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As we
observe the 166th anniversary of Texas declaring independence from
Mexico -- March 2, 1836 -- one Montgomery County family is
celebrating its long-standing link to Texas, the Alamo and
Montgomery County.
On Feb. 7, Bregan Terry became a
ninth-generation Texan and the seventh generation of Lindley's
descendents born in Montgomery County.
Lindley's family tree
is one of the many generational stories that enhance the rich
history of Montgomery County, birthplace of the Texas
flag.
According to the Handbook of Texas, Lindley was born
Feb. 21, 1814, in Illinois, the son of Samuel Washington Lindley,
born in 1788, and Elizabeth Polly Hall Lindley.
He reportedly
entered Texas in 1833 and applied for a land grant as a single man
in Joseph Vehlein's colony Nov. 4, 1834.
Lindley was granted
land, which is now covered by Lake Livingston in Polk County.
However, the land grant was invalidated because that land already
had been awarded to someone else. According to the Handbook of
Texas, Lindley apparently did not know the grant was invalid and was
probably still living on it when the Texas Revolution broke out in
fall 1835.
Lindley joined Capt. John Crane's company and
participated in the siege of Bexar in November 1835. In December
1835, during the storming of Bexar, Crane's company served in the
First Division under the command of Benjamin R. Milam.
On
Dec. 14, 1836, Lindley joined William R. Carey's artillery company
and helped garrison the Alamo under the command of Lt. Col. James C.
Neill.
Along with approximately 186 other defenders, Lindley was
killed in the Battle of the Alamo. Ultimately, Lindley's death led
his ancestors to settle in Montgomery County.
According to a
history of the Lindley family, submitted to the Montgomery County
Genealogical and Historical Society by Estella Burns Stewart, Samuel
Washington Lindley came to Texas on a recommendation to enter Texas
from the Illinois governor. The Lindley family is thought to have
come to Montgomery County in 1826.
A copy of a Spanish Land
Grant shows that Samuel Washington Lindley asked to be granted a
league of land. This request was signed Nov. 4, 1834, and proves
that Samuel Washington Lindley resided in Texas.
Another copy
of a statement from the General Land Office showed that in 1835,
Samuel Washington Lindley was a resident of Montgomery County and
lived near the Walker County line.
Following Jonathan
Lindley's death in the Alamo, his family was given land in Panola
County for his service to Texas. That grant was transferred to
Montgomery County to Samuel Washington Lindley. Jonathan Lindley's
father, Samuel Washington, died in 1859 and is buried in the
Shepherd Hill Cemetery.
A historic landmark in the Shepherd Hill
Cemetery pays tribute to
Jonathan Lindley.
Another
of Samuel Washington Lindley's children, Mary, born in 1813, married
Hiram Little in 1832. The couple had 10 children. The first one born
in Montgomery County was Jonathan in 1836
Hiram Little also
played a role in the Texas Revolution.
According to family
legend, Little fought in the Battle of San Jacinto with Gen. Sam
Houston.
A marker at Hiram Little's grave gives validity to
his role in the Texas Revolution. The grave of his wife, Mary
Little, also contains a marker showing she was a citizen of the
Republic of Texas following the Texas Revolution.
On Nov. 18,
1840, Hiram and Mary Little had a son, William M. (Doc) Little, who
was born in Willis. Doc Little married Sarah Elizabeth Paulsel April
25, 1865, at his father Hiram's home in Walker
County.
William and Sarah Little moved onto 98 acres of land
along Caney Creek in Montgomery County. They had eight children,
including Hattie Josephine, who was born Sept. 10, 1883, in Willis.
Hattie married a Meador from Montgomery County, and this was who Lee
Murray Johnson called "Ma."
Johnson, 74, who is the oldest of
four of Lindley's generations still alive and living in Montgomery
County, lives off of Airport Road in Conroe and was raised by his
grandmother Hattie.
His mother, Ruby Lillian Meador, Hattie's
daughter, was born July 22, 1910, in Willis. However, Johnson, whose
father was Native American, was given to Hattie to raise shortly
after his birth May 26, 1927, in Willis.
According to Johnson,
Hattie also had a son three weeks after he was born named
Ray.
"Ray and I were raised like twins," Johnson said.
However, Ray Meador was killed as a young man working in the
oil industry.
Johnson has spent his life working with horses
and cattle in Montgomery County and now shares the excitement
surrounding his great-granddaughter's birth.
Johnson had a
daughter, Imogene Johnson, who was born March 31, 1959, in Conroe.
Her daughter, Resa Ann Johnson Terry, born March 15, 1978, gave
birth to Bregan Channing Terry, born Feb. 7 in The Woodlands, thus
making for seven generations of the family born in Montgomery County
and nine generations who have lived in Texas.
Johnson said
stories about his ancestors have been passed through the
generations. It was a letter from Edna Elizabeth Little, Doc
Little's granddaughter, that helped piece the family history
together. She passed along the letter explaining their family
history to Johnson and his family.
Johnson now believes he is
very fortunate to be able to trace his family heritage back to
Texas' infancy and that all of his family members remain close
by.
Barbara Franz, head of the Genealogy Department at the
Montgomery County Central Library, said there are several families
whose ancestors go back many generations in Montgomery
County.
For example, a Stewart line also branches from Samuel
Washington Lindley. A. K. Stewart who came to Montgomery County in
1924, is descended from James Lindley, brother of Jonathan
Lindley.
Stewart was later county superintendent and county
attorney for Montgomery County.
Another of Montgomery
County's oldest family lines go back to the Collard family.
According to a history of Montgomery County, Elijah and Mary Collard
came to the Montgomery/Walker County area in 1833.
Collard
was one of the first commissioners when Montgomery County was formed
in 1837 and was a member of the First Council of Texas.
The
Cude family also has a history that dates back to the early
1800s.
However, linking family lines together is much like
putting together a puzzle and there are several places for
Montgomery County residents to get started.
The Church
of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, 1516 Wilson Road in
Conroe, offers a Family History Library.
The library is open
to the public and offers 95 percent of the genealogical material the
Latter Day Saints Church has to offer.
Library visitors first
fill out a pedigree chart and then information is sought from the
Family History Catalog, Scottish church records, the International
Genealogy Index, ancestral files, war information and information
from the census.
At the Genealogy Department in the Montgomery County Central
Library local records as well as more than 200
periodicals and CD-ROM databases are available.
The
department also has possession of some local records that are
exclusive to Montgomery County.
For more information on
family history, contact the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day
Saint's Family History Center at (936) 756-4004 or the Montgomery
County Central Library at (936)
788-8363.
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