1872 - 1967 (94 years)
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Name |
Margaret Anna Youngblood [1] |
Birth |
9 Feb 1872 |
Sabine County, Texas [1] |
Gender |
Female |
Death |
1967 [1] |
Notes |
- MRS. MARGARET ANNA YOUNGBLOOD RAGAN DECEMBER 26, 1963
Mrs. Margaret Anna "Maggie" Youngblood Ragan will be 92 years old February 9, 1964, but a fresh complexion, twinkling eyes and amazing energy belie those years. Born in 1872 at the family home just past the bend in the north edge of Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas on the Milam road, she is the daughter of the master James and Margaret Smith Youngblood, members of pioneer families in Sabine County. The Youngblood's came from Mississippi by the way of Louisana.
Mr. Youngblood, oldest of 13 children, fought in 3 wars---Civil, Indian and Mexican--and did not receive a scratch. His relatives were not so fortunate, however. His father was killed in the Civil war (it is believed that he died in 1862); two brothers died in service, one lost an arm and another a leg. Mrs. Youngblood's grandfather, Robert H. "Bob " Smith was a man of means when he came to Texas. In the 1830's, persons desiring to become a citizen of Texas were required to have a sponsor who was already a citizen. Sam Houston, himself sponsored Mr. Smith, who lived on the Yellow pine Hi way where Roy Payne now lives. Bob Smith bought thousands of acres in many surveys in Sabine and other counties.
On January 3, 1897, Margaret Anna was married to John A. Ragen, who was born where Woods Garage now is. He is the son of Dr. Jubal Harper and Martha Ann Broadway Ragan, pioneers from Virginia. Before they were married, they never went anywhere together. During the week, he would send her a note by a Negro boy telling her he would be coming to see her on Sunday afternoon at the home of her parents. Her sister and family did not get to the wedding because the oxen which were to pull the wagon got out of the pasture and could not be found in time.
In 1900 they loaded up all their belongings in a covered wagon and drove a pair of mules to Greer County, Oklahoma to visit her father, sister and brother who had moved up there. It took them three weeks to get there, staying in wagon yards at night, and cooking in a "cook house" when they were in towns. Most of the time, however, they tied up by the side of the road, if you could call it a road, and did Thier cooking on campfires and slept in the wagon. They baked biscuits and cornbread everyday, using a "Dutch Oven" with 3 legs and a scooped out lid to put the coals on. She says it baked real good.
After a week or two of visiting, they set out on the return trip, but stopped for a year at the Halsell Ranch where they both worked. While there they took a train to Wichita Falls to see Ringland Bros. Circus and came home that night after the show. It was the only train ride that Mrs, Ragan ever took.
They finally returned to Hemphill because they did not like the severe weather, sand storms, wind and cold, and because they could not find a house to buy except a "dug out" This was a house built into the side of a hill with a portion of the hill used as walls so as to conserve building material which was quite scarce on the prairie in those days. Back in Hemphill, they bought a log house on 63 acres of land three miles south of town, which they farmed until 1928, when they traded with Bob Crowell and moved to Hemphill. Mr. Ragan died in 1958, and since then Mrs. Ragan has made her home with her only child, Miss. Willie Ragan of Houston. They spend time as possible at their home here.
Mrs Ragan recalls an incident of their Oklahoma trip. While they were spending time in a Fort Worth Wagon Yard, with a rain coat hung over the front of the wagon sheet. She had laid out a pair of trousers on the spring seat for Mr. Ragan to put on in the morning, and during the night she saw them rise up and go back down. The next morning they were gone, but when Mr. Ragan went to feed his mules, there the pants hung. Since there was no money in the pocket, the robber evidently didn't care to keep them.
James Youngblood is listed along with a brother and sister as living in Greer County Oklahoma and were the purpose of the above trip in 1900. However James Youngblood is listed on the 1910 Census of Sabine Co. TX. Therefore sometime between 1900 and 1910 he had returned to Hemphill.
C. Royall Oct 18, 1969.
Source: ARFAULKN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ARFAULKN] Wagon Trip to OK. Nancy&Charles Royall [cnroyall@wcc.net]
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Person ID |
I17624 |
Strong Family Tree |
Last Modified |
17 Aug 2014 |
Family |
John Arthur Ragan, b. 26 Mar 1871, Texas d. 6 Aug 1968, Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas (Age 97 years) |
Marriage |
3 Jan 1897 |
Sabine County, Texas [3] |
- "Before they were married, they never went anywhere together. During the week, he would send her a note by a Negro boy telling her that he would be coming to see her on Sunday afternooon at the home of her parents. Her sister and family did not get to the wedding because the oxen which were to pull their wagon got out of the pasture and could not be found in time." (Speights, p. 36).
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Children |
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Family ID |
F6534 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Last Modified |
18 Nov 2012 |
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Sources |
- [S461] White & Toole, "Sabine County Historical Sketches and Genealogical Records" c. 1972, p 57 (Reliability: 3).
- [S461] White & Toole, "Sabine County Historical Sketches and Genealogical Records" c. 1972, p 56 (Reliability: 3).
- [S374] Speights, Virgie "Old Timers of Sabine County, Texas Vignettes of Pioneer Families" (S. Malone, c. 1983), p. 36 (Reliability: 3).
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