In April 1876, the Old Rover lived in Goliad, and from there he wrote a letter to his son, Albert Greenville, complaining about life in Texas in what is post Reconstruction. He seemed anxious to leave Goliad.
In 1878, LD started the process to secure the Bear Creek land near Uvalde, Texas, for his family. It is doubtful that any funds changed hands for this transaction (a Bexar Pre-Emption), but it can be noted that he and John Henry sold horses in Atascosa County that summer. They ostensibly had cash for a new venture. On his application for the land, LD described the land Patent by metes and bounds, and he noted “improvements made on the land”. He and John Henry may have taken up residency on the property, although no construction of a home or shelter has been documented.
Daughter Mary Lafferty was married to Buffalo Soldier Robert Emory in 1868; he was shot and killed (“while deserting”) at Fort Duncan on July 4, 1872. In 1880, Mary disappeared from local records, along with information about her firstborn daughter. Mary’s mother (Rachel) and a grandchild, Texana Emory, were living together at Fort Duncan. There’s no evidence that LD acknowledged little Texana, but this is a man known to love his children deeply. Living and circulating so close to Fort Duncan, it’s highly likely that Rachel and the child were in his life. It is, however, unlikely that he was living with them.
In their elder years, mothers may reside with adult daughters and sons reside with fathers. Perhaps (especially given their horse-trading business) LD and John Henry were together in the Uvalde area. But by summer of 1880, John Henry lived with the Ed Hokit family on land adjacent to the 160 acres that LD claimed.
While LD is not listed on any census in the state of Texas for 1880, this is consistent with his track record for being elusive. It seems unusual for John Henry to be living with neighbors when his father has 160 acres of beautiful land (with acknowledged improvements) on Bear Creek just a few yards away, however, he may be boarding with his neighbors for convenience. The 1880 Agricultural Census for Precinct 3 in Uvalde County was enumerated on June 24, and “John Laferty” is listed as the owner of 160 acres — 8 acres tilled, 100 acres of permanent meadows or pastures and 50 acres of woodlands. He owned 5 horses, 12 working oxen, 12 pigs and 4 chickens! The only crop listed is 4 acres of Indian Corn.
So, it follows that LD may have died after 4 October 1878 but before 24 June 1880.
The remaining son, Jim, is running with a bad crowd and will be involved in a murder in El Paso in 1882, for which he was sent to Rusk Prison. It’s highly doubtful that LD lived with Jim. By all accounts, it’s John Henry with whom LD has a closer relationship with.
In June of 1882, land records in Uvalde noted ownership of the Bear Creek Patent as “LD Lafferty deceased”.
John Henry and Maggie were married in July 1882, just a month after transactions to sell the Lafferty Patent. In June 1883, Maggie and John Henry named their firstborn after his grandfather and called him “Dow”.
If LD died while living on Bear Creek, it seems logical that he would be buried on his own land or in the Bear Creek Cemetery nearby. It is worth noting, however, that the first recorded grave at Bear Creek is 1884, and it’s not a Lafferty. Subsequently, there are two more early graves marked 1897 and 1898. Cemetery records (though they are sparse) do not indicate any unmarked graves — but it’s likely there could be many. The cemetery is a rather large tract of land.
The foreman for the late Wallace Stedman Wilson, owner of Bear Creek Ranch, indicated that he and Wilson had seen evidence of at least one gravesite in the dense brush on the property near the old Hokit ranch house. However, a cursory search on a very cold winter day in 2008 was not fruitful.