Smith, Angelina

The daughter of Elijah Stamps, Angelina Stamps married chief justice of Travis County, Texas, James Smith, with whom she had three children: Caroline, Fayette (also called La Fayette), and Lorena. On Fayette’s ninth birthday, January 21, 1841, James took his son to search for wild hogs in the woods near their home in Austin. Comanche Indians attacked the two, killing James and capturing Fayette. James’ brother William Smith trailed after them, eventually reaching Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he informed American tradesmen of the kidnapping. The story reached John Rowland in Taos, and he hired several Comancheros (Mexicans who traded with the Comanche tribe) to find the child. The men purchased Fayette from the Comanches near the Texas-New Mexican border and brought the boy to Rowland, with whom he then lived for over a year. In September 1842, Fayette started his journey home, meeting his grandfather Elijah Stamps in Independence, Missouri, in January 1843. The two traveled to Stamps’ home in Talladega, Alabama, finally reuniting Fayette with his mother Angelina.

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