Thomas H. Rattan
Thomas
Hempstead
Rattan was born in 1789 in Montgomery Co.,
North Carolina, the son of John Rattan and
Mary Esther Greene. At the age of
17, he married Miss Gillian "Gillie" Hill
in 1807 in St. Clair Co., Illinois.
Together they had ten children, all
who were born in Illinois and lived to
adulthood. The Rattan family was
still living in Carrollton, Greene Co.,
Illinois at the time of the 1840 census,
but by 1850 Thomas, his wife and youngest
son were living in Collin Co., neighbors
to his daughter, Ann "Annie" Rattan
Throckmorton and son-in-law, James Webb
Throckmorton.
The two youngest
daughters of the Rattan family were twins,
born March 5, 1828, in Carrollton, Greene
Co., Tennessee ~ Ann Rattan and Martha
Patricia "Patsey.". At the age of 19
Ann married Texan James Webb Throckmorton on
May 25, 1831 at her childhood home (above)
in Illinois. They traveled to Texas
along with the family of an older sister and
friends in wagons and settled in Collin Co.
near McKinney on a large farm. Born to
J.W. & Ann were four boys and six girls;
she also cared for and raised one of Dr.
Throckmorton's nephews from the age of 5 as
well as two nieces of her husband's; one of
Dr. Throckmorton's sisters also lived with
the growing family for five years.
J.W. Throckmorton
was born in Sparta, Tennessee, son of Dr.
William Edward Throckmorton and Susan Jane
Rotan. One of eight children,
Throckmorton spent the first eleven years of
his life in Sparta, Tennessee. In 1836
Dr. William E. Throckmorton moved his family
to Arkansas; in 1841 he visited Texas and
purchased land in Collin County. Later
he moved his family to their new home but,
sadly, died less than a year later.
After seeing that his family was
settled, J.W. Throckmorton left for Kentucky
to study medicine with his uncle, James E.
Throckmorton. He remained in Kentucky
until the outbreak of the war for
independence broke out in Texas, when he
returned to Texas and volunteered for
military service. After serving for
only three months in the field, Dr.
Throckmorton became ill and was reassigned
as a surgeon's assistant. He received
a medical discharge in on June 8, 1847 and
returned to his family in Collin Co.
After marrying Ann Rattan, he began
his medical practice, which Ann assisted her
husband in caring for patients after
diligently reading his medical books.
However, being more interested in the
new state's law and politics than medicine,
he was elected to the as a Texas State
Legislator and later Senator. Although
he voted against secession (along with six
other men in the Convention of Texas,
from the United States, he was one of the
first men in Texas to take the oath of
allegiance to the Confederacy. He
served in the Confederate Army and became
the first post-war Governor of his adopted
state, elected June 1866. Ann and the
children remained at their home in Collin
Co. while her husband was in Austin; after
serving only one year, leaving the office in
August 1867) as Governor, J.W. Throckmorton
returned home and took up the practice of
law.
Dr. Throckmorton had suffered with lifelong
kidney disease and died from a fall during a
business trip on April 21, 1894, after 46
years of marriage; Ann died about a year and
a half after her husband on October 30,
1895; both are buried at the large Pecan
Grove Cemetery in McKinney, Collin Co.,
Texas
Anna Rattan
1828 - 1895
wife of James Webb Throckmorton
daughter of Thomas Rattan
& Gillian Hill |
James
Webb Throckmorton
1825 - 1894
husband
of Anna Rattan
son of
Wm. E. Throckmorton & Susan Rattan
|
Sources:
Barber, Rosamond. The
Pioneer Rattans of Two Continents.
c1984, pgs. 58-59.
Newcomer, Velda Wilburn. Texas'
First Ladies Historic Costume Collection.
Denton, Texas : University Press, c1978. pg
23.
The Handbook of Texas. "Throckmorton,
James Webb," assessed July 25, 2017. The
Texas State Historical Society.
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
©2025
If
you
find any of Grayson County
TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a
message.
|