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Showing posts with label Biggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biggs. Show all posts

Friday, February 28, 2025

Friday's Photo: Frances L. Bryan - Bienville Parish, LA to Erath County, TX


Frances L. Bryan 1859 to 1894
This appears to be a copy of the tintype seen below. Using Mark Thompson's
Historical Photo Analyzer at ChatGpt, I can surmise that due to her age and
the style of clothing, this photo was likely taken between 1875 and 1880.
As the family left Bienville in about 1876, and they were in Erath County
by 1878, I am unable to identify the location where the photo was taken.



This is likely the original image,
and the hand-colored version was
probably a later copy.



Frances L. Bryan was born in Louisiana on February 13, 1859, to twenty-two-year-
old parents, Terrell Bryan and Harriet Louisa Albritton. Frances was the second of their ten known children—her older brother Joseph had died in infancy two years before her birth. Family stories suggest that Frances may have had an intellectual disability, or possibly epilepsy. 

Frances spent the first part of her childhood in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. In 1861, when she was about two years old, her father joined the Louisiana Infantry. During his time away, Harriet and her children lived with Harriet's mother, Hollon Albritton.  By the war's end, Frances was the eldest of three girls, with at least six more children to be born to Harriet and Terrell by 1884. 






In about 1876, the Bryan family relocated to Eastland County, Texas, looking for 
new opportunities.  Frances was almost 20 when they moved to Erath County in 1878. Unlike her siblings, who married and started their own families, Frances did not marry or have children. She passed away on December 24, 1894, in Erath County at the age of 35. 

Frances’ cemetery stone at the Old Valley Grove Cemetery near Stephenville in Erath County lists her death as occurring in 1904. However, Terrell and Harriet Bryan's family Bible records her passing in 1894 at the age of 35 years, 10 months, and 11 days. I have not found any other records or reports confirming her death. She does not appear in the 1900 census, which also states that only six of Terrell and Harriet's children were still living at that time. Those six were Terrell L. Bryan Biggs, Hollon S. Bryan Latta, Laura L. Bryan Keith, Alice A. Bryan Hammett, Dorothy (Dollie) E. H. Bryan Wylie, and my grandfather, Redic E. Bryan.


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2025 


"Frances L. Bryan," colorized photograph, about 1880; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Jane Aebersold, CO, 2013.

"Frances L. Bryan," photograph, ca.1880; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2022.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28974168/frances_l-bryan: accessed February 1, 2025), memorial page for Frances L. “Fanny” Bryan (13 Feb 1869–24 Dec 1904), Find a Grave Memorial ID 28974168, citing Old Valley Grove Cemetery, Erath County, Texas, USA; Maintained by LookingForFamily (contributor 47127361).

Mark Thompson’s Historical Photo Analyzer (ChatGPT), response to a question by Diana Quinn, February 28, 2025. Available at https://chatgpt.com/g/g-gbEbpBXtc-mark-thompson-s-historical-photo-analyzer. 

Memories written by Terrell Little "Bunch" Biggs, 13 July 1937; digital copy, original copy held by Pat Waas, TX.

Terrell Bryan Family Bible Records, 1836 - 1927, The Illustrated Polyglot Household Bible (Philadelphia: G. Zeigler, McCurdy, & Co., 1870), "Family Record," privately held by Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2021

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Family Notes from Erath County, Texas - Bryan, Biggs, Keith, Latta, and Hairston

Terrell Little Bryan and her husband, James D. Biggs

Stephenville Empire
1 August 1885 

A Serious Accident

Last Sunday a few minutes after J.D. Biggs and family left Terrell Bryan's, his wife met with a very serious accident. The horses were somewhat playful, and Mr. Biggs suggested that his wife get out and walk. The wagon was stopped, and she put her foot on the hind wheel to get out. As she was getting down the wheel turned, throwing her to the ground and under the wheel. The cap of her knee was badly injured, and she was generally bruised up, and, up to last Monday evening, was in a critical condition, not being able to move. Her delicate condition makes the accident quite serious.

Note: Terrell "Bunch" Bryan was the wife of J. D. Biggs.  The Terrell Bryan mentioned was her father. Her son, Terrell Bryan Biggs was born shortly after this accident, on 3 September 1885.


Dallas Morning News    
5 Jul, 1891   

JAIL DELIVERY.  The Acting Jailer Overpowered by Two Outside Men. 

STEPHENVILLE, Erath Co., Tex., 4 Jul

Terrell Bryan (1836-1920)
Four prisoners escaped from the county jail about 1 o’clock this afternoon.  Sheriff
Shands and his deputy attended the celebration at Huckaby today and left R. Dunn in charge.  When Dunn went up to give the prisoners their dinner he was seized just as he entered the corridor by two strong men who had secreted themselves and had been laying for him since breakfast.  One of them held him secure while the other opened the cell,  They then told all the inmates who desired to celebrate independence day to vacate quickly.  Four prisoners walked out and four remained in their cells.  Mr. Dunn was then incarcerated, the lock thrown on and the four men ran down stairs, jumped the fence and were at liberty.

About 2 o’clock Mr. Terrell Bryant’s [Bryan] attention was attracted to the jail by Dunn’s loud cries for help, and going there he learned the facts.  After releasing Dunn they raised the alarm and soon every man that could muster a gun and horse was in pursuit.  T. M. Creswell brought in a pair of the boys this evening and the other two, Phil Roberts, wanted in Tennessee for assault to murder, and Jack Kimball, charged with horse theft here, are still at large.  A strong posse still pursues them.  The prisoners have with them a Winchester, and it is thought will make a fight when overtaken.


Stephenville Tribune
24 July 1896

R. E. Bryan will teach at the school at Center Grove this year.


Erath Appeal
Redic E. Bryan and J. Myrtie Hairston
21 Jul, 1898

Redic Bryan had the misfortune Monday night to have a wagon run over his leg
below the knee, fracturing the larger bone.

26 Feb, 1903
Harve Keith and his wife will soon move to Fort Worth where Mr. Keith has a position.

29 Sept, 1904
Mrs. Terrell Bryan went down to Fort Worth Sunday for a fortnight’s visit to her daughters, Mrs. Lon Latta and Mrs. Harvey Keith.


Stephenville Tribune
21 Jul 1905

Reddick Bryan will go to San Angelo to prospect and also to
visit relatives.

18 Aug 1905

Reddick Bryan and wife have returned from their visit to
Robert Lee, San Angelo and other points west. He reports lands out there as
higher than the same class can be bought for in Erath county.

Note: Redic was probably visiting his sister, Dollie Wylie, and her husband, Tom, in Robert E. Lee, Coke County.

11 Nov, 1905

Reddick Bryan and P.A. Hairston, who recently disposed of their property in Erath County, are nicely located on a fine piece of property they paid $20 per acre. They bought all the corn on the farm at 25 cents. They have already taken possession of their new homes.

1 Dec, 1905

Rev. R.A. Cox who recently purchased the Phil Hairston place will preach at Sylvan Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Cox has been in the ministry a good many years.

Note: P. A. Hairston was Redic's father-in-law. Redic, his wife, Myrtie, and their children along with Philip and Lodema Hairston, Myrtie's parents moved to the Levelview community of Baylor County in 1905.

15 Nov, 1909

Judge Terrell Bryan celebrated his seventy-third birthday on 17 Nov, and is receiving congratulations galore.  He served in the Confederate army and was desperately wounded, and has suffered untold torture from then up to the present time.  He has four children living and all are married.


Stephenville Tribune
March 4, 1910

During the serious illness of Mrs. T. L. Biggs  Mr. B. was unable to attend to his farming operations, but his neighbors evidenced the true christian spirit and he will not suffer from a loss of crops.  The came and broke his land, hauled wood, and did other neighborly acts for all of which he is deeply grateful.  And the dear, good women did their part nobly. 
It is now believed that Mrs. Biggs will recover.  She suffered from blood poisoning.

Note: Terrell Little"Bunch" Bryan was the daughter of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton and the wife of J. D. Biggs.  

These excerpts were recorded on my web pages almost twenty years ago. Those web pages have not been updated since about 2012 but can still be found at my Rootsweb Freepages site. However, Ancestry, who now owns Rootsweb, is retiring the pages in 2024, and when and if they are returned, the pages will be static (I will not be able to make changes). 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2023 

"A Serious Accident," Stephenville Empire, Stephenville, Texas, 1 August 1895. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

"Jail Delivery. The Acting Jailer Overpowered by Two Outside Men," Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, 5 August 1891. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

Redic Bryan at Center Grove, Stephenville Tribune, Stephenville, Texas, 24 July 1896. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

Reddick Bryan, Stephenville Tribune, Stephenville, Texas, 21 July 1905. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

Reddick Bryan, Stephenville Tribune, Stephenville, Texas, 18 August 1905. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

Reddick Bryan, Stephenville Tribune, Stephenville, Texas, 11 November 1905. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

The Phil Hairston place, Stephenville Tribune, Stephenville, Texas, 1 December 1905. Transcribed by C. Shipman and shared with Diana Quinn before 2011.

Redic Bryan fractured leg, Erath Appeal, Stephenville, Texas, 21 July 1898; Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, 2005. 

Harve Keith and wife, Erath Appeal, Stephenville, Texas, 26 February 1903; Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, 2005. 

Mrs. Terrell Bryan, Erath Appeal, Stephenville, Texas, 29 September 1904; Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, 2005. 

Terrell Little Bryan and James D. Biggs, photograph, ca.1880; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Patricia Pierce Waas, TX, 2006. 

Redic E. Bryan and J. Myrtie Hairston, photograph, 1900; scanned image, original in the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.

Terrell Bryan, photograph, ca. 1900; scanned image, original in the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.

Friday, June 30, 2023

Friday's Photo: Ina Lou and her mother, Terrell "Bunch" Bryan Biggs


Terrell Little "Bunch' Bryan was born on 13 July 1861 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. She was my grandfather's sister and the daughter of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton. 

Ina Lou Biggs was the youngest daughter of Terrell "Bunch" Bryan and James Daniel Biggs. She was born on 26 September 1894 in Erath County, Texas. The Biggs family lived in Morgan Mill. 

The photo was dated as about 1910 by Susan Pierce, daughter of Ina Lou Biggs. At that time, the Biggs family was still residing in Morgan Mill in Erath County. 




Additional Biggs family posts can be seen at the links below. 







If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2023

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41174153/ina-lou-chapman: accessed 30 June 2023), memorial page for Ina Lou Biggs Chapman (26 Sep 1894–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 41174153, citing Rose Hill Cemetery, Tyler, Smith County, Texas, USA; Maintained by Tamera (contributor 46830348).

Terrell Bryan Family Bible Records, 1836 - 1927, The Illustrated Polyglot Household Bible (Philadelphia: G. Zeigler, McCurdy, & Co., 1870), "Family Record," privately held by Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2021

Terrell Little Bryan Biggs and Ina Lou Biggs, photograph, ca.1910; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Patricia Pierce Waas, TX, 2006.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41174153/ina-lou-chapman: accessed 30 June 2023), memorial page for Ina Lou Biggs Chapman (26 Sep 1894–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 41174153, citing Rose Hill Cemetery, Tyler, Smith County, Texas, USA; Maintained by Tamera (contributor 46830348).

Friday, April 28, 2023

Friday's Photo: Another Biggs Family Photo

Unidentified young woman found in the Biggs Family Bible


I have had a genealogy web page at Rootsweb, now part of Ancestry, since about 2004. Ancestry is retiring its Rootsweb pages in 2024. They say the pages will become static pages. You will be able to see the pages, but I will not be able to make changes. Just in case they lose my web pages, I am putting some of the web page content on my blog, and this post is the first of many. 

This unidentified photo was shared by a Bryan / Biggs researcher and her daughter and has been on my webpage for almost 20 years. 

Terrell Little Bryan, known as "Bunch," was the daughter of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton. She was born in 1861 in Bienville Parish and left her home and many aunts, uncles, and cousins when her parents decided to move to Texas in about 1876. The family spent about a year in Eastland, Texas, before moving to Erath County. Terrell married James D. Biggs in Erath County on 16 May 1880. Terrell and James are pictured below. Note their names on the Bible. The photo above was one of several found in that Bible. 


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2023 

Unidentified photos found in the Biggs family Bible, photographs, no dates; scanned images from the privately held photo collection of Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, TX, 2006.

Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce,  "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.

Friday, May 13, 2022

Friday's Photo: Four Unidentified Photos Found in the Biggs Family Bible



Sue Pierce, daughter of Ina Lou Biggs and Frank Blackwell, shared these photos with me in 2006. They were found in the Bible belonging to her grandparents, James Daniel "Jim" Biggs and his wife, Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan. Bunch was born in Bienville Parish, Louisiana in 1861 and moved to Erath County, Texas around 1878. Jim was born in Red River, Texas, in 1849 and was in Erath County before May of 1880 when he married Bunch. 

These photos might be from the Biggs or Bryan family. Family names include Bryan, Biggs, Gunter, DeLavan, Wright, Blackwell, and Chapman. 

Identifying old photos is never easy. However, there is always a chance that someone with the same or similar photos will see this and be able to share the identity. Many of my family photos have been identified this way. 


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 
.
Diana
© 2022 

Unidentified photos found in the Biggs family Bible, photographs, no dates; scanned images, from the privately held photo collection of Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, TX, 2006.

Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce,  "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.

Friday, May 6, 2022

Friday's Photo: Ina, Charlie, and Jimmy Biggs of Erath County, Texas







Yesterday, I posted Flowers and Family - A Letter from Erath County to Bienville Parish - May 3, 1913. The letter was written by my grandfather's sister, Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan Biggs. Aunt Bunch, as my father called her, married James Daniel Biggs and had eight children. Two died as very young children.
[1] This photo is a picture of the three youngest children who lived to adulthood; Ina Lou, Charlie, and Jimmy.[2] 

The photo was found in Marguerite Cook Clark's collection of family photos and documents originally held in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. It is unknown who received the photo in about 1899 or if it was sent by Bunch or possibly by one of her parents, Terrell Bryan or Harriet Albritton Bryan.[3]

The photo above appears to have been taken about 1899 as the youngest, Charles Calvin Biggs, was born on 15 March 1898. Charles was born in Erath County, married twice, and had no children. He was a teacher and died in Plainview, Texas on 18 July 1957 where he was buried.[4] 

Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan and her husband James Daniel
Biggs. The young girls are Margaret (Maggie) and Willie. The
boy standing is Terrell Bryan, and the baby is James Ely. Ina
Lou and Charles Calvin were not yet part of the family. The 
older girl was Belle Hanley.[7] 

Ina Lou Biggs was born on 26 September 1894 in Erath County. She worked for at least a few years as a teacher. Ina Lou married Frank Bain Blackwell and they had children Frank Bain Jr., Mary Sue, and William Reed. Frank Blackwell Sr. died in 1929 just a few months after his youngest son's birth. Three years later Ina Lou married Robert Lee Chapman and they had children Margaret Elizabeth and Charles Donald. Ina Lou died 4 October 1984 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, Texas.[5] 

James Ely Biggs (Jimmy in the photo) was born on 17 June 1890. He married twice and had one son, James Bryan Biggs called "Little Jim." James Ely Biggs was a teacher in Baylor County in 1910. He died on 17 August 1970 in Waco, Texas, and is buried in Plainview next to his brother, Charles.[6] 



If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 
.
Diana
© 2022 

    1. Ina Lou Biggs Blackwell Chapman, "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.
    2. Three Biggs Children, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2022. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.
    3. Terrell Bryan Family Bible Records, 1836 - 1927, The Illustrated Polyglot Household Bible (Philadelphia: G. Zeigler, McCurdy, & Co., 1870), "Family Record," privately held by Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2021.
    4. Chapman, Birth Record of Biggs Family. Also, "Heart Attack Fatal to Plainview Man," Lubbock Morning Avalanche (Lubbock, Texas), 18 July 1957, p.5; database with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101229162/charles-calvin-biggs-obituary/: accessed 28 April 2022).
    5. Chapman, Birth Record of Biggs Family. Also, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41174153/ina-lou-chapman: accessed 06 May 2022), memorial page for Ina Lou Biggs Chapman (26 Sep 1894–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 41174153, citing Rose Hill Cemetery, Tyler, Smith County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Tamera (contributor 46830348). Also, Locals, The Osage Chief (Fairfax, Oklahoma), 1 September 1916, p.3; database with images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101232110/ina-lou-biggs-teacher/: accessed 28 April 2022).
    6. Chapman, Birth Record of Biggs Family. Also, "Biggs, James Eli," myplainview.com
 (http://unger.myplainview.com/cemetery/cemetery.php?row_id=2969 : accessed 25 April 2022). Also, J E. Biggs to teach in Red Spring, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 17 June 1910,  p.6, col. 1; database and images, The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth429359/m1/6/zoom/? : accessed 5 May 2022). 
    7. The Biggs Family, photograph, ca.1892; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Patricia Pierce Waas, TX, 2006. Also, Diana Bryan Quinn "Friday's Photo: The Biggs Family + One in Erath County, Texas" blog entry, 25 October 2019, Moments in Time: A Genealogy Blog (https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/fridays-photo-biggs-family-one-in-erath.html: accessed 4 May 2022).