Hardy Gilliam Moves to Texas

In a previous post, we discussed Hardy and Jane (Nixon) Gilliam's move from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1852. We believe that in doing so, Hardy likely followed his siblings, Elizabeth Jane (Gilliam) Ferguson and Wiley Blount Gilliam and their families. Hardy's sons, Thomas Jefferson Gilliam and John Tillman Gilliam both fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and returned to Arkansas after Lee's surrender in 1865. 

NOTE: For the rest of this blog post, I will refer to John Tillman Gilliam as "JT" and Thomas Jefferson Gilliam as "TJ".

TJ married Martha Fallen in 1869. In 1870 census, with daughter Sarah Jane, TJ and Martha are listed living in the home of William and Frances Pruitt, in Clark Township, Pope County Arkansas, near the town of Dover, Arkansas. 

Hardy and Jane’s daughter Margaret died in Arkansas 1869. Their son Alexander Hamilton Gilliam died in Arkansas in 1875. In 1877, at the age of 58 or 59, Hardy Gilliam moved to Hill County, Texas and was soon joined by his adult children and their families in and around the Hill County towns of Hillsboro and Itasca.

We can piece together much of what we think we know about Hardy and family after their move to Texas from census data and a biographical sketch of JT Gilliam in the book, A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill Counties Texas (1892). The publication is similar to a school yearbook in that it permitted local citizens to sit for an artist and author to provide personal and family details (likely for a fee and agreement to purchase the book). Although the sketch focuses on John Tillman Gilliam, it devotes a few paragraphs to discuss Hardy and family. 

According to the sketch, Hardy was born in Tennessee in 1820. He was primarily a farmer, but “for some time served as sheriff of Marion County.” 

NOTE: I have found no confirmation that Hardy was ever the Sheriff of Marion County, Tennessee. According to the current (2019) Marion County, Tennessee Sheriff, Ronnie Burnett, the only historical record that he is aware of is a plaque outside the current Sheriff's office with a list of officeholders dating back to 1820. Hardy is not listed and the plaque indicates the sheriff from 1840 to 1852 was named Ralph Shelton. As this period covers Hardy's life from the age of 22 or so until he moved to Arkansas, it is doubtful he was ever the sheriff of Marion County. If anyone has any better information regarding this claim, please let me know. 

According to the sketch, Jane Nixon was born in South Carolina in 1823 and moved to Tennessee with her parents, John and _______ (Nunley) Nixon. It states her parents were South Carolina natives and her father was a veteran of the War of 1812. The sketch lists their children and place of residence as of 1892: John T.; Margarette Ann (who died at 26); Sarah Jane (who married Jefferson Smith of Hill County, Texas); Thomas J. (who resides in Indian Territory); Lem B. (who died at age 40 as a resident of Brown County, Texas); Alexander H. (who died in 1875); Alvira P. (wife of John Galiga of Hill County, Texas) and Sarah Jane (wife of Henry Segman of Hill County, Texas). 

NOTE: The sketch names "Sarah Jane" twice. Further research shows one of JT’s daughters, Minnie, married a Jefferson Smith, so I believe the author simply added her to the wrong family. 

According to the sketch, Hardy was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South for over 35 years; first in Tennessee, then in Arkansas and finally in Texas. The sketch published in 1892 identifies Hardy as the "local preacher residing" at the Union Valley church about a mile and a half west of Itasca, Texas. 

NOTE: I have not been able to find any documentation that Hardy was an ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Apparently many congregations lacked ordained ministers and depended on local lay "preachers" to lead the faithful. It is likely Hardy fit into this classification. 

According to government records, Hardy was briefly appointed Postmaster for the post office in O'Hair, Texas (located in Johnson County, just north of Hill County) from March, 1881 until the office was discontinued in November of that year. 

My father, James W. Gilliam, obtained the following photograph from one of the extended Gilliam  cousins which purports to be a photograph of Hardy and Jane Gilliam taken prior to their move to Arkansas. I have not been able to confirm that representation. If anyone has any better information, please let me know. 

Hardy died on June 3, 1897, just a few weeks after Jane's death on March 10. Both are buried in the Covington Cemetery, Hill County, Texas. 

The biographical sketch is much more detailed on the life and family of JT Gilliam.  

After the war, JT farmed on rented ground in Arkansas. He married Elizabeth R. Ross (a native of Kentucky who also moved to Arkansas with her parents) in 1866, and purchased farm ground where he farmed from 1866 to 1874. JT joined the California Gold Rush from 1874-1876 and settled in Oregon as a carpenter. Elizabeth died there in 1878. He moved to Washington state briefly and followed Hardy to Hill County Texas in 1878. JT farmed until 1881, when he started a lumber company (Gilliam & Co.) in Hillsboro and Itasca.

According to the sketch, the stock in the lumber yard was worth over $10,000. He also owned a 640-acre farm and other valuable property in town.

JT and Elizabeth had three children: John William (later a bookkeeper at the First Natl Bank of Hillsboro and proprietor of the Vinson House in Itasca), Emily Ann (married to Ira P. Martin, JT’s partner in Gilliam & Co.) and Minnie (then recently graduated from Southwestern University Class of 1891).

In 1879, JT married Fannie Galiga (the sister of JT's brother-in-law, John Galiga) and had three children with her: Marvin, Horace DeWitt and George Douglas.

JT was a Steward and Recording Secretary in the local Methodist Episcopal Church South.

The sketch has a prominent portrait of JT:

In the decade following the sketch, JT Gilliam appears in the 1900 Census for Hill County, Texas (Precinct 1) with wife Fannie and sons Horace and Marvin. JT died on May 3, 1908 in Midlothian, Ellis County, Texas. He is buried in Covington Cemetery, Hill County, Texas. 

TJ Gilliam appears in 1880 census for Precinct 2, Hill County Texas. He is a farmer. His household includes wife, Martha and children Sarah, Marion, John, Samuel and Dora and hired hand John Stone. Dora, age 4 months, is listed as having a Texas birthplace. The next oldest child, Samuel, 3, has an Arkansas birthplace. By 1900, TJ appears in the census for Noble Township, Cleveland County Oklahoma. He is a farmer. Their household includes wife, Martha and children Frank, John, Samuel, Charles, Douglas and Carie. They are joined by daughter, Dora and her husband Marion A. Spencer. TJ died in Caddo County Oklahoma in 1926.

Hardy and Jane's son Lemuel married Jane Fallen (Martha's sister) in 1872 in Arkansas. They also followed Hardy to Texas and appear in the 1880 Census for Precinct 2 in Hill County, with their three children Arthur, Cantie and Cinthia. Lemuel died in 1891 in Brown County, Texas. 

Hardy and Jane's daughter Alvira Parolee (pronounced Pair-a-lee) married John Galiga in 1879 in Hill County. She and her family remain in Hill County for the remainder of her life. She died in 1935 and is buried in Itasca, Texas.

Hardy and Jane's daughter, Sarah Frances married Henry Sigmon in 1879 in Hill County, Texas. They appear in 1880 Census in Precinct 2, Hill County Texas. They also moved to Oklahoma prior to 1900 and lived most of the rest of their lives in Oklahoma. 

In our next post, we move on to Oklahoma.