ALABAMA TO TEXAS
The
Tandy KING, John NIX, Jr and Mary "Polly"
JOHNSON EFURD, widow of Thomas C EFURD, families all moved from
Barbour County, Alabama to Matinburg, Upshur/Camp
County, Texas (located 8 miles southwest of
Pittsburg). They were considered pioneer families
of "Matinburg Clearing".
(Tandy
W King married Mary
Ann Louisa Efurd (my great,
great, great grandparents). His son, Thomas
H King married
Julia F Nix (my great, great
grandparents)
During the time
the KING, NIX, EFURD families
settled in Matinburg, every person in the
community became well aware of the circumstances
surrounding the first documented burial in the
area. It is unclear, if this took place prior to
their arrival in Texas or if they were among the
settlers that came to the aid of Mr.
Jones.
According to the
story, Peter Marshall Jones'
wife died on the trek to Soules Chapel from
Alabama. At the Matinburg clearing, Mr. Jones'
wagon bogged down. The settlers came to his aid
and helped him bury his dead in the "Burying
Ground" given by Mr. Scott.
Mr. Jones walled the grave with rocks and so it
stands today, not only a marker for his grave,
but also a memorial to man's humanity to man.
The plaque at
the cemetery states "W.P. Jones buried his
wife Delilia in 1871."
John
Nix, Jr, learning from his mother's hard
work rather than his non-industrious father's
example, was a hard worker who farmed his land
and also was appointed postmaster of Lilly on
March 29, 1882. The following year (Jan 15,
1883), the Lilly post office was discontinued (as
was John's postmaster position) and the mail was
ordered to be sent to Pittsburg.
The KING, NIX,
EFURD family each had a family member that at one
time or another served as postmaster of the Lilly
and Matinburg post offices. 1882 .. John
N NIX (brother-in-law to Thomas H King)
1890 .. W.T. EFURD, Jr. (1st
cousin of Thomas H King) 1895 .. Lura L
NIX (dau of John NIX & sister-in-law
to Thomas H King) 1896 .. Thomas H KING
(my great, great grandfather) 1918 .. Mart
CADENHEAD (husband of Lilly King &
brother-in-law of Thomas H King) became
postmaster in Pittsburg, after Lilly and
Matinburg offices were permanently closed. He
retired in 1934.
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~ ~ ~
Pa
King (Thomas Henry KING) was a school
master, farmer and at one time, a postmaster.
"Pa King"
died one month shy of mother's 2nd birthday, but Ma
King lived to see
great-great-grandchildren.
Pa
& Ma King lived in a large home in
Matinburg, Camp Co, Texas. It had a covered
"walkout" to the kitchen which was
detached from the house. He was the only son of
six children born to Tandy King
& Mary A.L. Efurd. After the
death of his father (31 Dec 1878) his mother
asked him if he would stay on with her and take
care of her, his grandmother (Polly
Johnson Efurd) and his five sisters (who
ranged from 2-16 years old). Pa King happily
agreed and assumed the responsibilities of
"head of household" at the young age of
19. His mother then told him that for his
unselfishness and devotion she would leave him
the old homeplace when she died.
In
Feb, 1880, he married Ma King (Julia
F Nix), and she moved in with him, his
mother, grandmother and sisters. His grandmother
died in 1886 and his mother in 1903. Several
years later one of his sisters decided that it
was only fair that she receive 1/2 of the value
of the property that was left to Pa King.
She then proceeded to file suit against him but
lost.
The
old saying "no good deed goes unpunished"
rang ever so true.
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~ ~ ~
Ma
King (Julia F Nix) went to stay with her
daughter Winnie (in Dallas). She and Winnie
slept together and every morning Winnie
would arise and put the coffee on and cook
breakfast. Ma King would usually
arise and go to the kitchen. One morning after Winnie
had prepared the coffee and breakfast she
realized that her mother was usually up and in
the kitchen by this time. Winnie
thought back that Ma King was
"awfully still" when she awoke that
morning. She went to the bedroom to check on her
only to find that she was dead. The doctor
determined that Ma King had died
somewhere around midnight. It was then that Winnie
realized that her beloved mother had passed while
laying beside her, hours before Winnie
awoke. You can imagine how upset and
grief-stricken she was.
~
~ ~ ~
Zula
married (BROCK) and later moved
to Canada where she died. She was buried in
Canada. Later her body was exhumed and moved to
the Matinburg Cemetery in Upshur/Camp Co, Texas.
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~ ~ ~
John L Sheppard KING (Twin)
1900, worked for the railroad. He and his wife, Marthena
were childless.
~
~ ~ ~
20 Jun 1924,
Friday - Pittsburg Gazette - Tom H. King dies in
Texarkana - Mr. Tom H. King,
a long time resident of Camp County, died at
Texarkana Saturday night after an illness of two
or three weeks. His body was brought back home
and interred in the Matinburg Cemetery, Rev. T.A.
Johns conducting the services. Mr. King
is survived by his wife (Julia
F Nix) and several children ("Beza",
John Tandy, Homer D, Thomas O, Katie L, Winnie,
John L) (preceded by Zula & infant son) (several
grandchildren & one great granddaughter,
Doris Cross). He was 69 years old and came
to Texas from Alabama, his native state, at the
age of 18 years. He was a good man and had many
friends who were pained to learn of his death.
above
furnished to me by Billy King Pilgrim
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~ ~ ~
Notes on Wm
"Bill" H King - "Bill
and Lena Mae had two
sets of twins. The doctors told her (Lena
Mae) she would always have multiple births--she
miscarried a set of triplets. Their first
set of twins are Iva Mae
and William Ray. William
Ray died very young from complications
of the measles. He is the same William
Ray listed on your sited as buried
in Matinburg Cemetery. The second set of
twins are Jerry Marcus and Perry
Marvin.
Bill
was raised by relatives of Annis--possibly her
parents. He called them Big Daddy
(Wm A GILLIAM) & Granny
Gilliam (Nancy M Gilliam).
above
furnished to me by Sheryl King Hundley
~
~ ~ ~
Mary
"Polly" KING, daughter of Homer
D KING & Annis HARRIS
was living with her grandparents, Wm A
& Nancy GILLIAM on the 1930
Marshall, Harrison Co, TX census. She was listed
as 17 years old.
1900
Titus Co, TX census. ED 118, sheet
2, line 87
Annis
HARRIS born Apr 1888 (age 12) is listed
as grandchild on the census of Wm MORRIS
(age 67) & Mary UNKNOWN MORRIS
(age 60). Also listed was Summer C HARRIS
born Nov 1890, grandchild (age 9), and five
MORRIS grandchildren, Wm - age 13, Mary - age 9,
Purl - age 6, Pink - age 5 & Minnie - age 1.
above
furnished to me by Peggy Berry Sutherlin
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NOTE
(Jun 2004): Bill's 2nd wife
(possibly 3rd) was named Sadie.
About 1944, they lived in Louisiana. My cousin, Dorothy
POOLE RIGGS, recalls her family going to
visit them when she was a young girl. She said
her dad, "Uncle Carl Poole",
went through the gate to knock on the door. A
fierce dog came from around the back of the house
and Uncle Carl jumped the picket
fence to get away from the dog. She stated that Homer's
kids were all grown. Homer was
the uncle of Dorothy's mother, (my great aunt) Bernice
Cross Poole. He was brother to Bernice's
mother, Beza King Cross.
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