John Madison Whitley lived to the age of ninety-four years andfourteen d ays, during which he experienced much of the frontierhardships and gro wth of central and south Texas. John Whitley lovedto tell of his past a nd about his family and combined with hispleasant personality he gaine d great admiration from his children,grandchildren and friends in the a rea. He was a great source ofinformation concerning this part of Texas a nd was interviewed onseveral different occasions by the famous Texas a uthor, J. FrankDobie, in the early 1920's.
John started school in 1863 in Kerrville, which he described as a thins ettlement, with no store that he could remember, but there was aschool h ouse and a saw mill. His family lived on the outskirts oftown about a q uarter of a mile from the Guadalupe River.
One morning John was hauling water with a wagon pulled by a yoke ofoxe n. After traveling up the road about one half mile he saw someIndians i n the road. He thought they were coming down the road towardhim so he j umped up and ran; because he though they were chasing him.After reachi ng town safely a report came in about eleven or twelveo'clock that the I ndians had killed an old man from town by the nameof Tanner. At a diff erent time John and one of his brothers werealmost captured by the Ind ians, but they managed to lose them in thefamily corn patch and make i t to their log cabin safely.
Indians were always waiting for a white man to fall into one of theirt raps. A wise man learned from others on what and what not to do inthis w ilderness territory. John M. Whitley was taught never to rideclose to a t hicket of oaks or brush while traveling. He would alwaysstay clear of t hem even if it meant going out of the way. Many menhad lost their live s getting too close to a thicket which hid anawaiting Indian's arrow.
