Descendants of the Fearless Fifty-Nine, Stephen William Blount

“The Descendants of the Fearless Fifty-Nine”

STEPHEN WILLIAM BLOUNT by Judy Hough-Goldstein.

Stephen William Blount was born in Georgia in 1808 and moved to Texas in 1835. On August 7, 1843, eight years later, Stephen’s father wrote him a letter (which has been passed down in our family) hinting at the dark reason that Stephen had left Georgia at the age of 27. The bulk of the letter talks about the various marriages and children born to his brothers and sisters, and their financial difficulties and need to sell “the Plantation” and slaves (“I sold Pat and her four children on the first Tuesday in May last…”). The letter also states, “every person that was knowing to your 4 of July frolic is either dead or gone away all the Sharps are dead… if you wish to come to Georgia I think you could come without any risk.” Family lore has it that the “frolic” involved Blount running into one of the Sharps while on horseback. After identifying himself and asking for the other man’s name, he thought the man was making fun of his name (“Blunt” versus “Sharp”) and subsequently shot him. Probably both were drunk. In any case, he felt he had to flee the state to avoid prosecution.