EDWARD NATHANIEL HETHERINGTON
Edward Nathaniel Hetherington, b December 20, 1870 at Monroeville, Monroe
County, Alabama, d March 14, 1952 at Reagan, Falls County, Texas, was the second
child of John Monroe and Margaret Ann (Broughton) Hetherington. He came to
Reagan with his parents at the age of fourteen, working on the farm, attending
school at Reagan, and learning the carpen- try and construction professions. On
October 7, 1894 at the Reagan Baptist Church, Ed married Lillie Valeria McCants,
b January 13, 1877, d of pneumonia on March 10, 1910 - a daughter of James and
Rosialena (Snell) McCants. Lillie's father, James McCants, had become an
invalid, and died March 18, 1910. Lillie's mother, Rosialena (Snell) McCants,
was a daughter of J. William and Beneter (sic Bonita) Snell.
Ed built a house on the farm that he and his cousin, James Monroe
Hetherington (son of Ed's uncle, William George Hetherington) had bought, and he
and Lillie lived on it for four or five years, but decided they did not like
farming. They sold the place to Ed's brother-in-law, John P. Tillery, and moved
to the Reagan Community, located on the Highbank Road. In 1906, Ed and Lillie
moved to Teague, where he worked as a carpenter for three and one-half years,
until Lillie died. Ed relocated back to Reagan, to have family help in rearing
his four children - even though his eldest daughter was almost fifteen and did
her best to keep the household going. Edward did carpentry work and watch
repairing.
In 1913, Edward Nathaniel Hetherington married his second wife - a widow,
Mrs. Dorcus Clawson - who had two daughters, Lillie Bee and Blanche, ages ten
and twelve. Dorcus ran the house until her own daughters were out of school and
married, then she left Ed to live with them. When Ed began to lose his sight and
hearing, and his health in general, his eldest daughter took good care of him
until his death.
The four children of Edward Nathaniel and Lillie Valeria (McCants)
Hetherington were:
Rosialena James Hetherington, b October 6, 1895, married December 14,
1911 to Benjamin Franklin Gresham and had four children: Benjamin Gresham, b
September 17, 1912, d May 4, 1923; Ishmael Nathaniel Gresham, b December 26,
1915, married Annie Mae Johnson on June 5, 1935, and had two children: Luther
Gresham, b July 10, 1936, and Alice Gresham, b March 10, 1939. Ishmael Nathaniel
Gresham married second to Josephine Wichkoski, and had four children: Martha
Elizabeth Gresham, b January 4, 1947; Mary Ann Gresham, b December 14, 1947;
Ishmael Nathaniel Gresham, Jr., b July 27, 1949; and Stephen Joseph Gresham, b
March 27, 1951. The third child of Benjamin F. and Rosialena Gresham was Ida Mae
Gresham (a twin), b August 10, 1918, who married August 22, 1936 to Venter Louis
Frankum, and had two children: Margaret Loraine Frankum, b January 1, 1939, and
Wilbur Lewis Frankum, b September 14,1944. Ida Mae and Venter were divorced in
June 1953, and she married second to First Lieutenant D. D. Presley. The fourth
child of Benjamin F. and Rosialena Gresham was James Ray Gresham (a twin), b
August 10, 1918, who married on August 21, 1937 to Vida V. Ivy, and has three
children: Edna Ann, James Ray, Jr., and Marca Gresham.
Myrtle Augusta Hetherington, b May 16, 1897, was the second child of
Edward and Lillie Hetherington. She married November 5, 1916 to Barcus J.
Knowles of Waco, Texas, b November 10, 1891, and they had two children: William
Jefferson Knowles, b June 7, 1918, was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Navy,
married Myrtle Lee Robertson on June 8,1940, and had two children: William
Michael, b August 12, 1942, and Linda Carol, b February 27, 1947. William
Jefferson Knowles is in the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Agency with his father.
The second child of Barcus J. and Myrtle Augusta Knowles. Robert Neal Knowles,
was born October 15, 1931, attended Waco High School and Baylor University,
where he was on the varsity football team.
Dora Mae Hetherington, b May 5, 1903, was the third child of Edward and
Lillie Hetherington. She married March 19, 1921 to Charles Edwin Jennings, moved
to a farm near Graham, Texas, and had five children: Louise, b September 25,
1926; Margaret Leona, b June 19, 1938; Edwina Maria, b October 6, 1940; and
twins, Thelma and Charles Delma, b April 12,1942. Louise Jennings married
January 29,1944 to Wiley Dixon, and they have two children: Thomas Edwin, b May
22, 1945, and Glenda Louise, b November 18,1947.
The fourth and youngest child of Edward and Lillie Hetherington was
Prince Edward Hetherington, b September 19, 1904, who married in July 1922 to
Thelma Rhodes. Their children were: Edward Alton, b February 8, 1924, who
married February 14, 1942 to Audrey Mae Canter of Houston, and had two sons:
Alton David, b November 7, 1949, and Mark Dennis, who is deceased; and Lillie
Virginia, b February 4, 1926, who married Robert Woods, reside in Houston,
Texas, and had two daughters and one son.
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of
these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 222 column 2 and page 223 column 1.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.
