Askew Family
John W. Askew
1818-1904
The
earliest documented
evidence to date, of
John W. Askew is
found in Bowie
County, Texas with
his Certificate for
640 acres, Claim #
135, on June 8,
1841. John was also
a member of the
Masonic Lodge in
Boston, Texas. The
Lodge was
established in 1850
at Boston (now Old
Boston). The first
yearly report in Dec
1850 showed 27
members, consisting
of a range of
occupations shown on
the 1850/60 census.
The Lodge met on the
2nd floor above the
store owned by W. A.
Lindsay which sit at
the northeast corner
of the old town
square near where
Mrs. Rainey’s
store was in the
1950-60’s
He
is also shown on the
1850 Census, with
his wife Mary
Looney-Askew, and
their first three
children. Margaret
Ann age 6, Martha A.
age 4, and son
Britton Gatewood,
age 2. John must of
acquired more land
along the way
because according to
this census, John
had a total of 1,320
acres of land in
1850. John and his
family are well
documented on all
the census years of
Bowie County. John
and his wife Mary
had 9 children:
Margaret, Martha,
Britton, Clara,
James, George,
Matilda, Sarah, and
Orre. We know by the
1870 census that
Mary Looney-Askew
died sometime
between 1868-1870,
as she is not on
this census with her
husband John. One
can assume that Mary
may have died
shortly after the
birth of her last
daughter Orre Della
born in 1868.
By
1880, John had
remarried a lady
with the initials of
M.J. and they had 3
children together,
Laura born in 1873,
M. L., a daughter
born in 1875 and a
son, Augustus H.
born in 1878. J. W.
Askew is located on
the 1900 Bowie
County Census at age
81 and a widow.
Living with John is
daughter Laura age
27, along with son
Gus H. age 21. Also
shows a RR (Neut
Terrel, son in law)
age 32. One must
assume this is
daughter Laura's
husband. Also in
household are
grandson's Thomas
age 6 and James R.
age 4. I would think
that these are the
children of his
daughter Laura and
husband.
The
1885 Affidavit of J
W Askew for
Homestead upon 160
acres of vacant
public land that he
had surveyed in
1873. This was made
for the purpose of
obtaining title to
the homestead, under
the "Act for
the benefit of
actual occupants of
public lands"
approved May 26,
1873.
John
died on 4 June 1904
in Malta (Bowie Co)
TX. He is not listed
in the Malta
Cemetery which might
mean that he had no
headstone or
possibly could be
buried somewhere
else. Efforts to
obtain a copy of his
death certificate
have failed.
Much
effort has been
made, in trying to
find the parents of
John. At this time,
I am still searching
Tennessee, and have
found that there
were a lot of
Askew’s that came
from North Carolina
to Tennessee. The
search will
continue.
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