CHAPTER ONE - Revised 2001

BEGINNINGS

As the future continues to unfold its story of new generations, so will the journey backward continue to yield new and exciting clues about those who went before.

KAY BRANTNER'S PATERNAL LINEAGE -- THE BRANTNERS

George H. Brantner was born in Maryland in 1827. He and Charles (Charlie) were the only sons of George Brantner, who emigrated to the United States from Germany. There is no family knowledge of George H. having sisters. Family lore holds that the elder George settled in Maryland and may have worked as a tanner, the trade which George H. followed, in addition to farming. When George H. left Maryland, Charlie stayed behind and was never heard from. Charlie may have emigrated to Missouri with George H.⁽¹⁾

Considerable research is being done on the Brantner lineage in the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia by a number of Brantner descendants. To date, no specific link has been made between George H. and these ancestral Brantners. The limited official records and the commonality of the names John, George, Charles, Mary, etc. makes the search difficult.

George H.'s mother's name was never known. The 1850 Census noted below, shows Elizar Brantner, 62, living with George H., 22, in Tennessee, having been born in Maryland.⁽²⁾ The natural assumption is that Elizar is the mother of George H., although the age difference is noted. George H.'s birth year of 1827 is supported by several records.

A record of marriage licenses for Washington County, Maryland shows that George and Eliza Shaffner Brantner were married 22 May 1820. If these are the parents of George H., the date suggests that Eliza Shaffner was a stepmother to George H.

It was probably in the late eighteen-forties that George H. married Susannah Lambkin, a Virginia girl born February 24, 1828. Susannah's parents were also born in Virginia.⁽³⁾

Sojourn in Missouri

The earliest record found for George H., the 1850 Census of Population, shows he and his family in the household of Henry Eichar (probably Eicher) in Decatur County, Tennessee. From that and later records we know that George and Susannah's first child, Edward Vintson, was born in Missouri in September of 1847. (It should be noted that Vintson is treated as a surname in some Census indices for Decatur County.) On March 25, 1849, their second child, John Mathious was born in St. Louis, Missouri. About June of 1850, "baby" George was born.⁽⁴⁾

It was common at the time for people traveling the Mississippi River to stop in St. Louis to earn enough money to continue their journey. Census records indicate that various Brantners settled along the Maryland/Virginia Potomac River westward from the Harper's Ferry area to Hagerstown and Cumberland, Maryland and on to the Wheeling, West Virginia area on the Ohio River.

George and Susannah may have met the Henry Eichars in Missouri, or perhaps had traveled with them from Maryland. Henry was born in Pennsylvania, but his wife Mary A. E. was born in Maryland. Their oldest child, Ann, was born in Missouri in 1847, while little one-year-old Henry had been born in Tennessee. Future research may tell if Mary Eichar (two years older than George) was related to the Brantners. George and Susannah named their first daughter Mary, but this was common German name.

On the Bank of the Tennessee

George H. and family traveled from Missouri to Tennessee at some time after John Mathious was born in March, 1849 and presumably after "Baby" George was born in about June of 1850. The 1850 Census, enumerated on October 31, lists little George as 4 months old and born in Missouri. If correct, this would mean that the Brantners traveled from St. Louis to Decaturville during the summer of 1850.⁽⁵⁾

One possible route was by boat, via the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers. The Tennessee River was impassable by boat at Muscle Shoals, Alabama just south of the Tennessee line.

Decatur County, Tennessee is located on the west bank of the Tennessee River, the next county north of the famous Shiloh (Civil War) Battlefield and the juncture of the Tennessee/Alabama/Mississippi boundary lines. It was officially created in 1845 and, although the county populace was about 300 in 1850, folks were scattered about the wooded hills and hollows, mostly farming the river and creek bottoms.

Henry Eichar, G. H. Brantner, and Harmon Qurtoman of Germany, were listed as household members working as tanners. In addition to Henry, ten other heads of house in Decatur County listed tanner as their occupation. Coincidentally, some of these other tanners were also born in Germany, such as Harmon Tartomyon, 27, and Frederick Gathart, 36. There also were blacksmiths, iron masters, stone masons, ferrymen, wagon makers, carpenters, millers, and other assorted trades and occupations. Iron smelting was active in the county from 1845 to 1878.

The Eichars and Brantners lived in the county's Seventh District, which, then and now, lies along the river boundary, encompasses US Hwy. 412, and includes modern-day Perryville. Some of the area along the river, including old Perryville, went underwater when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built the Gilbertsville Dam in the 1930's.

"In pre-Civil War days, a tanning factory operated in Bath Springs. The business was two-fold. The bark of trees was purchased to make acid to tan the hides. Cattle hides were tanned in the factory and shipped out by river boats."⁽⁶⁾ The little community of Bath Springs is located on State Road 114 in the southeast corner of Decatur County, near the big bend in the river. It was named for its medicinal sulphur water.

The Brantners did not tarry long in Tennessee, as their next child was born in Texas in 1852. The 1860 census found them farming in the Boonville area of Brazos County, Texas with six children; Edward, John, Mary, George, Ramus, and Charles. Eliza was no longer with the family.⁽⁷⁾

Boonville, the first county seat of Brazos County, was on Farm Road 158, which is also known as Boonville Road, two miles northeast of the site of what is now Bryan. The Republic of Texas Congress appointed a committee-made up of J. H. Jones, Eli Seale, William T. Millican, Joseph Ferguson, and Mordecai Boon, Sr.-that selected for the county seat a tract of 150 acres from the John Austin league. The committee purchased the land, which was originally an unbroken post oak forest, from Elizabeth and William Pierpont for $150 and conveyed it in a deed to Brazos County on July 30, 1841. The town was built around a public square, with space in the square reserved for a courthouse. In 1841 Boonville was the county seat of Navasota County, but the county name was changed to Brazos in 1842. The town was probably named in honor of Mordecai Boon, Sr., whose uncle was Daniel Boone. In 1843 Boonville residents built a jail, and in 1846 they acquired a post office and built a courthouse. The Boonville courthouse, known as the "board shanty," served many purposes: there Gen. Sam Houston and other prominent statesmen made speeches. A stage line went from Houston through Boonville in 1850; its drivers and passengers would stop at the Boonville hotel overnight. The town enjoyed prosperity from 1842 to 1866. However, when the Houston and Texas Central Railway was extended from Millican to Bryan in 1866, Boonville residents elected, on October 15, 1866, to make Bryan the county seat. In December 1866 the Boonville mail was rerouted through the Bryan post office. In the 1990s all that remained of Boonville was the cemetery on Boonville Road. The townsite is marked by a Texas Centennial monument.⁽⁸⁾

Steamboats had made their appearance on the major rivers in the early 1800s and became the travel mode of choice when families had to travel long distances. Earlier, when commercial flatboats made the journey down the Mississippi, the return trip was usually by land, on foot or horseback, and the Natchez Trace, running from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, though primitive, was often the choice.

The El Camino Real, better known as the old San Antonio Road (OSR) was about ten miles north of Boonville. It had been established in the late 1600s as a supply route from Mexico, through San Antonio to the East Texas Spanish missions, and on to present-day Robeline, Louisiana (near Natchitoches), and connection with the Natchez Trace could be made. The OSR touches Robertson and Leon Counties and runs through Madison County, which is pertinent to this family history. The route from the OSR to the Trace would have bisected the Winn Parish area of Louisiana from whence came the Smith clan, noted below. And while the Trace was relatively close to Decatur County, Tennessee, it is presumed that the Brantners came to Texas by water, because the Trace became even more primitive with disuse, and was very unsafe because of robbers.

The four younger Brantner children were born in Texas, presumably in Brazos County: Mary Jane was born in May, 1852; George on October 9, 1856 (according to his grave marker), Ramus in 1858, and Charles on April 7, 1860 (according to his marker). The July 30 Census of 1860 showed Charles as six months old.

There remains some mystery and contradiction about the birth order and/or naming of the children. The "Baby" George that was four months old in the 1850 Census is apparently not the same person as the George that grew to adulthood. One possibility is that the first George (born in Missouri) died, and a later child was named George to maintain the namesake. Thus the arbitrary name "Baby George" given to the first George.

It is also assumed that Ramus died as a child. He never appears in later censuses. Neither he nor the Baby George born in Missouri have been mentioned in family lore, and their graves have not been located.

The Brantners moved to Montgomery County, Texas sometime before their next child was born there in April, 1863. George operated a tanning yard near Danville, and made saddles, harnesses, and various leather goods. The leather, after being tanned from hides, was dyed in huge vats, using red and brown dye made from tree bark. The wooden saddle trees were handmade as well.⁽⁹⁾

"Another industry that made Montgomery (the town) grow was a tannery started by Antony Martin in 1843. He purchased a bark mill and established a tannery three miles east of Montgomery, which was operated until the Civil War. Hides, purchased from local settlers and tanned into leather, were sold to the local shops in Montgomery. By 1860 it had reached its peak level, the war sapped the life blood from the town, the railroad went to Willis, and the county seat was moved there"⁽¹⁰⁾

Montgomery County had been formed in 1846 and was so large that, in 1855, parts were given to Grimes, Walker, Madison, and San Jacinto Counties. During the Civil War, many of the County's men served in the Texas Brigade under General John Bell Hood.

It was in Montgomery County that Ambrose Lee Brantner was born April 5, 1863. Later that year, on August 28, 1863, the 37-year-old George H. enlisted for a six-month tour of duty with the Company A Infantry, 17th Brigade, Texas State Troops, as a private. His commanding officer was Captain J. M. Evans and the Company commander was Colonel W. T. Robinson. One brief record notes that the Texas State Troops were transferred to the Confederate States of America, and indicates that "R & F 90 Company (was) stationed at Camp San Jacinto near Huntsville."⁽¹¹⁾

In a separate record of names appearing on a list, probably near discharge time, we find, "G. H. Brantner, Company D, 4 Texas Infantry (State Troops, 6 Months, 1863-4.) (Confederate)," and "4 Regiment Infantry, Texas State Troops. Name appears on a list of details from the organization named above. List dated Feby. 1 Camp Cany (Caney). Remarks: Dt. (detailed) 1 Dec. as a tanner."⁽¹²⁾

These enlistments by Captain J. M. Evans ran from August 28, 1863 to February 10, 1864. The pay was $11 per month, plus 40 cents per day if the enlistee furnished his own horse. (If the Troops provided both food and feed, the horse was worth about 3 or 4 cents a day more than the man.)

George and Susannah's last child, Emily Sue "Emma", was born on May 23, 1867.

On January 18, 1869, Mary Jane Brantner, almost 17, married William Isaiah Johnson, who was almost 20. Ten days later, Mary's brother, John, married William's sister, Margaret Jane Johnson. John Brantner was also 20, about a month older than William, while Margaret would be 15 later in the year. Margaret, however, stretched her age to 17 on the following year's Census. Ten years later, the 1880 Census listed Margaret as 24, six years younger than John.⁽¹³⁾

The Census on August 9, 1870, also showed that George and Susannah and the four youngest children were farming at Danville, Tillis Prairie Precinct, in Montgomery County. It is likely that George had quit the tanning business, as farming was listed as his primary occupation. John, Margaret, and Romeo (age 2) were recorded in the next Census-numbered household, also farming.⁽¹⁴⁾

Death records for Montgomery County, 1870 show that Romeo Brantner, age 12, died in March 1870 due to "inflammation of bowels." The age should have been "2," and the date conflicts with the Census enumeration date.

Susannah signed a deed of conveyance on June 3, 1871, covering the purchase of one-fourth undivided interest in a 320-acre tract of land in Montgomery County from James W. Smith for $20. This suggests that George H. died in that interim period. George's grave has never been located, and it is not known if this land purchase is connected with the farm at Danville or with George's grave site. Family lore says that George was plagued with frequent headaches and reportedly died when Ambrose was about six. George H. is not listed in the Montgomery County death records for 1870. This suggests a burial date in early 1871.⁽¹⁵⁾

Susannah's granddaughter, Ray Lillian Brantner Rankin, kept the old original handwritten deed and thought that it related to the tannery. Further research will tell if the survey mentioned in Susannah's deed is extant in the County's land records.⁽¹⁶⁾

The clan later moved to Robertson County, Texas and settled in the Petteway community near Bremond. On March 31, 1879, William Johnson, age 30, died and was buried in the Petteway Cemetery. Mary Jane, with four children from her ten-year marriage, was now widowed at age 27, although she may have been divorced before William died. The circumstances of the day, especially rural living, dictated a mutual dependency in the extended families. Mary Jane, whose children ranged from age three through ten, had to move in with her widowed mother, Susannah. George, 23; Ambrose, 16; Charles, 19; and Emily, 13 were still at home. The boys were farming.⁽¹⁷⁾

A year later, however, Susannah laid one of her young sons to rest in the Petteway Cemetery. On March 21, 1880, Charles Brantner died--just before his 20th birthday. The cause of death is unknown, except that pneumonia, influenza, and farm accidents were frequently-occurring causes. This beautiful, peaceful little cemetery would become the final resting place for many of George and Susannah's descendants.

George H. and Susannah's oldest child, Edward Vintson, married twice, but had no children. He was a freighter, and eventually died of cancer. On August 18, 1898, Edward, almost 51, married Iva M. Castucholdt in Limestone County. Two years later, the June 13 Census showed that he and Iva, age 16, were living in Leon County. In 1910 Edward was living alone in Limestone County. His death date and grave location are unknown.⁽¹⁸⁾

Susannah signed a note to A. M. Ruskin, the County Clerk at Franklin, the Robertson County seat, permitting 15-year-old Emily S. to have a marriage license. On December 28, 1882, she married 21-year-old Calvin R. Brown. The Browns eventually moved to Stephens County and are buried in the Wayland Cemetery. Four sons (Edgar, Ernest, Jordan, William) and three daughters (Reba, Callie, Rue) were born from 1884 to 1901. Emily was known as Emma by her family and this name appears on her death certificate and on her grave marker.⁽¹⁹⁾

John Mathious remained in the Bremond area all his life. He was known as a very religious person and remembered with patriarchal respect by the extended family. He and Margaret were the parents of five boys and seven girls. John M. died in 1937; Margaret in 1943. They are buried in the Petteway Cemetery, south of Bremond.⁽²⁰⁾

Mary's second marriage was to Henry Dallam in about 1881. He was a school teacher from Kentucky. They had three daughters; Ruby, Blanche, and Kate, and two sons, Clarence and Garth. Henry died in 1911 and is buried in Stephens County, Texas. Mary's grave has not been located.

Ambrose Lee Brantner was only eight when brother John's first child was born. These nieces and nephews liked to call their young uncle "Uncle Brose" or "Uncle Bid," nicknames that stuck with him all his life.

George Brantner never married. He died June 24, 1910, and is buried in the Petteway Cemetery. Of George H. and Susannah's four boys, only John Mathious and Ambrose Lee had sons.

KAY BRANTNER'S MATERNAL LINEAGE--THE SMITHS

William Smith was born in 1785 in Georgia. His first and second wives gave him thirteen children. He married his second wife in Lawrence County, Mississippi on November 26, 1820, and it is presumed that Elizabeth Jenkins was the second wife. His first child, Willis, was born in Mississippi on January 29, 1807, and two other children were born before the second marriage date. William died July 8, 1857 and is buried in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi.⁽²¹⁾

Pinkey Foster was born in 1813 in Mississippi, and on March 15, 1830, she and Willis were married. On April 26, 1832 Pleasant S. Smith, the first of fourteen children, was born to Willis and Pinkey. The first ten children were born in Mississippi, probably all in Smith County.⁽²²⁾

In 1848 or 1849 Willis and Pinkey moved from Mississippi to Winn Parish, Louisiana, and their last three, possibly four children were born there. Willis died March 10, 1872 and is buried in Guynes Cemetery, Pollock, Grant Parish, Louisiana. Grant is adjacent to Winn Parish. Pinkey died March 29, 1884 and is buried alongside Willis.

It was probably in or around Winn Parish that Pleasant met and married Maranda Amanda Smith--a Smith marrying a Smith. It is noted that Pleasant's grandfather married in Lawrence County, which is adjacent to Marion County, Mississippi, where Maranda's father was buried.

Maranda's paternal grandfather, Stephen Smith, was born in 1765 in North Carolina. Stephen and Jemima (last name unknown) had ten children. Their fifth child, William Isham Smith was born about 1795, possibly in North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Kees, who was born in 1794 or 1795. They married June 24, 1812 in Marion County Mississippi. (Isham's oldest sister, Nancy, had married Perry Kees.) Ike died in 1869 and is buried in Winn Parish, Louisiana, presumably in Mercer Cemetery where his wife, Elizabeth is buried.

Maranda Amanda was the youngest of eight children born to Ike and Elizabeth Smith. Mary Ann, the oldest, was born August 13, 1816 in Copiah County, Mississippi. Harbin was also born in that county in 1821, but the other six siblings were born in Smith County, Mississippi during the years 1823-1834. Maranda, the last, was born on February 14, 1834.⁽²³⁾

Pleasant and Maranda's first of eight children, Sarah Ann Jane, was born in 1854. She was followed by Willis Anderson (Toby), Isham M., Albert Harding, Mary Elizabeth, William Pleasant Thomas (Bill), Lugenia Emiline, and Columbus Jefferson. All of the children were born in Louisiana, in or near Winn Parish.

Pleasant was primarily a farmer, but presumably operated a river ferry in Winn Parish, Louidiana. During the Civil War, he was a Private in Company C, 6th Regiment of the Louisiana Calvary. His Company surrendered in New Orleans May 26, 1865 and was paroled in Alexandria, Louisiana June 15-16, 1865.⁽²⁴⁾

Lugenia Emiline "Genie" Smith was born December 7, 1869, presumably in Winn Parish, Louisiana, where her parents were listed as farming in both the 1870 and 1880 Censuses. Pleasant and Maranda decided to leave Louisiana sometime after that date--some say to Houston County, Texas.⁽²⁵⁾

Official records in Robertson County, second county west of Houston County, show that a marriage license was issued to Willis Anderson Smith and Martha Ann Copeland on October 22, 1879. In June of 1880 Pleasant, Maranda, and their four youngest were also living in Robertson County. Toby and Martha were living in the (Census) household next to his parents, and Martha's sister, Mary Copeland, was living with them.⁽²⁶⁾

The Smiths not only married Smiths, they also married Copelands--three children of Pleasant and Maranda married three children of Elijah and Sarah Jane Copeland:

1879 Toby Smith married Martha Ann (Mattie) Copeland in Robertson County.
1881 Albert Smith married Mary Jane (Mollie) Copeland in Robertson County.
1881 Mary Elizabeth Smith married Thomas Jefferson Copeland in Robertson County.

Toby's first child, Alice Smith (McKay), was born in Robertson County September 19, 1880. Soon after, they moved to Comanche County and stayed for about ten years. During this time, Addie, Minnie, Willis, Annie, and Calla were born.

Pleasant Smith died in October 13, 1889 in Madison County, adjacent to Robertson County. His grave has never been located.⁽²⁷⁾

Ambrose Lee Brantner and Lugenia Emiline Smith

Genie was a very outgoing person and dearly loved to talk--no one was a stranger. She had dark red hair, a lovely voice, and loved to sing. This gay redhead was bound to meet the tall, slender, black-headed Ambrose with the cropped moustache, since he had not ventured far from the small community near Bremond. They were married October 3, 1890 in Franklin, Texas, by J. H. Griffin, Justice of the Peace for Precinct Six, Robertson County. Ambrose was 27, she was 21.⁽²⁸⁾

In this same month, Genie's brothers, Toby and Albert, along with a neighbor named Slarky, packed their wagons and pulled out from Comanche County, beginning their 150-mile journey West, hunting for land to homestead. They would settle down in a community called Red Mud that straddled the county line separating Dickens and Kent Counties.⁽²⁹⁾

Brose and Genie's first home was on a fifty-acre farm he bought in the Petteway community. A year later, on October 6, 1891 their first of eight children, Carl Homer was born. The Petteway population continued to increase as Carl was followed by Ray Lillian, April 17, 1893; Reba Irene, September 16, 1894; Ruth Imogene, January 20, 1896, Ruby May, January 16, 1898, and Kay Parrak, October 20, 1899. Kay was named after a local Baptist preacher that was very well liked by Brose and Genie. Parrak was the family doctor in Robertson County.⁽³⁰⁾

Word of cheap land traveled with every freight wagon or letter back home. Those who ventured out west went for a variety of reasons: to own land, to improve their holdings, or to better their health. Some probably were just running away. What most of them missed most as soon as they settled in new and strange surroundings were the family relationships they had left behind. Thus, there was an additional reason why some sought the dry, windy plains. Loneliness was also one of the hardships that provoked some to return to old kinships.

Following Pleasant's death in late 1889, Maranda decided to join her son Toby in Red Mud. Her two youngest sons W. P. T. (Bill) and Columbus Jeff (Jeffries) also answered the call of "free" land available for homesteading. They had heard about public lands still available in Dickens County and made the move to the lower Red Mud community in the southwest corner of the county. It would not be long until Lugenia and Ambrose followed.

PEARL MARIE HOOVER'S PATERNAL LINEAGE

John Hoover was born February 9, 1755 at Lebanon, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. One record states that John was the son of George Hoover, who came to the United States from Western Germany, "having been impressed by the preaching and kindness of William Penn." John was residing in Hanover Township when, in the summer of 1776, being 21 years of age, he volunteered in the militia (Revolutionary Army) for three months. A second three-month enlistment followed in December. Following these engagements against the British as a soldier, he returned to Lebanon and in 1785 married Margaret Smith. Margaret, born in 1765, was ten years younger than John, and may have come from Germany.

John and Margaret moved to Cynthiana, Kentucky about 1798, as one record states they lived there about nine years. In 1807 the family moved to Ohio where he purchased 200 acres of wilderness land in Franklin County near present day Grove City. He lived on this farm until his death in 1840 at age 85. His grave is located on the McDonald Farm near Grove City, Ohio, which part of the 200 acre purchase. He had been granted a pension from the United States government for his services during the Revolutionary War. Margaret preceded him in death in 1833.

The children of John and Margaret are thought to be Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine, Peter, Polly, Abraham, Nicholas, George, and John. George lived on the Hoover family farm in Ohio after his parents died.

Abraham Hoover was born about 1790 in Pennsylvania, one of perhaps nine children born to John and Margaret Hoover. He married Nancy Robinson February 13, 1812 in Franklin County, Ohio. Nancy is presumed to have been born in Maryland. It is thought they moved to Indiana sometime between 1815 and 1822, although there is conflicting dates and birthplaces of their ten (or eleven) children, with perhaps the first five being born in Ohio and the others in Indiana. Those children were John, Margaret, David, Rachel, Mary Ann, Nicholas, Abraham, Jr., George Jefferson, James, and S. Jane. It is thought the first five were born in Ohio, the second five in Indiana.

Abraham and Nancy's first child, John Hoover, was born in 1812 or 1813 in Franklin County, Ohio. It was in Daviess County, Indiana that he married Mahala Burnett on April 5, 1842. Mahala was born in Virginia in 1822 and had moved to Indiana. John's age was shown as 38 in the 1850 Census.

Abraham and Nancy's daughter Rachel Hoover married James Caffey, Mary Ann Hoover married William Caffey, and son Nicholas Hoover married Lucinda Caffey.

Abraham and Nancy moved to Upshur County, Texas sometime before 1850, as they were included in the Census for that year. Abraham was listed as farmer. James Hoover (single), John and Mahala Hoover, and James and Rachel Caffey accompanied them to Texas and perhaps some of the other Hoovers and Caffeys went as well.

William Hoover also went to Upshur County. William was born in Indiana, presumably 1821, and married Nancy Ann Willis in Daviess County, Indiana on March 14, 1843. It is conjecture that he is another son of Abraham and Nancy; a brother to John and James Hoover.

A once-published genealogical "Hoover Newsletter" carried this quote: "Abraham went to Col., Indiana. Then moved to Edw., Indiana. His sons got him involved in a lawsuit and he lost nearly all of his property. He had a flatboat made and floated down the White River to the Miss. And Gulf of Mex. And settled at Gilmore, Tex." Gilmer is the present county seat of Upshur County.

Abraham and Nancy Hoover died in Upshur County before 1860 and are buried in the Hoover Cemetery, in the community known as Nubbin Ridge in the early days. A descendant found the headstones--hand-carved with "A H" and "Nancy Robinson Maryland" inscribed. New stones were erected beside the old stones, with 1790-1864 and Pennsylvania - Texas inscribed on Abraham's new stone.

Abraham's son James Hoover, brother to John, figures prominently in this history. James was born June 22, 1831 in Indiana. He married Nancy Elvira Underwood January 12, 1852, presumably in Upshur County. Nancy was born March 24, 1836 in Tennessee. The birth dates are according to a cemetery listing for Erath County, Texas (see below and also Cemetery Listings in Appendix).

John and Mahala Hoover had two children; David Hoover was born April 22, 1845, in Indiana, and "F. M.," born July 18, 1850 (?) in Upshur County, Texas, according to the 1850 Census. B. Burnett, born in 1835 (?) in Indiana was listed with the family and is assumed to be a sibling or relative of Mahala Burnett Hoover. Family lore indicates Mahala's first name was Leoma, and that she died in 1854, which is reasonable, and that John died in November, 1866, which is unlikely. Lore also held that, David, their son, served in the Confederate Army at age 16--for 16 months, and that two East Texas uncles raised him. The war dates would have been about 1862-63 which is possible, but no war record had been found.

Upshur County, Texas is pivotal in tracking the Hoover lineage. It is here that one loses track of John and Mahala Hoover. They are not listed in the 1860 Census for Upshur County. It is presumed they are buried in Upshur County as another researcher found two cemetery listings for J. Hoover and M. Hoover. The 1860 Census taken June 6 showed David, age 14, living with James and Nancy Hoover, his uncle and aunt, in Upshur County.We next find David Hoover married (in 1869) and farming in the Osage Township, Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas, according to the 1870 Census. His uncle James Hoover, wife Nancy, and five children were farming at the next census household, and David's father-in-law, Larkin Scott and family were also farming close by. Benton is the northwest-most county in Arkansas.

The 1870 Census for James and Nancy Hoover shows that the first four children were born in Texas, approximately 1858-1862; the younger two were born in Arkansas, approximately 1866 and 1868. This suggests the family moved from Upshur County, Texas to Arkansas after 1860 and before 1866. The Census also shows a Jacob Hoover, age 73, and family, and a Daniel Hoover in the same township. Their relationship to David is uncertain. This census information for the Hoovers and Scotts is expanded below.⁽³¹⁾

The Scott Lineage

Samuel Scott, of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in 1792 in North Carolina and there remained until his marriage to Hannah Phillips. She was born in 1794 in East Tennessee. They emigrated to Barren County, Kentucky and he died in Calloway County, Kentucky in 1837. Hannah died in 1842.⁽³²⁾

Larkin Scott was born February 17, 1818 in Barren County, Kentucky, the ninth of eleven children of Samuel and Hannah. He married Charlotta Kirk April 17, 1836 and they had twelve children. Charlotte was born in Davies County, Kentucky on May 9, 1819.⁽³³⁾

About 1840 or 1841 Larkin and Charlotta moved to Dade County, Missouri and farmed there. This would have been a significant trip by land from their Kentucky home. Larkin became a member of the Christian Church in 1842; Charlotte in 1845. Dade County is adjacent to Greene County and Springfield, Missouri. ⁽³⁴⁾

Mary Jane Scott was born in January 11, 1843, in Dade County, Missouri, the fourth of twelve children born to Larkin and Charlotta.

In 1856 Larkin purchased a 200-acre farm in the Osage Township near Bentonville, in Benton County, Arkansas, which is roughly about 100 miles south of Dade County, Missouri. Larkin farmed until 1888. In 1868 he was ordained a minister of the Christian Church. He organized the Antioch Church and was pastor of that church for about 18 years. He also organized a congregation at Robinson Schoolhouse and was pastor of that flock for eight years. He was the organizer of the Wire Springs and Lowell churches. In February of 1888, Larkin and Charlotta moved into Bentonville. Their youngest, Matilda Ellen was residing with them.⁽³⁵⁾

David Hoover and Mary Jane Scott were married in 1869. The July 25, 1870 Census indicated they were farming. Their first child was eleven months old and the Census indicated she was born in August (1869). The first seven of their ten children were born in Bentonville.⁽³⁶⁾

As mentioned above, David's uncle James Hoover (and wife Nancy and their five children) lived in the next census household and also farmed. The three older children had been born in Texas; the last two were born in Arkansas.⁽³⁷⁾

David and Mary Jane were still farming in Benton County in June of 1880, but moved to Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas between crops. Their eighth child, Alonzo Marion, was born April 9, 1881, presumably in Hill County. They later moved to Comanche County, where their last two children, James and George, were born (in 1885 and 1888). Their farm was on the county line separating Comanche and Erath Counties, with Dublin the nearest trade center, and family records are found in both Comanche and Erath Counties.⁽³⁸⁾

David's uncle and aunt, James and Nancy Hoover probably accompanied David and Mary Jane to Texas. Nancy died June 2, 1906 and James passed away January 21, 1913. They are buried in the Indian Creek (Pleasant Hill) Cemetery near Stephenville, in Erath County, Texas (adjacent county to Comanche). A cemetery listing shows James' birth date as June 22, 1831, and Nancy's as March 24, 1836.

Mary Jane's mother, Charlotta, died March 6, 1895 and is buried in the Hart Cemetery near Bentonville. Larkin spent his late years with some of his children in Erath and Comanche Counties in Texas, but it is not known when he left Arkansas. In 1900 David and Mary Jane, and the boys Will, Lon, Jim, and George were still living in Comanche County. Also residing with them were Mary Jane's father, Larkin, now a widower, and her sister, Matilda Ellen Scott. Larkin, age 82, in a quirk of timing, was also counted in the household of Barton Riggs in Benton County, Arkansas, where he apparently was visiting. Larkin died May 22, 1903 in Dublin, Texas and is buried in the Hanson Cemetery near Proctor.⁽³⁹⁾

In 1910 David, Mary Jane, and Jim, age 25, were living in Dublin, Texas. David died in 1921; she followed him in death the following year. Both are buried in the Hanson (Roch) Cemetery near Proctor, in Comanche County.⁽⁴⁰⁾

PEARL MARIE HOOVER'S MATERNAL LINEAGE

William Alexander Embry was born May 12, 1850 in Mississippi. His community became know as "Embry" as he built and operated the first cotton gin there. Embry is located on State Road 404 in Webster County, adjacent to Choctaw County, in north central Mississippi.

Judge John Snow was born about 1808 and married his first wife in Alabama. He moved to Choctaw County, Mississippi in 1835 and married wives two through five in this county. He died June 6, 1885 at his residence near Embry and was survived by his fifth wife, Elizabeth Harvey, daughter of Thomas Harvey. Cora Ophelia Snow was born to this last reunion in 1861.⁽⁴¹⁾

William Alexander married Cora Ophelia Snow, and Ada Belle, the first of their six children, was born September 15, 1886 in Webster County, Mississippi. The other children were Bertie Pearl, Mattie, Myrtle Willie, Carl, and Loyd. In 1900 the family moved by boat to Texas and eventually settled in Comanche County near De Leon where William worked as a carpenter. The Embrys later moved to Dublin and are buried in the Dublin cemetery. William died in 1917, Cora in 1935.

Alonzo Marion Hoover and Ada Belle Embry

Ada Belle slipped from her parents home in the wee hours of the morning of December 8, 1902 and joined Alonzo "Lon" waiting nearby in his wagon. They made their way to Billy Scott's ranch. At about four A.M. on that Sunday morning they were united in marriage. C. R. Maddox, a Church of Christ minister performed the ceremony, and C. R. Nichols, another minister, served as witness. Lon had obtained the license the day before. He was 23 and Ada was 16. She had slipped away because her mother had forbidden Ada to marry while so young.

They moved into a new log cabin "with a smooth lumber floor" in the area between Dublin and Proctor. Their first child, Pearl Marie, was born in that cabin September 18, 1903. Marie was the namesake of Ada's sister, Bertie Pearl Embry.

Billy Scott, Lon's cousin (son of John Willis and nephew of Mary Jane) had an 800-acre ranch seven and one-half miles west of Dublin plus some pasture and farmland in Wise County eight miles out from Bridgeport. In the fall of 1910, Lon and Ada moved to Wise County to farm Billy's land and see to the few cattle he had there. They stayed on this farm through the 1912 crop year and Marie attended a one-room school into the third grade. They then returned to Dublin. ⁽⁴²⁾

In 1914 Billy persuaded Lon to go back to Bridgeport and farm on the "halves" and see to the cattle for $40 a month. The boll weevils were so bad, however, that they could not make much farming. Lon and two other men discussed moving to West Texas, having heard stories about how well cotton did in that area. That fall they loaded up four wagons and started west.⁽⁴³⁾

ENDNOTES

1. Ray L. Rankin to C. R. B., February, 1967.

2. In 1994 the library in Decaturville, Tennessee had no other records that mentioned the Brantners or Eichars.

3. "Susannah" is the way she spelled her name on two hand-written records: a deed of conveyance, and a note of permission for her daughter's marriage license. Various other spellings occur in the census records, namesakes, and on her grave marker. "Lambkin" is the maiden name her son John M. listed on his marriage license. "Lampkin" is indicated on Ambrose's death certificate. Lamkin is also a common spelling.

4. 1850 Census, Decatur County, Tennessee, Geo. H. Brantner. St. Louis, Missouri is listed as the birthplace of John Mathious Brantner on his death certificate recorded in Robertson County, Texas.

5. Census records are always suspect. The 1850 Census lists Susannah as born in Missouri and two years older than George H., which suggests that neither she nor George did the reporting. Yet, George and Elizar are shown as born in Maryland.

6. Lillye Younger, Tennessee County History Series, Decatur County, p. 111

7. 1860 Census, Brazos County, Texas, G. H. Brantner.

8. "Boonville" The Handbook of Texas Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles.

The cemetery is located on Boonville Road, State Road 158, northwest of Briarcrest Drive in Bryan, Texas.

9. Rankin to C. R. B., February, 1967.

10. Irene Lemley to C. R. B. October 30, 1989.

11. Montgomery County Historical Commission, Men From Montgomery County Who Served in the Confederacy, 1861-1864.

12. Tennessee State Library, Military Records.

13. 1870 Census, Robertson, Texas, John Brantner, William J. Johnson. 1880 Census, Robertson, Texas, John M. Brantner.

14. Montgomery County Geological Society, Montgomery County History. A map shows Tillis Prairie just south of Mostyn, which is on Farm Roads 1488 and 149, south of the town of Montgomery. Copy provided by Irene Lemley.

15. Ibid.

16. Ray L. Rankin to C. R. B., June 2, 1973. A typed copy of the handwritten deed is in the Appendix.

17. 1880 Census, Robertson County, Texas, Susana Brantner. Mary Johnson is indicated as divorced on the form. The "widowed" column was checked for Susannah, but not Mary. Charles died in March, before the Census count in June.

18. Rankin to C. R. B., June 2, 1973. Index of Marriage Records, Male, Limestone County, Texas, January 1, 1873 - December 31, 1894, Certificate No. 18981059. 1900 Census, Leon County, Texas, Edward V. Brantner. 1910 Census, Limestone County, Texas, Edward V. Brantner.

19. Photocopies of Susannah's note, and Emily's marriage license and death certificate are in author's file.

20. Only John's middle initial appears on records examined to date. David Pryor, a descendant, has indicated that all the other descendants he has interviewed insist that Mathious is the correct name and spelling.

21. Iva Smith Martin (granddaughter of W. P. T. 'Bill' Smith) to Irene Lemley, 1985.

22. The birth date for Pleasant Smith is based on the 1880 Census record, which has him as age 43. All records reviewed showed him to be the same age as Maranda, who was born February 13, 1834.

23. Martin to Irene Lemley, 1985.

24. Clifton Watkins, A Family Named Smith From a Place Called Red Mud (Bossier City, LA: Everett's Printing, 1992), p. 1. Watkins is a great grandson of Willis Anderson "Toby" Smith.

25. Ibid., p. 2.

26. 1880 Census, Robertson County, Texas, Pleasant Smith and W. A. Smith. Watkins indicates that the Copeland children were taken in by relatives in Houston County and that they moved to Robertson County. The Smiths may not have lived in Houston County.

27. Edd and Elizabeth Fry to Irene Brantner Lemley, March 20, 1993.

28. Erit Fry, Brantner Family History. Unpublished mimeograph. Irene Lemley to C. R. B. January 11, 1990. The marriage license is dated October 2, 1890, issued to A. L. Brantner and Lugenia Emiline Smith.

29. Watkins, p. 3.

30. Pearl Marie Brantner to C. R. B. Kay spelled out his full name on his draft card that was required during World War II (in author's file). This is the only known documented spelling of Parrak.

31. 1870 Census, Benton County, Arkansas, David Hoover; James Hoover.

32. Pat Sparks to A. M. Hoover, July 2, 1967. Copy in Appendix. Sparks quotes Goodspeed's History of Arkansas, written in 1899.

33. Ibid. Charlotte's name has been spelled Charlette, Sharlott, Charlotty, and Charlotta in the various source materials.

34. Ibid. 1850 Census, Dade County, Missiouri, Larkin Scott.

35. Sparks to A. M. Hoover, July 2, 1967. 1860 and 1870 Censuses, Benton County, Arkansas, Larkin Scott.

36. 1880 Census, Benton County, Arkansas, David Hoover.

37. 1870 Census, Benton County, Arkansas, James Hoover.

38. 1880 Census, Benton County, Arkansas, David Hoover. Judy Clay and Kristi Bass, Hoover Family Favorites, (Spur, Texas, 1988). The latter has Dublin, Erath County, Texas as Alonzo's birthplace.

39. 1900 Census, Comanche County, Texas, David Hoover. 1900 Census, Benton County, Arkansas, Barton H. Riggs.

40. 1910 Census, Erath County, Texas, David Hoover.

41. Obituary transcribed by Ira Noel Snow from a Mississippi newspaper in 1885. See Appendix.

42. A picture of all the school children is in Ancestral Pictures - Alonzo Hoover.

43. Clay and Bass, Hoover Family Favorites, has 1913 as the year that Lon and Ada went to Dickens County. See Chapter 4.