Ross Avenue a street in Dallas named after slave holders and Confederate soldiers

Page 1 of 5

ROSS AVENUE – Ed Sebesta 4/6/2021 The entry in the Portal to Texas History for the Dallas County Probate Case 2037 for W.W. Ross in the online The Portal to Texas History provided by the Dallas Genealogical Society, has in the description that Ross avenue was named after the brothers William W. Ross and Capt. A.J. Ross.1 The entry, “Ross Brothers,” in the “Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas,” 1892, pp. 712-713, states, “Ross avenue, one of the finest thoroughfares in Dallas city, is named in honor of these gentlemen.”2 W.W. Ross and Andrew J. Ross settled in Smith County, Texas in 1854 and did not move to Dallas until 1866.3 In the 1860 census for Smith County, Texas, W.W. Ross owned 25 slaves and A.J. Ross owned 21.4 On the census form for the slaves there is their age, their sex, and their color.

There are no names, not even first names, they are inventoried like so many farm animals. (See Appendix for details.)

W.W. Ross was part of the Confederate War effort. From the Tyler Reporter, August 1, 1861, is the following notice: A Camp of Instruction in Smith County.

We learn from Maj. Earle, just in from Camp Locke, that 6. Brown and Smith, of the Rusk and Smith county companies, have determined to establish a Camp in this county, for the purpose of regimental drill. All organized companies in the sixth Military District are not only requested, but solicited to attend, on or before the 15th inst. The following named gentlemen have been chosen to select a suitable place for the Camp, viz: W. W. Ross, Dr. M. J. Lawrence, Frank Ross, and A. A. Holt. We understand that Capt. Brown is authorized by Col. Locke to form a

1

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth492820/, saved as PDF 4/6/2021. It is part of the Dallas County Probate Records. The Portal to Texas History is hosted online by the University of North Texas Libraries.

2 “Ross Brothers,” in the “Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas,” The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892, pp. 712-713.

3 “Ross Brothers,” in the “Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas,” The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892, pp. 712-713.

4 Ancestry.com, provided in conjunction with National Archives and Records Administration, 1860 census records for W.W. Ross of Jamestown, Smith County, Texas and A.J. Ross of Jamestown, Smith County Texas.

Page 2 of 5

regiment or Battalion as soon as a sufficient number of Companies attend.5 It appears that while in Confederate service W.W. Ross along with other members of the Confederate army seized an American Citizen, G.W. Whitmore, and had him imprisoned in Tyler, Texas. There attempted defense in court was that they were in the Confederate army and had to follow orders.6 The Dallas Daily Herald, June 8, 1880, announced that W.W. Ross was a volunteer on the Reception Committee for the Democratic Party State convention in Dallas, Texas. 7 This was the political party of white supremacy at the time.

Andrew J. Ross was in the Confederate army. From the “Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas,” is the statement, “Andrew J. was a soldier in the late war, and when it was ended joined his brother in Dallas county.”8 His obituary in the DMN also stated that the immigrated to Smith County, Texas in 1854, and then moved to Dallas in 1866.

Further, “He was a Confederate soldier, serving with honor during the Civil War.”9 There is the possibility though that the street is only named after William W. Ross. In the DMN 1923 article, “Early Resident Tells How Streets of Dallas Received Their Names,” K. Hall, tells of his father H.H. Hall and the origin of some of the street names in Dallas. As for Ross Avenue, he explains: “Hall street, which I understand is one of the longest cross streets in the city now, was named by my father, H.H. Hall, in 1869 for himself, when he opened the Hall Addition, bounded by Bryan street, Ross avenue and Hall and Washington streets. All the streets in this portion of the city were named by my father and his associates, Uncle Billy Ross and W.H. Gaston.

“Ross avenue, named after Uncle Billy Ross.”10 “A Camp of Instruction in Smith County,” Tyler Reporter, Aug. 1, 1861, page 2, col. 5, from “Tyler [TX] Reporter, 1861-1864,” 2016, page 32 of unpaginated document, of the Scholar Works at UT Tyler collection of online documents, https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1128, downloaded 4/6/2021.

6 Article, “Smith County,” from The South-Western, of Shreveport, Louisiana, Jun 22, 1869, page 3. See also, “The Texas Reports: Cases Adjudges in the Supreme Court,” Vol. 33, Ed. E.M. Wheelock, The Gilbert Book Co., 1882, pages 356-357.

7 No author, “The Citizen’s Meeting and the Democratic State Convention,” The Dallas Daily Herald, 6/8/1880, page 4.

8 “Ross Brothers,” in the “Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas,” The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892, pp. 712-713.

9 No author, “Texas Pioneer Passes Away,” DMN, 9/17/1905, page 9.

10 No author, “Early Resident Tells How Streets of Dallas Received Their Names,” DMN, 9/16/1923, page 1.

5

Page 3 of 5

At William W. Ross’s funeral in 1899, W.H. Gaston, spoke at W.W. Ross’ funeral and stated that, “Ross avenue was named in his honor.”11 These two newspaper articles don’t necessarily contradict the other source. Gaston was speaking about the deceased and the newspaper article needed to be short. K. Hall, was trying to remember street naming from over 50 years ago. He remembers “Uncle Billy” who worked with his father and is probably making assumptions.

Street names usually are made up by the real estate developer when they are doing a development and deed the land for the streets to the city. In most occasions the city has an ordinance in which streets are named and the reason for the street name is not part of the ordinance. Though there are special occasions where the reason is given, but almost all the time no reason is given.

When Dallas was small, everyone knows the origins of the street names, there weren’t that many streets, most of the people who had named the streets were still living or their children were living. It generally, with exceptions, isn’t news. It isn’t until the 1920s that street name origins are a topic in the Dallas Morning News. By the 1920s the City of Dallas is larger and there are many more people than the early days, and the children of whom the streets were named after are passing away. A lot of people don’t know who the street was named after and there starts to be streets named after them.

Even then, often the origin of a street name isn’t in the press until the wife of the person for whom the street is named after dies. Then it is in the obituary as part of the significance of the person and her family. When the husband died, it wasn’t considered, important, but by the time the wife dies, it really isn’t known generally and it is considered important. If you are researching street names you read the obituaries of persons with the same last name and then record their surviving spouses name and look up that obituary.

The A.H. Belo company hasn’t seen fit to digitize the Dallas Time Herald, an important historical resource, so a major source of information isn’t available. This is greatly injurious to the history of Dallas County and the corporation should work some plan to make sure it is online as part of being a responsible corporate citizen.

11

No author, “Passing of a Pioneer,” DMN, 11/16/1899, page 6.

Page 4 of 5

Page 5 of 5