Francis Ren Benton and his wife Susan Margaret Lock Benton moved to Texas around 1865. He and Susan were living and farming outside Farmersville, Collin County, Texas, just south of the Red River by the time of the 1870 Federal census. By the 1880 census, their family had grown to include William Franklin (b. 1860), Mary Elizabeth (b. 1865), Alice Mae (b. 1868), John Logan (b. 1872), A.H. (b. 1874), and Thomas Hart (b. 1877). Sadly though, between the birth of Thomas Hart Benton in July 1877 and the census of 1880, Susan died in her early 30s.
This is thought to be a photo (ca. late 1870s) of the Benton farm. Presumably the two on the left are Francis and Susan. The young man with the horse is William Franklin? The young lady in the middle I could only make guesses about.
In our genealogical research, we looked for more information on the life of Francis Ren after Susan's death. In so doing, we turned up a branch of the family that no one in the past few generations even knew about----in either branch. The evidence is a bit spotty but leads to this conclusion: Following Susan's death, Francis Ren Benton remarried to Martha Shoemake of Delta County, Texas. She was the daughter of Frank and Eletha Shoemake of Smith County, Tennessee. The family moved to Texas around 1885. Francis Ren was 55 and Martha was 23 when they wed around 1890. The marriage produced two children: Leatha, born 1892 and Charles, born 1894. Sometime during the period 1895-1900, Francis Ren and Martha died at the same time. Their death probably resulted from one of the many epidemics of disease that raged through the area at the time. Frequent epidemics of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Influenza devastated the Red River communities in those years. Often entire small towns succumbed to the diseases and bodies were buried in unmarked mass graves. Following the parents' deaths, Leatha and Charles were taken in by the Shoemakes and were in Delta County at the time of the 1900 Census. Later they were separated, Charles being raised there in Texas by the Shoemakes and Leatha being adopted by John Logan Benton and his wife. Apparently the siblings forgot about each other's existence and lost all memory of their parents.
The eldest son of Francis Ren and Susan, William Franklin Benton married a widow lady named Phoebe Jane and lived out the rest of his life in Collin County. A newspaper article from 1885 showed an impending sheriff’s auction of the farm for non-payment of the overdue taxes of $6.32. William and Phoebe later moved in to McKinney and lived in town. They produced a large family that included many local political leaders, legislators, and military men. William passed away in 1941.
Mary Elizabeth married Ephraim Kindle, who died shortly after their marriage. She remarried to James Raines and resided until her death in 1932 in Fannin County, Texas, just north of Collin. She also left behind a large family.
Alice married Eli Wells, also of Fannin County, and created a large family of her own.
We’ve never found anything about A.H., the mystery son, although there’s a grave in Hunt County, just east of Collin County marked "Alex H. Benton." He died in 1918.
John Logan married Nancy Ann "Lemmie" Huddleston in Bonham, Fannin County in 1902. They had 3 sons and a daughter.
Nancy Ann "Lemmie" Huddleston prior to her marriage to John Logan Benton. ca. 1890-1895
Robert Johnson Scott (b. 1827) and his bride Elizabeth C. Worley (b. 1830) came to Cooke County, Texas, from their native Indiana about 1847. Their family grew to three sons and two daughters. In 1870, Elizabeth died. In 1876, Robert, then 49, remarried to a 21 year old girl named Angeline, who was born in Tennessee in 1855. Her maiden name has eluded me. Angeline gave Scott two more sons and two more daughters. The oldest, Sallie Mae, was born in 1877. The second oldest, Nettie, was born in 1879 but died in 1898 at age 19.
Robert Johnson Scott joined his first wife in the grave in 1884 at age 57. Angeline, needing a father for her brood, switched the May-December wedding formula around and married Charles E. Savill (b. 1865) who had come to Cooke County from Indiana, ten years her junior. Angeline gave Charles at least one child, a girl named Iva.
In 1900, Angeline's oldest daughter, Sallie Mae, married Thomas Hart Benton and started on the way to becoming my great-grandparents.
This photograph is thought to be the wedding picture of Thomas Hart Benton and Sallie Mae Scott. I presume that the domineering-looking lady in the background is Sallie's mother, Angeline Savill. Photo ca. 1900, Cooke County, Texas.
Alice Mae Benton, first born of Thomas and Sallie Benton, was born near Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas, on July 6, 1901. In this picture, she is a bit less than a year old. At a much later date, she would become my grandmother.
The Move to Oklahoma Territory - Page 3
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