Claibourne Akers was born in about 1817 and grew up on "Akers Branch" of the Mud Creek area of Floyd County in southeastern Kentucky. He was the third of ten children of Solomon Akers, Jr and Matida Meade. Claibourne's father was a successful farmer in the area, having moved from Virginia to Floyd County Kentucky where he married and settled down to raise his family. He moved his family to Cass County in western Missouri in 1839 where the older children began to marry and scatter in different directions.
Claibourne at age 25 married Mary Oma Parsons, age 22, in Harrisonville, Missouri, on September 25, 1842. They joined a wagon train shortly after the marriage and started the 500+ mile trip down south to Texas. They very likely came down the "Shawnee Cattle Trail"along the Missouri-Kansas line through Fort Smith, Arkansas, on through eastern Oklahoma into the northeast part of what was then the Republic of Texas, arriving before the end of 1842.
Oma was a strong young lady who liked to ride, had a good horse, and rode all the way to Texas. She rode ahead with a group each day to select the camp site, gather wood, and have the fire ready when the wagons arrived for the night. Claibourne and Oma set up housekeeping not far from the South Sulpher River in the northeast corner of what was to become Hunt County, the closest present towns to that area now are Commerce and Neylandville.
Census records show that the first child, James H., was born in 1843 in Hunt County, then the family moved up into Arkansas about 1844 where the second child, John Henry, was born in 1845. They moved back to Hunt County, Texas, in about 1846 where seven more children were born. The 1850 census records show the first two children plus Mary Ann, born in 1847, and the twins Rhodes and Hugh P., 3 months old at the time of the census taking in October 1850. The next census in 1860 showed, in addition to the first five children; Nancy Elizabeth born 1856; Davis Larkin born 1858; Nettie Matilda born 1859; Sarah Ellen born 1860. The next census in 1870 shows the addition of the last child, Martha Francis, born in 1863 in Van Zandt County.
The census records in 1850 and 1860 show the family's address as "South Sulpher P.O." in Hunt County. It is believed that Claibourne's brother Robert, who married in the same Missouri town as Claibourne at about the same time, came down with the wagon train and settled in Arkansas. It is believed that is the reason Claibourne and family went up into Arkansas to try their luck there for a couple of years in 1844-1846.
During the 20 years in Hunt County, Claibourne's occupation was shown on the 1850 census records as "farmer", and on the 1860 census records as "Herdsman", a term that would probably compare today with "Ranch Foreman". A typical tax assessment record was found for Claibourne for the year 1850 that showed 50 cents for poll tax, 50 cents for state tax, and 25 cents for county tax.
The family left Hunt County and began a southerly migration in about 1862. Claibourne died of pneumonia and was buried in "Old Jordan's Saline" in Van Zandt County in about 1864. The town is currently known as Grand Saline and a preliminary search of the oldest cemetery there, "Pole Town", revealed about 25 headstones in various stages of disrepair with the oldest readable date of death 1861. It is believed that this is the burial place of our Claibourne but very likely his marker was not constructed of stone and has long since deteriorated. Oma and her family continued on south, with records next showing the death by pneumonia of James and Rhodes in about 1865 and they are buried in Waco in McLennan County. The family continued on south, with the 1870 census records showing their address as Belton Post Office in Bell County, with John Henry being shown as a separate head of household. He had married Martha Ann Bryant and their first son Claburn was two months old at the time of the census taking in September 1870. Oma's household at the time consisted of the rest of the children with the exception of Mary Ann. Mary Ann was 23 at the time and was probably already married to her spouse Thomas Turner. Old family records show that Mary Ann and her spouse had 9 children. No additional records have been found on Mary Ann and her descendants, and it is likely they did not come south with the other two families. John Henry's first four children were born in Bell County through the year 1874, and then Oma's and John Henry's families moved on south to settle in Atascosa County. The 1880 census records show Oma, John Henry and Davis Larkin as heads of families in Precinct 2 Atascosa County. John Henry and Martha had five children; Davis Larkin and his wife Alice Anner Atkins, had one daughter, Francis, shown as one year old. Grandmother Oma still had Nancy Elizabeth, Sarah Ellen and Martha Francis living with her at the time. Nettie Matilda was gone, probably already married to her spouse Vince Holt. Old family records show Nettie and her spouse had one child, however, no other records have been found on their family or descendants.The 1900 census records of Atascosa County show as heads of households John Henry with seven children; Hugh Parse with five children and Davis Larkin with five children. Their mother Oma was not shown but very likely was living with one of her sons. The 1910 census records of Atascosa County show mother Oma living with her son Davis Larkin and his family, with John Henry, Hugh Parse and Ambrose as the other Akers heads of households. Records show the last three daughters of Claibourne and Oma's were married as follows: Nancy Elizabeth married John Troxell and old family records show they had eight children; Sarah Ellen married Hugh Sylvester Atkins and they had three children. Martha Francis married William Foster Long and they had seven children. The descendants of Sarah Ellen Akers and Hugh Atkins are well documented, however no records have been found on the descendants of the other daughters of Claibourne and Oma Akers.
The children of Claibourne and Oma's sons were as follows: John Henry (Dick) and Martha Ann Bryant had Lafait Claburn born April 1870, William M. born May 1872, Dollie Louela born December 1872, Hugh P. born January 1876, Jesse Davis born January 1879, Francis Jennie born March 1882, Oma S. born December 1883, James Adolph born February 1885. Blanche born 1887, John Reed born May 1890, Susie Minnie born August 1892, and Cora born September 1894. Hugh Parsons (Bud) and Theodocia E. Mangum had James born April 1887, Claburn born May 1890, Robert B. born September 1894, Beadie D. born June 1898, Emmit L. born February 1900, Josephine born 1905, and Frank born 1911. Davis Larkin (Paddy) and Alice Anner Atkins had Francis Anner born May 1879, Ambrose B. born November 1881, Alvin Davis born June 1887, Ruth Flora born October 1893, Goldie Alvena born October 1995, Raymond Roland born November 1902, and Marvin Buckner born December 1906.
Descendants of our ancestors Claibourne and Oma have scattered from coast to coast as well as other countries; most are still in Texas, many farming as did their forefathers in west and south Texas, including Atascosa County.
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