Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Ancestors of J.D. Maness

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Ancestors of J.D. Maness

Generation No. 4

      8. Sr. Samuel Ernest Doss^19,^20,^21,^22,²³, born May 07, 1824 in Fluvanna County, Virginia; died November 19, 1886 in Montague County, Texas. He was the son of 16. Parker S. Doss and 17. Angelica Epps Cheatham. He married 9. Sarah Ann Bourland July 21, 1852 in Lamar County, Texas.

      9. Sarah Ann Bourland^24,^25,²⁶, born Abt. 1835 in Weakley County, Tennessee; died 1900 in Doss, Clay County, Texas. She was the daughter of 18. James G. Bourland and 19. Catherine Wells.

Notes for Sr. Samuel Ernest Doss:
Storekeeper
After marrying Sarah, Sam sold his store and moved to Cooke County and established what became known as the Hog Eye Ranch or B2 Ranch.

"During the Civil War, Sam furnished all his cowboys and others who wanted to go to war, horses and equipment, thus doing much to forward the cause of the Confederacy. Later Sam Doss himself joined the Regiment under the command of Col. James Bowland [Bourland] and remained in the Frontier Service." "Sam Doss was quite successful until the big break in the price of stock in 1883-1884, which affected him materially. He was at that time feeding for the market 960 big steers, but of this number 445 head died of a disease. This caused another loss, from which Mr. Doss never fully recovered.... Doss purchased 7480 ac at Bourland's Station in the Red River valley of Montague County, Texas...." From "Capt. B.B. Paddock's History of North & West Texas", Vol. II, p. 232-5.

From "Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas" by John Henry Brown, comes this story of an Indian raid on the families in Cooke County. One group of the Indians camped "immediately below the farm of Samuel Doss and within a mile of Gainesville...." One of their captives, a Mrs. Shegogg, had "managed to escape and secrete herself till morning, when almost nude and suffering greatly from cold, she found refuge in Mr. Doss' house."

From "Early Days In Cooke County" by C.N. Jones: "...she ['Mrs. Shegog'] was left here and after the Indians had gone, she discovered by the barking of a dog or perhaps by the crowing of a rooster that there was a house on the hill just west of where she then was. Making her way as best she could through the brush and briers in Elm creek bottom at that time, and in the darkness of the early morning she come to the home of a Mr. Sam Doss. A family of negroes living in Mr. Doss' yard were the first to discover Mrs. Shegog and thinking that she was an Indian and believing that they were about to be attacked, rushed into the house and told Mr. Doss that there were Indians in the yard. Mr. Doss soon discovered that instead of an Indian being in the yard it was a half frozen white woman who not more than 30 minutes before had escaped from the Indians. Of course she was kindly cared for and soon returned to her desolate home some 20 miles west of Gainesville. The writer became well acquainted with Mr. Doss and his excellent family some years after the events recorded here. He and his family are still remembered by many people in and near Gainesville now."

Sam sold the old Hog Eye Ranch and purchased 7480 acres at the Bowland [Bourland] section in the Red River Valley of Montague County, Texas.

More About Sr. Samuel Ernest Doss:
Military: Abt. 1861, Cooke County, Texas
Record Change: September 13, 2003
Resided: 1852, Cooke County, Texas

More About Sarah Ann Bourland:
Record Change: June 14, 2003

Child of Samuel Doss and Sarah Bourland is:

Jr. Samuel Ernest Doss, born 1865 in Hog Eye Ranch, Cooke County, Texas; died Abt. 1899; married Ida Louise Coles June 23, 1889 in Lamar County, Texas.

      10. William T. F. Coles^27,^28,^29,^30,^31,³², born April 09, 1814 in Wilson County, Tennessee; died January 02, 1890 in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. He was the son of 20. III William Temple Coles and 21. Mary Brown. He married 11. Martha Ann Bourland March 30, 1847 in Lamar County, Texas ³³.

      11. Martha Ann Bourland^34,^35,³⁶, born October 01, 1828 in Calloway County, Kentucky; died March 1886 in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. She was the daughter of 22. John Mcelroy Bourland and 23. Nancy Hood.

Notes for William T. F. Coles:
Postmaster
District 22 Representitive, Fourth Texas Legislature
William married first, 25 June 1839, in Wilson County, Tenn, a Letitia B. Shepherd, who he divorced in 1842. He moved to Texas about 1844-45. He held a commission in the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Texas Militia, 15 October, 1846 of Brigadier General. He was in the Texas legislature in 1851. He owned the first drugstore in Paris, Texas and was a physician for many years.

From "The History of Lamar County" by Neville: "The legislature having enacted a bill authorizing county courts to exempt from military service such physicians as were considered 'absolutely necessary to the benefit of the citizens of the county' the court in February 1864, recorded such exemption for Drs. R. A. Scales, Thomas E. Griffis, A. S. Johnson, James W. Harmon, Alex. Johnson, B. Bywaters, P. W. Vining, R. H. Robertson, Houston Hancock, G. M. Pennybacker, D. H. Gibson, W. W. Stell, I. J. Osburn, T. P. Hall, W. T. F. Coles and George W. Lane, as being 'respectable practicing physicians'. "

The RootsWeb.com database 'Lamar County, Tx Marriages 1841-1910' lists him as "T. F. Coles."

More About William T. F. Coles:
Burial: Old City Cemetery, Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Census 1840: Wilson County, Tennessee
Census 1850 - free: October 28, 1850, Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Census 1860 - free: September 14, 1860, Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Census 1870: Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Census 1880: Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Election: November 1851
Military active duty: October 15, 1846, Texas
Occupation: November 13, 1849, Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Record Change: July 04, 2003

More About Martha Ann Bourland:
Burial: Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Probate: 1886, Lamar County, Texas
Record Change: June 14, 2003
Will: September 19, 1885

Marriage Notes for William Coles and Martha Bourland:
Marriage performed by Rev. James Graham per The Northern Standard, Clarksville, Red River County, Texas.

Child of William Coles and Martha Bourland is:

Ida Louise Coles, born 1871 in Lamar County, Texas; died Aft. 1900; married Jr. Samuel Ernest Doss June 23, 1889 in Lamar County, Texas.

12. Sr. Francis Marion Nixon³⁷, born January 22, 1824 in Limestone County, Alabama; died 1864 in Roseville, Franklin County, Arkansas. He was the son of 24. Francis Nixon and 25. Catherine Elliott. He married 13. Harriet Jane Wilcox Bet. 1847 - 1850 in Arkansas.

13. Harriet Jane Wilcox³⁷, born March 16, 1829 in Madison County, Illinois; died July 02, 1917 in Ratcliff, Logan County, Arkansas. She was the daughter of 26. Jr. Stephen Wilcox and 27. Mary "Polly" Piper.

Notes for Sr. Francis Marion Nixon:
Wheelwright
Census 1850 - free: P. 139, #24, "Nixon, Francis M" entry.

Census 1860 - free: P. 163, line 33, "Nixon, F.M." entry.

Ordination information from the "Arkansas Baptist", 13 Feb. 1861.

From a letter from Vallettia Nixon Mooneyham to Ferne Nixon Little, dated 5 Sept. 1968: "... My father was Liberty Franklin Nixon...." "My grandfather [Francis Marion Nixon, Jr.] was killed at Roseville, Arkansas during the Civil War. He had taken the family there to get on boat to go back to Illinois to be near her people and he was going to enlist in the Northern Army. The bushwhackers had come in to the town to pilfer and Grandfather joined the town citizens to defend the town and was killed. Grandmother took the children by boat down the Arkansas River and up the Mississippi River to Ill. My father never forgot the pickled pig feet they served on the boat. I think he was about five years old." "Grandmother married again in Ill., a Mr. James Bullock. They came back to Grandmother's property near Ratcliff. They had two sons Jim and Bob Bullock."

From a draft of a family history by Wanda Nixon Bruce dated 1 August 1978: "...My grandfather Nixon, who was also Francis Marion (named for the great Southern general) fought on the Northern side of the war and worked as a double-agent. He was killed in the last year of the war. My daddy never saw his father, as he was born after Grandpa Nixon left home on his last furlough. The North re-patriated my grandmother Nixon and all her children. Father told me all about it one time and I wrote it all down, so I'd never forget it. Grandmother left Arkansas with her little brood of children, boarding a flatboat at Fort Smith on the Arkansas River, thence to Memphis, where they boarded the Memphis Belle, that famous old river boat. I don't think I can name all the children. I never saw but two of them, maybe three. There was Pendleton Graves Nixon; George, Liberty, and her one daughter, Augustine, and my father, a babe in arms. It must have been a treat for those country people from the backwoods of Arkansas, traveling on a fancy three-decker paddle wheeler, as grandmother told father. He told me that his mother related all this history to him as he was growing up, so his decendents would know about it. They sailed up the old Mississippi disembarking at Cairo, Illinois. From there, I don't know where they went - to live with some of' Grandma's relatives, I believe. Those kids must have had a great time. Such an experience for them! I can just see those little boys and that little girl running around the decks of that grand old river boat. It may be that the Army just billeted them somewhere . Daddy didn't tell me. They stayed up north until the war ended by the south having lost the war. Then they came back to the farm in Logan County, Arkansas, and Grandma had a brand new husband, named Bullock. They had children, so there were two sets of children growing up on the farm...."

From Kathleen Diane Cormack: "The following story was taken from a letter written by Vellettia Nixon Mooneyham (Granddaughter to Francis Marion Nixon Jr.) to Ferne N. Little on October 10, 1968. " I presume it was an episode that Lycurgus (son of Francis Marion Nixon, Jr.) had that made Grandfather decide to take his family back to Illinois and enlist himself in the army. Some way Grandfather got word that the bushwhackers were looking for him and he hid out. When they came they took Lycurgus out and strung him up to a tree until he was almost dead trying to make him tell where his father was. They did this several times but finally let him go. If he knew, he never told. But he immediately enlisted in the Army. He was in only a short time and died of pneumonia."

More About Sr. Francis Marion Nixon:
Census 1850 - free: 1850, Franklin County, Arkansas
Census 1860 - free: 1860, Six Mile Township, Franklin County, Arkansas
Ordination: 1861, Charleston, Franklin County, Arkansas
Record Change: June 14, 2003

Notes for Harriet Jane Wilcox:
P. 85, dwelling #93, family #99, line 15, "Bullock, James" entry. ED 98, p. 60, family #550, line #25, "Bullock, Harriet" entry.

From Kathleen Diane Cormack: "After the death of her husband, Francis Marion Nixon, and moving back to Illinois, she remarried. By the time of the 1870 census, the family is living in Six Mile Township, Franklin County, Arkanksas, with a Post Office in Ozark."

More About Harriet Jane Wilcox:
Census 1870: July 20, 1870, Six Mile Township, Franklin County, Arkansas
Census 1880: July 06, 1880, Six Mile Township, Logan County, Arkansas
Record Change: June 14, 2003

Marriage Notes for Francis Nixon and Harriet Wilcox:
She married secondly, James Bullock.

Child of Francis Nixon and Harriet Wilcox is:

Jr. Francis Marion Nixon, born November 05, 1863 in Roseville, Franklin County, Arkansas; died February 05, 1951 in Arkoma, Leflore County, Oklahoma; married Nancy Ellen Hunter November 21, 1886 in Caulksville, Arkansas.

      14. William M. Hunter³⁸, born Abt. September 01, 1828 in Sparta, White County, Tennessee; died April 25, 1917 in Sebastian County, Arkansas ³⁹. He was the son of 28. Squire Hunter and 29. Rebecca Burden. He married 15. Sarah Ann Ellis 1866.

      15. Sarah Ann Ellis⁴⁰, born May 11, 1835 in Missouri; died December 16, 1913. She was the daughter of 30. Isaac Ellis and 31. Nancy.

Notes for William M. Hunter:
"When eighteen he [William] left home and came to Franklin County, Ark." In 1847 he married Barbara Powell, of Arkansas, who died in 1865. She was the mother of six children.

William enlisted 1 September 1863, at Fort Smith in Company D, 1st Regiment of the First Arkansas Volunteer Infantry (Union Army), and served until discharged at the same place 10 August 1865. He served on detached duty, and was wounded at the battle of Big Creek, 26 March 1865. He was "shot in the [right] arm while on detail duty with a mixed squad, in the Big Creek country, shortly before the close of the war. Shot by bushwackers.... another member of the County, was shot dead on the same occasion."

P. 21, line 37. ED 185, Sheet 13-14, Line 48, Family 135. ED 107, sheet 3, line 51. ED 131, p.3, family #42, line 22, "Hunter, Wm." entry.

William "received but a meager education during his youth, which was passed upon a farm in Missouri."

More About William M. Hunter:
Census 1870: July 21, 1870, Big Creek, Sebastion County, Arkansas
Census 1880: June 07, 1880, Big Creek, Sebastion County, Arkansas
Census 1900: June 08, 1900, Beverly, Sebastion County, Arkansas
Census 1910: April 19, 1910, Beverly, Sebastion County, Arkansas
Military: September 01, 1863, Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas^40,⁴¹
Military Discharge: 1865, Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas
Record Change: September 14, 2003
Resided: Missouri

More About Sarah Ann Ellis:
Census 1850 - free: October 21, 1850, White River, Benton County, Arkansas
Record Change: June 14, 2003

Child of William Hunter and Sarah Ellis is:

Nancy Ellen Hunter, born October 09, 1866 in Beverly, Sebastion County, Arkansas; died September 23, 1948 in Arkoma, Leflore County, Oklahoma; married Jr. Francis Marion Nixon November 21, 1886 in Caulksville, Arkansas.

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