CHAPTER 18

                                           THE KILLION AND THOMPSON FAMILIES
                                        (Maternal family of Alan Carson - Webmaster)

SECOND GENERATION

1861    Phillip KILIAN was born in 1669 in Augsburg Schwaben, Bavaria, and was married to
             (1862) Susana (Lotter) KILIAN, who was born in 1632. Their son was:
             +1863    Johannes Phillip KILIAN

THIRD GENERATION

1863    Johannes Phillip KILIAN was born on 1 May, 1664 in Augsburg, Schwaben, Bavaria.
             He died on 14 Oct., 1695 in Augsburg.  Another source gives his death as 3 April, 1732 in
             Konigsberg, Germany.  He was married to (1864) Anna (Warnberger) KILIAN. She
             was born in 1669 in Augsburg.  Their son was:
             +1883    Andreas KILLION

FOURTH GENERATION

1883     Andreas KILLION was born in 1698 in Germany and immigrated in 1732 to Philadelphia,
             Pennsylvania on the ship "Adventure".  He was in North Carolina in 1749.  He was married
             to (1884) (Unknown) KILLION. Their son was:
             +1865    Leonard KILLION

FIFTH GENERATION

1865    Leonard KILLION was born on 15 May, 1723 in North Carolina.  He was married to (1866) 
             Mary Margaret (Unknown) KILLION.  Their son was:
             +1867    William KILLION

SIXTH GENERATION

1867    William KILLION was born in 1749 (possibly 1757) in North Carolina.  He was married to 
             (1868) Mary (Goodwin) KILLION on 28 Aug., 1788. Their son was:
             +1869    Goodwin KILLION

SEVENTH GENERATION

1869    Goodwin KILLION was born on 9 Feb., 1790 in Lincoln County, North Carolina.  He appeared
             on the census in 1820 in Blount County, Alabama, and was a member of the Methodist Church 
             there in 1821.  He was in Nacogdoches County, Texas in 1846.  He was a member of the
             Methodist Church and was an "exorter", although it is believed that he was illiterate. He died on
             14 January, 1850 in Anderson County, Texas, of cancer of the face, which he had lived with for
             15 years.  He is buried on private property that still belonged to a Killion descendent (at the time
             of the article), and at one time had a large stone with "Goodwin" carved on it.  He is buried
             beside his first wife, Jane. The "Encyclopedia of Texas" states that he was killed by Indians, but
             in fact he was only badly injured.  He was married to (1870) Nancy Jane (Tharp) KILLION
             on 9 Aug., 1808 in Jefferson County, Tennessee.  She was born in 1784. Their son was:
             +1873    John Anderson McCain KILLION 

EIGHTH GENERATION                        

1873    John Anderson (McCain?) KILLION was born on 17 March, 1806 in White County, 
             Tennessee, and appeared on the census in 1850 in Anderson County, Texas.  Note that he was
             born prior to the marriage of Goodwin and Nancy, when Goodwin was 16 years of age and Nancy
             was age 22, so some  believe that a Mr. McCain was his actual father.  He died on 16 October, 
             1895 in Anderson County, Texas and and was buried on 19 October, 1895 in Palestine, Anderson
             County, Texas.  He is buried next to his wife (1874) Nancy Jane "Granny" (Moore)
             KILLION.  They were married on 6 May, 1824 in Blount County, Alabama.  She was born on 31
             May, 1803 in White County, Tennessee, and appeared on the census of 1850 in Anderson
            County, Texas. She died on 28 May, 1881 in Anderson County, Texas. Their son was:
             +1879    James Marion KILLION

1875    Caleb LINSEY was born in 1804 in Kentucky.  He appeared on the census of 1850 in 
             Tishomingo County, Mississippi.  He was married to (1876) Violet D. (Unknown) LINSEY.
             She was born in 1804 in North Carolina.  Their daughter was:
             +1880    Eliza Lucinda (Linsey) KILLION

1871     Joshua J. EVANS was living in Talladega County, Alabama in 1836 and in Benton, Lowndes
             County, Alabama in 1839.  He was born in South Carolina  and was married to (1872) N. O.?
             (Unknown) EVANS. In the census of 1860 he was listed in Mount Willing, Lowndes County,
             Alabama, with one son and three daughters. He was a planter, with real estate valued at $1600
             and personal assets valued at $3000 (slaves).  Their daughter was:
             +1877 Mary "Moses" Ann (Evans) THOMPSON

NINTH GENERATION

1879    James Marion KILLION was born on 13 April, 1829 in Blount County, Alabama.  He 
             appeared on the census in 1870 in Wood County, Texas, and on the census of 1900 in 
             Hamilton County, Texas.  He died on 2 Aug., 1915 in Erath County, Texas, and was buried
             on 3 Aug., 1915 in Valley Grove Cemetery, Stephenville, Erath County, Texas.  The memoirs  of 
             his daughter, Henrietta Thompson, record that he served in the Confederate Army, but there is
             no record of his service in the National Archives.

             He was married to (1880) Eliza Lucinda (Linsey) KILLION.  She was born on 18 April,
             1830 in Mississippi.  However, the census of 1850 for Tishomingo County, Mississippi shows her
             age as 24,  making her birthdate approximately 1826. She appeared on the census of 1860 and
            1870 in Wood County, Texas.  She appeared on the census of 1900 in Hamilton County, Texas. 
             She died in March of 1925 in Snyder, Kiowa County, Oklahoma, and was buried in the Fairlawn
             Cemetery there on 10 March, 1925.  She had been the widow of John Mills, who had died as a
             Confederate soldier in the War Between the States. Their daughter was:
             +1882    Henrietta Rebecca (Killion) THOMPSON  

1878    William Alonzo THOMPSON (Sr.?) was the father of (1881) William Alonzo
            THOMPSON (Jr.?),  although there is no sure documentation.  The death certificate of William
             Jr.? states that his father was William Alonzo THOMPSON, although the funeral memorial 
             papers list his name as G.O. THOMPSON.  As of 2004, no trace of this man has been found.
             It is believed he is the father of William Jr.?, but it is not known if he was married to William's
             mother, Mary Ann Evans. 

1877    Mary Ann "Moses" (Evans) STARLEY, the mother of (1881) William Alonzo 
            THOMPSON (Jr.?), was born on 24 Sept., 1848 in or near Montgomery, Alabama.  She 
            appeared on the census of 1870 in Limestone County, Texas, as the wife of (2080) Charles F.
            Starley, born in Switzerland, has also been listed on other census records as "Stahley" and
            "Stahly". She was in Erath County, Texas in 1888 with her children, William Jr.? and other
            children from Charles Starley, but Charles was not listed. The census of Houston, Harris County,
            Texas, 1900, listed a  Charles F. Stahley, born in Switzerland, age 53, working as a brakemen on
            the railroad and living as a lodger with several other men. There had been a story circulating that
            he had been highjacked and killed, but the census record indicates otherwise.  It appears that he
            deserted his family.

            According to the tax records of Erath County,  she owned 93 acres, and her total assets were
            $300.  She was committed to the Texas State Mental Hospital in Austin, Travis County, Texas in
            1926 for dementia, and died at the hospital on 21 Nov., 1933 of cancer of the uterus and senile
            dementia. Her body was returned to Hico, Hamilton County, Texas by train, and she was buried
            in Hico City Cemetery, between the grave  of her granddaughter Greta Thompson and her son
            by Charles Starley.  The grave had not been marked, and in 2004, her great granddaughter on
            her Starley side, Billie Slater of Mineral Wells, Texas, and her great grandson on her Thompson
            side, Alan Carson (webmaster) determined the location of her grave from her obituary, which
            had been found in the Hamilton Genealogical Society library by Billie.  They two of them
            arranged for a headstone to be placed at her grave, and the two dedicated it on Memorial Day,
           2004, with their spouses present.  The monument reads: "Mary Ann Evans Thompson Starley,
           born 24 Sept., 1848, died 21 Nov., 1933. Lost but now found".  At the dedication, Alan read from
           the Book of Common Prayer and sprinkled a few  drops of water that had been blessed for
           baptism on the (believed) gravesite.
         
TENTH GENERATION

1881    William Alonzo THOMPSON was born on 26 March, 1868 in Alabama.  He appeared in the
             census of 1870 in Limestone County, Texas, with his mother, Mary Ann (Evans) STARLEY 
             and her husband Charles F. STARLEY. He was raised in Erath County, and after his marriage
             to (1882) Henrietta Rebecca (Killion) THOMPSON on 12 Dec., 1899, they lived in Hico,
             Hamilton County, Texas, where he was a restaurant keeper. The Hamilton County tax rolls of
             1899 list several plots of land in Hico that he owned, valued at $1100, 2 cows, and 2 wagons.  He
             moved his family to Oklahoma about 1901, and settled in the Snyder area, owning a farm near
             Headrick.  He operated the local telephone system there.  He died of an infection following some
             dental work on 17 Jan., 1925 in Headrick, Oklahoma, and is buried at Fairlawn cemetery in
             Snyder, Kiowa County, Oklahoma.  Henrietta was born on 10 Jan., 1870 in Emory, Rains County,
             Texas.  In the census of 1870, Wood County,  she was shown as living in the home of J. M. Millian
             with her brother G. G. Killian. It is not known why they were not living with their parents 
             (possibly illness in the family). She died on 1 Dec., 1958 in Snyder, Oklahoma, and is 
             buried in Fairlawn Cemetery there alongside her husband and mother.  She wrote her life story
             for her children and grandchildren, which is included as an addendum (following) They had two
             sons and three daughters, one of which was:
             +477     Mattylyn (Thompson) CARSON (CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 8)      

                                                                           ADDENDUM A: 
                                         "A Sketch of My Life's History by Mrs. W. A. Thompson" 

   

Mrs. W. A. Thompson


Dedicated to my Children and Grandchildren


A brief sketch of our ancestors and from what was handed down from my parents. The names are from history as I know nothing of my people from across the sea. My father told me that our people came from Ireland and Scotland, they went to England then to America with a Colony.

I find these in history so I feel that I have linked together a very good biographical sketch of my father's people.

My mothers people were true Irish in ways and complexion. My mother had the Irish wit. Her people came from O'Molleys, O'Conners, and Lindsay in America..

Mother spoke of living in Tennessee and Mississippi while the Indians were there. I do not know the date they came to Texas.

I now give Scotland from the beginning. We find that two distinct races, the Picts and the Scots. We came from the Scots.

Our first view of the Scots is when they abandoned idolatory and became Christians, about the fifth century. They accepted the Roman rule but the Roman Church was not established in Scotland for nearly four hundred years. The first king reigned in 1034, King Duncan, the gentle Duncan of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The people spoke Gaelic and Latin and then English. Civilization, law, religion and the language of England gradually superseded the customs and language of the Scots, but did not change the race for they were loyal to their country.

The Scots were brave fighters as was shown in the defeat of the English. They fought with spears, the lance and arrows. Scotland became a free and independent country in 1372. In 1414 the first university was established. The Presbyterian Church was organized in 1560 and is the established church of Scotland today. We are told that in no country can people live more peacefully than in Scotland.

In 1609 the Scotish Parliament and the church were to cease to have any separate existence. The Scots formed colonies in Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Then emigrated to America as we will see in the history of Ireland

HISTORY OF IRELAND

Ireland is more fertile than Scotland. The soft air, the abundance of rain, the extent and fertility of the soil, and the food producing richness of Ireland all comprise to make life easy. There are twenty million, thirty-two thousand square miles in Ireland.

The history of Ireland begins with the Gaelic Celts. By tradition they are the oldest race in Europe west of the Alps. They are the longest settled on their own soil. Modern scholars agree that Ireland was first peopled by neolithic man, users of flint, they were dark, small people from the Mediterranean. They used bronze too.

Later Scotland and Northern Ireland were peopled by a race called Picts. In 350 B.C. the Celts came from central Europe. A tall race, red-blond of hair, speaking a language close to Latin. Today Ireland is the only Celtic state left in the world.

The religion of the Irish was Druidism, but when Christianity came to this powerful caste took on a veneer of new faith. When writing came in with Christianity , they were able to write down epics and records which they formerly kept orally.

In 500 the Latin tongue, the study of the Bible, and Catholic theology entered the country. Religion, learning and education flourished, the Irish Monasteries, at once, became the schools.

By 800 A.D. Ireland became a unity of civilization and law. No language save Gaelic and Latin were spoken.The Irish mind was fresh and vivid and seemed likely to achieve great things in poetry, prose and drama.

In all the conquests the Irish were brave, strong and self-willed, capable of ruling their country. No country has resisted invasion more successfully.

In 1560 the Prayerbook and New Testament were published in Irish, they had the Old Testament.A Protestant group grew up, the mass of the people were Catholic as firmly as the Scots were Presbyterian and the English Puritans.

The O'Neills, we are told, was the most noted name. They were known for their loyality to their country and for military service. O'Neill married a woman by the name of Fridola, a Highlander, known to the Irish as the Dark Lady. They had three boys. She brought thousands of Scots to Ireland and formed a colony.

We haven't sufficient proof of when some of the people went back to England. Scotland gained her independence from the English after years of war. For three centuries, until the year 1603, when the crown of England and Scotland were peacefully united in the person of James VI of Scotland and James I of England. During these three hundred years the two neighbors were quarrelsome neighbors.

SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA

In the year 1750, 258 years after America was discovered, the Scotch- Irish settled in the state of Pennsylvania. History says that they were different to the peace loving Germans who have settled in Pennsylvania. A life of uninterrupted peace did not appeal to them. To be sure these fighting Scotch-Irish were not easy to get along with. How could they be peaceful? For years they had fought the English domination in Scotland and when they moved over to Ireland they fought the Catholics.

The Scotch-Irish were staunch Presbyterians, so when they came to the new world they brought their hardy spirits and hatred for interference of any kind. They were sturdy men with a chip on their shoulder for Indians, Quakers, Germans and the English.

Such bold courage had these people in America that they soon swept westward across the whole continent. Most of them settled in the mountains on free land. They set to work at once clearing land, hewing the tress to build their crude cabins. They threw themselves into the life of the frontier. At first the homes were one room cabins. The stock that they brought over soon fell prey to wild animals or were driven off by the Indians.

Very different were the scenes of the first arrivals, they saw broad flat lands dense with tangled underbrush. Behind the shores were almost impenetrable uncut forests. No kindly tingle of a cowbell. They heard the wail of lonely winds through the tree tops, the cry of wild beasts at night, it was hideous and desolate wilderness of beasts and wild men.

In such a wilderness the first need was to make some kind of shelter from the crude materials at hand. Uniform legs were cut for the sides, shingles were made for the roof, the chinks between the logs were filled with sticks and daubed with clay. The big chimneys were made of sticks and coated with clay, they had puncheon floors.

Small farms were cleared at first for corn and vegetables. They made sugar by boiling maple sap. There were wild bees for honey, tallow candles and they made the cloth for clothes and knit their stockings. Life was an endless round of tasks .

Some of these families drifted into Georgia. My father told me that one of our ancestors joined the first society that John Wesley organized in Georgia. Then in 1817 a colony was given a grant of land in Alabama. They didn't prosper there, so they conceived the idea of moving to Texas. One hundred and twenty colonists settled on the Trinity River in 1820.

The people would remain in these forts for days, the men keeping watch. One of my relatives was wounded in a raid. They lived in constant dread, some of the men worked in fields while others kept watch with guns. Besides the Indians there were the wild animals such as bear, wildcat and panther.

But time marches on, when the people were safe from the Indians they began to move on to other places. My Grandfather moved to Anderson County and settled on a farm and lived there for years, he reared a large family of four girls and three boys. In 1849, during the gold rush in California, one of my uncles went. He wrote back that he had a large quantify of gold, as he was never heard from again it was supposed that he was murdered.

The Civil War came in 1861 and lasted four years. My father enlisted in the Confederate Army although his sympathies were with the North. He was never in a battle. None of his people were killed but two of Mother's brothers enlisted and were reported ill and sent to a detention camp and were never heard from.

After the death of my father's first wife, father moved to Rains County, Texas. My mother's husband had died during the war, she lived in Rains County, near Emory. My father and mother married in 1866. Mother had four children and father had seven, three were born to this union. A sister four years older than I, Mrs J.D. Fenley, living now in Ft Worth, Texas and a brother two years my senior, G.G. Killion, living in Santa Maria, Texas, this 1940.

I was born in 1870, I visited my grandparents in Anderson County. We went in a covered wagon, it took us days to go. I remember that we camped close to a railroad track so that we children could see the train, Iron Horse as they called it then. It came through during the night, when we saw the big light we ran back to the wagon, crying.

My father=s people lived close to the Parkers. Cynthia Ann Parker was stolen by the Indians in 1836 and recaptured twenty-five years later, she didn't live long. She died at her brother=s home in Anderson County. Her son by an Indian marriage, Quannah Parker, lived near Cache, Oklahoma. His home still stands, I have seen it often. I heard Quannah's son speak some five years ago in Snyder, Oklahoma. He was interested to know that my father knew his grandmother Cynthia Ann Parker.

In seventy years one sees great changes. I remember the old log house where I was born. It had two large rooms, a big porch in the front and a lean-on room on the back. The kitchen, as were all homes then, was off from the house, with a big fireplace to cook on. My father hewed the logs for the walls, made shingles for the roof, the floors were puncheon. It was a mansion in those days. A straightened wagon tire spanned the mouth of the fireplace for hanging pots over the fire to cook. There was a dutch oven for baking and how good were sweet potatoes cooked in it. Shelves of hewn boards were placed on pegs in the walls for dishes. The doors and window shutter were of the same kind of boards hung on wooden pegs for hinges.

The beds were four high posts with rope or rawhide strips woven back and forth for springs. So often these would slacken and would have to be tightened. Our mattresses were of straw, they had to be re-filled each year. Most people had feather beds on the straw ones. We did and how well do I remember picking time. I had to hold the heads of the ganders while mother picked feathers. The old gander often would catch me in the side and pinch me.

Father made the chairs, rope or rawhide seats. The talkes were handmade too. He made our shoes, he tanned the hides, for tacks he used wooden pegs.

They picked small crops of cotton, then at night, each child had his allotted pounds of seeds to pick out. The seed was fed to the stock and mother made clothes from the lint. We used gords for drinking cups, flat ones for lard and small ones for salt and for seeds. People gathered medicine from the woods. I enjoyed going with father to gather herbs, then helping him make pills. He would boil the juices to a gum then roll them into pills. I helped father mould bullets too. We made tallow candles, they were the only kind of ights that we had for so long except lard in a saucer with a string for the wick. We had little brass lamps later, without a globe

We made our sorghum, vinegar, dried our fruit, for canning was unknown then. Father cut his wheat with a mowing blade or scythe, thrashed it by tramping with horses then fanning it in the wind for biscuits which we ate on Sunday morning or when company came. Our sugar was made by letting our sorghum turn to sugar then dripping out the syrup. Coffee was too high after the war so we children drank bran and barley coffee. Our soap was made by dripping lye from ashes, adding grease and boiling into a jelly like substance then storing it in barrels.

Father butchered our own cattle and hogs. We lived close to a forest where wild turkey. deer, squirrel and quail were plentiful. The lakes and streams abounded in fish. We were a big happy family, our parents leaders in the community and church activities. Our house was always open to strangers and friends. Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man--that was my home until I was nine years old. At that time we moved to west Texas, Brown County, then to Hamilton County. We lived there until I was nineteen.

I married Willie Thompson in 1889 in the town of Hamilton. We lived in Hico, Texas until 1902 when we moved to Headrick, Oklahoma. In 1916 we moved to Snyder, Oklahoma.

In 1923 Mr. Thompson passed away. All our five children have high-school education, and some college education, they are all happily married.

Jesse, the oldest boy, married Cleo Clearwater of Snyder, Oklahoma, they have four girls, Phyllis, Margie, Janet and Emily. Dee, the second child, married George Williams of Headrick, Oklahoma. She has two children, Athena and George. Gladys married Bill Blanton of Altus, Oklahoma, they have one child, Betty and they live in Clinton, Oklahoma. Burnys married Clara Williams of Norman, Oklahoma and they have one boy, Tommy, and live in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Mattylynn married A.B. Carson of Bryan, Texas, they have one son Barrow, and live in Fort Worth, Texas.

My home is now in Hobart, Oklahoma

I stated before that some of my ancestors joined John Wesley's first church or society in America. I will add that I was a charter member of the first Aid Society organized in Hico, Texas, also a charter member of the first Missionary Society in Headrick and its first president. Now, in 1940, I am a charter member of the Society of Christian Service at the Riverside Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

This is a sketch of my life's history. Our lives are the strongest part of us, or else the weakest. One knows the least of the influence of his own life. Life is not mere length of time, but the daily web of character we unconsciously weave. Our thoughts, imaginations, purposes, motives, love and will are the threads. Our words, tone of voice, looks, acts and habits are the upper threads and the passing moment is the shuttle swiftly, ceaselessly, relentlessly weaving those threads into a web, and that web is life. It is woven not by our wishing or willing, unavoidably woven by what we are, moment by moment, hour by hour.

January 18, 1997

This life sketch has been reproduced by me from a typed copy of the original. I received the typed copy in the late forties or early fifties from my Grandmother Dee (Thompson) Williams, the second daughter of the author Henrietta Rebecca (Killion) Thompson.

The known ancestry of Henrietta Rebecca is as follows:

Goodwin KILLION was born on 9 Feb 1790. He was a Methodist "exorter" and farmer. He died on 14 Jan 1860 in Anderson Co., TX. He was married to Jane THARP on 9 Aug 1808 in Jefferson Co., Tenn. Jane THARP was born in 1784 in Tenn. She died on 3 Mar 1843 in San Augustine, TX. She was buried in Private Cemetery between Rush and Palestine in Anderson Co., TX. One of the children of this family was John Anderson KILLION.

John Anderson KILLION was born on 17 Mar 1806 in White Co., Tennessee. He died on 16 Oct 1895 in Anderson Co., TX. He was buried on 19 Oct 1895 in Palestine (Anderson Co), Tx. The exact parentage of John Anderson is an unknown as of this writing. It is known that he was the oldest child in the family and was a half brother or sister to all the children later born in the family. He was married to Nancy MOORE on 6 May 1824 in Blount Co. Alabama. Nancy MOORE was born on 31 May 1803 in White Co., Tennessee. She died on 28 May 1881 in Anderson Co., TX. Nancy may have been named Nancy JANE Moore. The third child of this couple was James M. Killion.

James M. KILLION was born on 13 Apr 1829 in Blount Co., Alabama. He died on 2 Aug 1915 in Stephenville (Erath Co), TX. He was buried on 3 Aug 1915 in Valley Grove Cemetery, Stephenville (Erath Co) TX. He was first married to Elizabeth C. Palmer on 7 Oct 1847 in Anderson Co., TX. Elizabeth C. Palmer was born on 18 Apr 1830 in Missouri. She died on 9 Aug 1863 in Erath Co., TX. Eight children were born of this union. He second married Eliza Lucinda (Lindsay) Mills KILLION in 1865 in Woods, TX. She was previously married to John Mills who died in the Civil War. Four children were born of her first marriage . Eliza Lucinda (Lindsay) Mills KILLION was born on 18 Apr 1830 in Tennessee. She died on 9 Mar 1925 in Snyder (Kiowa Co), OK. She was buried on 10 Mar 1925 in Fairlawn Cemetery, Snyder, (Kiowa Co) OK. Nothing is known of Eliza Lucinda's heritage as of this writing. Anyone discovering anything in this matter is asked to kindly contact me. In addition to Henrietta the following other two children were parented by James M. KILLION and Eliza Lucinda (Lindsay) Mills KILLION:

Martha C. "Matty" KILLION. She was born on 15 Sep 1866 in Rains Co., Tx. She was married to J. D. Fenley on 25 Feb 1884. Martha C. "Matty" KILLION and J. D. Fenley had no known children.

G. G. "Gip" KILLION. He was born on 8 Mar 1868 in Rains Co., Tx.. He was married to V. A. MORRISON on 31 Aug 1886 in Hamilton Co., TX. 1891. G. G. "Gip" KILLION and V. A. MORRISON had no known children.

Henrietta was married to William Alonzo THOMPSON. He was born on 26 Mar 1868 in Alabama. He died on 17 Jan 1923 in Snyder (Kiowa Co), OK There is NO knowledge of the ancestry of William Alonzo THOMPSON. Again, anyone with any knowledge on this is asked to please contact me.

Homer M (Pete) Simmons

 

                                                      ADDENDUM B
                 A report on a trip to Hico, Texas by the Webmaster, Alan B. Carson, in July, 2000
             WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION IN HICO, TEXAS

The highway from Austin is US 281, which is Walnut Street. The highway going east is Texas 6. The cemetery (Greta) is on Texas 6, a few hundred yards east of the number "14". The central business district is blocks 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9. Note Railroad Street N and Railroad Street S. The railroad was between the two streets, but is now abandoned, and there are houses on the long skinny blocks 43 thru 46. My guess as to where WAT’s restaurant was is that it is in one of the buildings in block 3, opposite the train track, which would have been a busy place in 1900.  The tax records give no indication where the restaurant was. It could have been anywhere in the business district, but most of the buildings there are larger, like for general stores, banks, etc. The entire (wooden) business district had burned in 1890, and was replaced with limestone block buildings - which is what is there today. Almost every building in downtown Hico would be recognizable to WAT and HRT today.

Near the corner of Avenue A and Pecan Street, lot 4 is most likely where WAT and HRT’s house stood. It was torn down and there is a mobile home there now. The houses on either side appear todate back to before 1900. A kid in the house at lot 5 said that they had just moved in, but there was an old man in the house at lot 3. We went to his door, which was open, as were the windows, but we couldn’t get him to come to the door, although we could hear him moving around. We called to him, but he just wouldn’t respond. We came back later, but with no luck. The valuation for lot 4, block 31, was $250 in 1900, which must have included the house

Block 32 directly across the street from WAT’s assumed house is a feed mill, and the people there said it was at least 100 years old. The map shows the block as divided into 10 lots, but it is just one big lot with the feed mill.  The valuation for block 32 was $500 in 1900, which must have included the feed mill.

Directly south of the feed mill is an old limestone building where cotton seeds were processed to make oil. See photo #4. Although this was not on WAT property, it was there in 1900. Directly north of the feed mill is lot 25, of which WAT owned lots 11 thru 14. Actually the entire block is one big field with an ancient barn that is about to collapse. The evaluation for lots 11 thru 14, block 25, was $350 in 1900, which must have included the barn. There was not indication that any other buildings or houses had been on this property.

It is believed that WAT's restaurant  directly faced the railroad track, and would have been a busy place. There is a row of small spaces in one big building, with glass fronts, suitable for shops or a restaurant. When going around the corners, the adjacent buildings were all two story, and large, for hotels, banks, department stores, etc. The only places that looked like they would be suitable for a restaurant is in the building with the small spaces.

The Methodist Church is located at the triangle formed by 1st Street, Walnut Street, and Grubbs Street.   The cornerstone stone gives "January, 1901". Since WAT and HRT were in Hico for the 1900 census, and were in OK in 1902, they very well may have attended a few services in that church.

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