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The relationships between families and communities were different in early Texas because there were fewer people spread over a large area.
The families often had up to a dozen children in each generation. For example, the Catherine Overton and the Leman/Jesse Barker families illustrate the complicated web of relationships connecting families and communities in the wider Elgin area all the way from Hogeye to Rice’s Crossing to Coupland and Post Oak Island.
Catherine Overton, born in 1790, was married three times. She had first married Vinson Avery in Perquimans, North Carolina. The marriage was short because her husband was a seaman who died soon after their marriage in 1809. He was buried at sea off Indonesia. Their son Willis Avery was born in 1809.
Catherine Overton Avery, in 1812, married South Carolinian William McCutcheon in Davidson, Tennessee. Their son, William McCutcheon, was born Dec. 25, 1812. The marriage was not happy and they divorced in 1818.
Catherine’s third marriage was to Gordon Cartwright Jennings, a farmer from Connecticut. Their wedding was in May 1822 in Troy, Lincoln County, Missouri. They had four children: Abigail, Joseph, Samuel and Katie. Katie was the little girl who in Paul-Revere-fashion rode 40 miles bareback upriver from Bastrop to warn the citizens of approaching enemy troops during the Runaway Scrape. Catherine’s husband, Gordon Jennings, died defending the Alamo.
Willis Avery, Catherine’s oldest son, married Elzina Weeks – the sister of Malinda Weeks, the first wife of Jesse Barker. Elzina married when she was 15 and had nine children, according to the San Jacinto Museum. Avery joined Captain Jesse Billingsley's Company of Mina (Bastrop) Volunteers on Feb. 28, 1836. The Mina Volunteers eventually became Company C of General Edward Burleson's regiment and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. Company C was made up of settlers who lived in and around Bastrop County.
Ultimately, the Avery family moved to Williamson County and settled on Brushy Creek, near Rice's Crossing, where Elzina died on March 1, 1870. Willis died on July 17, 1889, and both are buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. The family is connected with the Kimbro family and many others.
William McCutcheon, the second son of Catherine Overton, also settled in Williamson County near his half-brother, Willis Avery. William married and had 13 children.
The widespread Barker family also had many descendants who lived not only in Bastrop County, but also in Williamson.
Leman Barker married Elizabeth James Standifer after his first wife, Sarah Forehand, died. He had a daughter from his first marriage, Margaret Barker Wilbarger. She was married to Josiah Wilbarger, who was scalped near Austin in 1833. Although Josiah’s scalp never completely healed and had to be continually dressed, he lived for 11 years until April 11, 1845. Their son, John Lemon Wilbarger, a Texas Ranger, was killed by Indians on the Rio Grande River on August 20, 1850, and both father and son are buried in the Texas State Cemetery. The Wilbargershad several other children who died young. The only child who grew up to have descendants was James Harvey Wilbarger.
After Josiah’s death, Margaret Barker Wilbarger married Col. T. W. Chambers, a wealthy veteran of the Texas Revolution. They owned and operated the Chambers plantation in Bastrop. By the time of his death in 1855, they had three young daughters, Belina, Florence and Fenora.
Jesse Barker was the brother of Leman Barker. He was married to Malinda Weeks, a sister of Elzina married to Willis Avery. Malinda Barker died giving birth to her ninth child, Amanda, on July 9, 1845. Jesse married again on Nov. 3, 1845. His second wife was Emily Johnson. He died on Feb. 5, 1846, supposedly not knowing that Emily was pregnant with his 10th child.
Members of the large families have been connected with many communities in the Elgin area from Hogeye and Bastrop to Post Oak Island, Coupland and Beaukiss.
Charlene Hanson Jordan wrote the above narrative as the sixth of a weekly column. Her newest book, “Notes & Recollections, Post Oak Island & Elgin, Texas,” is available at the Elgin Depot Museum where exhibits, photographs and books on local history are also available. The museum is open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Watch for notices. Every Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m, “Notes & Recollections” may be purchased from the Niswanders at the Elgin Farmers Market in Veterans Memorial Park. The book is also available at the Elgin Courier office, 105 N. Main St. in Elgin or 512-285-3333 during business hours all week, or from Charlene directly at [email protected] or 512-856-2562.
