Tumbleweed, fact and hearsay are not the same. Stories tend to be repeated as fact. I seriously doubt that Bush Smith was a prostitute.
If there is no credible record or evidence that William T. Anderson joined Quantrill in 1862, or if there is no credible record or evidence that Quantrill wintered in north Texas in the winter of 1862 and 1863, then William T. Anderson must have met Bush Smith until the winter of 1863 and 1864.
Anderson, Erwin, and Smith Families of Grayson County
During the Civil War, Missouri Partisan Rangers, also known as guerrillas, wintered in north Texas in Grayson and Fannin counties. Brothers William T. and James Monroe Anderson, sons of Kentuckians William C. and Martha Jane Thomason Anderson, were among the guerrillas. Lt. William T. Anderson married Miss Bush Smith in Sherman 3 March 1864. Soon after the death of Bill Anderson 26 October 1864 in Ray County, Missouri, Jim Anderson brought his surviving sisters, Mary Ellen (Mollie) and Martha Jane (Mattie) from Missouri to Grayson County. There are Grayson County marriage records for all three siblings. J. M. Anderson married Malinda Anderson 22 August 1866. James Anderson married Mary Erwin 21 October 1868. Mollie Anderson married A. V. (Alexander V.) Doak 28 June 1865. Mattie Anderson married E. G. (Elbridge Geary) Douglass 20 February 1867.
ANDERSONS
There were no known children of William T. Anderson and Bush Smith. Bush did imply that she was pregnant in a letter she wrote to Bill, found on his body after he was killed.
Jim Anderson and Mary Lucy Erwin were the parents of one child, Jimmie Maude Anderson, born 21 August 1871 in Sherman, died 6 September 1966 in Dallas. She was born after Jim was killed 5 May 1871. J. M. and Mollie were in Refugio County in the 1870 census.
Mary Ellen Anderson and Alexander V. Doak were the parents of three children, Edith, William, and Claude. Mollie and A. V. Doak were in Refugio County in 1870, Grayson County in 1880, and Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory in the 1900 census. Mollie died in 7 November 1903, and both she and A. V. are buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery, Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma.
Martha Jane and Elbridge Geary Douglass were the parents of five children, William M., Ida L., Elbridge H., Lula M., and Edith Marian. Mattie and E. G. were in Refugio County in 1870, Grayson County in 1880, and Fort Bend County in 1900. Mattie was a widow in 1910, living in the household of her married daughter Edith Emanuel, in Murray County, Oklahoma. Mattie died 30 January 1926.
In the 1870 census of Refugio County, Mattie Douglass and husband are in the same household, with J. M. Anderson, teamster.
ERWINS
The Erwin family arrived in Grayson County in 1866 or 1867 according to an entry in the Bible of Mattie Erwin Maxwell, and their arrival in Texas was recorded as 1861. The parents were William Hugh Erwin and Lucy Moore. William H. Erwin was commissioned 1 September 1861 as a Colonel, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard, at Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri. Find A Grave memorial #83175056 shows that Lucy Erwin, wife of W. H. Erwin, died 21 September 1863, and is buried in McLennan County, First Street Cemetery. Mary Lucy Erwin married James Anderson 21 October 1868. William Hugh Erwin was killed 15 February 1869, only a year after he had married the widow Sarah "Sallie" Henderson Smith.
Lucy Moore and William Hugh Erwin were the parents of seven children, William Joseph, Mary Lucy, Martha (Mattie) E., Charles Henry, James Samuel, Eugene Adair, and Sterling Price Erwin.
William Joseph Erwin married Virginia Ann Tuttle in Grayson County 13 January 1873. Their children were Claude, Grace, Wilma Mildred, and Mary Ann. William and Virginia died in Grady County, Oklahoma, and are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma.
Mary Lucy Erwin married first, James Monroe Anderson, and they had one child, Jimmie Maude. Mary Lucy Erwin Anderson married second, Burrell Perry Smith Jr. They had eight children, Bush Virginia, Lucy Hardin, Willie Eugenia, Mattie, Burrell Perry III, Pandona Josephine, Ervin H., and S. Imogene. Mary Erwin and Burrell both lived and died in Sherman, and are buried in West Hill Cemetery.
Martha "Mattie" E. Erwin married Thomas Theodore Maxwell 25 January 1871. They had no children of their own, but raised Jimmie Maude Anderson, daughter of Mary Lucy Erwin and James Monroe Anderson. Both Mattie and Theodore lived in Sherman and are buried in West Hill Cemetery.
Charles Henry Erwin apparently died during childhood. No record of Charles has been found after he was named in the February 1867 petition for guardianship filed in Grayson County by W. H. Erwin.
James Samuel married Ella Dewett in Sherman 29 October 1887. They had one daughter, Isla, who married Guy Hudson. James died in 1917, and is buried in West Hill Cemetery.
Eugene Adair Erwin married Mollie Susan Douglas in Sherman 12 September 1880. They had ten children, John H., Charles B., Mattie F., Joseph A., Richard M., Samuel, Burrell, Mary L., Eldon G., and Eugene. Eugene and Mollie died in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, and are buried in the Elida Cemetery, Elida, Roosevelt County, New Mexico.
Sterling Price Erwin married Mary Anne Richardson. They were the parents of two children, Samuel Eugene and Mary Price Erwin. Sterling died 28 February 1896 in Canadian County, Oklahoma, and is buried in Union City Cemetery. Mary Ann Richardson remarried, first Robert Lane Search, then Mr. Kenney. She died 25 October 1966, and is buried in Woodland Memorial Park Cemetery, Sand Springs, Tulsa County, Oklahoma.
SMITHS
Sarah Ann Henderson and Burrell Perry Smith were in Red River County, Texas, in 1850. The family moved to Grayson County in 1852, and Burrell became the first mayor of Sherman. Burrell died 11 August 1859, and is buried in West Hill Cemetery. On 17 August 1859, Sarah H. Smith and James H. Tuttle filed a petition stating that Burrell P. Smith departed this Iife 15 August 1859. Four children are listed under the age of 14; Malinda A. Smith, B. P. Smith, Paulina Smith, and Virginia H. Smith.
No Grayson County marriage license for Malinda Smith has been found.
Paulina Smith married Charles J. Whitehurst not long before the 1870 census was recorded when they are in Grayson County with no children. They were in Grayson County when the 1900 census was recorded. They were the parents of 5 children at that time; Arthur Clinton, Sallie R., Lillian, Jot Gunter, and Charles Johnson Whitehurst.
The death date and place of Paulina Smith Whitehurst is unknown. Her husband, Charles J. Whitehurst, died in Lubbock, Texas, and is buried in the City of Lubbock Cemetery, Lubbock, Texas.
Burrell Perry Smith Jr. married the widow of James Monroe Anderson, Mary Erwin. Her name on the marriage license is Mollie L. Anderson, not Mollie L. Erwin. See preceding paragraph for names of children.
Virginia Smith married A. A. Burney 21 February 11875 in Fannin County where they lived until they died. Almarine A. Burney died 11 June 1926, and Virgie died 28 June 1937, and both are buried in Willow Wild Cemetery in Bonham, Fannin County. They were the parents of 6 children; Robert Henderson, Mary B., Lula, Sallie V., Grace C., and Clara.
After the death of Burrell Perry Smith, Sarah Ann "Sallie" married 2nd, Isaac Hudson as Sarah H. Smith. After his death, she married 3rd, William Hugh Erwin as Sallie A. Hudson. After his death, she married 4th, Finis D. Piner in Fannin County as Sallie Erwin. In the 1900 census, Sallie was reported to be the mother of 5 children, and 3 were still living. Those were Burrell P. Smith Jr., Paulina Smith Whitehurst, and Virginia Smith Burney. F. D. and Sallie remained in Fannin County until their death, and are buried in Willow Wild Cemetery, Bonham, Fannin County. This indicates that Malinda A. Smith died prior to 1900.
It is widely believed that Jim Anderson married Bill's widow. Since there is a marriage license for Lieut. William T. Anderson and Miss Bush Smith, and another marriage license for James Anderson and Mary Erwin, it is easy to assume that Bush and Mary were same person.
The preceding family information is supported by a paper trail of census and other records. Mary Lucy Erwin was born 27 March 1852. She was not quite 12 years old when William T. Anderson married Bush Smith. The family Bible of her sister, Mattie Maxwell, dates the arrival of the Erwin family in Grayson County to 1866 or 1867. The marriage license of James Anderson and Mary Erwin reads Mary Erwin, not Mary Anderson as it probably would in the case of a widow. William Hugh Erwin lived until 1869, and Mary Lucy Erwin was never an orphan to be adopted by a Smith family. Jim Cummins, in his 1903 book, referred to the mother of Bill's widow as Mrs. Smith.
CONCLUSION: Mary Lucy Erwin was not the same young woman as Bush Smith.
The 22 August 1866 marriage license of J. M. Anderson and Malinda Anderson is probably the marriage license of James Monroe Anderson and the widow of William T. Anderson, Malinda (Bush) Smith. When widows remarried in Grayson County, there are several examples where the surname of the bride is not her maiden name, but the name of her late husband. Malinda Smith and Burrell P. Smith Jr. had a first cousin named Bush Smith. Mary Lucy Erwin and Burrell P. Smith Jr. named their oldest daughter, Bush Virginia Smith. Malinda's full name was probably Malinda Bush Smith.
James Anderson married Mary Erwin in 1868. Either Malinda (Bush) Smith Anderson had died, or there was a divorce. There is no listing for Malinda Anderson in West Hill cemetery. If they were divorced, both would be free to remarry. There is a second marriage license for Malinda Anderson and Albert (or Andrew) Ross in Grayson County dated 2 January 1870. For marriage records, Malinda Smith would be known as Malinda Anderson after the death of William T. Anderson, and would remain Malinda Anderson after a divorce from Jim Anderson. So far, so good. What happened to Malinda Ross and Albert (or Andrew Ross)? Not found in the 1880 census records, and Malinda died before 1900 according to the response given by her mother, who reported two children deceased prior to 1900.
CONCLUSION: Mary Lucy Erwin was NOT the bride of Lieut. William T. Anderson. The most likely but unproven bride of Lieut. William T. Anderson was Malinda (Bush) Smith, born about February 1850 in Red River County, and who was 14 years old in March 1864. James Anderson married Malinda Anderson, who was probably Bill's widow (UNPROVEN), in 1866, before marrying Mary Lucy Erwin in 1868.