A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 65

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Texas > Henderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65
USA > Texas > Freestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65
USA > Texas > Leon County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65
USA > Texas > Anderson County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65
USA > Texas > Limestone County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65
USA > Texas > Navarro County > A memorial and biographical history of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties, Texas from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 65

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ander and Sarah (Childress) McMullen, natives of Virginia and Georgia. The parents removed from Virginia to Ala- bama, in 1835 to Mississippi, and in 1853 to Bastrop county, Texas. The father afterward went to Austin for medi- cal treatment, where he died in 1861, hav- ing passed his four- score years. Mr. and Mrs. Stokes were the parents of fourteen children, five of whom are still living, fonr in Texas and one in Louisiana. Six of the sons served in the Confederate army, two were killed at Richmond and two wounded, both of whom recovered. Afterward one died in Georgia.

Thomas Stokes, the second child in his father's family, was reared to farm life, and while a resident of his native State served as Deputy Sheriff and Bailiff. In 1857 he located near Dresden, Navarro county, Texas, and the following year bought a farm of Mr. Key. In 1862 he sold his place, took liis pay in Confederate money, and then enlisted in the late war. After nine months of service he was dis- charged on account of rheumatism, and re- turned home. He found his farm gone, his money worthless, and he was obliged to farm on rented land. After seven years he bought 100 acres of his present place, to which he has since added until he now owns 265 acres, all well improved, and 135 acres cultivated to cotton and corn. He raises sufficient stock for farm use. Mr. Stokes has resided in this county for thirty-four years, has never been sued, nor sued any one, has never attended court except as a witness, and has never owned or carried a pistol, as has also his sons.

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LIMESTONE, FREESTONE

Our subject was married November 14, 1855, to Miss Melissa M. Harper, who was born in Kemper county, Mississippi, June 23, 1841, a daughter of R. B. G. and M. A. (Thomas) Harper, natives of South Carolina. He moved to Missis- sippi in an early day, where he spent the largest portion of his days, dying about 1879 in Lonisiana. He served four years as Tax Collector, six years as Sheriff, was a farmer, stock-raiser and merchant by oc- eupation, and was a prominent man wherever he lived. Mr. and Mrs. Stokes have had twelve children, viz .: William G., a farmer of Lampasas county; Thomas F. D., deceased in 1869, aged ten years: Samuel L., a farmer of Runnels county, Texas; Lulu, wife of J. H. Watson, a na- tive Texan and a farmer of Navarro county; Ida, wife of L. J. Harris, also a farmer of this county; Mary A., wife of Wallace Brown; Richard H .; James C .; Olo; George M .; Eugene S .; and Hubert, at home. Mr. Stokes is a Democrat in his political views; socially, is a member of the Masonic fraternity; and religiously, his wife and six of their children are de- voted Methodists.

DWARD P. CONNER, an early settler and honored citizen of Na- varro county, is a son of Thomas Conner, who was born in Alabama in 1802. He afterward emigrated with his parents to Tennessee, where he remained until 1823, was then employed in the lead inines near Galena, Illinois, about four years, purchased a small farm in Bond

county, same State, and in 1856 came to Navarro county, Texas, where he departed this life in 1888. He was a son of Ed- ward and Elizabeth (Carter) Conner, na- tives of North Carolina. The father par- ticipated in the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812, under Jackson, and his father, the great-grandfather of our subject, was the first of the family to come to America. Our subject's mother, formerly Rosanna Parkinson, was a daughter of Colonel D. M. Parkinson. Her mother was a full cousin of Wade Hampton. Mr. and Mrs. Conner were married in 1829, and were the parents of two children: Mary E., deceased, was the wife of Hil- lard Becket; and Edward P., our subject. The latter was born in Illinois in 1832, and came witlı his parents to Texas in 1856. He was engaged in blacksmithing in connection with farming until 18 -- , but since that time has given his attention ex- clusively to agricultural pursuits. He lo- cated where he now lives in 1866. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate ser- vice, in Company F, Morgan's battalion, and served to the close of the struggle. The subject of this sketch was thrown up- on his own resources when young, with no financial assistance, but by economy and good management has acquired a compe- tency, now being the owner of 190 acres of land, aside from 160 acres which he has given his children. He is truly devoted to his home and the general interest of his county, is a man of good information, and for some time occupied the position of Lecturer and President of the Alliance.

In 1855 Mr. Conner married Miss Mary Diamond, a daughter of Samnel and Cath-

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

erine (Jones) Diamond. Mrs. Conner was a devoted member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and her death occurred in 1863. To this union were born fonr chil- dren: Rosanna, Samuel, Lncy and Eliza, all now deceased. Lucy was the wife of John T. Bragg, a sketch of whom is given. Our subject was again married, in 1868, to Mrs. Sharp, a daughter of David and Mary (Dew) Cockrell, natives respectively of North Carolina and Ten- nessee. The father was a son of and Elizabeth (Pillar) Cockrell, and the mother was a sister of " Billy " Pillar, who gained notoriety in the Seminole war of Florida and also in the war of 1812. She was an annt of General Pillar. Mr. and Mrs. Conner have had eight chil- dren, viz .: Anna, wife of J. H. Garner, of Navarro county; Elizabeth and Edward, deceased; Louisa, at home; Orlena, de- ceased in infancy; Matilda and Thomas, twins, the latter deceased and the former at home; and Nathaniel. In his political views, onr subject is independent. Before the war he served three years as Bailiff, and has also held the positions of Assessor and Collector. He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since twenty-two years of age, and also affiliates with the Masonic order.

R. A. NELSON WITHERSPOON, for thirty-six years a practicing physician of Navarro county and in point of residence the oldest physician in the county, is a native of Franklin county, Mississippi, born December 6, 1828. He comes of pioneer ancestry and may claim

by inheritance some of the qualities which fitted him at one time for the duties of a pioneer physician in this State. The an- cient seat of his father's family was Sonth Carolina, in which State both his father and grandfather were born. The grand- father moved West abont the year 1800 and settled in that portion of the Cherokee country which was afterward erected into the State of Mississippi, where he sub- sequently lived and died, engaged through- ont life in the peaceful pursuits of agri- culture. The father, John F. Witherspoon, was a child when his parents moved West. He was reared in Mississippi, his earlier years being passed on the frontier and amidst those stirring scenes which have been called the "flush times " of that pe- riod. He too was a planter, holding con- siderable possessions in the upper Missis- sippi country, where he carried on agricult- ure, as it was then conducted and mar- keted his products at New Orleans, at that time the great entrepot of all the South- west. He died in Franklin county, Mis- sissippi, in 1840, in the forty-fourth year of his age. His wife bore the maiden name of Maria Chaney, being a daughter of William Chaney, of Louisiana, was a native of that State, born in the parish of Feliciana. She survived her husband only a few years, dying in 1846, aged forty-six years. Nine children were born to Jolin F. and Maria Chaney Witherspoon, only two of whom are now living, these being Dr. A. N. Witherspoon, the subject of this notice, and Dr. H. F. Witherspoon, also a practicing physician, of Corsicana. A. N. Witherspoon was reared partly in Mississippi and partly in Texas, having

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been brought to this State when a lad in his sixteenth year. His general education was obtained in the private schools of Marshall, where he received what would now be equivalent to a high-school train- ing. He selected medicine as a profession in 1852 and began to prepare for the prac- tice under the preceptorship of Dr. J. C. Smith, then a successful practitioner of Marshall. His studies were pursued un- der this gentleman and under Dr. A. Sears, also of Marshall, for about two years, when, in 1854, he entered on the practice as a licentiate in Kaufman county, this State. In January, 1856, he moved to Navarro county, settling at Dresden, then the place of first importance in this county. He has since resided in this county and has been engaged all these years in the ac- tive practice of his profession. At an earlier day, the country being sparsely set- tled, the circuit of his calls covered a wide area and was of that laborious sort which kept him almost constantly in the saddle. So arduous and exacting were his duties that to any but a young man thoroughly alive to the responsibilities of his profession and earnestly desirous of success in the same they might have proved greater than his powers of endurance. But the Doctor fortunately possessed a rugged constitu- tion, and by a strict observance of the laws of health as he, in his condition, was per- mitted to keep, he managed always to be ready when called. In summer's heat and winter's cold, in sunshine and in rain, he went from settlement to settlement, traveling by courses over the open prairie and thread- ing the forests by cow-paths and settlement trails, going by day and by night, where-

ever his services were required or he thought his presence could be of any avail. The Doctor has necessarily done a large amount of gratuitous practice-any mem- ber of the profession who had been in the practice as he has would unavoidably have done this-but none the less faithfully has the labor been performed on this account. It has always been sufficient for him to know that his services were needed, the re- muneration for the same being an after consideration. He has been the physician to a number of the first families of the county for over a quarter of a century, and by them is greatly esteemed both as a phy- sician and as a friend. Others younger in years and a keener insight into the practical affairs of life have outstripped him in the race for wealth, but in the hearts of the people among whom he has long lived and for some of whom he has so earnestly labored no one holds a more se- cure place.

Dr .. Witherspoon has been twice mar- ried. He married first in 1852, while yet a resident of Marshall, his wife's maiden name being Cornelia Clark, a daughter of Thomas Clark, of that place, and a native of Georgia. This lady died in this county in June, 1871. The Doctor married again in 1872, his second wife being Miss Dora Newman, then of Ellis county, this State, but a daughter of an old Mississippi friend and neighbor, John Newman, who moved to Texas some years ago, taking up his residence in Ellis county, where some of the family now reside. By his former marriage the Doctor had three children, two daughters and a son. The eldest, Carrie, is now the wife of Dr. William

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

Panill, of this county; the second, John F., died recently in Hunt county; and the youngest, Nena, is the wife of Prof. C. B. Johnson, Superintendent of the Odd Fel- lows Home near the city of Corsicana. The result of the second marriage has been five children, two boys and three girls: Claude L., Jennie, Hamilton, Aggie and Hettie.

Since 1866, Dr. Witherspoon has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and has taken an active interest in everything relating to the order, as well as to the general welfare of the several communi- ties in which he has lived, being a man who though of quiet life possesses strong moral convictions and exerts a wholesome influence toward the maintenance of good order and the preservation of the purity of liome life.

LLEN M. DRINKARD. - Ainong the many men whose names are worthy of mention in the county history is our subject, Allen Drinkard, an honored pioneer of Limestone county. He is a native of Alabama, born May 5, 1837, the son of Ellington and Tabitha Drink- ard, of Scotch descent. He is the tenth child of the thirteen of his father's family, but is the only one besides a sister that came to Texas. Mr. Drinkard remained under the paternal roof until he was sev- enteen, when he engaged as a farm hand and obtained his education by his own efforts. In the fall of 1857 he came to Texas, locating first in Anderson county, where he engaged in farming and school-

teaching for three years. In 1861, like many another brave young man he left all his business interests and cast his lot with the fortunes of his section, enlisting in Company I, Seventh Texas Cavalry, Cap- tain Gardner in command of the company and Colonel Sutton of the regiment. He was first consigned to the Arizona Depart- ment, where he spent one season and then returned to Texas, where he was at the capture of Galveston. He also took part in the capture of the Harriet Lane (a steamer) and there received a wound from an exploded shell, in the head, which dis- abled him for three months; but in the spring of 1863 he joined his command in Louisiana, at the battle of Caple Isle lake, where he was captured and carried off to New Orleans and after one month to Mo- bile and then to Demopolis, Alabama, where he was retained seven months and then exchanged. He was then detailed to watch the prisoners and was afterward taken prisoner again, at Selma, Alabama, and was marched all over the country and then paroled on the road to Columbus, Georgia, and this was about the time of the surrender. He then worked his way on foot and in a skiff to Calaba, Alabama, and returned to his old home in Alabama and remained nntil 1866, when he returned to Anderson county and taught school un- til 1868, when he bought a farm, and in 1870 came to this county and raised crops on shares for two years. In 1872 he mar- ried and sold his Anderson county farm and bought an improved farm in this county, at Horn Hill, but in 1886 sold this farm and came to his present locality and bought 325 acres of raw land, which

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he has improved, all fenced in and 100 acres under a high state of cultivation. Part of this land he rents and on it he raises cotton, corn, oats, sorghum and mil- let. In addition he raises some stock, horses and cattle, and makes all supplies for home use.

In 1872 Mr. Drinkard married Miss Arrimatha Sharp, born in this county, October 21, 1853, the daughter of Ed. and Salada A. Sharp, of Missouri and Ken- tucky respectively. They came to Texas in 1846, and the father served through the late war. He was a farmer by occu- pation and died November 17, 1870. The mother was a daughter of S. D. Tucker, who came to Texas in 1849 and died in 1880. Mr. Sharp, grandfather of our sub- ject's children, died in August, 1881.

Mr. and Mrs. Drinkard have had tive children, namely: Eddy W., Mary E., Laura, Jonathan M. and Levi; all of these are at home. Mr. Drinkard is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Royal Arch. He and his wife are members of the Method- ist Church, and he is now a member of the Farmers' Alliance, although he was formerly a Democrat. The platform of the third party seemed to contain the prin- ciples that he advocated more clearly and distinctly than any other party; so he is now a red hot champion of its measures.

OHN T. BRAGG, a farmer of Na- varro county, is a son of Joseph Bragg, who was born in Alabama, 1816. He removed from his native State to Mississippi, and in 1847 came by wagon

to Texas, locating near where our subject now lives. He bought and improved a tract of raw land, and frequently hunted buffalo where Corsicana now stands. He lived to the time of his death where he first located; was fairly successful in his busi- ness ventures; was a Democrat in his political views, and was a Deacon in the Missionary Baptist Church. Onr subject's mother, nee Julia Ann Eliza Hamilton, was a native of Tennessee, but removed with her parents to Texas about 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Bragg were married in 1849, and were the parents of seven children, namely: William, a farmer of Navarro county; James and Elizabethi, deceased; John T., our subject; Nancy and Amanda, deceased; and George, a mill and gin owner of Breckenridge, Stephens county.

Jolın T. Bragg was born in Navarro county, Texas, in 1854, and remained at home with his mother until twenty-three years of age, at which time the old place was divided. He bought out all the heirs except his mother, and then engaged in farming and stock-raising. He afterward sold his stock interests and turned his at- tention exclusively to agricultural pursuits, He moved to his present home in 1887. Mr. Bragg began life for himself at the age of twenty-one years, with only 100 acres of land and about $600 in money, and he now owns 250 acres of land, with 150 acres under a fine state of cultivation. Politically, he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party; and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church.

Our subject was first married in Octo- ber, 1877, to Miss Lucy Conner, a daugh-

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

ter of E. P. and Mary Conner, a sketch of whom is also given. To this union was born one child, Mary, deceased in infancy. The mother was a member of the Mission- ary Baptist Church, and her death occurred in 1878. In 1879 Mr. Bragg married Emma Fickling, a native of Alabama and a daughter of J. R. and Lncinda Fickling. Our subject and wife have five children, viz .: Lucy Ethel, Joe Thomas (deceased), Charlsie, Annie Low and Johnie Leola.

OSEPH J. WILSON, County Clerk of Navarro county, was born in Car- tersville, Georgia, June 26, 1847. His father, Joseph Wilson, was born in South Carolina, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Stewart, was born in Georgia. The parents were married in Georgia and resided in that State till 1870, when they came to Texas, settling in Na- varro connty, where the mother died in 1884, aged sixty-four. The father is now a resident of Greer county, this State.

The subject of this notice was reared in his native place and in the schools of that place received what education fell to his lot. IIe was brought up on the farm and has followed farming nearly all his life. From 1870 to 1890 he resided in the Cryer creek neighborhood, where his par- ents first settled on coming to this county, and where he still owns a farm. He was elected Clerk of Navarro county in November, 1890, as the nominee of the Democratic party, having received the nomination over three competitors, J. H. Southworth, who was then Clerk, D. R ..

Adkisson and B. II. Woods. He has filled his position acceptably, having made the people of Navarro county as faithful and competent an official as has ever been called to that place. In 1892 he was re- elected by the Democratic ticket against a Populist candidate.

December 4, 1879, Mr. Wilson married Miss Allie Duuu, daughter of E. E. Duun, an old citizen of Navarro county, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Wilson was born in Ellis county, this State. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two children: Erath F. and Joseph W. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Knights of Honor and of the Baptist Church. His wife belongs to the Methodist Church.

Mr. Wilson has three brothers and three sisters residing in this State: George W. of Navarro county, and John L. and Sam- uel N. of Greer county; Mrs. Marinda Scarver, wife of T. J. Scarver, of Greer county; Mrs. Mary Morgan, wife of Isaac Morgan, of Johnson county; and Mrs. El- vira Jefferson, wife of R. L. Jefferson, of Hardeman county. One sister, Martha, died in Navarro county, unmarried. Mr. Wilson is a member of the I. O. O. F.

R. B. F. HOUSTON, the subject of this sketch is a member of that his toric family of Houstons, represen- tatives of which are to be found in all the Southern States, from Virginia to Texas. The most remarkable and widely known of this family, as he was without doubt the greatest that ever bore the name, was Gen- eral Sam Houston, of Texas fame and his-

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tory. But there have been others, who, though less known, have ranked well as soldiers, patriots and citizens, and who in occasional instances have enjoyed honor- able distinction, both in war and peace. The stock, as family tradition has it, orig- inated in Scotland, from which country it was driven out by a religious persecu- tion during the last century. Those who brought the name to this continent settled in the southeast Atlantic coast States, mainly in Virginia and the Carolinas, from which the branches spread out to- ward the South and Southwest, with the extension of English sway in this country. Many of them settled in Tennessee, mi- grating from North Carolina to the re- gions about Jonesboro and Knoxville and extending toward the west end into the vicinity of the colonies planted by Robert- son on the Cumberland. The ancestors of the subject of this sketch became early settlers of Tennessee in this way, there be- ing at one time three generations of his people residents of what is now Marshall county, that State, having moved out from North Carolina, father following son, and settling there in the manner above indi- cated. His great grandfather, Christopher Houston, was a veteran of the Revolution, a man of strong character, an old-style Presbyterian, and, although an inheritor of many slaves, unalterably opposed to the institution of slavery. He freed all of his own negroes and used his influence with his neighbors to do likewise with theirs. He died in Tennessee, after having lived to a great age and borne an honorable part in the making of his country's history. James Houston, his son, and grandfather

of the subject hereof, was born, reared and married in North Carolina, moving from that State to Kentucky somewhere about the year 1800, and in 1803 or 1804 to Tennessee. He was a planter of the old regime and possessed many of the charac- teristics of his Scotch ancestors, modified by surroundings. He was not so strict in matters of religion, nor presumably so conscientious touching the question of slavery. He was a pioneer, one of the great army of commonwealth-builders to whom the civilization of the Southwest owes so much. After settling in Tennes- see he made that State his home and died there, well advanced in years. His son, Benjamin Franklin Honston, father of our subject, was a native of Tennesee, born in the year 1804. He never left his native State, dying there in 1862, having passed all his life in the peaceful pursuits of agri- culture. His wife, whom he married in Marshall county, bore the maiden name of Necy Usery, and was a daughter of Peter Usery, another old North Carolinian, who settled in middle Tennessee early in this century. Necy Usery was born in Marshall county, that State, and lived and died in the county of her birth, her death occur- ring in 1878, in her sixtieth year. Benja- min F. and Necy Houston were the par- ents of ten children, all but one of whom became grown and seven of whom are now living. The following is the list: Mar- shall A., Peter L. (died last winter), Lively A., Patience, Perseus, DeWitt C., Josie F., Callie D., and Benjamin F., one dying in infancy.

Benjamin Franklin Houston, who is the subject proper of this sketch, was born in

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HISTORY OF NAVARRO, HENDERSON, ANDERSON,

Marshall county, Tennessee, September 11, 1852. He was reared on his father's farm, and after obtaining the rudiments of a common English education in the local schools where he grew up he was placed in the Mooresville Institute in Mooresville, Marshall county, where he finished his literary training with an academic course. He read medicine with Dr. J. B. Neal, who was then a practicing physician of Marshall county, and after attaining the proficiency necessary to entitle him to a license he was granted one with which he began the practice. Early in his career he determined on making the eye, ear, nose and throat a specialty, and although he was engaged for a considerable time in the general practice he kept this determi- nation constantly in view. For abont nine years he practiced physic in Marshall and Lincoln counties, Tennessee, then took his final lectures at the University of Nash- ville, from which he received his diploma in 1887, and the same year came to Texas. For a short time he resided at Waxa- hachie, but in November, 1888, moved to Corsicana, which has since been his home. Dr. Honston has built np a good practice as a specialist in the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat, the success he has at- tained having come in recognition of his ability as a practitioner. He has prepared himself thoroughly for this work and is probably one of the most skillful operators in central Texas.

In September, 1872, while residing in Mooresville, Tennessee, Dr. Houston mar- ried Miss Mary A. Elliott, daughter of D. B. Elliott, and a native of Winchester, that State. They are the parents of seven

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Author: Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 954

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 954