After the Siege of Bexar December 9, 1835 San Antonio After General Cos signed the Articles of Capitulation, “They (Mexican troops) agreed to leave Texas. We consented to this, they left, and we all dispersed to our homes.” Sion R. Bostick. (1819 - 1902) Sion had been away from his home and family for about 10 weeks, beginning October 2, 1835 when he traveled to Gonzales to defend their cannon from being taken by the Mexican Army. Then he had to endure the hardships of travel to San Antonio and the life-and-death fights almost daily, having to scavenge for even the basics like food, clothing (winter was approaching) and lodging while there. Medicines that did not exist. He had heard nothing from home and likewise they did not know if he had survived. He left his widowed mother, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. One of his sisters Amanda had just gotten married to William J. Eaton at Austin’s Colony in August 1835 and his groomsman was William B. Travis who stayed in San Antonio that December of 1835.
With the war ending and a return to normalcy after the Mexican Army retreated back to Mexico, Sion now with help from his brothers they returned to building their life and farming. It was time to start planting this year’s crop by using corn saved from last year’s harvest. The Bostick farm was located in the bend of the Colorado River that later became the City of Colorado.
It is fairly certain that there were no schools in the immediate area of Colorado County in 1834. Because that year, about a year after Sion’s father, Levi Bostick, had died, his mother Martha “Hill” Bostick took it upon herself to hire a Irishman named Lovelady to instruct her children. Lovelady's school, which convened in the Bostick home, attracted students from throughout the settlement. Sion wrote in 1900 “This was my first school experience, and I must say that the Irish school teacher believed in that good old Bible doctrine, “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.” As he did not want to spoil the wild frontier boys, he never spared the rod; but he made us toe a mark, behave ourselves, and learn our lessons.” So we know that the Bostick children did have some type of education.
We don’t have accounts of any Christmas or New Year’s celebrations taking place but it had to be joyous for the family to be together once again. This joy only lasted until mid January when word arrived that the Mexican Army were reported gathering on the Rio Grande. General Cos had broken his pledge to the Texians.