GEORGE WASHINGTON BIGGERSTAFF
1823– 1906
George Washington Biggerstaff was born on June 20, 1823, in Tompkinsville, Kentucky. His father, Aaron was 39 and his mother, Henrietta was 35. He married Didama Melissa Jackson, the daughter of Olive Ivan Jackson and Mary Ann Livingston, when he was 29 years old and Didama was 17. They had 14 children together: Aaron Lyttle, Oliver Madison, Susan Jane, Harvey Wilson, Joseph Kennedy, Robert Collins, Mary Retta, Samuel Houston, Amanda Zelema, William Eli, Simeon Pickens, Alice Elizabeth (Betty), George Woodson, & Aubrey.
We learn from the 1880 & 1900 Census that George’s occupation was a farmer.
George & Didama Biggerstaff and 4 daughters.
Standing from left to right:
Susan Jane, Mary Retta, Amanda Zelema
Seated from left to right:
George, Didama, Alice Elizabeth
Top Row from left to right.. Aaron, Harvey, Robert Collins, William Eli Sr.,
Simeon Pickens "Pick", George Woodson "Wood" (Pete).
Bottom row left to right.. George Washington, Oliver Madison "Mattie",
Joseph Kennedy "Grant", Samuel "Sam
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Biggerstaff Bros Store in Clinton County, Missouri |
In the early 1830's, several Jackson and Biggerstaff families moved from Monroe County, Kentucky, to land near Plattsburg, Missouri. There they received some of the first land grants in Clinton County, Missouri, from the U.S. Government. President Andrew Jackson, who signed some of these grants, was a cousin of the Jacksons who had moved west from Kentucky.
Joe Jackson, brother of Oliver, George's father in law, who had gone to the California Gold Rush, preceded these two families to Texas in 1852 and purchased land in Fannin County. He influenced the two families to follow him to Texas. In fact, he gave 160 acres of land to Didama and George Biggerstaff to help them get started. The Jacksons and the Biggerstaffs settled on adjoining farms west of Hale, Texas, and northeast of Gober, Texas. Soon after arriving in Fannin County in 1854, a cemetery was started on the Biggerstaff property, thereby establishing the cemetery name.
old. they had a daughter, Mary Retta., then Son Samuel Houston was born in 1965., with daughter Amanda Zelema born in 1868. By now George is 45 years old. The following year son William Eli is born, 1869.
Simeon Pickens was born in 1872, daughter Alice Elizabeth 1874 (our line) was born and would later marry James Samuel McMurry parents to Cleo Cleofus McMurry. George had 2 more children George Woodson 1875 and son Aubrey 1877 who was less than a year old when he passed away. George was 54 by now and Didama was 42 years of age.
The earliest record for the Gober Public School was in a Gober Public School Catalogue, Session 1901-1902. During that year the principal was A. P. Barrett, and the teachers were Eva Payne and Birdie Barrett. The members of the Board of Trustees were Dr. W. D. Bridges, president; D. B. Blair, secretary; and H. W. Biggerstaff, treasurer. Harvey was the son of George and Dedama.
While still in Kentucky, George’s mother , Henrietta Moore, passed away in 1847 at the age of 59. George was 24 years old. Some time after that George moved to Missouri in 1852, George married Didama and they had their first child, Aaron in 1853 who was born in Plattsburg, Clinton, Missouri.
In 1854, two families immigrated from Clinton County, Missouri, to Fannin County, Texas. They were Oliver Ivins Jackson and his wife Mary Ann Livingston with daughter Didama Melissa Jackson and her husband George Washington Biggerstaff, and their infant son Aaron. Didama Melissa was the oldest daughter of Oliver Ivins Jackson and Mary Ann Livingston.
Oliver Ivins Jackson hauled lumber by ox cart from Jefferson, Texas, with which to build the family homes. On the Jackson farm a school building was erected which was also used for Sunday worship. Several descendants recalled sitting at Sunday worship on split log "pews". Church services were later moved into the village of Gober, to the site that is now the Gober Church of Christ, one of the older churches in Fannin County.
Their second son, Oliver Madison was born in 1855. Their daughter Susan Jane was born tin 1856 in Gober, Texas followed by son Harvey Wilson in 1858 and son Joseph in 1860.
George’s father Aaron died in 1860 at the age of 75 just a few weeks after son Joseph was born. George was 37 years old.
Texas, Muster Roll Index Cards, 1838-1900 Enlisted 6 Jul 1861
George served in the military on July 6, 1861, in Texas when he was 38 years old. He saw service as a member of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Their son Robert Collins was born in 1862. Two years later in 1864 when George was 40 years
Simeon Pickens was born in 1872, daughter Alice Elizabeth 1874 (our line) was born and would later marry James Samuel McMurry parents to Cleo Cleofus McMurry. George had 2 more children George Woodson 1875 and son Aubrey 1877 who was less than a year old when he passed away. George was 54 by now and Didama was 42 years of age.
Didama and George Washington Biggerstaff lived all of their lives near her parents, the Oliver Ivins Jacksons, and reared a large family. All of their children except Aaron were born in Fannin County. Some were born in the Jackson house and some were born in the Biggerstaff house.
Their daughter Amanda Zelema passed away on October 25, 1894, in Fannin, Texas, at the age of 26.
The earliest record for the Gober Public School was in a Gober Public School Catalogue, Session 1901-1902. During that year the principal was A. P. Barrett, and the teachers were Eva Payne and Birdie Barrett. The members of the Board of Trustees were Dr. W. D. Bridges, president; D. B. Blair, secretary; and H. W. Biggerstaff, treasurer. Harvey was the son of George and Dedama.
George’s wife of 49 years, Didama Melissa passed away on July 19, 1902, in Gober, Texas, at the age of 67. George was 79 years old. He then married Amanda Elizabeth Brown (or Locke) in 1903 when he was 80 years old.
He died on February 20, 1906, in Gober, Texas, having lived a long life of 82 years, and is buried in Fannin, Texas. His brother Aaron would pass away this same year.
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| Didama Biggerstaff |
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| George W Biggerstaff |
~*~~*Life
in the 1800's*~~*~
Life in the 1800’s was very different than now. The girls and boys
would have to go
and do
their chores at 5:00 in the morning before they went to school. Many
students went to school barefoot and in the same thing they wore the day
before because most boys and girls had 1 or two outfits. One was for
Church the other one was for school and play. They would wear them for up
to three weeks.
When they got to school,
they would see their younger and
older siblings and neighbors because the school taught children from grades one
to eight. Most boys would only go to school for three or four months out
of the year, because during those other eight or nine months they would be
helping their fathers in the fields. Some days there would be forty kids
in school and other days there would be only five. If you got in trouble
the school marm, or teacher would have you put your nose to the board, wear a
sign, or hold books on your hands with your arms out. The kids had an hour
lunch and two recesses a day. After school, the school marm would go and
spend the night at someone's house and would take them to school the next day.
Some chores for boys were fetching water and chopping wood. The girls would churn butter and grind corn. The parents slept downstairs in a bed and the kids slept in the loft on the floor. The fire was burning almost all day.
The blacksmith played a very important part in the town. He would make hooks to hang and dry the food so it would last longer. They would also use the hooks to hold pots over the fire.
Some chores for boys were fetching water and chopping wood. The girls would churn butter and grind corn. The parents slept downstairs in a bed and the kids slept in the loft on the floor. The fire was burning almost all day.
The blacksmith played a very important part in the town. He would make hooks to hang and dry the food so it would last longer. They would also use the hooks to hold pots over the fire.
The
work required for daily life in the early nineteenth century included felling
trees, chopping firewood, churning butter, milking cows, slopping hogs, digging
potatoes, plowing, planting and harvesting fields, hoeing weeds, husking corn,
drying hay, spinning thread, and sewing -- just to name a portion of the
necessary chores to maintain a household. This section deals with outdoor work,
performed mainly by men. Much of the work typically performed by women is
included in domestic life and fashion.
The
split rail fence, wheat field, rooting pigs and log house represent a
four-year-old farm, established when Iowa became a state in 1846. The farm site
is in transition between subsistence agriculture (producing enough for the
family to survive) and becoming a profit-making farm. Most farms in 1850
averaged 160 acres in size, with farmers cultivating anywhere from 25 to 40
acres. Corn, wheat and potatoes were the three major crops in 1850. Most
farmers used their corn crop to feed the pigs that were then sold for profit.
Wheat and hogs were cash crops for farmers, and potatoes were a staple with
nearly every meal and lasted throughout the winter.
Until pioneer families earned enough money to purchase modern 1850 technology, they relied on older farming methods. For example, women prepared food over an open fire even though wood-burning cookstoves were available. The majority of people who settled in the 1840s and 1850s came from the Eastern United States and were eager to build a multi-room dwelling like they had lived in before coming west. Log houses were temporary structures that the pioneers improved or replaced once the farm was established.
Pioneer families relied on poultry for three major purposes: meat, eggs, and money. Most pioneers who raised pigs built a smokehouse to help preserve the pork. In 1850, barns were of less significance to the farm than in later years. Pioneers used barns to store tools and some crops, rather than to house animals.
Until pioneer families earned enough money to purchase modern 1850 technology, they relied on older farming methods. For example, women prepared food over an open fire even though wood-burning cookstoves were available. The majority of people who settled in the 1840s and 1850s came from the Eastern United States and were eager to build a multi-room dwelling like they had lived in before coming west. Log houses were temporary structures that the pioneers improved or replaced once the farm was established.
Pioneer families relied on poultry for three major purposes: meat, eggs, and money. Most pioneers who raised pigs built a smokehouse to help preserve the pork. In 1850, barns were of less significance to the farm than in later years. Pioneers used barns to store tools and some crops, rather than to house animals.
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