The Fox Family

GENERATION ONE

#1 DR. JOSEPH FOX, SR., ACCORDING TO FAMILY LORE, WAS EITHER BORN IN THE CITY OF NEW LONDON ITSELF, OR NEAR NEW LONDON. FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON, HOWEVER, HE ALWAYS LISTED HIS BIRTHPLACE ASCONNECTICUT ON HIS CENSUS DATA. HE WAS BORN THE 22ND OF MARCH IN 1800.  AT AN EARLY AGE, AROUND 11, HE WAS ORPHANED. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT HIS PARENTS DIED FROM ONE OF THE MANY PLAGUES THAT TRAVELED THROUGH EUROPE AT THAT TIME. AN AUNT BY THE NAME OF SARAH DEATH (DEETH), OR ELIZABETH DEATH, BY OTHER ACCOUNTS, TOOK HIM IN. MOST OF THE LORE HAS HIM RUNNING AWAY FROM THIS AUNT AT 13 OR 14 YEARS OF AGE, AND CATCHING A SHIP FOR AMERICA TO BECOME A SAILOR. ANOTHER ACCOUNT HAS HIM JOINING THE NAVY TO BECOME A SAILOR. JOSEPH APPARANTLY DID HIS STINT AS A SAILOR ASSISTING THE SHIP’S DOCTOR.  IT WAS IN THIS MANNER, THAT JOSEPH ACQUIRED HIS OWN SKILLS AS A DOCTOR. HE CROSSED THEATLANTIC SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE HIS SHIP WRECKED OFF THE CAROLINAS (SOME SAY CAPE HATTERAS, NORTH CAROLINA), AND THIS MUST HAVE BEEN AROUND 1817-1820.

HE DRIFTED INLAND TO ALABAMA WHERE HE MET AND MARRIED ELIZABETH SHAW IN 1827-1828. (AN ARTICLE ON THE SHAWS FOLLOWS THIS DISCUSSION.) IN THE 1830 CENSUS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA, PAGE NUMBER 181, JOSEPH IS LISTED WITH 1 MALE UNDER 5, 1 MALE 20-30, 1 FEMALE 15-20, 1 MALE SLAVE UNDER 10, AND 1 MALE SLAVE 24-36 FOR A TOTAL OF 5.

SOMETIME BETWEEN 1833 AND 1837, JOSEPH AND ELIZABETH MOVED THEIR FAMILY TO MISSISSIPPI. I FOUND HIM LISTED AGAIN IN 1850 CHICKASAW COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. POSSIBLY, HE RELOCATED THERE AFTER THE CHICKASAW INDIANS OF THAT TERRIRORY WERE MOVED TO WHAT IS NOW OKLAHOMA IN 1834 AND THE LAND OPENED UP. GRANDSON MARION FOX RECALLS JOSEPH COMING FROM OKOLONA, MISSISSIPPI, BUT DAUGHTER JULIA ANNE FOX SPIKES OFTEN SPOKE OF LIVING AT ABERDEEN, MISSISSIPPI. THE 1841 TAX ROLL OF CHICKASAW CO. MISSISSIPPISHOWS JOSEPH FOX OWNING TWO SLAVES, AND THE 1844 TAX ROLL ALSO LISTS HIM.

HE IS ALSO FOUND ON THE JUDGEMENT ROLL, 1836-1845, CHICKASAW CO., MISSISSIPPI – #165 WILLIS W. CHURRY VS. JOHN BAILEY & JOSEPH FOX – #166 JORDON & BUCHANAN VS. JOSEPH FOX & ROBERT A. PEARCE.

TAX ROLLS AND JUDGEMENT ROLL FROM CHICKASAW

TIMES PAST QUARTERLY

1850 CENSUS OF EAST CHICKASAW CO. MISSISSIPI

DWELLING 1 176 AGE GENDER OCCUPATION REAL EST. BORN

JOSEPH FOX 50 M PHYSICIAN 1000 CONN.

ELIZABETH FOX 39 F NC

WILLIAM G. FOX 20 M FARMER ALA

CHARLES J. FOX 19 M ALA

JOSEPH H. FOX 17 M ALA

SARAH R. FOX 13 F MS

THOMAS W. FOX 11 M MS

BENJAMIN F. FOX 9 M MS

JULIAN FOX 7 F MS (JULIA)

ELIZABETH B. FOX 5 F MS (EMILY)

JOHN S. FOX 3 M MS

DRUFSFLLA M. FOX 1 F MS (MARGARET)

DR. FOX MOVED HIS FAMILY TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS AROUND 1851-1852

GRANDSON MARION HAS SAID THEY SETTLED THERE IN JUNE 1851.  I HAVE HEARD THAT HE GAVE ONE SLAVE FOR TWO SECTIONS OF LAND (1280 ACRES), AND ALSO THAT HE PAID $1.00 OR $1.25 AN ACRE TO P.H. PEARSON PLUS A GOOD HORSE, SADDLE AND BRIDLE FOR 189 ACRES. HE BUILT HIS HOUSE ABOUT ONE AND ONE­ HALF MILES EAST OF PROSPECT (WHICH BECAME EGYPT, THEN CHIEF, AND IS NOW RAND.) THIS IS NINE MILES EAST OF KAUFMAN. THE HOUSE WAS TWO LOG HOUSES CONNECTED WITH A PLANK ROOM, WITH A LONG PORCH ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE THREE ROOMS.

WHEN THIS SMALL MAN WITH BLUE EYES AND FAIR HAIR SETTLED IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, THERE WERE ONLY TWO OTHER HOUSES FROM KAUFMAN TO THE VAN ZANDT COUNTY LINE. SO AS DR. FOX PRACTICED HIS PROFESSION, IT IS SAID HE WOULD BE GONE 2-3 WEEKS AT A TIME, GOING AS FAR AS HENDERSON AND TYLER CARRYING HIS MEDICINES AND OTHER SUPPLIES IN HIS SADDLE BAGS. HE RAISED YELLOW HORSES AND ALWAYS RODE ONE WHILE MAKING HIS ROUNDS.

I HAVE READ THAT WHILE IN ALABAMA, DR. FOX MET AND BEFRIENDED A MAN BY THE NAME OF THOMAS PRIDDY. THOMAS ALSO MOVED HIS FAMILY TO MISSISSIPPI (ITAWAMBA COUNTY) ABOUT THE SAME TIME DR. FOX MOVED HIS FAMILY TO CHICKASAW COUNTY. THERE MUST HAVE STILL BEEN CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE TWO FRIENDS AFTER DR. FOX MOVED TO TEXAS, FOR IN 1869, 18 YEARS AFTER JOSEPH HAD COME TO TEXAS, THOMAS PRIDDY ARRIVED IN KAUFMAN COUNTY IN A WAGON TRAIN OF ABOUT 100 PEOPLE CONSISTING MAINLY OF HIS DESCENDANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES. SEVERAL OF THOMAS’ GRANDCHILDREN WERE MARRIED TO DR. FOX’S CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. I HAVE READ THAT THESE TWO MEN LOVED TO DISCUSS THE ISSUES OF THE DAY, SOME OF WHICH THEY AGREED UPON, AND SOME WHICH THEY DID NOT. ONE TOPIC THAT ALWAYS PROVED LIVELY WAS GENERAL/PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON. THOMAS PRIDDY ADMIRED ANDREW JACKSON WHILE DR. FOX DISLIKED HIM. PERHAPS DR. FOX, WHILE LIVING IN FORMER INDIAN TERRITORY IN MISSISSIPPI, HAD BEEN WITNESS TO JACKSON’S UNSPEAKABLY CRUEL AND INHUMANE INDIAN POLICIES. THOMAS PRIDDY PASSED AWAY 4 YEARS AFTER DR. JOSEPH FOX, AND WAS BURIED IN THE FOX FAMILY CEMETERY. EVEN IN DEATH HE IS CLOSE TO HIS GREAT FRIEND AND IN-LAW.

DR. FOX’S LAST TWO CHILDREN WERE BORN IN TEXAS, BUT BY 1860 THREE OF HIS CHILDREN WERE ALREADY BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETERY ON LAND JOSEPH SET ASIDE FOR THIS PURPOSE. JOSEPH, MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDDADDY DIED OCTOBER 17, 1872, AND IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETERY. A HISTORICAL MARKER WAS PLACED AT THIS CEMETERY IN 1968, AND MANY OF JOSEPH’S AND ELIZABETH’S DESCENDANTS CONTINUE TO BE BURIED THERE STILL. IN NOVEMBER1977, THE MARION FOX FARM WAS ACCEPTED IN THE TEXASFAMILY LAND HERITAGE PROGRAM FOR A CENTURY OR MORE OF CONTINUOUS OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION AS A FAMILY AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE.

1870 CENSUS OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS 

Dwelling	Age	Race	Gender	Occupation	Real Estate	Birthplace
Fox, Joseph	70	W	M	Physician	1500	CT
Elizabeth	60	W	F	Keeping House		NC
Margaret	21	W	F			MS
James A	18	N	M	At Home		TX
Shaw, Catherine	76	N	F			VA

 

ELIZABETH (BETSY) SHAW FOX WAS BORN THE 18TH OF DECEMBER 1810 IN NORTH CAROLINA. SHE IS THE OLDEST CHILD OF JAMES AND CATHERINE ELLIOTT SHAW. BECAUSE JOSEPH HAD DIED IN 1872, THE 1880 CENSUS LISTSELIZABETH LIVING ALONE AT DWELLING #258 AND HER SON JOSEPH JR. LIVING AT THE NEXT DWELLING #257.ELIZABETH IS MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDMOTHER. SHE DIED OCTOBER 17, 1895, AND IS BURIED IN THEFOX CEMETERY BESIDE HER HUSBAND OF 45-46 YEARS.

GENERATION TWO

#2 WILLIAM G. FOX IS THE OLDEST CHILD OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. HE WAS BORN THE 29TH OF AUGUST IN 1829 IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA. AS A CHILD HE MOVED WITH HIS PARENTS AND TWO BROTHERS TO CHICKASAW COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. HIS GRANDPARENTS AND SEVERAL AUNTS AND UNCLES (THE SHAWS) MOVED ABOUT THE SAME TIME TO NEARBY MARION COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

WILLIAM MOVED AT THE AGE OF 22 WITH HIS PARENTS AND 9 BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO KAUFMAN COUNTY,TEXAS IN 1851. THERE HE MET AND MARRIED ESTER M. BURTON (BORN 6 DECEMBER 1833) ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1853. THEY HAD A SON, WILLIAM A. FOX, BORN IN 1854. WILLIAM G. FOX DIED 4 APRIL 1855 AND IS BURIED IN THE FOXCEMETERY NEAR RAND, TEXAS IN KAUFMAN COUNTY. HIS GRAVE WAS THE SECOND IN THE CEMETERY. WE DO NOT KNOW THE CAUSE OF DEATH. HE HAD OBTAINED 320 ACRES OF LAND THERE IN KAUFMAN COUNTY. HIS BROTHER CHARLES (#3) MARRIED HIS WIDOW ESTER IN 1855.

WE ALSO FIND IN THE FOX CEMETERY A HEADSTONE READING A.A. FOX BORN 8-22-1854, DIED 11-5-1861. WE BELIEVE THIS IS THEIR SON WILLIAM, BUT THIS IS NOT PROVEN.

ESTER’S FAMILY APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN QUITE A PROSPEROUS ONE. HER FATHER WAS A.T. BURTON, BORN 1805 IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND HER MOTHER CELIA WAS BORN 1815 IN GEORGIA. ON THE 1860 CENSUS, A. T. LISTS REAL ESTATE WORTH $7,750 AND PERSONAL PROPERTY WORTH $23,120. THESE FIGURES ARE QUITE LARGE FOR 1860! ALL 9 OF THE BURTON CHILDREN, INCLUDING A SET OF TWINS, WERE BORN IN ALABAMA. THESE INCLUDE ESTER; DAVID (b.1838); MARY (b.1842, MARRIED A WEBB, HAD ANDREW, JOHN, AND JOSEPH AND BY 1870 IS LIVING BACK HOME, APPARENTLY WIDOWED.); SALLIE (b.1844, MARRIED A SNOW, HAD OMEGA AND BY 1870 IS LIVING BACK HOME, APPARENTLY WIDOWED.); SALINA (b.1846); JOSEPH T. (b.1847, MARRIED SOPHONIA AND HAD AT LEAST 4 CHILDREN – ANDREW T.; JOSEPH T., JR.; CHARLES; BEULAH.); EDWARD (b.1849); AND TWINS NARCISSA AND MALINDA (b.1852).

BY 1870, ESTER’S UNCLE – A.T.’S BROTHER – IS ALSO IN TEXAS. JOHN A. BURTON APPARENTLY HAD ONLY JUST ARRIVED WITH HIS WIFE LYDDA AND 5 CHILDREN, ONE OF WHOM APPEARS TO BE A WIDOW WITH 2 CHILDREN. IT SEEMS THE BURTON WOMEN WERE A LITTLE ROUGH ON THEIR MEN!

WILLIAM G. FOX AND ESTER BURTON HAD ONE SON: #14 i. WILLIAM A. FOX

1860 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS –

PRAIRIEVILLE PRECINCT

WILLIAM A. (#14) LISTED HERE WAS BORN IN 1854.

ESTER AND CHARLES MARRIED IN 1855

1880 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS, –

PRAIRIEVILLE PRECINT

NAME	RACE	GENDER	AGE	OCCUPATION	Self	Father	Mother
#242 Fox,  Charles J.	W	M	49	Farmer	AL	CT	NC
Ester	W	F	46	Keep House	AL	SC	SC
Charles	W	M	20	Farm Lab	TX	AL	AL
Marion	W	M	6	School	TX	AL	AL
Morris, James	W	M	26	Boarder/        Farm Lab	MS	NC	AL

IN MARCH OF 1862, CHARLES LEFT TO REPORT FOR DUTY IN THE CIVIL WAR WITH HIS BROTHERS TO CAPTAIN J.R. JOHNSON OF THE BASS’ REGIMENT OF TEXAS MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS, 20TH TEXAS CALVARY, COMPANY C. IT LOOKS AS IF HE HAD TIME TO VISIT HOME AROUND JANUARY OF 1863. THERE IS A MARKER IN THE FOX CEMETERY WITH THE NAME JODA ON IT, DATE OF BIRTH 26 OCTOBER 1863, DATE OF DEATH 11 NOVEMBER 1863. HE IS LYING NEXT TO ESTER’S SON A.A. (WILLIAM A. #14.) IN THE 1900 CENSUS OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, ESTER LISTS HERSELF AS THE MOTHER OF 6 CHILDREN WITH ONLY 3 STILL LIVING. AS I COULD ORIGINALLY ONLY TRACE 5 OF HER CHILDREN, AND THIS BIRTHDATE FITS IN FINE WITH HER OTHER CHILDREN’S, JODA MUST BE HERS AND CHARLES’ SON. IF SO, THEN CHARLES NEVER SAW THIS CHILD FOR HE WAS OFF FIGHTING THE WAR.

AFTER THE WAR, CHARLES RETURNED HOME AND FATHERED ANOTHER SON. HE CONTINUED FARMING, LIVING IN HIS “DOG TROT” STYLE LOG CABIN ON THE “ROCKY BRANCH,” OR CREEK NEAR OLA. BY 1900 ONLY MARION WAS STILL LIVING AT HOME, HELPING TO FARM THE LAND. THE CENSUS SHOWS THAT “CHARLIE” OWNS HIS OWN FARM – PART OF WHICH WAS INHERITED FROM HIS FATHER, PART OF WHICH HE AND ESTER BOUGHT – FREE WITH NO MORTGAGE ON FARM SCHEDULE #285.

1900 KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – PRAIRIEVILLE PRECINT

NAME	MOS/YEAR	AGE	MARRIED	Self	Father	Mother	OCCUPATION
X293-300            Fox, Charlie	APR 1831	69	44 YR	AL	CN	NC	Farmer
Ester	DEC 1833	66	44 YR	AL	SC	SC
Marion	AUG 1873	26		TX	AL	AL	Farm Lab

 

ESTER DIED 28 OCTOBER 1908 THERE IN THE OLA/RAND AREA AND IS BURIED TN THE FOX CEMETERY AT RAND,TEXAS THAT IS NAMED FOR CHARLES ‘ FATHER.  CHARLES REMARRIED A WOMAN NAMED JACKSON, BUT APPARANTLY THIS DID NOT WORK OUT, AND SHE LEFT HIM. WHEN CHARLES COULD NO LONGER LIVE BY HIMSELF, HE LIVED WITH HIS CHILDREN, AND ON JUNE 1, 1914, HE DIED. HE TOO IS BURIED IN THE RAND CEMETARY OFKAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.

CHARLES AND ESTER BURTON HAD FIVE CHILDREN

#15   i. SARAH LOUISE FOX (PUSS)

#16   ii.  MARY ELIZABETH FOX (MOLLIE)

#17   iii.  CHARLES RUSH FOX

#18   iv.  JODA FOX

#19   v.  MARION LEE FOX

GENERATION FOUR

#4 JOSEPH HENRY FOX, JR. (JOE) WAS THE THIRD SON OF DR. JOSEPH FOX, SR. (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. HE WAS THE LAST OF THEIR CHILDREN TO BE BORN IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA. HE WAS BORN JANUARY 9, 1833, AND BY 1837, HIS FAMILY WAS LIVING IN MISSISSIPPI. THE 1840 CENSUS OF MISSISSIPPI SHOWS THAT DR. FOX (#1) AND HIS FAMILY IN CHICKASAW COUNTY. HIS GRANDPARENTS AND VARIOUS AUNTS, UNCLES AND COUSINS (THE SHAWS) HAD MOVED FROM ALABAMA TO NEIGHBORING MARION COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI AND BY 1850 HAD ALSO MOVED TO CHICKASAW COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

IN 1851, AT 18 YEARS OF AGE, HE MOVED WITH HIS PARENTS (AND AGAIN HIS GRANDPARENTS, AUNTS, UNCLES AND COUSINS MOVED ALSO) TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS. ON NOVEMBER 9, 1853 HE MARRIED GEORGIA ANN SPIKES, MY GREAT -GREAT-GREAT­GRANDMOTHER. THE SPIKES WERE ANOTHER PIONEER FAMILY WHO WERE INTEXAS ACCORDING TO THE 1850 CENSUS. I BELIEVE THEY CAME AROUND 1846. GEORGIA WAS BORN IN 1836 INALABAMA. SHE IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY IN THE RAND AREA OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, AND SEVERAL OF THE SPIKES FAMILY ARE ALSO BURIED THERE. SEE MORE ON THE SPIKES FAMILY FOLLOWING THE WRITE-UP ON JULIA ANNE FOX SPIKES (#8). BY THE 1860 CENSUS SHE AND JOE HAD TWO DAUGHTERS, AND LIVED IN DWELLING #522, WHILE JOSEPH’S PARENTS LIVED IN DWELLING #523.

1860 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY – PRAIRIEVILLE PRECINT

NAME	AGE	Gender	OCCUPATION	Real       Estate	Born
#524-522             Fox, J.H.	27	M	Farmer	1285	AL
Georgia Ann	23	F			AL
Emma F.	4	F			TX
Elizabeth N	3	F			TX

JOSEPH SERVED IN THE CIVIL WAR WITH THREE OF HIS BROTHERS – CHARLES J. (#3), THOMAS W. (#5), AND BENJAMIN F. (#6). THEY WERE PART OF THE BASS’ REGIMENT OF TEXAS MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS, 20TH TEXASCALVARY, COMPANY C. THEY LEFT IN MARCH OF 1862. BUT JOSEPH WAS BACK IN TIME TO FATHER A DAUGHTER BORN IN 1864.

“LIST OF MINUTE MEN WHO ENTERED THE CIVIL WAR FROM KAUFMAN COUNTY OF OLA, KAUFMAN COUNTY, ONE OF FOUR REMAINING SURVIVORS:  JOSEPH FOX OF TERRELL”

TRANSCRIPT, SEPTEMBER 4, 1912.  VOLUME 11, #3, KAUFMAN COUTNY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY

BY THE 1870 CENSUS, GEORGIA HAD PASSED AWAY AND JOSEPH WAS MARRIED TO MAHALIA (MOLLIE) E. A. STONE.

1870 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY – AUGUST 15, 1870, P.92

NAME	AGE	Gender	RACE	OCCUPATION	Real       Estate	Born
#951                     Fox, Joseph H.	37	M	W	Farmer	1285	AL
Mollie	24	F	W	Keep House		TN
Emma F.	14	F	W			TX
Elizabeth N	23	F	W			TX
Bettie	13	F	W			TX
Henry	10	M	W			TX
Hattie	6	F	W			TX
Isobella	4	F	W			TX

THE LAST THREE CHILDREN ON THE LIST ARE ALSO GEORGIA’S BECAUSE IN 1880 THEY ALL LIST THEIR MOTHER’S BIRTHPLACE AS ALABAMA. FAMILY MEMBERS REMEMBER GEORGIA AS ALWAYS BEING SICK AND HAVING TO HELP TO CARE FOR HER CHILDREN AND HER HOUSE, AND THIS IS WHERE THE YOUNG BLACK MAN MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE ON CHARLES J. (#3) COME IN.  HIS SERVICES WERE OBTAINED TO HELP GEORGIA WITH THESE DUTIES.  HE CAME FROM A FAMILY CALLED CARLISLE, AND I SUPPOSE THIS WOULD BE ELIZABETH SHAW’S SISTER RHODA CARLISLE OR ONE OF HER SONS, SO JOSEPH OBTAINED GABE FROM HIS AUNT OR HIS COUSINS MOST LIKELY.  THE FOX MEN MUST HAVE VALUED GABE’S SERVICES AND LOYALTY TO PULL HIM AWAY FROM THE HOMESTEAD AND DRAG HIM OFF TO WAR. LATER ON GAGE WAS ABLE TO BUY HIS OWN FARM NEAR MY PRIDDY ANCESTORS IN OLA (NEAR THE RAND COMMUNITY), AND HE BECAME VERY DEAR TO THEM. THEY CALLED HIM “UNCLE GABE,” AND HIS WIFE “AUNT MARGARET.”

GEORGIA DIED SOMETIME BETWEEN THE BIRTH OF HER DAUGHTER ISOBELLE IN 1866 AND 1869 WHEN JOSEPH REMARRIED. SHE IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY AND HAS A SIMPLE HEADSTONE ON ONE SIDE OF JOSEPH THAT SIMPLY SAYS GEORGIA. IT HAS NO DATES ON IT. HER FATHER IS ALSO IN THIS CEMETARY.

MOLLIE LISTS HER BIRTHPLACE AS TENNESSEE ABOUT 1846. SHE AND JOE WERE MARRIED 19 AUGUST 1869. MOLLIE APPARANTLY DIED AFTER ONLY A FEW YEARS OF MARRIAGE. SHE IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY WITH A SIMPLE MARKER THAT HAS NO DATES ON IT. NEXT TO HER IS ANOTHER SIMPLE HEADSTONE THAT SIMPLY SAYS “FOX”, AND AGAIN HAS NO DATES ON IT. I WONDER IF THIS IS NOT PERHAPS A CHILD OF HERS. PERHAPS MOLLIE DID NOT SURVIVE CHILDBIRTH AS SO MANY WOMEN DID NOT IN THOSE DAYS.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, JOE MARRIED LEONA ELVIRA PRIDDY, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS PRIDDY MENTIONED IN DR. FOX’S (#1) WRITE-UP. KNOWN AS VI, SHE WAS BORN 19 MAY 1854. VI WAS MY GREAT-GREAT AUNT, SISTER OF MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WHO MARRIED ELIZABETH N. FOX (#21) OF ABOVE. FIGURE THAT ONE OUT! (SEE AN ARTICLE ON THE PRIDDY FAMILY FOLLOWING #21.) THE PRIDDYS HAD COME FROM ITAWAMBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPIIN 1869. VI’S PARENTS HAD DIED, AND HER GRANDFATHER BROUGHT HER AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS TOTEXAS. JOE MARRIED VI ON FEBRUARY 25, 1874 AND THEY HAD 4 MORE CHILDREN TOGETHER. ON 15 APRIL 1938 THEHAMILTON COUNTY NEWS RAN AN ARTICLE ON VI THAT FOLLOWS THIS WRITE­UP.

1880 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – JUSTICE PRECINT #6

NAME	RACE	Gender	AGE	OCCUPATION	Real       Estate	Born	Father	Mother
#951                     Fox, Joseph H.	W	M	37	Farmer	1285	AL
Vie	W	F	26			TN
Henry	W	M	19			TX	AL	AL
Hattie	N	F	15			TX	AL	AL
Isabel	N	F	13			TX	AL	AL
Lena	W	F	5			TX	AL	MS
Eddie	N	M	2			TX	AL	MS
Morgan, Walter	W	M	13	Boarder/Lab		TX
Grubbs, Josiah	W	M	22	Boarder/Lab		MS		VA
#258 Fox, Elizabeth	W	F	69	Farm/Keep House		NC	NC

1900 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – PRAIRIEVILLE

NAME	Mos/Yr	AGE	Mar’d	Born	Father	Mother	OCCUPATION
Fox, Joseph H.	Jan 1833	76	26	AL	ENG	AL	Farmer
Leona V	May 1854	46	26	MS	AL	MS
Eddy	May 1878	22		TX	AL	MS
Lula	Jan 1882	18		TX	AL	MS
Lucian	Nov 1887	13		TX	AL	MS

JOSEPH HENRY FOX, JR., AND HIS THREE WIVES HAD 9 CHILDREN.

#20 i. EMMA F. FOX

#21 ii. ELIZABETH FOX

#22 iii. HENRY FOX

#23 iv. HATTIE M. FOX

#24 v. ISOBELLA FOX

#25 vi. LENA FOX

#26 vii. EDDIE FOX

#27 viii. LULA FOX (TRUDY)

#28 viiii. LUCIAN FOX

GENERATION FIVE

#5 SARAH K. FOX WAS THE FOURTH CHILD BORN, AND THE FIRST GIRL, TO JOSEPH AND ELIZABETH SHAW.  SHE WAS BORN IN ITAWAMBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.  AT AGE 14, SHE MOVED WITH HER PARENTS TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.  THE FOXES LIVE THERE FOR ABOUT ONE YEAR WHEN SARAH DIED.  HERS WAS THE FIRST GRAVE ON THE FOX CEMETARY LAND.

GENERATION SIX

#6 THOMAS WADE FOX WAS THE FIFTH CHILD AND FOURTH SON OF DR. FOX AND ELIZABETH SHAW. HE WAS BORN17 AUGUST 1839 IN CHICKASAW COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. THOMAS WAS 12 WHEN HE MOVED WITH HIS FAMILY TOKAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.

HE MARRIED ELIZABETH (BETTIE) ANDREWS 20 MAY 1861. SHE WAS BORN 7 JUNE 1842 IN MISSISSIPPI. HER FATHER WAS BORN IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND HER MOTHER IN MISSISSIPPI. 14 MONTHS AFTER THE MARRIAGE, THOMAS LEFT TO SERVE IN THE CIVIL WAR WITH THREE OF HIS BROTHERS IN THE BASS REGIMENT, TEXAS MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS, TEXAS CALVARY, COMPANY C.

1870 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY – P.92 – DWELLING #936-951

NAME	RACE	Gender	AGE	OCCUPATION	Real       Estate	Born
Fox, Thomas W.	W	M	33	Farmer	500	MS
Bettie	W	F	28	Keep House		LA
Emma	W	F	5			TX
Ben F.	N	M	3			TX
Alexander	W	M	1			TX
John F	N	M	22			MS

THIS JOHN F.IS THOMAS’ BROTHER JOHN, ACTUALLY JOHN SMITH.  APPARENTLY HE IS LIVING IN THOMAS’ HOUSEHOLD INSTEAD OF AT DWELLING #932.

1800 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – DWELLING 0.306-307

NAME	RACE	Gender	AGE	OCCUPATION	Born	Father	Mother
Fox, Thomas	W	M	40	Farmer	MS
Elizabeth	N	F	38	Keep House	MS	SC	MS
Emma	N	F	15	At Home	TX	MS	MS
Franklin	N	M	13	Farm Laborer	TX	MS	MS
Thomas	N	M	9	At Home	TX	MS	MS
Claudius	N	M	7		TX	MS	MS
Robert	N	M	5		TX	MS	MS
Mirtie	N	F	3		TX	MS	MS
Charles	I	M	?		TX	MS	MS
Albert		M	1		TX

NEIGHBORS TO THOMAS WADE FOX AND HIS FAMILY IN 1880 WERE DWELLING: #290 – GEORGE M. AND PERMELIA ADALINE FRANKLIN CARRUTHERS (A NEICE OF ELIZABETH SHAW FOX – THOMAS’ COUSIN.)

#291 – JULIA SHAW FRANKLIN AND HER DAUGHTER AND FAMILY – MELISSA FRANKLIN DUNCAN WITH HUSBAND JAMES (JIM) DUNCAN AND SON (A SISTER AND NEICE OF ELIZABETH SHAW FOX – THOMAS’ AUNT AND COUSIN.) #298-299 – JESSE FRANKLIN AND HIS FAMILY (SON OF JULIA SHAW AND NEPHEW OF ELIZABETH SHAW FOX – THOMAS’ COUSIN.)

#339-340 THOMAS’ BROTHER BENJAMIN (#7) AND HIS FAMILY.

#342-343 WILLIAM FRANKLIN (ANOTHER COUSIN) AND HIS FAMILY. #337-338 THOMAS’ BROTHER JAMES A. (#12) AND HIS FAMILY.

#329-330 JAMES E. LAROE AND FAMILY (BROTHER TO JULIA LAROE WHO MARRIED HIS BROTHER BENJAMIN FOX (#7).)

#331-332 JOHN F. LAROE AND FAMILY (BROTHER TO JULIA LAROE. HIS BROTHER-IN­LAW; JOHN MARRIED THOMAS’ SISTER EMILY FOX.)

1900 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – PRECINT #1 – P.29

NAME	MOS/YEAR	AGE	MARRIED	Self	Father	Mother	OCCUPATION
Fox, Thomas	Aug 1839	60	39 YR	MS	NY	GA	Farmer
Elizabeth	JUN 1842	57	39 YR	MS	NC	MS
Charles R.	FEB 1879	21		TX	MS	MS
Hugh K.	MAR 1887	13		TX	MS	MS

POOR THOMAS CAN NEVER SEEM TO REMEMBER WHERE HIS PARENTS WERE BORN! THIS CENSUS SHOWS THAT THOMAS OWNS HIS FARM (FARM SCHEDULE #262) FREE, WITH NO MORTGAGE. HIS CLOSE NEIGHBOR IN 1900 (FARM SCHEDULE #260) IS HIS SON THOMAS J. AND FAMILY. AT #259 IS JOHN PETERS WHO WAS A NEPHEW OF SISTER-IN-LAW JULIA LAROE. JOHN’S STEP-SON, HUGH PRIDDY, WAS A COUSIN OF THOMAS’ NEICE ELIZABETH FOX PRIDDY’S CHILDREN. AT #258 IS JOHN J. LAROE, ANOTHER NEPHEW OF HIS SISTER-IN-LAW JULIA LAROE. THOMAS DIED THE 26 JULY 1904 AND IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY NEAR THE RAND COMMUNITY OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS. BETTY DIED 16 OCTOBER 1904 AND IS ALSO BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY. ON THE 1900 CENSUS, BETTY LISTS HERSELF AS THE MOTHER OF 13 CHILDREN WITH ONLY 8 LIVING IN 1900. THIS IS RATHER CONFUSING, AS BY 1900 #31 AND #33 BELOW HAVE DIED, LEAVING ONLY 7 NAMES ON MY ORIGINAL LIST. THIS MAY SIMPLY BE A CLERICAL ERROR ON THE PART OF THE CENSUS TAKER, OR THE 8TH MAYBE ULYSSES. I AM AWARE OF A CHILD NAMED ULYSSES, BUT CANNOT FIGURE OUT THE ORDER IN WHICH HE FITS. HE SHOWS UP ON NO CENSUS DATA, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE HE WAS BORN AFTER CHARLES AND AFTER THE 1880 CENSUS. THERE IS NO 1890 CENSUS. SO IF HE WAS BORN LATE 1880 OR EARLY 1881, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN OF AN AGE, 19­20, TO HAVE LEFT THE HOUSE BY 1900, THEREBY ACCOUNTING FOR THE EIGHTH LIVING CHILD. THIS STILL LEAVES 3 CHILDREN WHO DID NOT SURVIVE UNACCOUNTED FOR.

THOMAS HAD 13 CHILDREN. THOSE THAT WE KNOW

ELIZABETH FOX

EMMA FOX

FRANKLIN FOX (FRANK)

JAMES ALEXANDER FOX (ALECK)

THOMAS JOSEPH FOX

CLAUDIUS FOX (CLAUDE)

ROBERT C. FOX (BOB)

MIRTIE FOX

CHARLES R. FOX (CHARLIE)

ULYSSES FOX

HUGH  K. FOX

GENERATION SEVEN

a#7 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FOX WAS THE SIXTH CHILD AND THE FIFTH SON OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. HE WAS BORN IN MISSISSIPPI IN 1841. HE WAS 10 YEARS OLD WHEN HIS FAMILY MOVED TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS IN 1851. DURING THE CIVIL WAR, HE SERVED WITH THREE OF HIS BROTHERS IN THE BASS’ REGIMENT, TEXAS MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS, 20TH TEXAS CALVARY, COMPANY C. BENJAMIN WOULD BE MY GREAT-GREAT–UNCLE. HE MARRIED MY GREAT-GREAT-AUNT, JULIA FRANCES LaROE 4 JANUARY 1869. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDPARENTS JOHN V. LaROE AND HARRIET E. FRANCISCO. THE LaROES ARRIVED IN NEW YORK IN 1670 AND HAVE QUITE AN INTERESTING HISTORY THAT CAN BE READ FOLLOWING THIS DISCUSSION. BEN AND JULIA HAD ONLY TWO DAUGHTERS – EITHER ONE OF THEM HAD MEDICAL PROBLEMS THEY KNEW SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY KNEW!

1880 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – JUSTICE PRECINT 6

NAME	RACE	Gender	AGE	OCCUPATION	Born	Father	Mother
339-340               Fox, Benjamin	W	M	39	Farmer	MS		AL
Julia	W	F	33	Keep House	NJ	NJ	NJ
Edna	N	F	9	At School	TX	MS	NJ
Anna	W	F	2	At Home	TX	MS	NJ

IN 1900 HE IS LIVING IN THE CITY OF KAUFMAN PROPER AND NEPHEW HENRY FOX WITH HIS FAMILY IS ALSO LIVING NEARBY IN THE CITY OF KAUFMAN. ALSO NEARBY IN PRECINT #3 IS JULIA’S COUSIN, NASH LAROE AND FAMILY. THE CENSUS SHOWS THAT BENJAMIN OWNS HIS HOUSE FREE OF ANY MORTGAGE. KAUFMAN SUN – 1 DEC 1883 – ADVERTISED LIST OF LETTERS. BEN FOX HAD TWO LETTERS REMAINING IN THE POST OFFICE AT KAUFMAN, TEXAS. REF: NORMA JEAN CARRUTHERS OLD WHO REFERENCED KAUFMAN COUNTY GEN. SOC. VO. 11, #3. SEPT 1992.

JULIA DIED 7 JUNE 1921 IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, AND BEN DIED 29 AUGUST 1923, ALSO IN KAUFMAN COUNTY. THEY ARE BOTH BURIED IN THE KAUFMAN CEMETERY. THERE IS A MARKER THAT READS FOX, BENJAMIN F. WITH NO DATES ON IT.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FOX AND JULIA LAROE HAD 2 CHILDREN:

#39 i. EDNA FOX

#40 ii. ANNA (ANNIE) FOX

GENERATION EIGHT

#8 JULIA ANNE FOX WAS THE SEVENTH CHILD AND SECOND DAUGHTER OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. SHE WAS BORN IN 1843 IN MISSISSIPPI. I BELIEVE HER BIRTH TO BE IN CHICKASAW COUNTY, BUT AN ARTICLE BY PAULINE FOX NICHOLS IN THE HISTORY OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, VOL. I SAID JULIA OFTEN SPOKE OF LIVING INABERDEEN, MISSISSIPPI (MONROE COUNTY). I HAVE NEVER FOUND THE FOXES ON ANY CENSUS IN MONROECOUNTY. THEY ARE ALWAYS LISTED IN CHICKASAW COUNTY. HER GRANDPARENTS, JAMES AND CATHERINE SHAW LIVED FOR SEVERAL YEARS IN ABERDEEN, MONROE COUNTY, SO PERHAPS JULIA WAS REMEMBERING THEIR HOME. SHE WAS 8 YEARS OLD WHEN HER PARENTS MOVED TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.

SHE MARRIED JOHN WESLEY SPIKES (BORN 1842) 3 JULY 1861 IN KAUFMAN COUNTY WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT 18. IT IS SAID THAT JOHN’S FATHER, JOHN EDWARD SPIKES AND DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) WERE GREAT LIFETIME FRIENDS. IS IT ANY WONDER THAT TWO OF THE SPIKES CHILDREN MARRIED TWO OF THE FOX CHILDREN? THE SPIKES WERE A PROMINENT PIONEER FAMILY OF KAUFMAN COUNTY. THERE IS AN ARTICLE ON THEIR FAMILY FOLLOWING THIS WRITE-UP ON JULIA. SINCE GEORGIA SPIKES MARRIED JOSEPH, JR. (#4) IN 1853, AND IS MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, JOHN WESLEY SPIKES IS MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-UNCLE, WHO MARRIED MY GREAT-GREAT-­GREAT-AUNT. THEIR FATHER, JOHN EDWARD SPIKES IS MY GREAT -GREAT -GREAT-GREAT­-GRANDFATHER AND IS BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETARY NEAR OLA/RAND IN KAUFMAN COUNTY.

1880 CENSUS KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS 

NAME	RACE	Gender	AGE	OCCUPATION	Born	Father	Mother
#225-226              Spikes, John	W	M	38	Farmer	AL
Julia	W	F	37	Wife	MS	GA
Robert	W	M	15		TX	AL	MS
Jefferson	W	M	12		TX	AL	MS
Elna	W	F	10		TX	AL	MS
John	N	M	7		AL	MS	MS
Elizabeth	W	F	5		AL	MS	MS
Wesley	N	M	3		TX	MS	MS
Frederick	W	M	1		TX	AL	MS

AT THIS POINT I DO NOT KNOW WHEN JULIA OR JOHN DIED OR WHERE THEY ARE BURIED. JULIA ANNE FOX AND JOHN WESLEY SPIKES HAD ATLEAST 9 CHILDREN:

#41	i.	ELLA SPIKES
#42	ii.	ROBERT SPIKES (BOB)
#43	iii.	JOSEPH JEFFERSON SPIKES
#44	iv.	ELNA SPIKES (ETNA)
#45	v.	JOHN SPIKES
#46	vi.	ELIZABETH SPIKES
#47	vii.	WESLEY ERNEST SPIKES
#48	viii.	FREDERICK SPIKES (DICK)
#49	ix.	SAMUEL ISRAEL SPIKES

GENERATION NINE

#9 EMILY ELIZABETH FOX WAS THE EIGHTH CHILD AND THE THIRD DAUGHTER OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. SHE WAS BORN IN 1845 IN MISSISSIPPI. SHE WAS 6 YEARS OLD WHEN HER PARENTS MOVED TOKAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS IN 1851. SHE MARRIED GEORGE WASHINGTON LONG (BORN 12 FEBRUARY 1837 IN ARKANSAS) ON 11 DECEMBER 1861 IN KAUFMAN COUNTY AND THEY HAD 10 CHILDREN ON THE 1880 CENSUS. THEY ALSO HAD ANOTHER DAUGHTER WHO DID NOT SURVIVE INFANCY.

GENERATION TEN

#10 JOHN SMITH FOX WAS THE NINTH CHILD OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. HE WAS BORN 8 MARCH 1847 IN ABERDEEN, MONROE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS PLACE OF BIRTH AS THE CENSUS DATA OF 1840 AND 1850 LISTS THE FOXES IN CHICKASAW COUNTY. HE WAS 4 YEARS OLD WHEN HIS PARENTS MOVED TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.  IN 1870 AT 22 YEARS OF AGE, JOHN IS LIVING IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF HIS BROTHER, THOMAS FOX (#6). ON 24 DECEMBER 1873, HE MARRIED SARAH ANN ANDERSON (SALLIE) IN THE CITY OF KAUFMAN. SHE WAS BORN 9 FEBRUARY 1856 IN TEXAS.

1880 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY 

ENUMERATION DIST. #39-P.136A 17 JUNE 1880 

Name	Race	Gender	Age	Occupation	Born	Father	Mother
Fox, John	W	M	33	Farmer	MS	CT	AL
Sallie	W	F	24	Keep House	TX	TX	MS
William	W	M	4		TX	MS	TX
Mary	W	F	2		TX	MS	TX
??tha	W	M			TX	MS	TX

IN THE FOX CEMETERY AT RAND, TEXAS, THERE IS A HEADSTONE MARKED M.D. ANDERSON (1830-1911) AND HIS WIFE (PROBABLY A SECOND WIFE), SUSAN (1858-1924). THERE IS ALSO A B.J. ANDERSON BORN IN 1829. THESE ARE POSSIBLY SALLIE’S FAMILY.  LORE HAS IT JOHN LIVED AT ELMO IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, AND MOVED TO WEST TEXAS. THEIR DAUGHTER EVA WAS BORN IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, SO THEY WERE AT LEAST STILL THERE IN 1882. EVA WAS MARRIED IN 1903 IN AMARILLO, POTTER COUNTY, TEXAS, SO BY 1903 THEY MUST HAVE BEEN LIVING IN AMARILLO. JOHN DIED 26 OCTOBER 1926 IN CLAUDE, ARMSTRONG COUNTY, TEXAS. (THE DEATH IS LISTED IN WICHITA COUNTYBY THE STATE.) SARAH DIED 21 MAY 1913 IN THE SAME PLACE.

JOHN SMITH FOX AND SALLIE ANDERSON HAD 4 CHILDREN:

#60	i.	WILLIAM FOX
#61	ii.	MARY FOX
#62	11l.	NATHAN GRANT? FOX
#63	iv.	EVA FOX

 

#11 DRUESELLA MARGARET FOX, OR MARGARET, WAS THE TENTH CHILD OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. SHE WAS BORN IN 1849 IN MISSISSIPPI. SHE WAS 2 YEARS OLD WHEN HER PARENTS MOVED TO KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS IN 1851.  SHE MARRIED JAMES REED 4 JUL 1878 IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS. APPARENTLY HE WAS A WIDOWER WITH 3 CHILDREN WHEN HE MARRIED HER. HIS FIRST TWO CHILDREN HAD BEEN BORN INALABAMA, AND THE THIRD IN ARKANSAS. FROM THERE HE WANDERED TO TEXAS AND FOUND MARGARET. ON THE 1880 CENSUS THEY LIST ONE INFANT OF THEIR OWN.

1880 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY – PRAIRIEVILLE – P.189

Name	Race	Gender	Age	Occupation	Born	Father	Mother
Reed, James	N	M	49	Farming	GA	VA	VA
Margaret	W	F	31	Keep House	MS
Jesse	N	M	10	Farm Labor	AL	GA	AL
Josephine	N	F	7	At Home	AL	GA	AL
James	W	M	5	At Home	AK	GA	AL
John	N	M	2/12 April		TX	GA	MS

 

TWO DWELLINGS DOWN AT #306-307 LIVED HER BROTHER THOMAS (#6). IT IS SAID THAT SHE HAD A SECOND MARRIAGE (OR PERHAPS IT WAS HER FIRST, SINCE SHE IS 31 IN THE ABOVE CENSUS.) TO “TWO-TON OVERTON.

NOTHING ELSE IS KNOWN AT THIS TIME.

MARGARET FOX AND HER HUSBAND HAD  4 CHILDREN:

Jesse

Josephine

James

John

GENERATION TWELEVE

#12 JAMES A. FOX (TECH) WAS THE ELEVENTH CHILD OF DR. JOSEPH FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. I SUSPECT THE A IN HIS NAME STANDS FOR ALEXANDER. HE IS THE FIRST OF THEIR CHILDREN TO BE BORN IN TEXAS AFTER THEY MOVED TO KAUFMAN COUNTY IN 1851. JAMES WAS BORN IN 1.852.  IT APPEARS THAT JAMES MARRIED TWICE.

1880  Census – Kaufman County Justice Precint #6 – P.190

Name	Race	Gender	Age	Occupation	Born	Father	Mother
#337-338 FOX, JAMES A.	W	M	28	FARMING	TX	ENG	AL
CYNTHIA	W	F	27	KEEP HOUSE	MS	MS	MS
JOHN	W	M	7	AT HOME	TX	TX	Nsi
GARDNER	W	M	3	AT HOME	TX	TX	MS
GERTRUDE	W	F	2	AT HOME	TX	TX	MS
ISOLA	W	F	12 Mos/May		TX	TX	MS

NOTICE HOW THIS WIFE CYNTHIA IS STRAIGHT OUT OF MISSISSIPPI? JOHN’S MOTHER IS LISTED AS BEING FROM NEWJERSEY, AND ANY TIME I SEE A NEW JERSEY BIRTHPLACE IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, I CAN BE PRETTY SURE IT IS ONE OF MY LAROE RELATIVES. IN FACT, I FOUND A RECORD THAT LISTS HATTIE LAROE AS HIS FIRST WIFE. HATTIE WAS THE SISTER OF BENJAMIN’S (#7) WIFE. THIS WOULD MAKE LITTLE JOHN DOUBLE FIRST COUSINS WITH BENJAMIN’S DAUGHTERS. HE MARRIED HATTIE 11 SEPTEMBER 1871. HIS SECOND WIFE WAS CYNTHIA W. SITES. A FOOTNOTE I FOUND SAYS CYNTHIA IS KIN TO MRS. THOMAS FOX (#6). THEY WERE MARRIED 22 DECEMBER 1875.  HATTIE MUST BE BURIED IN THE KAUFMAN COUNTY AREA AS SHE DIED BETWEEN 1873­ and 1875 WHEN JOHN REMARRIED INKAUFMAN COUNTY. HE IS STILL IN KAUFMAN COUNTY IN 1880. RUMOR HAS IT THAT JOHN MOVED OFF, BUT HATTIE DIED BEFORE THIS OCCURED, SO HER GRAVE MUST BE IN KAUFMAN COUNTY.

THIS IS AS FAR AS I CAN GET WITH JAMES AT THIS TIME. JAMES A. FOX AND HIS TWO WIVES HAD 4 CHILDREN.

#	i.	JOHN FOX
#	ii.	GARDNER FOX
#	111.	GERTRUDE FOX
#	iv.	ISOLA FOX

 

GENERATION THIRTEEN

#13 S.C. FOX WAS THE TWELVETH AND LAST CHILD OF DR. JOSEPH H. FOX (#1) AND ELIZABETH SHAW. SHE WAS BORN 5 MARCH 1854 IN KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS AND DIED ON 26 SEPTEMBER 1856. THE CAUSE OF HER DEATH IS UNKNOWN. SHE IS THE ONLY ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN TO DIE SO YOUNG, THE OTHER TWO HAVING DIED AT 15 AND 25 YEARS OF AGE.

WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW HER NAME. HER HEADSTONE SIMPLY SAYS S.C. DAUGHTER OF JH & E.

 

THE LAROE FAMILY

GENERATION ONE

#1 NJ PIERRE Le ROUX (LaROE) AND HIS WIFE JANNETJE ARE THE EARLIEST FAMILY MEMBERS OF WHICH WE HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE, AND THE INFORMATION THERE IS SCANT. PIERRE WAS BORN AROUND 1627 IN FRANCE, AND JANNETJE WAS BORN AROUND 1631 ALSO IN FRANCE. IT IS STRONGLY SUSPECTED THAT THEY WERE HUGUENOTS WHO FLED FRANCE TO GERMANY, AND FROM THERE JOURNEYED TO AMERICA.

PIERRE APPARENTLY DID NOT MAKE THE CROSSING, AS SO MANY DID NOT, AND IS LISTED AS BURIED AT SEA IN1670. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AROUND 43 YEARS OF AGE. WE KNOW THEY BROUGHT THEIR CHILDREN WITH THEM, AND YET IT IS UNCLEAR EXACTLY HOW MANY CHILDREN THERE WERE. I WOULD ASSUME THAT JANNETJE SETTLED IN WITH ONE OF HER CHILDREN, BUT HAVING FOUND NO INFORMATION ON HER AFTER HER ARRIVAL IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHICH ONE.

THERE IS ALSO A JACQUES (LaREAE) LaREAU BORN IN FRANCE WHO SETTLED IN L’ANCIENNE, LORETTE, QUEBEC,CANADA. HE DIED THERE IN 1699, AND HIS LINE CONTINUED ON THERE IN CANADA. NOTHING IS PROVEN, BUT THIS APPEARS TO BE A BROTHER OR AT LEAST A RELATIVE OF PIERRE’S WHO SIMPLY WENT NORTH TO SETTLE, WHILE MOST OF PIERRE’S CHILDREN STAYED IN THE NEW AMSTERDAM AREA OR THE NORTHERN NEW JERSEY AREA, ALTHOUGH LATER ON SOME OF THEM DID TRY OUT QUEBEC. THE SPELLING FOR THE CANADIAN LINE OF THE FAMILY EVOLVED INTO LaREUE, WHILE THE AMERICAN SPELLING EVENTUALLY EVOLVED INTO LaRUE AND LaROE.

BEFORE THE ACTUAL USE OF SIR NAMES, IN ALL PROBABILITY A DESCRIPTION OF SOME PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTE OF THE BEARER WAS ATTACHED TO HIS NAME IN ORDER TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE VARIOUS PETERS, JACKS, AND JANETS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FRENCH “ROUX” WOULD IMPLY RED-HEADED, RUDDY COMPLECTED, ETC…, SO LITERALLY TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH, WE MIGHT SPEAK OF JACK “THE RED” OR JOHN “THE RUSSET” TO DISTINGUISH THEM FROM JACK “THE FAIR” OR JOHN “THE BROWN”. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS I HAVE OF LATER LaROES DO INDEED FIT THE BILL! THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS RED-HEADED, OR WITH RED BEARDS, OR WITH RED HIGH-LIGHTS.

WERE I TO BEGIN LOOKING IN FRANCE FOR PIERRE AND JANNETJE’S ROOTS, I WOULD BEGIN LOOKING IN THEPROVINCE OF ALSACE IN THE NORTHEAST, FOR IF THEY DID FLEE TO GERMANY, THIS WOULD BE THE CLOSEST REGION TO GERMANY IN FRANCE. HAD THEY LIVED ELSEWHERE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE EXPEDIENT FOR THEM TO FLEE TO SWITZERLAND OR TO BELGIUM.

IN ANOTHER TEXT I FOUND MENTION OF ANOTHER EARLY NEW JERSEY SETTLER – FRANZ LaROE. I MYSELF CAN FIND NO RECORD OF HIM, AND WHILE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT FRANZ IS ANOTHER OF PIERRE’S CHILDREN, NONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS THAT I CAN TRACE CARRIES THE NAME FRANK. AS THE LaROES TEND TO USE FAMILY MEMBER’S NAMES FOR THEIR OWN OFFSPRING, I FIND IT HAD TO BELIEVE THERE WOULD NOT BE A FRANK IN THE BUNCH. AT THIS POINT I WOULD HAVE TO DISCOUNT THIS FRANZ AS BEING ONE OF “OUR” LaROES.

PIERRE AND JANNETJE LeROUX HAD AT LEAST 3 CHILDREN:

#1NJ i. JACQUES JAMES LaROE

#2NJ ii. SUSANNA LaROE #4NJ

#3 NJ iii. ABRAHAM LaROE

GENERATION TWO

#2NJ JACQUES JAMES LeROUX, ACCORDING TO THE MARRIAGE RECORDS FROM BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, WAS BORN AT MANNEHEIM IN THE PALZ IN 1657. HIS WAS A FAMILY OF HUGUENOTS WHO HAD FLED FRANCE. THE HUGUENOTS IN FRANCE HAD BEEN CONTINUALLY PERSECUTED BEGINNING WITH JOHN CALVIN’S PUBLICATION IN 1536 OF HIS INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND THEN WITH THE MASSACRE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY IN 1592. SHORTLY THEREAFTER IN 1592 THE EDICT OF NANTES WAS ISSUED AND THE HUGUENOTS KNEW 50 YEARS OF RELATIVE PEACE, BUT THEN CARDINAL RICHELIEU CAME ALONG AND DECIDED TO SUPPRESS PROTESTANT POLITICAL PRIVILEGES WHICH LED TO MORE PERSECUTION AND A FEW MORE UPRISINGS WHICH AT LEAST RESULTED IN A LITTLE RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE UNTIL KING LOUIS XIV CAME ALONG IN 1643. HE MOVED TO SUPPRESS THE RELIGION (HERE WE GO AGAIN) BY INTERPRETING THE EDICT OF NANTES IN THE STRICTEST WAY POSSIBLE AND BY QUARTERING DRAGOONS (DRAGONNADES) IN THEIR HOMES. FINALLY IN 1685 HE REVOKED THE EDICT OF NANTES ENTIRELY. ENTIRE CITIESAND PROVINCES WERE DEPOPULATED AND RUINED AS COUNTLESS HUGUENOTS FLED TO ENGLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AND AMERICA. IN 1787, LOUIS XVI ALLOWED THE HUGUENOTS TOLERANCE, AND IN DECEMBER 1789 THE REVOLUTIONARY NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RESTORED THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS. FULL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WAS NOT ATTAINED UNTIL CHURCH AND STATE WERE SEPARATED IN 1905. AND THE PURITANS THOUGHT THEY HAD IT BAD! I AM TELLING THIS BIT OF HISTORY BECAUSE I KNOW THAT a) THEY DO NOT TEACH HISTORY IN SCHOOL ANYMORE, AND

b) IT WILL HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE TIME PERIOD

JACQUES LIVED IN. IF HIS PARENTS WERE BORN IN FRANCE IN 1627 AND 1631, THEY WERE BORN AFTER THE EDICT OF NANTES AND DURING THE YEARS OF RELATIVE PEACE. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN 18 AND 12 WHEN KING LOUIS XIV CAME TO POWER IN 1643, SO PIERRE AND JANNETJE BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE REAL PERSECUTION. JANNETJE WAS 26 WHEN JACQUES WAS BORN IN 1657 AND BY THIS TIME THE COUPLE HAD ALREADY FLED FRANCE TOMANNHEIM IN THE PALZ. THIS CAN ONLY MEAN GERMANY. MANNHEIM IS NOT TOO FAR FROM THE GERMAN-FRENCH BORDER AND IT IS IN A REGION KNOWN AS THE PALATINATE (GERMAN – PFALZ). IN 1670, THE FAMILY LEFT GERMANYFOR AMERICA. KNOWING THAT HIS FATHER DIED AT SEA IN 1670, AND TAKING FOR GRANTED THAT THE SEA TRIP HE UNDERTOOK WAS THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA, JACQUES WOULD HAVE BEEN 13 YEARS OLD WHEN HE ARRIVED INAMERICA. HOW SAD THE FAMILY MUST HAVE BEEN TO LEARN OF THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES, AND YET HOW HAPPY THEY MUST HAVE BEEN TO BE IN A LAND WHERE THEY WERE SAFE FROM SUCH RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. JACQUES IS MENTIONED BY CORNELIUS BURNHAM HARVEY IN HIS GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OFHUDSON AND BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. “HE (JACQUES) IS ALWAYS CALLED BY VANDER VIN ‘JACO,’ A JUVENILE FORM OF HIS NAME USED BY THE WALLOONS. HE WAS AT NEW HARLEM AS EARLY AS 1677, A YOUNG MAN AND UNMARRIED. PROBABLY HE HAS BEEN HERE BUT A SHORT TIME. IN 1677 HE JOINED THE DUTCH CHURCHAT NEW AMSTERDAM BUT EARLY THE NEXT YEAR ACCOMPANIED THE DEMAREST FAMILY TO THEIR SETTLEMENT ON THE HACKENSACK RIVER. AT HACKENSACK HE MARRIED HENDRICKE TEUNIS HELLING (HELMS), (THIS IS ACTUALLY WYBREG HENDRICKSE HELLING), AND HAS BY HER ISSUE; PETER, HENRY, SAMUEL, ABRAHAM, AND JOHANNES. ON THE DECLINE OF THE FRENCH CHURCH AT NEW BRIDGE, NEW JERSEY, “WHICH HE MUST HAVE HELPED TO FORM,” SAYS RIKER (IN HIS HISTORY OF HARLEM), HE JOINED THE CHURCH AT HACKENSACK ON APRIL 5, 1696 (THE YEAR IT WAS BUILT). THE SAME YEAR HE, WITH THE EMIGRANT LOZIER AND OTHERS, PURCHASED FROM THE INDIANS THE “OLD HOOK PATENT,” CONTAINING 1300 ACRES ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE HACKENSACK RIVER IN (PRESENT) WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. THE TITLE TO THIS TRACT WAS DEFECTIVE AND WAS NOT MADE GOOD UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH. HE WAS KNOWN AS “SIQUES La ROUX.” UPON HIS DEATH HIS CHILDREN INHERITED HIS PROPERTY, MARRIED AND REARED LARGE FAMILIES, THE DESCENDANTS OF WHOM SPREAD RAPIDLY OVER BERGEN COUNTY. THEY ARE STILL NUMEROUS.”  IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT THE NEWLY ARRIVED LeROUX FAMILY ASSOCIATED WITH THE WALLOON COMMUNITY OF NEW AMSTERDAM. WALLOON IS A GENERAL TERM APPLIED TO THE FRENCH-SPEAKING PEOPLE OF BELGIUM. THE NAME WAS ALSO APPLIED TO HUGUENOT REFUGEES IN AMERICA BY THE DUTCH, WHO MADE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN FRENCH AND WALLOON PROTESTANTS. THE DEMAREST FAMILY THAT JACQUES ACCOMPANIED TO HACKENSACK WERE ALSO FRENCH HUGUENOTS. THEIR PARENTS HAD FLED FRANCE TOHOLLAND, WHERE DAVID DEMAREST WAS BORN, AND DAVID EVENTUALLY CAME TO SETTLE IN THE HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY AREA AT NEW MILFORD.  JACQUES CHOSE FOR HIS BRIDE THE NEW AMSTERDAM BORN WYBREG HENDRICKSE HELLING (WYBREG – DAUGHTER OF HENDRICK HELLING. THIS IS CUSTOMARY OF DUTCH NOMENCLATURE FOR BOTH SONS AND DAUGHTERS.) THEY WERE WED ON THE 2nd OR THE 25th OF JANUARY 1681. SHE WAS BORN ABOUT 1662 AND HER PARENTS WERE HENDRICK THEUNIS HELLING (HENDRICK – SON OF THEUNIS OR THOMAS) AND GRIETJE SAMUELS. HER MOTHER, GRIETJE SAMUELS, WAS HENDRICK’S FIRST WIFE. SHE PASSED AWAY 22 OCTOBER 1698 IN BERGEN, NEW JERSEY AND HAD BEEN BORN ABOUT 1638 IN NEW AMSTERDAM TO MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL BARENTS. HENDRICK THEUNIS HELLING WAS BORN ABOUT 1643 IN LOYDEN, HOLLAND, THE SON OF THOMAS HELLING AND WYMBRECKT HENDRICKS BUT WASN’T CHRISTENED UNTIL 7 NOV 1660 IN NEW AMSTERDAM. HE REMARRIED AGAIN IN 1700 TO STYNTJE JANS DESMARETS, AND HE AND HIS 2 WIVES HAD 12 CHILDREN. HE DIED IN BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. WYBREG’S BROTHER, THEUNIS HENDRICKSE HELLING MARRIED JACQUES’ SISTER SUSANNAH, MAKING BOTH SETS OF OFFSPRING DOUBLE FIRST COUSINS WHO WERE HALF FRENCH AND HALF DUTCH. NEW JERSEY ARCHIVES 1ST SERIES, VOLUME XXI – NEW JERSEY RECORDS 1664-1703, PAGE 78 HAS A LISTING WHICH READS: “1686, MAY 8, DEED TO JACQUES LEROW FOR 220 ACRES, BOUNDED SOUTH BY DAVID DEMAREST, EAST BY HACKENSACK RIVER, NORTH BY ANTHONY HENDRICKS, AND WEST BY UNSURVEYED LAND.” SO HIS ORIGINAL LAND WAS IN HACKENSACK NEXT TO THE LAND OF THE DEMAREST FAMILY WITH WHOM HE TRAVELED FROM NEW YORK. THIS CITY HAD BEEN SETTLED IN 1647 BY DUTCH SETTLERS FROMMANHATTAN WHO ESTABLISHED A TRADING POST THERE. ALTHOUGH INFORMALLY CALLED HACKENSACK (AFTER THE ACKENACK INDIANS), IT WAS OFFICIALLY NEW BARBADOS UNTIL 1921. THE 17TH CENTURY DEMAREST HOUSE WAS MOVED FROM NEW MILFORD TO RIVER EDGE IN 1954. IT IS AT THE SITE OF THE STEUBEN HOUSE, ANAPPROPRIATE SHOWCASE FOR THE COLLECTIONS OF THE BERGEN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

EARLY NEW JERSEY RECORDS INDICATE THAT THE INDIANS COMPLAINED OF JACQUES LaROE BEING ON THEIR LAND TO THE JERSEY PROPRIETORS, AND IN AT LEAST ONE INSTANCE THE PROPRIETORS ORDERED JACQUES AND THE COMPLAINERS TO APPEAR JOINTLY BEFORE THEM. I AM CERTAIN THAT JACQUES THOUGHT HE HAD BOUGHT LAND LEGALLY ENTITLED TO BE SOLD. I AM EQUALLY CERTAIN THE INDIANS KNEW DAMN WELL THEY HAD NEVER SOLD LAND TO ANYBODY, MERELY ACCEPTED A FEW TRINKETS FROM THE NICE WHITE MEN, AND WATCHED HELPLESSLY AS MORE AND MORE OF THEIR LAND DISAPPEARED.

THE NEXT ACTIVITY BY JACQUES IS RECORDED BY THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH OF HACKENSACK RECORDS: “1696, APRIL 5, CAME TO US WITH LETTERS FROM THE FRENCH CHURCH THE FOLLOWING: SIAQUE (JACQUES) LaROE.” THIS CHURCH STILL STANDS AND IS KNOWN AS THE CHURCH ON THE GREEN. IT WAS BUILT IN 1696, AND REBUILT IN 1728.

THE “OLD HOOK PATENT,” AN AREA BOUNDED BY PRESENT NEW JERSEY TOWNS OF WESTWOOD, HAWORTH, AND HARRINGTON IN BERGEN COUNTY, CONSISTED OF SOME 1300 ACRES. IT WAS ACTUALLY PURCHASED BY JACQUES AND JOHN ALYEN ON 24 APRIL 1702. I DO NOT KNOW IF JACQUES SOLD HIS PREVIOUS LAND, OR IF HE KEPT IT IN ADDITION TO THIS NEW LAND. ON 1 DECEMBER 1727, NICHOLAS LOZIER PURCHASED ONE-THIRD INTEREST IN THE TRACT, AND THE THREE OWNERS THEN DIVIDED THE PROPERTY. THIS NAME, LOZIER, POPS UP FREQUENTLY AS A MIDDLE NAME IN THE LaROE DESCENDANTS. THE LOZIERS HAVE TIES TO THE ROYMEN AND ZABRISKIE FAMILIES WHO MARRY INTO THE LaROE FAMILY. THERE ISN’T AN ACTUAL LOZIER-LaROE MARRIAGE THAT I CAN FIND FOR SEVERAL GENERATIONS, SO THIS NICHOLAS LOZIER MUST HAVE BEEN VERY SPECIAL TO THE LaROE FAMILY. PERHAPS HE WAS HELPFUL TO THEM WHEN JACQUES PASSED AWAY ONLY TWO YEARS AFTER NICHOLAS WAS BOUGHT IN.

FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE LOZIER FAMILY FOLLOWS:

IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT THE TITLE TO THIS LAND, THE OLD HOOK PATENT, TOOK SO LONG TO STRAIGHTEN OUT. BEGINNING IN 1664 WHEN THE ENGLISH SEIZED THE AREA, NEW JERSEY BEGAN OPERATING UNDER THE PROPRIETARY RULE OF TWO MEN CHOSEN BY JAMES, DUKE OF YORK (LATER JAMES II). IT WAS LATER RETURNED TO THE CROWN IN 1702, AND

IT WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS TRANSITION OF POWER THAT JACQUES AND JOHN ALYEN BOUGHT THE LAND. THIS PERIOD OF NEW JERSEY’S HISTORY WAS MARKED BY LAND TITLE DISPUTES, DUBIOUS BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS, AND FREQUENT CHANGES OF AUTHORITY.

JACQUES PASSED AWAY IN 1730 THERE IN HACKENSACK, BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AROUND 73 YEARS OF AGE, QUITE AN OLD TIMER FOR THAT DAY AND TIME. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHEN WYBREG PASSED AWAY.

JACQUES LeROUX AND WYBREG HENDRICKSE HELLING HAD 12 CHILDREN:

#5NJ	i.	JANNETIE LaROE
#6NJ	ii.	PIETER LaROE
#7NJ	iii.	ANTIE LaROE
#8NJ	iv.	MARIE LaROE
#9NJ	v.	MARGARET LaROE
#10NJ	vi.	HENDRICK LaROE
#11NJ	vii.	SAMUEL LaROE
#12NJ	viii.	RACHEL LaROE
#I3NJ	ix.	AGENITIE LaROE
#14NJ	x.	SUSANNA LaROE
#15NJ	xi.	ABRAHAM LaROE
#16NJ	xii.	JOHANNES (JOHN) LaROE

 

GENERATION ONE

#1 JAMES S. LAROE IS THE SON OF SAMUEL L. LAROE AND ANNA SMITH OF WEST MILFORD AND NEW FOUNDLAND, PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. JAMES WAS BORN IN THIS AREA, AND SPENT 45 YEARS THERE, BUT ON OCTOBER, 17, 1846, HE “MADE A START TO GO AND TAKE A VIEW OF THAT GREAT COUNTRY OF TEXAS.” THIS HE WROTE IN THE JOURNAL HE KEPT ON HIS TRIP, A COPY OF WHICH FOLLOWS THIS ARTICLE ON JAMES. IN BOTH RECORDED TRIPS TO TEXAS, JAMES SAILS FROM NEW YORK TO NEW ORLEANS; TAKES STEAMBOATS UP THE MISSISSIPPI AND REDRIVERS TO SHREVEPORT, AND TRAVELS OVERLAND FROM THERE.

FOR MANY GENERATIONS, THE LOCATION OF JAMES’ GRAVE HAS REMAINED A MYSTERY TO HIS ANCESTORS. THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED, HOWEVER, EARLY IN 1980 WHEN THE LOOP AROUND KAUFMAN, TEXAS WAS BEING BUILT AND A SMALL CEMETERY WAS DISCOVERED. IT IS NAMED PIONEER CEMETERY AND IS IN THE EDGE OF A YARD ADJACENT TO THE CHURCH OF CHRIST ON THE HWY 1.75 LOOP. IT IS BELIEVED THAT IT WAS MUCH LARGER THAN WHAT WAS FOUND, BUT DUE TO NEGLECT OVER THE YEARS SOME STONES WERE PERHAPS NOT FOUND, AND OTHERS ARE EITHER UNREADABLE, OR IN TOO MANY PIECES TO REASSEMBLE. WE ARE INDEED FORTUNATE THAT JAMES’ STONE DOES NOT FIT INTO THESE CATEGORIES AND CAN BE READ:

JAMES S. LAROE

died March 18, 1854 age 52 yrs 6 mos 15 ds

WALLAH! A BIRTHDAY AND DATE OF DEATH! THIS WOULD MAKE THE DATE OF HIS BIRTH 3 SEPTEMBER, 1801. ACCORDING TO MY FIRST COUSIN TWICE REMOVED, VIRGIL LAROE BARNETT, (WHO WILL OFTEN BE QUOTED IN THESE FIRST GENERATION LAROES WITH A SIMPLE vib FOLLOWING ALL QUOTES) IN HIS MANUSCRIPT OUR TEXAS LaROES, THE FIRST LAND TRANSACTIONS RECORDED FOR THE LAROES WAS ON DECEMBER 31, 1850. “FROM THE LAND INVOLVED, AND TO THE BEST RECOLLECTION OF THOSE STILL ALIVE, THE LaROES SETTLED IN THE BIGCOTTONWOOD CREEK AREA OF KAUFMAN COUNTY, SOME 6 MILES DUE SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF KAUFMAN AND EAST OF FARM ROAD 1388. THE WILSON CHAPEL CEMETERY WOULD BE ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF THE AREA WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DESCRIBE.”vlb. THIS MEANS THAT JAMES WAS ABLE TO ENJOY HIS NEW HOME IN “THAT GREAT COUNTRY OF TEXAS” ONLY 3 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AND 18 DAYS.

JAMES’ PATH ON HIS ORIGINAL TOUR OF TEXAS CAN EASILY BE TRACED BY THE JOURNAL HE LEFT BEHIND. AFTER DOCKING IN SHREVEPORT, HE WENT VARIOUSLY BY WAGON, HORSE AND FOOT THROUGH GREENWOOD IN HARRISON COUNTY, JEFFERSON IN CASS COUNTY, MOUNT PLEASANT IN TITUS COUNTY, PARIS IN LAMAR COUNTY, DOWN TO COLLIN COUNTY AND THEN TO HENDERSON COUNTY. ON HIS WAY BACK TO SHREVEPORT HE PASSED THROUGH KAUFMAN COUNTY, THE SALINE SALT WORKS (GRAND SALINE) IN VAN ZANDT COUNTY, SMITH COUNTY, UPSHUR COUNTY, AND THROUGH MARSHALL, ONCE AGAIN IN 1777 PISON COUNTY.

THERE MUST HAVE BEEN POWERFUL MOTIVATION TO PICK UP YOUR FAMILY AT 49 YEARS OF AGE AND MOVE FROM A RELATIVELY CIVILIZED AREA SETTLED BY YOUR ANCESTORS 200 YEARS EARLIER TO LIVE A PRIMITIVE EXISTENCE IN A VAST UNSETTLED FRONTIER THAT WAS THE NEWLY ANNEXED TEXAS OF THAT TIME. NEW FOUNDLAND, WHERE JAMES CAME FROM, “APPEARS TO BE JUST INSIDE THE PASSAIC COUNTY LINE, AND IMMEDIATELY NORTH OF THE COUNTY LINE BETWEEN MORRIS AND PASSAIC COUNTIES, AND APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES FROM POMPTON LAKES, NEW JERSEY. THE SOIL AROUND NEW FOUNDLAND MUST HAVE BEEN RATHER FERTILE, FOR IN HIS DIARY JAMES COMPARES FROM TIME TO TIME THE SOIL FERTILITY OF THE TWO STATES. HE IS OBVIOUSLY, FROM HIS WRITTEN REMARKS, NOT TOO IMPRESSED WITH THE LAND IN LAMAR COUNTY, IN THE VICINITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, THOUGH AS HE GOES FURTHER SOUTH HE BECOMES MORE FAVORABLY DISPOSED TOWARD THE AREA. ONE OF THE THINGS WITH WHICH HE APPEARED MUCH IMPRESSED WERE THE MUCH LONGER GROWING SEASONS OF TEXAS. WHILE INKAUFMAN COUNTY, THEN HENDERSON COUNTY, HE WRITES OF FINDING A WATERMELON GROWING IN A WHEAT ORCORN STUBBLE FIELD ON THE 22ND DAY OF DECEMBER, 1846, AND FOUND IT GOOD AND SWEET. ALSO HE ATTESTS TO THIS AS THOUGH HE MIGHT NOT BE BELIEVED, STATING “THIS 22ND DAY OF DECEMBER, 1846, BY ME JAMES S. LARGE.” ON THE 23RD OF DECEMBER, 1846, HE WRITES – “A BEAUTIFUL DAY, AND LIKE APRIL IN NEW FOUNDLAND, NEW JERSEY.” AFTER 23 SAILING DAYS FROM NEW ORLEANS, JAMES ARRIVED IN NEW YORK ON HIS WAY BACK HOME WITH THE INFORMATION HE HAD GATHERED, AND MADE CAREFUL PLANS TO BRING FAMILY AND FRIENDS TOTEXAS WITH HIM. WHILE ON HIS INITIAL TRIP HE HAD SURVEYED PROPERTIES FOR HIS CHILDREN, AND HAD DEEDS REGISTERED AND ACKNOWLEDGED ON THE 17TH OF DECEMBER, 1846. THESE HAVE NOT BEEN LOCATED IN PRESENT DAY. THE FIRST DEEDS WE FIND ARE IN DECEMBER 1850 AFTER THE WHOLE FAMILY ARRIVED. ACCORDING TO IRENE LAROE BARBER, “THE ORIGINAL LAROE’S THOUGHT THEY BOUGHT LAND IN KAUFMANCOUNTY, BUT WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THE LAND COULD NOT BE FOUND. THEY OF COURSE HAD BEEN SWINDLED. THE FAMILY SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN THIS IN STRIDE AND CONTINUED ON. I NOTICED IN HIS DIARY THAT JAMES HAD A VERY DRY SENSE OF HUMOR, AND PERHAPS THIS SERVED HIM WELL IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.  ON THE 1850 MOVE TO TEXAS, JAMES BROUGHT WITH HIM HIS WIFE, MATILDA ANN KOUGH LAROE; HIS DAUGHTERS SARAH ANN AND LYDIA ANN WITH HER HUSBAND HORACE B. KANOUSE; AND HIS SONS ALFRED , DANIEL, SAMUEL, AND MOSES WITH HIS WIFE ANN VAN ORDEN LAROE. THIS CARAVAN PROBABLY ALSO INCLUDED JOSEPH AND RACHAEL DOLAND AND THEIR DAUGHTER, GERTRUDE, WHO LATER MARRIED MOSES’ SON NASH. THE DOLANDS WERE ALSO EARLY SETTLERS OF THE NEW FOUNDLAND AREA, AND MORE ON THEM IS WRITTEN UNDER NASH AND GERTRUDE. AT THIS POINT I DON’T KNOW IF JAMES AND MATILDA LEFT ANY CHILDREN BEHIND IN NEW JERSEY, ALTHOUGH THEY CERTAINLY LEFT NUMEROUS SIBLINGS, COUSINS, AUNTS AND UNCLES BEHIND.  MATILDA ANN KOUGH WAS BORN IN 1803 (MUST CHECK HER DATES IN THE TERRELL CEMETERY) IN NEW JERSEY. NOT MUCH IS KNOWN AT THIS POINT OF HER BACKGROUND. THE NAME KOUGH FIRST POPS UP IN THE FAMILY LINEAGE WHEN MARY LAROE, BAPTIZED MAY 16, 1730, DAUGHTER OF SAMUEL, THE SON OF THE ORIGINAL JACQUES LAROE, MARRIED JACOB KOGH, OR KOUGH. “WINNIE LAROE McKENZIE, IN WRITING OF HER GRANDMOTHER, SHE SAYS THAT SHE WAS SO SMALL THAT SHE WAS KNOWN ENDEARINGLY AS “TINA.” AFTER JAMES’ DEATH, MATILDA STILL LIVED ON THE LAND THEY ORIGINALLY BOUGHT WITH HER SONS SAMUEL AND ALFRED. SHE IS SHOWN HERE ON THE 1860 CENSUS OFKAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS.

 

1860 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS – KAUFMAN P.O

Name	Race	Age	Gender	Occupation	Property	Born
#612-610       Matilda Laro	W	51	F	FARMING	1250, 1720	NJ
SAMUEL	M	33		FARMING	2550	NJ
ALFRED	M	18				NJ

 

DAUGHTER SARAH CHISHOLM AND HER FAMILY LIVE NEXT DOOR (WELL, NOT EXACTLY NEXT DOOR) AT DWELLING #611-609.  IN 1870, MATILDA IS STILL ON THE LAND WITH SON SAMUEL, GRANDSONS JOSEPH CHISHOLM AND JAMES KANOUSE, AND AN ELLA VRILAND. ELLA MUST BE A FRIEND FROM NEW JERSEY. ONE DWELLING DOWN AT #269-280 IS JOSEPH CHISHOLM’S UNCLE, ENOCH P. CHISHOLM. JOSEPH’S MOTHER, THE WIDOWED AND REMARRIED SARAH CHISHOLM IRVINE IS NOT FAR AWAY WITH HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT #214-225, AND SON ALFRED AND HIS NEW FAMILY ARE AT #218-229. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE WIDOWED MATILDA IS BEING CARED FOR QUITE NICELY BY HER CHILDREN AND

GRANDCHILDREN.

 

Dwelling	Name	Race	Age	Gender	Occupation	Property	Born
#267-278	Samuel Large	H	46	M	FARMING	1000, 3735	NJ
	Matilda	H	67	F	Keep House	400, 2000	NJ
	Kanouse, James	H	21	M	Stock Lab	1500	NJ
	Vriiand, Ella	H	26	F			NJ
	Chisholm, Joseph	H	7	M			Cherokee Nation

 

“SAMUEL LAROE, THE BACHELOR, LIVED ABOUT A MILE SOUTH OF LAWRENCE, AND OWNED ALL OF A SECTION OF LAND. HIS MOTHER LIVED WITH HIM, AND WE ALWAYS CALLED HER ‘GRANDMA’. AFTER SAM’S DEATH IN 1884, SHE MOVED TO TERRELL, AND LIVED WITH ANOTHER SON, MOSES, UNTIL HER DEATH IN 1891.” THIS STATEMENT MAY BE A TAD OFF. I CANNOT LOCATE MATILDA IN 1880, AND SON SAMUEL IS LIVING IN LAWRENCE, BUT WITH FAMILY FRIENDS, THE DOLANDS, WHO PROBABLY INITIALLY CAME TO TEXAS WITH THE LAROES. SON DANIEL IS DEFINITELY IN LAWRENCE AND SONS MOSES AND ALFRED ARE DEFINITELY IN TERRELL. SO SOMETIME BETWEEN 1870 AND 1880 THEY MUST HAVE MOVED THIS BRANCH OF THE LAROES TO THE LAWRENCE/TERRELL AREA. “THE YEAR 1869-1870 MUST HAVE MARKED THE GENERAL EXODUS OF THE LAROES FROM THE COTTONWOOD CREEK AREA OF KAUFMANCOUNTY. THE EXACT REASON FOR THEIR LEAVING IS NOT KNOWN, THOUGH IN THE MEMORY OF THOSE YET LIVING, THERE IS RECOLLECTION OF TRAGEDY, PERHAPS THE DEATH OF ONE OR SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILIES.” THERE WAS DEFINITELY TRAGEDY – FATHER JAMES HAD DIED IN 1854, AND DAUGHTER SARAH’S HUSBAND, JOSEPH CHISHOLM, HAD DIED IN OKLAHOMA BETWEEN 1863 AND 1866.

JAMES S. LAROE AND MATILDA ANN KOUGH HAD – CHILDREN:

#3	i.	LYDIA ANN LAROE
#4	ii.	SAMUEL A. LAROE
#5	iii.	SARAH ANN LAROE
#6	iv.	MOSES K. LAROE
#7	v.	DANIEL SMITH LAROE
#8	vi.	ALFRED LAROE

 

QUESTIONS:

1) WHAT DOES MATILDA’S STONE SAY?

2) DID THEY LEAVE ANY CHILDREN IN NEW JERSEY?

3) JAMES’ DIARY DEC. 26TH SAYS HE WENT SPECIFICALLY TO PARIS, LAMAR COUNTY TO “GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT MY LAND,” WHICH THE SURVEYOR “WILL LOCATE ON MY SCRIPT.” DID HE ALREADY PURCHASE LAND? WAS THIS THE LAND SWINDLE? WHAT IS SCRIPT?

4) DEC. 17, 1846 16 MILES FROM GOODRIDGE’S BLUFF HE HAD “SOME DEEDS ACKNOWLEDGED” BY THE CLERK FOR JUDGE DAMMONS.

IS THIS KAUFMAN COUNTY? CAN LOCATE THESE DEEDS?

GENERATION TWO

#2 JOHN V. LAROE, ACCORDING TO VIRGIL LAROE BARNETT, WAS THE SON OF JACOBUS LAROE AND ELIZABETH PAULISON, AND THE 1ST COUSIN OF JAMES S.LAROE. HE MARRIED HARRIET E. FRANCISCO IN NEW JERSEY, AND EVENTUALLY THEY HAD 7 CHILDREN WHO SURVIVED TO ADULTHOOD. IN 1850 THIS COUPLE IS LISTED ON THE WEST MILFORD, PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY CENSUS:

1850 CENSUS – PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY –

 WEST MILFORD P. 178

Name	Age	Gender	Occupation	Property	Born
John Laro	41	M	FARMER	2000	NJ
Harriet	32	F			NJ
Anna	8	F			NJ
Richard H.	6	M			NJ
Julia F	3	F			NJ
James B	8/12 Mos	M			NJ

 

 

BY 1860 THIS FAMILY HAD RELOCATED IN TEXAS:

1860 CENSUS – KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS –

P.O. KAUFMAN – P. 37

Dwelling	Name	Age	Gender	Occupation	Property	Born
#177-177	John Laro	51	M	FARMER		NJ
	Harriet	43	F			NJ
	Anna	18	F			NJ
	Richard H.	16	M			NJ
	Julia F	13	F			NJ
	James B	10	M			NJ
	John F.	7	M			NJ
	Harriet	7	M			NJ
	William	3	M			NJ

 

ACCORDING TO VIRGIL LAROE BARNETT IN HIS BOOK, OUR TEXAS LAROES, THE FIRST LAND DEEDS RECORDED FOR JOHN V. LAROE ARE DATED 5 FEBRUARY 1859. SO MORE THAN LIKELY THIS FAMILY SET OUT FOR TEXAS AROUND DECEMBER OF 1858, FOLLOWING, I AM SURE, THE SAME ROUTE TAKEN BY COUSIN JAMES IN 1850.

ALTHOUGH COUSIN JAMES HAD BEEN DEAD FOR SEVERAL YEARS BY THE TIME JOHN MOVED HIS FAMILY, JAMES’ WIFE AND CHILDREN HAD REMAINED AND SETTLED IN TO MAKE THEIR LIVES IN TEXAS. I AM SURE THAT JAMES’ EARLIER DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LAND AND IT’S PEOPLE INFLUENCED JOHN’S DECISION TO ALSO MOVE. I CAME ACROSS AND INTERESTING STATEMENT IN OUR TEXAS LAROES. THE AUTHOR IS MENTIONS SPEAKING TO DELIA KANOUSE, “SHE TOLD ME OF MY GRANDFATHER, RICHARD HENRY LAROE COMING TO THEIR HOUSE ONE NIGHT IN NEW FOUNDLAND (WEST MILFORD), NEW JERSEY, FROM THE MINES, AND BEFORE HE CAME INTO THE HOUSE HE LOOKED THROUGH THE WINDOW AND HE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF SOOT OR COAL DUST ON HIS FACE; THEY ALL LAUGHED AT HIM, CAUSING HIM TO BE QUITE UNHAPPY ABOUT THE WHOLE AFFAIR.” WHAT A TELLING STATEMENT! IF THIS FAMILY HAD BEEN REDUCED TO LIVING IN A PROPER VILLAGE – THEIR YOUNG TEENAGE SONS (RICHARD HENRY WAS 15 WHEN THEY MOVED, SO THE ABOVE STATEMENT TOOK PLACE PRIOR TO THIS) FORCED TO WORK IN COAL MINES – NO WONDER THEY RISKED THE JOURNEY TO A PRIMITIVE FRONTIER WHERE THEY COULD ONCE AGAIN OWN AND WORK LARGE TRACTS OF LAND. ALTHOUGH “JAMES EDWARD, THE SON OF JOHN V. LAROE, IN 1889, DESCRIBING HIS FAMILY FOR “SOUVENIRS OF TEXAS,” A BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLICATION, STATES THAT HIS FATHER WAS A PROMINENT FARMER OF PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. ” PROMINENT, MAYBE, BUT I DOUBT OVERLY SUCCESSFUL, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ABOVE STORY IS COMBINED WITH THE FACT THAT COUSIN JAMES SOLD HIS HORSE IN 1846 IN ORDER TO FUND HIS INITIAL EXPLORATION OF TEXAS. PERHAPS 200 YEARS OF DIVIDING THE FAMILY LANDS HAD SIMPLY LEFT TOO LITTLE TO SURVIVE ON, OR PERHAPS THE LAND HAD JUST PETERED OUT.  JOHN INITIALLY BOUGHT HIS TEXAS LAND IN 1859 IN THE SAME AREA HIS OTHER NEW JERSEY RELATIVES ALREADY OCCUPIED. AROUND 1870, HOWEVER, HIS OTHER NEW JERSEY RELATIVES MOVED A LITTLE FURTHER WEST. THIS MAY HAVE INFLUENCED JOHN, BUT “WE KNOW THAT IN 1870, JOHN V. LAROE BOUGHT LAND IN WHAT IS NOW KNOWN A5 THE RAND AREA, AT OR ABOUT THE INTERSECTION OF FM ROADS 1836 AND 1895, SOUTHEAST OF KAUFMAN. THIS LAND HE PURCHASED FROM R.L. BULLOCK, PIONEER AND EARLY SETTLER OF GRAYSON COUNTY, AND UNDOUBTEDLY MOVED THERE WITH HIS FAMILY ON OR ABOUT MARCH 22, 1870. THIS LAND IS DESCRIBED AS OUT OF THE HEADRIGHT OF BENJAMIN BRUTON, ON THE EAST SIDE OF KINGS BURROUGH PRAIRIE. (KINGS BURROUGH WAS THE EARLIER NAME OF THE KAUFMAN COMMUNITY.) THIS COMMUNITY WAS INITIALLY CALLED PROSPECT, THEN EGYPT, THEN CHIEF AND FINALLY RAND. THIS LAND WAS NEXT TO THE JAMES PETERS’ LAND WHOM JOHN’S OLDEST DAUGHTER, ANNA MARY, HAD MARRIED IN 1861. WITH HIS DAUGHTER NEXT DOOR, I’M SURE HE HAD AN INSIDERS TRACK ON THE PROPERTY AND GOT A VERY GOOD DEAL ON IT. THE 1870 CENSUS SHOWS HIS SON RICHARD HENRY HAD LAND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ANNA MARY, ONE PIECE DOWN FROM JOHN.  DESCRIBING A PICTURE OF JOHN AND HARRIET LAROE, VIRGIL LAROE BARNETT SAYS, “HARRIET LAROE HAS A SLENDER NOSE AND FACE, HIGH FOREHEAD ACCENTUATED BY THE “HAIR-DO” OF THE PERIOD, AND PERHAPS BETRAYING SOMETHING OF HER SPANISH ANCESTRY. JOHN LAROE, WITH FULL BEARD, LONG HAIR CURLING UPWARD AT THE ENDS, HEAD ERECT AND DISPLAYING PERHAPS A CERTAIN VANITY IN HIS APPEARANCE. HE APPEARS TO HAVE ON A LIGHT, ALMOST WHITE TIE, ALSO COAT AND VEST. THESE GARMENTS MAY WELL HAVE BEEN MADE BY HIS WIFE HARRIET, WHO WAS REPUTEDLY AN EXPERT SEAMSTRESS AND TAILOR. HARRIET FRANCISCO LAROE EVIDENTLYKNEW HER HANDWORK WELL. THE STORY IS TOLD OF HER HAVING JUST FINISHES) A SUIT OF CLOTHES FOR HER HUSBAND, MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, JOHN V. LAROE. WHILE SHE WAS VISITING A NEIGHBOR ONE DAY, A TRAMP WAS ATTIRED IN HER HUSBAND’S NEWLY COMPLETED SUIT. AS THE STORY WAS RELATED, SHE MARCHED THE TRAMP BACK TO HER OWN HOME, MADE HIM CHANGE TO HIS OWN CLOTHES, THEN SENT HIM SOBERLY ON HIS WAY, PERHAPS WITH A NEW RESPECT FOR THIS FIRM AND ADAMANT LADY.”

HARRIET E. FRANCISCO (CICO) WAS BORN 12 JUNE 1816, A PROBABLE DESCENDANT OF PETER FRANCISCO WHO WAS EITHER PORTUGUESE OR SPANISH. “HE WAS IN LONG ISLAND AS EARLY AS 1650, ASSOCIATING WITH THE EARLY SPANIARDS AND PORTUGUESE AND ATTENDING WITH THEM THE NEW YORK DUTCH CHURCH. AT A LATER DATE HE MOVED TO THE HACKENSACK AREA. LATER HIS DESCENDANTS SETTLED IN THE “HORSENECK TRACT,” WHICH LAY SOUTH OF THE RAMAPO TRACT”  OWNED BY OUR EARLY LAROE ANCESTORS.

JOHN DIED 9 JUNE 1872, AND HARRIET FOLLOWED HIM IN SIX MONTHS AND TWO DAYS ON 11 DECEMBER 1872. JOHN AND HARRIET ARE MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS AND ARE BURIED IN THE FOX CEMETERY IN RAND,KAUFMAN COUNTY, TEXAS, VERY CLOSE TO THE LAND THEY OWNED. THE CEMETERY IS ON LAND DONATED BY ANOTHER OF MY ANCESTORS, DR. JOSEPH FOX. JOHN’S SON JOHN FRANK LAROE MARRIED JOSEPH’S GRAND-DAUGHTER, EMMA F. FOX, JOHN’S DAUGHTER JULIA, MARRIED BENJAMIN FOX, AND JOHN’S OTHER DAUGHTER HARRIET MARRIED JAMES A. FOX. THERE ARE SEVERAL MORE LAROE-FOX MARRIAGES, BUT TWO OF THESE MARRIAGES TOOK PLACE BEFORE JOHN DIED, AND ONE SHORTLY AFTER. IS IT ANY WONDER THEY BURIED THEIR PARENTS IN THE SAME CEMETERY WHERE THEY THEMSELVES EXPECTED TO BE?

JOHN V. LAROE AND HARRIET E. FRANCISCO HAD 7 CHILDREN:

# i. ANNA MARY LAROE

# ii. RICHARD HENRY LAROE

# iii. JULIA FRANCES LAROE

# iv. JAMES EDWARD LAROE

# V. JOHN FRANKLIN LAROE

# vi. HATTIE E. LAROE

## vii. WILLIAM LOZIER LAROE