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Author: ccaldwelltexas
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/129.3.1.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
It's a great story, but it's simply not accurate. Please check your facts objectively. Family lore and oral history passed down over the years frequently contains fundamental errors. This is one of those cases. John Chisum was not her biological father, although the remainder of this story is probably quite accurate.
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Author: CathyShelley
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/129.3.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Ninety Years of Faith
An Interview with Eugie Jones Thomas May 19, 1976
by Yvonne A. Jenkins
"I have always worked and I have always been happy. I don't worry or
grieve. I have lived a good true life - a Christian and faithful life. You
have got to have faith." This philosophy of life has been the guideline of
Eugie Jones Thomas, the granddaughter of John Simpson Chisum, for 90 years.
Seated on a screened-in porch, gazing out at the sailboats on Lake
Grapevine, Eugie recalled her childhood days as one of the ten children of
Bob and Almeady Jones.
John Dalford (nicknamed Bob) Jones was born June 26, 1850 and was brought
to Texas by his slave master, Leazur Alvis Jones (5-28-1822 to 3-30-1877)
from Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1962. Traveling with Leazur Jones were his
slave wife, Elizabeth (9-26-1827 to 4-28-1877), and children Ellen, Josie,
George Anne and Jim. Leazur had left his first wife, who was white, Mary
Brown in Fort Smith with children, Alice Jane, Blake T., Martha Luellen,
Richard C., Roxie Geneva and Captain Jinks (for whom Jinks Jones was named).
Leazur Jones was buried in Greenwood, Arkansas and Elizabeth was buried in
Medlin Cemetery along with children Josie and George Anne.
Bob Jones was freed in Texas near the Medlin community where he stayed in
a small house and herded a few sheep as a means of livelihood. He obtained
fifty acres of bottom land on which he began a farming and livestock
business that had increased to 2,000 acres (all free and clear) at the time
of his death of December 265, 1936. Living alone in the Medlin community
left a lot to be desired and a friend of Bob's suggested they go to Bonham,
a place noted for pretty girls and lively Saturday night dances. Riding
horseback, Bob and his friend arrived in time for the big Saturday night
dance. Eugie recalls that "Daddy was a good dancer, full of life and liked
to holler during the square dances." On this evening he was attracted to
Almeady Chisum, which led to an exchange of letter between the two. In 1874,
Bob traveled once again to Bonham and returned with Almeady as his bride to
Medlin.
Almeady, called Meady, was the second born to John Simpson Chisum and
Jensie Chisum. Chisum, was born August 16, 1824 and came from Tennessee as a
small boy with his parents and settled in Paris, Texas. There he lived until
as a grown young man he purchased land in Bolivar, Denton County, Texas, to
establish his ranching empire. Prior to leaving for Bolivar and while in
Bonham, a family traveling to the California Gold Rush spent the night with
Chisum. With them was a very pretty young mulatto girl, named Jensie. The
family was pressed for money to purchase the needed supplies to continue
their journey to California and agreed to sell Jensie to John S. Chisum.
After some bartering, a selling price of $1400.00 was agreed upon.
Chisum took Jensie to his Bolivar ranch and kept her for his wife and
cook. Two girls, Harriett and Meady (April 13, 1857) were born in
Gainesville where Chisum has taken Jensie to a boarding house for the birth
of the children. Eugie recalls her mother saying that she was born where the
Courthouse now stands in Gainesville.
Much has been written about;the Cattle King of the West, John Simpson
Chisum, by famous historians, but little has been written about this man's
life in relationship to his grandchildren. Meady described to Eugie,
Chisum's many kindnesses to her and his protectiveness for their well being.
After many Indian raids at the Bolivar ranch, Chisum moved his cattle
operation further west - but he returned Jensie, Harriett and Meady to
Bonham. There he set them up in a house and gave Jensie money to care for
the two girls. Chisum returned to visit them on several occasions. Meady
also described to Eugie an account of Chisum's generosity when each year he
would give a big party for his ranch hands. He brought alot of pretty girls
from Fort Worth and Dallas to the dance party that would sometimes last for
a week. Chisum died December 2, 1884 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and was
buried beside his parents in Paris, Texas. Jensie and Harriett are buried in
Bonham in unlocated graves.
If you drive east from Roanoke on Hiway 114 and turn north toward the
Grapevine Lake, you will soon come to "Bob Jones Road." Winding for several
miles you come to the end of the road and to the land that has been in the
Bob Jones family since 1868 - so certified by the Family Land Heritage
committee on September 1, 1974. A certificate signed by Secretary of
Agriculture, John C. White hangs on the wall in one corner of Eugie's living
room. A proclamation signed by Governor Dolph Briscoe rests prominently on a
corner table. Eugie points with pride to the oil painting of her
grandfather, John S. Chisum and to the photograph of Bob and Meady Jones
that joins other family mementos in the room.
Bob Jones was an exceptional person - bringing to his family and
community - a heritage of work, education, family pride, self improvement
and a live of the land. Meady also expressed the same feelings, stating to
Eugie prior to her death on April 10, 1949, "don't ever sell the home
place - we must have a place for the children to come back to."
Of the ten children born to Bob and Meady Jones, only two now survive -
Eugie and her brother Jinks, age 80. All are buried in the Medlin Cemetery
with the exception of two girls - Alice and Emma - who are buried in the
People's Cemetery in Fort Worth. Other children were Jim, Virgie, Artie,
Harriett, June and Emory.
As most families in the last part of the 19th century, Bob and Meady were
self-sustaining farmers raising a vegetable garden and orchard, chickens,
hogs, milk cows, sheep and planting cotton and corn for the livestock. Bob
supplemented his income by raising horses. Many of his deals were made with
Richard Randolph Litsey - with only a handshake as collateral. Debts were
always settled when his "crops came in."
Eugie is the self-proclaimed "tom-boy" of the family, preferring to be at
her father's side in the field, herding sheep or cows - anything to stay out
of the kitchen. But she did not miss out completely on the domestic side of
life, Meady saw to it that she helped with drying the fruit from the orchard
and corn for the livestock and helping with the community canning club that
went from house o house on different days of the week. Hog killing time was
not only a big event but a family affair - all had to help when 4 to 6 hogs
were butchered. The meat was "put down" in a salt cure and Bob developed his
own style of smoking the meat with hickory chips which was utilized for over
fifty years at the annual Jones Picnic that Bob hosted for family and
friends. The picnics featured good barbecue, baseball and lots of music and
dancing.
Being the only colored family in a community might have presented problems
to some people but not to the Bob Jones family. The Jones family was raised
among and with the white families. White tenant farmers worked on the Jones
Land. Social events and religious gatherings were shared. Eugie recalls that
she felt no hostility or discrimination other than the fact that she could
not go to school. That did not stop Bob Jones. After the school term was
over in the city - Dallas - Bob hired a private teacher to come and live on
his farm and teach his children spelling, history, English, arithmetic and
geography. At one time he bought a home and lot in Denton and each spring,
Meady and the children moved to Denton so that the children could attend
school. Later Bob built a one room school house next to his home so that
there could be school year round.
In 1902, the Mount Carmel Baptist Church was established with both church
and school activities being held in the building. The Jones children walked
the three miles to finish schooling through the 8th grade and Artie served
as the organist for the Mt. Carmel Church. The church burned in 1948, thus
ending an era of worship at the pioneer church.
Growing up in the early 1900's meant being with your family - working,
having a good time, going to church, square dancing and for the girls -
learning needlework. At age 90, Eugie doesn't watch much TV because of her
eyes, yet she spends a great deal of her time with needlework. A quilting
frame hangs from the living room ceiling until such time as Eugie can get
back to her hobby. Of all the many modern conveniences that have been
invented during her lifetime, Eugie was the most impressed with electricity
and gas - "cause that meant that no more wood had to be cut." In 1914, five
of the girls and two of the boys joined forces with Meady to buy a new Ford.
Predictably, Eugie was the first to learn to drive and the first place the
family went in their new car was to church. The automobile had me influence
on the Jones family than did the coming of the railroad in 1881 and the
establishment of Roanoke. Eugie doesn't recall any problems with the
Indians, although there were many arrowheads to be found on brother Jim's
place.
Eugie married McKinley Thomas on July 11, 1926. Today, Mr. Thomas
continues a "truck-farming" operation on the 37 acres that are left of the
original home place. Bob Jones had divided his land among his children and
Eugie "swapped" with brother, Emory, so that she retained the "home place."
Thomas drove the school bus to I. M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth for
the Jones children to be able to continue their education. In 1976, a
great-grandson of Bob Jones' will graduate from Northwest High School in the
same school district that would not educate his children.
In 1948, the family home burned destroying many of the family records.
Eugie and McKinley rebuilt their present home "just up the hill a piece"
from the original homesite. Tragedy struck again in the early 1950's with
the advent of the construction of the Grapevine Reservoir which would take
all of the Jones' land. Long court battles ensued and it seemed that Eugie
had lost. She would never sign any documents or cash any of the land payment
checks. She adhered to Meady's desire - "don't ever sell the home place."
One day the mail carrier brought a letter from Washington, D.C., stating
that Eugie could have her land back, but that the government also wanted all
of the money returned. This presented no problem for Eugie, she just went to
the bank and returned all the uncashed checks to the government. Grapevine
Reservoir was built but it hasn't bothered Eugie too much. There is a good
fishing hole at the end of her road, but she keeps it open so that people
can get to the "place where the fish always bite."
Eugie says that some people let money ruin their lives, but to her - "deep
roots" are more important as she looks forward to attending a Jones family
reunion and to baking her favorite vanilla and lemon birthday cake - a chore
she has been doing since her 14th birthday in 1899.
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Author: ccaldwelltexas
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/129.3.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
As I explained in my earlier post, all three of Jensie's children (Phillip, Harriet and Almeady) were born before John Chisum bought Jensie and the children in 1858. Phillip was born in Tennessee, before the owner John Johnson moved to Paris, Texas. The two girls were born before 1858, while Chisum was elsewhere. You may check the will of John Johnson in the Lamar County Courthouse as well as the record of the sale to John Chisum from Frances Johnson Towry if you doubt the accuracy of this information. Like so many family legends that are passed down over the years, the story of John Chisum fathering these two girls is simply not accurate.
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Author: rpchisholm
Surnames: Chisum
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/241/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
I recently received a notice from Family Tree DNA, promoting this years summer sale of DNA testing products:
"This year we will offer an early summer special with an unparalleled promotional discount.
Offer summary:
. Y-DNA37 mtDNA for $119. (The regular project price is $248 - a reduction of more than 50%!!)
. The promotion will begin on June 9, 2009 and will end on June 24, 2009
. Kits ordered in this sale must be paid for by June 30, 2009
This is your new members' opportunity to skip past the Y-DNA12 and Y-DNA25 tests and get the best Y-DNA Genealogical test on the market in addition to an mtDNA test for an extremely reduced price".
This is an excellent opportunity to join in the Chisholm DNA Project. Already we have been able to map out significant family groups within the clan, and to identify some of the early immigrant ancestors to North America. Chisholm group membership is now 99 members, the greater the number in the database, the greater the amount of information available. For "Chisums", there are only two members of this name variation in the project, and more are needed to help identify the progenitors. We have however one member with the traditionally spelt name, whose ancestry is believed to go back to the place where many Chisums believe they originate, Richard Cheesome of Virginia, 1642, so cross checking is available. In addition to help identify your recent Chisholm ancestry, you get to peek back into the time when no Chisholms existed, and see if your Chisholm ancestor was amongst the following groups, all found in Clan Chisholm..the Angles, the Scotti,the Britons, the Picts, the Norma!
ns, the Vikings, the Spaniards, plus many more.
Robert Chisholm
Administrator of Chisholm DNA project.
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Author: t42RoseHill
Surnames: CHISUM
Classification: cemetery
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/240/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
CHISUM Roslie Aileen 1954-1961
I photographed this gravestone in the (Shannon) Rose Hill Cemetery, Tarrant Co., Texas. Feel free to use this picture for your personal records. This is one of the 204,210 cemetery photos free at http://teafor2.com .
If you know more about this person please reply here,instead of contacting me because this is most likely not my family.
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Author: t42RoseHill
Surnames: CHISUM
Classification: cemetery
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/239/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
CHISUM William D 1928-1970
I photographed this gravestone in the (Shannon) Rose Hill Cemetery, Tarrant Co., Texas. Feel free to use this picture for your personal records. This is one of the 204,210 cemetery photos free at http://teafor2.com .
If you know more about this person please reply here,instead of contacting me because this is most likely not my family.
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Author: t42RoseHill
Surnames: CHISUM
Classification: cemetery
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/238/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
CHISUM Martha Lee 1932-1961
I photographed this gravestone in the (Shannon) Rose Hill Cemetery, Tarrant Co., Texas. Feel free to use this picture for your personal records. This is one of the 204,210 cemetery photos free at http://teafor2.com .
If you know more about this person please reply here,instead of contacting me because this is most likely not my family.
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Author: janicefennell28
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/237.1.3/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Now I feel like a total idiot. That is NOT Elva Chisum in that picture. Something made me take a look at the original, and sure enough, it's not. I'm so sorry. If I should find any of Elva, I will let you know. Thanks
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Author: janicefennell28
Surnames: Chisum. Jackson. Traylor family tree.
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/237.1.2/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Sorry, the picture was not in my pictures, but is now. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it. I could also e-mail it to you.
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Author: janicefennell28
Surnames: Chisum. Jackson.
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chisum/237.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Hi. Look in the pictures - I think it says " Casa Grande-1944....." He's second from right. I need to look, but I think it's labeled with names. Let me know if you don't see it. Thanks.
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