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1850 United States Federal Census

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Name:Ira D Dewees

Age:4

Birth Year:abt 1846

Birthplace:Illinois

Home in 1850:Bastrop, Texas, USA

Gender:Male

Family Number:337

Household Members:

NameAge

Thomas Dewees50

America Dewees43

John O Dewees22

Eliza J Dewees18

Mary A Dewees11

William Dewees9

Thomas Dewees8

Isaac R Dewees6

Ira D Dewees4

Ellen M Dewees1

1860 United States Federal Census

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NameThos Dause

Age63

Birth Yearabt 1797

GenderMale

Birth PlaceIndiana

Home in 1860St Maries, Refugio, Texas

Post OfficeSt Maries

Family Number189

Household Members

NameAge

Thos Dause63

America Dause53

Wm D Weese18

Thomas Weese16

Ira Weese12

Madina Weese11

Leonidas Weese3

John Casady27

Margaret Casady22

Jane Casady2

Mary Casady1

J C Waldrop

1870 United States Federal Census

 

​Name:Ira A Dewees

Age in 1870:21

Birth Year:abt 1849

Birthplace:Illinois

Home in 1870:Precinct 4, Atascosa, Texas

Race:White

Gender:Male

Post Office:Pleasanton

Value of real estate:View image

Household Members:

NameAge

J O Dewees40

Thomas Dewees28

William R Dewees30

Ira A Dewees21

H M Dewees18

Leonidas Dewees13

America Dewees60

CHILDREN OF THOMAS DEWEES AND AMERICA OATMAN
1.  DAVID DEWEES
2  JOHN OATMAN DEWEES
3.  ANN ELIZA DEWEESE
4.  ELIZA J DEWEES
5.  NANCY ELLEN DEWEES
6.  MARY A DEWEES
7.  WILLIAM PRESTON DEWEES
8.  THOMAS "TOM" DEWEES
9.  ISAAC R DEWEES
10. IRA ADELBERT DEWEES
11. HELEN MEDINA "ELLEN" DEWEES
12. LEONIDAS LEE DEWEES
1.  DAVID DEWEES
 David Deweese was born about 1826, in Greenville, Putnam County, Indiana, his father, Thomas, was 27 and his mother, America, was 19. He had one daughter named after his mother, with Priscilla Lewis Gibson in 1850. He died on November 10, 1852, in Mercer, Missouri, at the age of 26.
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David was born ca. 1826 in Putnam Co., IN, eldest son of Thomas Deweese (1798-1864) and America Oatman."3. Also, "Study of probate records from Mercer Co., Mo. has revealed that  David died there on 10 Nov. 1852... this according to an affidavit given by a Garret Gibson there, who was also appointed to take an inventory of the deceased David's property, as he Gibson & Brown 2 edition: 24 Jul 13 had left no Will.".  The 1850 Mercer Co., Mo. census (p. 403-A) shows the following entry:
David Deweese 24 b. Indiana
"Precilla" 22
Amanda 5/12 b. Missouri (this could have been America after David's mother).
Sarah Brown 3
 
The above David fought in the Mexican War, applying for a Land Warrant in recognition of said service on 30 Sept. 1848, while a resident of Grundy Co., Mo. According to a published account termed "The Nance Memorial,"which was apparently compiled by Alicia W. Oatman of Dundee, Illinois in 1935 and notarized, this David married ______ Gibbons (I now believe this must have been Gibson), and had one child, a dau. named America. No further info on David's descendants in that source. According to his Mexican War papers, your David was born in "Hendrick Co., IN" (adjacent to Putnam Co. and derived from it)."
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SOURCE:   From Below
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Gard's Grassroots Genealogy: Gibson & Brown Families Help me pull the weeds! 

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The following is my record of the Gibson and Brown families as related to my ancestry. Most of this has been retrieved from the internet and some from decedents and some from other researchers. I am working backwards in time so some of my references will be resolved on following pages. Also note that I and most workers consider Gibson and Gipson the same names; also, Priscilla is often spelled Prescilla.

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1. Sarah Jane Brown was born 6 Sep., 1846 and died on 25 Dec.,19071 . On 25 November, 1866 she was married to my Great-grandfather, (G'GPa) William Clemons Stanley in Mercer Co., Mo.

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2 She was born in Mercer County, Mo. and died in Kelseyville, Calif. Her death certificate had her in Calif. for 24 years and 2 months which would mean she arrived in Oct. 1883; she was a housewife. I don't think I heard my mother or Norma talk about her at all; I'm sure they knew her so I suspect the Stanleys lived much of their later life in or around Lower Lake. She and W.C. had 8 children who I will not detail here.

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2. Sarah Jane's father was Abner Brown; the only info I have is from his daughter's death cert. that he was b. in America and I have a copy of the page from the book in the Grundy County, Mo. courthouse in Trenton, Mo. where his marriage to Prescilla Gibson was entered as 25 June 1843. Mercer County was formed from part of Grundy county in 1845 so it is very likely they were married in the part of Grundy that was to become Mercer Co. There were several Brown families in the Mercer Co., Mo. area but neither Maggie Russell or I could find any trace of an Abner. As Prescilla remarried soon after Sarah Jane was born I must assume that he died well before the civil war but I have no proof. The Gibson family came to Missouri from Putnam Co., Indiana where there were many families of Browns but I haven't made a connection.

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3. Prescilla Gibson was b. about 1820 in Putnam Co., Indiana; I have seen the Prescilla spelling often enuf to use it in preference to Priscilla, her mother's name. As the county was formed 2 years later, either the record is imaginative or they were there quite early; I suspect the latter. Her name shows up spelled both ways and, on her marriage record, she was Prescilla, Gipson. I have no idea when or where she died but many of her brothers are buried in the original section of the Leon, Decatur Co., Cemetery. a.

Prescilla m. Abner Brown in June of 1843 and Sarah Jane was b. in Sept., 1846; see discussion above. b. Prescilla m. David Deweese. "David was b. ca. 1826 in Putnam Co., IN, eldest son of Thomas Deweese (1798-1864) and America Oatman."3. Also, "Study of probate records from Mercer Co., Mo. has revealed that your David died there on 10 Nov. 1852... this according to an affidavit given by a Garret Gibson there, who was also appointed to take an inventory of the deceased David's property, as he Gibson & Brown 2 edition: 24Jul13 had left no Will.". Again, a death before the civil war; I'm beginning to worry about Prescilla. The 1850 Mercer Co., Mo. census (p. 403-A) shows the following entry: David Deweese 24 b. Indiana "Precilla" 22 Amanda 5/12 b. Missouri (this could have been America after David's mother). Sarah Brown 3 " "The above David fought in the Mexican War, applying for a Land Warrant in recognition of said service on 30 Sept. 1848, while a resident of Grundy Co., Mo. According to a published account termed "The Nance Memorial,"which was apparently compiled by Alicia W. Oatman of Dundee, Illinois in 1935 and notarized, this David married ______ Gibbons (I now believe this must have been Gibson), and had one child, a dau. named America. No further info on David's descendants in that source. According to his Mexican War papers, your David was born in "Hendrick Co., IN" (adjacent to Putnam Co. and derived from it)."

 

c. Prescilla then m. Lewis Russell Gay Sr. b. 1806 in Ky.4 and d. 1876 in Mercer Co., Missouri. He was the son of William Henry Gay and Margaret Russell and had previously married Mary Rice in Clay Co., Ky. by whom he had 8 children: Grant, Henry, Hiram, Joseph, Lewis Russell (Jr.), William Johanna b. 1850 and Matilda. They lived in Trenton, Mercer Co., Mo. Prescilla and he had 3 children:

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i. JAMES N. GAY, b. 1860, Mercer Co., Missouri; d. 22 August 1860, Mercer Co., Missouri.

ii. MARTHA E. GAY, b. Abt. 1861, Missouri; m. SILAS H. PALMER.

iii. WILLIAM BEDY GRANT GAY, b. 24 January 1864, Missouri; d. 30 May 1935, Mercer Co., Missouri.

 

I believe that the Gay family will show up again with Mary Elizabeth Stanley. My mother tells the story that, when her father, Otha Stanley, was born his parents (W.C. & Sarah Jane) were living in Iowa but went to Missouri for Otha to be born. Since it appears that Sarah Jane's mother, Prescilla, was living with Lewis in Trenton and had young children and experience and W.C. had probably not seen his father in years it would be natural to go to her mother's place for her first child to be born. When W.C. wanted to set out for St. Joseph to enlist in the civil war in the mid-60s, he was said to have left from Modena, Missouri. I believe his mother, Mahala, lived most of her life in Decatur Co., could W.C. have been brought up by Prescilla? 4. Lewis Gibson was Prescilla's father and, I'm sure, very influential in the history of my Gibson and Stanley families; someday I hope to prove why. My best information is from an 1986 Cemetery Tabulation of Mercer County, MO by Joe Dale Linn [sent by Maggie Russell]:

 

"Lewis, husband of D. Gibson died March 24, 1847 aged 56y 10m 5d". This would have him born on 19 May, 1790; other sources say 1791 but how does one argue with a headstone. Now, about that D. Gibson.... Lewis was said to have been born in Surry County, N. C. and he died in Mill Grove, Mercer Co., Mo. Mill Grove as I recall is a very small town with narrow streets on a low sidehill; I'm sure it had businesses in the 1840 but not now. Lewis was in the 1820 census of Knox Co., with 3 boys, 2 girls, wife Gibson & Brown 3 edition: 24Jul13 and 2 male adults and, it appears, 1 female slave. It looks like Basbainville (could this be Barbourville, the county seat of Knox Co., Ky.?). Valentine Gibson, I don't know which one, was there also with quite a crew on Stinking Creek. Garrett Gibson, again I don't know which one, was in Knox Co. in 1810. Knox county was formed in 1800. If the information on Prescilla is correct, Lewis moved his family to Putnam Co., Greencastle area, Indiana in 1820-21. Lewis shows up on the 1830 census in Putnam County along with Garrett and a couple of George Gibsons. Again, judging from his children's birthplaces, he moved his family to Mercer Co. about 1842; at least what was to become Mercer County. One source I can't now find said that John Butcher Gibson was b. 1828 in Claiborne Co., Tenn.; this would be interesting as Lander6 has John's wife, Mary Elizabeth Stanley b. there in 1832. Lewis is considered an early pioneer of Washington Twp., Grundy Co., Mo. (recall that Mercer county didn't exist until 1845). 5. On 10 Feb., 1814 in Knox Co., Ky7 . Lewis m. Priscilla Wilson b. 1793 in Knox Co., Ky. Children8 : a. Mary Gibson b. 3 Feb., 1814 b. James B. Gibson b. 24 Oct., 1816 c. Castleton Gibson b. 9 Jan., 1819 the line of a correspondent of mine. d. Prescella Gibson b. before 1821 my line e. Garrett Gibson b. 03 Feb., 1826 perhaps uncle Owen's namesake. 6. On 29 Sept., 1829 in Putnam Co., Ind., Lewis m. Elizabeth Butcher b. 1806. AF says this happened in Putnam County Indiana but Putnam County was formed in 1822 (Hendricks Co. was formed from part of it in 1824). A note on RootsWeb by Michael VanBaaren has Elizabeth b. 1797 in Montgomery Co., Ky, the daughter of James Butcher probably of Burbon Co., Ky. and Martha Clark. The Butcher family seems to have been associated with the Gibsons for a long time evidenced among other things by a Gibson Butcher resigning West Point after 2 days (his replacement was Stonewall Jackson); There were Butcher families early on in Putnam Co. Children: a. John Butcher Gibson b. 1828 m. W.C.'s aunt, Mary Elizabeth Stanley. b. Nancy Gibson b. 1832 c. Louis N. Gibson b. 4 Feb., 1836 d. Rebecca Gibson b. 1840 e. Rhoda Francis Gibson b. 1841 m. W. C.'s uncle Ozias Lafayette Stanley. f. Beda Gibson b. 1843 g. Rachael Gibson b. 15 Jan., 1846 h. Keziah Gibson b. 1848

1870 United States Federal Census

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Name:Priscilla Gay

Age in 1870:40

Birth Year:abt 1830

Birthplace:Indiana

Home in 1870:Madison, Mercer, Missouri

Race:White

Gender:Female

Post Office:Goshen

Value of real estate:View image

Household Members:

NameAge

Russell Gay63

Priscilla Gay40

Matilda J Gay30

America Dumas20

Martha Gay9

William Gay6

8.  THOMAS "TOM" DEWEES
**The Dewees Remschel House***
is located in southern Wilson County, five miles southwest of Poth, off of FM 541 and CR 206 on a 130 acre park. The Dewees Remschel Home was willed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. by Claribel Dewees Remschel, a direct descendent of the original owners of the ranch. The NTHP felt the home was too difficult to manage from Washington, D.C. and transferred the title to the Wilson County Historical Society.
The home is used for social functions and contains a museum that documents the Dewees Ranch history and its contributions to early ranching in Texas.
2.  JOHN OATMAN DEWEES

JOHN O. DEWEES,

SAN ANTONIO.

John O. Dewees, for many years identified with the history of western Texas, and a leading citizen and stockman of that part of the State, was born in Putnam County, Indiana, where the town of Greencastle now stands, on the 30th day of December, 1828. His parents were Thomas and America Dewees, natives of Kentucky, and respectively of Welsh and English and German and English descent. His father was a farmer and stockraiser, and died on his farm, near Hallettsville, in Lavaca County, in 1864. His mother died at San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, May 5, 1889.

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Mr. Thomas Dewees moved, with his family, from Putnam County, Indiana, to Tasewell County, Illinois, in 1831 or 1832, and, four or five years later, located further north, on the Fox River, where the town of Dundee, Cane County, Illinois, now stands. Mr. John Oatman, Mrs. Dewees' father, laid off the village of Dundee, on the east side of the river, and Mr. Thomas Dewees on the west side, and the latter engaged in farming and established the first flouring mill erected in that section.

The country west of the Mississippi, at this time, contained few white pioneers. There were, in fact, camps of Sioux and Pottawottamie Indians situated within half a mile of the little frontier settlement, but the Indians were kindly treated and, as a consequence, made good neighbors. School facilities were meager and the subject of this sketch, John O. Dewees, had few opportunities to acquire an education. During the summer months he worked upon his father's farm, and as teamster, often hauled wheat and corn to Chicago, thirty-six miles west of Dundee, and then merely a government post, containing 200 or 300 inhabitants. In the long winter days he was a pupil at the little red brick school-house, and succeeded in acquiring the rudiments of an English education, which he improved and extended in after years, as opportunity offered. In 1848 the construction of the Chicago & Galena Railroad was commenced, and in the fall of 1849 it had reached Elgin, five miles below Dundee. John O. Dewees, then in his twenty-first year, was among the first of the people of that section to ride over and watch, as a deeply interested spectator, the wonderful work of railroad building. And well he might! Rude and imperfect as was this primitive railway, slowly uncoiling itself in the Western wilderness, it represented the highest embodiment of the genius of this utilitarian, iron, world-moving age! An invention second only to that of gunpowder. Gunpowder enabled civilization, at last, to hold barbarism at bay and to render evermore impossible such a catastrophe as that which engulfed Rome's 1,400 years of glory, art, literature and law, in the night of the middle ages. The railroad has made it no longer necessary for cities to be built where there are harbors, or on broad, navigable streams. Every great railroad is a Mississippi. The savage has been subdued; every fertile acre of the continent has been made accessible; the frontier, moving farther and farther westward, has at last melted into the Pacific, and lives only in tradition, and old-fogy ism has, amid the glare of new surroundings, been compelled to sit and blink in dark corners and inanely bemoan the good old times.

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The railroad that young Dewees regarded with such natural and amazing interest, and upon which he rode at the first opportunity, was very far from being such a piece of perfect engineering as one of our modern trunk-line railways. The ties were placed five or six feet apart and on these were laid two stringers, and on the stringers nailed strips of iron, somewhat broader and thicker than the tire-iron used on wagon wheels. The engine and coaches were equally primordial and suggestive of the possibility of accidents, in a day, too, when the convenience of insuring, at short notice, against mishaps was a long way off in the impalpable future. The rails (or iron strips) often loosened, by spikes coming out, and the swelling of ties, had a penchant for assuming perpendicular or semi-perpendicular positions, and ripping holes in the bottoms of the coaches. These ragged pieces of iron were called snake-heads. The Chicago & Galena Railway was by no means the first road built in the United States, but it was among the first constructed in the West, and its appearance at Elgin was an event that made the day one of the dies notandi in Mr. Dewees' life.

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In 1847 Mr. John Oatman and his two sons went down the Mississippi to New Orleans, from New Orleans (by sea) to Galveston, proceeded to Houston, procured horses and traveled as far west as San Antonio. On the homeward trip (made during the same year) they passed northward, through east Texas, and, taking passage, in Louisiana, on a Red River steamboat, made their way back to Dundee. They were charmed with what they had beheld of Texas, and united in urging Mr. Thomas Dewees to remove to the Lone Star State. Both Mr. Oatman and Mr. Dewees were afflicted with bronchial ailments, and it was their desire to establish homes at some healthful locality in the South. Accordingly, the two families (consisting of John and Nancy Oatman and their children, and Thomas and America Dewees and their children—John O., Eliza, Ellen, W. P., Mary Amnia, Thomas, Ira Adelbert, Isaac and Medina Dewees) left for Texas, in 1849, and, after an interesting journey (partly by land and partly by water), reached their destination and settled on Cedar Creek, twelve miles below the town of Bastrop, and engaged in farming and stockraising.

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They followed the course of the Fox River in wagons to Peru. Illinois, the head of navigation on the Illinois River; there embarked on a steamboat and proceeded down the Iliinois and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis; went by steamboat from that point to Natchez, Mississippi; at Natchez went ashore, and traveled overland the remainder of the way. They crossed the Red River at Nachitoches, the Sabine at a ferry near San Augustine, and the Brazos at Washington. The party struck the Colorado at La Grange, and wended their way up that river to Bastrop, where they crossed the stream and proceeded to the place of settlement on Cedar Creek. Mr. Thomas Lewees was in bad health and unable to perform physical labor. His eldest son, John O. Dewees, therefore, looked after the cattle and farm work, performing the larger part of it himself. When he came to Texas he had $160, and with this amount purchased cattle at $4 and $5 a head. He worked for his father on shares during the ensuing four years and cleared about $3,000.

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In 1854, he went to Seguin, Guadalupe County, engaged in business speculations and, during the year, lost the hard earned $3,000 and found himself about $1,200 in debt. Nothing discouraged, he turned about, with undiminished zeal, to make another start, and in the spring of 1857, went to Live Oak County, purchased a few head of cattle on time, and worked on shares, his share being the fourth calf—payment that would now be considered grossly inadequate.

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At the beginning of the war between the States he owned about 1,600 head of cattle. In 1862 he joined Company B, commanded by Captain E. B. Millett, Thirty-second Texas cavalry, commanded by Colonel Woods, and served in Texas and Louisiana, making a brave and efficient soldier. His command did not reach Lousiana until after the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, but participated in the fight at Blair's Landing and the twenty-five or thirty severe skirmishes, including the battle of Yellow Bayou, that marked the retreat of Banks' vanquished army. At the close of hostilities, his company was mustered out of service about twelve miles above Richmond, on the Brazos River.

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The winter of 1864-5 was peculiarly severe and thousands of cattle died in west Texas. He gathered up what stock he had left, and purchased a number of herds, and soon laid the foundation for his subsequent fortune. Before entering the Confederate army he so disposed of his interest in cattle and lands that, when he returned home, he was able to realize there from a small amount of money. The price of cattle, immediately succeeding that winter, was lower than ever before, or since known, and he bought large numbers of cattle. In 1873, he sold his cattle, on the range, fo. $23,000, and moved to San Antonio, and has since made that city his home. At that time the market was not on a boom. Had he sold two or three years later, he would have realized at least $100,000 for his herds. At San Antonio he formed a copartnership with J. F. Ellison, of San Marcos. The firm, during the ensuing five years, speculated in cattle and bought and drove herds to Kansas, Wyoming and other markets in the Northwest, realizing large financial returns therefrom. Messrs. Dewees & Ellison severed their connection and the former formed a copartnership with his brother, Thomas Dewees, of San Antonio. They purchased and sold land and traded in cattle until they owned a ranch of 60,000 acres (under fence and well stocked) in Wilson, Atascosa, and Karnes Counties, and then James T. Thornton, at the time a banker in San Antonio, and now a resident of Kansas City, was taken into the firm. The new firm continued in business a number of years and, at the time of its dissolution, by the retirement of Mr. Thornton, owned 95,000 acres, also well stocked. The two brothers continued the business for about a year, and then dissolved partnership on account of the failing health of John O. Dewees. It was supposed that he could live only a few months, and they thought it best to have their affairs settled while both were living. The assets of the firm, at a fair valuation, were not less than $350,000. John O. Dewees has since been engaged in business on his own account. His ranch lies in Wilson and Atascosa Counties, and consists of 24,000 acres of land, stocked with 3,000 cattle, 2,600 of that number, steers. He owns lands in various parts of the State, a fine farm in Wilson County, and valuable property in and near the city of San Antonio, and is worth from $140,000 to $200,000.

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In early life, when struggling toward independence, he shirked no labor, however arduous; often splitting rails and shingles, felling trees, and working waist-deep in water. Difficulties, even misfortune, served to increase, rather than diminish, his courage and resolution to succeed—to be one of those who conquer in life's struggle. The demands upon his constitution in those years was the cause of the apparent decline that led him to wind up his affairs at one time, in anticipation that the end of his earthly career was near at hand. His health since has been fully restored, and he is now a man of magnificent physique, and, although his hair and beard are silvered by the pencil of time, his carriage is firm and elastic. He is a man of strikingly dignified and courtly appearance, and would be marked in any assembly.

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On the 12thof February, 1873, Mr. Dewees was united in marriage to Miss Annie Irvin, at the home of her mother, in Guadalupe County. They have one child, a daughter, Miss Alice A. Dewees, eighteen years of age, and now a student at Saint Mary's Seminary, at Knoxville, Illinois. Mrs. Dewees' parents were Jordan and-Sallie Irvin. Her father was a prominent farmer and stockraiser, and died many years ago. Her mother is still living in San Antonio. Mrs. Dewees received an excellent education, is one of the most talented ladies in the State, and presides over her palatial home with that rare and elegant grace that distinguishes cultured society.

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Mr. Dewees is a Democrat, and has never voted any other than the Democratic ticket, but takes little interest in politics. He is a man of broad and liberal mind, and has aided in the promotion of many public enterprises. While not a member of any church, he is a man of warm and generous impulses, as is abundantly attested by his almost daily acts of charity. He is a fit representative of that sturdy race that made their homes in this State when Texas was a wilderness, and have, by the exercise of manly virtues, achieved success, using the word in its highest and truest sense—a goal that all men seek to attain, and that fitly rounds an honorable career.

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SOURCE: 

Personnel of the Texas State Government: With Sketches of Representative Men of Texas

 

Lewis E. Daniell 

January 1, 1892

Maverick Print. House

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John Oatman Dewees

 in the Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958

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Name:John Oatman Dewees

Application Date:20 Mar 1928

Application Place:Wilson

Spouse:Mrs Annie Dewees

Marriage Date:12 Feb 1873

Marriage Place:Guadalupe, Texas

Death Date:10 Jun 1898

Death Place:Bexar, Texas

Pension File Number:43698

Application Type:Widow

John Oatman Dewees

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Birth: Dec. 30, 1828
Greenville
Floyd County
Indiana, USA

Death: Jun. 10, 1899
San Antonio
Bexar County
Texas, USA

Family links: 
 Parents:
  Thomas Dewees (1799 - 1864)
  America Oatman DeWeese (1807 - 1888)
 
 Spouse:
  Annie Irvin Dewees (1851 - 1939)
 
 Children:
  Alice Dewees Howard (1873 - 1908)*
 
 Siblings:
  John Oatman Dewees (1828 - 1899)
  William Preston Dewees (1842 - 1905)*
  Thomas Dewees (1843 - 1905)*
  Helen Medina Deweese Irvin (1849 - 1917)*
 
*Calculated relationship

 

Burial:
Alamo Masonic Cemetery 
San Antonio
Bexar County
Texas, USA

 
Maintained by: BONNIE & CLYDE DEWEESE
Originally Created by: Beth Sanders
Record added: Sep 17, 2006 
Find A Grave Memorial# 15779207

Annie Irvin Dewees

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Birth: Jul. 16, 1851

Death: Apr. 7, 1939

 
Family links: 
 Spouse:
  John Oatman Dewees (1828 - 1899)*
 
 Children:
  Alice Dewees Howard (1873 - 1908)*
 
*Calculated relationship

 

Burial:
Alamo Masonic Cemetery 
San Antonio
Bexar County
Texas, USA

 
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Beth Sanders
Record added: Sep 17, 2006 
Find A Grave Memorial# 15779205

Alice Dewees Howard

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Birth: Nov. 25, 1873

Death: Mar. 10, 1908

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Family links: 
 Parents:
  John Oatman Dewees (1828 - 1899)
  Annie Irvin Dewees (1851 - 1939)

 

Burial:
Alamo Masonic Cemetery 
San Antonio
Bexar County
Texas, USA

 
Maintained by: BONNIE & CLYDE DEWEESE
Originally Created by: Anonymous
Record added: Nov 17, 2005 
Find A Grave Memorial# 12390141

1900 United States Federal Census

 

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NameHal Howard

Age30

Birth DateJan 1870

BirthplaceTexas

Home in 1900San Antonio Ward 8, Bexar, Texas

RaceWhite

GenderMale

Relation to Head of HouseSon in Law

Marital StatusMarried

Spouse's NameAlice Howard

Marriage Year1893

Years Married7

Father's BirthplaceTexas

Mother's BirthplaceTexas

Mother: number of living children0

Mother: How many children0

Household Members

NameAge

Anna Dewees48

Alice Howard26

Hal Howard30

John D Howard5

Henry Lee Howard

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Birth: Nov. 27, 1865
San Antonio
Bexar County
Texas, USA

Death: Oct. 1, 1942
Dallas County
Texas, USA


Father Henry P Howard
Mother Lucy Lee Weir 

 

Burial:
Grove Hill Memorial Park 
Dallas
Dallas County
Texas, USA

 
Created by: couchpotato
Record added: May 29, 2013 
Find A Grave Memorial# 111440373

3.  ANN ELIZA DEWEES
4.  ELIZA J DEWEES
5.  NANCY ELLEN DEWEES
6.  MARY A DEWEES
7.  WILLIAM PRESTON DEWEES
9.  ISAAC R DEWEES
10.  IRA ADELBERT DEWEES
11.  HELEN MEDINA "ELLEN" DEWEES
12.  LEONIDAS LEE DEWEES
JOHN DEWEES HOWARD

Tessa Fuller Howard

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Birth: Dec. 2, 1908

Death: Oct. 1, 1999


Tessa (Fuller) Howard married John Dewees Howard on Jun. 24, 1975 in Wilson Co., Texas.
 
 
Family links: 
 Parents:
  Asa Grenade Fuller (1868 - 1951)
  Eva Carver Fuller (1877 - 1939)
 
 Spouse:
  John Dewees Howard (1895 - 1982)
 
 Children:
  Alice Anne Howard Blanchette (1927 - 2012)*
  Mary Catherine Howard Connally (1930 - 2016)*
 
 Siblings:
  Letha Fuller Wagner (1889 - 1910)**
  Flossie Fuller (1891 - 1905)**
  Kate Fuller Whitehead (1893 - 1975)**
  Tommie Sam Fuller Foster (1895 - 1986)**
  Clarabel McKenzie Thulemeyer (1896 - 2000)**
  William Garner Fuller (1902 - 1922)*
  Fanny Fuller Smith (1905 - 1997)*
  Tessa Fuller Howard (1908 - 1999)
  Charlie Franklin Fuller (1911 - 1982)*
  Nell Fuller Baker (1915 - 1984)*
  Asa Grenade Fuller (1919 - 2007)*
 
*Calculated relationship
**Half-sibling

 

Burial:
Floresville City Cemetery 
Floresville
Wilson County
Texas, USA
Plot: Section B

 
Maintained by: Carolyn
Originally Created by: Eugene Cornelius
Record added: Apr 26, 2011 
Find A Grave Memorial# 68948880

John Dewees Howard

​

Birth: Jun. 10, 1895

Death: May 18, 1982

 
Family links: 
 Spouse:
  Tessa Fuller Howard (1908 - 1999)*
 
 Children:
  Alice Anne Howard Blanchette (1927 - 2012)*
  Mary Catherine Howard Connally (1930 - 2016)*
 
*Calculated relationship

 

Burial:
Floresville City Cemetery 
Floresville
Wilson County
Texas, USA
Plot: Section B

 
Created by: Frank Pennington
Record added: Aug 04, 2010 
Find A Grave Memorial# 55867894

THOMAS AND TESSA HAD TWO DAUGHTERS
1.  ALICE ANNE HOWARD
​
2.  MARY CATHERINE HOWARD
ALICE ANNE HOWARD
Horace "Pete" Linwood Blanchette, Jr.

March 1, 1926 - November 25, 2016

 

 

Horace Linwood “Pete” Blanchette, Jr., 90, of Beaumont, died Friday, November 25, 2016, at Jefferson Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Beaumont. He was born on March 1, 1926, in Beaumont, to Margaret Pickering Blanchette and Horace Linwood Blanchette, Sr.

 

Pete is survived by his children, Rebecca McKeller and her husband, Charles; Mary Miller and her husband, James; John Blanchette and his wife, Betty; Lin Blanchette and his wife, Donna; Mark Blanchette; Tessa Koch; and Dianne Beaver and her husband, Ken; sister, Peggy Smith, of Houston; twenty-one grandchildren; twenty-six great-grandchildren; nieces; nephews; cousins; “adopted” children and their children; and too many friends to list.

 

He is preceded in death by his beautiful wife, Alice Ann Howard Blanchette.

 

A gathering of Mr. Blanchette’s family and friends will begin 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m., with his funeral service at 2:00 p.m., Monday, November 28, 2016, at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. His interment will follow at Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont.

MARY CATHERINE HOWARD

Mary Catherine Howard Connally

​​

Birth: Feb. 15, 1930
Floresville
Wilson County
Texas, USA

Death: Jan. 17, 2016
New Braunfels, Comal County
Texas, USA


Mary Catherine Howard Connally passed away on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, in New Braunfels, Texas, at the age of 85 years, 11 months, and 2 days. 

She was born on Feb. 15, 1930, in Floresville to John DeWees and Tessa Fuller Howard.

She was a resident of New Braunfels for four years and a former resident of Floresville. 

Mary was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband, Merrill Lee Connally Sr.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, Jan. 21, from 10-11 a.m. in the Floresville United Methodist Church in Floresville.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the church.

Interment will follow in the Fairview Cemetery in Wilson County. 

Published in Wilson County News
Floresville, Texas
January 2016
 
Family links: 
 Parents:
  John Dewees Howard (1895 - 1982)
  Tessa Fuller Howard (1908 - 1999)
 
 Spouse:
  Merrill L. Connally (1921 - 2001)
 
 Sibling:
  Alice Anne Howard Blanchette (1927 - 2012)*
  Mary Catherine Howard Connally (1930 - 2016)
 
*Calculated relationship

 

Burial:
Fairview Cemetery 
Fairview
Wilson County
Texas, USA

 
Created by: Kevin
Record added: Jan 20, 2016 
Find A Grave Memorial# 157270172

Merrill L. Connally

​​

Birth: Apr. 9, 1921
Floresville, 
Wilson County, Texas, USA

Death: Sep. 4, 2001
Floresville, Wilson County, Texas, USA


Actor. A native of Floresville, Texas, he appeared as the Team Leader in director Stephen Spielberg's 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." His other work included appearing in the 1971 television documentary series "V.I.P.-Schaukel" and the films "The Sugarland Express" (1974), "The Girls In The Office" (1979), "Alamo: The Price Of Freedom" (1988, as Davy Crockett), "Wild Texas Wind" (1991), "Rush" (1991), and "Heaven & Hell: North & South Book III" (1994). He was the brother of Texas Governor John Connally.

Cause of death: Lung Cancer (bio by: K) 
 
Family links: 
 Parents:
  John Bowden Connally (1887 - 1950)
  Lela Wright Connally (1889 - 1980)
 
 Spouse:
  Mary Catherine Howard Connally (1930 - 2016)*
 
 Siblings:
  Stanford W Connally (1911 - 1999)*
  Carmen Connally Hicks (1914 - 1998)*
  John Bowden Connally (1917 - 1993)*
  Merrill L. Connally (1921 - 2001)
  Wayne Wright Connally (1923 - 2000)*
 
*Calculated relationship

 

Burial:
Fairview Cemetery 
Fairview
Wilson County
Texas, USA

 
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: K
Record added: Jan 12, 2008 
Find A Grave Memorial# 23918654

Merrill Connally

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Merrill Lee Connally, Sr.

County judge of Wilson CountyTexas

In office
1955–1958

Preceded byVerner Monroe Butler

Succeeded byDietrich Richard Voges

Personal details

BornApril 9, 1921
FloresvilleWilson CountyTexas, USA

DiedSeptember 4, 2001 (aged 80)
Floresville, Texas

Political party Democratic

Spouse(s)Mary H. Connally (born 1930)

Childrenincluding Merrill Connally, Jr. (born 1956)

Occupation Actor, Rancher

Merrill Lee Connally, Sr. (April 9, 1921 – September 4, 2001), was an American film actor, a county administrative judge,[1] a rancher, and a brother of both GovernorJohn B. Connally, Jr. (1917–1993), and Texas State Senator Wayne Connally (1923–2000).

​

Connally was born, raised, and died in Floresville, the seat of Wilson County southeast of San Antonio. His parents were John Connally, Sr., a hard-working and industrious tenant farmer, and the former Lela Wright. The senior Connally once ran for Wilson County clerk. In addition to Wayne and John, Merrill had five other siblings.[2] Merrill Connally served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.[3]

He portrayed Davy Crockett in the 1988 picture Alamo: The Price of Freedom. He also appeared in Steven Spielberg's Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind[4] In the filming of Close Encounters in 1977, Connally was known on the roll-call sheets as "The American Eagle" because of his shock of white hair and his authoritarian demeanor. He physically resembled his brother John. Spielberg was so impressed with Connally's diction that he kept taking lines of dialogue from other actors to give Connally a greater part.[5]

​

Other Connally film appearances were in Rush starring Jason Patric as a narcotics detective, and in Heaven and Hell: North & South: Book Three. In 1991, he played Judge Bolen in the television production Wild Texas Wind. He was an extra in the 1979 television film The Girls in the Office. On August 12, 1956, he appeared as himself as a contestant on John Daly's What's My Line? CBS quiz program in which a celebrity panel attempts to guess the occupation of the guest. Jimmy Carter of Georgia, before he was nationally-known also appeared on What's My Line?[5]

​

Connally served as the Wilson County judge from 1955 to 1958[6] and was involved in various Democratic activities. He was a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which nominated the Adlai E. Stevenson-Estes Kefauver ticket. In 1968, he managed the unsuccessful candidacy of Eugene Locke, who resigned as deputy ambassador to the former South Vietnam to seek to succeed Connally's brother as governor. John Connally professed neutrality in the primary because the lieutenant governor, Preston Smith, and the former appointed Texas secretary of state, John Luke Hill, an enthusiastic Connally supporter, were also in the running. The nomination and the general election went to Smith, who had made a fortune as a theater owner from Lubbock.[7]

​

Another brother, Golfrey M. Connally (born 1919 - deceased), an economics professor at then San Antonio Junior College, supported George S. McGovern for U.S. President in 1972, while brother John Connally was heading the national "Democrats for Nixon" committee.[7]

​

Connally died of lung cancer. He is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Wilson County.[8] The Connally Memorial Medical Center in his native Floresville is named for him and his brothers John and Wayne.[9]

​

​

​

Merrill Lee Connally, Sr. passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday, September 4, 2001 at his home outside of Floresville, TX. He was born on April 9, 1921 in Floresville, and was the sixth child of John Bowden Connally, Sr. and Lela Wright Connally. He was preceded in death by his five brothers, Wyatt, Stanford, John, Golfrey, and Wayne, and by one sister, Carmen Connally Hicks. He is survived by his wife, Mary Howard Connally; his daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Scott Toeppich; his son, Merrill Lee Connally, Jr.; four grandchildren, Steven, Stuart and Mary Kristen Toeppich, and Brittnee Connally. He is also survived by his sister, Blanche Connally Kline of Dallas. Visitation will begin at 5:00 P.M., Thursday and Merrill Connally will be remembered at an informal Memorial Service celebrating his life at 7:00 P.M., Thursday, September 6, 2001 in the Vinyard Funeral Home Chapel in Floresville. Funeral Services will be at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, September 7, 2001 at the Floresville United Methodist Church. Interment with Military Honors will follow at the Fairview Cemetery, Wilson County, TX. VINYARD FUNERAL HOME Floresville, TX 78114 (866) 393-2588
 

Published in Express-News on Sept. 6, 2001 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?n=merrill-lee-connally&pid=88817841#sthash.w9uLba34.dpuf

​

THOMAS WEIR "TOM" HOWARD
TOM HOWARD GRANDSON OF JOHN DEWEES
John Dewees was one of three partners of the historic Dewees Ranch which encompassed, at one time, almost 100,000 acres in Wilson, Karnes, and Atascosa Counties. John O. Dewees was one of the best known cattlemen in South Texas during the longhorn trail driving times after the American Civil War.
 
In 1876, John and his partners are reported to have trailed over 100,000 longhorns up the trails to the northern rail heads. John Dewees married Miss Irvin February 12, 1899 in Guadalupe County, Texas. The bride was a daughter of Captain John Tom’s sister Sara (Tom) Irvin. John Dewees died June 10, 1899 and was survived by his wife and their daughter, Alice. Alice married Captain H. L. Howard and from this union, one child, Tom Howard was born on May 15, 1903. His birthplace was in the Howard’s home in San Antonio in the Hemisfair area close to the present Tower of the Americas. Tom’s mother’s health was frail and she died death three years after his birth. The responsibility of raising Tom was assumed by his maternal grandmother at the Dewees Ranch. Since the passing of his grandfather, his grandmother became the ranch manager which consumed almost all of her time. A Mexican seamstress from Matamoras who was living on the ranch was given the duty of caring and raising young Tom. She in effect became his foster mother but she spoke no English and as Tom later related, he grew up thinking he was Mexican until he was seven years old and had to start school. To help him learn English, he was sent to San Antonio to live with relatives where an older colored woman was assigned to tutor him in English. This proved to be unsuccessful. Against his will he was enrolled in a private school where two old maids, fluent in English and Spanish were able to teach Tom a passable level of English. After finishing his preliminary education in public school he was enrolled in San Antonio Academy at the high school level for a period of six years. His reason for this extended period in high school was because his interest was more in ranching and raising horses and cows. It seems at the Christmas break he would always develop some type of sickness and spend the rest of the term working on the ranch. He finally was able to graduate from high school but in the end he still lacked two credits. Instead of having him return for another term, the school administration gave him these two needed credits much to the relief of his instructors.
 
The idea of being a cowboy was an obsession to him and he became totally involved in ranching activities. So after finishing high school he immediately began working as a cowboy for $25.00 a month on his grandmother’s 14,000 acre ranch in Wilson County. His grandmother, Mrs. John Dewees had recently gone into a partnership with George Monkhouse to develop a steer raising operation. In addition to the 14,000 acres owned by Mrs. John Dewees the partners leased an additional 25,000 to 30,000 acres. Fat steers from this operation would be shipped by rail to such markets as existed in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Two to five railroad cars of steers would be shipped weekly on Wednesday and Saturdays. Two groups of cowboys managed the ranches. One group would work the pastures and herd the steers to holding areas. The second group would separate the steers in the holding pens into herds for shipping to the markets and trail the herds fifteen miles to the rail shipping point in Poth, Texas. Tom Howard was in his late teens when he was assigned the responsibility to lead the ranch hands trailing herds to the shipping pens. These trail drives ended when the cattle market crashed causing an end to the steer raising operation for the Dewees and Monkhouse partnership.
 
The ranching operation continued to decline and was discontinued. Mrs. John Dewees moved to Floresville and Tom Howard worked to support her and help pay the outstanding debts against the ranch. Mrs. Dewees later deeded her two sections of ranch land to Tom which were mortgaged. He then traded the equity in one section for 25 head of heifers to begin his own ranching operation. He then found a cattle company with O. F. Burney, a Floresville attorney and leased additional ranch land and accumulated additional cows and calves. Later, after a buying trip to Charlotte and Big Foot, he gathered a herd of 300 head and trailed them to Jourdanton. The herd was penned that evening in pens belonging to a local doctor. Not long after the herd had been bedded down, a strong Texas norther blew in and caused the cattle to stampede and demolish a fence section of the pens. By the next morning, the stampede was controlled and the trail drive was continued to the ranch. The intent of this ranching operation was to fatten the steers and market them as fattened beef. The operation proved to be unprofitable and the partnership was dissolved with the partners taking a huge financial loss. Tom Howard continued ranching on his own and was able to profitably earn some income by trading and raising calves. However, at this time the U. S. Economy was in depression and the calf business only generated enough revenue to cover the land debt requirements. To supplement this income, Tom Howard took a job as a tick inspector but this work was very unpopular with the cattlemen as it required ranches to dip all their cattle in a solution which would kill the ticks. The government required that all cattle be dipped every 14 days to eliminate the fever tick. It was the tick inspector’s duty to insure all cattlemen complied with this requirement. Many of the cattlemen resisted this requirement because of the cost and time involved. Tom Howard developed an art of negotiation to help the ranchers avoid fines and future problems were eliminated. The tick inspector position was no longer required and Tom Howard reverted to law enforcement. As a deputy, he developed a close relationship with Atascosa County Sheriff McAda. Again, Tom Howard’s ability to relate with people helped him solve problems and resolve conflicting issues without resorting to jailing or court action. After Sheriff McAda’s death, Tom Howard became sheriff of Atascosa County. This occurred during World War II. After Tom Howard’s retirement as the Atascosa County Sheriff in 1945, he opened a meat packing plant in Pleasanton and operated it until it was sold in 1960.
 
During his years of cowboying Tom Howard became intimately knowledgeable of the top cowhands of South Texas. He obtained his basic cowboy training from Bennie Roberts an African American cowboy who was working the ranch when he was born. He taught Tom how to ride in the brush country. Even though Roberts wasn’t a large individual, he wasn’t easy on Tom. During his apprenticeship, Bennie always saw to it that Howard was up front when it came to chasing an animal through the brush. At times, Tom would try to slow down but Roberts would be right behind him lashing his pony with a rope to keep it moving at full speed. Two other top cowboys were the African American Walker Brothers from Floresville. Both were all around top hands and were always in demand on South Texas ranches. Another great cowboy was Harry Kennedy who was perhaps the smoothest and fastest cowboy around in Tom’s time. For a period, he was foreman on the Dewees ranch during Tom’s early days.
 
On November 6, 1978, Tom Howard died quietly in his sleep at the age of 75. His final services were held in St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Pleasanton and he was buried in St. Andrews Cemetery No. 1. Compiled by Gene Maeckel from information in the files of the Wilson County Historical Society Archives, P.O. Box 101, Floresville, Texas 78114. 2/5/2010 Web site: www.wilsoncountyhistory.org
Josephine H. Rubsamen, 75, passed away on Friday, October 27, 2006 at her residence. She was the daughter of the late Tom Howard and Josephine Howard of Pleasanton, Texas and was born September 6, 1931 in Floresville, Texas. She spent her childhood in Wilson and Atascosa counties. She attended Hockaday Junior College and graduated from the University of Texas, where she was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority. Mrs. Rubsamen, a longtime resident of Corpus Christi, was a devout member of St Pius X Catholic Church. She served as a Eucharistic Minister at St. Pius X and was recently inducted into the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. She served on the Board of Directors of the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and served as President from 1996 - 1998. She was an active member of the Corpus Christi Junior League and volunteered extensively within the community, particularly in the area of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. She will be dearly missed by those who knew and loved her. She is survived by her son, Dr. Patrick E. Rubsamen (Merilynn McCullough); grandchildren, Matthew, Christopher, and Joseph Rubsamen all of Delray Beach, Florida; a daughter, Simona R. Hellinger (Mark), granddaughter, Simona Paige Hellinger all of San Diego, California; and a son, Mr. Scott T. Rubsamen (Cynthia Potter), grandchildren, Patrick and Anne Rubsamen all of San Antonio, Texas. A sister, Mrs. Tommye Marzano of Chaumont, New York and several nieces and nephews also survive her. Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, November 3, 2006 at Seaside Funeral Home with a Rosary to be recited at 7:00 p.m. that same evening at Seaside Chapel. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.

Tom Howard

​​

Birth: May 15, 1903

Death: Nov. 6, 1978

 

 

Burial:
Saint Andrews Cemetery No. 1 
Pleasanton
Atascosa County
Texas, USA

 
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Eugene Cornelius
Record added: Sep 27, 2012 
Find A Grave Memorial# 97845739

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