CHAPTER THREE

THE FAMILIES IN PINE ISLAND JAGGERS THRU MENKE

The Texas Blue Bonnet

[ PLEASE NOTE: Name spellings are only as accurate as the person who gave the information or the person that wrote it into the records.]

• JEFFERSON BLACKBURN JAGGERS
  Jeff was born in Havana Alabama to Allen Thomas and Mary Penina (Toler) Jaggers. In 1886 they moved to Texas where they were living in Rains county by 1917. Jeff moved to Pine Island and on August 8, 1909 he married Laura Pearl Eplin and they lived in both Milam and Waller counties. They had thirteen children, Clara Mae, John Thomas "J.T.", Lenora, Nora, Searcy, Bessie, Clyde, Minnie, Lee, Gladys, Ruby, Janice and Kergus Eugene.
• JOHN "J.T." THOMAS JAGGERS
  J.T. was born on December 5, 1911. He and Lena McMakin were married on Christmas day in 1935. They have two daughters, Nancy Ann and Mildred Lee.
• RUBY JEAN JAGGERS
  Ruby married Freddie Francis Brumlow on February 9, 1955. They have two daughters, Patricia Jean and Corliss Elaine.

• THEODORE CLARENCE JENKINS
  Clarence (as he was called) was born February 6, 1880. His wife was Hattie Garrett who was born December 16, 1890. They were married in a double wedding ceremony with Edgar Smith and Jessie Garrett on December 22, 1908. He, like most of his neighbors, was a farmer and raised some cattle. They were neighbors of H. H. and L.W. Urquhart. Mr. Jenkins was born in Texas and came to Pine Island from Huntsville, Texas. His father was also born in Texas, but his mother was from Alabama. Hattie was also born in Texas, but her parents were from Georgia. Their children were Joe, Munn and T.C. Clarence died July 10, 1966 and Hattie died July 19, 1959. They are both buried in the Hempstead Cemetery.
• JOE FARRIS JENKINS
  Joe was born May 5, 1910. He married Mamie Jewel Eplin. No kids. He died in March 1, 1979 and is buried in Shiloh Cemetery.
• MUNN JENKINS
  Munn was born June 16, 1917. He married Ardell Hartsfield, born October 11, 1919. Munn attended Texas A and M in College Station where he met Ardell. They have two children Kenneth Allan and Marilyn Claire. Munn retired as an accountant.
• KENNETH ALLEN JENKINS
  Kennith was born October 6, 1946. He married Lisa Pauly. They have 3 children, Janine, Allan and Courtney. He is an attorney currently living in Burleson, Texas.
• MARILYN CLAIRE JENKINS
  Marilyn was born October 29, 1949. She is married to Guy Barker and lives in Missouri. She has two children, Julie and Kristal.
• T.C. JENKINS
  T.C. Was born November 8, 1921. The initials T C are actually his name, but while he was in the army he used Ted as the army would not accept initials only. He married (3rd) to Dixie Taylor. Children were Karen, Linda and David.

• EDWARD JONES
  The Jones family was living on the William Garrett's farm. Ed and his family was one of the four black families living in Pine Island in 1910. Ed was born circa 1869 and his wife Bathia was born circa 1880. They had two children, Ada born circa 1897 and Lula born circa 1900. Bathia stated that she had had three children but only two were living in 1910. Living with them was Bathia's sister Bettie Davis born circa 1895. Living next door was the Louis Davis family, Bathia's brother.
• THE JORDEN FAMILY
  George Jorden (pronounced Gerr-den) was born circa 1807 in Virginia. He married another Viginian, Maria, born circa 1835. If the ages in the census records are correct George was about 28 years old and Maria was about 15 years old when they married. They had four known children, James Oliver, John, Susan Jane and George S. In 1840 they were living in Ioni County, Michigan and by 1850 they had moved to Platte County, Missouri. James Oliver was born in Ioni County, Michigan March 2, 1836. He married Chalista Cason circa 1856, probably in Nebraska or Iowa. She was born April 9, 1840 in Indiana. They had 8 known children, John W., Elizabeth Jane, Frances Permelia, Susan Jerushia, Henry M., Ella May, James Fletcher, and George T.(Pet).
• FRANCIS PERMELIA JORDEN
  Francis was born on October 6, 1862 in Atchison, Kansas. She married John Wesley Pennington in Washington County, Texas on December 29, 1880 and they moved to Pine Island and bought 200 acres August 9, 1881. They later bought the store containing the Prairie View Post Office where John was postmaster from 1901 to 1903 and she served as postmistress from 1903 to 1914. They had four children, Mamie, Chalista, John Francis and James Elisha. [ Children in detail in the Pennington family section. ]
  After Frances resigned as postmistress she bought a house in Hempstead and moved there to live, until she became to sick to stay alone. Francis died July 31, 1919 while staying with her sister Susie and her mother and father in Thornton, Texas where Susie was taking care of her. Before that she had stayed in John Sealy hospital for about three weeks but they sent her home, because her stomach cancer had advanced to far to treat. Her body was brought back to Hempstead by train and she was buried in the Pennington family plot in the Hempstead, Texas cemetery.
• HENRY M. JORDEN
  Henry was born July 15, 1867 in the state of Iowa. He married Minnie Garrett and had two children, Silan O. "Ton" who married Ruth H. Reeves and Gina who married Milton Urquhart. Henry and Minnie lived in Waller County. Henry died November 24, 1906.
• SILAN OLIVER "TUN" JORDEN
  Silan was the son of Henry M. Jorden and Minnie Garrett, born in 1893. He married Ruth H. Reeves, born in 1894. They had three children, Jay, Reeves and Minnie Ruth. They lived down the lane south of the Pine Island church.
  He and Ruth moved in with Harry Lee Milam's family after Harry died and they stayed until the family recovered from the flu and pneumonia. "Tun" worked in the post office and took care of the stock during the day, then he went home and did his own farm work in the evenings and Ruth took care of the family and house.
  Years later, in 1944, "Tun" died from a spider bite he got while using the outhouse. Ruth died in 1959 and they are both buried in Shiloh Cemetery.

• JOSEPH J. KNOULTON
  Joseph was born in February of 1871. His wife Verner was born in February of 1877. They had one son in 1900, Edgar who was born in December of 1898. Joseph was from Ohio and Verner was born in Tennessee.
• WILLIAM BRENT LAY
  William born circa 1847, came to Pine Island from Mississippi stopping first in Collin County, Texas and Houston, Texas. He served in the Civil War before moving to Texas. William bought forty acres on the old Houston highway east of the post office and married Amelia "Millie" Wells, born in September of 1874, and they had seven children, Thomas Fox, Dee Wells, Sallie Winn, George Manley, Nellie Eliza, Archy William and Vergie Frances. Millie was born in Waller County and attended the Pine Island school and the Chapel Hill Female College according to "A History of Waller County." Both the 1900 and 1910 census however show that "Millie" was born in Mississippi and the 1900 census shows three children, Sallie, George and Nellie were also born in Mississippi.
• THOMAS FOX LAY
  No information.
• DEE WELLS LAY
  No information
• SALLIE WINN LAY
  Sallie was born in October of 1875.
• GEORGE MANLEY LAY
  George was born in August of 1879.
• NELLIE ELIZA LAY
  Nellie was born in May of 1882. Nellie married the Reverend Harrison Potilla Garrett and they had 8 children, Harrison Potilla Jr, Lurline Imogene, James Archie, Reginald Emmet, Nell, Dot, and Mildred Eugenia.
• ARCHY WILLIAM LAY
  Archie was born in January of 1885 in Texas and died in 1972. He was the Southern Pacific Railroad agent in Waller and later in Hempstead. In 1910 Archy was boarding with the J. A. Bentley family.
• VERGIE FRANCES LAY
  Vergie was born in February of 1888.

• HAMPTON LINSEY
  Hampton was born in May 1857 and his wife Edie was born in November 1857. They had three children, Hays, Ilsie and Susan. The Linsey's lived on the "Old Houston Highway" just east of the post office.
  Harry Milam walked to the Linsey's house while the eye of the 1915 hurricane was passing over. He barely made it home as the back side of the storm hit. When asked about the Linseys, he stated they were fine, but the house was blown off the blocks.
• HAYS LINSEY
  Hays was born in February 1878.
• ILSIE LINSEY
  Ilsie was born in August 1886.
• SUSAN LINSEY
  Susan was born in April of 1889.
• OLLIE R. "PETE" LYNCH
  Ollie was born in 1888. He married a lady named Eddie who was born in 1892. Their children were Doyal, Hazel, Lois, Geneva, Della Marie and Tommy. Ollie died in 1964 and Eddie in 1967
• DOYLE LYNCH
  No information.
• HAZEL LYNCH
  Hazel married Tommie Garrett.
• LOIS LYNCH
  Lois married Joseph Phillips.
• GENEVA LYNCH
  No information.
• DELLA MARIE LYNCH
  No information.
• TOMMIE LYNCH
  Tommie married a girl named Sylvia Sue
• THE MENKE FAMILY
  Joseph A. Menke, born in 1829, left Germany in 1850 with his brother Thedore, sister Lizette and with his widowed sister Josephine and her two children. They sailed from Prussia with a group of German families and landed in Galveston, Texas. They settled in Bellville, Texas in 1850 where he met and married Charlotte Schluenz, who was born in 1836, and they had seven children, Mary, Charles Albert, Annie, Theodore, Meta, Joseph A. Jr., and Josie L.
• CHARLES ALBERT MENKE
  Charles was born in September of 1861 in Bellville. He came to Pine Island in 1882. Charles had worked for the Houston and Texas Central (now Southern Pacific) railroad, building the line from Houston to Hempstead. When he discovered that the railroad couldn't afford to pay his salary in cash, he took three sections of land as his pay and went into cattle ranching.
  He married Pauline Meyer on December 18, 1884. Pauline's parents were also from Germany and she was born in October of 1862. They had eight children, Jo Ann, Joe John, Charles Henry, Edgar Paul, Levi Leander, Walter and his twin who died and Theodore. Pauline stated for the 1910 census, that she had seven children but only five were still living at that time.
  Although Charles did not receive very much formal education, he saw that all of his sons were graduates of Texas A and M except Lee who graduated from Ohio State University because A and M didn't offer veterinary medicine at that time.

  Living with the Menke's in 1910 were Walter Bradbury, William Becker and George Harle who were listed as hired hands. Also living with them was Charles Hessler and Wyatt Johnson who were listed as a boarders.
  One of Charles' major sources of pride was when he sat 15 or 20 kinfolks, hired hands and visitors at his table for a meal. He would tell them "Everything on this table was raised here on the ranch." The Menke Ranch had contained 15.000 acres of his own land and 12,000 acres of leased land. Charles was shipping cattle by the train load to Kansas City, Missouri. A train load at that time had to have a minumun of 40 railcar loads at 25 cows per railcar. He was the first in Waller County to bring in Braman bulls to improve his stock. In 1910 he received $127.73 for a single steer. Charles died in 1934 and Pauline died in 1933. Both are buried in the Hempstead cemetery

• JO ANN MENKE
  Jo Ann died as a baby.
• JOSEPH JOHN MENKE
  Joe was born September 26, 1887 and died August 25, 1956. Joe married Hazel Mc Dade who was born June 9,1883 and died September 15 1975. They didn't have children. They are buried in the Hempstead cemetery.
• CHARLES HENRY MENKE
  Charles was born August 7, 1890 and died July 20, 1972. Charles remained single. He is buried in the Hempstead cemetery.
• EDGAR PAUL MENKE
  Edgar was born November 6, 1892 and died April 14,1963. He married Myrtle K. Pattison. He is buried in the Hempstead cemetery.
• LEVI LEANDER MENKE
  Levi was born October 17, 1894 and died January 17, 1973. Levi married Elnora Muske who was born in 1903 and died October 23, 1988 and they had one son Charles A. He was a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Navasota, Texas until he left to serve in World War I. After the War was over he went into the cattle business. He is buried in the Hempstead cemetery.
• WALTER M. MENKE
  Walter was born August 30, 1899 and died June 6, 1966. He married Majorie Meeks. He is buried in the Hempstead Cemetery.
• THEODORE M. MENKE
  Theodore was born . He married Priscilla Houston who was from Maine. After Theodore graduated from Texas A and M., in 1925, he went into the U. S. Navy where he became a Commander. It was while he was in the Navy that he met Priscilla, who was a Lieutenant, and the Admiral's executive officer. They were married shortly before the end of World War II.1 met Priscilla, who was a Lieutenant, and the Admiral's executive officer. They were married shortly before the end of World War II




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