BENTON

Our Benton family ancestry can be positively traced back to Nancy Ann Gooch, who was born in Caswell County, North Carolina around 1757. She married Jesse Benton around 1777 in Granville County, North Carolina. She was the mother of Thomas Hart Benton, who was a famous lawyer and a Senator from the State of Missouri.

BERRY

Our Berry family history can be positively traced back to Francis Berry, who was born in Virginia around 1763. He was a pioneer and came to Texas from Missouri in 1823. He was one of the original settlers of the old Dewitt’s Colony. His daughter, Lourahama Berry, married Samuel Clinton Neill in Texas around 1845. Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Neill, married James Sanford Callahan in Caldwell County, Texas in 1866.

CALLAHAN

Our Callahan family history can be positively traced back to James Hughes Callahan, who was born in Georgia in 1814. He came to Texas as a young volunteer soldier in 1835. He served under Col. Fannin and narrowly escaped being executed by the Mexicans at the Goliad Massacre. He later served as a Texas Ranger and became a Captain, leading companies of minute men which were hastily formed for short term service to defend the settlers on the frontier in early day Texas. He participated in many battles against marauding Indians and bandits and led the ill fated “Callahan’s Expedition” into Mexico in 1855.

DAVIS

Our Davis family history can be positively traced back to Sarah Elizabeth Jane Davis, who was born in 1846. She married William Elijah Gooch in 1872 in Lee County, Mississippi.

DAY

Our Day family history can be positively traced back to Sarah Medisa Day, who was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1823. She came to Texas as a child with her family in 1836. She married James Hughes Callahan in Gonzales County, Texas in 1843.

FANNIN (FANNEN/FANNING)

Our Fannin family history can be positively traced back to Bessie Fannin, who was born around 1882 in Texas and married Jesse Gooch in 1901 in Paris, Lamar County, Texas.

GOOCH

Our Gooch family ancestry can be positively traced back to William Martin Gooch, who was born January 3, 1824 in Tennessee or South Carolina. I am not sure about his roots but I believe his father was also named William Gooch -  a son of James Gooch and grandson of William W. Gooch. There seems to be some family connections to Billy Gosling Gooch of Lancaster County, South Carolina. Billy Gosling Gooch was a cruel planter and slave owner. He is the “Mr. Gooch” who is mentioned in the “Narratives of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper from American Slavery”, written by an escaped Negro slave in the 1800’s.

HART

Our Hart family ancestry can be positively traced back to Keziah Ann Hart, who was born in Virginia between 1720 and 1730. She married William W. Gooch around 1746 in Virginia.

HEMBREE

Our Hembree family ancestry can be positively traced back to Sarah Hembree who was born August 6, 1795 in the Pendleton District, South Carolina. She married Johnson Day in South Carolina around 1814. Their daughter, Sarah Medisa Day, married James Hughes Callahan in Gonzales County, Texas in 1843.

KIMBROUGH (KIMBRO)

Our Kimbrough family history can be positively traced back to Elizabeth Gooch, who was born around 1750 in Hanover County, Virginia. She married William Kimbrough around 1770 in Caswell County, North Carolina.

KUYKENDALL

Our Kuykendall family history can be positively traced back to Mary “Polly” Kuykendall, who was born in 1814 in Tennessee. She married Elijah Oliver around 1830 in Tennessee. Their daughter, Elizabeth Jane Oliver, married William Martin Gooch in 1849 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi.

NEILL (NAIL)

Our Neill family history can be positively traced back to Sarah Elizabeth “Sally” Neill, who was born in 1845 in Texas. It is likely that she was a grand-daughter of Lt. Col. James Clinton Neill, who was in command of the Alamo until shortly before it fell. He commanded the artillery at the Battle of San Jacinto, under General Sam Houston. She married James Sanford Callahan in Caldwell County, Texas in 1866.

OLIVER

Our Oliver family history can be positively traced back to Elijah Oliver, who was born in 1814 in North Carolina. He started out selling selling simple merchandise to the few white settlers and the Indians along the Natchez Trail in Tennessee and Mississippi. He went on to become a very wealthy merchant and land speculator in northeast Mississippi. His daughter, Elizabeth Jane Oliver, married William Martin Gooch in Tishomingo County, Mississippi in 1849.

PHILLIPS

Our Phillips family ancestry can be positively traced back to Calvin Phillips, who was born in South Carolina or North Carolina between 1820 and 1830. It is believed that he was part Cherokee. He was a farmer and blacksmith.

REDDICK

Our Reddick family ancestry can be positively traced back to Shadrach Reddick, who was born in South Carolina around 1799. He was a soldier, adventurer and pioneer. He fought in the early Indian Wars under Andrew Jackson. He married Nelly Smith in Illinois in 1821. Their daughter, Rachel Reddick, married Calvin Phillips in 1849 in Benton County, Arkansas. Shadrach Reddick made the trip to the Oregon Territory by covered wagon on the old Oregon Trail in the early 1850's. He died in 1860 in Sauvie Island, Oregon. 

SNEAD (SNEED)

Our Sneed family ancestry can be positively traced back to Mary Gooch, who was born in Hanover County, Virginia around 1748. She married John Snead in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1766. They had 14 children.

A study of our family is a study of American history.