CHAPTER 15
THE ROYALL FAMILY
Note: generations are coordinated with those of the Carson family. The
Royalls were a prominent family in Brazos County, and intermarried with the
Carson family on two occasions (see chapters 5 and 9).
FIRST GENERATION
1532 Joseph ROYALL was the emigrant ancestor of the Royall family, coming from England in July 1622 in the ship
"Charitie", and settling on James River above Shirley Hundred.
He married first (1533) Thomassin (unknown) ROYALL, second
(1534) Ann (unknown) ROYALL then third (1535) Katherine
(Banks) ROYALL of Canterbury, England in about 1645. Katherine was
born early in the 17th century and died 10 Oct., 1686. The ancestral home
was known as "Dogham", said to be a variation of some French name of a
stream in Normandy, from which region the family went to England with William
the Conquerer. Born to this marriage were five children, including:
+1536 Joseph (Captain) ROYALL
SECOND GENERATION
1536 Joseph (Captain) ROYALL was born
in 1646 and died in 1732. He married before 1681 to (1537) Mary
(Eppes) ROYALL who was born in 1664. Mary was the daughter of Colonel
Francis Eppes and Elizabeth Littleberry Eppes. Joseph owned 4552 acres of
land embracing Marin's swamp on the south side of the James River and tracts on
the north side of the Appomattox River and on Proctor's Creek. He was a
Captain of the Virginia Militia, Justice of the Peace and Sheriff of Henrico
County, and vestryman in Curls Episcopal Church. The had four children,
including:
+1538 William ROYALL
THIRD GENERATION
1538 William ROYALL was born in 1688 and died in
1747. He married (1539) Sarah (Povall) ROYALL, whose parents Robin
Povall and Elizabeth Hooker were said to have been stolen from England while
children and sold into service. There was a conveyance of land to him of
900 acres in 1732. They had four children, including:
+1547 John ROYALL
FOURTH GENERATION
1547 John ROYALL was born in 1720 and died in
1766. He married (1540) Susanna (Bates) ROYALL in 1748. According
to the Virginia Magazine of History, she was administratrix of his estate.
His will of 31 May, 1766, probated in Halifax County, Virginia, establishes
descent. It is believed that he was one of the Colonial Legislators and a
very influential man in his community. They had eight children, including:
+1541 William ROYALL
FIFTH GENERATION
1541 William ROYALL was born on 11
March, 1754 and died on 28 Jan., 1821. He lived at Royall Hill on the Dan
River, Halifax County, Virginia. He was a captain of cavalry in the
Revolutionary War and received a land grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia
for service rendered during the war. The grant was dated 12 Aug., 1795 and
was recorded in book No. 35, page 491, Halifax County, Virginia. He
married first (1542) Elizabeth Flippen (Bedford) ROYALL on 25 Jan.,
1787. She was born on 12 Dec., 1772 and died on 11 Nov., 1802. They
had five children, including
+1508 Richard Royster ROYALL Jr.
After the death of Elizabeth, he married (1543) Polly (Glasscock)
ROYALL. The second marriage produced two children.
SIXTH GENERATION
1508 Richard Royster ROYALL Jr. was born on 1
June, 1798 in Halifax County, Virginia and died on 29 June, 1840 in Matagorda County, Texas. He was
the son of ( 1511 ) Captain William ROYALL and
(1512 ) Elizabeth
Flippin (Bedford) ROYALL. He married first in 1819 (1509) Ann
Alexander (Underwood) ROYALL. The date of her birth is unknown, but she died
on 18 Feb., 1836 in Matagorda County, Texas. They had four girls and two
boys. One boy was:
+1506 William Bibb ROYALL
He married second (1510) Elizabeth Allen (Love) ROYALL on 3 Jan., 1839 by the
Rev. William Y. Allen. She was born on 9 Nov., 1819 and died probably in
1883. One daughter was born of this marriage.
Richard Royster ROYALL was practically reared by his stepmother for his own
mother died when he was four years of age. When he became 21 years of age
his father settled upon each of the children by his first marriage what he
considered their part of the estate leaving to the children of the second
marriage the ancestral home on the Dan River in Virginia. He gabe Richard,
the youngest child, a plantation near Tuscumbia, Alabama.
On the way to Alabama to claim his heritage he passed through Nashville,
Tennessee and visited with the Underwood family. There he met his future
wife Miss Ann Underwood who he married six months later.
In 1819, either before or after his marriage to Ann Underwood, he bought from
Daniel Kimball "a Spanish grant of two leagues square or in every direction
of the wind". This land was near the Sabine River (between Texas and
Lousiana) where the road crosses it between Natchitoches LA and Nacogdoches
TX. The purchase of this claim prompted his desire to visit Texas, which
he did in 1820 to see if his claim could be perfected. Whether he made it
to the seat of government at Bexar (San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas) is not
known, but he obviously found Texas to be a wild and unorganized province, not a
place to settle in a he decided to return to Tuscumbia until a more stable
condition prevailed in Texas.
In March, 1824 he purchased a Spanish grant from a Captain Despalier of
Alexandria, Louisiana. This claim was situated five miles south of
Nacogdoches and extended to the junction of Cany Creek with the Angelina or Orhillian
River, and was warranted to be 10,000 arpens (an arpen is close to an acre). With two Spanish claims to
perfect, he wrote Stephen F. Austin on 28 Dec., 1824 from Tuscumbia, Alabama,
mentioning his two claims and making enquiry with reference to the settling of
immigrants in Texas, particularly in the vicinity of Nacogdoches. He He
also wanted to know what disposition Austin's government gave to claims, advisin
that he intended to settle in Texas and would probably visit there in the Autumn
of 1825.
R.R. Royall did make a trip to Texas in March 1825 visiting the DeLeon and
DeWitt colonies. He found trouble between the two groups and for that
reason, no doubt, decided not to join with them. In May of the same year
he was with Stephen F. Austin in Austin's settlement and together they executed
a deed of trust to Daniel Coleman on 16 May, 1825.
R. R. Royall yearned for a home in Texas. He was not a fortune hunter for
God had blessed him with much of this world's goods, neither was he an
adventurer. He was really a pioneer seeking a home in a new land.
This seemed to be the motivating spirit of his ancestors, ever going west, ever
seeking new frontiers. The same impulse guided his paternal forebear,
(1518 ) Joseph ROYALL, the emigrant ancestor of the Royalls, who sought a
new home in America in 1622 at Jamestown, Virginia.
R. R. Royall was now the father of two children, but the urge to settle in Texas
was uppermost in his mind. On 21 Feb., 1826 he wrote Austin in part as
follows:
The United States of America
Town of Tuscumbia
State of Alabama
Feb. 21, 1826
Colonel Austin:
Your country is much spoken of here and much more in
Tennessee and Kentucky. Judge Ellis and some other gentlemen will be to
see it this spring. The judge will make arrangements for my coming.
I wrote you by Mr. Gillespie, consequently have but little to say here.
You will write me on every subject which might be of any importance as it is
seldom we receive the truth from Texas. I expect young Mr. Hughes will
arrive before you receive this, as he left here some time ago.
I have been told of a proclamation of Mr. Edwards's requiring
the holders of old grants within the limits of his settlement to come
forward. I think probably one of my grants are within his district, if so,
you have no doubt, made it known.
Offer my respects to Captain Gray and tell him when he writes
me again to write me fully, that I am never tired of receiving information from
a country in which I feel so much interest.
I have spoken for a pair of greyhounds for your brother,
which if I succeed in getting, will bring when I come. Believe me to be
most sincerely your obedient humble servt.
Signed -- R. R. Royall
During 1827 he was in communication with Austin concerning his land claims and
in 1830 he completed a Spanish Grant which was issued to him on December
10th. This was one or both of the land grants or claims he purchased in
1810 and 1824.
The family history indicates that a close friendship grew between Austin and R.
R. Royall. During the latter part of 1830 or early 1831, Stephen F. Austin
visited in the Royall home in Tuscumbia for a month or more. No doubt
Austin's visit had something to do with the emigration from Alabama to Texas of
about 11 prominent families from the Tuscumbia area in 1831 and 1832, among
which was the family of R. R. Royall. The schooner "Emblem"
arrived in Matagorda, Texas in 1832 during a storm. The immigrants and
livestock were saved but some of the household goods and farming implements were
lost.
SEVENTH GENERATION
1506 William Bibb ROYALL was born on
3 Jan., 1825 and died on 8 Oct., 1901. He was married to (1507) Eliza
Medora (Youngblood) ROYALL on 9 May, 1850 in Matagorda, Texas by the Rev. R. W.
Kennon. She was born on 28 Aug., 1833 and died on 16 Dec., 1877.
They had 12 children. One of which was:
+1473 Richard Royster ROYALL Jr.
EIGHTH GENERATION
1473 Richard Royster ROYALL III was born on
31 March, 1851 and died on 27 Feb., 1915. He was married (1474) Anna Haralson
(Hughes) ROYALL (see photo album) on 8 March, 1877 at Independence,
Washington County, Texas, by the Rev. R. W. Kennon. She was born on 4
Oct., 1852 and died on 24 Feb., 1924. Their children were:
+1475 Archibald Hughes ROYALL
+1476 William Bibb ROYALL
1477 Paul DeBow Royall was
born on 18 July, 1886, and died on 17 Oct., 1886
+1478 Richard Royster ROYALL
III
+1479 Robert Kennon ROYALL
+948
Martha Grey (Royall) CARSON
+331 Mary Anna (Royall) CARSON
NINTH GENERATION
1475 Archibald
Hughes ROYALL was born on 7 Nov., 1881 and died on 4 May, 1950. He
changed his given name to Hugh Royall when he reached his majority. He
married (1480) Ollie (Smoot) ROYALL of College Station, Brazos County,
Texas, on 11 Nov., 1906. She was born on 25 Sept., 1890. They had
one daughter:
1481 Leona Ruth ROYALL, born
on 12 Aug., 1907
1476 William Bibb ROYALL was born on 7 Jan., 1884
and died on 3 April, 1954. he was married to (1482) Myrtle Elizabeth
(Buchanan) ROYALL on 6 Nov., 1904 in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.
Myrtle was born in Washington County, Arkansas on 28 May, 1888.
1478 Richard Royster ROYALL III was born on 18 Nov., 1887 and was married to (1493)
Abbie Zerleen (Davis)
ROYALL on 11 May, 1913. She was born on 27 April, 1894 in Houston, Harris
County, Texas, and died on 5 Feb., 1919. They had one son:
+1494 Richard Royster ROYALL IV
He later married (1514) Gladys Marie (Leaman) ROYALL on 14 Sept., 1922,
who was born on 4 Sept., 1898. They had one son:
1517 Robert Leaman Royall
1479 Robert Kennon ROYALL was born 12 May,
1928. He married (1722) Georgia Ann
(Kennerly) ROYALL on 24 May, 1958. She was born on 16 June,
1933. They had three sons:
1723 Robert Leaman ROYALL II,
born 23 May, 1960. He is not married
1724 Ronall Kennerly ROYALL,
born 5 Nov., 1961. He is not married.
+1725 Roland Thomas ROYALL
948 Martha Grey (Royall) CARSON [see
chapter 9]
331 Mary Anna (Royall) CARSON [see chapter 5]
TENTH GENERATION
1494 Richard Royster ROYALL IV was born on 7 May,
1914 and died on 10 May, 1942. He was a captain in the US Army Air Force and was killed in action at the
Battle of the Coral Sea in World War II. He married (1513) Blanche Mae (Allbritton)
ROYALL who was born on 3 March, 1921. They had one son:
1515 Richard Royster Royall V,
born 22 May, 1941
1725 Roland "Ro" Thomas
ROYALL was born on 14 July, 1964. He married (1726) Sharon
Elizabeth (Edmonson) ROYALL on 14 Nov., 1997. She was born 7 July,
1963.
He had two step children from a previous marriage:
1727 Cory Chance HOUSTON born
7 March, 1989
1728 Haley Elizabeth HOUSTON,
born 17 Dec., 1992
Ro and Sharon have two children:
1729 Randall Lee ROYALL, born
30 May, 1998
1730 Richard Royster ROYALL VI,
born 18 July, 2001
Sources:
1. Extensive unpublished research of R. R. Royall (The
Virginia Royalls) dated 1972
2. "The New Handbook of
Texas", Austin, Texas, 1996, The Texas State Historical Assoc.
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