John Wortham 1804-1867

• Born 10 May 1804 in North Carolina
• Died 12 November 1867 in Houston County, Texas
• Buried Wortham Family Cemetery, Houston County, Texas; findagrave

John Wortham - A pioneer area landowner and farmer, John Wortham (1804-67) was a petitioner for the creation of Houston County in 1837. He later served as a captain of an independent ranger company, as major in the Republic of Texas Army and as quartermaster of the Texas Militia. In addition to his military service, he was a trustee of Trinity College and was appointed to the first Board of Land Commissioners for the Texas Republic. He also owned a local sawmill and gristmill. Twice married, Wortham was the father of 12 children. He was buried on this land (2.3 miles SW). 

MAJOR JOHN WORTHAM FAMILY GRAVES. Some five miles north of Crockett off US-287 then two miles more on FM-2160 is the one-time John Wortham Plantation of 1830-1860s. Access road is across from the Spring Creek Country Club entrance. Spring Creek was once a part of the Wortham plantation. Mrs. Rose Skalicky and sons Joe Charles and Larry are present owners. Along with the family burial plot is the original Wortham log cabin, now used as a barn. At the burial site, a granite marker presented in 1935 honors Major John Wortham, as an independent Ranger commanding officer of the 1830's and a member of the Texas Army. On his marble grave stone is listed:

WORTHAM
• Major John; b: 5-10-1800; d: 11-12-1867

Two other gravestones are:

WORTHAM
• John Jr.; b: 1-29-1846; d: 4-11-1886; s/o John & Carey Ann Vaughan Wortham
• Melchijah; (also Bud) b: 8-4-1852; d: 9-12-1875; s/o John & Carey Ann Vaughan Wortham

A further Texas Historical Marker was placed at the US-287 intersection with the FM-2160 to John Wortham in 1981. This tells of his contributions as a pioneer developer of Houston County and as commander of an independent Ranger Company for the Republic of Texas. A maternal great grand-daughter Eliza H. Bishop sponsored the Marker so that the inaccessible Wortham plantation site and burial grounds might become public knowledge to the highway travelers. 

John Connell 1833-1902

J.H. Connell, a capitalist of Belton, was born in San Augustine county, Texas, when Texas was a province of Mexico, April 3, 1833, son of John H. and Matilda T. (Roberts) Connell, natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively.


John H. Connell's father, a native of Ireland, came to America at an early day and settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed his trade, that of blacksmithing. John H., leaving home when a youth, came in 1826 to Texas and engaged in the mercantile business near Austin, where he was married in 1830. Mr. Connell came to Texas with Sterling C. Robertson, and both secured large tracts of land.


The Roberts family were also among the pioneers of this section of the country. J.H. [sic -- i.e., should be Elisha] Roberts went from Kentucky to Louisiana in 1819, and in 1820 came to San Augustine, Texas. Elisha Roberts was one of the earliest settlers within the confines of the State.


Mr. Connell died at Viesca in 1834. He was truly a self-made man, and during his lifetime acquired considerable property. Belton is located on a portion of the land on which Mr. Connell once lived. Mrs. Connell having donated to the county of Bell 120 acres, in 1850, on which to establish the county seat. John H. Connell and his wife were the parents of two children: Josephine, wife of Anderson Hamblin, both being now deceased; and J.H., the subject of our sketch.


After the death of Mr. Connell, Mrs. Connell was married in 1835, to Samuel T. Allen, of New York, and their union was blessed in the birth of two children: Thomas R., deceased; and Eunice A., widow of Colonel John T. Coffee, of Missouri. Samuel T. Allen was killed by the Indians at the three forks of the Trinity, in November, 1838, and in the fall of 1847 Mrs. Allen married his brother, Thomas J. Allen. Her death occurred April 3, 1879, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Coffee, in Georgetown, Williamson county, this state.


The subject of our sketch was reared amid the frontier scenes of what is now San Augustine, Milam, Williamson and Galveston counties. In 1854 he went to California, making the trip from Galveston by water; spent two years in the southern part of the Golden State, and while working in the mines lost his health. He was, however, financially successful. Returning home in the latter part of 1855, he engaged in farming and stock-raising in Texas up to the year 1861. The war coming on in that year, he joined the Confederate forces; was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and participated in numerous skirmishes and battles.


Returning to his home in the latter part of May, 1865, Mr. Connell set about repairing his wasted fortune, and with renewed energy engaged in his old occupation of farming and stock-raising. He continued his operations in Williamson county till January 28, 1884, when he rented his farm and moved to his property in Belton. He owns considerable valuable real estate, his Belton home place consisting of some 250 acres adjoining town. He has a handsome residence, an intelligent family, and is comfortably situated to enjoy life, having practically retired from active business.


Mr. Connell was married September 15, 1869, to Miss Jennie Howlett, a native of Texas, born in Milam county, October 5, 1844, daughter of James and Sarah (Moore) Howlett, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee respectively. Both the Howletts and the Moores were among the early pioneers of Texas.


Mr. and Mrs. Connell are the parents of five children: John H., Jr., T.E., Susan, May T. and Albert L. T.E. is now a student at the State University of Texas. Mr. Connell and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

A Memorial and Biographical History of McLennan, Falls, Bell, and Coryell Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893; rpt., St. Louis: Ingmire, 1984).

KINSHIP CHART

The table below shows the known familial connection(s) between the named individual and . . . James Madison Hall, the Keeper of the Journal . . . as well as to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

IN THE JOURNAL	REAL NAME	BORN	LINK TO J.M. HALL (b. 1819)	LINK TO BENOTFORGOT
FATHER	Joshua James Hall	1790	father	2nd husband of widowed 3rd-great-grandma
FAWN aka PET	Florence Mahala Christian Worley? Robinson? Lambert? nee Hall	1860	daughter	1st cousin 3 times removed
FRANK	Frank Stewart	1839	employee & 2nd husband of the little woman	2nd husband of widowed 2nd great-grand-aunt
JIMMY	James Wrigley Hall	1862	son	1st cousin 3 times removed
JOSEPHINE	Josephine Martha Hall	1863	daughter	1st cousin 3 times removed
MAJOR	James Hall Sharp	1863	nephew	great grand uncle
MOTHER	Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts	1816	stepmother & mother-in-law	3rd great-grandma
MRS. BEALE	Elizabeth Lemaire Beale nee Waring	1824	mother-in-law of stepbrother	3rd great-grandma
NELLIE aka ALEX	Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire	1843	wife of step-brother	2nd great-grandma
ROBERTA aka BERTA aka BURT	Roberta Downes Halyard nee Hall	1852	half-sister to him as well as to his wife	2nd great-grand-aunt
SAM	Samuel Houston Sharp	1839	step-brother & brother-in-law & employee	2nd great-grandpa
THE LITTLE WOMAN	Margaret Annot Hall Stewart nee Sharp	1840	step-sister & wife	2nd great-grand-aunt
TOBY	Horace Oscar Hall	1854	half-brother to him as well as to his wife	2nd great-grand-uncle

Major Eugene Bolling

Eugene Bolling, Confederate officer, was born in 1832 in Tennessee to Yelverton de Mallet Bolling and Sophia Sully of South Carolina. The family relocated to Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, in 1850. Bolling married Carolina E. Gayle in 1853, then moved from Edgefield County, South Carolina, to settle in Galveston County, Texas. He worked as a farmer prior to the Civil War.

Bolling's service record indicates that he enlisted on June 7, 1861, with a rank of captain.

On June 30, 1862, his company and twelve others were mustered into Confederate service at Brenham, Texas, in Washington County. Bolling held the rank of captain in Company G of Nichol's Ninth Regiment but soon commanded Company A of the First Battalion of the First Texas Infantry, known as Waul's Texas Legion.

On May 17, 1863, Waul's Legion was ordered into the confines of Vicksburg and assigned to Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson's division. Captain Bolling was slightly injured during the defense of the city and sometime after was promoted to the rank of major in command of the First Battalion of Waul's Legion following the death of Maj. A. Cameron.

On July 4, 1863, Bolling and his unit surrendered to Union forces at Vicksburg and were paroled on July 5, 1863. Following parole the members of Waul's Texas Legion were returned to Texas where they were reorganized. Bolling then applied to be relieved from field duty for the remainder of the war as a result of a surgeon's opinion that a heart condition affected his service. Bolling's request was granted, and for the remainder of the war he served as major of companies F and S of Timmons's Regiment in the confines of Texas.

He surrendered on June 2, 1865, with the other soldiers under the command of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith.

After the war Eugene Bolling married Mary Bolling, who survived him in Galveston County and later moved to Grayson County. In 1866 he served as a director of the National Bank of Texas in Galveston. The last known location of Eugene S. Bolling was in Galveston County in 1869. [SIC] According to his findagrave memorial page, he died 02 August 1870 in Cross Keys, Alabama.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Texas, NARA microfilm series M323, roll 263, National Archives, Washington D.C. Robert A. Hasskarl and Leif R. Hasskarl, Waul's Texas Legion, 1862–1865 (Ada, Oklahoma: Robert A. Hasskarl, 1985). L.L. Knight, comp., Their Last Full Measure: Texas Confederate Casualty Lists, Volume II, 1863 (Arlington, Texas: G.T.T. Publishing, 1997). Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies. Texas (New York: Facts on File, 1995). Laura Simmons, "Waul's Legion From Texas to Mississippi," Texana, VII (Spring 1969). Brett J. Derbes

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

Brett J. Derbes, "BOLLING, EUGENE S.," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbobd), accessed May 08, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Sunday, May 12th, 1861

To day the steamer Alamo, Capt. McKee came up and was detained here some time on account of the rail road hands failing or refusing to open the draw in the bridge. after a couple of hours detention she was enabled to pass through. weather changable in the day and a hard storm & rain throughout the night.

1866 :: Crawford House

Dallas Herald. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 52, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 14, 1867

Among the victims of the yellow fever at Galveston, we find the name of Mrs. N.B. Crawford, of whom the Telegraph gives the following notice:

“She was born in Knox county, Tennessee, in the year 1815; the wife of Dr. J.W. Crawford, who died in Washington county, Texas, in the year of 1856; the daughter of Major Jesse Bartlett and Frances Calloway, who emigrated to Texas in an early day. Major Jesse Bartlett was one among the first Texians to resist Mexican oppression, and served as an officer in the army under Gen. Sam Houston during the struggle for Texas Independence. Mrs. Crawford was one of the oldest Texians in the State, and resided the largest portion of her life in Washington county, Texas. Some years previous to the war, she moved to Hempstead, where she remained until the close of the war, and then removed to Galveston where, up to her death, she kept the Crawford House. She leaves a son and daughter and many relations and friends to mourn her sore loss. Thus so untimely the community has lost one of its most benevolent servants, Christianity one of the most consistent Christians, and a family a devoted mother."

"Opposite Catholic Church, fronting on Church St."

Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts

175 years ago today . . . on the 3rd day of November . . . in the year 1816 . . . a baby girl is born in Washington Parish, Louisana . . . she is given the name Mahala Lee Roberts . . .


 

. . . Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts . . . aka (in this Journal) Mrs. Hall . . . or Mrs. J.J. Hall . . . or Mother . . . is a 3rd great-grandma of the Keeper of this Blog (aka Vickie Everhart) . . . and is the step-mother . . . as well as the mother-in-law . . . of the Keeper of this Journal (aka James Madison Hall) . . .



 

Our Mahala is 43 years of age when she is first mentioned in the Journal . . . on Monday, January 16th, 1860 . . . when J.M. Hall writes that . . . Mrs. J.J. Hall also left on a visit to Mrs. Matthews with a view of purchasing a negro man for me . . .





Mahala Lee Roberts
North American Indian name meaning /"Woman"/
Mahaley /HALL/
Michala /Roberts/

• Born on 3 November 1816 - Washington Parish, Louisiana
  
• Died on 27 June 1885 - Elkhart Creek, Houston County, Texas
  
• Age at death: 68 years old
  
• Buried in June 1885 - Hall Cemetery, Houston County, Texas
  

Parents

* Elisha Roberts ca 1774-1844 * Martha Gill ca 1781-1845

Marriages and children

* Married on 22 March 1838, San Augustine County, Texas, to John M. Sharp ca 1800/1815-/ca 1846, with
o Samuel Houston ca 1839-ca 1885; findagrave o Margaret Annot ca 1840-ca 1878; findagrave
* Married on 12 February 1851, San Augustine County, Texas, to Joshua James Hall, Colonel ca 1790-ca 1871, with
o Roberta A. 1852-1915 o Horace Oscar 1854-1934

Notes from Ida Mae:- My Grandmother [i.e., Mahala] came from San Augustine to Houston County, and I believe that my father [i.e., Samuel Houston Sharp, Sr.] and aunt [i.e., Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] were born there before she came to this County [i.e., Houston Co., TX]. I do not know anything about her family, except that she had a sister named Margaret, who married a McDonald and lived in Houston County, Texas. . . .

• A Tribute to Our Mahala
  
• Our Mahala's Extensive Timeline
  
• All mentions of Mahala in this Journal as of this date (updates will be ongoing through at least September of 2016)