The online magazine, We the People of Shelby County, features local history about our communities and our earlier citizens who lived there. But it also includes informative articles about the broader history of Texas. This is increasingly important to the magazine because “sister publications” of We the People of other Texas counties are in various stages of development, with the San Augustine County edition already published and a Gregg County edition scheduled to begin in January 2015.
One example of an article on broader Texas history was just submitted by Marlene Childs, who grew up in Center (remember the Childs’ Store?) but now lives in Lubbock. Marlene’s article, Davy Crockett’s Women, is a “spotlight” feature in the next (October-December) issue of the magazine. She is a talented writer whose association we are fortunate to have.
There has been a lot written about Davy Crockett that I have enjoyed, but this article provides a fresh insight about the life and times of Davy. As Marlene points out, there is at least “one other facet of Crockett besides hunter, fighter, politician, and teller of tall tales.”
Of course, the first woman in his life was his mother, Rebecca Hawkins Crockett, whose first known American ancestor was an English immigrant, arriving in Virginia in 1658. After marriage to Davy’s father, John, they moved to Greene County, Tennessee. Davy’s parents ran a farm, a gristmill, and a tavern.
Davy had three sisters, so it is not surprising that they were the next females in his life. While little is known about Davy’s relationship with his sisters, he named the first of his own daughters, Margaret, after his oldest sister.
Davy’s first woman with whom he fell in love was Amy Summer, a Quaker. He was soon heartbroken because Amy’s parents insisted on a Quaker marriage. Coming along soon was his next love, Margaret Elder, who was from a family the Crockett family had known for some time. But that second love relationship collapsed as well. Marlene Childs explains that, among several reasons, “he probably celebrated with too much revelry.”
It was at a social event that included music and dancing that Davy met his future wife—Polly Finley. Davy and Polly married in 1806 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. They had three children: John Wesley, born in 1807; William, born in 1809; and Margaret, born in 1812.
Marlene Childs states that Davy was “genuinely devoted to Polly, and Davy described her as both a tender and loving wife and a good and affectionate mother. Their time of bliss together, however, was brief. Only in her mid-twenties, the love of his life died in 1815 in Franklin County, Tennessee.”
As we all know, the story of Davy Crockett does not end with the death of his wife; nor is it the end of the story of his women. Because of the detail she provides, Marlene has chosen to divide the story into two parts. Part Two will be published in the January 2015 issue of We the People of Shelby County (www.shelbycountytx.com).
