A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Stockton Patsey Donley
The Handbook of Texas Online (article on Stockton P. Donley):
DONLEY, STOCKTON P. (1821-1871). Stockton P. Donley, attorney, was born in Howard County, Missouri, on May 27, 1821. He attended Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar in that state before moving to Texas in 1846. He began his law practice at Clarksville and in 1847 moved to Rusk, where he became the partner of James M. Anderson.qv Donley soon distinguished himself as a skilled criminal lawyer. In 1853 he was elected district attorney of the Sixth Judicial District. His practical arguments and prodigious ability to unravel crimes were said to have been equal to those of such legendary lawyers as John Randolph and Patrick Henry. In 1854 he married Judith Evans of Marshall. Their son and only child, William S. Donley, later married Anna Reagan, a daughter of John H. Reagan,qv and became a prominent attorney.
In 1860 Donley moved his law office to Tyler. When the Civil Warqv broke out the following year he enlisted as a private in Col. John Gregg'sqv Seventh Regiment of Texas Volunteers. Soon after his promotion to a lieutenancy he was captured, along with the entire regiment, at the siege of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in February 1862. Due to failing health after he was exchanged, he was assigned to post duty and continued in that capacity until the war's end, after which he resumed his practice at Tyler. He was elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1866 but removed from office by the Reconstructionqv military commandant on September 10, 1867. He then became the law partner of Oran M. Roberts, and later of John L. Henry.qqv His wife died, and in 1867 Donley married Mrs. Emma Slaughter, with whom he had a daughter. He died at Kaufman on February 17, 1871, and was interred at Tyler. Donley County, in the Texas Panhandle, was named for him.
WFT 22 # 1690:
Since his mother died when he was a baby he was brought up by his aunt, Margaret Donnelly Ewin. In 1933 [sic] he went to Ky with his father. He remained in KY until he moved to Rusk, Cherokee Co., TX in 1846. He became a noted lawyer and a man of means in Tyler, TX.
The middle name is from WFT 22 # 1690. Other sources only had middle initial P.
The dates are all messed up in WFT 22 # 1690 and Bob Reeves.
He is mentioned in a letter (spelled as Stockden Donnelly) from Benjamin Harrison Reeves to Jeanette (Reeves) Leonard, dated Feb 1848, as being in Texas, within a day or two ride of Reuben A. Reeves (probably in Rusk and Palestine, which are about 30 miles apart). There are a lot of parallels between Stockton Donley and Reuben Reeves: They both went to the same part of Texas near the same time in the 1840s. They were both lawyers and judges. They both joined the Confederacy in the Civil War. They both served on the Texas Supreme Court, though not at the same time. They were both removed from judicial positions during Reconstruction.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
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