Born to Joseph Loving and Susannah Mary Bourland in Hopkins County, Kentucky, Oliver Loving (1812-1867) settled in Muhlenberg County, where he worked as a farmer. In 1833, he married Susan Doggett Morgan, with whom he had nine children. Ten years later, Loving moved with his family to Collin County, Texas. Around 1855, he moved to Palo Pinto County, and operated a general goods store while also ranching and driving cattle. Loving drove cattle to Confederate regiments stationed along the Mississippi River during the Civil War, as well as to the Indian reservation at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, with Charles Goodnight in 1866. Later called the “Goodnight-Loving Trail,” he made two more drives along the route, though he was mortally wounded on the third trip during a conflict with Native Americans.
Source:
Smith, Julia Cauble.
Composed of Photostats of two letters, the Oliver Loving Letters, 1862, document Loving’s petition to Governor Francis Richard Lubbock to recover his horses and cattle stolen in Texas. Additionally, the letters mention life on the frontier, interactions with members of the Comanche tribe, and cattle driving.
This collection is open for research use.
Oliver Loving Letters, 1862, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s