Richard Insall had grown to manhood in Louisiana. His father, Thomas H. Insall died at an early age, leaving a widow with ten children. Some time between 1846 and 1850 he brought his widowed mother, Mary Wholeship Insall, and nine brothers and sisters to Columbus, Texas. He served in the CSA as a private in Co. A, 4th Battalion, Texas Artillery. At the end of the war, in 1865, he married Caroline and moved to Kendall County, settling on the Juan Andres Zambrano grant on the Guadalupe between Waring and Comfort.
Richard and Caroline had eight children: Thomas, Mary A. and Anna J., who died young; Cyrena Francis, John, Dick, Alice and Cade.
Richard Insall was killed August 29, 1874 when a young stallion threw him. He was buried at the Big Bridge homesite. This seems to have been the place which drew the family members back home. Mary A. and Anna J. were buried there in 1869 and 1874. Cyrena Francis, known as Frankie, was buried there in 1897. John and Dick later lived elsewhere in Texas, but returned to Kendall County in their old age. Alice married Louis Leonard and remained in the area.
Cade Insall, son of Richard, was a Texas Ranger with Co. F. Frontier Battalion, 1874-75 and 1877-78. He was with the Rangers only three months when his father had his fatal accident. His mother lived many years, until 1925. She was buried at the Big Bridge. Cade purchased 400 acres at the Big Bridge while his mother bought 480 acres adjoining.
In 1883, Cade married Carry Madora (Dora) Collins of Comfort. They sold the 400 acres in 1905 and moved to Bandera County where they bought land and built a house. In 1910 they sold this and moved to Bowser, San Saba County, where he ran a general merchandise store. He died there April 9, 1939 and his wife, Dora, died May 29, 1948. They were buried at Varga Chapel Cemetery at Bowser, near Richland Springs. It was their son, Noel Insall, and their daughter Zula Caroline (Jake) who later married Kendall County residents bringing the family back to the home area.
Noel first married Julia Cravey of Kendall County and they lived in Waring. They had two sons: Clarence, (1906-1965) and Melvin, (1909- ). Noel and his second wife, Azelia Austry Thomason of Alamogordo, N.M. lived in Boerne. They had two daughters, Margie and Janie.
Jake first married Frank Newton. They had two sons, Frank Elbert, Jr. and Jack. After the death of her husband, she married Leroy Schwethelm who also left her widowed. She lived and worked in Boerne into old age.
- original article by Shirley Insall Pieratt
Source: Kendall County Historical Commission, "Rivers, Ranches, Railroads, and Recreation; A History of Kendall County, Texas", Dallas, TX., Taylor Publishing Co., 1984; and Boerne Public Library files.- July 24, 2001