Mathias A Myers has been a tough one to find. There just don't seem to be many records out there.
According to later censuses, he was born November of 1854.
He was the son of Perry Myers from Mississippi and Perry's first wife, Sarah Price. The first 3 sons were born in Mississippi, but by 1854 they had moved to Nacogdoches, Texas where Mathias was born. His mother, Sarah, died in 1860 in Nacogdoches. I haven't been able to find where she was buried.
Perry remarried to Susan A. Spivey and had more children.
Mathias married Sarah Francis (Fannie) Welch, our Eliza Jane Welch's half sister. By 1900 Eliza Jane had moved in with them and later met and married my great grandfather, William Holloway Pettey.
Mathias and Sarah Francis moved to Shelby County, Texas where they lived out the rest of their lives.
While searching for clues to the Welch-Willis line, I discovered that there was a gentleman named David Myers who had come to the same point in his research. I gave him a call and had a great conversation with him. He knew about Mathias and Fannie, but didn't realize that Fannie had a sister (listed on the 1890 census) - Eliza Jane Welch.
He did tell me, however, what he knew about the Myers.
He told me that he placed the combined stone on Fannie's grave so that his father, who wanted to visit it, could see them together - although they were not actually buried together.
Fannie is buried in the Ramah Cemetery in Teneha, Shelby County, TX. Mathias's name is on the same stone, but below it are the words, "buried North Jericho Cem." which is located in Center, Texas. I can't find any record of his burial.
According to my genealogy program, Mathias was the husband of my "half great great aunt."
In which I search for the Pettey, Welch, Jeffrey, Willis and Crane families.
Related Name List: All of the above plus Nance, Graybill, Franks, Williams, Thompson, Bernardi, Bishop, Berry Brewster, Bronaugh, Brumbalow, Coon, Crossland, Fabretto, Fleming, Gossage, Hellums, Hoooper, Horn,Meals, Monroe, Moore, Murdoch, Myers, Power, Reed, Rigs, Sardini, Sims, Stanley,Washington, Wright
Related Name List: All of the above plus Nance, Graybill, Franks, Williams, Thompson, Bernardi, Bishop, Berry Brewster, Bronaugh, Brumbalow, Coon, Crossland, Fabretto, Fleming, Gossage, Hellums, Hoooper, Horn,Meals, Monroe, Moore, Murdoch, Myers, Power, Reed, Rigs, Sardini, Sims, Stanley,Washington, Wright
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Nov 26 Happy Birthday Anna Belle!
Sometimes it's easy to find a female ancestor, and sometimes not so much.
Anna Belle Robinson Pettey had been a bit tricky to locate, but I found a few things about her. She was the wife of my great uncle Leonard Dewey Pettey.
She appears on the 1920 census as 18 years of age with parents J. S. and Jessie Lynch Robinson along with 3 brothers. She was born 26 Nov 1902 in Jewett, Leon County, Texas. In 1930 the census notes that she was married to Leonard Dewey Pettey and they had a 5-year-old son, Leonard Dewy Jr "Dub" and a nephew, Herbert G Robinson, age 7, living with them.
Dewey Sr. and Anna Belle later divorced and she never remarried.
She was the sole publisher of the Jewett Messenger which she took over after her father's death. She had started helping out with the paper when she was 18 and after taking it over she ran it until her death in 1964.

Sometimes it's easy to find a female ancestor, and sometimes not so much.
Anna Belle Robinson Pettey had been a bit tricky to locate, but I found a few things about her. She was the wife of my great uncle Leonard Dewey Pettey.
She appears on the 1920 census as 18 years of age with parents J. S. and Jessie Lynch Robinson along with 3 brothers. She was born 26 Nov 1902 in Jewett, Leon County, Texas. In 1930 the census notes that she was married to Leonard Dewey Pettey and they had a 5-year-old son, Leonard Dewy Jr "Dub" and a nephew, Herbert G Robinson, age 7, living with them.
Dewey Sr. and Anna Belle later divorced and she never remarried.
She was the sole publisher of the Jewett Messenger which she took over after her father's death. She had started helping out with the paper when she was 18 and after taking it over she ran it until her death in 1964.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Happy Birthday Claude!
We haven't heard much about the Brumbalow family, but apparently they were pretty close to the Jeffreys for a time. CLAUDE BETHEL BRUMBALOW was born November 25, 1916 in Hamilton county, Texas to Joe B. and Ruby May Jeffrey Brumbalow. Ruby was a daughter of Andrew Bethel Jeffrey - brother to William M. Jeffrey - my great grandfather. Claude is my second cousin (once removed).
As a child Claude is on the 1930 census and the 1940 Hamilton County census with his family and a couple of Jeffreys. In 1930, Claude was 14 and living with them was Jerry Jeffrey, listed as uncle to head of household (Claude's father, Joe) and Frank Jeffrey listed as brother-in-law. Coincidentally, I had been looking for Jerry on the censuses but had never found him until now.
In 1940 Frank Jeffrey is gone but Jerry is still there at age 74. Claude was 24 and working with the Soil Erosion Corp.
He later married Annie Bell Anthony and they had at least five children.
I almost cried when I found the death certificate of the oldest daughter. At age 7, Patsy Fay died of extensive burns caused by her clothes catching on fire from the stove. She was in the hospital 45 days before she died. I can't imagine....
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Another sad birth and death.
Infant Petty
As a child Claude is on the 1930 census and the 1940 Hamilton County census with his family and a couple of Jeffreys. In 1930, Claude was 14 and living with them was Jerry Jeffrey, listed as uncle to head of household (Claude's father, Joe) and Frank Jeffrey listed as brother-in-law. Coincidentally, I had been looking for Jerry on the censuses but had never found him until now.
In 1940 Frank Jeffrey is gone but Jerry is still there at age 74. Claude was 24 and working with the Soil Erosion Corp.
He later married Annie Bell Anthony and they had at least five children.
I almost cried when I found the death certificate of the oldest daughter. At age 7, Patsy Fay died of extensive burns caused by her clothes catching on fire from the stove. She was in the hospital 45 days before she died. I can't imagine....
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Another sad birth and death.
Infant Petty
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Happy Anniversary
On 24 November 1853, Eldridge Franks married his second wife, Minerva A Ross in Marshall County, Mississippi. (another researcher says they were married in Caldwell County, TX. I have to look into this more.)
Minerva had been living with them at least since 1850 while Eldredge's first wife, Julia Ann, was still alive. She was listed on the 1850 census for Mississippi as 13 years of age. No relationship was given on the censuses for that year.
In 1954 Eldridge was on the tax rolls for Caldwell County, Texas and is listed as owning one slave.
Eldridge and Minerva had one son named Marcus L. Franks.
What I find particularly interesting about this couple are her name and her son's name. I have a 2X great-grandmother whose maiden name was Minerva M Franks. She also was from Mississippi. She named her second son William MARCUS. She and her husband also lived for a time in Caldwell County.
I'm pretty convinced that there is a relationship between this Minerva Franks and the other Franks who lived in Caldwell County, but I have yet to find the link.
After Minerva Ross Franks died, Eldridge Franks married Martha Elizabeth Fleming, granddaughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Jeffrey. This made Eldridge the husband of my 1st cousin (4X removed).
Minerva had been living with them at least since 1850 while Eldredge's first wife, Julia Ann, was still alive. She was listed on the 1850 census for Mississippi as 13 years of age. No relationship was given on the censuses for that year.
In 1954 Eldridge was on the tax rolls for Caldwell County, Texas and is listed as owning one slave.
Agriculture developed rapidly in antebellum Texas, as evidenced by a steady expansion in the number of farms, the amount of improved acreage, the value of livestock, and the size of crops produced. Slave labor contributed heavily to that growth.
Only a minority of antebellum Texans, however, actually owned slaves and participated directly in the cash-crop economy. Only one family in four held so much as a single slave, and more than half of those had fewer than five slaves. Small and large planters, defined respectively as those owning ten to nineteen and twenty or more slaves, held well over half of the state's slaves in both 1850 and 1860.
From Texas State History Online
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/npa01
Eldridge and Minerva had one son named Marcus L. Franks.
What I find particularly interesting about this couple are her name and her son's name. I have a 2X great-grandmother whose maiden name was Minerva M Franks. She also was from Mississippi. She named her second son William MARCUS. She and her husband also lived for a time in Caldwell County.
I'm pretty convinced that there is a relationship between this Minerva Franks and the other Franks who lived in Caldwell County, but I have yet to find the link.
After Minerva Ross Franks died, Eldridge Franks married Martha Elizabeth Fleming, granddaughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Jeffrey. This made Eldridge the husband of my 1st cousin (4X removed).
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Happy Birth Month
I just realized that I have some ancestors in my database with month and year for important dates, but no day. So I'm wishing my second great-great uncle, WESLEY A. WILLIS, a happy birth month.
Wesley was the oldest of about nine children of William Franklin and Ann J. Stanley Willis. He was born in Georgia in November of 1832. By 1850 the family was living in Alabama. In 1852 he married Agnes Kent. In 1855 they were moving westward and had their second child in Louisiana. They were in Panola County, Texas in 1857 where Wesley was appointed Postmaster. He and his family are enumerated on the 1860 census for McMillan, Panola County where he is listed as a teamster.
From what I've been able to find, during the civil war it seems he was enlisted in Company F, Griffon's Battalion Texas Infantry around 1863. In Jan 1864 he was on daily duty for "having no shoes." On March 20, 1864 his card reads that at Vermillion, LA he deserted from furlough.
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/David%20Carr_0.pdf
In 1870 the family was living in Marlin, Falls County, Texas next door to his parents and family. Sometime between 1870 and 1875 his wife, Agnes died.
In 1875 Wesley married Mary A Stevenson in Louisiana. She was one of three sisters who married a Willis man. One husband was Robert, Wesley's brother and the other was Berry K. Willis, Wesley's cousin.
In 1880 they were living in Wise County, TX. In 1890 they had an 18 year old nephew and a 21 year old son in law living with them. I've not been able to find out who these boys were.
Wesley was a brother of my 2X great grandmother, Martha Willis WELCH, mother of Eliza Jane Welch PETTEY.
Wesley was the oldest of about nine children of William Franklin and Ann J. Stanley Willis. He was born in Georgia in November of 1832. By 1850 the family was living in Alabama. In 1852 he married Agnes Kent. In 1855 they were moving westward and had their second child in Louisiana. They were in Panola County, Texas in 1857 where Wesley was appointed Postmaster. He and his family are enumerated on the 1860 census for McMillan, Panola County where he is listed as a teamster.
From what I've been able to find, during the civil war it seems he was enlisted in Company F, Griffon's Battalion Texas Infantry around 1863. In Jan 1864 he was on daily duty for "having no shoes." On March 20, 1864 his card reads that at Vermillion, LA he deserted from furlough.
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/David%20Carr_0.pdf
In 1870 the family was living in Marlin, Falls County, Texas next door to his parents and family. Sometime between 1870 and 1875 his wife, Agnes died.
In 1875 Wesley married Mary A Stevenson in Louisiana. She was one of three sisters who married a Willis man. One husband was Robert, Wesley's brother and the other was Berry K. Willis, Wesley's cousin.
In 1880 they were living in Wise County, TX. In 1890 they had an 18 year old nephew and a 21 year old son in law living with them. I've not been able to find out who these boys were.
Wesley was a brother of my 2X great grandmother, Martha Willis WELCH, mother of Eliza Jane Welch PETTEY.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Birth Dates and Others
I've committed myself to posting more in the upcoming year. I've printed out a report from my database of a calendar with important dates on it. I will be sharing what I know about ancestors who were born or married or died on those days.
Starting today! Nov. 22 Birthdays!
GABRIEL A PETTY was born on this day in 1773. I don't have a lot of information on him but he was the grandson of Thomas Petty, the only known child of Hubert Petty. (Hubert was the first Petty to land on US soil as an indentured servant).
Gabriel was born in Warren, N Carolina to James and Martha Clanton Petty. He was the last of 12 children. He married Sarah Darwin (1) and Nancy Sarah (2). He had a large family of about 14 children and died in 1848.
LEONARD DALE PETTEY SR. was born in 1937 in Nacogdoches, Texas, the son of Leonard Dewey Pettey. (There's a question in my database as to who his mother was. Dewey was married twice, once to Anna Belle Robinson and to Edith (?). Since this family was relatively recent, records are not yet available.) Dale lived in Pasadena in later years and was a Harris County Sheriff officer for 10 years, employed by Texaco for 33 years. He was married to Sylvia Ann Meadows. He died in 2009.
I never met him but we did communicate by email about family history.
Starting today! Nov. 22 Birthdays!
GABRIEL A PETTY was born on this day in 1773. I don't have a lot of information on him but he was the grandson of Thomas Petty, the only known child of Hubert Petty. (Hubert was the first Petty to land on US soil as an indentured servant).
Gabriel was born in Warren, N Carolina to James and Martha Clanton Petty. He was the last of 12 children. He married Sarah Darwin (1) and Nancy Sarah (2). He had a large family of about 14 children and died in 1848.
LEONARD DALE PETTEY SR. was born in 1937 in Nacogdoches, Texas, the son of Leonard Dewey Pettey. (There's a question in my database as to who his mother was. Dewey was married twice, once to Anna Belle Robinson and to Edith (?). Since this family was relatively recent, records are not yet available.) Dale lived in Pasadena in later years and was a Harris County Sheriff officer for 10 years, employed by Texaco for 33 years. He was married to Sylvia Ann Meadows. He died in 2009.
I never met him but we did communicate by email about family history.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
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