|
|
| |
|
WELCOME TO BETTY'S TRAILS!
It's
all about TEXAS--told in the books I've written or seen at the beautiful, tranquil RETREAT in the hills of central Texas that
we are developing.
T
E
X
A
S
PLEASE CLICK ON BETTY'S BOOKS
AT THE TOP LEFT OF THIS PAGE TO GO TO A DESCRIPTION OF EACH OF MY BOOKS.
The links on the book titles direct you
to the publisher and a book search page. Please enter my name Meischen under author and it will take you to the order page.
|
Hello
friends! Welcome to my website devoted to my love for the great state of TEXAS. I have been researching Texas history for
more than thirty years. As I got deeper into my study, I began to realize how many of my Austin County Texas families had
their roots anchored in Colonial Virginia, some going all the way back to the early 1600's in the Jamestown colony at the
very beginning of America. This comprehensive research resulted in my first book From Jamestown to Texas. This collection
of history was soon followed by two novels, both entitled Trails West. These novels are based on the historical roots described
in From Jamestown to Texas (with a little poetic license, of course, for spice!), a love story here and there, a fist fight
or two thrown in for color but I really did not have to change history too much. Their real life stories were exciting enough.
The Novels are based on the real life adventures of my ancestors, starting with the Bell brothers, their journey to Texas,
the initial struggles to carve Texas from the wilderness and their involvement in the revolution that changed American history.
The connections to my family with Colonel William Barrett Travis of the Alamo are factual and fascinating. This quest began
many years ago when I was searching for a lost ancestor in Austin County, Texas, the colonial capitol of Texas--and my home
for most of my life. Those trails led back to a fascinating story of conflict, struggle and nation building. History is linked
from decade to decade. What happens today is history tomorrow and it affects everything in the future. No matter whether one
is a general, a famous explorer or just a poor farmer, each person has an impact on everyone else and the way in which the
chain of historical events take place. If you have questions or comments, please contact me by clicking here on Bettys Trails West...I'd love to hear from you.
Since I came to love these
rolling hills of Texas so much, I felt the desire to carve out some of my own trails in a little wilderness in Washington
County, Texas right on the border of both Austin, Washington and Fayette Counties. In each of these counties, my ancestors
received original land grants from the Mexican government in the 1830's. We are, therefore, very happy to announce the opening
of our new project TRAILS WEST RETREAT.
My husband Del and I found a lovely, little rocky creek with a series of
small waterfalls on a sleepy back road near Round Top, Texas. The live oaks along the county road stretch their branches across
so that you have a feel of entering a deep-woods Sleepy Hollow. There are camping facilities, and places for family reunions,
parties and small weddings. Please click on Trails West Retreat at the top left of this page to come for a visit.
HAPPY TRAILS!
--Betty
|
|
|
Betty Smith Meischen
|
|
I have dedicated
many years of research to this project. Many families, their origins and their routes of migration are described on these
webpages. So enjoy exploring the past with me. Visit this site to see all the courses of Betty's historic
trails by clicking here.
We all travel down many roads throughout the course of a lifetime. From all our experiences
along these roads we take, we have learned many things. The life we lead today was formed by the paths that we took yesterday,
and those paths that our parents and ancestors trod many years before that. The earth is one big family and what each one
of us does effects all the others upon this planet. Therefore, it is important to learn about all the trails of history to
make a better world in the future. I have been especially interested in the pioneers that explored trails that were completely
new to them. On these pages you will find some excerpts that are dealt with in larger scale in my books.
|
AVAILABLE NOW FROM www.iuniverse.com
FROM JAMESTOWN
TO TEXAS BOOK II:
VIRGINIA: THE CRADLE OF AMERICA
This book is an intensive five year study of the historical land
grants of the 1600-1700 era of Virginia. It links these original colonial families to many families who later settled Texas.
It shows the relationships of these early families to each other, their religious and political beliefs, where they lived,
their lifestyles and how many were connected to British royalty centuries earlier.
|
|
Click on Awesome History at the top left to check out the different
families and places covered in From Jamestown to Texas. Many of these families go back to the blue blood of Europe. In the
continuing study of these colonial families, my newly published book, a follow-up to From Jamestown to Texas, Virginia, The
Cradle of America documents the close relationship of these original American colonists, their English, French, Irish and
Scottish ancestors and their migration routes. A dedicated study of original land patents in early Virginia and placement
of these families along rivers, streams and swamps shows their intricate association.
|
From
Jamestown to Texas, Trails West II and the Secret Order are all available directly from the publisher at www.iuniverse.com.
Trails West I is available from Authorhouse. All of these titles can also be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles
and many other online booksellers.
Write to me at:
Betty Meischen
10900 Mayer Cemetery Rd Burton, Texas, 77835 979-278-3409 for an
autographed personalized copy.
bettystrails@yahoo.com
|
|
Betty Meischen is a seventh generation Texan who was
born at and currently lives in Bellville, Austin County, Texas with her husband of thirty six years Del. They live on the
Cummings Hacienda, land that once belonged to Rebecca Cummings, fiance of Col. William Barret Travis, Commander of the Alamo.
Betty
and Del have three grown children, Jeffrey Layne of San Marcos, TX, Michael Scott of Dallas, TX and Rebecca Lynn Malone of
College Station, TX. We also have two grandsons, two year old Jacob Ryan Malone, born March 2, (Texas Independence Day!) and
Jackson Lee Meischen, born March 30, 2006.
Betty, Del, Jeff, Scott and Becky all graduated from Bellville High School
as did Betty's parents, AJ and Sibyl Smith and her two brothers AJ Jr and Ricky Smith.
The roots of this family go
back to 1822 in Texas when Betty's ggg-grandfather James Bell and his brother Thomas came to Stephen F. Austin's brand new
colony and founded the town of Bellville. Betty has 13 direct ancestors who were in Austin County prior to 1836 and many
more who came shortly thereafter. Her last immigrant ancestor to come to Texas was Fred Smith of England who came about 1880
to Dallas.
Husband Del was born in Bellville also. He grew up on a farm near Industry, Texas. Industry just celebrated
its 175th anniversary. It has the distinct honor of being the first German settlement in Texas. The Meischen brothers came
from Oldenburg Germany and settled in Shelby, Austin County, Texas in 1869. Shelby is only 4 miles away from our Retreat.
Del's Haedge roots trace back to the 1840's in this county.
|
THE ALAMO MISSION SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR, TEXAS
A
handful of heroes died here in March 1836. The roots of many of these fallen patriots lead back to Jamestown, Virginia or
the battlefields of Scotland and Ireland. Their stories are told in the books I have written.
|
|
|