John Hermodius Thurmond in Texas 1840s

I am trying to find support for oral family history, which
states that John Hermodius Thurmond was born in Lauderdale County Tennessee, in 1825, to John Green Thurmond (a physician) and Ann Louisa "Nancy" Sturgis Thrumond.

In 1836, when John Hermodius was 11 years old, his older brother, Alfred Sturgis Thurmond, left home and traveled to Texas to fight in the Texas Revolution, but arrived in Texas after the Battle of San Jacinto. He
settled in Victoria, where he was soon elected Sheriff.

A few years later, a second brother (Pulaski Adolphus Thurmond) also moved to Texas, and set up a medical practice near Refugio.

When John Hermodius was 15 years old (abt. 1840), his father died, leaving the support and care of mother Ann Louisa and a younger brother (Columbus Lafayette Thurmond) to him. John Hermodius served as the head of the Thurmond household for 3 years, until 1843 when his mother marriedBenjamin T. Porter, a well established landowner in Lauderdale Co.

About 1843, at the age of abt. 18, finally free of the responsibility for the care of his mother and younger brother, John Hermodius followed his two older brothers Alfred Sturgis and Pulaski Adolphus, and moved to Texas (Refugio) where he lived with brother Pulaski Adolphus and assisted in his medical practice.

While he worked assisting Pulaski Adolphus in the rural medical practice in Refugio County, he also began learning the Bible and how to preach. He and his brother traveled to settlements around the area, ministering to the needs - both medical and spiritual - of the early citizens of the Republic of Texas. While not inclined to the practice of medicine, John Hermodius was well suited for preaching the Gospel, and often preached while his brother tended to the medical needs of the people.

This life was satisfying to John Hermodius, but sometime around 1847, his stepfather died, leaving his mother again in need of help in Tennessee.After some deliberation, both John Hermodius and Pulaski Adolphus decided to return to Lauderdale County to see to their mother and younger brother, with
the intention of bringing the entire family back to Texas.

While back in Tennessee, John Hermodius met and married Mary Lee Tucker and had a son,John.He studied the Gospel, made application, and was ordained into the Baptist Church sometime around 1850.

The Thurmond brothers never lost sight of the goal of moving the family back to Texas, and in abt. 1853, with the assistance of older brother Alfred Sturgis Thurmond (returned from Peyote Prison in Mexico, where he had been a prisoner from the Mier Expedition) moved their mother to Alfred Sturgis's ranch on Hynes Bay in Refugio County. The younger brother (Columbus Lafayette) accompanied them and settled in Victoria. Pulaski Adolphus decided to make his home in Indianola, where his medical skills were greatly needed. John Hermodius immediately re-established himself in Refugio, where he was known to many of the residents, and established a church at Blanconia, organized on April 22, 1855, in the old Doughty schoolhouse near Refugio,
and later moved to Blanconia.

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The narrative goes on and on, but this is sufficient to ask my question of you..have you found any evidence in your research as to the whereabouts of John Hermodius during the period 1843 - to about 1846?I am seeking more evidence to document his presence in Texas during the time of the Republic of Texas, that I might qualify for the organization "Sons of the Republic of Texas."

Please let me know, even if you have no information.

Sincerely,

Frank Richard (Dick) Brown
Rowlett Texas