Jane Adeline Smith Wilson Roberts
1837 - 1863

Texas State Gazette
(Austin, Texas)
Thursday, January 24, 1854
pg. 2

Gov. Pease received by the last mail from Santa Fe a communication from Gov. Merriweather, giving information of the captivity and escape of a lady who formerly resided in Hunt county in this State.  The lady is Mrs. Jane Wilson, a daughter of Mr. Smith, formerly of Alton, Illinois.  She was married to Mr. Wilson near Greenville in Hunt county.  
Note: November 6, 1850 census for Hunt Co. shows James Wilson, age 18, born Missouri, living in his parents' household along with four younger siblings
She says that last summer her husband and father joined a company going  to California by El Paso.  When they reached the neighborhood of El Paso, her husband and father, with a few others, concluded to return.  A short time after starting back, they were attacked by a party of Indians, supposed to be Comanches, and Mr. Wilson and her father killed.  In a few days they were again attacked, the wagon driver killed and herself and two boys taken prisoner.  They were taken to a camp where there were a large body of Comanches and she was stripped of her clothes and subjected to the most horrible and inhuman treatment.  She remained a prisoner some 25 days, undergoing the most brutal usage when she made her escape.  Naked and without food, she wandered about for some time, subsisting upon wild berries, where she was found by a party of Mexican traders, who furnished her with men's apparel and food, and left her in a hollow tree while they went to seek the Indian camp to trade.  They were absent 8 days.  They found the Indians encamped near the Sand Hills on Red River, saw one of her boys, but could not induce the Indians to give him up on any terms.  They returned to Mrs. Wilson and conveyed her into the settlements.  Gov. Merriweather, upon being informed of the facts, sent his son to her, by whom she was taken to Santa Fe, where she now is.  She is in a delicate situation, expecting to be confined in a short time.  She will be sent home as soon as her health will permit.  Gov. Merriweather speaks of her as a lady of fine personal appearance, of modest deportment, and only 17 years of age.  Gov. Pease transmitted the communication to the Legislature yesterday.

William Roberts Family

Decatur, Wise Co., Texas Census - (June 23) 1860
Jane, age 23, is married to William Roberts, age 59, born Tennessee along with her son, James Wilson, age 6, born New Mexico, and Mr. Roberts' three grown children, as well as William and Jane's children, ages 4 years, 2 years, and 4 months.

FAG information for Jane Smith Wilson Roberts
Jane A. Smith Wilson, Comanche Indian captive, was born June 12, 1837 in Alton, Illinois to William and Jane Cox Smith.  Her family moved to Lamar county, Texas in 1846.  In February 1853 the 15-year-old Jane Smith married James Wilson, a young farmer who lived nearby.  Two months later the couple and James Wilson's relatives joined a caravan traveling to the California gold fields.  When their party stopped in El Paso del Norte, the Wilson family decided to stay in the vicinity to await the next wagon headed west.  While they were camped near Ysleta in late July 1853 most of their property was stolen, including many cattle.  Wilson and his father responded by taking cattle from the Ysleta Pueblo Indians nearby.  The Indians pursued and killed them, then delivered Jane and her young brothers-in-law to authorities in El Paso.
In September 1853 Mrs. Wilson, now pregnant, and her 3 brothers-in-law left El Paso with a small group headed toward Paris, Texas, but their party split up before reaching Ft. Phantom Hill.  The solitary wagon carrying Jane and two of the boys was attacked by northern Comanches, who shot and stabbed the wagon driver and took the passengers captive.  Jane Wilson remained with her captors for nearly a month, enduring physical and emotional abuse.  She escaped, then hid outdoors for several weeks before New Mexico traders found her.  She traveled with them a few days until they encountered another Comanche band.  To prevent her recapture, the traders advised her to remain behind in hiding; meanwhile, they accompanied the Comanche group for more than a week. Jane managed to stay alive under rough conditions until they returned and transported her to United States Army Major James H. Carleton in New Mexico.  She stayed in Santa Fe until late spring, recuperating from her wounds and the birth of a son, James Garland Wilson, in December 1853.  Meanwhile, she told the story of her capture and escape to Major Carleton and Rev. Louis Smith, a Protestant clergyman.  The two men collaborated in writing her account, then Smith sent it to the United States Attorney General for New Mexico in December 1853.
Soon after newspapers from Santa Fe to the east coast published the story, in many cases printed verbatim from the original document.  Jane Wilson is not known to have written any published versions of the account herself.  Rochester, New York publisher Dellon M. Dewey produced a popular booklet, "A Thrilling Narrative of the Sufferings of Mrs. Jane Adeline Wilson During Her Captivity Among the Comanche Indians", originally published about 1854, which duplicated the Smith and Carleton account.  In 1856 John Frost included this same account in his book Indian Battles, Captivities and Adventures.  A 19th century Parisian company offered a translation of it, Relation de la recent captivite de Mme Jane Adeline Wilson parmi les Indiens Comanches.
In Texas, word of her ordeal prompted the Legislature to authorize the state to assist in recovering free Texas citizens captured by Indians.  The legislation established an assistance fund of $5,000 and specified that Jane Wilson and her brothers-in-law be beneficiaries of it.
Governor Edward Pease facilitated her return passage to Paris, Texas. She traveled by way of El Paso and San Antonio and arrived home in the fall of 1854.  American traders and a Choctaw Indian obtained the release of her brothers-in-law from the Comanches and delivered them to United States Army officials in Indian Territory in Spring 1854.  They were later returned to Texas.
On July 10, 1856 Jane Wilson married William Roberts in Lamar County.  The couple had four children.
Source: Jane Adeline Smith Wilson, Handbook of Texas, viewed August 9, 2018

Jane apparently died between the death of her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, in 1863 and the 1870 census.