Typed by: Jan Shelfer


FOUNTAIN, THOMAS G.

Surnames: FOUNTAIN, WIGGINS, RANKIN, BOYLES, COLEMAN, DUBOSE, HAYS, FORD, TORBETT, SCHNEIDER, HOOVER, OWEN, ALBRITTON, SAMS, GRISSETT, DAVISON, ANDRESS, HIGGINS, O'NEAL, KYSER, HAWTHORNE, HUME

Thomas G. Fountain, b. May 31, 1839 in Alabama, d. June 8, 1921 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin-was a son of William D. and Martha (Wiggins) Fountain, and a grandson of Henry Fountain, born in South Carolina, who moved to Alabama before 1814. His son, William D. Fountain was born in Alabama in 1814, died there 1849; whose wife, Martha (Wiggins) Fountain, b. 1819 in Alabama-was a daughter of Stephen and Nancy Wiggins, natives of South Carolina. William D.-as his father-was a large and successful planter. He and Martha were the parents of five children: Thomas G. Fountain, Henry S. Fountain who resided in Ellis County, Texas; Amanda Fountain who married James Rankin, a merchant in Alabama; Martha A. Fountain, who married David H. Boyles and resided in Reagan, Falls County, Texas; and Theodocia Fountain who married William S. Coleman, of Alabama.

Thomas G. Fountain remained with his widowed mother until age nineteen years, when, in 1858 he married first to Sarah Dubose, b. in Alabama, d. there in December 1864-a daughter of William and Sarah Dubose, natives of South Carolina.

Thomas G. and Sarah (Dubose) Fountain were the parents of two children:

Sarah Jane Fountain (called "Jennie"), b. 1859 in Alabama, d. 1839 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin-married Samuel Elgin Hays, b. 1855, d. 1933 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-a son of James Hays, b. May 10, 1822, d. August 27, 1860 and also buried in Calvary Cemetery. Jennie taught school in the Hog Island School, where Samuel was on the School Board. Among their children were J. T. Hays who moved to Dallas; E. D. Hays, b. 1881, d. 1962 and buried in Calvary Cemetery; Samuel Elgin Hays, b. January 24, 1891, d. December 8, 1972 and buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Marlin, who married Marcia Mae Ford, b. February 22, 1892 in Calvert, Robertson County, Texas, d. September 12, 1983-who were the parents of Virginia Ruth Hays who married Oscar Lee Torbett, Jr.-son of Dr. Oscar Lee Ashby and Emma Esther (Schneider) Torbett, Sr.; William Dorsey Hays; a daughter who married Eugene Hoover; a daughter who married H. T. Owen; a daughter who married O. B. Albritton, and a daughter who married L. C. Sams.

Martha Theodocia Fountain, born in Alabama, who married R. B. Grissett, of Corsicana, Texas. No further information.

Thomas G. Fountain remained on a farm of his own in Alabama, until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in an independent company under Colonel Hannan, which later was joined to the Fifty-third Alabama Regiment, Company F, in which he served with the Confederate States Army until the close of the war. He returned to his in Alabama until 1869, when the problems of reconstruction caused him to lose his land. That same year, in 1869, Thomas G. Fountain moved to Texas-spending $35.00 of the $100.00 he had on hiring a hack from Bryan, Texas to Falls County, Texas-settling in the old Hog Island Community (present-day Roseland). The remainder of his money was used to purchase his first small farm, which he sold in 1881 after having improved it. By 1892, Thomas G. Fountain owned 350 acres of land within a mile's distance from his original land-with 200 acres under cultivation, and the remainder well-stocked with cattle.

In 1865, in Alabama, Thomas G. Fountain had married second to Lydia Davison, b. November 21, 1845, d. October 15, 1922 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin-a daughter of Hugh E. and Mary Jane (Andress) Davison. Thomas G. and Lydia (Davison) Fountain were the parents of seven children:

Mary Elna Fountain, b. March 17, 1867 in Alabama, d. February 13, 1951 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-married Thomas Benton Higgins, b. June 28, 1852 in Giles County, Tennessee, d. February 26, 1945 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-a son of Robert S. and Anna Elizabeth (O'Neal) Higgins-natives of Tennessee, who settled in the Blue Ridge Community of Falls County, Texas about 1871.

Claude T. Fountain, b. ca 1869-died in 1873 in Falls County, Texas.

Jasper Cluck Fountain, b. October 21, 1871 in Falls County, Texas, d. November 25, 1934 and buried in Calvary Cemetery-married Lola L. Kyser, b. March 27, 1873, d. May 12, 1953 and buried by her husband in Calvary Cemetery-a daughter of William Daniel and Mary Catherine (Hawthorne) Kyser.

Wade D. Fountain-no information.

Lula Fountain, b. 1877 in Falls County, Texas, d. 1947 and buried in Calvary Cemetery at Marlin-married John Hume, b. 1867, d. 1940 and buried in Calvary Cemetery.

Andrew Fountain-died in 1883.

Thomas D. Fountain-no information.

Thomas G. Fountain served as a Justice of the Peace for six years, and was elected Tax Collector in 1884, serving four years in that position. He was also Oil Inspector for the Falls County schools for several years. He and Lydia were members of the Baptist Church, and he served as a Deacon, and was a Royal Arch Mason.

Descendants of Thomas G. Fountain-through children of both marriages-continue to reside in Falls County, Texas.

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing these bio of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County," compiled and edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 162, column 2.

Member of Falls County Historical Commission