Below is a short narrative Simon Gonzalez, who was a soldier in the Texas Revolution. Gonzalez was part of the 3rd Company of Rangers for the Texas Republic, enlistment from March 10, 1836 to August 23, 1836. This excerpt is from my book Cemeteries of Ambivalent Desire:
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He was eligible for a land bounty through the Republic of Texas, and ultimately held patent to over 2,100 acres in east Texas Wood County. Gonzales also had a family. A document from 1851 (from the Texas Archives) stated that his heirs were requesting a patent for his land in Wood County. Martin Varner was his neighbor. Simon and Martin had possibly some contact before their last encounter in 1844. Simon had been to Brazoria County in the late 1830s, where Martin had his previous land patent. They were both in the Texas Army in April, 1836.13
In 1844, the two men argued over a debt. Simon shot Martin. In an article written in October 2000, an East Texas historian explains that Martin’s son came to help, and that Simon shot and killed the boy. In retaliation, Varner, then seriously wounded, proceeded to:
…cut the tendons in Gonzales' legs…Gonzales pleaded with Varner to kill him quickly, but Varner refused, reasoning that a quick death would not be commensurate with the crime he had committed…Gonzales was thrown into a hog pen where the animals began to chew on his body. When he finally died the next morning, his remains were hauled to a remote part of his own farm and buried in a shallow grave.(Bowman, 2000)
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