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Steagall Family Thomas
Gardner "T.G." Steagall (born June 1808, Halifax Co., North Carolina or Lunenburg Co., Virginia) and
Elizabeth Walton Steagall (born March 1808, Brunswick, Virginia) had
moved their family of three young sons - William Rayburn, Thomas
Gardner, Jr., and George Henry - to central Tennessee from southern
Virginia approximately 1844. Two daughters were born to the
family there - Lucy A. and Frances Elizabeth. During the Civil
War and its aftermath in the 1860s Middle Tennessee was far from an
idyllic place to be. With fields and forests alike trampled by
two armies and the economy in shreds, families were faced with the
decision to rebuild or relocate. The Steagall family chose the
latter.
1867 found T.G., Elizabeth and four of their five children packing up their lives and preparing to head west to Grayson County, Texas. They weren't certain of settling down there permanently, but it was a logical starting place as T.G.'s sister, Fannie Taylor and her family, had moved there in the mid-1850s. Only youngest George would remain in Tennessee. He had recently married - October 4, 1866 - and the couple would stay near her family few years before moving to Texas themselves. Both T.G. and Elizabeth were nearing 60 years old when they settled on a small farm in north Sherman. The remaining four children at home were all adults and a large establishment didn't seem feasible for the older couple. This proved to be a wise decision as the four siblings were all married by mid-1872. The approximately 80 acre farm was half woodland and half "improved" land and between produce, livestock products and wood it provided a comfortable income for the couple for many years. George and his wife, Margaret Van Hooser Steagall joined the family in Texas in 1871. Meanwhile, his siblings wasted no time catching up to his "familial" status as they married in seemingly rapid succession: Lucy married James H. Lambert on February 3, 1870. Frances "Fannie" married John A. Sanders on January 12, 1871. Thomas "Tom" married Lenora DeGraffenreid on January 25, 1871.  Tom & Lenora DeGraffenreid Steagall William "W.R." married Nancy "Nan" Groves on July 22, 1872.  Back row, left to right: Ila, Claude, Eula, Albert Middle row, left to right: W.R., Ola, Nan Front row, left to right: Dick, Roy, Lorena (Lee's daughter) No one resided more than 50 miles from Sherman until years after their parents passed away. Elizabeth died in March of 1882 and T.G. in October 1883. In the 1870s three Stigall brothers - William L., Peter, and John - came from Anson County, North Carolina to Grayson County, Texas. Later a Reuben Stegall moved from Georgia and settled in Texas. They were distant cousins of the T.G. Steagall family. Both are buried in Shannon Springs Cemetery on Dripping Springs Road  Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |