Capt. John Granger

This week I'm focusing on information about my paternal grandmother's family tree, the Ada Swasey Rogers Tree

An edited repost from 2018 

Capt. John Granger (Grainger)

1654–1723

Birth 15 JAN 1654 • Newbury, Massachusetts Death 05 APR 1723 OR 1725 • Andover, Essex, Mass

My 7th great grandfather.

He was the oldest son of Lancelot (Launcelot) and Joanna Adams Grainger, of their 12 children. Three siblings didn't live beyond their first year however. And they each were memorialized by having a younger child named after them. It's pretty confusing in the family trees, to see 3 same names with different birthdays and death dates...but families used to do that. When a young child died, they would name another one born after them.


So Robert Granger was born in 1657 and died in 1658, but after the birth of George in 1658. It wasn't until the birth in 1660 that another Robert was born who lived to 1709. When Rebecca died within her first year, there were 3 more daughters born before they renamed one Rebecca (1666-1693). And by then Hannah had died in her first year, so another Hannah was born who lived (1666-1729.) Did you notice these last girls were twins?

OK, back to Captain John. He probaby captained a ship for some part of his life, perhaps fishing. Newbury MA, where he was born, is a coastal town, so it's probable that he sailed. Andover is close to waters going to the Atlantic, but he may have settled into farming there.

Both his parents were born in England, came to America as children and married in Essex County, MA. (Joanna Adams and Lancelot Granger.)

After he married Martha Poor Granger when he was 25, he moved to Andover, MA, where he had a farm across from that of the Poor family. He died in Andover in 1723 or 1725 at age 69 or 71.

North Andover Burying Ground - I don't have records that the Grangers were buried there until their grandson Jacob was in 1795

Martha Poor Granger's parents were Daniel Poor and Mary Farnum Poor.

The John and Martha Granger family consisted of 8 children, most of whom lived to adulthood. Just their first child, Mary, died before her 3rd birthday.

My ancestor was their youngest son, Samuel, born 1701, died 1739. He married Martha Marston, and they had 6 children, including another Captian John Granger of Andover, MA (1734-1783) but my ancestor was Samuel and Martha's son, Jacob Granger (1735-1795).

This post is part of my father's mother,  Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree.  The photo shows her mother, my great grandmother, Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.

William Sandford Rogers, great-grandfather

This week I'm focusing on my Rogers Family tree.
An edited repost from Feb. 11, 2019

William Sandford Rogers 

Born February 9, 1850, in Huntsville, Texas, he was the son of George Washington Rogers and Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers.  Let me honor my Great-grandfather on the Rogers side of my tree.  He is listed in the 1850 census of Walker County, Texas...being 4 months old.  There his father is identified as a merchant.

My grandfather said he was known as W. Sam, though my grandfather didn't remember him at all, having been almost 2 when he died. 

In the 1870 census, W. Sam at 20, is living in Mount Lebanon, Bienville Parish, LA.  This is where a lot of his mother's family (the Gibbs) had settled, as well as Rogers.   He is part of a household of his mother "Luci" at age 30. (*note the date is probably a bit wrong, since he wasn't born when she was 10 years old.)  His siblings Laura (18) Alice (16) and George (12) live with them.  

Bayou Dorcheat hardwoods from Nature Conservancy

Since his father's death in 1864, it is likely that his mother moved to be close to her family.  The end of the Civil War probably had something to do with that as well.  In 1866 she apparently had his father's remains reburied in the Mount Lebanon cemetery, after he'd been buried originally in Texas.

Mount Lebanon has an interesting history which must coincide with my family's settlement there.  Wikipedia says thus:

Mount Lebanon was probably the first permanent settlement in what is now Bienville Parish. Its pioneers were Baptists from South Carolina who quickly established a church and school. The school became Mount Lebanon University in 1853, but closed during the Civil War to serve as a high school and a Confederate hospital. After the war the school reopened. After years of struggling, it was consolidated in 1906 through the Louisiana Baptist Convention into Louisiana College in Pineville in Rapides Parish in central Louisiana.

The Mount Lebanon Baptist Church was organized in 1837, and the Louisiana Baptist Convention was established there in 1848. One of the Baptist organizers in Mount Lebanon was pastor George Washington Baines, maternal great-grandfather of future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. The church building is still in use. The sanctuary is separated down the middle; men would sit on one side of the divide, women on the other. There is a balcony where the slaves were seated.

There are eight houses in the town that are on the National Register of Historic Places, including a building once used as a stagecoach stop and hotel.

After the railroad was built through Gibsland, 3 miles north, Mount Lebanon began to decline in population and economic opportunity. The post office was decommissioned in the 1950s."

 I was interested to learn a bit of the topography of the area...one comment said there are hills around Gibbsland.  There's not much of a town either of Mount Lebanon or Gibbsland at this point.

"On December 14, 1876, a Thursday evening, W. Sam married Elizabeth (Bettie) Bass in Willis, Texas, officiated by Rev. D. S. Snodgrass."  I know nothing about the Rev. but think it interesting that he is part of the record on Ancestry. (Their marriage license was obtained on Dec. 11, 1876 in Willis, Montgomery County, Texas.)  Bettie was just 16 and had lost her mother when she was 11.  W. Sam was 26, living with his widowed mother and identified as a farmer in the 1870 census of Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  I wonder how these 2 met! I posted about Bettie Bass Rogers and their wedding HERE.

They had two children, George Elmore Rogers, born August 28, 1877 (my grandfather) and Annie Lou Gibbs Rogers, born March 10, 1879, both in Willis, Texas.

William Sanford Rogers died May 29, 1879, and is buried in Huntsville, Texas.

Statue for Sam Houston at Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville, TX

This marker says "Oakwood Cemetery -This cemetery existed as early as 1846, for three graves were placed here that year. Pleasant Grey, Huntsville's founder, deeded in 1847, a 1,600 square foot plot at this site. The original tract has been greatly enlarged by other donations from local citizens. Numerous graves bear the death date 1869, when a yellow-fever epidemic swept the county. Among the many famous persons buried here are General Sam Houston, Henderson King Yoakum, author of the first comprehensive history of Texas, state congressmen, and pioneer families."

What a short married life W. Sam and Bette had! The family of Rogers sisters of W. Sam took in the 2 children, and even had a guardianship for them.  But by the time George (my grandfather) was old enough to work, he was in Galveston, where his mother was living. She came from a household of many brothers and sisters, but as of now I don't know that she went to any of them when she was widowed at just age 19.  Perhaps the Rogers/Ross family were economically better prepared to care for the 2 children.  For a long time I thought they had been orphaned, but then I saw Bettie on several documents in Galveston.

Ada & George Rogers Sr. and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Booth Rogers 1948 Houston TX. I'm adding this photo to posts in the George Rogers Family Tree.

Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling, my 8 times great grandmother

This week I'm focused on my George Rogers family tree

 a repost from 2018 (and earlier this year)

Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling, my 8 times great grandmother

1660–1709

Birth 25 JANUARY 1660 • Charles City, Charles, Virginia, USA

Death 17 JULY 1709 • Kippax, Charles City, VA

She's part of my father's family tree, George Rogers Tree.  I've had other posts about the Bollings of Virginia, Here for her husband, Col. Robert Bolling, and HERE for Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon, her daughter.

The Bermuda Hundred is described HERE 

Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling was the second wife of one of the wealthy influential colonials, Col. Robert Bolling. 

Though Anne had been born in America, her parents were from England, and there's some confusion who her mother Jane Stith actually was, a Mosby, Parsons or Gregory.  Her father was Major John Drury Stith, II.

She was one of 6 children growing up in Virginia.  

She and Col. Robert Bolling had 8-9 children.  Actually his oldest child, (by his first wife Jane Rolfe Bolling) John Fairfax Bolling was the grandson of Pocahontas. (See Here for more information on him.) 

Our relationship is through their daughter, Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon. The Bollings were the great grandparents of Lt. Spencer Clack of Sevierville, TN.

Ada & George Rogers Sr. and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Booth Rogers 1948 Houston TX. I'm adding this photo to posts in the George Rogers Family Tree.

 

The short life of a Soldier: George Washington Rogers

 This week I'm concentrating on the Rogers Family Tree: This is an edited repost from last year. 

George Washington Rogers, 1820-1864.

My great great grandfather, George Washington Rogers was born February 7, 1820 in Sevierville, TN. He was the eldest of 11 children of Micajah and Cyntha Cannon Rogers.

He fought in the Mexican-American War, was injured and came home to live just a few short years, marrying and having 6 children, of whom only 3 lived to adulthood.   

My Ancestry.Com information says: 

G.W. Rogers served in the War in Mexico - under Captain Gillespie; Col. John C. Hays: 1st Regiment Texas Rangers, Gen. Zachary Taylor. He was wounded on assault on Bishop's Palace, Monterrey, Mexico. His name is on the Gillespie Monument in Huntsville, Texas. After the battle (from war department 1846) Col. George Washington Rogers lay wounded on battle field all night, during icy storm. He contracted tuberculosis. After recuperating, he returned to his home in Gibbsland, LA.

In Wikipedia the information about the Battle of Monterrey (not to be confused with Monterey, CA) says:

In the Battle of Monterrey (September 21–24, 1846) during the Mexican–American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by the Army of Occupation, a force of United States Regulars, Volunteers and Texas Rangers under the command of General Zachary Taylor.

Go to this site to read the entire battle information.  I'll just give you a picture or two, from that site.

Battle of Monterrey - Americans fighting within the city

Monterrey from Independence Hill, in the rear of the bishop´s palace. On stone by F. Swington. Colored by G. & W. Edicott, New York. The image depicts the Saddle Hill and the bishop´s house in Monterrey Mexico after the Battle of Monterrey in 1846.

The Battle of Monterrey

Storming of Palace Hill at the Battle of Monterrey

George W. Rogers married Lucinda Benson Gibbs after he recuperated in 1848.  They then moved to Huntsville, Texas, where they were among the elite and owned a large plantation style home.

Old buildings of George Washington Rogers

I'm adding some new photos to my ancestor's site, as well as here in my blog, where I keep an archive of whatever I've learned about them.  These were recently posted on Facebook.

George Washington Rogers lived in a really nice home in Huntsville Texas. I spoke about his life several years ago, where he fought in the Mexican-American war of 1846. See"When I was 69" Blog.

George W. Rogers home built 1844, Photo by Patricia Rogers Seliger

My cousin Patricia, who has joined all kinds of genealogical societies, wrote this in Ancestry...

Home at... "1418 University, Huntsville, TX.  Description: George Washington Rogers and his wife, Lucinda Benson Gibbs purchased 600 acres of land in Walker county in 1844 from Pleasant Gray and his wife, Hannah. (This being out of their Headright.) Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Rogers were said to be the wealthiest family in town and their Greek-Revival style home on University Avenue was the finest in its heyday. The aristocracy from East Texas were entertained there. (G.W. Rogers was Huntsville's first Treasurer.) One feature was a huge ballroom that occupied the southeast wing. In later years, the house served as the president's mansion for the third president of Austin College - Rufus Bailey. The house also became the home of H.H. Smith, the second president of Sam Houston Normal Institute. Other owners made changes in the house, but it has been restored and is still standing today. http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/freestone/bios/gwrogers.txt

Thanks to Photos of Town - here Huntsville TX

My other cousins who live in Texas, visited the Rogers home in 2015.  Cynthia Rogers took these following photos:

Photo by Cynthia Rogers

Photo by Cynthia Rogers

Photo by Cynthia Rogers

Photo by Cynthia Rogers

Photo by Cynthia Rogers

These photos show how the home had been changed over its lifetime, and it's hard to figure out some of the additions that have been made to it.

Photos by Town

Austin College Building - Now part of the Sam Houtson State University campus, site originally owned by Col. George W. Rogers. Photo by James Peavy

Notes from Facebook on the Austin building above:

The original Austin College Building was built in 1851-52 on a magnificent hill that was part of the original land grant of Huntsville founder Pleasant Gray. It is a nationally recognized historic landmark. Col. George Washington Rogers purchased a large sum of land from Gray and built his home on this site in 1844-45. When hopes were that Huntsville would be chosen for the permanent location of the capital, Rogers relocated his home to its current nearby location (where it has been preserved as the oldest home in Huntsville) and offered this five-acre hill to serve as the location of the new state capital. It became known as "Capital Hill". When that ambition failed, the town searched for another meaningful purpose for "Capital Hill". In the meantime, the Presbyterians were searching for a suitable location for a new college and Huntsville was chosen. Two Presidents of the Republic, Sam Houston and Anson Jones, served on its board. Austin College became the first law school in Texas in 1855. After the Civil War followed by the Huntsville yellow fever epidemic of 1867, Austin College relocated to Sherman, TX in 1876. Since about that time, Austin Hall, as it is now known, has been the heart of Sam Houston State University (originally Sam Houston Normal Institute) where it is the oldest building west of the Mississippi in continuous use as a college facility.

Ada & George Rogers Sr. and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Booth Rogers 1948 Houston TX. I'm adding this photo to posts in the George Rogers Family Tree. 

Galveston where my grandparents met

    repost from 2015, This week I'm concentrating on the Rogers Family Tree

Galveston (mid 19th Century) served as a transfer point for oceangoing vessels and coastal steamers which ran a route through Galveston Bay and Buffalo Bayou to Houston. 

Galveston 1871

^{The island has sometimes been called the "Ellis Island of the West" as it was the primary point of entry for European immigrants settling in the western United States. German immigration during this period was so great that the German language became a commonly used language on the city's streets. The immigrants were not simply the poor or the oppressed seeking refuge but many of the educated, middle class.}

^{The Galveston Weekly News described one 1849 ship's arrival as carrying members of the "wealthy class" including lawyers and merchants and many skilled workers.}

Beach Hotel catered to vacationers until a fire in 1898.

^{Between 1838 and 1842, 18 newspapers were started to serve the island's rapidly growing population (The Galveston County Daily News is the sole survivor). A causeway linking the island with the mainland was finished in 1860, which paved the way for railroad expansion.}

In 1843 Henry Rosenberg (friend of my great Uncle Chauncy Sweet) settled in Galveston from Switzerland.  I shared about his contributions to the city HERE.

The construction of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, which built a bridge to the island in 1860, strengthened the link between the two towns.

Tensions over slavery in the U.S. as a whole eventually led to the American Civil War, [April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865], in which Texas joined on the side of the Confederacy. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay and island on January 1, 1863, when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city, which remained in Confederate hands for the duration of the war.

Juneteenth, which is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, owes its origins to the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation upon the return of Union forces to Galveston in 1865. (Source:Wikipedia)

My ancestor, George T. Granger (Lucy's husband) wrote at the beginning of the Civil War in Dec. 1861 of the death of their daughter, Mary Phillips, HERE for letter and transcription.

During the Civil War, orphans Zulieka and Ada Phillips were taken in by the Granger family, either with Lucy Pulsifer Granger, their grandmother, or with Aunts Lucy Granger Wakelee or Lizzie (Elizabeth) Granger Sweet.  I am a descendent of Zulieka.  I wrote in my blog about their mother's letters to her sisters prior to the outbreak of the war HERE transcriptions of more of Mary Phillips letters.

Following the war Galveston quickly recovered; northern troops were stationed in the city, and a depleted state demanded the trade goods denied by the blockade and the war effort. With so many susceptible people present, however, the city in 1867 suffered one of its worst onslaughts of yellow fever, which affected about three-fourths of the population and killed at a rate of twenty per day. This disease, a malady of most southern ports, did not cease to be a threat until the institution of rigid quarantines after 1873. Galveston nonetheless surged ahead and ranked as the largest Texas city in 1870 with 13,818 people and also in 1880 with 22,248 people. 

In spite of efforts to maintain trade supremacy by improving port facilities and contributing to the construction of railways running to the city, Galveston business leaders saw their town slip to fourth place in population by 1900. Galveston acquired a coast guard station in 1897 which still operated in the 1990s and a small military base, Fort Crockett (1897–1957), but other cities such as Dallas acquired transcontinental rail connections and a growth in manufacturing establishments. At a time when Houston, Beaumont, and Port Arthur benefitted from the oil discoveries of the early twentieth century, Galveston had to put its energy into a recovery from the nation's worst natural disaster, the Galveston hurricane of 1900. The island lay in the pathway of hurricanes coursing across the Gulf of Mexico and suffered at least eleven times in the nineteenth century.

I mentioned Elizabeth Granger Sweet, "Grand Aunt" to my relatives, who survived the hurricane of 1900, HERE.

And my own grandfather, George Rogers, Sr. also was a survivor of that hurricane, who I honored in this post which includes details and pictures.
  

The Galveston hurricane of 1900, with wind gusts of 120 miles per hour, flooded the city, battered homes and buildings with floating debris, and killed an estimated 6,000 people in the city. Another 4,000 to 6,000 people died on the nearby coast. For future protection the city and county constructed a seventeen-foot seawall on the Gulf side of the island, raised the grade level, and built an all-weather bridge to the mainland. The development of other ports by means of the ship channels, alternative sites for business and manufacturing provided by other modes of transportation, and notoriety because of hurricanes destined the island city to medium size.

 My grandmother, Ada Swasey Rogers, also survived the storm, and in 1906 married my grandfather, George Elmore Rogers, Sr.
I gave a lot of the same information about Galveston a couple of years ago on this blog HERE.

Rogers house, built by my grandfather and where my father was born in 1914.

Busy Dock Scene, Galveston, ca. 1912.

The Galveston–Houston Electric Railway was established in 1911 and ran between the city and Houston. The railway was recognized as the fastest interurban line in 1925 and 1926.

More recent times:

During the years between the world wars Galveston, under the influence of Sam and Rosario (Rose) Maceo, exploited the prohibition of liquor and gambling by offering illegal drinks and betting in nightclubs and saloons. This, combined with the extensive prostitution which had existed in the port city since the Civil War, made Galveston the sin city of the Gulf. The citizens tolerated and supported the illegal activities and took pride in being "the free state of Galveston." In 1957, however, Attorney General Will Wilson with the help of Texas Rangers shut down bars such as the famous Ballinese Room, destroyed gambling equipment, and closed many houses of prostitution.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Howard Barnstone, The Galveston That Was (New York: Macmillan, 1966). Charles Waldo Hayes, Galveston: History of the Island and the City (2 vols., Austin: Jenkins Garrett, 1974). David G. McComb, Galveston: A History (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986).

My grandparents had moved from Galveston to Fort Worth TX by 1920.

Postcard view of Beach Boulevard, early 1940s

Wikipedia continues with the changes since they left:

Beginning in 1957, the Galveston Historical Foundation began its efforts to preserve historic buildings.^[58] The 1966 book The Galveston That Was helped encourage the preservation movement. A new, family-oriented tourism emerged in the city over many years.The 1960s saw the expansion of higher education in Galveston. 

Historic "Strand District" of Galveston

In the 2000s, property values rose after expensive projects were completed and demand for second homes,[which] led some middle class families to move from Galveston to other areas.

In 2007 The Associated Press compiled a list of the most vulnerable places to hurricanes in the U.S. and Galveston was one of five areas named. Among the reasons cited were low elevation and the single evacuation route off the island which is blocked by the fourth largest city in the United States, Houston 

Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island in the early morning of September 13, 2008 as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 miles per hour (180 km/h)^. Ike produced waves and a rising storm surge of about 14 feet (4.3 m), which went around the famous Galveston Seawall, flooding the city via the storm sewers, and the unprotected "bay side" of the island, before the first winds or drop of rain. The storm left Galveston without electricity, gas, water pressure and basic communications. 

Handbook of Texas History online 
and Wikipedia provided facts. 


 The city will continue, though it may have changes again.  But the bones of my ancestors are buried in the cemeteries of Galveston.

Ada & George Rogers Sr. and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Booth Rogers 1948 Houston TX. I'm adding this photo to posts in the George Rogers Family Tree.

Col. Richard Bass

 A repost from 2014: This week I'm concentrating on the Rogers Family Tree

Richard Bass was born in Perry County, AL  on 3 JAN 1819.  He was the father of my grandfather (George Rogers') mother, Bettie Bass Rogers.  He served in the Confederate army in Mississippi (from Texas).  (Source: Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Source 425.)



His father's estate had a petition against it which gives Richard's birth as 1814.  This date is not corroborated by his census data as well as his grave marker which all reflect an 1819 birth.  So the legal petition in Alabama was probably wrong, but it may have helped in some legal sense for him to be of a different age..  Another source has him born in NC rather than AL.  Wherever he was born, he was the youngest of 8 children of his parents, and his father died when he was very young, and he was raised by a step-father. His mother was Julia Ann Holloman Bass Green.  Father was John Bass, both from Wayne County, NC.  His step-father was Jetson Green, who raised him from when he was around 6 years old. (NOTE: I haven't found anything to substantiate this, besides court documents by Green asking for guardianship...not receiving it, but he did marry Mrs. Bass.)

Richard Bass married Mary Ann Elizabeth Powell on 12 Oct, 1839 in Perry AL, at age 20.  They moved to Louisiana, Union Parish, by the time he was 30, according to the 1850 US Census records.  The birth places of his children put that move between 1841 and 43.

Then the family moved again, according to 1860 Census records, to Walker County, Texas.  His age is listed incorrectly as 20, though he is definitely 40.  At the cusp of the Civil War he was middle aged.

Downtown  Huntsville, Walker County, Texas 1870s

Next census for 1870 shows him in Walker County, working as a merchant, rather than a farmer as he had previously identified himself in census reports.  Being a merchant meant he probably lived closer to a town at this time, perhaps Waverly, where he died.

Most of the Bass children were born in Waverly, Texas or Walker County, Texas.

Col. Richard Bass died 5 May 1880 in Waverly, Walker County, TX, where he is buried.  The Handbook of Texas History says 

In 1986 all that remained of Waverly was a cemetery, a nearby Presbyterian church, and a rural subdivision called Old Waverly, which had a population of about fifty people. Texas historical markers were erected for Old Waverly in 1969 and for the Waverly Cemetery in 1978.

More information about the settlers moving to Waverly includes this:

In the autumn of 1852 some 300 people from Alabama, including slaves, moved into the Waverly area. The town was surveyed, mapped, and incorporated in 1858. According to popular legend the town was named for the Waverly novels of Sir Walter Scott. Some considered Waverly to belong to the South of "moonlight, magnolias, and landed gentry." In reality it was a small enclave of the slave-plantation system imported from central Alabama. Waverly Institute, consisting of a male and female academy, was established in 1856. A post office operated from 1855 until 1872. A Masonic lodge operated from 1861 to 1865, and Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian congregations were started in town.

What became of the tiny town?

In 1870 San Jacinto County was formed from a part of Walker County, including the Waverly area. At that time Waverly leaders, in fear that the Houston and Great Northern Railroad would bring "tramps and ignorance to the town and kill cattle," refused to give the railroad right-of-way. In doing so they ensured the rapid demise of Waverly. The town of New Waverly was established ten miles west of Waverly in 1870 to take advantage of the railroad and became a prosperous town .

A bit more information can be found here...about Waverly, Texas. 

I've posted about his wife, "Mae" Mary Ann Powell Bass HERE.

Ada & George Rogers Sr. and granddaughters Mary Elizabeth and Barbara Booth Rogers 1948 Houston TX. I'm adding this photo to posts in the George Rogers Family Tree.

Ellen Ann Delamater Webb 1842-1876

Ellen Ann Delamater Webb, daughter of William B. Delamater and Sarah J. Lester Delamater was born on 25 Jan 1842 in New York City, New York.

She married on the 21 Feb. 1856, in DeWitt County, Texas to Samuel James Webb. She was 14 years old, and he was 29. He had come from Maryland, perhaps in Vienna, Dorchester County, or in Baltimore MD.

The big question in my mind is "How did these two both get to Texas by 1856?"

And I've checked various siblings, when I could find them. There are unfortunately not many Delamaters to be found. And even more unfortunate is that there are actually a lot of Webbs, and most of them have the same names.

So for now we'll just assume some groups brought each of these great great grands to Texas where they met and married, and then stayed and raised their family. I considered an uncle of Ellen Ann Delamater. Her mother was named Sarah J. Lester, who had a brother Edward Lester...who was in the Delamater household in NY in 1850 (when Ellen Ann Delamater was listed as Ann E. at 9 years old.) His occupation was as a silver chaser, in various manufacturing industries (that's what the census says.) But he stayed in New York City apparently in the next census reports.

Ellen and Samuel Webb had 8 children. Sam'l was a farmer for the 1860 census of Gonzalez County TX with their first 2 children, Larry F. (1857-1921) (who went by L.F.), and Laura Mae (1859-1865).

By May 18, 1859 when Laura Mae was born, they had moved to DeWitt County TX. By the 1870 Census Samuel was now a merchant. But there had been a Civil War during the preceding years. He served for the Confederacy at the seige of Vicksburg, MS in 1863. (Though he was from Maryland, the people living in Texas were very much for the Confederacy.) See my post about his (and Ellen's) lives HERE, and some information about his serving with Waul's Texas Legion Here.

Ellen had other children, whether her husband was at war or back running a mercantile and/or farming, and their birthdates tell us how much he had been at home in Texas. Fannie Webb was born Aug 31, 1864, but died May 15, 1865. Their six year old daughter, Laura Mae, died on her birthday in 1865. Another daughter, Bobbie Webb, was born in Sept. 1866 and died Oct. 26, 1866. 

The war years were hard on the family, but the eldest son L.F managed to hang on with his mother and father. By June 6, 1868, they had a daughter named Phinnie Floree Webb (1868-1902). On 23 Nov. 1870 they had another son, Joe Friend Webb, (1870-1928) who would grow up to become a preacher. 

On 23 April 1873 or 74, Daisy Ellen Webb (1874-1941) was born. And on 28 Feb. 1876 Samuel James Webb Jr. (1876-1892) was born. He was only 4 months old when his mother died on 15 Jul 1876 in Clinton, Dewitt, Texas, age 34 years.

She was buried in Clinton Cemetery, where her daughter Laura Mae had been buried in 1865. Within a year her husband wrote his will, (July 10, 1877) leaving his estate and guardianship of their younger children to their eldest son L. F. Webb. The young children were Phinnie, Joe, D.E. and Sam Webb. 

L. F. actually got married on Aug 7, 1877, and then his father died on Aug. 15, 1877. The 1880 Census shows L. F. and his wife did have his 2 brothers and 2 sisters living with them. And incidentally, L. F. is my great grandfather.

Samuel J. Webb was buried next to his wife in Clinton Cemetery.

Clinton Cemetery, Texas

To the Memory of S. J. Webb, Born Jan 28, 1827, Died Aug. 15, 1877

To the memory of Ellen A. wife of S. J. Webb born Jan 26, 1842 died Jul 15, 1876

This post belongs to the Barbara Booth Rogers Family Tree. Photo shows Mataley Mozelle Rogers, and her mother Mozelle Booth Miller, and my sister Mary Beth Rogers.