JESSE JUDSON NEWTON was born in McMinn County , Tennessee on October 10, 1846. He was a son of a Baptist minister, William Newton (1818-1861), and his wife, Jane S. (Smith) Newton (1821-1902). J. J. Newton, his mother (Jane S. Newton), brother (John Milton Newton), and first cousin, (Elihu Newton), were all charter members of the Pleasant Run Baptist Church . J. J. Newton’s grandfather, Edward Newton, was also a pioneer Baptist preacher.
By the time he was four years old, J. J. Newton’s father had moved the family to Broom Town Valley in Chattooga County , Georgia . Ten years later, in 1860, the family lived at Cave Spring in Floyd County , Georgia . The Newtons owned a single female slave, forty years old, in 1860.
J. J. Newton was a soldier in the Confederate army in Company K, 43rd Tennessee Infantry. This regiment was also known as the 5th East Tennessee Volunteers and as Gillespie’s Regiment. He volunteered for twelve months’ service on October 17, 1861 at Ooltewah, Hamilton County , Tennessee . James W. Gillespie was the enlisting officer. According to the records, he “absented himself without leave” from November 4, 1862 until some date in April (the 4th, 14th, or 24th). 1863, when he rejoined the regiment. He was captured at Vicksburg , Mississippi on July 4, 1863 , and was paroled five days later on July 9. He was discharged at Decatur , Georgia on September 15, 1863 because he had been under the age of conscription at the time he entered the service. At his discharge he was five feet, ten inches tall, had a dark complexion, black eyes, and black hair. Before he left the service he signed a receipt for back pay of $144.76. In his pension application, he said he “…was in parole camp…”
Newton came to Texas about 1867, according to a statement he made when he applied for a Confederate pension in 1913. When he registered to vote in 1869, he said he had moved to Texas about 1867, and to Tarrant County and Precinct 3 in about January of 1869. The State of Texas paid pensions to both Mr. and Mrs. Newton.
Newton married Elizabeth Jane Jones in Tarrant County on May 25, 1873 . She was born September 26, 1847 in Morgan County, Illinois, and was a daughter of Tarrant County pioneers Lewis Westmoreland Jones and Elizabeth M. (Lingle) Jones. In November, 1853, Jones built a cabin on his claim at present-day Smithfield and moved into it. The Joneses lived there until 1856, when her father rented his farm and moved to Birdville, Tarrant County . Birdville at the time was the county seat of Tarrant County . There he and a partner opened a shop for building and repairing cabinets, and doing other general types of woodwork. He patented the 284-acre L. W. Jones survey in present-day North Richland Hills on March 24, 1857 . It was there that Elizabeth Jones grew up, and her father lived the rest of his life.
Newton patented the 160-acre J. J. Newton survey in present-day Colleyville on September 5, 1874 . It was a rectangle, longer north-south than east-west. The survey’s eastern boundary is present-day Bransford Road . Its northern boundary was about where a line stretching west from the west end of Shelton Drive would be, and its western boundary was about where a line extending south from Bettinger Drive would be. Its southern line was about where Timberline Drive South is now. As late as 1877 J. J. Newton still owned half of it; by 1878 it was all in the hands of another of the Pleasant Run founders, his first-cousin, Elihu Newton.
When the 1880 census was taken, Newton and his wife and children were living in Stephens County, Texas. In Newton ’s Confederate pension application, he said he and his wife and children moved to Jones County about 1883, and they were living on a Nugent, Texas mail route as late as 1913.
J. J. Newton died of nephritis on June 28, 1923 in Abilene , Taylor County, Texas, possibly at the home of his son, Sam Newton. He was buried in the Fort Phantom Hill Cemetery in Jones County , beside his son, Jessie, who had died in 1900. J. J. Newton’s grave was unmarked until 2007 when Doris Jo and Mike Patterson placed a veteran’s headstone at his grave. Within only a few days after his death, Mrs. Newton moved to Coleman County , Texas , where her post office address was the town of Burkett . About 1934 she moved again, to Lampasas , Texas , where she died of old age at her home on 3rd Street on March 1, 1937 . She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lampasas. Her grave is unmarked.
J. J. and Elizabeth J. Newton were the parents of nine children, five of whom were still alive at the time the 1900 census was taken. They were George W. Newton (born about 1873, dead by 1900), Fannie Newton (b. 1875), Annie Newton (born about 1878, dead by 1900); Jessie J. Newton (1880-1900); Mary Newton (born 1881); Laura Newton (born 1884); Lila Newton (b. 1887), and Samuel Franklin Newton (1891-1988). There was one other child who died young whose name has not been discovered.
Andrew Jackson Hallford was born in Missouri on July 18, 1835, a son of James P. Hallford . He came to the Grapevine area in the mid-1840’s with a large group of settlers loosely called “the Missouri Colonists.” Andrew and many of his family members were charter members of Lonesome Dove Baptist Church . He was baptised in November, 1849 by Rev. John Allen Freeman, and was licensed to preach on January 15, 18 56 . The Lonesome Dove Church helped Andrew with his education at Baylor University . Andrew was ordained to the Baptist ministry by order of the Lonesome Dove church on the battlefield in Louisiana in September, 1864. Soon afterwards, he baptized forty soldiers in the bayous near their encampment. On April 7, 1877, he became one of the founders of Pleasant Run Baptist Church in present-day Colleyville.
Hallford was married three times. His first wife, Dizanna Foster, was his first cousin. She was the son of Grapevine pioneers Ambrose and Susan Foster. Andrew and Dizanna were married on June 3, 18 58 . They had four children: James Newton Hallford, Andrew L. “Lit” Hallford, John Elihu “Eli” Hallford, and Willie Hallford. Dizanna died March 17, 18 75 . Andrew was married second to Louisa Pegram on July 19,1876 ; they had two children: Lewis L. Hallford and Mary C.”Mollie” (Mrs. W. M.) Carroll. Louisa died on October 8, 18 85 . Andrew was married a third time, to Narcissa Throop, the widow of Civil War veteran Hardy O. Throop, on April 1, 18 86. Andrew J. Hallford died on April 15, 18 90 , and lies buried in Lonesome Dove Cemetery in present-day Southlake. For more information on A. J. Hallford see Texas Biographical and Historical Magazine, Vol. 1, pp. 310-312.
Rev. Lucratus Hodges “Cratus” Foster was born August 1, 1842 at Holcomb Bluff in present-day Cass County , Texas , a son of Thomas Jefferson Foster and Drucilla Lucinda Holcomb. He was a Confederate soldier in both Companies F and S, 4th Texas Cavalry, having enlisted at Young’s Chapel, Cass County , Texas , an organization which later became Co. F of the 9th Texas Cavalry. He enlisted on February 14, 1862 for a term of twelve months, and was shown on the rolls as sick in camp during March and April. On the rolls for May and June, he was absent sick in the hospital in Lauderdale Springs , Mississippi . He was wounded in battle at Davis ’s Bridge in December, 1862, and was captured at that time. Union hospital records show him admitted to Branch 1, USA General Hospital , at Lagrange , Tennessee on December 22, 1862 . He was treated for a wound to the left hand; the hand was virtually useless to him for the rest of his life. He was later sent to Gratiot Street Military Prison in St. Louis , Missouri , where he arrived on February 25, 1863 . Two days later, on February 27, he was sent to the military prison at Alton , Illinois . He was exchanged on April 1, 1863 .
After that time he was either permanently disabled or was ill a great deal of the time; on the rolls for May and June, 1863 he is listed as unfit for duty, and was traveling with the army’s wagon train. On September 11, 18 63 , he was assigned to quartermaster duty, and was later raised to the rank of quartermaster sergeant. He surrendered with the rest of his regiment at Citronelle , Alabama on May 4, 18 65 , and was paroled at Jackson , Mississippi on May 13, 18 65 . At the time of his parole, he gave his residence as Linden , Texas .
Cratus Foster married Fannie E. Fowler in Linden , Texas on August 26, 18 66 . She was born March 8, 18 48 at Boston , Texas . He attended Linden College and was licensed to preach by the Hickory Hill Church in 1872. He came to Tarrant County , Texas in 1872. He was ordained to preach by the Lonesome Dove Baptist Church in 1875. Foster was one of the organizing presbytery at the founding of Pleasant Run Baptist Church in 1877. Foster was a member of the Robert E. Lee Camp of United Confederate Veterans in Fort Worth . Both Mr. and Mrs. Foster died in 1903 and are buried in Grapevine Cemetery . Mr. Foster died May 29, 19 03 . Mrs. Foster died on their wedding anniversary, August 26, 19 03 .
An obituary for Rev. Foster appeared in the Grapevine Sun on June 20, 1903: “On the 29th day of May, 1903, the soul of Rev. L. H. Foster, of Grapevine, took its temporary leave from the old house. Rev. Foster was born Aug. 1, 1842; professed faith in Christ in his 14thyear, joined the Baptist Church at Linden, Cass County, Texas in 1857. Enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862 and served to the close of the war. Married Miss Fannie Fowler, Aug. 23, 1866; licensed to preach, 1872, by Hickory Hill Church ; moved to Tarrant County , 1875; ordained to full work of the gospel ministry by Lonesome Dove Church in 1876. His diary shows that during his ministry he baptized over 800 happy converts, preached 4,000 times, visited 6,000 families and traveled 15,000 miles; assisted in ordaining a number of preachers and deacons (this writer being one), organized several Churches. While he was accomplishing this great work he was a constant sufferer nearly all the time from wounds he received in battle, Bright’s disease and from lung trouble, and in addition to all his troubles he was poor and had a large family to support. He would plow, teach school and sell fruit trees five days of each week, and preach Saturday and Sunday. I have plowed by his side when he would tie his wounded hand to the plow handle, and in this condition I have heard him praise God aloud. How he accomplished as much under such difficulties I do not understand. It makes me feel like hiding my face in shame when I remember my own opportunities. Bro. Foster never forgot a favor; he was among the few that were thankful for favors, and retained that gratitude to the end. He leaves 5 boys and 2 girls, a companion who must soon follow. He requested me to preach his funeral at the Baptist Church in Grapevine and designated the 7th and 8th verses of the 4th chapter of Paul’s second letter to Timothy. At the conclusion of the sermon six others stood up, and in short talks emphasized some of his virtues. He was followed to the grave by 400 sorrowing friends.---(Rev.) E. Newton, Fort Worth , Tex.” An earlier note in the same newspaper on June 6 adds these details: “On Friday, May 29th, at about 7 o’clock, p.m., Rev. L. H. Foster breathed his last upon earth. He had been in bad health for quite a long time previous to his death….”
Rev. and Mrs. Foster had seven children: Elihu Sylvanus Foster, Rev. Lucratus Allen Foster, James Thomas Foster, Joel Lewis Foster, Lucinda Ann Foster (who married Arch Marney), Mary Emilie “Molly”Foster (who married Wonderful Agib Trembley III), and William Jesse Foster.
