Veteran Bio

Although it is stated in Headright Certificate No. 366 issued to Captain Chenoweth May 21, 1839 for one-third of a league of land by the Board of Land Commissioners for Harrisburg County that he came to Texas in December, 1835, there is a probability that he arrived in the fall of 1835 with Captain John W. Peacock's Company of U. S. Invincibles. Captain Peacock was mortally wounded at the Storming and Capture of Bexar, December 5, to 10, 1835, and was succeeded in command by Captain Chenoweth.

Captain Chenoweth continued in the service and in March 1836, joined the main army at Gonzales. On page 232 of the army rolls in the General Land Office there is an affidavit signed by Colonel Jesse Benton, Jr. in which he stated that Captain Chenoweth participated in the Battle of San Jacinto as a private in Captain William H. Patton's Company. Colonel Benton succeeded Captain Patton in command of the company. On January 21, 1850 he was issued Donation Certificate No. 195 for 640 acres of land for having participated in the battle.

On ______________ 1836, Captain Chenoweth was elected Captain of the Zavala Guards, First Regiment, Second Brigade, commanded by General Thomas J. Green. He resigned October 1, 1836. On September 4, 1838, he was issued Bounty Certificate No. 4253 for 1280 acres of land for having served in the army from October 6, 1835, to October 1, 1836.

Captain Chenoweth was elected from Goliad County as a member of the House of Representatives in the First Congress of the Republic, October 3, 1836 to June 13, 1837. He was living in Harrisburg County. He removed next to what is now Burleson County and there on December 3, 1847, as is shown in the Marriage Records of Washington County, he was married to Miss E. H. Reed, his first wife having died in Louisiana in 1837. Had the first Mrs. Chenoweth accompanied her husband to Texas, Captain Chenoweth would have been entitled to receive a league and labor of land instead of one-third of a league.

Captain Chenoweth was living in Burleson County as late as September 12, 1850, when he sold his Donation Certificate to Pleasant Sharp for $60.00

The following petition signed by Captain Chenoweth is among the Memorials and Petitions in the Archives of the Texas State Library, Austin:

"To the Honble. The Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled --

Your memorialist would most respectfully represent your Honbl. Bodies that he came to this country in the fall of the year Novr. 1835 - with the intention of selecting and purchasing a home at that time leaving his family at his residence in Cheneyville, Louisiana. He entered the army Before Bexar, was at the Storming of that place in December; That he furnished at his own charge his entire outfit & paid his traveling expenses together with many others who embarked with him on the same expedition -- That after the Storming of Bexar he was sent as the bearer of dispatches to San Phillippe where he received his commission as Capt and was ordered to raise Troops and establish a Military port at Copano from which time he was actively engaged discharging the duties of his office in obedience to the several orders which he received and which are on file in the war department until March 1836 -- at which time he joined Gen. Sam. Houston at Gonzales and remained with him until after the battle of San Jacinto. He then remained attached to the army until the fall of 36 when he was chosen by his fellow citizens to serve them in the first Congress of the Republic -- and before he was discharged from his duties as a member of Congress he was informed of the death of his wife and one of his children. This circumstance has prevented him from bringing his family to the country and consequently from complying with the Law of Colonization giving to the heads of families one League and one Labor of land your petitioner having received a certificate for one third of a league of Land now prays your Honble. Body to grant him the additional quantity that he would have been entitled to had he been able to bring his family to the country and your petitioner will ever pray as in duty bound."

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