Tishomingo Co. Mississippi Gateway to Western Navarro County

Tishomingo Co. Mississippi
Gateway to Western Navarro County Texas

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TISHOMINGO CO. MISSISSIPPI
Gateway to Western Navarro Co., Texas

The name Tishomingo began to surface again and again as research progressed on Families who had lived in Western Navarro Co. Texas 1840-1940.    Those families from Tishomingo were not the first to arrive, but their "kin" had come early and as the Tishomingo families began to migrate west they chose Western Navarro Co. because relatives were already there.

One of the initial references to families from Tishomingo Co. was the coming of the J. Harris Lowrimore Family and the family of his half-brother, John Wesley Walker. Tradition stated that the two families had come to Texas with their earthly possession loaded in a railroad boxcar and that they receive permission from Robert Harve Matthews of Spring Hill to construct a log cabin on the Matthews land and to live there for the winter.

The John Wesley Walker Family was at Spring Hill before the coming of the railroad and before the town of Dawson existed.   Their daughter, Jessie, born 1869, was buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery on March 30, 1880.     The J. Harris Lowrimore Family had, probably, come to Texas with the Walkers but not by the railroad.

Why did John Wesley Walker bring his family to Spring Hill and how did he happen to receive a favor from Robert Harve Matthews was a mystery until a genealogical study of the Walker Family was begun.

Andrew Boyd Walker had married Elizabeth Matthews in County Antrim, North Ireland near the year 1740, and had migrated to Surrey Co. North Carolina soon afterwards, probably in company with Elizabeth's brother, James Matthews Sr. James Matthews Sr. had received a patent for land on The Great Alamance River and in 1766, sold 550 acres to his son James Matthews Jr. who married Mary Doak that year.

James Matthews Jr. moved from Surrey Co NC to Mecklenburg Co. NC at some point in the 1790s, and, apparently, some of the Walkers went with him.

Mary Doak Matthews was born in Mecklenburg (Now Union) Co. North Carolina in 1808 and married Andrew Boyd Walker born 1805, a grandson of the original Andrew Boyd Walker Mary Doak Matthews was a granddaughter of James Matthews, Sr.   The two were cousins, but marrying cousins was a common practice in that day.

Martha Walker, sister of Andrew Boyd Walker, born c1804, married James Matthews, probably a brother of Mary Doak Matthews.   Their son, Andrew Boyd Matthews Walker, married Adelia J Nelson who is buried at Matthews Cemetery, Maury Co Tenn.

Thomas Walker 1759-1847 who died in Maury Co Tenn.,   married Jane and had a son, Thomas Walker Jr. b. c1790.   Thomas and Jane had four sons...all named after great men of the Bible.

c1800 Epharim Walker,
c1801 Archalaus Walker
c1801 Eli Walker
c1828 Jesse Walker

The Reverend Charles Harris, a Methodist preacher, served churches in Maury Co. Tenn. at least to 1832.   While there he married Miss Margaret Jane Curry, whose Mother was Nancy Gresham.    Interesting is the fact that James Curry, married Elizabeth Runnels Garner in Maury Co Tenn in 1834 and settled in Navarro Co. Texas prior to 1850. Elizabeth Garner was, probably, a sister of William Hall Garner who arrived in Navarro several years later and lived with the James Curry Family for several months.

Elizabeth Harris was a daughter of the Rev.Charles B and Margaret Jane Curry Harris who, probably lived at the community of Culleoka, Tennessee where Rev. Harris was pastor.   Their daughter, Elizabeth Harris, married Jacob Redwine Lowrimore .

Their Children were, all born in Maury Co. Tenn. included

1835 William Lowrimore
1837 Stephen J Lowrimore
1840 Martha Lowrimore
1841 J Harris Lowrimore

The family moved to Tishomingo Co. Mississippi at some point prior to 1842 for it was in that year that Jacob Redwine Lowrimore died and was buried there. Elizabeth Harris Lowrimore was a widow living at Tishomingo Co MS with four children in 1842.

A number of Maury Co. residents migrated to Tishomingo Co MS between 1835 and 1850.    Many of those families were later found in Western Navarro Co. Texas and included:

Akers, Autrey, Barron, Broughton, Buckingham, Bumpas, Burns, Cannon, Davis French, Gable, Garner, Graham, Hall, Hearne, Hellums, Hill, Houston, Hopkins, Ivy, Lankford, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lowrimore, Marlow, Matthews, Millican, Nesmith, Odom, Osborn, Pitts, Price, Rogers, Savage, Skinner, Smith, Swinney, Taylor, Terry, Tirey (Tyree), Walker, Wells, Westmoreland.

Meanwhile, the Thomas Walker Family had moved to Tishomingo Co. MS. His son, Epharim, had married Mary Beauchamp in Maury Co.   Their son, William Thomas Walker, a bachelor, had known Elizabeth Harris Lowrimore in Maury Co. and, after an appropriate period of mourning, began to court her.   They married October 25, 1845 in Tishomingo Co MS.    Their children were:

1845 Thomas M Walker
1846 John Wesley Walker
1852 Clementia "Mittie" Walker

John Wesley Walker married Sallie Jackie Akers b. 1852, daughter of Jackson and Sally Castleberry Akers c. 1868.      The Jackson Akers family had migrated to Tishomingo Co MS from Gwinnet Co. Georgia, but they had "kin" in Maury Co. Tennessee who may have influenced their move to MS.    Other Akers children were:

1843 Elizabeth Akers
1845 James LaFayette Akers
1848 William Thomas Akers
1855 Charles Winchester Akers
1858 Zeb Akers

Some sources state that the John Wesley Walker and J Harris Lowrimore Families migrated to Texas in a railroad boxcar, but that is discounted by virtue of the fact that Jessie Walker, daughter of John Wesley and Sally Jackie Akers Walker was buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery prior to the coming of any railroad to the area.

The possibility exists that the two families shipped their goods by railroad boxcar to Corsicana and hauled their goods from Corsicana to Spring Hill by wagon.

It is fact that John Wesley Walker and his family came to Texas at some point in the 1870s and settled on land owned by Robert Harve Matthews.   The Walker and Matthews Families had been related for several generations. Robert Harve Matthews had known the Grandfather of John Wesley Walker in Tennessee and they were related. When "kin" migrated to a new area the "kin" helped them get started. The children of John Wesley and Sally Jackie Akers Walker were:

1869 Albert Ashberry Walker Buried Spring Hill   1882
1870 Thomas Walker
c1872 Lizzie Walker
c1874 Rob Walker
c1876 Jim Walker
1878 Zeb Walker
1879 Sarah Elizabeth Walker
1879 Jesse Walker Buried Spring Hill 1880
c1880 Bertha Walker

Charles Winchester and Zeb Akers, brothers of Sally Jackie Akers, wife of John Wesley Walker, had, probably come with the Walkers to Texas.   Charles Winchester Akers is known to have been in the area prior to the coming of the railroad due to the fact that he was hired by the railroad to assist with construction of right of way through the Richland Creek Bottom.

Charles Winchester Akers married Mary Elizabeth Bowers in 1878.   Some sources state that Charles Winchester Akers arrived Navarro Co. in 1877, but there is no record of his marriage in Navarro Co.   Mary Elizabeth died in 1893. Their children were:

1879 Sam Houston Akers married Mable Skinner family was from Iuka, MS
1882 Oscar Winchester Akers married Beatrice Fralik
1887 Remus M Akers married Tennie Berry
c1886 Jimmy Susan Akers married Walter Cook
1892 Eliz "Trid" Akers married Drowned Akers Tank 1914
1884 Nita Esther Akers married Virgil Brown
1889 Charles David Akers

Charles Winchester Akers married Annie Franks from Tennessee in 1896. Their children were:

1897 Ruby Akers married Major Davis
1900 Gladny Valencia Akers married Arthur Flint
1903 Jeff Darrell Akers married Essie Thomas
1911 Frances Evelyn Akers married Clyde Pierce married Don Salmon
1915 Vivian Akers married Edwin Sawyer married E B Collins

It is likely that William Thomas Walker came to Texas with his son, John Wesley Walker, and that the migration occurred after 1872 when Elizabeth Harris Lowrimore Walker died and was buried at the Walker-Sharp Cemetery in Tishomingo Co MS.    William Thomas Walker lived until 1890 and was buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery.

The railroad came to Western Navarro Co. Texas in 1881 and was routed south of Spring Hill due to the fact that Robert Harve Matthews wanted to sell right of way land to the railroad when the Brit Dawson boys and Sam Frost offered it for free. Many families from Tishomingo Co. MS began migration to Dawson. Placing household goods and farm equipment into railroad boxcars   and shipping to Dawson in days was far easier that making the trip by wagon.

J Harris Lowrimore b. 1841, followed the footsteps of his Grandfather Rev. Charles B. Harris, and became a Circuit Riding Methodist Preacher.   He married Mary Elizabeth Roberts in 1869 in Hardin Co. Tennessee located just across the north border of Tishomingo MS.    Their Children were:

1872 Alma Lowrimore married William Keeton
c1888 Agnes Lowrimore married Joe P Davis
1890 Larkin Lowrimore married Lucille E Smith
c1891 Cora Lowrimore married Charlie Boldin
c1892 Sudie Lowrimore married Lee Henson
c1894 Willie Lowrimore married John Walker
c1895 Charles Lowrimore married Annie Sims

A note of interest is that Annie Sims was the daughter of J Fred Sims whose sister, Margaret Adney Sims, had married Joseph Calvin Matthews who had migrated to Spring Hill in 1869 and had purchased land from his uncle, Robert Harvie Matthews.

And so the names of Walker, Sims, Matthews, Akers, Skinner, Lowrimore and all the others listed above appear in the history of Western Navarro Co. Texas.