The Wheelock
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Revised 2007 THE WHEELOCK FAMILY “They lived at Dawson” Uncle Johnny Wheelock, born 1871, lived on a small farm just south of Dawson in the 1930s, across the road from Felix Davis. Uncle Johnny…John Ripley Wheelock… had married Lillian Ellura Wilkes in 1900. Elura was a daughter of Milton Alexander and Jane Wright Wilkes who had migrated from Marshall Co., Tennessee. Uncle Johnny and Ellura had two daughters. Theresa Ermadean Wheelock, b. 1903
Married Barney Wells Son of: William David Wells & Martha Ann Quinn G-Son of: Nonamous Gordon Quinn & Mildred Ann Coffee GG-Son: James Jefferson Coffey & Anne Elizabeth Matthews GGG-Son of : Sampson Stewart Matthews & Sarah Reece
Barney & Ermadine had two sons:
Raymond Douglas Wells b. 1921 Weldon Earl Wells, b. 1924.
Alta Quinn Wheelock, b. 1914Married Newton Barron and had no children.
Uncle Johnny was a kind, soft spoken, hard working individual who had moved to the farm when The Great Depression came to Dawson. He had worked in retail stores in the town and had owned a store himself. His….was the only Wheelock family in all of Dawson.
Who was he….where had his family lived….did he have siblings?
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The Wheelock Family name has been traced to the Welsh word…”Chevel-og”….which means “Winding River.” Family origins were found in the village of Wheelock, Cheshire, England where Wheelock Manor was owned by Hugh deWheelock in the 1100s. The manor remained in the family until the mid 1400s when the family moved to Shropshire Ralph Wheelock, born 1682, married Ruth Huntington., and was living in Windam, Connecticut by 1711 when his son.Eleazar, was born. Other children born to Ralph and Ruth Huntington Wheelock included: Elizabeth, Ruth, Abigail, John, Gersham, and Benjamin Wheelock. History records that these children were achievers with interests in education and religion. The Reverend Eleazar Wheelock completed his education at Yale University, and, in later life, became the founder and first President of the prestigious Ivy League College known as Dartmout… located Hanover, New Hampshire. **************************** An additional claim to fame by Reverend Eleazar Wheelock is the fact that he had taught members of the Stockbridge Mahican Indian tribe. This tribe took the name Wheelock in honor of their beloved teacher. A historical marker in upstate New York states that the Indian, Dennison Wheelock, married the daughter of Onieda Chief Sandwahde, and had many descendents. When the Onieda Tribe was removed to Wisconsin, many of the Wheelock families were among that group and their descendents are found there today. **************************** His son, Eleazar Wheelock II, born 1756 at Hanover, New Hampshire, had a son, Col. Eleasar Louis Ripley Wheelock, born in 1793. It was Col. Wheelock who became part of the Mexican Texas settlement begun by Sterling Clack Robertson. Robertson’s Colony was located between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers and North of the Old San Antonio Road (OSR) which ran from San Antonio to Nacogdoches. Col Wheelock had visited Mexican Texas in the early 1830s…possibly in the 1820s….had met Sterling Robertson…...migrated to Texas in 1833 with several other families from the St Claire Co IL area. Col. Wheelock had married Mary Prickett at St Claire Co. Illinois in 1818. They had the following children of record: George Ripley Wheelock b. 1819 IL Annette Woodward Wheelock b. 1821 IL William Hillman Wheelock b. 1830. IL David Prickett Wheelock b. 1830 IL Thomas Ford Wheelock b. 1832 IL
The Wheelock family was found in the 1820s in Bond Co IL which was surrounded by Madison, Macoupin, Montgomery, Fayettte, Clinton, & St Clair counties…all of which had been created from a larger St Clair Co. Not a few of the early residents of Western Navarro Co. Texas migrated from those very counties and included family names of Spence, Sawyer, Vinson, Turner, Powers, Ward, Dunn, and others. Bond Co IL is located 60-70 miles northeast of St Louis MO. Col. Eleazor Louis Ripley Wheelock, born 1793 at Hanover, New Hampshire; had migrated with his family to Boat Run, Ohio; married Mary A :Pritchett from Lexington, Kentucky at St Clair Co IL. Abraham Pritchett and E L R Wheelock are shown as original land owners in Bond Co IL. Col. Wheelock served in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and was said to have served during the Texas War for Independence. He, also, served as Captain for a company of Texas Rangers, as a Regional Texas Land Commissioner, and, as Texas Indian Commissioner. He purchased a huge tract of land in what became known as Robertson County, Texas. The southern boundry of his land fronted on the Old San Antonio Road….OSR…. a primitive, but major roadway across early Texas. It was there that Col. Wheelock established the town which would bear his name. His accomplishment throughout the state became legend as he served as a military leader, lawyer, farmer, rancher, surveyor, land agent, and other governmental offices. Military Rolls of the Republic of Texas 1835-1845 reveal that Capt. E L R Wheelock commanded a company of Rangers beginning May 8, 1836. S A Kimble, who would marry his daughter the following December, is listed as his First Sergeant. G R Wheelock, his son, was listed but without rank. Col. Wheelock & The University of Texas Of note is the fact that he was elected, May 10, 1837, President Protem of a group which met at his home to form The University of Texas. The group was composed of…. Col. Richard Bogan Jarmon Colonel in Tennessee Militia, his father had been General of the Militia Married: Tabitha H Kilpatrick Lived at Fayette Co Texas A G Perry, Esq Delegate from Viesca to 1835 Texas Consultation Masselon Farley, Esq. Served Texas Army… 1836 at Harrisburg Appointed Chief Justice of Milam Co Texas 1836 by Sam Houston Elijah Powers, Esq William D Moore William Walker Probably the father of William “Bill” Walker who married Mary Minerva McCandless Elizabeth Walker who married Brit Dawson John Walker who married Isabella Fullerton Nancy Walker who married Henry Fullerton Robert Henry Robert Henry, son of William Henry who family settled at Benchley. Robert Henry owned a cotton gin at Benchley in 1850. and others.
Col. E L R Wheelock died at age fifty four while on a visit to Illinois. His body was returned to Texas, first buried at Wheelock, and, later, removed to the Texas State Cemetery at Austin. His wife lived until 1881 and is buried at the Wheelock Cemetery. ***************************** GEORGE RIPLEY WHEELOCK 1819 ILSon of E L R Wheelock
m. 1837 Lucinda Powers Daughter of Elijah Powers, Esq. No record of children exist m. 1854 Susan Glidewell d. Aug 1, 1855 left ten day old infant. m. 1858 Mary Ann Jane PUSS Slaughter An early Robertson Co. Texas map reveals that George Ripley Wheelock owned a large tract of land adjoining a larger tract owned by his father at Wheelock. An early Navarro Co Texas map, also, shows his name on a large tract of land near the present town of Emmett. Samuel A Kimbrell/Kimbell, a brother in law, is shown on two adjacent properties to the west and south. Samuel Kimbrell/Kimble died in January 1837 and must have established some title to the property prior to that date. It could be assumed that the two young men took title at or near the same time. George Ripley Wheelock would have been eighteen at the time. George Ripley Wheelock was twenty-two when he married LUCINDA POWERS in 1837. Both families were part of the Sterling Robertson Colony, both had migrated there from Bond Co. Illinois in 1833. Lucinda was a daughter of Elijah and Catherine McSwarin Powers who had lived in Tennessee prior to migrating to Illinois. Her brothers included: Lewis Barker Powers, b 1820..married Nancy Caroline Barron; William Carroll Powers; Andrew Jackson Powers; Lecuffa Powers; Elijah Powers II; and Francis Marion Powers. Lucinda died at some point prior to 1850. It is assumed that their seventeen year marriage produced children, but none of record have been discovered. There is, however, speculation that Lucinda may have given birth to a daughter whose name was Catherine and called “Kate.” Some family members recall stories that Kate Byram/Byrom (could the name have been Barron?) had married a man whose name was Simms/Syms and who bore several children, one of whom was Daniel G. Simms who, for many years, was a resident of Dawson TX. George Ripley was thirty five when he married SUSAN GLIDEWELL in 1854. Susan, was a daughter of James and Mary MOLLY Dick Glidewell who lived and were buried at Madison Co. Tennessee. Susan Glidewell died the following year, leaving an infant. The death was recorded by a Nashville Tennessee newspaper. The name of the infant was not given. Three years later, thirty nine year old George Ripley Wheelock wed seventeen year old MARY ANN JANE “PUSS” SLAUGHTER, daughter of Judge Francis and Minerva Katherine Matthews Slaughter. The Slaughter family had migrated to Robertson’s Colony in December 1835, but Minerva had returned to Maury Co Tennessee in 1841 to visit her ailing father and…to have her baby…Mary Ann Jane PUSS Slaughter. Judge Slaughter died in 1842. His widow, then with three children, married Dr George Washington Hill in November 1847. The new family movedfrom Fort Franklin to Western Navarro Co. Texas in 1848 and established a residence and Trading Post just south of the existing Spring Hill Cemetery. George Ripley Wheelock and his bride, twenty-two years his junior, were married in Navarro Co., but made their home at Wheelock. The following children were born: Louella Wheelock b 1859 Mary Olivia Wheelock b 1862 married William Warren Turner Pauline Turner m. Robert Head Smith Sadie Turner George Wilmer Turner m. Lenora Sessions Torrence Turner Elizabeth Turner m. Mossie Clyde Sims Son Clyde Turner Sims Dean Turner John Lenoard Turner m. Zelma Garner Son William Clay HAPPY Turner Clifton Clemerence Turner m. Kathryn E McCluney Son Clifton C Turner Jr Dau Kathryn DIMPLES Turner Son Billy Gene Turner William Earl Turner Sarah ?? Turner Annette Wheelock b. 1864 married James Rucker Smith James Verner Smith Buena Smith m. Albert Wright Annie Lucie Smith Joyce Smith m. Anderson Son Samuel Herbert Anderson Georgia Smith William Andrew Smith m. Lovella Weir Dau Mary Ann Smith Beuna D Wheelock b 1869 married Albert Henry Berry Carrie Annette Berry m. William H Foster Theresa Berry Mary Berry John Ripley Wheelock b 1871 married Lillian Elura Wilkes Ermadine Wheelock m. Barney Wells Alta Quinn Wheelock m. Newton Barron Robert Harvey Wheelock b. 1874 George Ripley Wheelock died in 1889, was buried at Wheelock, and the family, apparently, moved to Dawson. The Wheelock House at Dawson, constructed in the 1890s, is located directly across from the new Methodist Church, and occupied for several years by the Frank Comer Family. ******************* THE SIMMS FAMILY CONNECTION The 1880 Robertson Co. Census listed Thomas Alexander Simms, age nineteen, living in the home of George Ripley Wheelock and Daniel Simms. age fifteen, living in the home of, Annette Woodward Wheelock Killough, a sister of George Ripley Wheelock. Family tradition stated that the two boys were brothers, but placed in different homes due to their sibling clashes. Family stories told that Mary Ann Jane PUSS Slaugher Wheelock had changed the diapers of Daniel Simms when he was a baby. There is strong suspicion that Daniel Simms b 1865 and Thomas Alexander Simms b 1861 …were grandchildren of George Ripley & Lucinda Powers Wheelock by a daughter whose name was Catherine KATE Wheelock. Catherine KATE McSwain Powers would have been her maternal grandmother. Family traditions hold that the mother of Thomas Alexander Simms II was Kate Byrum. (Could that name have been Barron) Kate Wheelock could have married a Byrum, become a widow and married Thomas Alexander Simms. Thomas Alexander Simms, born 1861… was reported to have statedthat his mother was KATE Byrum and that his father was Thomas Alexander Simms. Catherine KATE Wheelock Byrum Simms may have given birth to four children…. Thomas Alexander Simms II born 1861 Daniel G Simms (“G” for George?) born 1864 Nancy Simms m. Lawrence B Walker born c1866 William A Simms born 1869 William A Simms married Mary T, lived for many years at Frost, Texas, both are buried there. William A and Mary T…had a daughter whose name was KATE. Kate Sims was editor of the Frost newspaper in the early 1930s. Notice the use of the name “Catherine.” Catherine KATE McSwayne…mother of Lucinda Powers…. ` Catherine KATE Wheelock Byrum Simms…. Catherine KATE Simms…. editor of the Frost newspaper Coincidence? Thomas Alexander Simms II married at age twenty-three to Josephine Dunn, daughter of a prominent Robertson Co. family who, like the Wheelocks, had come to Texas from Bond Co. Illinois. Thomas Alexander Simms served as a Texas Ranger, lived at Wheelock, died at San Antonio, and was buried at Wheelock. William A Simms b 1869 ..married Mary T…Lived and died at Frost TX, named a daughter..KATE. Silas Simms b. 1812 m. 1831 Morgan Co IL….Elizabeth Russell b. TN-NC 1813. Their daughter, Mary E, was born 1843 in IL. A son,Charles A Simms, was born 1846 in IL. Morgan Co IL is adjacent to Cass Co IL where Charles Turner had settled. W W Turner arrived in Texas from IL during the Civil War and married Mary Olivia Wheelock in 1868. Daniel G Simms b1865 lived at Dawson TX during the 1890s and worked in a meat market. Daniel G Simms b.1865 married Mary Ann Jane PUSS Slaughter Wheelock..b.1841…at some point in the 1890s..an age difference of twenty four years. The marriage of a lady to a man twenty four years her junior, whose diapers she had changed when he was a baby, and… probably his step grandmother…no doubt rattled more than a few cages around Dawson, Texas in the 1890s. PUSS died in 1910 and, from all accounts, the couple had a successful and happy marriage. However, the children of PUSS were not pleased. The inscription on her tombstone was purposefully turned away from the family plot at the Dawson Cemetery and remains so until this day. DOES ANYONE HAVE A COPY OF THE WILL
OF After her death, Dan Simms married Bettye Priddy Matthews, widow of Robert Harve Matthews 1814-1894. Robert Harve Matthews was a brother of Minerva Kathryn Matthews Slaughter Hill, mother of Mary Ann Jane PUSS Wheelock. Bettye Priddy Matthews was eight years older than Dan Simms. Bettye Priddy Matthews Simms died in 1921 and left her considerable estate to Dan Simms. Dan Simms was married a third time to Ella Smith, a widow twenty six years his junior. She had the words… ”The greatest man who ever lived”inscribed on his tombstone….and…he must have been ….just that. ************************
ANNETTE WOODWARD WHEELOCK 1821 IL Daughter of E L R Wheelock m. 1836 Samuel A Kimbrell/Kimble at age fifteen m. 1837 Andrew Jackson Powers at age sixteen m. 1841 Samuel Blackburn Killough at age twenty SAMUEL A KIMBRELL Husband No. Onewas admitted to the Nashville Colony February 1, 1836. A Navarro County map, created from a survey in 1901, shows the name…S A Kimbrell/Kimbell on two plots of land adjacent to one held by George Ripley Wheelock and located near present day Emmett, Texas. His grant number was 471, indicating that he was in the settlement quite early and may have been older than George Ripley Wheelock.. He, also held grant numbers….454, 455. G R Wheelock’s number was 824. Research of the deed to the property could, possibly, provide names of his heirs. The names….B Kimbrell, H R Kimbrell, and James T Kimbrell…were found in the 1874 minutes of The Liberty Hill Presbyterian Church as “members who have left” and were “discontinued as members” by resolution of the church. Emmett was located across Richland Creek from Liberty Hill…approximately the same distance as Spring Hill where some church members lived. However, crossing Richland Creek would have been difficult more than a few times each year when heavy rains fell on the area. The Kimbrell names were not among the Charter Members of the Liberty Hill church in 1860. The possibility exists that Samual A Kimbrell had arrived at The Nashville Colony/Robertson’s Colony in January 1836 following the death of a first wife who had died giving birth to a son who survived…..say James T Kimbrell. James T Kimbrell…possibly with siblings…could have settled on the properties. Interesting is the fact that Samuel & Annette were married in Natchitoches LA November 1836 when Annette was fifteen. A search of that area produced no Wheelocks. Samuel Kimble died in Louisiana..February 1837 of Yellow Fever. He was, also, recorded as having “fought in the Runaway Scrape” during the Texas Revolution. He was listed as First Sergeant in a Ranger Company commanded by Capt. E L R Wheelock that was organized in May 1836. Col. Wheelock was a wise and prudent individual and an assumption could be made that he provided for his family to flee to the east as Santa Anna and his vast Mexican army made their way toward San Antonio to take the Alamo, and, later, to be defeated at San Jacinto. Historical fact states that the Wheelock sons, George Ripley Wheelock, William Hilman Wheelock, and David Prichett Wheelock…”fought in the Runaway Scrape.” Documentation exists that Annette Wheelock and Samuel Kimbrell were married at Natchitoches, Louisiana in November 1836 and that Sam died three months later in Louisiana of Yellow Fever …February 1837. Annette Woodward Wheelock had become fifteen years of age in February 1836, near the time that the “Runaway Scrape” began. Samuel Kimble was in the area… He owned two large properties adjacent to Annette’s brother … He had fought in the Runaway Scrape… no doubt in company with the Wheelock sons. He was a member of the Ranger Company commanded by Capt. Wheelock Could it have been possible the two were seeing each other prior to leaving the settlement….to have courted as they participated in the Runaway Scrape, and decided to marry when they reached Natchitoches, Louisiana? Not likely in the spring of 1836. Texas history records that heavy rains had flooded the Trinity River bottoms and that the fleeing settlers were stopped in their “Runaway” at that point. The Wheelocks would have been stopped there, far short of Natchitoches Most settlers who had fled the settlements as part of the Runaway Scrape returned quickly to their homes after learning of the San Jacinto Victory of April 21, 1836. Samuel Kimbrell and fifteen year old Annette Wheelock…..may have “run away” to Louisana in November where Samuel may have had relatives, married, and lived there until he died in February 1837. The fact that the two lived in the area from November until February strongly suggests that some support system existed there. The possibility exists that Annette may have become pregnant during the brief marriage and had a son who was given the name Samuel A Kimbrell, but, later, known as Samuel A Killough.
ANDREW JACKSON POWERS Husband No. TwoAnnette Wheelock, widowed after only three months of marriage by the death of her husband in February 1837, must have enjoyed her brief marriage to Sam Kimbrell/Kimble. Samuel Kimbrell died in February and…she promptly married Andrew Jackson Powers the following month… March 1837. She had become a widow….. remarried and she was only sixteen years of age. The Powers Family had been neighbors of the Wheelock Family in Illinois and had come to Texas with them in 1833. One reference indicated that the Powers had come to Texas from Tennessee…probably meant to state that they originated in Tennessee. George Ripley Wheelock had married Lucinda Powers in 1837. Two years later Annette became a widow once again when Andrew Jackson Powers was killed in an Indian fight near present day Marlin TX. Thomas Washington Powers was born in the above time frame and could have been their son. SAMUEL BLACKBURN “Black” KILLOUGH 1813-1876 Husband No. Three
Son of Samuel Blackburn KilloughBorn 1768 - Chester Co SCDied 1842 – Rutherford Co TN
Annette Wheelock Kimbrell Powers….remained a widow for two years following the death of Andrew Jackson Powers. It is possible that she was busy during those two years caring for two babies…one by Samual A Kimbrell…another by Andrew Jackson Powers. She was twenty when she married twenty eight year old SAMUEL BLACKBURN KILLOUGH from Rutherford Co Tennessee. NOTE: The Killough Family was found in Mecklenburg Co NC in the 1770s and were found in Williamson Co TN by the 1830s. Two brothers were identified…..John Allen and Samuel Killough. John Allen Killough married Anna Peeler who died in 1871 and was buried at Pin Oak Cemetery near Hubbard TX. Members of this family settled in southeast Hill Co and in Limestone Co TX after having lived in Tennessee, Mississippi, and in Louisiana. Their son, John Wallace Killough b 1832…married 1852 Mary Matilda Carlton b1835… who lived at Natchitoches LA. He died in 1868 and she married Edward Bowman, son of Jacob Bowman. Edward Bowman was a Baptist minister. Members of the Bowman family married Treadwells, Skinners, Wrights, and others in rural areas around Dawson. Another son, William Henry Killough, married Jane Elizabeth Carlton, sister of Mary Matilda Carlton. Both are buried at Fairview Cemetery, Hubbard TX. Interesting is the fact that Elvy Josephine Carlton, born 1822 Duplin Co NC, married Isaac Lee. She was living at Beat #4 Spring Hill, Texas at the time of the 1870 census. Samuel Blackburn Killough was, probably, a son of Samuel Killough. “Judge” S B Killough is mentioned as having been in a group of men from Fort Franklin who pursued a band of Indians who had stolen horses in the area. Others in the group included A C Love, G H Love, Harvey Matthews, and D Hill. The Indians were overtaken and a fierce battle ensued with some hand to hand fighting. It was a marriage that would last thirty nine years and produce the following children: Sarah Elizabeth Killough b 1847 m. William P Henry Nancy Jane Killough b. 1845 m. George H Dunn Annette Woodward Killough b. 1849 m. Abraham McMordie Charles Cavendish Killough b.1852 m. Johanna W Isaac D L Killough b.1858 m. Cynthia A Henry Clifford Killough b.1859 Henry Clay Killough b.1880 Valverde Cem. Milam Co TX Mary Killough b.1842 d. 1843 Josephus Killough b.1842 d. 1844 George Ripley Killough b.1851 d. 1852 William S Killough b.1861 d.1863 Samuel A Killough…..possible son of Samuel Kimbrell Samuel A Killough married 1868 Mollie O Clark at Waco TXSamuel Blackburn Killough died 1876 at the age of sixty three. Annette Woodward Wheelock Kimbrell Powers Killough lived twenty five more years. She died in 1901 at age eighty. **************************** WILLIAM HILLMAN WHEELOCK 1830 IL Son of E L R Wheelock Fought in the Mexican War….returned to Wheelock..lived until 1896
DAVID PRICKETT WHEELOCK 1830 IL Son of E L R Wheelock m. Eleanor Hally son E L R Wheelock dau Florence Wheelock son Halley Wheelock son David Cameron Wheelock son Robert Burns Wheelock dau Stella Augusta Wheelock
THOMAS FORD WHEELOCK ???? 1832 IL Son of E L R Wheelock
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March, 2009
Edward L. Williams & Barbara
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