Pearl Vivian Blackshear

Notes:

Said to have married W. GILBERT.

Notes:

Name: W. R. Blackshear
Death Date: 04 Nov 1930
Death Place: Chireno, Nacogdoches, Texas
Gender: Male
Race: white
Death Age: 80 years 9 months 9 days
Estimated Birth Date:
Birth Date: 26 Jan 1850
Birthplace: Texas
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name:
Father's Name: W. R. Blackshear
Father's Birthplace: Alabama
Mother's Name: Hulda [Harden, according to the Millennium File]
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama
Occupation: M. D.
Place of Residence:
Cemetery:
Burial Place: Chireno, Texas
Burial Date: 05 Nov 1930
Additional Relatives:
Film Number: 2135428
Digital Film Number: 4163588
Image Number: 2848
Reference Number: cn 54766
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976


(Research):

Census Listings:

1880 Census
Texas, Jasper County
Enumerated 30 Jun 1880
Page 52D SD 1 ED 37
416-419
Blunt, Reubin M W M 22 Farmer Tx Ga Ga
Blunt, Mary A W F 24 Wf Keeping House Tx Ga Miss
Blunt, Nadine W F 1 Dtr Tx Tx Tx
Blackshear, William R W M 30 Farm Ala Ga Ala
Blackshear, Liza F W F 24 Wf Keeping House Tx Ga Ga
Blackshear, William R Jr W M 2 Son Tx Ala Tx
Blackshear, Thomas C W M 4/12 Jan Son Tx Ala Tx
417-450
William Allen family


1900 Census
Texas, Nacogdoches County, Attoyac Vicinity
Enumerated 4 Jun 1900
SD 8 ED 44 Sheet 1A
6-6
Joe W and Ethel FULLEN
7-7
Blackshare, William R. Head W M Jan 1850 50 M 10 Ala Ga Ala Physician
Blackshare, Sudie B Wf W F Jun 1870 29 M 10 3/2 Tx Miss SC
Blackshare, Carl T Son W M Jan 1880 20 S Tx Ala Tx Farm Laborer
Blackshare, Edgar F Son W M Sept 1884 15 S Tx Ala Tx Farm Laborer
Blackshare, Ima L Dtr W F Aug 1893 6 S Tx Ala Tx
Blackshare, Pearl B Dtr W F Dec 1898 1 S Tx Ala Tx
Stephens, Allie V Dtr W F Feb 1882 18 M 2 1/1 Tx Ala Tx
Stephens, William P Son-in-law W M Apr 1877 23 M 2 Tx Tx Tx School Teacher
Stephens, Carmine Grddtr W Oct 1899 7/12 S Tx Tx Tx

(Medical):See attached sources.

William married Susan "Sudie" Benina Speights on 13 Oct 1889 in Texas. Susan (daughter of Green William Speights and Jerusha Caroline Allen) was born on 25 Jun 1870 in Texas; died on 29 Oct 1938 in Chireno, Nacogdoches County, Texas; was buried in Lower Chireno Cemetery, Chireno, Nacogdoches County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name: Sudie B. Blackshear
Death Date: 29 Oct 1938
Death Place: Chireno, Nacogdoches, Texas
Gender: Female
Race: W
Death Age: 68 years 4 months 4 days
Estimated Birth Date:
Birth Date: 25 Jun 1870
Birthplace: Texas
Marital Status: Widowed
Spouse's Name: Dr. W. R. Blackshear
Father's Name: William Green Speights
Father's Birthplace: Mississippi
Mother's Name: Jerusha Allen
Mother's Birthplace: Mississippi
Informant: Mrs. Ima Howell, Chireno
Occupation: Housewife & Post Master
Place of Residence: Chireno, Texas
Cemetery:
Burial Place: Chireno, Texas
Burial Date: 30 Oct 1938
Additional Relatives:
Film Number: 2117824
Digital Film Number: 4030411
Image Number: 2376
Reference Number: DTH Rec cn 47224
Collection: Texas Deaths, 1890-1976

Notes:

Lived with his son John in his later years. A grave marker indicates he was a Sgt. in Co. F of the 11th Texas Infantry, C.S.A.

Green married Jerusha Caroline Allen in Nov 1865 in Sabine County, Texas. Jerusha (daughter of Thompson Allen and Elizabeth Wooldridge) was born on 16 May 1845 in Sabine County, Texas; died on 10 Jul 1888 in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Enrolled in the District 10 School in Sabine County in 1854. Sharon Speights Varney quotes Virgie Collier Speights as writing that when Jerusha changed religions, joining the Campbellites (forerunner of the Church of Christ), whe was denounced by family and friends as "a heathen" and "no longer a Christian."

Notes:

Might instead have been born in South Carolina.

From FindAGrave:

"William and a brother, probably Asa, signed on a note for yet another brother, when he could not pay the note, William and Asa were unwilling to pay the note so to protect their assets, they left the state in the middle of the night, crossing the Mississippi River family and slaves.

William was suffering from yellow fever, and died in the river crossing and was buried on the banks of the river. His new widow, Rebecca Hopkins Speights continued the journey to Texas and settled in Sabine County in 1843...

William married Rebecca Hopkins on 17 Dec 1817 in Virginia. Rebecca was born about 1796 in South Carolina; died on 4 Oct 1857 in Texas; was buried in Speights Cemetery, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Per "1850 Census Sabine County, Texas with added Family Information and Corrections", Rebecca Hopkins Speights owned 20 slaves. She might instead have been born in North Carolina, or Virginia.

On April 27, 2013, a Historic Marker was dedicated at the Speights-Pratt Cemetery in Sabine County and reads "Rebecca Hopkins Speights (b. 1796) arrived in Sabine County in 1842 as a widow with four sons and a daughter*. She owned about 250 acres including this site, which became a cemetery with her burial in 1857. Sited near the Speights' home, the cemetery was actually on land granted to Mathew Arnold Parker, a Texas Revolutionary veteran and First Chief Justice (County Judge) of Sabine County. Joshua M. Hopkins Speights, buried here, was a State Legislator and County Judge. he and Hampton Pratt were among the first merchants in Hemphill. Of fifty-one marked graves, more than half bear the Speights surname. An unknown number of unmarked graves include Speights family slaves. The Speights-Pratt Cemetery Association manages this historic burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2010."

*Most family descendants instead have attributed four daugthers to Rebecca, the eldest Susan, dying as an infant. The other daughters generally are shown as Susan Green Speights Low, the wife of Dr. James Low; Amands Melvina Speights, who died at age 14; and Mary A. F. C. Speights Caraway, wife of Nathaniel Caraway. More work should be done to verify the exact family makeup, and ensure which children commonly attributed to William Speights and Rebecca Hopkins were actually born to them. It may also be possible that the historical marker is incorrect, though that seems less likely.

Notes:

In a Family Group Sheet prepared by Eva Mae Halbert Hackney, whose father was a grandson of Thompson Allen, she lists Thompson's birth as occuring on 22 Dec 1802, Elbert County, Georgia. His parents are not listed, though the parents of his wife, Elizabeth Wooldridge, are shown. No sources are cited by Eva. This handwritten group sheet was provided to me by Blanche Finley Toole in January, 1995. Blanche said she helped Eva prepare her DAR and DRT records applications. Blanche and Eva were connected through the Burton family. Neither Blanche nor Eva knew who Thompson Allen's parents were.

In a history of the W. W. Allen family, prepared by Thompson Allen's granddaughter, Kate Allen Tirado, she also writes that "Thompson Allen (Father of W. W. Allen, Levi T. and John Allen) was born December 22, 1802 in Albert (sic) County, Georgia. Thompson Allen departed this life at the age of 67 years, 10 months, and 5 days at his residence in Sabine County, Texas on October 17, 1870." Again, Thompson's parents are not mentioned by Kate. Kate prepared this four page, typewritten manuscript sometime after 1955, but before her death in October 1964

The "1850 Census Sabine County, Texas with added family information and corrections" by Helen Gomer Schluter and Blanche Finley Toole, shows that Thompson Allen in Household number 277 was the owner of 9 slaves. On this census, he is shown as age 48, and born in South Carolina. The 1860 census lists his place of birth instead as Georgia. Kate Allen Tirado, a granddaughter, writes that Thompson lived first in Houston, Texas ca 1840, later moving to Milam, Sabine County, Texas.

Sally Clark, a niece of Kate Allen Tirado, emailed that a Thos WG Allen was listed in the "First Settlers of the Republic of Texas Vol I." He was given a second class land grant as a resident of Harris County. He rec'd 1280 acres, and listed as Thos WG Allen - 3-16-1839. He woud have needed to be here prior to 10-1-1837 to be first class." It is possible this land grant in Harris county was for our Thompson Allen as Kate Tirado wrote that he lived in Houston, which is in Harris County, before moving to Milam, Sabine County in January, 1841. However it is also possible that this is another Thompson Allen, as the extract of a voters registration list from 1867 (shown in full below) for Thompson Allen shows "Yrs in State: 26, Yrs in County: 26, Yrs in Pct.: 12." This would seem to indicate that he settled directly in Sabine County around 1841, as the years in the state and county match.

According to a list of Sabine County Voter's registrations appearing in YELLOWED PAGES, Winter 1993, Page 27, "Aug 6, 1867 #322 Thompson Allen Prct 5, Yrs in State: 26, Yrs in County: 26, Yrs in Pct.: 12, Native of Georgia."

Gifford White's book, "The First Settlers of Sabine County, Texas" has the following listing: 19 Thompson Allen 1840, 640 acres, Dec 1843, noting further that a Wm D Fry and Bede Johnson are listed with the same dates.

According to an Affidavit of Mrs. C.D. Gooch, dated 25 May 1910, and on file in Sabine County, "Thompson Allen was married twice, that his first wife, whose name was Elizabeth Wooldrige before marriage; died about the year 1848, that she left surviving her, her husband, Thompson Allen and six children as follows: (1) John Allen, who died eight or nine years ago, and left a widow and children; (2) Connilia L. Allen, who married Annanias Oliver about the year 1840, and died 1909, leaving children; (3) Levi Allen who now resides in Lampasas County, Texas; (4) W.W. Allen who now resides in Lampasas, Texas; (5) Mary F. Allen who married W.W. Halbert in 1858 and died about 1900 in Sabine County, Texas leaving her husband and children; (6) Jerusha Allen, who married G.W. Speights in November 1865, and died in Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas in 1888 leaving husband and children; That the said Thompson Allen and his first wife, Elizabeth, had four other children, namely Marion, Martha, Elizabeth and Augustus, all of whom died without marrying and leaving no children; that the above mentioned ten children, were all and the only children of the said Thompson Allen and his first wife, Elizabeth Wooldridge, that reached maturity."

After the death of his first wife, Thompson married second Jane Russell, the widow of Epperson Duke Payne.

On the 1854 Sabine County Scholastic Census, Thompson Allen was shown as having five children and stepchildren enrolled in District 10: William, J.P. Pain, J.D. Pain, Mary, and Jerusha.

Blanche Toole, a Sabine County Genealogist and historian stated that, "Thompson and Elizabeth Wooldridge Allen are buried in the Oliphant Chapel Memorial Garden cemetery, and Thompson was a veteran of the Mexican War. " His name has not be located in the index of Mexican War veterans, however. Blanche also indicates that Thompson Allen's sister was Jemima Allen, the first wife of A.D. Oliphint. [Note: This is not proven and may be in error]. Blanche also said that Thompson "came to Texas with his wife, Elizabeth Wooldridge, and with the Oliphints. He settled just south of the Oliphint Chapel Community, on the Palo Gacho Bayou, where he had a grist mill and lumber mill. He lived near the Oliver family. He and his wife had a large family. Elizabeth died 7 March 1847, and was buried in the Oliphint Chapel Cemetery. They were parents of seven children. Three died young. When Thompson Allen died, after 1870, family tradition says that he was buried by his first wife, Elizabeth. It is presumed the three young children were also buried nearby." [Note: presumably Blanche means Thompson and Elizabeth had a total of TEN children, three of whom died young, and seven who lived into maturity]

In the family group sheet given to me by Mrs. Toole, one that was prepared and/or extracted from the notes Edna Mae Hackney, a total of twelve children are shown. It appears that two of these twelve children died before 1836, before the families move to Texas circa 1841. This may account for the discrepency in the number of children. Mrs. Hackney listed detailed birth and death dates for the parents and children, but no support was provided for these dates. Or Mrs. Hackney may have been in error about the two children who died young.

All twelve are shown in this file, however.

In an article entitled "Mrs Etta Nichols Speeks on History of Low's Chapel" published in the August 26, 1965 issue of the SABINE COUNTY REPORTER, "John Morris gave land for church, school and Cemetery about 1890...the school was named for Thomas Allen, and called Allen's Old Mill. Thompson Allen owned a mill that sawed logs into lumber as well as ground corn for meal. It was located about 1/2 mile north of Tuckers Bridge on Palo Gacho. A dam of boards, which was called a tumbling dam, produced the power. The saw worked vertically. Thomas Allen married Glendy McLanahan's mother, who was my great grandmother. Curtis Jackson owned the mill first."



(Research):Timeline (Courtesy of Tuck Wilson)

1802 - Dec 22, Thompson born in Abbeville District, SC (Arva Allen Bible notes). Other family records show location of birth as Elbert County, GA. 1850 census shows him as age 48, born SC. 1860 census shows him as age 58, born GA.
1820 - Thompson a minor, not found in Census in Alabama or SC
1828 - dau Ruthie Ann Allen b 13 Nov 1828 in SC
1830 - dau Minerva Jenkins Allen b. in Alabama
1830- should be living in Selma, Alabama Dallas County (birth of Minerva Jenkins Allen 23 Nov 1830) but not found in census SC, Ala, Mississippi
1832 - son Thomas Bannister Allen b. 29 Sept 1832 in Alabama
1833 - son Thomas Bannister Allen d. 4 Aug 1833 in Alabama
1834 - dau Caroline Woolridge Allen b. June 1834 in Mississippi
1836 - son Levi Thompson Allen b. 3 May 1836 in Noxubee County Mississippi
1836 - dau Caroline Woolridge Allen d. 26 Oct 1836 in Mississippi
1839 - son William Washington Allen b. 12 Sep 1839 in Noxubee County Mississippi
1840 - should be living in Noxubee County Mississippi. He is not shown there but there is a "T. Allen one county over in Winston County, Mississippi with 9 people that looks good. There is an Alfred E. Oliphint in Holmes County, 1 county west of Winston.
1840-43 Thompson Allen has moved to Texas by 28 Feb 1843 when dau Mary Frances is born.

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, Sabine District in the County of Sabine
Enumerated 27 28 and 29 of Nov 1850
277-277
Thompson Allen 48 M Farmer $2000 South Carolina
Jane C --- 39 F
David R Payne 16 M Alabama
Margaret E --- 15 F Alabama
Jane E ---13 F Texas
J. Peckins 11 M Texas
Caroline D --- 9 F Texas
Tery Allin 13 M Mississippi
William --- 11 M Mississippi
Mary --- 9 F Texas
Jerusha --- 5 F Texas
Alfred A --- 2/12 M Texas
Alexander Bains 21 M Farmer Alabama

1860 Census
Texas, Redland Beat No. 4 in the County of Sabine, P.O. Milam
Enumerated 30 Jun 1860
Page 23
167-167
W.A. Payne 36 F Farmer $7500 $15782 La
Margaret A Payne 15 F Texas
Sarah A Payne 10 F Texas
Benjamin R Payne 6 M Texas
William E Payne 5 M Texas
Mary R Payne 2 F Texas
H.B. Bachtlor 18 M Overseer Ga
168-168
Thompson Allen 58 M Farmer $3000 $8451 Ga
Jane C. Allen 49 F S.S.
Caroline D. Payne 19 F Texas
J.C. Allen 15 F Texas
169-169
unoccupied
170-170
Levi and Telitha Allen family




(Medical):
yDNA results

A direct male descendant of Thompson Allen's (through his son William Washington Allen), born with the Allen surname, volunteered to submit a yDNA sample to FamilyTreeDNA.com.

His kit number, in the name of William Allen, is 237184.

The results showed that he was in the R1b1a2a1a1b haplogroup.

He was a 37 marker match to the following :

Samual Doyle Allen Jr (Ancestor Ephraim P. Allen, b. 1820 North Carolina)
Ronald Lee Allen (Ancestor Edmond Allen)
Henry Walton Allen (Ancestor not indicated)
Jerome Brady (Ancestor Richard Brady b. ca. 1805 Co. Caven or Claire, Ireland)
Williams Adams (Ancestor William Adams b. 1816)

Bill Adams emailed the following about his "Adams" lineage: "I can trace my lineage back to William Adams born in Mecklenburg, VA in 1816 or 1820. I know his mother was Sarah/Sally "Adams". (And I think he may have had brothers Alfred and James). I cannot determine who his father was. His grandfather appears to be James Adams who fought in the Revolution. Sarah/Sally having a last name of "Adams" is weird.

Due to the exact match between us, I am wondering whether Sarah/Sally actually had a husband named "Allen" who died or something. Maybe Sarah/Sally went to live with her "Adams" dad for this or some other reason and the kids were raised with an Adams last name. I sayy this because it seems weird to me that Sarah/Sally's husband would also be the same last name of "Adams".

You show your earliest ancestor being 1820, but I do know that the "Adams" in Mecklenburg lived on "Allen's" creek. Also, one of them married an "Allen" (maybe it was William, I can't remember for sure.) I know there were "Allens" living in close proximity to the "Adams" in Mecklenburg, VA."

Thompson married Elizabeth Wooldridge on 8 Feb 1821 in South Carolina. Elizabeth (daughter of John Wooldridge and Martha "Patsy" Ellington) was born on 7 Mar 1804 in Abbeville County, South Carolina; died on 25 Nov 1847 in Milam, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Said to be the sister of ex Mayor A. P. Wooldridge of Austin, Texas. He lived at 3122 Wheeler Street, Austin. If she is related, she is more likely an Aunt or Cousin, as Alexander Penn Wooldridge, mayor of Austin, was born on 1847 in New Orleans, and therefore would be much younger than Elizabeth.