son of Peter E Kuykendall - Prudence Terry

Information transcribed from The Southland Vol. XII. No 1
Waco, Texas; Established March, 1892

This venerable old gentleman has had a very interesting and adventurous history. The family to which he belonged moved to Texas when he was about eight years old, and settled in the vicinity of Grand Saline. At that time this was in the far western border of civilization. Most of the country was inhabited only by Indians and wild animals. There was only one little mill in all the land for grinding corn for everybody in the country, and that was a horse tread mill affair, and yet settlers came a long distance with corn to be ground into meal, which they sifted by hand at home. Texas was then a stockman's paradise, or would have been but for the Indian and Mexican thieves and robbers. Roads were few and were mostly Indian or cattle trails. The living things most in evidence were long horned cattle, scrubby Mustang ponies, coyotes, prairie owls, lizards and snakes, with an occasional bear, panther or lynx. School advantages were limited to a few months in the year.

Elijah R. had an elder brother who taught school in early days, and was deputy sheriff afterwards. Elijah, the younger, served in the Confederate Army until the close of the war, coming out with broken health. After some years spent in travelling, most of the time, he recovered his health fully. At the age of fifty years he became a minister of the gospel in the Christian Church. In earlier life he had learned the carpenter's trade, and after he began to preach, he often worked at his trade during the week, and preached on the Sabbath. He is glad now, in the evening of life, that he was able to sow that others might reap, and that he was able to make it easier for those who came after him.

Benjamin Hiram, his eldest son, has been for some years most of the time a peace officer. He is a portly man of six feet and two inches height and weights two hundred pounds. He has served as Justice of the Peace, deputy sheriff, deputy U. S. Marshal, and as City Marshal of Grand Saline, Texas.

Oct. 18, 1858, he married Nancy Ann Bratcher. She lived until July 20, 1881. January 21, 1882, he married Mrs. M. J. Smith who still survives. In 1862 he volunteered into the confederate service and served until the surrender, in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. He lost his health during the war and traveled several years afterward. He gained his health however and has been a remarkably strong man for his years since. He became a Christian at the age of 12 and at the age of 50 entered the Christian ministry. He is a mechanic. He owns his home in Grand Saline and has acquired some other property in the city. He labors with his hands and lives blameless before the people. He has a good record is a typical old Texan and furnishes a worthy example of Texas life.

Civil War service history:
1st Regiment, Texas Cavalry State Troops (6 months, 1863-64)
14th Regiment, Texas Infantry (Clark's)
11th Regiment, Texas Infantry (Roberts') Co. I. : 11th Infantry Regiment was assembled at Houston, Texas, during the winter of 1861-1862. Many of the men were recruited in the towns of Clarksville, Henderson, and Marshall, and the counties of Cherokee and Shelby. It was assigned to the Army of New Mexico, then served in H. Randal's and Maclay's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department. The unit skirmished in Louisiana and lost 4 killed, 15 wounded, and 32 missing at Bayou Bourdeau. During the Red River Campaign, Company A with 3 officers and 42 men was captured. It moved to Arkansas, fought at Jenkins' Ferry, then was stationed at Shreveport, Louisiana, and later Hempstead, Texas, where it disbanded in May, 1865. The field officers were Colonels A. J. Coupland, James H. Jones, and O.M. Roberts, and Majors Nathaniel J. Caraway and Thomas H. Rountree.