Willie Birdwell

Notes:

Barbara Wright of Sabine County (email: leow@sabinenet.com) sent an excerpt from the minutes of the Little Flock Baptist Church, dated July 18, 1891. In these minutes, "The Church preferred a charge against brother Henry Birdwell for taking the life of his brother Jerry Brown. By motion and second the church with drew fellowship from Brother Henry Birdwell....DmM. Marshall, moderator, W.D. Cousins, C.C. "

Barbara emailed Melinda Strong on Saturday, July 6, 2002, that "The story is Henry Birdwell was a share crope and he was working for Brown. When the crops were ready to harvest, Brown went down in the field and told Henry that he was going to have to leave with nothing (in payment) for all of his work. Brown jumped on Henry. I am not sure what kind of a weapon that Brown had, but all Henry had was a hoe, and he killed him with a hoe, and was later cleared as it was self defense. My Aunt is 91 yr. old and this is what she said happened. And since it is in the Little Flock Church minutes, it must be true."

David Pike included the following excerpts about this family on his website:

"The Henry Birdwell family moved here from San Augustine to the Halfway House (AKA: Halfway Inn & Stagecoach Inn). They had three daughters; Clara, Christine and Mabel. Clara married a Mr. Collier and they moved to Houston and they had a sweet little girl named Lucille Collier. She grew up and was a very talented dancer. She and her mother moved to Hollywood, California, and Lucille got a role in a movie. The studio changed her name to Ann Miller. We have all seen her do some pretty fancy dancing in the movies. Ann came back to Chireno a few times to visit her grandparents after she became a movie star. Mr. Eric Green did some work on her car once while she was here visiting. Ann also visited the Chireno School while we were having a play and she came up on the stage for a few minutes."

p. 234, "Remembering Families No Longer In Chireno";
Birdwell, Henry and Alice;
The Birdwell's lived near downtown Chireno, where the Higginbothams live today. He owned a large farm west of Chireno where he engaged in large-scale farming. He and his wife had five sons, Phil, Link, Bertram, Richard and Cecil and three daughters, Clara, Mabel and Christine. They were also the grandparents of Ann Miller, the well-known Hollywood dancer and actress.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1900 Census
Texas, Nacogdoches County, Attoyac Vicinity
Enumerated 2 June 1900
SD 86 ED 44 Sheet 4B
64-64
Birdwell, Henry W Head W M Nov 1864 36 m8 Tx Ala Ga Farmer
Birdwell, Alice E Wf W F Feb 1869 31 M 9 5/3 Tx Mo Ky
Birdwell, Clara E Dtr W F Spr 1892 8 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Benton J Son W M Sept 1873 6 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Richard D Son W M Sept 1877 3 S Tx Tx Tx
Markham, James Boarder W M --- 1871 29 S Ark Ark Ark Farm Laborer

1910 Census
Texas, Nacogdoches County, JP 3
Enumerated 24 Apr 1910
SD 3 ED 99 Sheets 7B and 8A Stamped 166
(Microfilm image on Ancestry.com very faint and only partially legible)
134-137
Birdwell, Henry W Hd M W 45 M1 19 Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Alice L Wf F W 41 M1 19 11-- Tx Miss Ky
Birdwell, Clare L Dtr F W 18 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, James B Son M W 16 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Richard Son M W 12 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Mabel Dtr F W 9 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, ??? ??? M? W 8? S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, ??? Son M W 4? S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, ??? Dtr F W 2 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, ??? Son M W 1/12 S Tx Tx Tx
???, ??? Servant? ??? B 25 ???

1920 Census
Texas, Nacogdoches County, JP 4
Enumerated 6 Jan 1920
SD 2 ED 429 Sheet 3A
45-46
Birdwell, Henry W Hd M W 55 M Tx Ala Ga Farmer
Birdwell, Alice Wf F W 51 M Tx Mo Ky
Birdwell, Link Son M W 12 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Christine Dtr F W 11 S Tx Tx Tx
Birdwell, Phil Son M W 9 S Tx Tx Tx

1930 Census
Texas, Nacogdoches County, JP 4, Chireno Town
Enumerated 4 Apr 1930
ED 174-12 SD 12 Sheet 3B
67-69
Birdwell, Henry W Hd O $2000 M W 65 M 25 Tx Ala Tx Farmer
Birdwell, Alice M Wf F W 61 M 20 Tx Mo Ky

Henry married Alice E. Forse on 10 Nov 1889 in Sabine County, Texas. Alice (daughter of John Smith Forse and Lucynthia Smith) was born in Feb 1869 in Sabine County, Texas; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Birdwell, H.W. to Alice Forse 10 Nov 1889 by S.D. Harp, J.P.

Notes:

David Pike writes that James Birdwell arrived in Texas in 1854, and that he enlisted in Company "H", 13th Texas Regiment on the 18 Feb, 1862. Served in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Was captured by Union Forces at Pleasant Hill, LA 9 Apr 1864, released in a prisoner exchange at Blair's Landing on the Red River, 20 Apr 1864. Discharged ca 5 May of 1865 at Hempstead, TX.

Henry, second child of J. A. and Mary's, was born 11 Nov 1864. This would indicate that James was home on leave in march of that year, just prior to the Battle of Pleasant Hill.

25 Jan 1906-made application (1st) for CSA pension. It was disapproved.
11 Aug 1909- made second application for pension. It was also disapproved.
He may have still owned land in Newton County. This may have been reason for these disapprovals. On his application he listed real and personal property as:
100 acres - $200.00
1 Pony - 45.00
2 Cows - 20.00
3 Shoats - 3.00
Wife's estate listed as her interest of the 100 acres.

David Pike also notes that "Family Search has James born in (Newton) Alabama. I do not believe this is correct. Also, some accounts have him and his bro. John as children of John and Mary Allen Birdwell. I believe this is also incorrect. "






(Research):

Census Information:

1870 Census
Texas, Newton County, P. O. Newton
Enumerated 4 Aug 1870
Page 20
152-154
Birdwell, James 35 M W Farmer $600 $250 Alabama
Birdwell, Mary A. 27 F W Keeping House Ark
Birdwell, Emelia I [Ophelia]11 F W Tx
Birdwell, Henry W. 6 M W Tx
Birdwell, Addie E 4 F W Tx
Birdwell, Henry G 1 M W Tx


1880 Sabine County Census:
124-125
Birdwell, James A. w m 44 farmer Ala Ala Ala
Birdwell, Mary A. w f 37 wife Ala SC Ga
Birdwell, Henry W. w m 15 son TX
Birdwell, Addie E w f 13 dau TX
Birdwell, Charley L. w m 9 son TX
Birdwell, Florence E w f 7 dau TX
Birdwell, Lemeul J w m 5 son TX
Birdwell, David R w m 2 son TX


1900 Census
Sabine County, Texas
Birdwell, James Head M W 64 M AL AL AL Farmer
Birdwell, Mary A Wife F W 57 N AL AL AL
Birdwell, Norman Son M W 18 S TX AL AL
Birdwell, Elbert Son M W 15 S TX AL AL
Birdwell, Willie Minnie Dau F W 12 S TX AL AL
Cogburn, Martha M-in-Law F W 78 Wd GA GA GA

James married Mary Alice Cogburn about 1859 in Newton County, Texas. Mary was born on 10 Oct 1842 in Alabama; died on 3 Nov 1909 in Bronson, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Was she also called Nancy? According to an email from Dolores Burton, she was named Nancy Cogburn. However, on the 1880 and on the 1900 Sabine County Census, the wife of James Birdwell is listed as Mary. In fact, in the 1900 census, she is shown as Mary A. (Cogburn).

David Pike, a Cogburn researcher, also shows her as Mary Alice. He indicates that she was probably born in Georgia, though census records report Alabama, and on one occasion Arkansas.

Notes:

Married more than once. (White and Toole, p 53).

Elizabeth Beres shows him as a son of Charles Forse, born 29 Nov 1788 in Newark, New Jersey and died before 1850 in Crockett, Texas, and Elizabeth Conner, born ca 1792 in Rocheport, Boone County, Missouri and died before 1842.

Dickie J. Sims emailed that "John Smith Forse owned a sawmill which could be hauled in two or three wagons. It took at least three men to run the sawmill. They didn't have a way to haul big logs to the mill except by oxen, so it was normal practice to haul the mill where the timber was. "

(Research):

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, San Augustine County, San Augustine District
Enumerated 20 Sept 1850
239-239
John Forse 26 M Millwright Mo
Malissy Forse 22 F Illinois
Henrietta Fuller 12 F Illinois

1860 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Bare Creek Beat, P. O. Bare Creek
Enumerated 11 July 1860
Page 3
261-261
John Force 35 M Mechanic 140 Mo
Lucinda D Force 19 F Ky
William Force 10 M Tx
Thomas D Force 1 M Tx
Howel C Force 1/12 M Tx

1870 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Beat No. 3, P. O. Brookeland
Enumerated 12 Aug 1870
Page 9 and 10 Stamped 23
566-566
Force, John 45 M W Mill Wright $300 $200 Mo
Force, Lucinda 24 F W Keeping House Ky
Force, William 20 M W Tx
Force, Thomas 10 M W Tx
Force, Charles 10 M Tx
Force, Josephine 7 F Tx
Force, Alice 2 F Tx

1880 Census
Texas, Sabine County, JP 3
Enumerated 2 July 1880
Page 21 SD 1 ED 85 Stamped 218 A
189-199
Force, John W M 59 Mill wright Mo NY MO
Force, Lucindi W F 39 Wf Ky Ky Ky
Force, Charlie W m 20 S Farmer Tx Mo Ky
Force, Josephine W F 14 Dtr Tx Mo Ky
Force, Alice W F 11 Dtr Tx Mo Ky
Force, Jackson M M 8 Son Tx Mo Ky
Force, Sidney W M 5 son Tx Mo Ky
Force, Lillie W F 3 Dtr Tx Mo Ky
Force, Robert W M 1 Son Tx Mo Ky

John married Lucynthia Smith before 1859 in Texas. Lucynthia was born on 13 Jan 1839 in Kentucky; died on 4 Feb 1923 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]