William Alexander Anderson ‘Bigfoot’ Wallace (4/3/1817 – 1/7/1899) came to Texas from Lexington, Virginia shortly after the Goliad massacre. Wallace was a descendant of Scots William Wallace and Robert Bruce. He fought in a few battles after the Revolution – which was over by the time he got to Texas settling for a time in La Grange – including fighting the Woll Invasion and the Mier Expedition, where he drew a white bean. He was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed around 240 pounds in his prime.

Wallace fought with the Texas Mounted Volunteers during the Mexican War. In the 1850s he commanded a Texas Ranger company and engaged in fighting border bandits and Native Americans. During the Civil War he helped guard the frontier against Comanche attack. The state granted him land on the Medina River and in Frio County. Bigfoot Wallace retired to South Texas near a town named Bigfoot after him, where he loved telling tales about his exploits as a Texas Ranger. After death, he was buried in the Texas State Cemetery. He never married.

Francis Marion Otis Fenn (10/9/1860 – 11/28/1939) was the son of John R. and Rebecca Williams Fenn. John’s father, Eli Fenn, came to Texas in 1832. A year later, he and his family settled on property owned by his father-in-law David Fitzgerald near Richmond. Eli died in 1837. John fought in the Texas Army in the Revolution and was captured by the Mexicans just prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. He also joined the Mier Expedition though he was among the group that chose to turn around and not press the fight into Mexico. John owned a good deal of land in Fort Bend County and engaged in farming and ranching with his large number of slaves. John and Rebecca had a plantation 19 miles south of Richmond in what was called Duke on Long Point Creek. John served in the Civil War and died in 1904. He was buried in the family cemetery at Duke.

F.M.O. Fenn spent his youth on the family plantation and went to Roanoke College at Salem, Virginia and then to the University of Virginia where he excelled at oratory. After school, he opened a law office in Houston and moved to Richmond in 1888. In 1890, F.M.O. Fenn was elected county attorney and served two terms. After that he also served as justice of the peace. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Houston.

Bigfoot Wallace gave his collection of Native American artifacts to F.M.O. Fenn on April 21, 1883. Wallace had received them during his career as a Texas Ranger. Fenn then gave them to J.H.P. Davis for his birthday on January 11, 1919. Davis was a Richmond cattle raiser and banker and a friend of Fenn’s. He is also the father of Mamie George.

Historical facts and photos courtesy of the

Fort Bend County Museum Association, Richmond, TX

Bigfoot Wallacce