"Branches
to Westward"
by
Richard Thornton Fox
Note:
This is the 1990 version of "Branches to Westward".
Some data unfortunately had to be omitted due to format
requirements. The 1996 version will be listed on They Live
Again in the future. The genealogical data from the 1996
version has been included in the databases of They Live Again.
On
15 January 1982, Ruby Ann Thornton Rudisill published an article
titled "A Little South of Lone Oak -
The Early Thorntons of Hunt and Rains Counties". She had been developing her story since 1961 by
contacting surviving family members, and continued to do this
until the date of publication. She also did extensive records research in Texas and
Missouri. Ruby sent
a copy of her work to my uncle, C. C. ("Son") Thornton
in Liberty, Texas, who let me make a copy. I was intrigued with the fact that the early Thorntons
had come from Virginia, where I am located.
So,
I determined to do some research myself and complete the family
tree for our own particular line, following a guiding principle
that I would only try to expand on Ruby's work - not to
supercede it.
In
1984, my cousin Ruben Allison and wife Beth, in Liberty,
organized a reunion of Son's nieces and nephews for the purpose
of helping Son celebrate his 80th birthday. This event was such a success it has tended to grow into
a yearly family reunion even though Son died in 1987. At the reunions old tales are told, pictures displayed,
offspring lectured on how it used to be, etc. It has become apparent we need a written family history.
I am attempting to help satisfy this need.
My
narrative is only about one-half complete. Presently I am hung up on a generation gap in that I do
not yet know the parentage of James Thornton (born in Virginia,
1802). That I have
searched diligently to find this information would be an
understatement, but the effort continues. It did seem logical to put down in writing what has been
found to date, and that is the purpose of this article.
The
reader must understand I am only setting forth a draft and
expect to expand/change and otherwise correct this paper as time
goes by. I have
tried to be accurate, but mistakes may be present. Anyone who brings an error or omission to my attention
will be making a valuable contribution to the final product.
Richard
Thornton Fox
Portsmouth,
Virginia
June,
1990
Branches
To Westward
The
earliest documentary evidence found to date on this line shows
James Thornton executing a marriage bond for union with Martha
C. Royster, in Henry County, Virginia. This bond was made to John Tyler, Governor of Virginia.
The document was witnessed by William Hughes (of whom
nothing else is known). It
was dated 30 August 2020 and pledged $150. At the bottom of the bond there is a handwritten entry by
Elizabeth Royster giving her consent to the marriage of her
daughter. The date
of the consent is also 30 August 1826. This entry by Elizabeth
Royster leads to two conclusions:
Elizabeth
Royster must have been a widow at the time since consent to the
marriage would normally have been given by the father, if
living, or Martha C. must have been under 21 for consent to have
been required.
A
marriage bond in those days was generally required before a
license to marry was granted. It had little legal effect, and no money passed hands if
the marriage was consummated. It was really just a formal statement that there was no
legal impediment to the proposed wedding (e.g. a previous
undissolved marriage). It
was similar to Banns of Marriage published by the Church. In fact, a bond was not required if Banns had been
published. If the
marriage did not take place, the bond money did not go to the
intended or her family, but would be a fine to the State, if
such was indicated.
On
31 August 1826, the marriage took place in Henry County and was
solemnized by one Arnold Walker. Arnold Walker was a Minister in the Primitive Baptist
Church.
Elizabeth
Royster, mother of the bride, was shown in the 1820 Census in
Henry County as head of a household made up as follows:
Also
in the household were 9 slaves and 1 free black person.
From
later Census reports we know the bride, Martha C. Royster, was
born between 1812 and 1814. Thus she would have been one of the two youngest shown
above. It is clear
that Martha married James when she was at the tender age of 12
to 14, remarkably young in the present day, but perhaps not so
unusual in that era.
The
next documented event for James and Martha is the 1830 Census of
Henry County. James'
household was listed as follows (Census reports did not give
names other than heads of households until 1850):
-
Male
born 1800-1810 (James)
-
Male
born 1815-1820 (?)
-
Female
born 1810-1815 (Martha)
-
(2)
Females born 1825-1830 (Paulin (sic], Katherine T.)
Included
in the household were 5 slaves. Names in parenthesis are my suppositions for given names
as explained later. It
is known from later Census reports in Missouri that James was
born in 1802, so he would have been 24 when he and Martha were
married. We have
already noted Martha could have been at most 14 at the marriage.
It can therefore be presumed well enough the two girl
babies were children of the child bride, but the male 10-15
years old is a mystery. Two
possibilities come quickly to mind:
He
could have been an indentured servant or hired laborer since
such were included in Census reports, or, he might have been a
younger member of the Thornton or Royster families living with
the couple -- not at all an uncommon situation in those days.
The
1830 Census showed for Elizabeth Royster a household of:
While
only a guess, it is likely the elder person was Elizabeth's
mother. Elizabeth
Royster did not show in the 1840 Census for Henry County. She had either moved, died, or was living with someone
who would be listed as head of household.
In
the early 1830s, James and family moved to central Missouri.
Not known with any certainty is how they traveled for
this ordeal, whether by foot, wagon, or boat, more than a
century and a half ago. We
neither know the route they took, who went with them or why they
moved. Libraries
are filled with books describing such events much better than I
could attempt. Suffice
to say, it would have been an odyssey we can scarcely imagine.
The
U.S. had made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Purchase
was divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of
Louisiana. In 1805,
the District of Louisiana became a territory, and shortly
thereafter was divided again and part of the division named the
Territory of Missouri. In
1821, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a State, with
generally the same boundaries as today.
The
St. Louis abstracts of U.S. Land Sales in Missouri show James
Thornton as purchasing the following plot of land: W 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of Section 8, township 42, Range 8W.
This was 80 acres in Gasconade County, Missouri. This purchase was made in 1837.
No value is given in the abstracts.
There
were no Thorntons listed in the 1830 Census for Gasconade County
(Reader's note: We have already indicated James was living in
Henry County, Virginia, in 1830. But, it was necessary to check Gasconade for their
presence or absence in 1830 to help substantiate previous
findings). We do
have information from later reports that James and Martha's son,
Joseph, was born in Missouri in about 1836. These things all put together give us a good feel for the
earliest and latest dates for the emigration from Virginia being
1831-1836.
The
1840 Census of Gasconade County shows James and his household as
follows:
-
Male
born 1800-1810 (James)
-
Female
born 1810-1820 (Martha)
-
Male
born 1810-1820 (?)
-
(2)
Females born 1825-1830 (Paulin, Katherine T.)
-
Male
born 1830-1835 (??)
-
(2)
Males born 1835-1840-(Joseph, James)
-
Female
born 1835-1840
(?) and 5 slaves.
Four
persons not specifically named were listed as being employed in
agriculture. One
was listed as a
white person over 20 years of age who cannot read or
write", but such person was not pointed out. Names in parenthesis are, again, suppositions.
The mystery man born in 1815-1820 who showed in Henry
County, Virginia is still in the household as well as a new
unknown male born 1830-1835. I have not yet been able to identify the girl born
1835-1840.
A
possible explanation exists for the identity of the male born
between 1815-1820 who showed in James' household in both 1830 in
Virginia and 1840 in Missouri. In the Will records of Osage County in Missouri is the
following entry, "Joseph Royster died intestate,
Administrator James Thornton, 29 January 1853". One could easily speculate that Joseph Royster was
related in some way to Martha Royster Thornton, had lived with
the Thorntons in Virginia and emigrated with them to Missouri.
If such was the case, it would be quite natural for James
to be named administrator of Joseph Royster's estate. Joseph did not show in James' household in 1850 (Joseph
would be an adult then) , nor is he shown in the Osage County
Census for 1850. I
think, personally, this speculation is valid.
At
this state of the narrative, I am going to wander off into rank
speculation and surmise. If
the reasoning seems tortuous, then so be it.
Osage
County Missouri, was formed from Gasconade County in 1841.
The principal town and county seat of Osage County is
Linn, Missouri. Marriage
Book "A" of Osage County covers the period 1841-1861
and is located at the Recorder's Office in Linn. The following information is contained in Marriage Book
"A":
I
speculate that Paulin and Katherine T. Thornton were the two
girls in James Thornton's household shown as. being born 1825 -
1830 in the 1830 Henry County, Virginia -and the 1840 Gasconade
County, Missouri numerations. Ages at marriage would have been logical being 16 to 21
years. The youngest
girl in the 1840 Census could only have been 13 in 1848 and
might have been as young as 8 (I have no further information
about her). There
were no girl children shown in James Thornton's household in
1850, so the girls were living elsewhere or deceased in 1850.
While
James Thornton was principally a farmer, at one time he was
operator of a ferry across the Gasconade River in Osage County.
The ferry crossed the river near the present day village
of Rich Fountain, about 7 miles south of Linn, Missouri. This is where the land he bought in 1837 is located.
It appears he operated the ferry after it was established
and operated by one Robert and Sarah Rollins in about 1835.
Another operator of this ferry was a Ruben Wilson, who
will be mentioned later.
While
perhaps out of context, I am now going to remark a little about
early Census taking. The
first Census was ordered by the U.S. Government for 1790 and
each 10 years thereafter. Unfortunately,
Census reports for Virginia for the years 1790, 1800 and 1810
were either totally or partially destroyed when the British
burned Washington during the War of 1812. Efforts have been made to develop II substitute"
Census reports for the years and counties for which reports are
missing (including Henry County and surrounding areas), and
while they are very helpful, such substitutes are no guarantee
that a person did not live in a given place at a given time.
The
lack of Census reports contributes to the problem of determining
who James Thornton's parents were. Also, the careful reader must give thought to who it was
that actually conducted the Census and how he went about it. (I
do not think it necessary to use inclusive pronouns here since
the fairer sex did not conduct early enumerations). While, obviously, the enumerator had to be able to write,
the cursive style of the early 19th century is guaranteed to
send a modern day researcher to an optician and/or a 6-pack.
While some of the script is beautifully done, legibility
and spelling is often suspect.
This
is not surprising since large numbers of the citizens themselves
could neither read nor write, and spelling of surnames was often
phoneticized, or simply not heard correctly and recorded in
error. As a matter
of fact, librarians and genealogists have developed a system
called "Soundex" to aid in searching old papers for
names which were, perhaps, recorded incorrectly. This was helpful to me when a person noted Thornton was
listed incorrectly as Horton on an 1880 Texas Census. The Soundex code for Thornton is T653. (This knowledge
and $1.59 will buy a Big Mac). But there was a very helpful aspect of early Census
taking; the enumerator listed families in the order visited,
i.e., neighbors are shown in numerical order. Thus it is generally easy to determine who the ancestor's
neighbors were. Since
the original reports were not in alphabetical order, it is most
helpful if someone has already made an index for the area/time
in question. This
has been done, generally, through 1860.
Back
to the supposed marriage of the Thornton girls, Paulin and
Katherine T.. Listed immediately next to James Thornton in the
1840 Census was "Wm Huber". I am not at all sure I have transposed the spelling as
the enumerator intended. The
writing is vague. (It might have been this name was Hibler).
Wm. Huber's
household is listed as:
-
Male
born 1800-1810
-
Male
born 1830-1835
-
(2) Males
born 1835-1840
-
Female
born 1770-1780
-
Female
born 1810-1820
On
20 January 1857, James Thornton purchased from one William
Pinkston and wife a 1/9 interest in 176.5 acres in Jefferson
Township in Osage County. He
paid $87.50 for this interest, i.e., 50T per acre. On 22 January 1857, he purchased a 2/9 interest in the
same land from one George Wilson and wife for the same property.
He also bought a 1/9 interest from Cameried (?) Riley and
her husband, John C. Riley. The Wilsons, Pinkstons, and Rileys were heirs of one
Ruben Wilson. All
did not go well with these purchases. On 1 1 May 1860, the Circuit Court of Osage issued an
order that the land for which James had bought 4/9 rights to be
sold at public auction. This
was called an "Action of Petition for Partition" where
James Thornton was plaintiff and a number of people named Wilson
were defendants. On
7 November 1860, the public auction was held and James Thornton
made the high bid of $600.
He
finally got a deed to the whole property from a Sheriff on 13
May 1863. (Part of the delay was due to the fact the previous
Sheriff who conducted the sale had died shortly thereafter).
I speculate that after James bought the 4/9 interest from
the Rileys, Pinkstons, and George Wilson the other heirs of
Ruben Wilson did not want to sell their interest and the matter
ended up in Court. I
do not know how the property was disposed of when the Thorntons
left Missouri in the late 1860s.
We
have the good fortune of knowing quite a bit about Mary Jane,
including having her photo (see Photo
Section). There
is also information on the Vaughan family here.
She lived until 1914. Surely the "Mary G." in the 1860 Census should
have been "Mary J." and she and William were living in
the household of James.
Now
follow carefully. The
1850 Census shows:
James
Thornton, age 12, born in 1838. The 1860 Census shows him as age 20 born in 1840.
An 1880 Census in Rains County, Texas shows James
Thornton age 40 born in 1840, born in Missouri with a wife named
Mary E. of age 41, born in Tennessee. So the date for these two reports do not match for age
and State of wife's birth. While admittedly forcing a point to the edge of
credibility, I conclude the James Thornton shown under the
Hilber household might very well have been William Thornton (age
and circumstances match) and that James T. had married Susan in
1858 and she died prior to 1861. Otherwise, the James Thornton in the Hilber household is
probably not of our line.
Another
digression at this point. The
surname Thornton was quite common in colonial and post
revolutionary Virginia. It
was also common in Missouri during the period of interest.
For example, there was a group of Thorntons who
originated in Virginia, moved to North Carolina, to Kentucky and
then to Callaway County, Missouri. They had a son named James.
Callaway County adjoins Osage County. You can imagine the excitement I had on discovering this
in the early stages of my research. This was followed by further checking and a delightful
correspondence with a Miss Artie Thornton, a maiden lady of 92
who had published various articles on Thorntons in Missouri.
It did turn out to be a different line than ours, but the
coincidence was remarkable. A bit closer home, our trusty Marriage Book 'A" also
had entries showing:
I
have no idea what line Sarah Thornton was from. Gravestones in Osage County include the following
entries:
-
Frances
Cittie Clarke Thornton 2 October 2020 - 10 May 1860, Wife of
Samuel
-
Samuel
Yardley Thornton 2 August 2020 - 12 April 1877, Husband of
Frances
There
is documentary evidence a S.Y. Thornton bought land in Osage
County in 1857. In
the same cemetery as mentioned above there is a marker for:
James
William Thornton 30 March 2021 - 17 September 1872 Grandson of Samuel and Frances
This
shows descent of a son from Samuel, which son might very well
have been named James. An
on it goes. I only
include these entries to show that confusion in searches such as
this is always present and that is why I am trying to include as
much detail as possible to support speculations when they are
called out
The
Civil War was from 1861 - 1865. Missouri was certainly deeply involved.
I am presently researching information which may show
whether our line of Thorntons was involved and if so, on which
side they participated. Since
James and Martha owned slaves and were from southern Virginia,
it would seem they would favor the Southern Cause, but who
knows.
Osage
County marriage Book "B" covers the period 1862 - 1871
and shows the following unions:
-
William
Thornton married Ann H. Lorenze on 26 January 2021
-
Joseph
E. Thornton married Mary Mermahon on 8 October 2020
-
John
H. Diercks married Adelia H. Thornton on 25 May 2020
Considering
these in order: I have no idea who this particular William
Thornton was. Noting
Joseph E. Thornton marrying Mary M. in 1865 could lead to some
fanciful speculation. As
mentioned earlier, there was a Joseph Thornton in Texas in 1860.
Could he have returned to Missouri from Texas because of
the War? This is
entirely possible. He
certainly was in Missouri after the War. And as an aside, note the John H. Diercks and Adelia
Thornton marriage. He
is surely the one who married Sarah E. Thornton in 1858 as shown
in Marriage Book "A".
Sarah
must have died. In
these days and earlier, it was not all uncommon to marry the
brother/sister of a deceased spouse. This happened often among the early Virginia
Thorntons. I have nothing more of Adelia.
The
Thorntons were active in the Masonic Lodge in Linn. That tradition was carried down to at least C.C.
Thornton, who was a great-grandson of James and Martha. Linn Masonic Lodge #66 was chartered in 1856.
For some reason it was terminated about 30-40 years
later, but had a successor Lodge #326 AF & AM established in
1898. The Secretary
of the present Lodge and the Secretary of the Grand Lodge of
Missouri have been most helpful in providing information. No Thorntons appeared on the Linn Lodge returns for 1856,
1857 and 1864. But
for the year ended 30 April 1866, three Thorntons showed as
follows:
-
J.E.
Thornton was listed as Junior Deacon, an officer of the
Lodge. This
indicates he probably joined the Lodge prior to 1866.
-
Wm
L. Thornton received both lst (entered apprentice) and 2nd (fellowcraft)
degrees during the year.
-
Jas.
T. Thornton received lst, 2nd and 3rd (Master Mason)
degrees during the year.
In
the Lodge return dated 1 September 2020 only i.E. Thornton was
listed as a member. No
Thorntons were listed in the return for 1870 (Note: returns for
all years are not available). Grand Lodge files show Wm.
L. Thornton as raised (made a Master Mason) in 1866 and
demitted (placed in an inactive status) on 22 September 1867.
Jas. Thornton
was raised in 1866 and demitted 22 September 2020 (the last date
seems suspicious and may be in error). Jos. Thornton
was raised in 1865 and demitted on 24 July 1869.
Important
in the sequence of this narrative is the presumption William L.
and James T. were active in 1866 but not thereafter. Joseph E. was active from 1865 until at least 1868 and
did not show thereafter. The
implication is that Joseph E. remained in Missouri longer than
William and James.
This
finishes my information to date on the Missouri experience.
The Thorntons moved to Texas.
This
narrative was inspired by and should be considered a supplement
to an article titled "A Little South of Lone Oak" by
Ruby Ann Thornton. Her
work was dated 15 January 1982. Ruby Ann is a great-great-great-granddaughter of James
and Martha Thornton. The
article is appended at the end of this narrative and should be
read at this time since my remarks following are often keyed to
it.
Our
line of Thorntons appears on the 1870 Census of Hunt County,
Texas. By good
fortune and the Soundex code, a researcher located William L.
Thornton listed as "Horton".
Observations
on these listings are:
A.
Martha, age 58, was of course the mother of William,
James (Jr.) and Joseph. Since
she was living with William, James (Sr.) must have died between
1860-1870, probably near the end of the time span. The John Huffman in William's household was probably
hired help. The
Chas. Thornton in
the household would have been one of the freed slaves spoken of
in the article "A Little South. . . ".
B.
The George Thornton, age 1, is shown elsewhere as George
Presley Thornton.
C.
The value of estate for Jos. E. Thornton was not listed on the Census report.
Whether this is an oversight or whether he may have been
living in a house on someone else's land is not known.
D.
In Joseph's household, Presley is shown as being born in
1868 or 1869 in Missouri. We
would guess Joseph and family departed Missouri very shortly
afterwards.
E.
That James T. Thornton does not show as a near neighbor
to William L. and Joseph E. in 1870 is probably due more to
Census procedures than to geography.
Rains
County, Texas was formed from Hunt County in 1870. This likely occurred shortly after the Census, and
explains how our line next shows in the new county.
After
1880 the family was expanding exponentially, so at this point I
will concern myself principally with William Lafayette and his
descendants. In her
paper "A Little South . . .", Ruby Ann spoke of
William L. and Mary Jane's children. My f indings are the same as hers except I think a
daughter was "Evaline Virginia" rather than "Evaline
K.",, a most minor point. Also, I did not f ind any references to Burkes as a child
of William L's, but I do not have access to all of Ruby Ann's
resources. it turns out one of the Thornton boys and two
Thornton girls married one Boarman girl and two Boarman boys.
The
Boarmans were children of C.C. and Sarah Huldah (Morris) Boarman, who also lived in Lone Oak.
The unions were as follows: John Ruben married Jane
Caroline Boarman; Joseph M. Boarman married Maggie Louise; and
Bob Boarman married Evaline Virginia. Evaline Virginia, known popularly as "Aunt
Babe"., later married a Mr. McMortle after Bob Boarman died
in 1911. Aunt Babe
died at age 84. John
Ruben and Jane Caroline ("Carrie") were married at
Lone Oak, Texas on 19 August 1893.
Since
this story is soon to hitch up the team and dust out of Lone
Oak, let me say here the following markers are in the Hooker
Ridge Cemetery at Lone Oak:
Joseph
E. (son of James and Martha)
Sally
(2nd wife of Joseph E.)
Press
(Presley, son of Joesph E.)
M.E.
(Mary E., 2nd wife of James T.)
Thomas
I. (sone of James T.)
W.L.
(son of James and Martha)
M.J.
(wife of W.L.)
J.M.
(son of W.L.)
James
T. (son of James and Martha)
The
information in parenthesis is my own observation based on
headstone markings.
The
family Bible of J.R. and Carrie Thornton has entries made in the
same precise handwriting for events from the marriage up to
1901. It is obvious the family Bible was started at the later
date. It shows J.R.
and Carrie were married by the Rev. J.M. Bowman. I
have thought for years this might be the J.M. Boarman who
married Maggie Louise, but now I do not think this is so. I have seen a later reference to a family named Bowman in
Lone Oak, so a family tale is in jeopardy.
In
the Bible there is an entry which states "J.R. Thornton and
family moved to Liberty Co. October 15, 1897. Moved to Liberty August 10=1903." The last, of
course, meant they moved into the town of Liberty (County Seat).
Many times Carrie told me that when she and J.R. first
came to the area they first lived near Hardin, a small town in
Liberty County about 10 miles from the town of Liberty itself.
The family Bible, now in the possession of Mary Clare
Thornton, shows different entries concerning both "J.R."
and "R. J."
Thornton. Locally
he was addressed as "Rube". obituary columns and
Resolutions of Respect from the Masonic Lodge of Liberty list
him as J.R. Thornton or John Ruben Thornton. His headstone in the Liberty City cemetery is inscribed
J.R. Thornton, so his given names are well established.
Rube
and Carrie's first child was James Hubert, born in Lone Oak on
13 November 1895. Next
was Huldah Jane born 4 August 2020 in Lone Oak. It must have been immediately after Huldah's birth that
the trip was made to Liberty County by covered wagon. This would have been a trip of about 250 miles.
Just think about it, with an infant! While living near Hardin, two more children were born,
Jewell- Dale on 26 April 2020 and Ruby Mae on 3 December 1901.
While at Hardin, Rube operated a mule team (or teams). He was involved in helping build a railroad right-of
-way.
Teams
of mules, perhaps up to 8, would drag a huge iron scoop called a
"slip" over the ground to level the path for the
railroad bed, in much the same manner as a bulldozer does today.
Rube and Carrie moved from Hardin to Liberty in 1903, as
mentioned earlier. Rube
bought what amounted to one half of a city block. (Most of the
property remains in family hands to this date). The last child born was C.C. on 4 July 1904.
He was always known as "Son". One of the family anecdotes has involved Son's given
name.
When
questioned as to the names associated with the initials C.C., he
steadfastly maintained they had no relationship to given names
but were simply initials. This
was not accepted completely by all members of the family. Some say that "Christopher Colombus" was
originally entered in the Bible, but was later changed to read
"C.C." (by person(s) unknown). I have examined this entry myself in the Bible.
My
conclusions are indeterminate. It is known that Son's maternal grandfather was C.C.
Boarman. Son had an
uncle named Christopher Colombus. Legend has it he told a niece "one of his sisters
had put the name Christopher Colombus in the Bible to embarrass
him". He is
listed as C.C. now--but still there is that smudge on the page
under the initials . . . . In any event when, on numerous
occasions, all these facts were laid before him, he would only
smile in the way we remember so well and not engage in further
discussions.
When
Rube and Carrie moved to Liberty, they built a large house which
is standing today. For
a livelihood, he still operated mule teams and worked also as a
butcher and a peace officer (sort of a deputy town marshall).
He died 25 November 2020 of "locked bowels" in
Liberty. This left
Carrie in a difficult position. She had 5 children ranging in ages from 5 to 14.
With the house and property she was not destitute, but
needed an income to live on. She started taking in boarders, and later on, roomers.
She
recalled memories to me of working with her children in the rice
fields which used to be so prevalent in the area. In any event, it was a hard time f or a young widow.
She did persevere and all the children were raised
properly, well educated and suffered no grievous want. Another family story recalls when the oil boom was in
effect around Liberty around the 1920s, one of her neighbors and
great friends of the family was a Mr. E.W. Pickett. Mr. Pickett was doing very well indeed participating in
this boom. Carrie
is said to have told him "Mr. E.W., I am just a poor widow woman with 5 children to
raise and you must tell me how I can get in on this oil boom to
make some money." Mr. E.W. was impressed and did give her
some advice which added a little to her income - perhaps only a
few dollars a week - which was certainly helpful. Carrie died in Liberty on 28 January 1960.
She had been very active in the Methodist Church. I am told that people came from far and near for her
funeral, which was one of the largest such gatherings the town
had witnessed. She
was a good woman and well beloved by all.
The
eldest son James Hubert ("Hub") married Flossie Bender
on 29 September 1922. He
worked in oil exploration and while so engaged, died in Pecos,
Texas in 1927. He
is buried in Jefferson, Texas. Hub and Flossie had a son, Hubert Bender, born 4 August
1923.
Huldah
was involved in the later stages of the Texas oil boom. She
specialized in buying leases on properties which were later
produced by the big operators. She would then receive royalties on oil and gas produced.
She married Joe Gans, but the marriage was terminated
prior to her death on 18 April 1941. She is buried in Liberty.
She and Joe Gans had no children.
Jewel
married Norman Allison on 14 June 1914. Until their death they lived next door to the family home
of Rube and Carrie. Norman
worked locally as a barber and later operated a service station.
They had 3 children; Ruben Anthony, born 31 January 1920,
William Anthony, born 28 April 1924, and Mary Jane, born 16
April 1930. Jewel
died on 26 August 2020 and is buried at Liberty.
Ruby
married Norman Fox on 21 March 1920. They met while he was working for the Arkansas Fuel Oil
Co. in Hull, Texas, and she was teaching school in the same
town. They later
moved to San Antonio, Texas, where their son Raymond Donald was
born on'8 December 1924. His
work next took him to El Dorado, Arkansas, where their son
Richard Thornton was born on 28 September 1927. In 1928, the couple moved to
Tullos, Louisiana where they
remained until Ruby died in 1947. She is buried in Liberty.
Son,
the youngest, worked in the oil exploration business in various
parts of Texas; at a shipyard during WWII and later owned and
operated a cattle ranch near Ames, Texas, about 10 miles from
Liberty. He married
Mary Clare on 15 May 1936. They had one daughter, Peggy Clare, born on 22 February
1937. Throughout
his life Son was devoted to his mother, Carrie, as were all of
her children. For
the last half of his life, Son and Mary lived next door to
Carrie (on the other side of her house from Jewel).
Son
died in 1987 and is buried in Liberty.
Here
I am going to stop this narrative and advise, J.R. and Carrie's
grandchildren and descendants to -expand on and complete their
own lines. And, as
I have exhorted them before, the time to do this is now before
memories dim and records are lost. I would hope they will be generous with their time and
put down all pertinent data. It would also help to separate fact from fiction -- but,
when in doubt write it out, anyway, to add more twigs on the
Branches to Westward.