acrey,john-tatum - Family Histories - Coleman County, Texas

      In the early 1900's, John Tatum Acrey, his wite, Carrie and their three sons moved from Brown to Coleman County. The sons. all born in Brown County, were Roy James, October, 1896; Claud Ray, September 1898; and Wiley Burgess, 1900. A daughter died in infancy. John's brother, William Floyd, also moved with them.

     Carrie was born in Texas about 1880, daughter of Martha Maxwell (born 1861, Texas) and James R. Watson (born 1856, Texas). Charles R. and William S. were Carrie's brothers. Ethel and Ellen, her sisters. Her grandparents had come to Texas, as did her uncle, Richard Coffey, an early Coleman County cattleman; moving from Georgia. (See Coffey). Carrie told vivid tales of living in Texas while it was still wild trontier and hiding in the cellar during Indian raids. She lived to the age of 96, dying in Pueblo, Colorado.

     John Tatum was the son of Wyley Acrey. John's other brothers were Charles, Benjamin (Ben), and Washington (Ace). They were all born in Georgia, moving to Texas in 1883. The three single brothers moved to eastern New Mexico when their married brothers moved to Coleman County.

     After spending several years in the mines of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, Claud Ray and his bride, Fannie Akin (See Akin), returned to Coleman County to raise a family in 1923. Their infant son, Tom, is buried beside John Tatum Acrey (died in 1919) at Hill Cemetery. After their home was flooded in the mid-1930's, Claud Ray moved his cattle business to San Marcos, where his two brothers were located. Claud Ray presently lives in New Mexico. Fannie died in Clovis in 1965. Their children were: Ace, Robert, Patsy, Bill, Raymond, Jack, Leland Glen, and Carrie who died in 1981).