Submitted by: Cathy Millburn
JOSHUA SAXON
Joshua Saxon, b September 12, 1849 in
Mississippi, d September 10, 1924 at McClanahan, Falls County, Texas and buried
there in McClanahan Cemetery ‑ was a son of Marcus and Emma (Price) Saxon, of
Mississippi.
About 1874 in Mississippi, Joshua was
married to Emma S. Varnado, b February 8, 1858 near Brookhaven, Mississippi, d
March 14, 1948 at McClanahan, and buried by her husband in McClanahan Cemetery ‑
a daughter of Charles and Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado, who lived in Copiah
County, Mississippi most of their lives. Josh and Emma Saxon came to Falls
County ‑ settling first on Blue Ridge ‑ in 1883, and subsequently settled
permanently in McClanahan. He was a farmer, and they were charter members of the
McClanahan Baptist Church. Among her siblings who also settled in Falls County
were: Cornelius Willington Varnado and his family; Rosella S. Varnado who
married Robert Smith Hunnicutt; and William Howell Varnado and his wife. An
aunt, Zias Ellouise (Davis) Allen came to Falls County with her husband, John
Wesley Allen; and a first cousin, Mary Minerva (Varnado) Fannin, came to
Stranger (old Blue Ridge) with her husband, William Thomas Fannin. Later,
descendants of another aunt, Margaret Ellen (Davis) Riden Gaskin, settled in Falls County, and one of these was
Judge John Curtis Patterson.
Joshua and Emma S. (Varnado) Saxon were the
parents of ten children, with nine surviving their mother in 1948:
Charles E. Saxon‑became a Baptist minister.
He may have been the first‑born child, b ca 1876 in Mississippi. On April 23,
1902 in Falls County, Texas, he was married to Nancy (called "Nannie") Mullins.
He was alive in 1948, and residing in Waco, Texas. No further information.
Ada Saxon, b ca 1878 in Mississippi‑married
December 11, 1895 in Falls County, Texas to F. M. Spencer, b ca 1875. Reverend
Isom J. Pringle performed the wedding. In 1948, Ada was a resident of Freeport,
Texas. No further information.
Anna R. Saxon, b ca 1880 in
Mississippi‑married November 11, 1896 in Falls County, Texas to Lloyd Barton
(sometimes spelled "Loyd"). In 1948, Anna was a resident of Marlin, Texas. No
further information.
Jesse Saxon, b ca 1882 in Mississippi ‑ was
a resident of Belfalls, Texas in 1948. No further information.
Elmer R. Saxon, b September 4, 1887 in
Falls County, Texas, d April 8, 1970 and buried in McClanahan Cemetery, Falls
County, Texas. On June 19, 1910, he married Bettie Smith. They had a son,
Chesley Saxon, of San Diego, California, who married and has a son, John Saxon ‑
also of San Diego. No further information.
Thomas M. Saxon, b April 26, 1890 in Falls
County, Texas, d December 6, 1908 of typhoid fever, and buried in McClanahan
Cemetery, Falls County, Texas. He is remembered by his family as a fine fiddle
player ‑ and often playing for parties in the community.
Cora Saxon, b ca 1892 in Falls County,
Texas, was alive in 1965. On December 31, 1912 in Falls County, Texas, she
married Joseph Ossie Jolly. They lived in Daingerfield, Texas in 1948. No
further information.
Etta Mae Saxon, b December 20, 1894 in
Falls County, Texas, d March 30, 1976 and buried in McClanahan Cemetery, Falls
County, Texas. On December 29, 1913 in McClanahan Baptist Church, she married
first to Clayton Marshall Briggs, b May 7, 1894 in Limestone County, Texas, d
October 4, 1925 in McClanahan, Falls County, Texas, and buried in McClanahan
Cemetery‑a son of Benjamin Franklin and Lottie Lela (Godfrey) Briggs. They had
three children before his death; and Etta Mae married second on April 20, 1935
to Frank John Stewart.
William Bryan Saxon, b January 31, 1897 in
Falls County, Texas, d October 25, 1965 and buried in McClanahan Cemetery ‑
married November 29, 1934 in Falls County to Gladys Holt, b November 17, 1907.
They had two sons: Gerald Saxon, of Houston; and James Saxon, of Marlin. When
William Bryan Saxon died, he had one grandson. No further information.
Joshua S. Saxon (called "Jay"), b January
21, 1902 in Falls County, Texas ‑ married August 17, 1924 in Falls County, Texas
to Armondia Blanche Criswell, b March 6, 1905, d July 18, 1971 and buried in
McClanahan Cemetery ‑ a daughter of Thomas Leroy ("Whitt") Criswell and his
wife, Mary Catherine (Durham) Criswell. No further information.
When Joshua Saxon died, he had only a short
time previously had a visit with his one surviving brother, Lee Saxon, of
Mississippi ‑ it had been thirty‑two years since they had seen each other.
Emma S. (Varnado) Saxon suffered a broken
hip about 1946, and she was never able to care for herself again. She was
bedridden, and lived in the of her daughter, Etta Mae (Saxon) Briggs
Stewart, until her death.
There are descendants of Joshua and Emma
(Varnado) Saxon who still reside in Falls County, Texas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Correction submitted by:
Robert L. Haddock
Jess C. Saxon,
b September 16, 1899, in Falls County, Texas, d May 2, 1964, in Bell County,
Texas, and buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Temple, Bell Co., Texas. On December
24, 1936, he married Letha Floraine Stewart. They had one son, Jimmy Stewart
Saxon, b May 14, 1947.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Correction submitted by
Leslie Pierce Royce
I have a correction for something that I do know to be true.
Their
grave markers from the McBride Cemetery, Jefferson County, Mississippi.
The real name of the mother of Joshua Saxon b. 1859 in Mississippi was Eliza
Pearce/Pierce. Not Emma Price.
I can see how the name could be said wrong or misspelled.
I have the
marriage document of the parents: Marcus D. Saxon and Eliza Pearce
They were married in Madison County, Mississippi in 1842.
His name on the document appears as Marcus D. Saxon and hers as Eliza. Pearce.
My great-grandfather was their one of their other sons, Shelby Dorsey Saxon b.
1858 in Mississippi, as were all of their children.
My grandmother was his daughter born in 1887 in Mississippi.
She died in 1985 and told me much of the family of Falls County, Texas.
My grandparents came to Texas to her Aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Will Clawson and
her Uncle Josh Saxon and his wife in Reagan in 1912 from Mississippi.
My father was born there in Sept. of 1914.
They were sharecrop farmers.
My grandparents left Reagan in Nov 1914 to move to the jobs available at the Oil
Refineries down in Port Arthur, Texas.
And that is where I was born in 1942.
And the rest is history.
This is a picture of my grandparents,
Frank M. Pierce &
Lizzie Saxon Pierce Family as they looked when they lived in Falls County in
1912.
Frank M. Pierce (1884
- 1946)
Lizzie Saxon Pierce
(1887 - 1985)
Una Mae Pierce (1906 -
1981)
Irene Pierce (1907 -
1987)
William Shelby Pierce
(1909 - 1994)
For more info please see the web site of The Pierce Family From Mississippi
to Texas by Leslie Pierce Royce
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 405
column 2 and page 406 column 1.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.