Kate’s Notes: Samuel Houston Gilliland was one of the more colorful characters of the Texas frontier, having been born just prior to the Civil War and participating in the cattle drives so iconic to the legends of the “Old West”. For Gilliland’s firsthand accounts of his life, refer to Frontier Times Magazine, Vol. 25 # 1, October, 1947:
Contents of this volume:
“Sam H. Gilliland Has Eventful Life”
J. Marvin Hunter, Sr.
   This is the first-hand account of the life of Samuel Houston Gilliland, when he was in his 89th year, as related to the author. Gilliland speaks of the old days that he knew so well and his keen remembrance of the settlers he knew, and his description of conditions that existed in Callahan, Coleman and Brown counties, when these counties were on the extreme frontier.
   Mentions: * born in Washington county, Texas, December 19, 1858 * Mr. and Mrs. Haynie Gilliland * Eli Gilliland * "Old Hickory" Jackson * Haynie Gilliland * Pecan Bayou * Burkett * W. E. Gilliland, Sam and A. G. Gilliland, twins; Judith Gilliland and Jennie Gilliland. Judith married J. E.Hinnigan, and Jennie married Rufus Collier * W. E. Gilliland * Dr. Windham * Amy Gilliland * Dave Parker * the Baird Star * the Tecumseh Banner * Ad-Ran College. * Miss Linnie Rawlins * Mrs. Ruthie May Roebuck of Graham * Miss Blanche Gilliland of Dallas, and John Haynie Gilliland of Dallas * Virgil Rawlins Gilliland * Mrs. Ray Strong of San Antonio * Trickham *
    To obtain a copy of this issue, visit the website of Frontier Times Magazine at: http://www.frontiertimesmagazine.com/1047.html
  Samuel Houston Gilliland’s pedigree can be found in the book, The Loving Irish--the Gillilands, compiled by Martrue Hutcheson Greenwood, published 1970 by Gilliland Family of Texas Association, Bluff Dale, TX. 

From The Abilene Reporter News
Abilene, Texas
18 December 1958

COLEMAN MASONIC HONORS
_________________

100th Birthday Celebration Set

   COLEMAN -- Friday will be “Sam Gilliland Day” for the Masonic Lodge in Coleman.
   A meeting of the lodge will be held at 7 p.m. in celebration of his 100th birthday.
   A Mason for more than 72 years, Mr. Gilliland probably has the longest Masonic history of any man now living in Texas. His record was recently challenged in favor of M. S. Brooks Sr. of Waco, but on the showdown he has been has been a Mason for two months and four days longer than Mr. Brooks.
   Two of Mr. Gilliland’s daughters will be here on the occasion of their father’s birthday. They are Mrs. Ruth Mae Roebuck of Graham and Mrs. Ray Strong of San Antonio. Dr. D. D. Tidwell of Howard Payne College, Brownwood, will be the principal speaker. All Masons are invited to be present for the meeting.
   Born in Washington County, Texas, Dec. 19, 1858, he was christened Samuel Houston Gilliland after Sam Houston, a friend of his grandfather’s. The family moved to Brown County in 1859, Mr. Gilliland’s mother died in 1860 and his father died while serving in the Confederate army in 1864.* Mr. Gilliland made his home with his grandparents after the death of his parents.
   In 1882 Mr. Gilliland entered Add-Rann College of Thorp Springs (now Texas Christian University at Fort Worth**). After leaving college he moved to the Tecumseh community, near Oplin in Callahan County, and worked in a general store owned by Doc Windham. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in the Tecumseh Lodge No. 552 on Nov. 13, 1886.
   Mr. Gilliland grew up with the west, and remembers vividly making half a dozen cattle drives to the Big Bend Country.
   For many years Mr. Gilliland held a public office in Coleman, having served as public weigher, county treasurer, tax assessor, and tax collector. He retired from public office about 1926.

-- -- transcription by Kate Maynard, 2010

* At the age of 39 Haynie Gilliland enlisted in Nelson’s Regiment of Infantry (Texas) and served as a nurse. The exact cause of his death in 1864 is unclear, but he contracted a deadly fever, perhaps associated with measles.

**East Texas brothers Addison & Randolph Clark, together with their father Joseph A. Clark, founded what was then called the AddRan Male & Female College in 1873 after the brothers had returned from service in the American Civil War. The college was named after AddRan Clark, the first son of Addison. The boy died of diphtheria at the age of three. His name was derived from a contraction of the two brothers' names. That name is now preserved in TCU's AddRan College of Liberal Arts. It memorializes the university's connection with its founders.