THE TOM ROBERSON FAMILY

This picture was sent to Mrs. M. E. Long, with the address Eola, Louisiana. Mary Elizabeth Long, my grandmother, moved to Eola, Louisiana (Gold Dust community on the Kelley plantation) around 1893, and lived there until the early decades of the 1900s. On the back of the picture is written in elegant script
"Mrs. M. E. Long
Eola, La.
Bro. G. Jr."
Underneath, in my Mother's handwriting is written: "Uncle Tom Roberson family."


Mary Elizabeth Long was one of two daughters of Elmina Francis Roberson and John Milligan Ragsdale. John Milligan Ragsdale was killed in the Civil War Battle of Mansfield, near Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 8, 1864. Mary Elizabeth was two years old, and her sister, Margaret Addeline, was born in August of that year. Elmina Francis raised the two girls alone. Elmina (whose nickname was "Frankie" and was later affectionately called "Little Granny" because of her small statue) was the sixth child in a family of ten children of Thomas Walker Roberson (Sr.) and Margaret Ann Emerson Roberson. The Roberson family moved from Tippah County, Mississippi, to Erath County, Texas, the community of Duffau, in the late 1850s. Elmina's younger brother, Thomas Walker Roberson, Jr. was the tenth child of this family.


Through verbal family history, the picture had always been thought to be the family of the senior Thomas Roberson. The picture was made in central Texas, as the photography studio was located in Hico. Upon research, the picture is now considered to be a picture of the Thomas Walker Roberson, Jr. family --- Mary Parlee Wolfe Roberson and her children. It was probably one of the few attempts to keep in touch with family, after Mary Long moved to Louisiana with her girls. It was found in good condition among my grandmother's photos. Over the years, all connection to the Roberson branch was lost. Only recently have the descendants of the children of Thomas and Margaret Ann communicated.





We have the following information on this family:


THOMAS WALKER "TOM" ROBERSON, JR.


Birth Date: 17 Oct 1852
Birth Place: Mississippi
Death Date: 31 Jan 1931
Death Place: At Home, Gentry's Mill Community, Hamilton Co., Texas
Burial Date: 1 Feb 1931
Burial Place: Gentry's Mill Cemetery, Hamilton, Texas



Spouse: Mary Parlee Wolfe
Birth Date: 4 Dec 1859
Birth Place: North Carolina
Death Date: 26 Feb 1935
Death Place: Hamilton Co. Texas
Burial Place: Gentry's Mill Cemetery, Hamilton, Texas
Spouse Father: Samuel Henry Wolfe
Spouse Mother: Diannah Clark



Marriage Date: 12 Jun 1879
Marriage Place: Erath Co. Texas



Children: Edna L., Della, John Stephen "Steve", Henry Calvin. Effie, Ina, Lula (Will), Walter, James Lester, Luther





It is a treasured photo of our ancestors. Amazing is the resemblance between some of the children and later photographs of other members of the Roberson family. If you have additional information, such as more complete data on names or dates, please let me know.







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© 1998-2002 Ann Johnson Donovan. Email: WEBMASTER


February 2002







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