Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Kuykendalls of Texas


Whether you are talking early Texas frontiersmen, Austin’s Old 300, the Texas Rangers, veterans of the Texas Revolution, Confederate soldiers from Texas or large Texas ranches, your talking the Kuykendalls of Texas. In his book, They Slept Upon Their Rifles, Marshall E. Kuykendall has written a fine family history of the Kuykendall family from its earliest days in Texas. Marshall Kuykendall is a descendant of Austin’s Old 300 colonist, Captain Robert H. Kuykendall, who arrived in Texas in 1821. This book is the story of the Kuykendall family that arrived from the Netherlands in the 1640's and migrated from New York to North Carolina and South Carolina. Marshall Kuykendall’s family history becomes much more detailed as the Kuykendalls move from the Carolinas into Tennessee, Kentucky, the Missouri Territory, the Arkansas Territory and then into Mexican Texas.

They Slept Upon Their Rifles is primarily about Captain Robert H. Kuykendall and his brothers that came to Texas prior to the Texas Revolution, their descendants, and several collateral lines. Detailed biographies include those of Adam Kuykendall, Captain Robert H. Kuykendall, R. H. (Gill) Kuykendall, Wiley Martin Kuykendall, Robert Gill Kuykendall, Wylie Moore (Bill) Kuykendall, William Erastus Moore, Arthur Swift, Captain Abner Kuykendall, Captain Gibson Kuykendall, Barzillai Kuykendall, William Kuykendall, J. Hampton Kuykendall, Joseph Kuykendall, Rev. Marshall Daniel Early and Col. Joseph Hardin . There is also an exhaustive list of Kuykendalls who served the Confederacy during the Civil War and of Kuykendall Texas death records from 1903 - 2000.

I would like to note how very attractive this family history is. Marshall Kuykendall obviously had a large budget to work with in publishing the book and it shows. In fact, They Slept Upon Their Rifles is one of the best looking family histories I have ever seen. From the photograph of a Texas pioneer on the cover to the beautiful illustrations by the late Charlie Shaw, the book’s quality is first class. They Slept Upon Their Rifles has also professionally reproduced photographs and primary documents such as deeds and letters. Charlie Shaw also drew many excellent original maps that clearly show the movement and routes taken by the Kuykendalls as they migrated across the American frontier making written descriptions much easier to understand. Shaw’s drawings of land grants and property lines will also help Kuykendall descendants figure out where family lands were in relation to natural landmarks instead of trying to figure them out from land descriptions in deeds alone.

The book has an excellent index which is something that is often missing from so many family histories. There is also an extensive 19 page bibliography providing source data. Marshall Kuykendall has done a tremendous amount of research here. Any Kuykendall descendant of these lines should have a copy of They Slept Upon Their Rifles in their libraries. They may also want to donate a copy to the Texas History Section of their local public libraries.

They Slept Upon Their Rifles is 400 pages, hardbound, Nortex Press, Austin, Texas, 2005. The book is available from Marshall Kuykendall for $50.00 and $5.00 shipping cost.

Marshall Kuykendall
900 Enchanted Oaks Dr.
Driftwood, Texas 78619
(512) 894-3220

Photo: Cover of They Slept Upon Their Rifles © Marshall E. Kuykendall

7 comments:

marshall said...

Thank you for posting the comments on my book, They Slept Upon Their Rifles. It is the story of a particular family, but not unlike many, many other pioneers.
Marshall E. Kuykendall
Driftwood, Texas
October 2007

marshall said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
TerryK said...

I would like to get in contact with you to purchase one of your books.
They Slept Upon Their Rifles.
"The Kuykendalls of Texas"
Thank You,
Terry Kuykendall

Contact information:
TerryKuykendall45@yahoo.com

TerryK said...

I would like to get in contact with you to purchase one of your books.
They Slept Upon Their Rifles
"The Kuykendalls of Texas“

Thank You
Terry Kuykendall

Contact information:
TerryKuykendall45@yahoo.com

LawandMorality said...

I too would like to buy the book, They Slept Upon Their Rifles.

Mae Kuykendall
mae.kuykendall@law.msu.edu

Anonymous said...

I would be curious if this is my dads family. My dad Joe Bailey Kuykendall (1920) grew up in texas one of 13 children of John Schuyler Kuykendall. I never got to know most of my aunts and uncles since I am the youngest and lived most of my life in Michigan. My brother has raised his family in Granbury TX where they reside and my sister in Corpus Christi Tx. I would love to own the book if it is about our heritage.
Kimberly Kuykendall Schumaker

Anonymous said...

I have 4 paintings by D. Kuykendall. They were given to my grandmother & her 2 sisters by the artist, who was a family friend. My grandmother & her sisters were born in Paige, TX and moved to Houston, TX in the late 1910's. Would love to get more information on the artist and share the paintings with his/her family members. Do you have any knowledge of this person in your history? Thank you. Kathie K