52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #23 Jesse B. Hairston Lived in Falls County, Texas

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to make the connection.

In 2001, I visited the Falls County courthouse in Marlin, Texas. I was looking for my great-great-grandfather, John L. Hairston and was sure that I would find everything that I wanted to know about his family. Well, 13 years have passed, I am still looking for his family.

No Story Too Small

During this visit, although I found several records and learned a few new facts, more questions were generated.  One set of questions revolved around an entry in a deed book. J. B. Hairston was found leasing wells from D. M. Currie in 1893. Was this my John L. Hairston? Could the clerk have just written a J. B. instead of J. L.? Did the clerks ever make mistakes in the deed books? If this was J. L. Hairston, then he was still living in 1893. Would these questions ever be answered?

These questions were finally answered as I researched the Samuel Hairston family. J. B. Hairston is not John L. Hairston, but Jesse B. Hairston, son of Samuel Hairston who is a possible brother to John L. Hairston.

1870 United States Census, Chambers County, Alabama

Jesse B. Hairston, the son of Samuel B. Hairston and Matilda Glasgow was reported to have been born in 1859 in Georgia. He is found in the 1860 and 1870 censuses living with his parents in Alabama and in 1880 was living in Alabama with his sister, Ella D. Hairston Simonton and her family.

On November 6, 1884 Jesse B. Hairston married Fannie Garrett in Bell County, Texas and by 1889, he was paying taxes in Falls County; listed along with his brother, Edward V. and father, Samuel B. 

1900 United States Census, Falls County, Texas

In 1900, Jesse B. Hairston was living with his wife, Fannie and children Robert, Sammie, Claudie, and twins, Inez and Irene.

By 1910, Fannie Hairston, a widow, was living in Bell County with her mother Sarah Garrett and children Claude, Inez, and the youngest, Travis. She reported that only four of her six children were living. Robert did not die until 1920 so it is assumed that in the past 10 years, both Sammie and Irene passed away along with their father.  

It is unknown how or when Jesse B. Hairston died. There was a Jesse Hairston in Milam County in 1910, but his obituary, that same year, placed him with a different Hairston family.  Some Public Family Trees at Ancestry.com have Jesse's death year as 1902 in Alabama, but no source is given. 

If you are a descendant of the Jesse B. Hairston family, please contact me. I have questions and more to share! 

Diana

© 2014

Sources

Ancestry.com. Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Lease from D. M. Currie and to J. B. Hairston, 8 August 1893, Falls County, Texas, Deed Book 8, page 450. County Recorder's Office, Marlin, Texas.

"Texas, Marriages, 1837-1973," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F6Y5-QN5 : accessed 08 Jun 2014), J. B. Hairston and Fannie Ganett, 06 Nov 1884; citing Bell Co., Texas, , reference M59134-3; FHL microfilm 981035.

Year: 1860; Census Place: Southern Division, Randolph, Alabama; Roll: M653_22; Page: 683; Image: 289; Family History Library Film: 803022.

Year: 1870; Census Place: Fredonia, Chambers, Alabama; Roll: M593_6; Page: 87A; Image: 176; Family History Library Film: 545505.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Bloomingdale, Chambers, Alabama; Roll: 5; Family History Film: 1254005; Page: 241B; Enumeration District: 178.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 4, Falls,Texas; Roll: 1632; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0021; FHL microfilm: 1241632.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Justice Precinct 5, Bell, Texas; Roll: T624_1530; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 1375543.