WILLIAMS_HOUSTON_Families_excluding_Living

<body> <p> This <b>genealogy report</b> is about <i>WILLIAMS_HOUSTON_Families_excluding_Living</i>.It contains 126 individuals and 47 families, and also 26 Pictures from the family tree. <?html?><br /><a name="top"></a><p align="center"><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/wiho.png"></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#DC143C"><b><i>To ensure privacy, this site excludes details of known "Living" persons.  To view details of the Living Descendants and Connected Families, please <a href="mailto:disteltra@hotmail.com">click here</a> to request the password.</font>  <font color="#008000">This password is available to family members only.</i>  <font color="#DC143C"><a href="http://familytrees.genopro.com/Password-Required.aspx?url=%2f36260%2fWilliams_Houston_Family_Report_Living%2fDefault.htm">Click here</a> to log in to the "Living" site.</b></font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#0000CD" size="4"><b>W</b></font><font color="#0000CD" size="2"><b>elcome</b></font><font color="#4D2600" size="2"> to the genealogy detailing the ancestors and descendants of the</font><font color="#0000CD" size="2"><b> Williams</b></font><font color="#4D2600" size="2"> and</font><font color="#0000CD" size="2"><b> Houston</b></font><font color="#4D2600" size="2"> families!</font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#A52A2A" size="3"><b><u>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and INTRODUCTION</u></b></font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="2"><em> First and foremost, we are extremely grateful to God for allowing this research opportunity.</em>  A special thanks to everyone for the very valuable assistance they have shared to make this genogram come to life.<br /><br /><p>The purpose of this site is to share information among those interested in the Williams and Houston family line that began in East Texas.  As presented here, much of our family's history was passed along from my maternal grandparents.  My mother, Louese J. Williams-Hickman, supplied many names and made inquiries to relatives and family friends to obtain additional information.  Other helpful contributors and resources were:  cousins Obadiah Jackson, Sr. (provided information on the Native American tribes (Cherokee & Choctaw)), Tony Sherman and June Ellis (provided copies of their research findings), the Ancestry.com website<a href="#1">(1)</a>, and individual obituaries.</p><br /><br /><p>Before revealing the results of this genealogical research, let’s discover a little bit about our ancestor’s and their descendant’s neck of the <em>piney</em> woods.</font></p><br /><br /><p><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/txrepublic.jpg" align="left"><font color="#A52A2A" size="3"><b><u>Brief History of Texas</u></b></font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="2">The written history of Texas begins in 1519, when Alonso Álvarez de Pineda explored the northern Gulf Coast.  During the period of 1519 to 1865, parts of Texas were claimed by six countries:  Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.  When the Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821, Texas became part of the new country Mexico.  The Revolution ended in April 1836 and for the next nine years, Texas governed itself as an independent country, the Republic of Texas.  In 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States, becoming the 28th state.  Long determined to protect slavery, Texas seceded from the U.S. in 1861 to join the Confederate States of America.  It rejoined the union March 30, 1870.</font></p><br /><br /><p><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/texasmap.JPG" align="right"><font color="#4D2600" size="2">Texas comes from the Hasinai Indians, Caddo Nation word "teyshas," meaning "hello friends" or allies, and appropriately Texas's motto is "Friendship."  In Spanish, the translation came out as "tejas".  Eventually, Tejas became Texas.<a href="#2">(2)</a></font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#4D2600" size="2">Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.  Probably the two most recognized symbols of Texas are its unique shape and the lone star that is represented on the State flag.  The Texas flag design was approved in 1839 to symbolize the Republic of Texas and was adopted as the State flag in 1845.  The simple design of a lone star and three bold stripes of red, white and blue represent bravery, purity and loyalty, respectively.  Texas is the only state to have had six different flags fly over its land -- Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America and the United States of America.<a href="#3">(3)</a></font><br /><br /><center><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/tspain.gif"> <img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/tfrance.jpg"> <img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/tmexico.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/ttex.gif"> <img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/tconfederate.gif"> <img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/tus.gif"></center></p><br /><br /><p><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/houston_county_color.jpg" align="right"><font color="#A52A2A" size="3"><b><u>Brief History of Houston County</u></b></font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="2">Houston County is named for Samuel Houston, one of the most important figures in the history of Texas, president of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas.  It was the first county established by the Republic of Texas on June 12, 1837.  Its county seat is <em>Crockett</em>.  The cities and towns that make up Houston County are:  <a href="http://www.crocketttexas.org/" target="_blank">Crockett</a> (the county’s largest seat), <a href="http://www.grapeland.com/" target="_blank">Grapeland</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennard,_Texas" target="_blank">Kennard</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latexo,_Texas" target="_blank">Latexo, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelady,_Texas" target="_blank">Lovelady</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratcliff,_Texas" target="_blank">Ratcliff</a>.</p><br /><br /><p>The area now known as Houston County was also a stronghold of the Alabama-Coushatta, Cherokee, and Tejas Indians.  In 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, Houston County had a population of 8,058, including 2,819 slaves.</p><br /><br /><p>The Civil War and its aftermath brought profound changes to the county. Its citizens voted overwhelmingly for secession.  Although Houston County witnessed little of the violence that many other counties experienced during Reconstruction, the effects of the war were felt for some time, and the economy did not begin fully to recover until 1872, when the Houston and Great Northern Railroad was built through the county.</p><br /><br /><p>Today, leading attractions in the county include the site of the San Francisco de los Tejas Mission, Davy Crockett National Forest, a visitor's center and museum in the 1909 Crockett Depot, Houston County Lake, and Lake Ratcliff.  The area also offers numerous venues for fishing, swimming, hiking, and other outdoor activities.<a href="#4">(4)</a></font></p><br /><br /><p><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/crockettmap.JPG" align="left"><font color="#A52A2A" size="3"><b><u>Brief History of Crockett</u></b></font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="2">Crockett, the county seat and largest community in Houston County, is at the junction of US Highway 287 and State Highways 7, 19 and 21, and is centrally located 75 miles northeast of Bryan/College Station, 120 miles north of Houston, 150 south of Dallas, and 180 miles east of Austin.</p><br /><br /><p>When Houston County was established in 1837, Andrew Edwards Gossett, an early settler from Tennessee, donated land for the county seat.  Gossett and his father, Elijah Gossett, named the settlement for David Crockett, a former neighbor in Tennessee.  Crockett is said to have camped near the townsite in January 1836 on his way to the Alamo.</p><br /><br /><p>The town was incorporated on December 29, 1837, and a post office opened there on March 31, 1838.  In 1839, raids by the Alabama-Coushatta and Cherokee Indians forced the town’s residents to take shelter in the fortified log courthouse.</p><br /><br /><p>During the Civil War, Crockett served as a mustering point and training center for Confederate forces.  In 1865, the courthouse and most of the town burned, so that most of the county’s early records were lost.  By 1885 the town had a bank, hotel, an opera house, and several schools; Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches; a weekly newspaper, the Texas Patron; and an estimated population of 1,200.  A school for black girls, later known as Mary Allen Junior College, opened in Crockett in 1886.</p><br /><br /><p>Although the decline of the timber industry after World War I affected the economy of the county, Crockett continued to prosper during the 1920s and 1930s.  After World War II, Crockett grew steadily; it topped the 5,000 mark in the early 1960s.  In 1990, the town had a population of 7,024 and 180 rated businesses.  In 2000 the population was 7,141 with 479 businesses, and in 2008 the population was 6,815.<a href="#5">(5)</a></font></p><br /><br /><p><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/book1.jpg" align="right"><font color="#A52A2A" size="3"><b><u>Research Results</u></b></font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="2">This genealogical discovery dates as far back as the 1800s with our patriarchs, <font color="#00008B"><b>Joshua Houston</b></font>, our great-great-great-grandfather and <font color="#00008B"><b>Shedrick Williams</b></font>, our great-great-grandfather.</p><br /><br /><p>Joshua Houston, born 1822 in Alabama was slave to Margaret Lea's family.  She married Sam Houston, who took Joshua and other household slaves to the West.  Joshua took Houston's name; he was taught to read and write and was freed by Houston, (against the law), in 1862, who had set up Joshua in business prior to that year.  As an adult, he was a successful businessman; church leader and a deacon; Huntsville, Texas City Alderman; Texas delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1888; a revered elder statesman in Huntsville.  Joshua was married three times and fathered eight children; he is buried next to his third wife (Sylvester Baker) in Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville, Texas, a few yards from the grave of Sam Houston.<a href="#6">(6)</a>  At left, click on the letter H to read more about Grandpa Josh.</font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#4D2600" size="2">Shedrick Williams, born 1830 in Georgia was married to Charlotte (her maiden name is unknown), and they had one child.  Nothing more is known about Grandpa Shed.</p><br /><br /><p>Most of our maternal ancestors were born and resided in small Houston County communities called:  Halls Bluff (~12 miles west of Crockett), Snowhill (~2 mi south of Crockett), Hopewell (~7 mi south of Crockett), and Jasper (~5 mi  south of Crockett).  Beginning in the 1920s, my grandparents (J.B. Williams & Minnie Ola Gardner) brought up their seven children near Hopewell & Jasper.  The children attended school in Hopewell, and the family went to church in Jasper.  My mother informed me that due to the passing of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, our great grandparents were not sold to the man with the surname of Berry.  Hence, they remained <em>Williams</em>!  To my knowledge, our families are scattered throughout the U.S. in the states of Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, The Carolinas, and Washington, D.C.</p><br /><br /><p>There's still so much more to do!  This tree is an ongoing work in progress and will be revised as information is added or deleted.  Please visit the many individual pages to view details and photos that have been collected.  We hope it will serve as a resource, repository, and meeting place for anyone interested in learning about, and preserving, our family’s history and heritage.</p><br /><br /><p><b><em>You are invited to help us fill in the many blanks in our records and to share any family photos, letters, sources, and stories that could breathe more life into our family’s history.</em></b></p><br /><br />Thanks and enjoy the site!</p><br /><br /><p><a href="mailto:disteltra@hotmail.com"><img src="http://rittbibleres.org/images19/2anibird.gif" align="middle"></a>Ms. Gerre Nelson</p><br /><br /><p><em>Last Updated:  01 January 2010</em></p><br /><br /><p><u>Sources</u>:</font><br /><br /><font color="#4D2600" size="-2"><a name="1">(1)</a>  <a href="http://www.ancestry.com" target="_blank">Ancestry.com</a>.<br /><br /><a name="2">(2)</a>  <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/texas/" target="_blank">Enchanted Learning</a>, and <a href="http://www.texas-on-line.com/" target="_blank">History of Texas-on-line</a>.<br /><br /><a name="3">(3)</a>  <a href="http://www.texasdiary.com/facts/six-flags.html" target="_blank">Texas Diary</a>.<br /><br /><a name="4">(4)</a>  <a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/hch19.html" target="_blank">The Handbook of Texas Online</a>.<br /><br /><a name="5">(5)</a>  <a href="http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/hfc15.html" target="_blank">CROCKETT, TX. The Handbook of Texas Online</a>.<br /><br /><a name="6">(6)</a>  <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=NN-KhsbqdZYC&lpg=PP1&dq=From%20Slave%20to%20Statesman%3A%20The%20Legacy%20of%20Joshua%20Houston%2C%20Servant%20to%20Sam%20Houston&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=&f=false" target="_blank">Patricia Smith Prather and Jane Clements Monday, <u>From Slave to Statesman:  The Legacy of Joshua Houston, Servant to Sam Houston</u> (Denton, Texas:  University of North Texas Press, 1993)</a>.</font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#4D2600" size="2"><b>Note:</b>  To obtain the best from this site and to view relationships as a graphical family tree, I recommend you download the software from <a href="http://www.genopro.com/" target="_blank">GenoPro</a>.  If the text in this genogram doesn't read correctly, it's due to the information that's automatically generated by the GenoPro software as the fields are populated.</p><br /><br /><p>Copyright © 2009 Gerre Nelson<br /><br />All Rights Reserved.  This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.</font></p><br /><br /><p><font color="#4D2600" size="-2" color="#008080"><a href="#top">Back to top</a></font></p><br /></p><ul> <li><a href='toc_individuals.htm#GARDNER'>Find the GARDNER family and its 31 ancestors.</a>.</li> <li><a href='toc_individuals.htm#WILLIAMS'>Search the WILLIAMS family and its 24 persons.</a>.</li> <li><a href='toc_individuals.htm#RICHARD'>Find the RICHARD family and its 13 persons.</a>.</li> <li><a href='toc_individuals.htm#HOUSTON'>Search the HOUSTON family and its 13 people.</a>.</li> </ul><p> You may also search for the following family names: <a href='toc_individuals.htm#ELLIS'>ELLIS</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#?'>?</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#TODD'>TODD</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#SHERMAN'>SHERMAN</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#ORVISS'>ORVISS</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#MOORE'>MOORE</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#LOVELADY'>LOVELADY</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#WOODS'>WOODS</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#Unknown'>Unknown</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#SMITH'>SMITH</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#SCURLOCK'>SCURLOCK</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#RICHARD Jr.'>RICHARD Jr.</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#RICHARD, Jr.'>RICHARD, Jr.</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#NELSON'>NELSON</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#JOHNSON'>JOHNSON</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#HOPKINS'>HOPKINS</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#HICKMAN'>HICKMAN</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#HARVILLE'>HARVILLE</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#GREEN'>GREEN</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#FOSTER'>FOSTER</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#FOBBS'>FOBBS</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#BERRY'>BERRY</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#BAKER'>BAKER</a>, <a href='toc_individuals.htm#BAILEY'>BAILEY</a>.<br /><br />Copyright © 1998-2007 GenoPro Inc. 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