Saturday, January 21st, 1860

To day negro Dan went to town and by whom I received two first rate iron wedges for rail splitting. still occupied in clearing [land?]. [some?] hopes of getting through in time to [plant?] a crop out back. I am doing as well as I could expect under the circumstances that surround me.

Friday, January 20th, 1860

I this day contracted with Mr. WHITLEY for 2 yoke of oxen with yokes bows rings & steeples and 1 chain all for the sum of [$150?]. Mr. WHITLEY left for the oxen which are to be delivered in a week. still clearing. done a pretty fair day's work.

---

FYI . . . Oxen YOKES were made to fit the needs of a particular team. The design depended upon the shape and size of the oxen. . . . The average yoke was more nearly 45 inches wide. Beneath the yoke itself, two BOWS for the necks of the oxen were attached. The bows were usually hickory because hickory bends easily without breaking. The bows were seasoned. . . . A metal STEEPLE, usually iron, was nailed into place at the bottom of the center of the yoke. Two RINGS, one smaller than the other, were attached to the metal steeple. CHAINS, leatherstrips or, more commonly, hempen ropes were tied to the rings for pulling. All the woodwork was rough hewn with an ax or a hatchet and then smoothed with a drawing knife. The yoke was drawn on one block of wood. . . . Susie Dewey

Thursday, January 19th, 1860

To day Sam* Sharp went to Crockett. I am still at work in the clearing. Old man Keen & Mr. Whitley visited the house remaining for supper. No other incident occurring. 

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

 

Wednesday, January 18th, 1860

This day Sam* Sharp returned home from Hall's Bluff and reports the Trinity River in navigable condition. Having put handles in the axes I went to chopping in the clearing. Considering that I have but one hand we are getting along pretty well. No other incidents to day.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

LOUISIANA DEMOCRAT [ALEXANDRIA, LA], January 18, 1860, p. 2, c. 1. An Abolitionist Driven from Jefferson, Texas.—The Jefferson Gazette of Jan. 5th, contains the proceedings of a meeting of citizens held that day to remove a fellow named Fory R. Arnold from that place and the State, on account of his avowed abolitionism. The committee of investigations reported him a fit case for expulsion. Another committee was appointed to investigate similar charges against others and the city of Marshall was called upon to nominate a permanent committee of vigilance.

Tuesday, January 17th, 1860

This day I sent negro boy Joe to Crockett for three axes purchased from Genl. COLLINS. I then went in company with Mr. VARNADORE to the site selected for the erection of my house, and from there to LEAVERTON's gin for the purpose of examining some 10 or 11 bales of cotton that I agreed to take from Mrs. PEACOCK in liquidation of a debt due by her to me for the sum of [400$?] but found the cotton so bad and trashy that I refused to take it. Joe returned from Crockett with the axes, and Mrs. J.J. HALL [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] returned from her visit to Mrs. MATTHEWS having failed with her intention of purchasing the negro boy. I burnt brush in my orchard ? clearing in the evening and thus close the incidents of this day.

*This Mahala is a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog.

 

Monday, January 16th, 1860

This day commenced to improve the farm with one hand and with the ulterior object of permanently locating a homestead. Thus launching my barque upon an agricultural life with rather poor prospects for success but meeting the smiles and approbation of my dear little woman [Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] and with a stout heart and a determination to succeed. Mr. Sam* SHARP, Geo. BORDER, and John VARNADORE visited the house and took supper. Mr. VARNADORE remained all night and with whom I contracted to build me a good and substantial residence at a cost of $2000. Mrs. J. J. HALL [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] also left on a visit to Mrs. MATTHEWS with a view of purchasing a negro man for me. Thus I close the principal incidents of the day.

This image is from an article about

J.M. Hall and his Journal

as featured in the digital magazine,

Shades of the Departed.

barque: Poetic, any boat, esp a small sailing vessel

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog. Mahala is his mother, and is the step-mother as well as the mother-in-law to JMH.

LEMAIRE

 

A Texas Historical Marker at the Hall Cemetery in Houston County, Texas indicates that the earliest marked grave is that of "MARY A. SHARP (1843-1876)." The marker is located on FM 229, 10.9 miles NW of Crockett and contains the following text . . .

Hall Cemetery. Joshua James HALL (1790-1871) gave a portion of his land on this site about a mile from his homestead to be used as a burial ground. Hall Cemetery was already in use when freedmen French TAYLOR (1842-1937), Bob DENBY, & Alf WARFIELD petitioned HALL for permission to bury their dead in the graveyard. HALL agreed, & the cemetery was used by both Anglo & African American Settlers. The earliest marked grave is that of Mary A. SHARP (1843-1876). Hall Cemetery had several owners during the 20th century. A 1997 count revealed 29 marked & more than 105 unmarked graves. Descendants of early settlers continue to care for & maintain the land. (1998).

This Mary A. SHARP is a maternal great-grandma of the mother of the Keeper of this family history blog. Given the name "Mary Alexandrien LEMAIRE" . . . sometimes referred to as Alex . . . but more frequently called Nellie . . . she was born in Liberty County, Republic of Texas . . . on the 24th day of May in the year 1843.

Nellie's mother -- Elizabeth A. LEMAIRE BEALE nee WARING -- was born ca.1824-1827 in Maryland. She is the daughter of Edward Gantt WARING & his wife (and 2nd cousin), Catherine Ann (Kitty) WARING nee WARING.

• On the 1850 census, Nellie's mother is enumerated as E. A. LEMARRE with the head of household being Kitty WARING (mother of E. A. LEMARRE).
• In 1860 Nellie's mother is indexed as Elizabeth BEALE.
• Throughout 1865 and 1866, Nellie's mother is mentioned frequently in the Civil War-era journal of James Madison HALL (1819-1866) -- always referred to as Mrs. BEALE.
• In 1870 Nellie's mother is enumerated as Elizabeth A. BEALE.
• 10 June 1871 :: Deed from C. L. CLEVELAND to Elizabeth A. BEALE

The father of Mary Alexandrien SHARP nee LEMAIRE is said to have been a Frenchman who might have died under suspicious circumstances on a voyage to or from France. 

The following info regarding a man by the name of Alexander / Alexandre LEMAIRE is a "fit" with the few bits and pieces we have on Nellie's father.

---

France is the first European power to recognize the independence of the Texas Republic. A treaty is proclaimed between France and the Republic of Texas in 1840, and continues until 1846. A French chargé or minister is sent to the Republic, and plans are made for sending French colonists to Texas.

• Google Books. The Living Age (1845). Shipwreck of the Delphine. Regarding the captain of the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . translated from the French. . . . We sailed from Havre for Valparaiso on the 30th March, 1840, in the ship Delphine, CAPTAIN COISY, with a crew of sixteen sailors and four passengers. . . . Those on board of her were not strangers; they were CAPTAIN COISY, Lieutenant Lepine, our sailors and companions, who came to deliver us and bring us provisions. . . .

• Google Books. Annual Report of the American Historical Association (1911) . . . 26 April 1842. A. de SALIGNY, Legation de France au Texas, to Hon. Anson JONES, Secretary of State. [Announcing the appointment of ALEXANDER LEMAIRE consular agent of France at Liberty, and asking orders for his recognition by the Texan authorities.] . . . 2 June 1842. Hon. Anson JONES, Secretary of State to SALIGNY. [Transmitting exequatur of ALEXANDER LAMAR, consular agent of France for "Liberty County," and of F. GUILBEAU, consular agent of France for San Antonio.]
  

• Google Books. The French Legation in Texas (1971). Vol. 1 contains chiefly the diplomatic and private correspondence, between 1839 and 1842, of A. Dubois de SALIGNY, Chargé d'affaires of the French Legation in Texas. . . . MR. ALEXANDER LEMAIRE, former student at the Agricultural Institute at . . . with necessary information on events taking place in various parts of Texas . . . and ALEXANDER LEMAIRE for the new agencies at San Antonio, Matagorda . . . Ten or eleven months ago MR. LEMAIRE, who had been named for the post at Liberty on the Trinity, embarked at Galveston on the brig Amanda (under CAPTAIN COISY from Havre) for France to look after his affairs. It was learned that the Amanda was forced to put into port at Bermuda for repairs. However, since she put to sea again she has not . . .
  

• Found online . . . regarding the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . Google Books. History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine . . . Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost. John 6,12. (1865) . . . Nathan ROBINSON, lost at sea in BRIG AMANDA, 1843.
  

• Found online . . . regarding the ship that A. LEMAIRE last sailed on . . . Google Books. Annals of the Town of Warren; With the Early History of St. George's, Broad Bay, and the Neighboring Settlements on the Waldo Patent. (1851). The town of Warren, in the county of Lincoln, State of Maine, . . . Capt. William James LERMOND, b. July 18, 1813; sailed in THE BRIG AMANDA from N.O., in March, 1843, and with his vessel was never heard from. . . .
  

• Google Books. The French in Texas: History, Migration and Culture . . . Upon the death of LEMAIRE, the French consul of the town of Liberty, CRAMAYEL chose not to replace him, declaring: "Liberty is only a hamlet in the interior of a region that has no direct commerce with foreign countries. In the surrounding area there are only about thirty French residents, widely scattered, & living in a situation close to destitution." . . .

---

• 1840 :: there is a Samuel F. LUNIER on the Liberty County tax list
• 24 May 1843 :: Mary Alexandrien LEMAIRE is born in Liberty County, Texas
• 1846 :: there is a Lamiel (Samuel?) LANIER on the Liberty County tax list
• 27 March 1848 :: there is a Samuel LAIMER (b. 1826) who arrives in New York from Le Havre, France
• 1850 :: Mr. LEMAIRE is NOT listed on the Liberty County, Census with his wife and daughter.
• ca. 1852 :: The "widow" LEMAIRE marries John S. BEALE. According to family lore, Mr. BEALE was suspected of having some involvement in Mr. LEMAIRE's disappearance.

---

• 1850 Liberty County Census :: looks like Mary A. LEMARRE (indexed as LAMANE)
• 1860 Liberty County Census :: enumerated as Mary A. LAMIRE
• 11 July 1861 :: listed as Mary Alexandrien LAMIER in the Journal of James Madison HALL when he writes about her marriage to his step-brother / brother-in-law, Samuel H. SHARP
• 13 March 1862 :: JMH refers to her as Alexandrien
• 20 & 22 March 1862 :: JMH refers to her as Alex
• 17 & 30 April 1862 & thereafter :: JMH refers to her as Nellie
• 7 October 1862 :: Nellie SHARP is a witness for the will of J. M. HALL
• 15 January 1863 :: JMH refers to her as Mary A. SHARP familiarally called Nellie . . . thereafter he calls her simply Nellie . . .
• 1870 Houston County Census :: enumerated as Mary A. SHARP
• 10 October 1876 :: Mary A. SHARP dies, and is buried in the Hall Cemetery in Houston County, Texas. She is survived by her mother, her husband and six children, and her mother-in-law, Mahala Lee SHARP HALL nee ROBERTS.

---

Lamarre :: French: habitational name from any of the places in Normandy called La Mare, from Old Northern French mare ‘pool’, ‘pond’ (Old Norse marr).

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

---

F
Mary Alexandrien Lemaire
Lamane (on census /index)/
Mary A. /Lamaire/
LaMire /LaMar/, Lemarre, LeMire
Mary A. /Lamar/
Mary Alexandrien /Lamar/
Nellie /Lamar/
Mary Alexandrien /Lamier/
Nellie /Lamier/
Mary A. /Lamire/
Alex /LeMire/
Mary Alexandrien /LeMire/
Mary A. /Sharp/

* Born on 24 May 1843 - Liberty County, Texas
* Died on 10 October 1876 - Houston County, Texas
* Buried after 10 October 1876 - Hall Family Cemetery, Houston County, Texas
* Age at death: 33 years old

Parents

* Alexander ? Lemaire +ca 1843
* Elizabeth A. Waring ca 1824-1871/

Marriages and children

* Married on 11 July 1861, Liberty, Liberty County, Texas, to Samuel Houston Sharp ca 1839-ca 1885, with
o James Hall 1863-1936
o Infant 1864-1864
o Samuel Houston 1867-1921
o Margaret Elizabeth 1869-1935
o Ida Mae 1871-1964
o Berta Mary 1873-1955
o Willie /1876-ca 1885

---

Notes -- Aunt Ida (Sharp) Halyard :: My mother, Mary Alexandren Lamar Sharp, was born in France [sic] & was of French extraction, but I know nothing about her family history, except that she owned land on the Robeson Survey, Liberty County, Texas, & I still own my inherited interest in this land. My mother died when I was four years old, & is buried in the Hall Cemetery on the old Hall Plantation on Elkhart Creek, where I was born. There is a marker at her grave.