Veteran Bio

The father, Stephen Scallorn, was married the second time to Martha Bullock and had nine children, four boys and five girls.

John Wesley Scallorn emigrated to Texas in December 1835 and settled at Woods Fort, in Fayette County. He fought at the Battle of San Jacinto as a private in the Sixth Company Infantry, Second Regiment, Texas Volunteers. His captain was James Gillaspie.

At the election held on January 30, 1840, John Wesley Scallorn was elected County Surveyor of Fayette County.

He was one of the volunteers under Captain Nicholas Mosby Dawson to rush to the assistance of San Antonio when that city was captured by the Mexican General Adrian Woll on September 11, 1842, and both he and his baby brother, Elam Scallorn, died in the Dawson Massacre. They are buried on Monument Hill, near La Grange, Fayette County, Texas.

The widow of John Wesley Scallorn later married a cousin of our hero whose name was Jefferson Scallorn; the son of William Scallorn who was the brother of Stephen Scallorn.

Born in Tennessee, a son of Stephen and Mary E. Scallorn. His brothers and sisters were Anderson, Gideon, Elam, Francis, Sallie, Polly, Matilda and Minerva Scallorn. His half brothers and sisters were Giles, Nona, and Lemuel Scallorn.

In Headright Certificate No. 11 issued to John W. Scallorn January 5, 1838 by the Board of Land Commissioners for Fayette County it is stated that he came to Texas in December, 1835. He was a member of Captain James Gillaspie's Company at San Jacinto and on May 26, 1838 he was issued Donation Certificate No. 229 for 640 acres of land for having participated in the battle. On the same date he received Bounty Certificate No. 3601 for 320 acres of land for his services from March 4 to June 12, 1836.

Mr. Scallorn was elected County Surveyor of Fayette County by the Senate of the Republic, January 30, 1840. He and his brother Elam were killed in the "Dawson Massacre" near San Antonio, September 18, 1842.

The remains of the thirty six men who fell with Captain Nicholas M. Dawson and sixteen of the seventeen men who drew black beans at the Hacienda Salado in Mexico, March 25, 1843, while on the Mier Expedition and were shot by their Mexican Captors were exhumed and on September 18, 1848 placed in a single vault on a hill overlooking the Colorado River and the city of La Grange, Texas. Their place of interment is now shown as Monument Hill. A new tomb erected by the citizens of Fayette County was unveiled over the grave of these martyrs, September 18, 1933, with elaborate ceremonies.

Mr. Scallorn was married to Miriam Speer, June 20, 1839 and to them was born one child, George. Mrs. Scallorn in time was married to Jefferson Scallorn, a cousin of John W. Scallorn. A granddaughter of Mr. Jefferson Scallorn, Miss Ruby Scallorn, lives near Smithville, Texas, R. F. D. 2.

George Scallorn, son of John W. Scallorn, was married and had seven children, two sons and five daughters. One of the sons, Frank, was living in San Antonio in 1928.

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