Col. John Franklin Overton (1816-1879)
Son of Jesse Overton
John Franklin Overton came to East Texas as a pioneer during the
early 1850's. He held substantial tracts of land around the town of
Overton, Texas, which was named for him in exchange for a right-of-way
across his property granted to the railway. During the Civil War, the
honorary title of "Colonel" was bestowed on John by the Confederacy in recognition
of his supply service to the South. John is featured in the first photo
below, then his tombstone in the Elkins Cemetery near Omen, Texas. The
third photo is that of his second wife, Mary Drucilla (Walker) Overton
(1833-1911) and mother of eleven of his 12 or 13 children.
The group photo below left is a tintype of seven of the
couple's twelve children (as identified by a daughter of Emma, Ione Perry
Pegues, b. 1891): front row, l. to r.; Richard Coke (1873-1913);
Varina Davis (1866-1918); Missa (or "Missio") (1869-1950);
Emma May
(1859-1929); Lena Drucilla (1872-1953). In the back row are Samuel
Abdon (1857-1937) and Jesse Walker (1864-1927). The second
photo in this row is of Missa Overton (Christie) (1869-1950) when she was
18 years of age and a college student in Sherman, Texas.
The next photo (third in the row) has the names "Lena and Missa" handwritten on the reverse
side. I cannot account for the apparent disparity in the appearance of
these two children to those with the same names in the first two photos.
Christie Burke, granddaughter of Missa Overton, states emphatically that the
individual identified as Missa Overton in this photo is not her
grandmother. One researcher claims that in addition to a son by his first wife, John F.
Overton and Mary Jane Jameson (1822-1849) also had a daughter. This
child's name was Susan Missa Overton and there is occasional historical
confusion with the daughter born later with a similar name.
The fourth photo below is of Mary Alice Overton (Lane)
(1853-1930). The family resemblance between Mary Alice and her siblings in
the first tintype is striking, particularly with Varina Davis Overton, second from
left in the first photograph. The group tintype was made around 1880 and
Mary Alice was married in 1873, so she was long gone to Tennessee, living with
her family including husband, Alfred Jones Lane (1848-1921) by
then. Alfred Lane is shown holding Carrie Alleen Lane (b.
10/7/1910) with the photo being made around 1911, according to information
from David Beatty's website .
(Click on the thumbnail sketches below to see enlarged
views. Second photo of Missa Overton was furnished by her granddaughter,
Christie Burke. Last two photographs from the website of David Beatty, a direct
descendent of Alfred and Mary Alice Lane.)
John's daughter Emma May (Overton) Pegues (1859-1929) is pictured in
the below photo on the left. Her daughter Ione Perry (Pegues) Bramlette
(b. 1891) is featured in the next photo, followed by Ione's two children, Mary
Ann (Bramlette) Lasseter (b. abt. 1925) and William Howard Bramlette (b.
1923).
(Except as noted, all photographs above are courtesy of
Howard Bramlette of Nashville, Tennessee, a direct descendant of John F.
Overton.)
John's son Samuel
Abdon (1857-1937) Overton is pictured with his family in the following
photograph. Fletcher Overton identified the family members as the father (sitting)
Samuel Abram (Note: Fletcher's records indicate that Samuel's middle name was
"Abram," rather than "Abdon"), Overton, mother
(standing) Bettie Pace White (1867-1934), Walker W. Overton
(1893-1950) (standing, left), John Franklin Overton (1887-1943) (standing,
right).
Click
here to go to the Childress/Mathis Family Tree data on Roots Web for notes
on the above individuals.
More Overton Ancestor Photos:
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