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From: "J. Paul Tanner" <>
Subject: Re: Roll Call-Jesse Ward Dacer
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 06:11:16 +0200
In-Reply-To: <3A32DE19.808103B5@urjet.net>


Great story, Ron. Enjoyed it, especially since J. Barker Dancer would be
my gggrandmother's brother.

Paul in Amman


At 07:36 PM 12/09/2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Jesse Ward Dancer was the second husband of Dicie Cordelia McBee who
>lost her first husband in Oct. of 1869. On December 06, 1870 he married
>Dicie and took on the responsibility of her three little children, the
>oldest was only four.
>
>Dicie taught that there is no such thing as step, half or adopted in a
>family. Only family so the two children born to Dicie and Jesse were
>always close to the older kids.
>
>Jesse Ward Dancer was the son of J. Barker Dancer who was the son of
>Ashall Dancer and Mary Ward of Bastrop Co. TX..
>
>Jesse Ward Dancer was accused of murder in Frio Co. TX and escaped from
>Jail twice.
>
>It is believed that he made his way to Tom Green Co. and used an alias
>while he started a new family. He always seemed to look over his
>shoulder and see the law and deserted several families. According to
>available information he may have died in Los Angeles in 1933.
>
>Dicie and Jesse had two children, Cordelia Tennessee Dancer b. March 28,
>1872 in Frio Co. TX and Thomas Allen Dancer b. February 5, 1874 also in
>Frio Co.
>
>Cordelia Tennessee Dancer married Marcus L. "Sam" Nixon in Caldwell Co.
>TX She and Sam moved from Lytton Springs TX in Caldwell Co. TX to San
>Antonio and raised a fine bunch of children, many of those descendants
>are around TX today.
>
>Thomas Allen Dancer married Lydia Hill June 22, 1892 in Bastrop Co. TX.
>He was at one time or another a Postmaster, a jailer, a town marshall
>and apparently the bad guy because he was shot by a sheriff in Gonzales
>TX after a gunfight between himself and the local boot maker. According
>to witnesses Tom started shooting at the sheriff while still in the
>gunfight with the boot maker. The sheriff and a deputy fatally shot
>Tom. He died October 4, 1912 and is buried in the Gonzales City
>Cemetery.
>
>Having never seen the grave I wanted to go there and see the Dancer
>Family plot. I had NO idea where it was nor even in what section of
>this very large cemetery. My wife and I drove through the gate and we
>found we were driving west (looking at the back of tomb stones - they
>all face east) down this narrow gravel road. The road took a turn and I
>told my wife I was going to stop and take a look at some of the stones
>to see the dates etc... I stopped and looked out the window backward to
>a stone about seven feet away. I was looking straight at the stone of
>Tom Dancer. This cemetery has been used since before the Texas
>Revolution and is VERY large and I drove straight to it. I was spooked.
>
>Yeah, I know it sounds like a book but it is all the truth as best we
>can tell.
>
>Ron McCandless

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