Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Robert Butler Kimmel
Ancestors of Robert Butler Kimmel
112.William ShepherdHe married 113. Elvy Anderson.
113.Elvy Anderson
Child of William Shepherd and Elvy Anderson is:
| 56 | i. | Henry Shepherd, born April 05, 1811 in Wilkinson,Georgia; married Amanda Catherine Prater January 12, 1834 in Upson County, Georgia. |
124.William Allen128, born Abt. 1762 in Prince Edward Country, Virginia; died Bef. August 1838 in Jefferson County, Texas.He married 125. Keziah Anders Abt. 1782.
125.Keziah Anders, born Abt. 1762 in North Carolina; died Abt. 1797.
Notes for William Allen:
Came from Virginia to Georgia to Tennessee where Keziah Anders died. Married Hannah Pride and moved to Florida which became St. Helena Parish in Louisiana. Came from there to Texas around 1826.
Granted land on the Neches River in 1826 in the Bevil District, Mexico. However, he died before acquiring the land granted to Zavala colonists. Consequently, his heirs received the land. It was located on the east bank of the Neches River directly across from Spindletop.
In 1833 Santa Anna declared Dictator of Mexico, and he nullified the Constitution of 1824. He then imposed strict central control, so on October 2, 1835, the first shot was fired at Gonzales. This began the Texas Revolution.
Certified PATRIOT, DAR Patriot Index, Centennial Edition, Part 1, Page 45, 1990, for service in North Carolina.
More About William Allen and Keziah Anders:
Marriage: Abt. 1782
Children of William Allen and Keziah Anders are:
| 62 | i. | Nathaniel Allen, born November 15, 1784 in Georgia; died January 09, 1852 in Jasper, Texas; married (1) Penelope Williams Abt. 1810; married (2) Sarah (Sally) "Tack" Grigsby February 06, 1837 in Jasper, Texas. | ||
| ii. | Peter Allen, born 1786; died 1852; married Sarah Ring. |
| Notes for Peter Allen: Only Allen who went to Arkansas rather than Texas. Served during the War of 1812 with the Alabama Militia. Owned 12 slaves in 1830. Sam Houston's first wife, Elizabeth Allen, may have been related but unproven. |
| iii. | Lydia Allen, born Abt. 1788; married John Stephenson 1805 in Wilkinson Co, Mississippi; born 1788; died 1852. |
| Notes for John Stephenson: Joined a company of 28 men under Captain Benjamin F. Harper in Beaumont. Merged with Captain William M. Logan's company in Liberty and set out for the Alamo. They did not make it before it fell. Then joined General Houston at Buffalo Bayou. Stephenson fought at San Jacinto although he was omitted from the official rolls. However, Captain Logan, in Service Record No. 992, certified that John served in his company from March 6 to June 6, 1836, and did indeed participate in the Battle of San Jacinto. |
| More About John Stephenson and Lydia Allen: Marriage: 1805, Wilkinson Co, Mississippi |
| iv. | William Allen, Jr., born 1790; died 1850; married Mary Ann Moore; born in Amite Co., Mississippi. |
| Notes for William Allen, Jr.: |
| v. | Mary Allen, born 1792; died 1862; married (1) Unknown Spillar; married (2) Charles Myers. | |||
| vi. | John Allen, born 1795 in Tennessee; died 1864; married (1) Nancy Day; born in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana; married (2) Laureny Taylor Lewis; born in Jasper Co., Texas. |
| Notes for John Allen: He was in the Texas Army with Captains Harper and Logan but did not make it to the Alamo before it fell. He then joined Captain George Hargraves and marched to join Houston at San Jacinto but the battle was already over. In 1836, the newly formed Republic of Texas issued land grants of one league of land to each adult male who was in Texas prior to 1836. Grants in the Bevil District were given to Hannah (William's grant), Moses, and George. Benjamin, Elijah, and Elisha each got 1/3 league as they were minors. Moses, William, Daniel, Elisha, Elijah, and John received additional grants for their service in the Texas War for Independence. John qualified for a land grant as a Zavala Colonist as he arrived in Texas prior to 1836. His grant is in what is now Orange County. |
127.Sarah (Sally) Mitchell Graham130, born Abt. 1778 in Virginia; died September 13, 1841 in Beaumont, Texas.She was the daughter of 254. Christopher Graham and 255. Isabella Mitchell.
Notes for Joseph D. Grigsby:
Featured in The Founders and Patriots of the Republic of Texas, p.525
There is controversy about his Mother. It is said to be Elizabeth Butler, although she may have died in 1768, 3 years before Joseph was born. If this is true, Susan Linton (Smith), Nathaniel Grigsby's 2nd wife, was his Mother.
In 1828 moved to the Mexican province of Texas, where they settled first in Lorenzo de Zavala's colony in Jasper County, in the Atoscocito District. There he qualified for a league and a labor of land, 4,650 acres.After the Texas Revolution in 1836 he built a large plantation with slave labor on his Neches River grant in Jefferson County. Community of Grigsby's Bluff became a busy trading stop. Had over 10,000 acres and was the wealthiest person in Jefferson County.
He and 3 others gave 200 acres of land and laid out the townsite of Beaumont in 1837.
He was a representative in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Congresses of the Republic of Texas for Jefferson County.
Had 12 Negroes in 1835.
Atascosito or Liberty District
of Texas
Texas has been under the jurisdiction of six separate governments since 1685, those of France, Spain, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederacy, and the United States.
The area that now comprises the State of Texas, with its 254 present day counties, was made up of some thirty-six counties that were created and organized in the days of the Republic of Texas (March 2, 1836 to February 19, 1846). Before 1836 such records as marriage bonds and contracts were issued in the areas called colonies, municipalities, or departments. When the revolution began, there were three departments: Bexar, Brazos, and Nacogdoches and eighteen municipalities (sometimes referred to as districts): Austin, Bexar, Brazoria (formerly called Columbia), Goliad, Gonzales, Harrisburg, Jasper (formerly called Bevil's District), Liberty, Matagorda, Milam (formerly called Viesca), Mina (later called Bastrop), Nacogdoches, Refugio, San Augustine, San Patricio, Shelby (or Teneha), Victoria, and Washington. Additionally, five ones were created by the provisional council in 1835: Colorado, Jackson, Jefferson, Red River and Sabine. A lot of the records of early Texas either have been lost by fire, or they are just plain missing.
The Spanish "Atascosito District" comprised the area of the ten Southeast Texas Counties. It derived its name from the site in present Liberty county where local administration was conducted. Under Mexican rule this area was known as the "Liberty District."
After Texas' independence, the Liberty District was divided into Liberty, Jefferson and Jasper counties.
Counties Carved From The Original Atascosito/Liberty District
County Name
Year Formed
Parent County/District
County Seat
Liberty 1836Spanish Atascosito/Liberty DistrictLiberty
Jasper1836Spanish Atascosito/Liberty DistrictJasper
Jefferson1836Spanish Atascosito/Liberty DistrictBeaumont
Newton1846JasperNewton
Polk1846LibertyLivingston
Tyler1846LibertyWoodville
Orange1852JeffersonOrange
Chambers 1858Jefferson & LibertyAnahuac
Hardin1858Jefferson & LibertyKountze
San Jacinto 1870Liberty, Polk, Montgomery, WalkerColdspring
After John Bevil settled into the beautiful hills of East Texas' Pineywoods in the mid 1800's, a small town was named for him. Bevilport, they called it, near the forks of the Angelina and Neches Rivers. But when it came time for Texas to organize as an independent Republic, Bevil wanted a special name for the community that moved to "higher ground"... a name that honored the American and Texan ideals of freedom. He chose Jasper, then name of a Revolutionary War hero. During the 1776 Battle of Fort Moultrie in Charleston, S.C., the British shot away the flagstaff. Sergeant William Jasper saved the fledgling American flag, only to die three years later trying to save his regimental colors during another siege. Jasper was listed among the original 23 counties when Texas became a Republic in 1836. The little town grew through the years, fed by the rich variety of game available in the nearby Big Thicket and the hearty folks who settled there. The Jasper News-Boy was first printed in 1865 and is still published every Wednesday, making it the oldest paper in the State.
Jasper County, located in Southeast Texas, was originally part of the Spanish "Atascosito District" and under Mexican rule it became "Liberty District." In 1835, the present county was known as "Municipality of Bevil" or "Bevil's District." After Texas's independence, the district was divided into Liberty, Jefferson and Jasper counties. At that time Jasper County included the land between the Neches and the Sabine rivers, but in 1846 it was cut in half, and Newton county was created from the eastern half. The 1835 census of Bevil's District enumerated 156 households and the 1850 Federal census of Jasper County had 192 households.
Information about the next family head, Joseph Grigsby, is plentiful. He, his wife, and six of their eleven children emigrated from Kentucky in 1829, traveling overland. A son-in-law, Ephraim Thompson, arrived about the same time. Grigsby settled in the Beech Grove community southwest of Jasper, and Thompson may have lived for a while on his half league that adjoins James Conn on the west. However, the other part of his grant was on the west bank of the Neches River and extends from the present Sheffield Ferry bridge about three miles west, and it is here that he made his home. He died there in 1836. After 1835, Grigsby went to that part of the Municipality of Liberty that is now Jefferson County, settling at Grigsby's Bluff, now Port Neches. He died there in 1841 and other members of the family returned to Jasper County.
Grigsby's daughter Sarah (Sally) married Duke Glenn. They did not leave Kentucky with her parents but waited until the next year, 1830. There is reason to believe that the Sally Glenn league was originally her father's location before he decided to try cotton farming on the coastal prairie. Glenn died about 1833, and title was granted in 1834 to "Sally Glenn, widow." In 1836 she married again to Nathaniel Allen.
Jasper County, located in Southeast Texas, was originally part of the Spanish "Atascosito District" and under Mexican rule it became "Liberty District." In 1835, the present county was known as "Municipality of Bevil" or "Bevil's District." After Texas's independence, the district was divided into Liberty, Jefferson and Jasper counties. At that time Jasper County included the land between the Neches and the Sabine rivers, but in 1846 it was cut in half, and Newton county was created from the eastern half. The 1835 census of Bevil's District enumerated 156 households and the 1850 Federal census of Jasper County had 192 households. The city of Jasper is the County Seat and was named for Sgt. William Jasper, hero of American Revolution.
| Notes for Sarah (Sally) Mitchell Graham: Original inhabitant of Census of Jasper, Municipality of Bevil in 1835 May have been born around 1790 according to Jasper 1835 census |
More About Joseph Grigsby and Sarah Graham:
Marriage: June 28, 1798, Bardstown, Nelson Co, KY
Children of Joseph Grigsby and Sarah Graham are:
| i. | Susannah Grigsby131, born August 12, 1799 in Nelson Co., Kentucky; died October 1849 in Liberty Co., Texas; married Ephraim Thompson February 06, 1817 in Owensboro, Daviess Co., Kentucky; born 1794 in Mercer Co., Kentucky; died 1836. |
| Notes for Susannah Grigsby: First 5 children born in Daviess Co., Kentucky. |
| Notes for Ephraim Thompson: Close friends of Joseph D. Grigsby. His land bordered Grigsby's in Daviess Co., Kentucky. Both Grigsby and Thompson families moved together to Mexican Province of Texas in 1828 in Zavala Colony. Each man received one league (4428 acres) of land. Thompson registered with Lorenzo De Zavala as a colonist on 12 March 1829. |
| More About Ephraim Thompson and Susannah Grigsby: Marriage: February 06, 1817, Owensboro, Daviess Co., Kentucky |
| ii. | Isabella Grigsby, born December 12, 1800 in Bloomfield, Nelson, Kentucky; died March 02, 1845 in Henderson Co., Kentucky; married John Hackley Priest. | |||
| iii. | Nancy Grigsby, born August 12, 1802 in Bloomfield, Nelson, Kentucky; died August 15, 1803. | |||
| iv. | Nancy Grigsby, born May 12, 1804 in Washington, Kentucky; died September 1860 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; married Benjamin Allen September 01, 1824 in Kentucky; born October 08, 1799 in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky; died October 22, 1859 in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky. |
| Notes for Nancy Grigsby: 8 children total. |
| More About Benjamin Allen and Nancy Grigsby: Marriage: September 01, 1824, Kentucky |
| v. | Nathaniel Grigsby132,133, born December 13, 1805 in Washington, Kentucky; died September 09, 1840 in Port Neches (Grigsby Bluff), Jefferson Co., Texas. |
| Notes for Nathaniel Grigsby: Received land grant due to service in Texas Army for service form Oct. 17-Dec. 1835. Also received land for May 22, 1838 Siege at Bexar. This referred to the capture of the Alamo by Texans from General Cos and then given to Colonel Travis. Third class 'Headrights' For settlers arriving after October 1, 1837, and before January 1, 1840, there were third class headrights. The requirements were the same - three years of residency and the performance of duties of a good citizen, but the size of the grant had been reduced from 1280 acres to 640 for the heads of families and from 640 acres to 320 for single men. Fourth-class headrights were for those who came into Texas as settlers between January 1, 1840, and January 1, 1842. Amount of acreage was the same as for third class headrights.Besides the headrights there were bounty and donation grants for men who had done military service in the Texas Revolution and during the unsettled period after San Jacinto when Mexico was expected to re-invade. A bounty of 320 acres for each three months of service was awarded to every man who applied. If he had participated in a battle, the veteran was eligible for an additional 640 acres. This latter was known as a donation grants. Not everyone who was entitled applied for these last two grants; also some of those entitled to first class grants did not always make application for them, or if they did apply, they failed to follow through and fulfill the requirements necessary before titles were issued, preferring perhaps the smaller grants. This might have been because of the greater expense involved with the larger grant. Killed by a runaway mule. |
| 63 | vi. | Sarah (Sally) "Tack" Grigsby, born September 01, 1807 in Washington, Davis County, Kentucky; died September 09, 1885 in Jasper, Texas; married (1) Duke Glenn October 26, 1826; married (2) Nathaniel Allen February 06, 1837 in Jasper, Texas. | ||
| vii. | Frances (Fannie) Mitchell (Murr) Grigsby, born September 13, 1809 in Washington, Kentucky; died March 05, 1888 in Jasper, Texas; married George Washington Smyth April 01, 1834 in Nacogdoches, Texas; born May 16, 1803 in North Carolina; died February 21, 1866 in Austin, Texas. |
| Notes for George Washington Smyth: Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence SMYTH, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1803^1866). George Washington Smyth, early Texas surveyor and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, son of a German millwright father and a Scots-Irish mother, was born on May 16, 1803, in North Carolina. After moving to Alabama and Tennessee as a child, he left for Texas in 1828 against the wishes of his parents. He crossed the Sabine River on February 11, 1830, and briefly taught school at Nacogdoches before securing an appointment in 1830 as surveyor for Bevil's Settlement from Thomas Jefferson Chambers, surveyor general. In 1832 Smyth and seven other Bevil-area residents, upon hearing of the Anahuac Disturbances, went to the scene but arrived after the excitement was over. Smyth married Frances M. Grigsby in 1834; they had seven children. Smyth became surveyor in 1834 for George A. Nixon, recently named commissioner of the Zavala, Vehlein, and Burnet colonies. He also served as land commissioner at Nacogdoches, where he remained until the office of land commissioner was closed on December 19, 1835. He was appointed first judge of Bevil Municipality by the General Council of the Provisional Government. After being elected a member of the Convention of 1836 by the residents of Jasper Municipality, Smyth signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and raised sixteen men, but they arrived at San Jacinto after the battle was over. Smyth and his family took part in the Runaway Scrape. Mirabeau B. Lamar appointed Smyth to the boundary commission that was to set the Texas^United States boundaries in 1839. He was also elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1844 and avidly supported annexation. In addition he took part in the convention that drew up the Constitution of 1845. Smyth became the second commissioner of the General Land Office in March 1848, a position he retained for four years. As Democratic elector for president, he voted for Franklin Pierce in the 1852 election. The following year he won a seat in the Thirty-third United States Congress, but he did not seek reelection in 1855. He returned to his farm in Jasper County and by the eve of the Civil War had amassed an estate valued at $27,000, which included twenty-eight slaves. Smyth opposed secession, although his sons served with Confederate troops. After the Civil War, he went to Austin as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866. He died in Austin on February 21, 1866, and was buried in the State Cemetery. In 1936 the Texas Centennial Commission erected a marker at the Smyth home, built 100 years earlier in Jasper County at the junction of Big Run and Little Walnut Run. BIBLIOGRAPHY: "The Autobiography of George W. Smyth," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 36 (January 1933). Louis Wiltz Kemp, The Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence (Salado, Texas: Anson Jones, 1944; rpt. 1959). Robert Wooster" |
| More About George Smyth and Frances Grigsby: Marriage: April 01, 1834, Nacogdoches, Texas |
| viii. | Elizabeth Grigsby, born August 07, 1811 in Washington, Kentucky; died May 04, 1873 in Jasper Co., Texas; married James Glenn April 17, 1828 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; born September 03, 1809; died June 11, 1847 in Daviess, Kentucky. |
| Notes for Elizabeth Grigsby: Did not come to Texas until after her husband's death in 1849. |
| More About James Glenn and Elizabeth Grigsby: Marriage: April 17, 1828, Daviess Co., Kentucky |
| ix. | Christopher Columbus Grigsby, born September 09, 1813 in Washington, Mason Co., KY; died September 18, 1823 in Daviess, Kentucky. | |||
| x. | Enoch Grigsby134,135, born December 17, 1815 in Bloomfield, Nelson Co., Kentucky; died December 16, 1859 in Jasper, Texas; married Priscilla Haynes Abt. 1845; born January 22, 1826 in Missouri; died April 19, 1860 in Jasper Co., Texas. |
| Notes for Enoch Grigsby: Received land for service in Texas Army, April 24, 1838, for Siege at Bexar in Dec. 1835. This referred to the capture of the Alamo by Texans from General Cos and then given to Colonel Travis. Third class 'Headrights' For settlers arriving after October 1, 1837, and before January 1, 1840, there were third class headrights. The requirements were the same - three years of residency and the performance of duties of a good citizen, but the size of the grant had been reduced from 1280 acres to 640 for the heads of families and from 640 acres to 320 for single men. Fourth-class headrights were for those who came into Texas as settlers between January 1, 1840, and January 1, 1842. Amount of acreage was the same as for third class headrights.Besides the headrights there were bounty and donation grants for men who had done military service in the Texas Revolution and during the unsettled period after San Jacinto when Mexico was expected to re-invade. A bounty of 320 acres for each three months of service was awarded to every man who applied. If he had participated in a battle, the veteran was eligible for an additional 640 acres. This latter was known as a donation grants. Not everyone who was entitled applied for these last two grants; also some of those entitled to first class grants did not always make application for them, or if they did apply, they failed to follow through and fulfill the requirements necessary before titles were issued, preferring perhaps the smaller grants. This might have been because of the greater expense involved with the larger grant. In addition, there is a fragment of another muster roll from Jasper County. This company marched from Zavala on the Angelina River in Jasper County on July 17, 1838. Men from Jasper County whose names appear on this list are: William Jordan; R.A. Pennall; Hardy Pace; Thomas B. Huling; William Byerly; Enoch Grigsby; B.C. Lowe; Barney Lowe; Melvin Langham; Britton Hall; A.G. Parker; |
| More About Enoch Grigsby and Priscilla Haynes: Marriage: Abt. 1845 |
| xi. | Ann Mitchell Grigsby, born January 12, 1819 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; died October 27, 1863 in Jasper, Texas; married William Allen II February 25, 1836; born Abt. 1815 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; died April 25, 1868 in Jasper, Texas. |
| Notes for William Allen II: After his marriage in 1836 he was awarded a land grant of one league on the east bank of the Neches River between Magnolia Springs in Jasper County and Cairo, although like his Father he always lived in the Walnut Run area southwest of Jasper. 2nd Lt. under James Chessher at the Siege of Bexar. Had 15 slaves in 1860. The event that really touched off what is known as the Texas Revolution occurred October 2, 1835, at Gonzales when Domingo de Ugartechea, commandant of Coahuila and Texas, sent for the cannon he had given the residents there four years earlier for protection against marauding Indians. When the colonists refused to give it up, an engagement ensued with victory going to the Texans. Realizing that a conflict with Mexican authorities was inevitable, a volunteer army under Stephen F. Austin gathered at Gonzales and marched from there to San Antonio, also known as Bexar. In the meantime, the shots fired that day on the Guadalupe were heard, if not around the world, at least around Texas, and in various localities military companies were organized in anticipation of events. Two were raised in the municipality of Bevil - one under Martin B. Lewis, the other under James Chessher. (In the military records this name is spelled Cheshire, but in all legal and family records it is Chessher). These companies were not made up entirely of men from Bevil but included many members from neighboring municipalities In Chessher's company were: Allen, William (2nd Lt.); Byerly, Adam (1st Lt.); Byerly, William; Chessher, James (Capt.); Chessher, Daniel; Dailey, Michael; Good, Hannibal; Hanks, Horatio; Hanks, Samuel G.; Ralph, Samuel; Williams, Stephen; Williams, Stephen, Jr.; Williams, Richard; West, Willis; Youngblood, Jackson William Allen, Richard and Stephen Williams, Jr., and Jackson Youngblood were all grandsons of Stephen Williams, and Michael Dailey was a son-in-law. Also in Chessher's company were the Grigsby brothers, Nathaniel and Enoch, who probably were still residents of the municipality of Bevil, for they were living there when the census was completed earlier in the year on May 1, 1835. Before Chessher could get started to join Houston he was ordered to Nacogdoches instead to investigate a rumor that Mexicans and Indians in the vicinity were arming against the Anglo-Americans. The rumor, however, proved untrue, and Chessher then set out to join the main army but did not arrive in time to have any part in the battle of San Jacinto |
| More About William Allen II: Burial: Duncan Woods Settlement, Orange, Texas |
| More About William Allen and Ann Grigsby: Marriage: February 25, 1836 |
| xii. | William H. Grigsby, born November 15, 1820 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; died February 20, 1864 in Jasper, Texas; married Frances Harriet Thomason August 07, 1851 in Jasper, Texas; born August 20, 1837 in Jasper Co., Texas; died February 27, 1865 in Jasper Co., Texas. |
| More About William Grigsby and Frances Thomason: Marriage: August 07, 1851, Jasper, Texas |
| xiii. | Matilda Margaret Grigsby, born April 19, 1823 in Daviess Co., Kentucky; died November 19, 1839. |