# Sally Scull > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sally_Scull > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sally_Scull.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Scull > Source revision: 1342899514 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Sally Skull** (born Sarah Jane Newman, c. 1818 – 1866) was the daughter of Rachel Rabb Newman and [Joseph Newman](/source/Joseph_Newman_(Texas_settler)), and arrived in [Spanish Texas](/source/Spanish_Texas) with the first settlers in [Stephen F. Austin's colony](/source/Old_Three_Hundred) in the early 1820s.[1][2] She gained notoriety for her prowess in [husbandry](/source/Animal_husbandry), skill in [horse](/source/Horse) trading, [marksmanship](/source/Marksman) with the two [pistols](/source/Pistol) she carried, [commanding language](/source/Profanity), and for transporting [cotton](/source/Cotton) and essential goods for the [Confederacy](/source/Confederate_States_of_America).[1][3][4] Skull owned and operated a successful horse [ranch](/source/Ranch), where she employed ethnically Mexican men as [ranch hands](/source/Cowboy) and [teamsters](/source/Teamster) for her caravan and [horse wrangling](/source/Wrangler_(profession)) ventures to [South Texas](/source/South_Texas) and [Northern Mexico](/source/Northern_Mexico), Skull was also reported to speak [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language) as well as a [native speaker](/source/Language_proficiency).[3][5] Skull's [livelihood](/source/Livelihood) took her well outside of typically [female](/source/Female) occupations for the time, which was considered "[man's work](/source/Feminism)".[3][4][5] ## Early life Sarah Jane Newman was born c. 1818 in [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania) to parents Joseph Newman and Rachel Rabb Newman.[1] Skull's family moved from Pennsylvania down towards Texas, from the [Arkansas Territory](/source/Arkansas_Territory) to modern-day [East Oklahoma](/source/Oklahoma), until Skull's family joined Rachel's father, William Rabb, in the Spanish Province of Texas in 1820.[5] The combined Rabb and Newman families were among the earliest settlers in [Moses](/source/Moses_Austin) and [Stephen F. Austin's](/source/Stephen_F._Austin) [Texas Colony](/source/Old_Three_Hundred).[2] Rabb received the largest [grant](/source/Land_grant) in the Texas colony, which encompassed present-day [La Grange, Texas](/source/La_Grange,_Texas), in [Fayette County](/source/Fayette_County,_Texas), which was given in exchange for WIlliam Rabb's commitment to build a [gristmill](/source/Gristmill) and [sawmill](/source/Sawmill) on the [Colorado River](/source/Colorado_River).[5] Of the combined Rabb and Newman family, five heads of family received land grants in [Austin's Colony](/source/Old_Three_Hundred): William Rabb, his three sons Andrew Rabb, John Rabb and Thomas J. Rabb, and his [son-in-law](/source/Affinity_(law)) [Joseph Newman](/source/Joseph_Newman_(Texas_settler)).[2] ## Marriage to Jesse Robinson Skull's father died in early 1831, which may have prompted Skull into early maturity and marriage.[5] Skull married Jesse Robinson at the age of sixteen on October 13, 1833, where they resided on Robinson's grant in [DeWitt's Colony](/source/DeWitt_Colony) on the [San Marcos River](/source/San_Marcos_River) near the town of [Gonzales, Texas](/source/Gonzales,_Texas).[5] Robinson had migrated to [Texas](/source/Texas) in 1822, and in the spring of 1823 joined a volunteer company, which were the predecessors of the [Texas Rangers](/source/Texas_Ranger_Division), which had formed to protect the [settlers](/source/Settler) of [Austin's Colony](/source/Old_Three_Hundred) from [Native American Tribes](/source/Native_American_tribes_in_Texas) such as the [Comanches](/source/Comanche).[5] In 1824, Robinson and several other company members rescued the Rabb and Newman families from one-hundred-and-eighty [Waco](/source/Waco_people) and [Tawakoni](/source/Tawakoni) [Native American Indians](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) who had surrounded their properties, slaughtered their [livestock](/source/Livestock) and set fire to their [crops](/source/Crop); this interaction was likely Robinson and Skull's introduction, when Robinson was twenty-four and Skull only six or seven years old.[5] Robinson was one of [Sam Houston](/source/Sam_Houston)'s elite company members, and as such he served during the [Texas Revolutionary War](/source/Texas_Revolution) and was present for the [Battle of San Jacinto](/source/Battle_of_San_Jacinto). According to legend, Robinson fired the shot that struck and killed the [cannoneer](/source/Cannoneer) manning the center of [Santa Anna's](/source/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_de_Santa_Anna) army line.[5] During the following summer of 1836, Robinson served in [Captain Lockhart](/source/Byrd_Lockhart)'s [spy](/source/Espionage) company of [mounted volunteers](/source/Cavalry), later he saw service again in August, 1841 under Captain January, and again in September, 1842, where he participated in the Woll Campaign.[5][6] under Captain Zumwalt.[7] Skull and Robinson were married from 1833 to 1847, which ended in divorce.[8] The pair had two children together, Nancy (Robinson) Barber and Alfred Robinson[8] Nancy was born January 10, 1824, and married Ben Barber, they had two children.[8] Alfred was a Texas Ranger who was in active service during the American Civil War, he married Sarah Ann Latham and the pair had six children together.[8] ## References 1. ["Scull, Sarah Jane Newman \[Sally\]"](https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/scull-sarah-jane-newman-sally). *www.tshaonline.org*. Retrieved 2023-03-08. 1. Bugbee, Lester G. (1897). ["The Old Three Hundred: A List of Settlers in Austin's First Colony"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242636). *The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association*. **1** (2): 108–117. [ISSN 1948-3317](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1948-3317). [JSTOR 30242636](https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242636) 1. ["Sally Skull – The Scariest Siren in Texas – Legends of America"](https://www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-sallyskull/). *www.legendsofamerica.com*. Retrieved 2023-03-08. 1. Texas Historical Commission. 1964. "Sally Scull" Historical Marker. Refugio, Texas. 1. Dan Kilgore, Dan. ["Two Sixshooters and a Sunbonnet The Story of Sally Skull"](http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org/skulllegend.htm). *www.sonsofdewittcolony.org*. Retrieved 2023-03-09. 1. ["Mexican Invasions of 1842"](https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mexican-invasions-of-1842). *www.tshaonline.org*. Retrieved 2023-03-09. 1. ["Adam Zumwalt Jr. – 1795–1872 – Dewitt Colony Minuteman – Rancher and Farmer – Jane Strain Kent – 1801–1865"](http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org/badam.htm). *www.sonsofdewittcolony.org*. Retrieved 2023-03-09. 1. ["Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas"](http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org/dewitt.htm). *www.sonsofdewittcolony.org*. Retrieved 2023-03-09. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sally Scull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Scull) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Scull?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.