Greene County, MO/Taney County, MO/
Christian County, IL/Denton County, TX/New Orleans, LA
And the hills in glory glow,
And the wild ducks start their drifting
And the foxhounds chanting go,
Wild grapes, nuts, pawpaws, persimmons
Hang in Nature's festal hall---
O a cabin in the Ozarks
Is the finest in the Fall.
From "A Cabin in the Ozarks"
by Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandpa Jackson, my dad's father, loved to tell stories of his childhood in the Ozark Mountains. He was born in Taney County, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks. Though his family moved west to Texas when he was only 12, he enjoyed re-telling the tales his father had told of the wild and lawless Ozark frontier, the bank robbers and the vigilante Baldknobbers.....the rough-hewn log houses and the rough-cut men who sought sanctuary in the isolated hills and hollows of the area. The stories he told of the hard-scrabble farms set against the backdrop of the stunningly beautiful Ozark countryside captured my imagination and continues to hold it.
The Dalton gang, the Younger brothers, the James boys.....were all in and out of Missouri time after time. Grandpa's father had actually seen one of the Younger brothers riding on his horse one day in Bradleyville, his hometown. Times were hard in the Ozarks and often dangerous.
My grandfather was one of six children born to Samuel Lafayette and Susan MATTHEWS JACKSON. Samuel wanted to move west to the new Texas Territory. But his elderly father, who made his home with Samuel's family, didn't want to leave the Ozarks. So, it wasn't until after Samuel's father's death, that he loaded his family and belongings into a covered wagon and started the journey westward. They settled in Denton County, right next to Dallas County, Texas.
Sadly, neither Samuel or Susan lived long enough to build a new life in Denton County. Just a few years after arriving, Susan contracted tuberculosis, after taking care of relatives who'd come down with it. She died on May 21, 1893,and Samuel succumbed to the same disease only a year and a half later, on September 23, 1895. The older children, my grandfather among them---he was about 15 at the time of his father's death---went to work to support themselves. The younger children were taken in by other families. At least one of his young sisters was raised by Homer CAIN, who owned the company where my grandfather went to work. It was there he met Homer's niece, Louvenia Cain, who was to become his wife.
James, b. abt. 1840, Alabama
Thomas, b. abt. 1842, Missouri
Elizabeth, b. abt. 1845, Missouri
Christopher, b. abt. 1847, Missouri
Jefferson, b. abt. 1849, Missouri
William, b. abt. 1851, Missouri
Mary, b. abt. 1853, Missouri
Samuel, b. March 27, 1858, Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri
From the same census:
Richard W. ROBERTSON, b. February 23, 1807, North Carolina
Nancy, b. October 9, 1809, Tennessee
John, b. abt. 1841, Alabama
Minerva, b. abt. 1843, Missouri
George, b. abt. 1847, Missouri
1870 Taney County Federal Census:
Richard W. ROBERTSON, age 63, b. NC
Nancy, age 61, b. TN
Samuel, age 12, b. MO
Eliza JACKSON, age 50, b. AL
This census record is interesting because Samuel is listed under the Robertson name, with Eliza being the only Jackson in the household. However, Samuel did not keep and/or adopt the Robertson name in adulthood. He was always known by the name of Jackson.
Also, in this census, Eliza's oldest son, James, is shown 3 houses down from the Robertsons:
James M. JACKSON, age 30, b. AL
Louiza, age 25, b. MO
John H., age 9, b. MO
William M., age 5, b. MO
Mary E., age 3, b. MO
Samuel M., age 1, b. MO
Mary LAWRENCE, age 13, b. MO
1880 Taney County Federal Census:
R. W. ROBERTSON, age 73, b. NC, father b. VA, mother b. VA
Nancy, age 71, b. TN, father b. KY, mother b. KY
Next door:
S. L. JACKSON, age 22, b. MO, father b. NC, mother b. AL
Susan, age 22, b. IL, father b. IL, mother b. IL
Allen, age 9 months, b. MO, father b. MO, mother, b. IL
Next door:
Eliza JACKSON, age 60, b. AL (no record of her parents' places of birth)
I owe a debt of gratitude to two fellow researchers who have helped in my search for Samuel's family: Don Houk, a Taney County researcher, who has shared census and cemetery records and Carole Holmes, a Jackson surname researcher, who has adopted Samuel's puzzling parentage as a cause. She's discovered a treasure chest of information, which she has generously shared with me. Their help is appreciated so very much.
Susan Matthews was born in Christian County, Illinois on October 28, 1857. Her mother and father were Aaron V. and Sarah SHARP MATTHEWS. As far as I can determine, Sarah died before the family left Christian County or shortly after their arrival in Taney County, Missouri. By the time Aaron's family first shows up on a Taney County census in 1870, he has remarried a Missouri native and, in addition to Susan, 12, and her sister, Amanda, 16---born in Illinois---there are two more children, Lucinda and Abraham, 4 and 1, both born in Missouri.
Aaron Matthews died on July 20, 1883 and he is buried in Bradleyville Cemetery, Taney County, MO.
I have a portrait of Susan Matthews taken at about the age of 16 or so. She is a beautiful young woman with delicate features. When I look at it, I always think of the difficult life she must have had and at what a sadly early age she passed away. I haven't been able to identify Susan's mother's Sharp family, but I do have information on Aaron Matthews.
Aaron was born on February 20, 1830, in Christian County, Illinois. He married Sarah SHARP on February 19, 1851, in Christian County. Aaron's parents were Eli and Susan HANON MATTHEWS, Susan was the daughter of Michael and __ HANON. Michael Hanon was born in Ireland and died in 1817 in Gallatin, Illiinois; Mrs. Hanon died in 1838, in Sangamom, Illinois. Eli was born in 1804, in TN or KY, and died in 1864, in Christian County, Illinois; he was the son of Claiborne and Rebekah MOORE MATTHEWS.
Children of Eli and Susan Matthews were:
Martin W., born 1828, Illinois.
Aaron V., born 1830, Christian Co, Illinois..............my g-g-grandfather
Sarah M., born 1832, Christian Co., Illinois; m. George SLATER
Elijah, born 1833, Illinois, m. Hannah DANE
Mary A., born 1838, Illinois, m. Isaac GADBERRY
Arminda Jane, born 1838, Illinois; she m. Charles COLLENBARGER
Thomas Jefferson, born 1840, Edinburg, Christian Co.; m. 1) Mary Jane HALSTROM;
2) Roxie POTTS; 3) Mary Jane WALTERS
James H. P., born in 1844, Illinois
William B., born 1848, Christian County, Illinois; m. Rachael BURRIS
1870 Taney County Federal Census:
Matthews, Aaron, 40, b. IL
Martha J., 29, b. MO
Amanda, 16, b. IL
Susan, 12, b. IL
Lucinda, 4, b. IL
Abraham L., 1, MO
1880 Taney County Federal Census:
Matthews, A. V., 50, b. IL, father: TN, mother: KY
Martha, 38, b. MO, father: TN, mother : TN
Sarah, 20, b. IL, father: IL, mother: IL
Lucinda, 14, b. MO, father: IL, mother: MO
Abraham, 11, b. MO, father: IL, mother : MO
Charles, 8, b. MO, father: IL, mother: MO
Allie,5, b. MO, father: IL, mother: MO
Rosa, 2, b. MO, father: MO, mother: MO
Samuel and Susan's Family:
Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Matthews were married in Bradleyville, Missouri in about 1877. They had six children:
ALLEN EDWARD, my grandfather, was born August 23, 1879, in Bradleyville, Missouri. He married Louvenia Elizabeth CAIN on December 22, 1896, in Denton County, Texas. He was the only one of the children to leave Texas and move to Louisiana. (Louvenia's family is described on the Cain Family Page.) My grandmother, known as Lou, died on December 26, 1960, at the age of 82, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ed died on September 30, 1971, at the age of 92, in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are both buried in Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Pearl River County, Mississippi. To their marriage, 4 children were born:
Charles Carl was born on April 7, 1898, in Denton County, Texas. Carl married first,
Jenny May WALSTON, in 1919, in Texas. To this marriage two children were born:
Helen Grace was born October 30, 1920. She married Edward McCROSSEN, in New Orleans
and to their marriage, three children were born:
Marleen was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Sharon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Suzanna was born in Los Angeles, California.
Dorothy was born on June 30, 1922. She married Roy BARTH and to
their marriage, five children were born.
Carl next married Alma DONNELLS and they had two children:
Charles Carl, Jr.
Reba
Carl next married Vera HONEYCUTT, in 1946 and they had three children:
Linda
Carliss
John
Myrtle was born on February 18, 1902, in Denton County, Texas; she died in December, 1979 in
New Orleans, Louisiana, and she is buried in Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Pearl River County,
Mississippi. She married first, ____ HYBARGER, on June 2, 1920, in Texas. To this union, one
child was born:
Geneva Ruth was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She married Clarence HANCOCK, known as
Red, who was from Silver Springs, Maryland. To their marriage, one child was born:
Dennis was born on January 22, 1953 in Southern Baptist Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana.
He married Cathleen Crozat in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Myrtle married next, George Edward ROUSE, known as Eddie, in 1945. Eddie died in 1970 and he is
buried in his hometown of Springfield, Missouri.
Herman was born on March 22, 1908 and died shortly after his birth. He is buried in Oakland
Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.
Archie Lee, my father, was born on June 2, 1907, in Denton County, Texas. Our family is detailed on
the Garrett Family Page, under my mother, Nancy Florelle Garrett Jackson..
ANDREW, known as Andy, was born in 1881, in Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri. He
married Dessie THOMAS; he died in 1951, in Dallas, Texas. They had two children:
Tom
Ray
JESS was born in 1883 in Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri. He married Lily LAIRD.
they had two children:
Thelma Jackson Devenport
Stella Jackson Crump, known as Dee
ELLA was born in 1885 in Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri. Her first husband was
___ BRICK; her second husband's name was ___ Miller. She had no children.
TOM was born in 1887, in Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri. His first wife's name
was Addie ___ ; he died in 1929. They had one child:
Nelva Jo
OLLIE was born in 1889, in Bradleyville, Taney County, Missouri; she married two times.
Her first husband, and the father of her five children, was Oscar SIZEMORE; her second
husband's name was Ed DILLENBECK.
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