WILLIAM H. CUBINE, a veteran soldier of the Confederate army and a pioneer settler of Montague county, was born in Washington county, Virginia, September 7, 1839. He was educated in the common schools and was reared to farm pursuits on the old family homestead. His parents were William and Nancy (Nesessary) Cubine. The paternal grandfather, John Cubine, was a native of the Isle of Man and in his younger days went to sea. For many years he was a seafaring man and eventually he came to America, settling first in North Carolina and afterward in Virginia, where he spent his remaining days living the life of a farmer. He never aspired to office or public preferment of any kind, but devoted his attention to his agricultural pursuits. He was twice married and by the first union had two children, William and Margaret, who were twins. The mother died and the father married again, the children of the second marriage being Patrick, John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Matilda, Catherine, and Mrs. Aerick Hill.
William Cubine, father of our subject, was born in North Carolina and spent a part of his youth in Virginia. He acquired a liberal education and for many years was a school teacher. At the time of his marriage he began farming in Withe [Wythe] county, Virginia, while subsequently he removed to Washington county, where he remained until his death in 1871. He had attained an advanced old age, having been born February 4, 1794. His entire life was devoted to agricultural pursuits and he was also for many years a local preacher in the Methodist church but later in life he affiliated with the Swedenborgian church, with which he was connected up to the time of his death. He was very charitable to the poor and needy, sympathetic with the afflicted and was a man of kindliness and generous purpose, recognized by those who knew him as an upright citizen, a good neighbor and kind friend. His integrity and honor were above reproach and he was respected by all who knew him. He remained at the old homestead during the period of the Civil war and both armies foraged on his place and destroyed or used up his personal property and provisions until he was almost left penniless. He was married twice. His first union was with a Miss Harmon, by whom he had two daughters, Nancy and Matilda. After losing his first wife he married Miss Nancy Nesessary, a native of the Old Dominion and a daughter of William Nesessary, a pioneer Methodist preacher of Virginia, who proclaimed the gospel in many hamlets and villages of that state. His death occurred in southwestern Virginia. In his family were ten children: James, Thomas, William, Henry, Wesley, Joseph, John, Rachel, the wife of J. Chadick, Sally, the wife of Sam Chadick, and Mrs. Nancy Cubine. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cubine were born five children: William H., of this review; Mrs. Lucinda Waram; Mrs. Elizabeth Bland; and Joseph and Emanuel, who are now in Oklahoma.
William H. Cubine was born and reared upon the old family homestead in Virginia and remained under the parental roof until 1861, when he volunteered for service in the Confederate army as a member of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry under command of Colonel B. S. Smith. Later he was under command of Colonel Paul Anderson and subsequently the regiment was attached to the Eighth and Eleventh Texas Brigades. He did duty in Tennessee and Alabama, was under General Forrest and took part in all the campaigns with his command and in many memorable raids and hotly contested battles of the Tennessee Army. At different times he was under the command of Sidney Johnston and Joe Johnston and was present at the battle of Shiloh when the latter was killed. He remained with Forrest and Wheeler until the fall of Atlanta and was ever in active duty, often being in the thickest of the fight. He never had a furlough during his four years’ service and was seven times wounded but only once did he go to the hospital, being determined to remain with his command. He was a brave and valiant soldier who bore unflinchingly the hardships of war and never faltered in meeting the enemy even when the shot and shell rained thickest. Prior to the time of Lee’s surrender he had been transferred to the First Virginia Cavalry and was at Appomattox Courthouse, but the brigade to which Mr. Cubine belonged, hearing of the surrender and not willing to give up to the enemy, faced about in the other direction, disbursed and went to their respective homes. Therefore Mr. Cubine has not yet surrendered and he has still in his possession his side arms and the gun which he carried on the battlefields. The old gun has since done good service in Texas in killing buffaloes and other game. Mr. Cubine went to Lynchburg with his command and from there made his way home.
He found the old homestead in a dilapidated condition and his parents were in destitute circumstances owing to the ravages of war. His father gave him control of the place and he assumed its entire management. He then went to work to build up the farm and after the death of his father he remained upon the old homestead, continuing the work of improvement and progress. He expended much labor and material in placing the farm once more in a good condition and in making the needed repairs. He then turned the property over to the administrator after which Mr. Cubine came to Texas in March, 1874. He first located in Grayson county, where he raised a crop and the same year he bought a claim in Montague county on the old Chism trail on Farmers’ Creek. He soon found, how-ever, that he had located in close proximity to a clan of robbers and of murderers and no doubt many times his life hung in the balance, for he stood as a champion of law and order. However, he continued to reside upon his claim and there remained until after the band was broken up, some of its members being sent to the penitentiary, while others were hung. Mr. Cubine built a log cabin, made rails and fenced some of his land. He was the first in the county to set out fruit trees and he has continued the work of improvement and progress along progressive lines, resulting greatly to the benefit of the community. He had to go six miles to find a boarding place in the early days and he made his way to and from there by different routes in order to avoid being waylaid by the clan of robbers. In 1879 Mr. Cubine was married in Montague county, and taking up his abode upon his farm he carried on general agricultural pursuits. He also raised some stock, for the range was free at that time and the cattle roamed over the prairie and fattened upon the native grasses. Large herds of buffalo were frequently seen and various kinds of game was to be had in abundance. Wild beasts also roamed at will over the prairie, for pioneer conditions existed, the work of progress and improvement seeming scarcely begun. As the years passed, however, Mr. Cubine continued his work of farming and met with a creditable measure of success. He also established the first cotton gin and later as he became able he added to his lands and improved two farms. He was also the first to try to make the experiment of raising fruit and found that it could be done successfully.
It would be impossible to determine exactly the extent of his influence and aid in the work of public improvement but his worth as a citizen is widely acknowledged and the part that he has taken in public progress has been of marked benefit to the county. He organized the first school in the neighborhood and after the town of Nocona was platted he cut and made the first road from Farmers’ Creek to Nocona. He was. the first settler at the former place and when Nocona was platted he selected a site for a home there and bought six acres of land, to which he has since added three acres. Upon that tract he built a commodious two-story frame residence, where he now resides. The home is beautifully located and is a fine residence. He also has a good orchard there. He has likewise bought land in other localities in the town and has altogether twenty acres and four dwellings which he rents. In 1891 he removed his cotton gin to Nocona, becoming the pioneer ginner at that place. Until within the last few years his farm was conducted under his immediate supervision, but he now rents his land and gives his time to working about his home, gardening and keeping things in good order. Mr. Cubine is certainly a self made man and as the architect of his own fortunes has builded wisely and well.
In 1879 occurred the marriage of William H. Cubine and Miss Nancy L. Glazner, who was born in North Carolina in 1857 and is a lady of superior intelligence and culture. Her parents were Samuel and Elizabeth (Tinsley) Glazner, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of South Carolina. Her mother was Elizabeth Tinsley of a prominent and honored early family of South Carolina and her brother, Samuel Tinsley, represented his county in the state legislature. Samuel Glazner was born in North Carolina, but was married in South Carolina and removed to Tennessee, while later he went to Missouri. Subsequently he took up his abode in Arkansas, where he reared his family. Both he and his wife are yet living and they make their home now among their children, being at the present time in Oklahoma. During his active business career Mr. Glazner followed the occupation of farming. He served throughout the war in the Confederate army and was a valiant and brave soldier, taking part in the siege of Charleston and many important engagements. For a long time he was held as a prisoner of war. In his family were the following named: Jerry, a farmer residing in Montague county, Texas; William, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Lydia Harkins, now a widow living in Oklahoma; Mrs. Clarissa Cole, of Texas; Nancy L., the wife of William H. Cubine; and Mrs. Grace Ashabranner.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cubine were born five children: Pearl, the wife of August Paine; Myrtle, the wife of L. M. Nance; Robert, who is attending school at Waco, Texas; and Ada, at home. The family are Baptists in religious faith. Mr. Cubine has had an eventful career in which a happy and care free youth was followed by four years of active service in the Civil war and six years spent in caring for his family and restoring the old home farm to its original condition. After the death of his father the estate was robbed and he has never recovered anything from that source. He too experienced the hardships and dangers incident to pioneer life on the frontier in Texas, but as the years have gone by frontier conditions have been replaced by the improvements of a modern civilization and Mr. Cubine has gained a handsome competence that now enables him to live retired.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 240-242.