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Nancy Mullins 1793 - 1870
The story of Nancy Mullins, is really the story of her husband John C. Myers and his family. John's father, Abraham, had come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his father Jacob Myers, and other siblings. Jacob had arrived in Philadelphia from Germany believed to be sometime around 1760. Following his arrival the first son, Abraham Myers was born. Sometime later the family traveled to Georgia, eventually settling in Franklin County, Georgia. Franklin County was formed in 1784 as one of the original Georgia Counties, and named for Benjamin Franklin. It covered a large part of upper Georgia, including a portion of South Carolina. In all about 11 present day counties comprised the newly formed Franklin County. Twelve years later, in 1796, Jackson County was cut from within Franklin County. Its original size extended way beyond its present size to include all of Barrow, Clarke and Oconee Counties, and a portion of Madison County. In 1801, Clarke County was formed from Jackson County. It was here in Franklin County that Jacob Myers was granted a patent by the state of Georgia on January 27, 1789. The 600 acres was on the north side of the Walnut Fork of the Middle Oconee River. The Walnut River flows from near Gainesville, Georgia, in Hall County southeast till it reaches the Middle Oconee River about 5 miles outside of the county seat of Jackson County, the city of Jefferson. At that time Jackson County included parts of Hall County which had not been formed. For whatever reason, Jacob and his son Abraham settled on another grant, that of the heirs of Shem Cook, also on the north side of the Walnut Fork. He was recorded as living on that land when the property was sold twice, in September of 1800, and March, 1802. For a record of these interesting transactions see Jackson County, Georgia Deed Abstracts specifically relating to Jacob Myers. By 1808, Jacob and died and his real estate was sold, with Abraham involved in the remainder of his estate disbursement. Most likely Nancy met and married John Myers there is Jackson County, Georgia. How long they remained in Jackson County is unknown, but Bud Mullins and John Myers (spelled Mires in the document) were living near each other in the Indian Territory of Georgia in 1817, when they were requested to leave by the authorities. Their eventual location in Hall County (formed 1818) was not more that 20 miles from the Walnut fork of the Oconee River. We are fortunate that John Myers’ great-grandson, John H. Myers, a direct descendant of Jim Thornton Myers, wrote the family history in the summer of 1942, and send it to his relatives still living in Alabama. Please enjoy. The document that follows was:
“The history of any family that goes back as many as three or four generations will have to record some things about which the writer may not have written records to substantiate all that he says. I have some written facts of our family, but not as many as I would like to have. I shall do my best to use tradition and stories with these facts to make this account as interesting as possible. At least, I hope this short history will be of interest to my immediate Myers family. I thrust that in the future our people will have enough family pride to record even the simple things that the family may know. “The oldest person by the name of Myers that I can talk about with any degree of certainty was Abraham Myers. He was my great-great-grandfather. Two accounts of his birth and childhood days were given me. One of these accounts was that he, as a fifteen-year old boy, came from Germany to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania about the time the American Revolutionary War was closing. According to this account, no other person by the name of Myers came over on the ship that brought him to America. If this account is true there is no way to connect him with any of the many people by the name of Myers that were living in Pennsylvania and New York at that time. “The other account of this boy was that his father and mother came to America about 1760. On the ship that brought these two people to America, were seventy-five or one hundred other German immigrants. They landed at Philadelphia too. It was said that this Abraham MYERS was the first child to be born to any of this shipload of immigrants after they landed in America. His father's name was Jacob MYERS, his mother's name was not given, but she was reported to be the second wife of Jacob Myers. Isaac Myers, a brother of Abraham, was the only other child mentioned of this family. I am inclined to think that this story is more authentic than the former. Within the last few years, I have talked with some of the Myers that have examined the early records of this family in Pennsylvania, and these records record that Abraham Myers did have a brother that moved to the west and to the southwest. “During the eighteenth century, many European immigrants came to America. It was during this century that so many people by the name of Myers came from Germany and other countries of Western Europe. They did not all spell their names alike. Most of the Myers families that came to America had common characteristics. Among these characteristics were: piety, practicality, patience, and others. Certain family names are common in all these families. Such names as: Peter, Henry, John, Abraham, Isaac, Andrew, Samuel, Thomas, Philip, Daniel were common Christian names used by most of these Myers families. “About 1785, Abraham Myers left his home in Pennsylvania and came down into Virginia. Soon after coming to Virginia, he married a young lady by the name of Sally ROBERSON. This Miss Roberson belonged to a family that had come from England to America several years before this time. She was a sister of Captain James Roberson. This James Roberson became a Captain in the Revolutionary war under George Washington. He died in Virginia, not many years after the war closed. Not long after Abraham Myers and Sally Roberson married, they left the state of Virginia, and came down into the Carolinas and Georgia. It is not known how long they lived in those states, but it is known that they were always looking for better hunting grounds and better farming lands. They were pioneers all their lives and lived as pioneers. They owned no slaves, nor at any time did they own any great amount of property. It seems that they were never satisfied to settle down and live in one place any length of time. It is not known to what church they belonged, if any. It is very probable that they were very Calvinistic in their religious belief. “Abraham Myers, his wife, and most of his children and grandchildren came from Georgia to Alabama about 1825. They settled in the eastern part of Walker County. He settled on land between the Sipsey and the Mulberry Rivers, not far from the old Gravlee place. It is said that David Gravlee, the father or grandfather of Jack Gravlee, was the first white man that visited Abraham Myers after he arrived in Alabama. He filed on a piece of government land that is now part of the J.T. Parker homeplace. He made final proof on this land about 1840 and was given a government patent by Martin Van Buren who was president of the United States at that time. (Ed. Note: Patents were actually signed by his son Martin Van Buren, Jr.) This patent describes the land as follows: the N.W. 1/4 of the sec 32 in Township 13, range 5 West. “Abraham Myers died about the time he made final proof on this piece of land. It is not known whether his wife died before or after he did, but is known that there was only a short time between their deaths. They were buried in a small cemetery on the piece of land mentioned above, this cemetery is about 1/4 of a mile west of the J.T. Parker home and about the same distance east of the Sipsey river, there are no markers at their graves. “It is not known just how many children were born to Abraham Myers and his wife, but it is known that two boys and one girl were born to them. The boy’s names were John and Jacob. The girl's name was Mary. Mary Myers married in Georgia to a man by the name of Thomas Wilson. This Thomas Wilson was a lawyer and very well educated for a man of this day. He settled there in that country a few miles from his wife's parents. It is said that Thomas Wilson was the only man in that part of the country that voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 for president. It is very probable that Thomas Wilson is buried in the old Hopewell Cemetery. The only marker on any grave in the cemetery where the father and the mother of Mary Wilson is buried is at her grave. It says: Mary, wife of Thomas Wilson, born May 20,1802, died Dec. 29, 1859. “In the Wilson family mentioned above there were two or three girls and probably a boy or two. One of the girls married Col. Tom King and was the mother of Mrs. Sally Cunningham and Mrs. Mattie Lang, both of whom are still living at this time. One other one of the girls married a man by the name of Guthrie. This Mrs. Guthrie was the grandmother of the Tommy Guthrie children that lives in and around Townley. “I do not know who Jake Myers married, nor do I know whether or not he moved from Georgia to Alabama along with the other members of the Myers family. I do know that at one time lived in Alabama, and probably lived in Tennessee at one time. Forty years ago, I heard a man who was then seventy years old say that Jake Myers could have the highest fences around his horse and cow lots that he had ever seen. I think that the Russel Myers family that has lived for a long time in the country around Nauvoo are descendants of Jake Myers. Of the Russel Myers family, I knew only Abe, Mart, and Hewett. Also, I think, the James Myers family were descendants of Jake Myers. In this family were John Dan, Will, Marion, and Dixon. The girls in this family were Edith Ann, Betty, and Mary. John MYERS, the other son of Abraham and Sally Myers, was my great-grandfather. He married Nancy MULLINS in Georgia and came to Alabama along with his father and other relatives. He and his wife were buried in Winston County. I know less about John Myers than I know about Abraham Myers. To John and Nancy Myers was born a large family of children. In this family were eleven or twelve boys and one girl. The girl's name was Dicie. She married William Lindsey in Georgia, and they came to Alabama along with the rest of the Myers families. The Lindsey family lived in the eastern part of Walker County and their last home was near Parker's Ferry on the Sipsey River. Dicie Lindsey is buried in a cemetery about a ½ mile from Parker's Ferry. William Lindsey married a second time and he and his last wife are buried in the New Hope Cemetery. “I shall not attempt to give all the names of all the sons of John and Nancy Myers. The oldest of this large family was Thornton Myers, my grandfather. The names of some of the other boys were: Tom, Greenberry, William, Wash, Burgis, John, Henry, and Abe. Tom, William, Wash, and Abe Myers all lived in Walker and adjoining counties. Many of their descendants are still living in these counties. Greenberry Myers married in this country, and he and his family moved to Tyler County, Texas, about 1860. He and his wife both died in that country sometime between 1860 and 1870. Some of their descendents still live in different parts of Texas. Burgis Myers and his family moved to Missouri just after the Civil War. Burgis Myers had a son, Abe Myers that was one of the best schoolteachers of his day in Walker County; this Abe Myers went to Missouri and taught in that state. He later went to Oklahoma and taught in a government school in that state. “William Myers was the grandfather of Joe Myers. Wash Myers and his family lived some 10 or 12 miles east of Arkadelphia, Alabama. He had a large family of boys and two girls and he and his family of boys kept up the family tradition as hunters. After the father died the mother and all of her large family moved to north Texas. An old man living in Arkadelphia told me that he was present when this family started to Texas. They carried their guns and dogs with them, after they were in north Texas for a few years some of the boys moved into the country around Ada, Oklahoma. They still live in Texas and Oklahoma. “Abe Myers and his family lived at Carbon Hill. He was a very substantial citizen. He reared a large family, most of whom were boys. Of his sons I knew personally John, Henry, George, and James. James Myers married Sarah Drummond and they lived some three miles from my father's home in the eastern part of Walker County. Henry Myers was one of the best land surveyors of his time in Walker County. “As was said above, Thornton MYERS, my grandfather, was the eldest child of John and Nancy Myers. He was probably born in Georgia and married in that state. We know very little of his boyhood days. He married Jane Blalock in Georgia and he and his young wife came to Alabama with all of the other Myers families. He probably had one or two children when he came to Alabama at different times he lived at three or four places in the eastern part of Walker County. To Thornton and Jane Blalock Myers was born a large family. Two or three of these children died while infants or when they were small children. Eight of their children lived to be grown and most of them lived to rear large families. Uncle Thornton, as most people knew grandfather in his day, was a highly respected man. His was one of the best homes in the country. Many people would go to him for advice and counsel. He was a strict member of the Primitive Baptist Church. It is said that the friendship that existed between him and his brother in law, William Lindsey, was something like the friendship that existed between David and Jonathan. “Thornton Myers was probably seventy-eight years old when I can first remember him. For many years before I could remember him, he had had a nervous disorder that made it impossible for him to write or to do anything that required precision. About 1870 my grandmother, Jane Blalock Myers, died and my grandfather married Sallie Blevins, a very fine woman who helped to make his home life pleasant. At about eighty-five years of age, he fell and broke or dislocated one of his hips. From this he never recovered. He was buried in the New Hope Cemetery in Walker County. I regret that I do not know more of the Blalock family than I do. My grandmother was a fine Christian woman. She was very devoted to her family and to her church. She died just after the Civil War and was buried in the Lindsey Cemetery on the Sipsey River. “The children of Thornton and Jane Myers were, not in the order of their ages, John, Elijah T. (Bud), Wash, Tom, Caroline, Ann, Jane and Martha. John Myers, one of the older children, joined the Confederate Army and died of sickness while the ______ in which he belonged was retreating toward Vicksburg after its defeat at the battle of Shiloh. The Confederate Army could not take care of its sick, so a man living near Corinth, Mississippi found this young man on the roadside so sick that he could go no further. This man took him in his home and cared for him until he died a few days later. The man buried him in his own garden. The eldest daughter, Caroline, married Rev. Nathaniel Sanders, a Primitive Baptist preacher. To them were born two children: a girl whose name was Jane and a boy whose name was Moses.
“Uncle Bud Myers married Nancy Barton and to them born a very large family.
Their names were: John, Martha Ann, Henry, Sarah Jane, Tom, Villa, Nat,
Caroline, Irene, Sam, and Vada. They lived most of the time in the Myers’
community on the Sipsey River. Uncle Bud was blind for some years before he
died. He was the last of the large family of Thornton and Jane “Martha Myers married W.P. (Dock) Wilson. To them were born nine children: Mary Jane, Sarah Ann. John David, Adline, Jim Thornton, Caroline, Monroe, Asberry, and Lula. Tom Myers, the youngest of this Myers family, married a Miss Calvert. Their children were George, Abe, and Mary Ann. Uncle Tom died while a young man. My father, G. Wash Myers, was born Feb. 15, 1848. He was just about old enough to join the confederate army when the Civil War was over. Until he was eighteen or twenty years of age his health was not very good, but after he became a man, his health was exceptionally good until his death at seventy-six years of years of age. When he was a boy, the schools in that part of the country were very poor. For this reason his education was very limited. He believed in education and did all he could to educate his children. He possessed some of the best characteristics of the Myers family. My father married Elizabeth Cole in 1867 and they made their home in the Myers’ community in the eastern part of Walker County. Of their forty-seven years of married life they never moved from this location. Father died Jan. 4, 1924 and was buried in the family cemetery at New Hope. “The first child born to my parents was a girl whose name was Jane. The child was named for my grandmother Myers. Jane was born Sept. 5, 1869 and died July 31, 1872. She was buried in the Sophia Cole Cemetery in the eastern part of Walker County. The fifth child was a boy whose name was Thornton. He was born April 17, 1880 and died Aug. 24, 1884. He was buried in the same cemetery as his sister Jane was. All the other seven children born to my parents are living today, except Tom who died just a few years ago. “Thomas William Myers was born Feb. 7, 1876. He was the fourth child born to my parents. He attended public schools of the community in which he lived, and when he was a young man he spent a year or so in college. He taught school five or six years in that county. He taught at Shady Grove and at Hillard. He farmed some and worked in the coalmines some. Tom married Mary Elizabeth Banks. During the most of his married live in Walker County, he lived on a small farm two or three miles north of the town of Sipsey. He suffered a great deal with some bronchial or lung trouble and in the 1920's he came to Texas for his health. He died at Plainview, Texas, Nov. 2, 1936. “To Tom and Dolly Myers (this is what his wife was always called) were born six children. Their names were: Hollis, Grady, Tommie, Ollis, John Percy (J.P.), and Wilburn. Dolly died at Plainview, Texas in 1930 and is buried in the Plainview Cemetery. Hollis Myers, a very fine looking intelligent boy, died when he was sixteen years of age. He was buried in the Myers Cemetery in Walker County. Grady Myers, the second child to be born in the family, came to Texas about 1923, with his mother and the other children, to be with the husband and father. From the time Grady was a sixteen-year-old boy until his health failed him, he worked hard and gave all he made to support the family. In 1938 Grady came down with a stubborn case of T.B. He died in 1940, and was buried at Plains, Texas. Tommie was the only girl born in this family. She married John Gorden and they have two fine girls, Joyce and Johnnie Ruth. This family now lives in California at this time June 16, 1942. Ollis, J.P. and Wilburn are all in the armed service of the U.S. Government. Ollis married after going into the service and now has a wife and one baby girl. “Susie, the second child born to my parents, married George Tidwell about 1885. George died in 1937 and Susie now lives with my only other sister, Mrs. Stancil, in Jasper, Alabama. I doubt that Susie has made a dozen enemies in all her long life. I think she is one of the best woman I have ever known, she was born Sept. 4, 1871. The second child born to my parents was Jake. He was born on Jan. 19.1874. He left Alabama when he was a young man and came to Texas. He lived in Johnson County a few years and went into Oklahoma to live. He lived at different times at Tecumseh, Reagan, Shawnee, and at other places. Jake makes friends easily and is generally liked by those who know him best. He is a mason and a member of the Baptist Church. He is a farmer and a regularly ordained preacher. In Oklahoma he met and married Emma Schoggin Williams and they now have six living children. The children are: Otis, Aud, Bryant, Sophia, Leona and Marylee. Sophia is the only one that is married, she married Milton McDonald and they live on a ranch (within) a few miles of Plains, Texas. All three of the boys are in the armed services of the U.S. and the other two girls are at home with their parents in Plains, Texas. “Mrs. Louvenia Stancil, the younger of my two sisters, lives with her husband in Jasper, Alabama. She was born Jan. 5 1885. She and I came along pretty close together and we were pals during our childhood days, I remember very well that she liked to read books and chew paper. She married W.P. Stancil about the year 1908 or 1909. To them were born two children, Horace and Willie. Horace, the older of the two, was a fine intelligent boy, he graduated from the high school in Jasper, after he graduated from high school, he assisted his father in the transfer business between Jasper and Birmingham. Horace died about the year 1934. Willie also graduated from the high school at Jasper and afterward married Boyd Ellis. Willie and her husband have two fine children. Louvenia is one of the best housekeepers that I have ever seen. Five or six months ago she had an unfortunate fall that broke or dislocated a hip. She may be a permanent cripple. “Rufus Myers, the eighth child born to my parents, was born Dec. 29, 1889. He attended the common schools of our community and later completed his junior year at the state teachers college at Jacksonville, Alabama. He taught school a few years in Jefferson and Walker Counties. In his early twenties, he began to work in the coalmines in his home county. After he quit teaching school, he has followed coal mining continuously to the present time. He now holds a good job in a coalmine in the state of Virginia. Rufus first married Vanna Aaron, a very fine young lady. She died in 1918. It is likely that she died of influenza. If she did, she was the very first victim of the flu epidemic that I knew of. They have one very fine daughter, Frances Myers. “I now come to the last son born of my parents. Byrd T. Myers was born Oct. 5, 1892. His career as a pupil and as a teacher was almost parallel with that of Rufus. He attended very nearly the same schools that Rufus did and taught about the same number of years, his mind never ran in the direction of coal mining. As a very young man he began farming. He married Rusha Snow and soon after they married, he bought a farm in the Boldo community in Walker County. They lived on this farm for a number of years, and about three years ago, he sold it. Kathleen, their only living child, married Dexter Tucker. They lived at Jasper, Alabama and they have a little daughter about three years old. Byrd bought a farm in Louisiana a year ago. He moved to that state, did not stay there on account of his health. He is now living at Boldo in Walker County. “I was the sixth child born to my parents. I was born April 7, 1883. I worked on our farm and attended the common schools of that community. After I had completed the common schools of that community, I went to school at Jasper. Before I completed my senior year at Jasper, I secured a teacher's certificate and began to teach. I would teach a while and then go to school a while. From that day to this, I have (done) very little except teach and go to school. In my early twenties, I married Minnie Davis, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Lowery Davis. In 1907, we moved to Jacksonville, Alabama, and I was in school there for the next two years. After graduating from school on June 8, 1909, I taught the next year at Arkadelphia. The next three years, 1911, 1912 and 1913, I was principal of the school at East Tallassee, Alabama. From 1913 to 1920, I was superintendent of the school at Townley, Alabama. On account of my wife's health, we moved to southwest Oklahoma in the summer of 1920. For the next ten years, I taught in Jackson and Tillman Counties, Oklahoma. In 1930, we came to Floydada, Texas, where I have been a teacher these years. “In 1924, I worked out my bachelor of arts degree at the teachers college at Weatherford, Oklahoma. Since coming to Floydada, I have done some work on a masters degree at Texas Technological College. We have two children, Lenora and John Harold. “Lenora, the elder of our children, was born near the corner school in Jefferson County, Alabama. She graduated from high school at Manitou, Oklahoma in 1923. She has always liked good music, children and birds. She has never had any desire to go to college. John Harold was graduated from the high school at Floydada, Texas. In 1935, he attended Mayland Junior College at Plainview, Texas for two years. He graduated from that school in 1939. Both he and Lenora are at home with us at this time.”
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