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This is the story of Otto G. “Tummy” Tumlinson, a country boy who refused to accept that lot. He literally raised himself by his own boot straps, worked his way through Texas A & M, served as a tank officer in France in World War I, homesteaded in Montana, was a leader in the Agricultural Extension Service, served again in France in World War II, started his own ranching business and together with Maude, raised four boys including college educations. By any measure, he lived a full and successful life. Richard R (Dick) Tumlinson, 1441 N Rock Rd Apt 1106, Wichita KS 67206-1241, Dicktum51@aol.com
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Pioneer Texas Tumlinsons
The Tumlinsons have an illustrious family history from
early Texas times. According to unconfirmed reports that
Sam Tumlinson unearthed, Tumlinsons traveled to the
New World in1754 on the ship Hirsh. It was recorded that
there were Tumlinsons that lived in Lincoln and Burk
Counties in North Carolina. Early in the 19th Century
several Tumlinson families began to migrate westward,
first to Tennessee then Missouri and Arkansas and later to
Texas. There were two Tumlinson families that came to
Texas in late 1821 in response to the advertisements of
Moses Austin of free land to be had in Texas. They came
to be part of the original 300 families that came to Texas
with Stephen F. Austin, Moses’ son.
John Jackson Tumlinson came with his family consisting of
Elizabeth Plemmons Tumlinson, his wife, and children,
Thomas Carney, Peter, John Jackson, Andrew, Joseph,
Jane, Catharine, Elizabeth, Mary Ann and Rachel. There
were several cases of common names in the several
Tumlinson families, so sometimes it was confusing to keep
them straight. John Jackson Tumlinson was Otto’s direct
ancestor.
The other family was headed by James Tumlinson, and
included his wife Elizabeth, and children; who were
Littleton, James, David Carney, George W., John James,
Thomas, Josiah, Andrew, Samuel and Polly. William P.
and Edy were two additional children that stayed in
Arkansas, but came later. John’s and Elizabeth’s youngest
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son, Thomas, was born later in Texas. It was generally
thought that James and John Jackson were brothers,
although there were records that suggested otherwise that
Sam Tumlinson noted in letters written after his landmark
book “Tumlinson – A Geneology.”
There were other Tumlinsons that migrated to Texas
during this early time, but the two families of John Jackson
and James are of the most interest to our current day
Tumlinson families.
In November, 1822, John Jackson Tumlinson was elected
as alcalde by the colonists of the Colorado district who
settled along the Colorado River. The other district was
the Brazos district along the Brazos River. The position of
alcalde came from Spanish tradition and was essentially
the leader and the civil magistrate. Along with an alcalde,
a captain and a lieutenant of militia were selected who
were Robert Kuykendall and Mosses Morrison for the
Colorado colonists.
The settlers organized to respond to several attacks from
Karankawas Indians. John Jackson Tumlinson and Robert
Kuykendall wrote the Mexican governor asking
permission to “raise fifteen hardy expert young men who
were expert with the rifle” to protect the coast so new
colonists could land safely. There is no recorded reply but
the company was mustered in on May 5, 1823 by
Lieutenant Morrison.
To relieve a critical shortage of ammunition for the
company, John Jackson Tumlinson and Joseph Newman
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set out for San Antonio on July 6. At the Guadalupe River,
they met several Indians who were either Waco or
Tawakoni. Tumlinson extended his hand to be friendly,
but was jerked off of his horse and was stabbed to death.
Newman barely escaped. John Jackson Tumlinson became
the first one to die in the line of duty for the new colony.
Elizabeth Tumlinson, John Jackson’s widow, was issued
one of the first land grants in 1824 in place of her husband.
The land was on the south bank of the Colorado River and
became the land that the town of Columbus now occupies.
There is a monument on the city square that commemo‐
rates the Elizabeth Tumlinson land grant.
Following the death of John Jackson, the Tumlinson men
of both families became bitter and vengeful Indian
fighters with notable success. John Jackson’s sons John
Jackson (referred to herein as John J. to help keep them
straight). and young Joseph led settlers who attacked and
killed Waco Indians thought to be their father’s killers.
Another son, Andrew, led numerous attacks against
Indians, and was killed in 1830 in a fight with a single
brave who also died in the fight.
The story of Andrew’s death is from Davy Crockett’s
book, “Life of David Crockett”. +He (a friend of Crockett
named Jim Crow) gave me, among other matters, the following
account of a reencounter between one of the early settlers and the
Indians:‐
“Andrew Tumlinson,” said he, “belonged to a family
which the colonists of De Witt will long remember as one of their
chief stays in the dangers of settling these wilds trod only by the
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WORLD WAR I
Spring 1917, when Tummy was completing his Junior
year, was a time of great changes for A & M and the
United States as a whole, as war clouds began to reach
across the Atlantic. Anticipating the entrance of the United
States into the war, the faculty of A & M, led by President
Bizzell and ratified by the Board of Directors, offered the
entire facilities of the College to the federal government for
war training. A & M was the first college in the country to
offer its facilities for training. On April 6th, Congress
approved a declaration of war.
H. C. Dethloff detailed the next events in his book, ʺA
Centennial History of Texas A & M Universityʺ, Texas
A & M University Press, 1975:
ʺImmediately after the declaration of war the College
administration excused practically the entire senior class of the
College from further academic duties in order to give these
young men an opportunity to enter the first officer‐training
school, located at Camp Funston, Leon Springs, Texas. Seventy‐
three of the one hundred and fifty seniors were finally admitted
to the officer‐training course, in addition to twenty others who
did not have senior rating. The first course was to begin May
14. Other students were enlisting directly in the various
services. President Bizzell upon the urging of the junior class,
obtained special permission from the War Department for
juniors to attend the Officer Training School in Leon Springs.
Some twenty‐four juniors signed up for the training course by
May 18. The student body of the College was being gradually
depleted. Those who remained were on a ʺwar footing,ʺ for,
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while class work was being continued, the stress was on drilling
and military exercises. ʺOn April 7, 1917, the day after war was
declaredʺ reads President Bizzellʹs report, ʺthe amount of
time devoted to military instruction was increased to ten hours
per week, besides a material increase in the time devoted to target
practice.ʺ
Tummy was one of the twenty‐four juniors who signed up
for the Leon Springs training camp. Thus, his school days
at A & M ended very quickly. But when the remainder of
his class graduated the following year, he was ʺpresentʺ in
the 1918 Longhorn Annual with the following description.
ʺOtto Gurvas Tumlinson
Pleasanton
Agriculture
Age 21; Lieutenant in 357th Infantry, Camp Travis;
Sargent Co. ʺC‐1stʺ; Corporal Co. ʺC‐1stʺ; Private Co. ʺC‐1st.ʺ
“Tummy”
ʺTummyʺ came to A. & M. with the class of ʺʹ17ʺ. He
was not blessed by being the son of a millionaire for when he
arrived here as a ʺFishʺ he had $60 ‐ since that time he had no
money with which to pay his expenses except what he earned by
hard labor.
ʺTummy,ʺ although you did not receive a ʺsheepskinʺ
from our noble institution, we feel that you deserve great praise
for your work here and the sacrifice you have made.
“Tummyʺ is now wearing the insignia of Second
Lieutenant in Uncle Samʹs army of patriotic men.ʺ
After a grueling three months at the Leon Springs camp.
O.G. was one of the men who survived and were
commissioned second lieutenants in the Army on August
15, 1917. Of the 3200 that started the training, 1400
finished. These ʺFirst Campersʺ were proud of their
perseverance and their service and enjoyed their reunions
of the ʺFirst Camperʺ Association over many years.
Lieutenant Tumlinson
Tummy was assigned to the 357th Infantry at Camp
Travis. Rebecca Tumlinson recalled when he and his
buddy (probably Boots Martin) would ride over on their
motorcycle during this time. They gave her rides and
taught her the military drills and how to salute. Later, that
December, an order was published requesting volunteers
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WORLD WAR II
When O. G. returned from France in May 1919, he was
discharged from the Army. Shortly thereafter, he was
released from the reserves as well. After all, the ʺWar to
End All Warsʺ had been won and there was no need to
stay with the Army. However, thirteen years later he
was disturbed by events in Germany and the rise of
Hitlerʹs Nazi Party. He applied for and was reappointed
as a 2nd Lieutenant, Infantry Reserve on February 1,
1932, even though he was well over age for that rank. He
remained active in the reserves including several short
tours of active duty. In April 1940 he was promoted to
Captain, Infantry Reserve.
On November 13, 1941, he was recalled to active duty
and sent orders to report for duty at Seattle, Washing‐
ton. He was placed on leave from his position as Secre‐
tary of the Houston Production Credit Corporation. He
and Maude began the long trip by car to Washington.
December 7th and the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japan‐
ese arrived before they could report. It was several days
before they could reach Seattle. The organization that he
was to report to had already been loaded on a ship and
was on the way to the Philippines. Years later I learned
that ship actually made it to Australia instead. So
Captain Tumlinson was placed in a personnel pool to
await another assignment and Maude began the long
trip home. Fortunately, she found someone who also
needed to travel to Texas to help with driving, and she
made it home just in time for Christmas.
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The assignment turned out to be Base Signal Officer,
Base Cryptographic Officer, Base Signal Property Officer
and Commanding Officer of the 852th Signal Service
Company at Portland Army Air Base, near Portland,
Oregon. This was a difficult assignment for the reserve
infantry captain with no Signal Corps background. But,
such is war, and he made the best of it. The good news
was that the assignment provided the opportunity for
him to enjoy his family over the next summer.
Captain Otto G. Tumlinson, Signal Corps When the war began for the United States, Pete was in
his senior year at Texas A & M College. He was in very
near the same situation as his dad was at the beginning
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T‐BAR RANCH
After his World War II experience was over, Dad went
back to his job with the Production Credit Corporation
in Houston. But it was not the same. And his life‐long
dream was to be a rancher. With the help of his friend
and boss, Sterling Evans, the elements of achieving that
dream began to come together. Dad began looking
around for a suitable place. Sterling Evans learned that
the old Riverside Farm near Cameron, just across the
Little River from his place, was going on the market, and
suggested to Dad that he should have a look. The farm
had a large area of bottomland along the Little River
including the confluence with the San Gabriel River. It
also included acreage away from the river on higher
ground, which made a good combination for ranching.
The farm was too big for Dad to handle alone, so he
brought his brother Victor in with him. A ranch was
also Victor’s dream. They talked to the owner’s attorney
and together they pledged to R. L. Batte, the owner, to
buy the Riverside Farm. They just needed a little time to
arrange their financing. Two weeks later, when Otto
and Victor came back with their financing in hand, they
learned that B. F. Clarke had purchased the place on
September 4, 1946. Disappointed, they resumed their
search. A year later, they learned that Clarke wanted to
sell because he had already had enough. So on October
7, 1947, the two brothers bought the Riverside Farm.
They divided it into two parts for their different
operations. Otto took 1072 acres to the west and named
it the T‐Bar Ranch and Victor took the other 2188 acres.
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Ozell Angel, Victor Tumlinson, Sterling Evans , O. G.
The Riverside Farm has a historic and interesting
history. It dates back before the Texas Revolution to
March 20, 1835 when it was part of the league of land
granted to Sarah Wilhelm by the state of Coahuila. Ab‐
stract records indicate that she sold the land to James R.
Roger in 1868, who, in turn, sold to R. L. Batte in 1890.
The heavily forested land was cleared with convict labor
leased for farm operations. Batte sold the farm to an
association in Cameron in 1901. The name of the
association was The Riverside Farm. And, later, in 1917,
after it had gone through several owners, Batte bought it
back. He operated the farm with convict labor, but later
shifted to sharecroppers that included Mexican, Negro
and Anglo families. At the peak, there were as many as
seventy families who lived in small houses Batte built
for them. At one time there was a school for Anglo and
Mexican children. The Negro children had to travel to
the Plymouth school. Flooding from the river was a
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