra fire, they sent in our -- my platoon, 3rd platoon, to clear the field.

And my squad, which consisted of about 15, 16 Marines, covered a good 350 yards of this field. Some were spread out walking side by side through the field. And I was on the very, very right side of the whole squad. So I was -- anything to the right of me was either land or something else. And as we were walking through the field, we were constantly getting fire from the front. And every once in a while when we'd get fire, we'd get down in the prone (ph) and they'd clear that objective and we'd move on.

For some reason I wasn't too afraid or too scared. I was mainly worried about doing my job and keeping my sectors of firing. As I was walking, I walked up on about two or three enemy soldiers that were hiding, completely camouflaged behind a bush. I didn't -- I had no clue they were there. They were about five feet from me. The only thing that gave them away was them raising their weapon and clicking their weapon off of safe.

And as soon as I heard that, I turned to my right and tried to raise my M-16, and they had already gotten off six shots from their AK-47 assault rifle. And two shots struck me in my right arm, the other two in my left arm and the last two were into my bulletproof vest, which ended up saving my life.

And after the six shots struck me, I immediately hit the ground. And I couldn't feel either of my arms and I had blood running out of my mouth and I didn't -- I didn't know really what was going on. I knew that I was getting fired upon and that I was in the front. So I had to wait a little while for my team to get up to me.

While that was going on, I was constantly trying to crawl out of there, which I couldn't really do. I think I maybe got a couple of inches, which puts me in the whole firefight.

As my team, my fire team was laying down fire for me to -- for me to try and get out of their, the Navy corpsman named Doc Pira (ph) came and ran up there in the line of fire and grabbed me by my flack and drug me out of there and got me some cover and told me I was going to be all right and started patching me up. And that's when the rest of my fire team ran through there and got those guys.

And after they patched me up and gave me IV and told me I was going to be all right, they took me on a helicopter, got me to a MASH and everything was good from there.

I'd just like to thank Doc Pira for he probably had a big part of saving my life and dragging me out of that fight. And thank my fire team. Thank all the nurses here at this hospital. They've been awesome. And just like to say hi to the Army and Marine guys in the 7 Bravo, and that's about it. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well you've heard their stories, we'd like to answer any question you might have.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask Private Meyer, like a cat, private, do you think you have nine lives?

MEYER: I guess so. Somebody had to have been looking for me, because a number of things saved my life that day, the bulletproof vest, the corpsman, my fire team, so -- the guy that couldn't shoot five feet away eight shots couldn't get me. So just all of those I would like to thank God.

Graduation Day: Michael Meyer

Mike Lindley wanted me to pass along these photos from Michael Meyer's recent graduation from Texas A&M University.

Michael (center) and his grandparents Carl and Imogene Lindley

Michael accepting his diploma during the graduation ceremony

Michael Meyer and Family celebrating his graduation

Congratulations Michael!

A Note From Mike: Uncle Ben's Funeral

Dad and I got this message from Mike regarding Uncle Ben's funeral this past Friday. He wanted us to pass it along to everyone:

Dear Chuck and Britt,

Last friday we buried Uncle Ben Lindley, with full military honors!!!

Thursday night Philip, our cousin the priest, (there still is hope for us yet Britt), gave a real great Catholic wake/ceremony on the life of Uncle Ben with comments and humorous stories from Uncle Harold and Uncle Carl!!!!!

Then they had the formal ceremony at the Catholic Church in Guymon, Oklahoma and the burial thereafter at the cemetery!!!

In attendance and representing the Lindley nation--------Uncle Elbert, (escorted by Gail and Delores) Uncle Carl and his wife Imogene, (escorted by Denise and Mike), Uncle Harold and his wife Mary, cousin Ann and her husband C.L. Boggs!!!!!!

After the ceremony and burial we all adjourned to Aunt Marget's house at their farm in the country and enjoyed a good time with her and our cousins, Uncle Ben's kids (Philip, Mary, Thomas, Martha, Michael and Kevin) and all their kids… There must have been 20 or more grandkids!!!!!!

Chuck, it was a really good military ceremony to honor Uncle Ben, a real WWII combat veteran!!!!!!!!!!

All the best,

Mike

Thanks for the note Mike. Those of us that couldn't be there felt terrible about it, but we're very glad to hear how nice the ceremony was.

Additionally, the Guymon Daily Herald ran this obituary on Dec. 3rd:

Benson (Buster) John Lindley, 92, died Dec. 1 at his home, in rural Optima. He was born July 27, 1916 in Sweetwater, Texas, the third child of Luther and Katie Catherine (Sanders) Lindley. He attended Jake L. Hammond High School prior to enlisting in the Army on March 13, 1941. He served with the Second Armored Division in Africa, France, Italy, Belgium and Germany receiving the Bronze Star and Purple Heart prior to his discharge May 13, 1945. Following his service in the Army, he returned to his hometown Breckenridge, Texas and then headed to Guymon, where he worked for Cabot Corporation and then with Herrington & Marsh for 31 plus years (Dorchester Gas Company).

He married Margaret Lucille Long of Optima on Aug. 2, 1947. He was an avid baseball payer on town teams with Optima, Hooker and Guymon in the 40s and 50s. He served on the Optima School board for several years. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus for over 50 years, and was their Grand Knight for several years in the Guymon Knight’s of Columbus Council at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church. He always enjoyed volunteering for various charities in the area.

Benson is survived by his wife of 61 years, Margaret Lindley, his seven children: daughters Mary Erker and husband Stacey of Salina, Kan. and Martha McClenny of MidVale, Utah; sons Michael and wife Linda of Amarillo, Kevin and wife Saundra of Laguna Niguel, Calif., Rev. Phillip Lindley of Amarillo, Lawrence and wife Sherry of Guymon and Thomas Lindley of the home; sister Rosalee Presley of Colorado Springs; brother’s Elbert and wife Jerry of Stephenville, Texas, Carl and wife Imogene of Garland, Texas, Billy Lindley of Abilene, Texas and Harold and wife Mary of Baytown, Texas; sister-in-law’s Jewel Lindley of Duncanville, Texas and Clarene Lindley of Athens, Texas.

He is survived by 10 grandchildren: Justin Mullins and wife Lisa, Kyle Lindley and wife Kayla, Josh Lindley, Christopher and Catherine Erker, Michelle and Steven Lindley, Megan McClenny, and Sarah and John Lindley. He also had 6 great-grandchildren, Lynsey Shannon, Kalie Mullins, Riley, Taylor, Devon and Aubrey Lindley and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Theodore, JC, and Nathan and sisters Ruby and Elizabeth.

Vigil Prayer Service will be held Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s the Apostle Catholic Church and the Funeral Liturgy will be Friday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s the Apostle Catholic Church with interment following at Elmhurst Cemetery in Guymon. Memorials may be made to the St. Peter’s the Apostle Catholic Church or Loaves and Fishes in Guymon.

Sad News... *UPDATED*

I spoke with my uncle Bill and my Dad tonight, and they asked me to pass along the sad news that Buster passed away this evening. Once I have more information on the funeral arrangements, I will be sure to pass them along here.

He will surely be missed by all.

Update:

Denise passed along this information earlier today with Uncle Ben's obituary and funeral arrangement information:

U.S. Veteran Bensen J. Lindley, 92, longtime Texas county resident passed away Monday evening December 1st at his residence in rural Optima. Vigil services will be Thursday evening, December 4th, 7:00 P.M. at St. Peter's Catholic Church. Funeral Liturgy will be Friday morning, December 5th at 10:00 A.M. at St. Peter's Catholic Church with Rev. Phillip Lindley, Rev. Bill Pruitt, Rev. Anthony Raj Ram and Rev. Raul Sanchez officiating. Rite of Committal will follow in Elmhurst Cemetery under the care of Henson-Novak Funeral Directors of Guymon. Memorials may be given to St. Peter's Catholic Church and will be accepted at the church or at Henson-Novak Funeral Directors, P.O. Box 1306, Guymon, OK 73942

Video of Bailee Elizabeth Lindley Playing

Class Picture - 1909

Robinson Springs School - ~1909
In Comanche County, about 10 miles North of DeLeon

First Row: Donald Smith, Shorty Logsdon, Arnold Middleton, Buford Smith, William Logsdon, Hiram Hooper, Cecil Lindley, Joe Holmes, Maynard Clark.

Second Row: Prof. O.H. Moore, Ina Lee Knowles, Beulah Logsdon, Rosa Stewart, Geneva Middleton, Hope Stegall, Odell Stegall, Lillian Biffle, Ora Holmes, Gracie Barker, Islda Elrod, Linnie Lowery, Loraine Ford.

Third Row: Tommie Ford, Leona Hooper, Nora Barker, Fannie Smith, Lattie Forrest, Lola Smith, Cora Lowery, Desa Smith, Furman Ford, Fitch Stewart.

Fourth Row: M.L. Middleton, Gracie Ford, Nora Clark, Mary Holmes, Lonnie Logsdon, Della Ford, Clara Forrest, Effie Hooper, Mary Lizzie Knowles.

Fifth Row: Earl Lowery, Edgar Ford, Luther Lindley, Neal Greer, Tom Clark, Arthur Vinson, William Stewart, Tom Forrest, Charlie Lindley, Earl Lowery.

I believe that Jeri sent this to me.
Notice the names Lowery, Forrest,and Clark!

Phillips 25th Anniversary as a Priest

Mike forwarded along this message, and wanted to share it with everyone:

Dear Britt,

Please upload the attached pictures to the family blog!!!!

Thank you,

All the best, mike

Ps---these pictures were taken on sunday oct 20,2008 at phillip's 25th anniversary of being a priest (there is still hope for us britt) in optima, oklahoma!!!! Denise (my sister) took mom and dad up there to see uncle ben (he is very sick with cancer) before he got to bad and would not remember them!!!

Phillip's Cake

Phillip and Denise

Carl and Ben

Family History

I thought some of you might like to read some of the things I have found about the Family!
I got this story from R.S. Sanders:
Wesley shared with his brother Romulus and brother in law Andrew McWilliams, the lease of 160 acres of land in 1884, with an agreement to build two log cabins, 14 feet square in size. Wesley and Lizzy Sanders probably lived in one of these cabins.

Wesley and Lizzy moved to Shackleford Countty in the 1890's They finally settled near Fort Griffin in Shackleford County. Some of their children were born in Caldwell county, but most of the children were born, went to school and were married in Shackleford county, Texas. Wesley and Lizzy became land owners and respectable citizens of Shackleford county. Unlike his brothers, and sisters Wesley refused to move from place to place. Lizzy McKean Sanders died in 1913 and Wesley married Ora Gandy that same year, Sept. 26, in Shackleford county Ora bore him several more children.

A daughter-in-law recalled some of the traits that Wesley had. She recalled that Wesley never believed in having an excess of chopped wood, or in later years kerosene fuel.His wife would remind him well ahead of time that more wood or kerosene was needed. Yet , only when the last log was on the fire would Wesley move to get more wood. He also had a habit of laying something down and forgetting where he had put it. (Several other Sanders have that trait.)Wesley had a quick temper and a deep respect for women. Once a fellow came over to borrow Wesley's gun. The fellow had been drinking, and Wesley refused to lend him the gun for this reason. The drinking man began to curse loudly in the hearing of his wife. Wesley's hand came out of his pocket with what appeared to be an open knife, because he had opened it so fast. His nephews, Henry and Andrew Sanders, caught his hand just as the knife reached the fellow's throat, saving his life.
Wesley also liked his whiskey. If he had a bad habit it was his drinkin. This habit became so bad that he could not drive. His wife had to drive to town for groceries. One day as his wife was leaving to get groceries, she turned to him and asked him, "Is there anything I can get you?" He replied "Bring me a Bible." He began reading and studying it. He became a preacher for awhile and held revivals in various country churches. One of these churches was at Curry Chapel in Haskell, Texas. Wesley is buried in Albany, Texas between his two wives.

Granny , Grandpa, and Cliford I love this picture!

Welcome to New Faces

I just sent out a mass email to everyone to invite them to check out the new site, so hopefully we should be seeing some new faces around here soon. Remember, anyone and everyone is invited (nay encouraged!) to add content and participate. So please leave us a comment, or shoot us an email, and we'll get you set up with authoring rights.

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by. 

(note: The frog-cat photo doesn't have anything to do with anything; I just thought it was funny)

WWII Memorial Site Updated

Dad sent me an email yesterday letting me know that the WWII Memorial website was recently updated with Grandpa's information. Charles Nathan Lindley's honoree page was updated with his information and photo, so if you want to check it out, just hit the link.

This is important!

Hey! I want my picture on the decent family news/info/photo site...como sadisas!!!

(edit: Brandi, you are awesome, heheh... I have this photo from my cell phone, if you want a different photo up here just email it to me - Britt)

Chuck Joining the Ranks as a Site Author

Hope everyone can enjoy the blog

Fresh from the Bakery: Bailee Elizabeth Lindley

Tuesday morning, early, we added another Lindley to our ranks. Bailee Elizabeth Lindley was born to my brother Eric and his wife Lisa in Grapevine, TX at 1:37am September 30th, 2008. She weighs 5 lbs. 6 oz, and is 18.5 inches long.

Lisa and the baby are doing great, and expect to be released from the hospital today. Eric is doing about as well as Eric usually does, which isn't saying a whole lot. :)

If you'd like to see more pictures from the hospital, I've added a web album to my Picasa site with a ton of them for your viewing pleasure.

First Post! The Luther Lindley Site Goes Live

Hello everyone!

My dad and I were lamenting the loss of the old Luther Lindley website from years ago, when I started thinking that it might be easier to maintain a decent family news/info/photo site if we used a blog format. So, we've spun up this little site. 

This place will be very easy to maintain, shouldn't ever "dissapear" like the old one, and the best thing is that everyone can participate. Comment on posts, and I'll add you to the "authors" listing on the site so that you can post articles as well. It's easy, and you can add links to other site, photos, or anything you like.

Thhanks for stopping by, and keep your eye out for updates.