FACTS, LEGENDS, SPECULATION AND TRIVIA
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On March 4, 2008, the following pictures were taken at the Rock House
on Main Street in downtown Clarksville, Texas, at the home of Robert and
Sandra (Raulston) Galley.
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To lend this story some historical perspective the following is offered. |
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This date is one hundred and seventy-seven years after the birth of
Great Grandfather William M. Raulston... so we are covering a large slice
of time here. William M. Raulston came to Texas ten years before the Civil
War and was in his mid 40s when the war started. His eldest son, John, was
six or seven years of age when the war started, which explains why none of
the Red River County Raulston men were in uniform during that war. Some of
the girls married veterans of the Confederate cause shortly after the war. |
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There is a family legend to the effect that Fannie S. Ousley descended
from Irish nobility. There is supposed to have been a Lord Gold or Gould
in her ancestry. When Fannie married William, he was employed by her
father as the family gardener. They ran away to be married and Fannie was
promptly disinherited. She had committed the unpardonable sin by marrying
a commoner. There was a story that her father was a Senator. Since I have
not researched the Ousley family I can not verify this. I know that an
ancestor, Tom Owsley, served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and years
later one of the Ousley men served a term as Governor of Kentucky. I have
been unable to find a photograph of Fannie. She is reported to have been a
lady of average height and weight with redhair. |
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Another legend relates that the rifle William brought to Texas was used
by his father at the battle of New Orleans. That rifle was passed from
Jimmie D. to his son, Roy Ralston. Presumably, one of Roy's descendants
now owns the rifle. |
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The small stature of some of the family deserves comment here. Most of
the Raulstons are average in height and weight but there are exceptions.
Aunt Mahalia Raulston Ringwald's maximum weight was 85 pounds and her
sister, Julia Raulston Aubrey, reached a strapping 80 pounds. I stand 5
feet zero inches high. A sister of Great Grandfather William M. visited
the farm in the late 1800s. Standing flat footed, her chin fit comfortably
over the top rung of a ladder back chair which would make her
approximately 4 feet tall. |
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In the early days a family by the name of Young settled to the west of
Dimple. Mr. Young built a chapel and established a cemetery there and the
community became known as Young's Chapel. The home place of the Young
family was over three miles from the Raulston school so Mr. Young employed
a private tutor for his children. This teacher was Miss Ella Hudson who
became the second wife of Uncle North Thompson. Their children were Henry
T. (Ike) Thompson, Nellie Thompson, and Ulva Thompson. Henry T. Thompson
married Ollie Yancy and they had two sons, Norfleet Thompson and Carlyle
Thompson. Uncle Ike and Aunt Ollie Thompson raised their two sons on a 100
acre tract of land joining the Raulston place on the east. This tract was
the west 100 acres of the 200 acre Cotton-Chessir tract. |
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The only time that the Raulston home was not occupied by a member of
the family was when my father went west for two years in 1922. It was
occupied during those two years by Uncle Ike and his family. He was my
Father's playmate when they were boys and his sons were my playmates. Our
families have had a very close relationship for many years. The topography
of the Raulston land has changed considerably over the years. It, and the
land for miles around, has been cleared and farmed for over a century.
This has resulted in surface erosion. When Great Grandfather came to the
place it was virgin country with large timber and deep running creeks.
There was a large slough or shallow lake immediately to the west of the
house where a pair of Brants stopped twice each year on their migratory
flights. Great Grandfather gave them pet names and fed them for years. The
creeks have filled from eroded land to the extent that they are now
sandrills and water spreads over the land during the rainy season. |
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The timber was large enough in the early days that only the heart of
the pine tree was used for construction. They discarded wood that we make
lumber from, calling it sapwood. The older homes which were constructed of
the heartwood pine lumber are so saturated with turpentine and resin that
a termite will not go near it. |
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In 1925 a trial was held in Dayton, Tennessee, wherein a certain
John Thomas Scopes was tried for teaching evolution in a public school. The Prosecutor
was Mr. William Jennings Bryan, the Defense Attorney was Mr. Clarence
Darrow and the man presiding over it all was Judge John T. Raulston. |
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Anyone interested in the family tartan see "The Clans and Tartans of Scotland" by Robert Bain, look under the name MacDuff. As shown in Chapter 1, the MacDuffs were the ancient Earls of Fife from whom the Raulstons are descended. Last Updated: 4 March 2008 E-mail Paula Duchesne |
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Following is a brief genealogy of my Mother’s family: Symbols: b. = born d. = died m. = married r. = resided or resides bur. = buried A. John Newton Yarbrough, b. about 1846 in Union County, N.C., m. Sarah Adeline Doster, 1867, d. Windom,Tex. June 11, 1921. Lived for a time in Alcorn County, Miss. Moved with wife to Tex. in 1883. Sarah Adeline Doster, wife of John N. Yarbrough, b. Jan. 7,1850, Un. Cy., N.C., d. Windom, Tex., Aug. 17, 1913, seven children. (a) Fletcher Hutchinson Yarbrough, b. Nov. 13, 1868, Un. Cy., N.C., m. Minnie Powell Nov. 24, 1896, in Windom, Tex. Both bur. Windom, Tex., 6 children. 1. Connie Rufus Yarbrough, b. Mar. 15, 1898. Farmer. Single. r. Windom, Tex., Methodist. 2. John Newton Yarbrough, b. Feb. 11, 1901. Farmer, Methodist. m. Cordye Emmons, r. Honey Grove, Tex. one child, Patsy Ruth Yarbrough. 3. William Leonard Yarbrough, b. Sept. 15, 1903. M, Lillie Kilgore Nov. 15, 1923. Farmer, Methodist, 2 children: a) Minnie Yarbrough, b. Feb. 1, 1925, d. Feb. 20, 1925 inf. b) Henry Weldon Yarbrough, b. Sept. 13, 1928. 4. Henry Hudson Yarbrough, b. Jan. 14, 1908. Carpenter, Artist, Taxidermist. Methodist. Single, r. Windom, Tex. 5. Fannie Pauline Yarbrough, b. Oct. 10, 1913. Methodist. Single. r. Windom, Tex. (b) Serena Jane Yarbrough, b. Oct. 7, 1870, Un. Cy., N.C., m. James W. Adair May 5, 1889, d. Jan. 10, 1944 at Hobart, Okla. James Adair, b. 1886, Decaturville, Tenn., d. Mt. View, Okla., date unknown. 8 children. 1. Edgar Adair r. Hobart, Okla. 2. Walter Adair r. Mt. View, Okla. 3. Austin Adair r. Andrews, Tex. 4. Gladys Adair m. Cunningham, r. Simms, Tex. 5. Jennie Adair m. Norman, r. Odessa, Tex. 6. John Adair, Widower, 3 sons, r. Byers, Tex. 7. Boy Adair, d. Inf. 8. Girl Adair, d. Inf. (c) Will Yarbrough, b. March 4, 1873, m. Bettie Bell White Sept. 13, 1896, d. 1951 at Windom, Tex. 8 children. 1. Nannie Bess Yarbrough, b. Aug. 7. 1897. m. Clarence Melvin Raulston [Sr.] April 7, 1915, d. March 25, 1962. Five children. 2. Annie Yarbrough, m. Van Taylor, r. Houston, Texas. Two children. 3. Lonita Yarbrough, m. John Coble, r. Vernon, Texas, three chidlren. 4. Vista Yarbrough, m. Namon Graves, r. Bonham, Texas. No children. 5. Thelma Yarbrough, m. Ross Whitt. d. 1967, no children 6. Buford Yarbrough, m. _____ . d. 1969. Two children. 7. Hiram Newton Yarbrough, m. Mary H. Crable. Three children.
8. Charlie Delphes Yarbrough, d. in infancy.
1. Ruby Lucille Gainous, b. Dec. 22, 1902. d. Jan. 5, 1903 (infancy). 2. Harley Adeline Gainous, b. Feb. 8, 1905. d. Aug. 21, 1928. 3. Mildred Gainous, b. April 12, 1908, m. T. J. Shields, r. Phillips, Tex. 4 children. a) Mary Shields, b. July 4,1932, d. in infancy. b) James Leroy Shields, b. Nov. 10, 1933. c) Bobby Jack Shields, b. Sept. 1, 1935. d) Lon Dean Shields, b. Dec. 26,1937. e) Ana F. Yarbrough, b. Feb. 5, 1878, m. Charles N. Moree, Dec. 9, 1896. No children.
f) C. Edward Yarbrough, m. Louise Pearce. No children. Attorney. r. Tyler, Tex.
(g) Rufus K. Yarbrough, b. Feb. 7, 1886, d. Aug. 13, 1918, m. Donnie Bigham. 3 children. 1. Carl Yarbrough. 2. Mattie Yarbrough. 3. C. E. Yarbrough. NOTE: The Yarbrough genealogy was taken from a transcript of family records which was written in 1946 and is therefore out of date concerning residence, number of children, etc., for members of the later generations. My maternal Grandmother was Bettie White Yarbrough. Her family lineage is as follows:
A. Hiram Scrooge White m. Nanie Elizabeth Brown in about 1875. 4 children. (a) Jim White m. Pearl Williamson. 3 children. (b) Bettie Bell White m. Will Yarbrough. 8 children. (c) Riley White m. Minnie Smith. (d) Eddie W. White m. May Payne. 1 child. A. Hiram S. White m. 2nd time Alpha Hardin. 2 children. (a) Pearl White m. Taylor Henry. (b) Josephine White m. Pate Wilburn. A. Hiram S. White m. 3rd time Addie Hulsey in 1894. No children. Anyone who is interested in the White family genealogy should contact Mr. Fredo Green in Texarkana. He has researched the family quite extensively. |
