William Jackson Ross
Born: Tennessee 1837 Died Texas 1906
Notes from Trudie Helm(Grand-daughter)
“William Jackson Ross was born Dec. 14, 1837 in Maury County, Tennessee. He had an older sister, Martha Ann born January 11th 1835. The father John Ross was drowned some two or three months before William Ross was born. The body was not recovered. He was a fine swimmer, but had on a heavy overcoat and boots as he was floating logs down the Red River in Northern Tennessee The mother had one slave who did the housework. She took in sewing as she was a good hand with a needle. She had no machine to sew with. She made mens and womens clothing. She made it all from start to finish making the cloth then sewing the garments.
William’s sister, Martha married a man by the last name of Skipper. Martha and her new family as well as the Ross’s and two or three other families moved to Texas in 1854. William was a rather delicate child. The move improved his health. His first job was plowing for a man by the name of Overton in Dallas Co. Grandfather held the plow while a black slave drove the oxen.
There was a gold rush a few years later so he went to the Rocky Mountains. He was there when the war broke out. He was 23 years old and weighed around 200 pounds. Resenting a remark a man made about Southern people, Grandfather struck him and broke his jaw. Northern men were the majority there, so Grandfather left before morning with fifteen hundred dollars in gold and two horses. I am sure it was a hard trip back home. Two weeks of the time he had nothing to eat except game he killed.
Finding Gold wasn’t easy work but it was well worth it and very lucrative. Ordinary prospectors averaged daily gold finds worth 10 to 15 times the daily wage of a laborer on the East Coast. A person could work for six months in the goldfields and find the equivalent of six years’ wages back home. William J. Ross found his fortunate and returned home to marry and raise a family.
He was married February 9 to Sarah J Skipper in Dallas. She was the sister to Martha’s husband. He enlisted in the Confederate Army August or September that same year. Sam Caruthers organized the Company at Kimball and Jack Ross was assigned to detached duty and did scout work. “
William Jackson Ross entered the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. He was part of the 30th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Gurley’s) (1st Texas Partisan Rangers) Company I. His rank when he entered and left was that of Sergeant. He was 24 years old and signed on for a period of 3 year.
CONFEDERATE TEXAS TROOPS
30th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Gurley’s) (1st Texas Partisan Rangers)
- OVERVIEW:
- 30th Cavalry Regiment [also called 1st Texas Partisan Rangers] was organized at Waco, Texas, during the summer of 1862. It was formed with about 800 from Waco and Round Rock, and Hill Country. Assigned to D.H. Cooper’s, Gano’s, and Parsons’ Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department, it fought in Arkansas and later in the Indian Territory. The unit reported 16 casualties at Poison Spring and 19 at Cabin Creek. During May, 1865, it disbanded at Austin, Texas. Colonel Edward J. Gurley, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas W. Battle, and Major John H. Davenport were in command.
Sarah died shortly after the Civil War leaving William with children to take care of and raise on his own. He married Nancy Griffin in May of 1877. She and William had two children. William and May Ross(Our g…g..grandmother)
Capt. William Jackson Ross House Burned/Body Charred
Capt. Jack Ross Lived Hermit Life
Though well connected and wealthy, he dwelt alone and in the hour of extremity there was no assistance at hand.
Capt. Jack Ross was an old Confederate Soldier and an old citizen of Cleburne. He had lived here since before the first incorporation of the city, and had grown moderately wealthy from the increase in value of lands which he owned. He had raised two families of children, but these had married and separated, and for some time he had been living a hermit life in the old home , so that in his extremity there was no one near to assist or rescue him.
Preliminary Inquest Held
Justice T.O. Durham County Attorney Mason Cleveland, Assistant Attorney J.B. Haynes, Deputy Sheriff Ernest Reid and other officers, went out to the scene of the fire this morning and viewed the remains, taking some verbal testimony, but held no formal inquest. Justice Dirham has the facts under consideration and will make an entry of his findings at some later date. The charred remains were taken by the P.C. Dillon undertaking firm and unless some change in plan is made, the funeral will be held tomorrow
**Information Provided by Trudie Helm Stone
Nancy Sheppard Griffin 1837- 1923
Notes from Trudie Helm (grand-daughter). Nancy S. Griffin
Nancy Sheppard Griffin, lived near us so much of our lives. She spent a lot of time at our home showing us children how to do many things, while Mama sewed. Then we would go to her house and help her do things while her boys were doing the manly things. In that way we learned to do things her way and she taught us many niceties of life which we treasured more and more as we grew older.”