From the desk of Henry Ralph

""As you read the book, please bear in mind that the majority of it is simply a reprinting of old letters and papers from Henry's desk. Henry, son of Samuel and Sophia Dean Ralph, was the first white child born (January 11, 1838) in Jasper County, Texas, after it was established as a separate counties. The papers belonged to five people: Henry Ralph; Henry's father, Samuel Ralph; Henry's mother, Sophia Dean Ralph; Henry's father-in-law, Gorham May; and Gorham's father in law, Barney Lowe. ..."."@en
"Samuel Ralph was born in Wexford, Ireland, ca. 1792, and arrived in arrived in Nacogdoches, Texas, in 1834, with a wife and son. His wife died, ca. 1835. He married 2) Sophia Waller Pridgeon Doles Dean, daughter of William and Sophia Waller Prideon, and widow of _____ Doles, and Edward Dean, in 1836. They had a son, Henry Ralph, born in 1838. Samuel Ralph left home in 1840 and the family never really knew what happened to him. He joined a Santa Fe expedition in 1840. He may have later joined the gold rush to Califorinia, and may have gone to New York before the Civil War. His son, Henry Ralph (1838-1924), married twice and was the father of fourteen children, 1859-1892, born in Jasper County, Texas. He served with the Thirteenth Texas Cavalry during the Civil War."@en