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General Robertson "Bud" Pilcher and Jessie Dee Brown   General
Robertson "Bud" Pilcher was born February 7, 1882 in Winston County,
Mississippi, the second child of Thomas Lewis Napoleon Pilcher and
Nancy Henry Ingram. By the 1900 census, the Pilcher family was
living Collinsville, Texas. They lived in the Welch Community
or "Hog Town", which was located between Tioga and Collinsville. Jessie Dee Brown was the last child born to David Oliver Brown and Amanda Melvina Graham. She was born December 19, 1883 in Ellis County, Texas. Her family was living in Grayson County, Texas by the 1900 census. A portion of the plat map in the Welch and Barron Communities, shows the close proximity of the two families and provides a tangible reason for how Bud and Jessie met.
Bud
Pilcher and Jessie Brown married in Grayson County, Texas on July 11,
1900 [Grayson County Marriage Records Vol. P; pg. 542]. Before
1907, Bud and Jessie Pilcher and three children moved to Oklahoma to
homestead. The only child born in Oklahoma was Amanda Leota
Pilcher. While living in Oklahoma, the family lived in a dirt
dugout. By 1912, Bud brought his family back to Texas and
purchased a farm located in the area outside Collinsville known as
"County Line". His property sat in two counties - Grayson County
and Cooke County. They had moved approximately ten miles from
their parents' home and lived their remaining days there. A grandson, who lived in Oklahoma, was interested in the family history and was known in the area for his expertise in genealogical research. One day in the mid-1990s, he received a telephone call from an acquaintance telling him that a farmer was plowing his field and uncovered a pistol. On the handle was carved the initials - G. R. P. - for General Robertson Pilcher. This grandson, who was the son of the only child born in Oklahoma, was given the pistol which is a valued treasure in the Pilcher family. Bud Pilcher was a farmer and raised peanuts, along with other crops. When it was harvest time, he would hitch his cook shack to a team of horses and make the circuit to help others during harvest time. Jessie, his wife, would stay in the cook shack and fix meals for the workers. The family home for twelve family members and many in-laws and grandchildren consisted of two front rooms, a long kitchen on the back of the shingled house plus a small room where all the preserved foods were kept. Jessie and a daughter-in-law would 'paper' the inside of the house each spring with newspaper. The family lived in this home until the mid-1960s and never had running water or an indoor toilet. In the photograph below is the well that provided all water and a long front porch that provided many hours of relaxation and conversation. The photograph was taken around 1946 with a son-in-law, W. C. Nall, standing at the well.  Bud
Pilcher was in the field plowing one day and suffered a heart attack
which killed him. Sometime after his death, Jessie married Clyde
Riddles, whose wife had passed away. Both families had been
friends through the years. Jessie and Clyde Riddles lived on the
homeplace until the late 1960s. The children attended a one-room school in County Line. To obtain a higher education, those that went on to high school went to Collinsville High School. Bud and Jessie Pilcher's children were:
 Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |
