Rufus R. Jetty was enrolled in the service of Texas as a volunteer, by Col. John Forbes, at Nacogdoches, about Jan. 14, 1836. On February 9th, he was sent forward from San Felipe to join Fannin, as one of a party of nine under Acting Lieutenant Sprague. His name did not appear on the muster rolls returned by Col. Fannin for Feb. 29th, but appears on both the T&TR roll of Fannin's men, and Dr. Barnard's corrected roll, as "Unattached" and among the slain.
There is a question as to whether his name is properly "Petty" or "Jetty", but two independent sources: Frank Templeton, p. 234, and Winston, "New York and the Independence of Texas," Quarterly XVIII, p. 377, make it "Jetty" and are likely right.
[Ed: Identified as "Petty, Rufus R." in Davenport 1939. No Bounty or Donation grant for either "Jetty" or "Petty" in Miller 1967. His Court of Claims file (No. 6512, Texas General Land Office) contains a petition for land from his father's attorney, and affidavit from townspeople of Belfast, New York, who knew Rufus K. Petty, son of Jesse Petty, when Rufus was Constable and Collector of the town. The file contains a letter from Rufus K. Petty to his father, Jesse, on January 15, 1836, from Nacogdoches, Texas, in which he promises to write from Matamoros. The claim was denied because his name "does not appear on the Fannin Muster Roll or elsewhere".
The entry "Rufus R. Jetty 29 New York" appears on the above enlistment roll for the Texas Volunteer Auxillary Corps, Nacogdoches, Texas, January 14, 1836 (MUSTER ROLLS OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1986, pp.124-127.)]
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