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From
New York to The Republic of Texas
The
William Herrin, John Taylor Lewis, Asa Lafitte Stark, and William Hawley
Stark families of Newton County,Texas were the first generation
descendants of Daniel R. Stark and Nancy Hawley. Their children named
William
Hawley, Sarah Mariah who married John Taylor Lewis, Prudence Jane who married
William Herrin, and Esahl “Asa” Lafitte were living in Newton County by the
time Texas was excepted into the Union in December of 1845.
Nancy
Hawley, her father, Samuel Hawley, and the four children were living in
Floyd County in 1826 and also living in
this area of Indiana was the Samuel S. Lewis family who moved to Ouachita
Parish, Louisiana around 1825. Nancy and
her family soon followed and settled at the head of Bayou Macon near the
Arkansas border in Northeast Louisiana.
Ouachita Parish was located in northeast Louisiana with it’s eastern border
being the Mississippi River. Samuel Hawley
transferred his Revolutionary War Pension payments to the Vicksburg, Mississippi
District in 1828 and December 28,
1828 Nancy’s daughter, Sarah Mariah, married John Taylor Lewis, the son of
Samuel S. Lewis, in Ouachita Parish. Both
of these events suggest Nancy Hawley and her children were in Ouachita Parish by
1827 or 1828.
Samuel
S. Lewis was born in Virginia on July 4th, 1784 and married Sarah
Lemaster on August 1st, 1804 in Henry
County, Kentucky. In the year 1806, he moved his family across the Ohio River
from Henry County into the Indiana
Territory where he and Sarah had seven children. Samuel was the founder of
Orleans, Indiana, located in Orange County,
and served in the Indiana Militia during the War of 1812. He moved his family to
Ouachita Parish, Louisiana around 1825 where he served as Parish Justice of
Peace.
In
1829, John Bevil moved into present day Texas and settled between the
Naches and Sabine Rivers. With the permission of Lorenzo de Zavala, he was
given a grant to allow 500 families to settle in the region. One of those
attracted to move to Texas was Samuel S. Lewis who sent his slaves in 1830
to settle within this Mexican Land that became known as Bevil District and
then moved his family to the region in 1832 with his sons Martin Baty
Lewis and John Taylor Lewis and their families following their father to
Texas.
On
April 6th, 1830, the Mexican Government passed a law which was intended to
halt immigration from the United States into Mexico. Tensions between the
settlers and the Mexican garrison Commander at Nacogdoches, Jose de las
Piedras escalated and he ordered the settlers to surrender their arms,
which was refused and aroused the anger of the settlers in the region. On
August 2nd, 1832, a group of settlers attacked the garrison forcing the
Commander and his men abandon the Fort and leave the town. Piedras and his
troops were pursued by a small number of men who harassed the Mexicans
until the soldiers surrendered and gave up Piedras to the settlers. The
Mexican troops were returned to Nacogdoches where Piedras was paroled and
allowed to return to Mexico City. The three hundred soldiers captured were
marched to San Antonio by James Bowie and discharged. This action removed
the Mexican Military presence from East Texas which then encouraged the
Texans to later revolt in 1836. Samuel S. Lewis served as lieutenant
colonel in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 and later participated in the
siege of Bexar in 1835. His son, Martin Lewis was a sergeant major in the
battalion commanded by James Whitis Bullock, and he also participated in
the battle of Nacogdoches. In November and December of 1835 he was Captain
of a company of East Texas volunteers that took part in the siege of Bexar.
John T. Lewis served as a Second Lieutenant in his brother Martin’s
cavalry company during the siege at Bexar. All three men served in the
Texas Revolutionary War.
Around
1830, William Hawley Stark married Elizabeth Zachary, daughter of Benjamin
Zachary and Elizabeth Odom of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. At about this
time, it is believed William Hawley purchased acreage in Ouachita Parish
[Could have been Carroll Parish, formed in 1832 from the eastern part of
Ouachita Parish] most likely using the money he received as a gift from
his Uncle William Stark. One would presume he received his share when he
reached twenty-one years old in 1830. His mother, grandfather, and other
siblings, Prudence Jane and Asa Lafitte Stark, may have lived with him and
his new bride for the Vicksburg Register newspaper (Vicksburg,
Mississippi), dated July 22nd, 1835 reported "Another Revolutionary
Soldier is no more--Died at the upper settlement on Bayou Macon in the
Parish of Carroll, State of Louisiana, on the 4th day of June 1835. Samuel
Hawley, aged about 80 years, a native of the State of Massachusetts, and
once a soldier of the Revolutionary army. Mr. Hawley was a pensioner and
lived for several years back thus secluded and remote with his child and
respected by all who knew him.” Since Samuel only had one child, Nancy
Hawley, it would probably be correct to speculate from the newspaper
report he lived with his daughter. The above property sold by William in
1848 was located at the head of Bayou Macon or probably in the area of the
“upper settlement on Bayou Macon.” This property either belonged to
William or was inherited from his grandfather after he died. No documents
have been found, as yet, on how this property came into William Hawley
Stark’s possession.
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William Hawley Stark and Elizabeth had children born in Louisiana named Daniel L. Stark [Born in 1833] and Samuel Hawley Stark [Born in 1836] while the first child born in Texas was James Terry Stark in 1839 which reveals the family moved to Texas during or after the year 1836. It is believed William
may have purchased a league of land before the Texas Revolution but had not moved to the property from Louisiana until after the War. One of these grants was for a league of land [4,428 acres].
After the Texas Revolution, the Republic of Texas Congress declared heads of families living in Texas on March 2, 1836 could apply for a square league [4,428 acres] of land with no requirement to live on the land. To encourage settlement, Congress also offered immigrants arriving between March 2,
1836, and October 1, 1837, a grant of 1,280 acres for heads of families and 640 acres for single men. Therefore, it is possible William was a resident of Texas before March 2nd, 1836 and applied for a league of land, which was granted. In any event, he was a resident of Texas before 1839 for he was elected
Justice of the Peace, Sabine Beat 4, of Jasper County on February 4th, 1839.
William Herrin, Sr. was born in 1807 in the Mississippi Territory. [Note 1] He was the son of Abel Herring. Before 1825, William married a women whose name and family is unknown. It is believed William was one of the children reported in the Ouachita Parish, Louisiana 1820 census living in the home
of Abel Herring and William’s first marriage may have occurred in either Ouachita Parrish or Chicot County, Arkansas. The Herring land was located very close to the Arkansas line and often people from that area would go to Eudora or Lake Village to conduct business. William Herrin was living in Ouachita Parish in
1830 for recorded in the census that year was "William A. Herring, age 20-30 years old, with a spouse, age 15 -20 years old, one male child under five and a daughter under five years old." The son under five years old was probably James Herrin, born in 1826 or 1827, according to his tombstone and census
records, who will be discussed later. The daughter's name is unknown. [Note 2] Sometime after 1830 and before 1834, William’s first wife is believed to have died.
William then married his second wife, Prudence Jane Stark around 1834, probably in either Ouachita Parish, Carroll Parish [Was created from part of Ouachita Parish in 1831], or Chicot County, Arkansas. The marriage year is based on the birth of their oldest known child named William Herrin, Jr., born
in Louisiana in 1835. [Note 1] William and Prudence had six other children named, George (1839), Andrew Jackson (1841), Mary (1841), Steve(1844), Asa (1846), Edward E. (1849-1932), and Matilda (1852 - ?).
William Herrin was living in Newton County September 30, 1846 when he recorded his cattle brand along with his two brother-in-laws, William Hawley Stark and Asa Stark. January 11, 1847, the Newton County Court met and "then proceeded and passed the following orders in relation to roads &
Overseers of roads within Newton County, Viz: Road Precinct 5: Road from W. H. Starks to Ford on Creek near Wm. Herrings. Asa L. Stark, Overseer. List of Hands, E. S. Hunt & hired Negroes, William Herring, James Herring, Joshua Hickman, Wm F. Dobbs & Negro." W. H. Stark was William Hawley Stark and the
brother of Prudence Jane Stark. Asa L. Stark was also her brother. William Herrin is recorded as a resident of Newton County, Texas in Carroll Parish, Louisiana where he sold property to Alex Sappington November 30, 1848 which was apparently next door to the property sold by William Hawley Stark in Carroll Parish to
the same Alex Sappington on the same day. This would imply William Hawley Stark and William Herrin were neighbors when they lived in Ouachita Parish.
Daniel Donaho and Nancy Larimore, both of South Carolina, married about 1807 and moved to Mississippi with several of Daniel's brothers. In the early 1820's Daniel and Nancy moved to Ouachita Parish, Louisiana where their son, Lewis
Donaho, married Ann Lewis, the sister of John T. Lewis. Daniel
Donaho appears in the 1830 census for Ouachita Parish but soon after was drawn to the Bevil settlement where he is recorded in the 1835 Mexican Census taken that year. Living in his home in 1835 was his daughter Matilda, age 13, and Willis
Donaho, age 23. However, the beginning of the Texas Revolution caused Daniel to
move across the Sabine River where he can be found in the 1840 census for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Asa married Matilda Donaho before July 5, 1838, the day he was granted his 1,280 acre
headright. His headright document records he was a married man and as shown above, single men would have received 640 acres.
Therefore, from the above, we can say all four of the Stark siblings were living in the Republic of Texas before the Republic joined the Union December 28th, 1845 and Jasper County was divided to form Newton County, Texas.
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