Samuel Brooks Mayfield was born in 1825 in Tennessee, probably Williamson County. He was the son of Nancy Brooks by her first husband, Ambrose Mayfield. Her second husband was Iredell Reding. Samuel came to Texas with his mother and stepfather in the 1830s. They were early settlers of Mustang Prairie in Houston County. Before 1840, they moved to Montgomery County and settled in the area that was to become Danville.
Samuel was the first cousin of A. J. Brooks and of Sina Brooks, who married Roland K. Truitt. He was the stepbrother of George W. Reding.
Samuel was living with Rev. James H. Collard's family in Crockett, Houston County, in 1850, employed as a clerk. He apparently returned to Montgomery County shortly afterwards.
On 12 May 1855, he was married to Louisa Seymour in Montgomery County by Rev. J. V. Wright, probably at Danville. Rev. Wright was the minister of the Danville Baptist Church.
Mary Louisa Seymour was born December 19, 1828, in New York, to James Seymour and Jane Day. She was the sister of Delia Catherine Seymour (1822-1895), the fourth wife of Gen. John Slater Besser. (Please see the online files of “Thomas Adkins Family Genealogy, History & Heritage”.)
In census records, Sam Mayfield's wife is listed as M. L., born in New York. She is found in 1850 as “Mary Seymore,” living in Galveston with the N. D. Labadie family; she was fourteen years old, born New York.
By 1857, Samuel was in business in Danville with one of the Redings and was on the tax list as Mayfield and Reding. He owned a lot in Danville, as did the business partnership.
In 1860 in Montgomery County, Sam's occupation was Merchant.
He may have also had a school after 1860, as Mayfield School is named in the estate settlement of Peter B. Irvine.
In April of 1861, Samuel joined the Danville Mounted Riflemen, the local militia company, as a private.
When forty-five of the Riflemen joined the Second Texas Lancers, Samuel stayed behind in Danville, probably because he was over age. He continued to serve in the local militia, and his name was on a list of militiamen who were voting to select a captain of militia in September 1862.
Meanwhile, Mary Louisa was an active member of the ladies of Danville who were assisting in the war effort. Note that she is listed in the article below as Mrs. Mayfield.
His name is on the Amnesty Oath that was filed in Montgomery County after the war. Men who had served in the Confederacy were unable to vote until they swore allegiance to the United States government. (See below.)
S. B. Mayfield is listed in the membership rolls of San Jacinto Masonic Lodge 106, which met at Danville and later in Willis.
After the war, Samuel boarded students, according to an estate record of the day. Samuel also took up school teaching in order to support his family. In fact, he taught a Freedman�s weekly school in Danville. An 1869 article in the Houston Union newspaper states, Before the war he was a respectable merchant at Danville. The results of the war engulfed him in pecuniary ruin, and now he resorts to this honorable and useful mode of obtaining a living for himself and family, and at the same time aiding in the education of a large and destitute part of our population.
Shortly afterwards, Samuel took a position with the prison system. He was enumerated with his family on the 1870 census index of Walker County and gave his occupation as guard at the prison in Huntsville.
By 1880, S. B. Mayfield and wife were living in the city of Palestine in Anderson County and had five children still at home, ranging in age from ten to twenty-two. His occupation was given as Merchant, and the oldest son living in the home was a railroad hand.
Samuel Mayfield died on about February 14, 1899, and was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Harris County on February 16. Thank you to Jack and Mary Jane Millender for the photo and information about Samuel's death. The date of interment was found on the Glenwood website.
Mary Louise lived with her daughter, Elizabeth Mellender, in Houston, probably until the end of her life. She died in Houston on February 15, 1917, and was buried at Glenwood Cemetery.
For more information, see Samuel Brooks Mayfield on the Wood & Torbert Families website.
For further information and records of all Confederate soldiers of Montgomery County, Texas, as well as histories of the regiments they served in, see Montgomery County, Texas, CSA by Frank M. Johnson.
The book may be purchased by visiting Frank's website at frankmjohnson.net or by contacting Frank at [email protected].
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