Pilot Knob Preservation Project
Our Central Texas Family
David Rucker: Buffalo Soldier
David Rucker was born 15 December 1846 in Tennessee. He was my maternal grandfather’s, maternal grandfather. He is also the grandfather of one of our favorite cousins, Mrs. Johnnie B. Van Dyke of Austin, Texas. David Rucker was brought to Texas by the Texas-Indian Wars, in which he served as a Soldier for the United…
Dee Gabriel & Donnie Collins
My grandfather‘s paternal grandmother, Donnie Sauls, was born in Webberville, Texas on June 19, 1869 to Clem Sauls Alexander. Her husband Dee Gabriel Collins was also born in Central Texas on August 22, 1863 to Newton & Sarah Collins. Donnie Sauls and D. Gabriel Collins were married on September 27, 1882, in Travis, Texas. They…
Collins Cemetery
In 2004, the Texas Historical Commission erected Marker Number 18940, designating the Collins Cemetery as an historic place in the state of Texas. Situated at the foot of Pilot Knob, Austin’s extinct volcano, the cemetery is the final resting place for Collins family members. Our Collins forefather, Newton Isaac Collins, Sr. (1826-1903), purchased this land in…
Pilot Knob Preservation Project 