Historical Society Finds John Keenan First White Child Born in Dallas County

On numerous occasions dispute has arisen as to who was the first white child born in Dallas County.  Persons and newspapers upon occasions have asserted that the distinction belongs to John Neely Bryan, Jr., but in so far as The News is aware, Mr. Bryan has not made such claim himself. Upon the most recent occasion when such a statement appeared in print, and was challenged.  The News appealed to C. B. Gillespie, vice president of the Dallas Historical Association. Mr. Gillespie promptly answered that an investigation of this and other historical questions was in progress, and he promised a detailed report in due season.
The report now has been received. It appears there from that the Hon. John H. Cochran of Sweetwater, formerly of Dallas County, and formerly speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, has been conducting investigations for the purpose of writing a supplemental history of Dallas County and that his investigations establish these facts:
JOHN KEENAN. born on Farmers Branch, Sept 3, 1843, was the first white child born in Dallas County.
JOHN NEELY BRYAN JR., born Feb. 9, 1846, was the eighth white child born in Dallas County, and the first to be born in the original town or village of Dallas.
The record as to the other six of the first eight white children born in Dallas County is set forth by Mr. Cochran in his report through Mr. Gillespie.
The text of a letter written by the Hon. J. D. Cottreil, Plano lawyer, that gave rise to the present inquiry and Mr. Gillespie's statement, in respect thereto are set forth in full as follows:

---

MR. COTTRELL'S LETTER
To the New.
PLANO, Texas, Oct 13. - In your issue of Tuesday, Oct 12, you make a statement that Col. John Neely Bryan was greeting his friends from the log cabin in which he was born. Then you go a little farther on and say that he, Mr. Bryan, was the first white child born in Dallas County. You have made this statement perhaps as many as twenty times in the last forth years. I have been a reader for forty years of The News, and know you have made this same mistake perhaps as many as twenty times.
Now, I have no disposition to take from Col. Bryan any honors that justly belonging to him, and I know that the children and the widow of the late Amos H. Fortner, who died here about twenty years ago, have not. But, small as it may seem, Amos H. Fortner was the first White child born in Dallas County. Mr. Fortner wrote an article to The News at that time and it ran his article, in which he referred to the date of Col. Bryan's birth as shown in the News a few days prior thereto, and then gave his birth record, and he showed that he was born all the way from one year to eighteen months prior to Co. Bryan, and while Col. Bryan does not make this mistake, it is The News.  Yet, in fairness to A. H. Fortner and to his family, a part of whom still live here, I now ask you to reffer to your files and locate Mr. Fortner's letter, which was written and published some tiem between 1891-95.  I think it was in 1891 or 1892, but may have been later than that - and republish his letter.  I know you can find it among your files.  I think this ought to be done in fairness to his family, who are too modest to take issue with The News and then, too, it ought to be done for the benefit of the official historian of Dallas County. I think now Mr. Fortner showed he was born in 1842, maybe a little earlier or maybe a little later than that, but it was bout that time. I have no interest in this matter, an not even a relative of either family., and this may seem a small honor, but it should be settled and settled right while it can be done, etc.
My present recollection now is that Mr. Fortner's letter showed him to be the first white child born in Dallas County, and that Col. Bryan was the first white child to be born in what is now the city of Dallas and I hope, in fairness to Mr. Fortner and his family, you will give this letter space and look up his old letter and run it again; all this just to keep the record straight.  a slogan for which The NEws has become famous, etc. Very truly yours, J. D. COTTRELL.

-------

Mr. Gillespie's Report

To The News:
DALLAS, TEXAS. Dec. 18. - I acknowledge your favor of Oct. 15, referring to me a letter of Oct 13 from Mr. J. D. Cottrell of Plano, Texas, in which he calls in question certain press statements crediting John Neely Bryan Jr. with the being the first white child born in Dallas County and Concluding with the opinion that, in his judgment,  Amos H. Fortner was the first child born in the county. You ask that I aid in settling this dispute and for your information, I will first state that none of the published histories of Dallas County have attempted to show the names of the first-born children of our earliest pioneers, the only exception being that of in Major John Henry Brown's History (1887) he refers on page 63 to John Neely Bryan Jr. as the "first native of the County." Major Brown, I am, sure, based this statement on the information then furnished him (forty years ago), but, as neither he nor anyone else had deemed it necessary to trace up any counter claimants for this honor, this recital was allowed to stand, and this doubtless supported Mr. Bryan's belief that he was the first native and in a way reassured the press in repeating the statement.
Within recent years numerous claims have been made in behalf of those seeking first place among the native children of the county, and not until the Hon. John H. Cochran began his supplemental history of the county had any attempt been made to correctly and definitely settle these disputes. The collection of data for this history began some two years ago and it may be said to Mr. Cochran's credit that he has refused to chronicle as an historical fact any event or occurrence not supported by satisfactory proof. His manuscript is practically complete and I am permitted to quite there from the result of his careful investigation of these matters, which is as follows:
"There has been so much contention as to who was the first white child born in Dallas County that no historian can afford to leave this question without thorough and impartial investigation. Hence I have devoted much time to investigate and ascertain the truth and settle this much-mooted question. From my investigation I find the first eight white children born in Dallas County, Texas, to be as follows, which I shall name in the order in which they were born and give in each case the source of my information, which I am convinced is correct, and will surprise the friends of some of the claimants.
"1. John Keenan was born on Farmers Branch, Sept. 3, 1843 and died Nov. 11, 1845. Information furnished by David C. Keenan of Fort Worth and verified by the inscription on his tombstone at the family graveyard at Farmers Branch.
"2. Amos Hall Fortner, born March 6, 1844, on what is now known as Bachman Branch. Information furnished by his son, Dr. Amos Hall Fortner Jr. of Sweetwater, Texas, and from an interview in the Dallas Weekly News, now The Semi-Weekly Farm News, Thursday, May 7, 1891, in which Amos Hall Fornter gave a sketch of himself.
"3. G. W. L. Shahan was born July 15, 1844 at Cedar Springs, Dallas County, Texas. Taken from a letter written by Mr. Shahan to C. B. Gillespie, which is now in my possession, dated 'Denton, Texas, 10-30-26.' in which Mr. Shahan says, "The family Bible says I was born July 15, 1844, at Cedar Springs, Dallas County."
"4. Mary Mariah Cochran, born March 8, 1845. Taken from William M. and Nancy Jane Cochran's family Bible.
"5. Robert Bruce Merrell. born March 25, 1845. Taken from his family record and inscription on his tombstone in teh graveyard at Minter Chapel near Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas.
6" Mary E. Cole (Tuggle), daughter of Calvin G. Cole, was born Dec. 5. 1845 about 350 yards north of Turtle Creek on the Dallas and Cedar Springs road, near where the late Rev. M. H. Cullum lived and died.
7" G. W. Keenan, born on Farmers Branch Dec 14, 1845. From David C. Keenan of Fort Worth, Texas and from inscription on his tombstone at family graveyard at Farmers Branch.
"8. John Neely Bryan Jr., born in the original town or village of Dallas, Feb. 9, 1846, a little over two years and four months after John Keenan was born and one year and ten months after Amos Hall Fortner was born. Date of birth taken from page 63 of Major Brown's History of Dallas County, John Neely Bryan Jr. now claims the record and says he was born Jan. 9, 1846."
The foregoing excerpt from Mr. Cochran's history is in my judgment a complete answer, not only to your inquiry, but to that of Mr. Cottrell, and should prevent any future contentions as to the first children born in Dallas County. It is of course, possible that some other claimant may later furnish evidence that would slightly change the foregoing order but until this is done this record of the date of both of the first eight children should be considered historically correct.
I return herewith Mr. Cottrell's letter, Very truly
C. B. Gillespie

The Dallas Morning News - December 21, 1926
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams