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From the historical files of June E. Tuck, who does not validate or dispute any historical facts in the article.
Robertson and Carroll families of Hopkins County, Texas
By Maude Stribling Witt
Foreword: Soon after Mrs. Tom Carroll passed away I received a letter from Mrs. Witt asking me to write a sketch of her grandparents. I did not have the material to make the article as full as it should be, so suggested to Mrs. Witt that she write it herself and sent it to me for revision. The following article is what she sent me, and I'm handing it to the News- Telegram exactly as she wrote it.
Mrs. Witt is, on her father's side, a descendant of two more famous pioneer families, the Striblings and Gamblings, and it is my hope that in the future she may favor us with another historical article. J. C. McDonald.
Printed in the News- Telegram Jan. 1933
Born Oct. 1, 1845; died Dec. 18, 1932. As the old year was getting ready to become a part of the past, and the New Year almost slipping into the present, the brave, courageous spirit of Mrs. Emily Robertson Carroll slipped its moorings and sailed away into the unknown - back to the God who gave it. She was the last of her pioneering family to answer the Great Call - a call she had been waiting many years for and one that re-united her with all her beloved that had gone on so many years ago and for whom she had grieved and had missed so long.
In addition to rearing their own family, she and her husband reared her niece, the late Mrs. S. W. Crowder, and when the misfortunes and vicissitudes of life made unhappy the lives of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, their home and hearts were opened to receive them.
Mrs. Carroll was the granddaughter of Charles Robertson, a Scotch-Irishman (the Robertsons having come originally from Scotland) of Virginia, who was an intimate friend of Gen. Geo. Washington. Among other notable fore bears of this, one of the foremost pioneering families of America and Texas, were one Gen. Wm. Robertson, one of Gen. Washington's staff officers, and Gen. James Robertson, who with John Smith, was founder of Tennessee.
Mrs. Carroll's father was Jno. Newton Robertson of Charleston, S. C., and her mother was Mary Elizabeth Holshauser of N. Carolina. This couple was married in S.C. in 1827, and soon afterwards pioneered their way to Tennessee, where they lived for many years and where most of their family of eleven children were born. From Tennessee they pioneered their way to Texas, arriving near Shreveport on Christmas Eve day, in 1839. This was before there was any kind of settlement at Jefferson. Continuing their way on to Texas, cutting their own road as they traveled, they stopped in what was then Harrison County, but later known as Upshur County. It was here that Mrs. Carroll was born, near Gilmer, Texas, Oct. 1, 1845. Here they established the first church in that part of the country, the Cumberland Presbyterian, which Mrs. Carroll joined early in life, remaining a member of same until her death.
Not long before the Civil War, this pioneering family again sought new lands to conquer, this time going to and settling in Wise County, near the present town of Denton. This part of the State was then the farthest known west and among all other numerous activities of true pioneer life, Indian fighting was added to their list. Here they lived many years, until Mrs. Carroll was a young girl in her teens, when her pioneer father once again and for the last time, pioneered his way to new country, being the first to establish a settlement in the present town of Como, Texas, thus making four known new settlements, one in Tennessee, three in Texas, to which they brought civilization.
Mrs. Carroll's family consisted of her father, mother, and eight brothers, who were William, George, Lafayette, Devolson, Charles, Isaac, Pinckney and Doc. Her sisters were the late Mrs. Jim Stovall, of Como, and Victoria Robertson who died in infancy. Of these brothers, Isaac was noted as an Indian fighter and scout, and Lafayette served as Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Mrs. Carroll's father, with his eight sons, served in the Confederate Army during this war, while her mother remained at home, managing a large plantation with many slaves, spinning, weaving and performing, with the aid of her slaves and young daughters, the many tasks of the times.
When the Robertson family had established their last settlement, Como, another pioneering family came into this new region to live. This was Col. Ferdinand Carroll, with his family, who settled here, lived and died and today lies buried in the Wood Springs (now know as Woodland) cemetery, then the only one in that country. It was from Col. Carroll that the town took its name Carroll's Prairie, later to become Carrolton, the finally Como.
Here Mrs. Carroll met her husband, the late Thomas Benton Carroll, who passed away Jan. 13, 1922. They were married on Dec. 16, 1868, at the Robertson plantation, two miles south of town. On this old farm today, sleep the parents of Mrs. Carroll. Mr. Carroll took his bride to the home on Carroll's Hill, where they spent all their married life, where all their seven children were born, and where they both passed away. They sleep side by side in the City cemetery at Como, the land for which was donated by Mrs. Carroll's brother, Pinckney, some 75 years ago. Four of her brothers sleep here also.
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll leave four living children, Miss Maggie Carroll, Mrs. R. R. Stribling, R. N. Carroll, all of Como; C. M. Carroll of Fort Worth. A son, the late T. E. Carroll, passed away in 1918. And two other sons passed away in infancy. Surviving also are nine grandchildren, Mrs. Maude Witt, Barstow, Texas; Murray and John Stribling, Como, Texas; Mrs. Julian Hovencamp, Miss Deila Carroll, Ft. Worth; Travis Carroll, Dallas; Jack and Lorraine Carroll, Como; Bob Stribling, Alto; Texas. The great-grandchildren are Elizabeth and Jimmie Witt, Barstow, Texas; Mary Ann and Sara Stribling, Alto, Texas; Carroll Jane Hovencamp, Ft. Worth.
Thomas Benton Carroll was born in Florence, Ala., July 20, 1845. He was the son of Col. Ferdinand Carroll of Virginia, late of England. His mother was Roses Anna Bromley, also English. This couple moved to North Carolina, later pioneering their way to Alabama, thence to Texas. Thomas Benton Carroll grew to young manhood in Alabama. The Carrolls were pioneers from England to the Eastern States, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Alabama, this one branch coming to Texas. They are direct descendants of the aristocratic Charles Carroll of Carrolton, the lasts surviving signer of the band of 56 patriots who signed the American Declaration of Independence of 1776.
The children of Col. and Mrs. Ferdinand Carroll were William, Sam, Tom, Lawrence, Greene, and Marion, sons. The daughters were Mrs. Jno. Starrett and Mrs. Peyton Hendrix, both deceased, and Mrs. Bettie Jeffress, the only surviving member. Mrs. Jeffress is a half sister to the above named brothers and sisters.
Tom Benton Carroll was noted as a great advocate of law and order, and in the early days was greatly in demand to lead the men of the country against marauding bands of thieves, murderers, desperadoes and any and all lawless elements. He as a great leader in the establishment of a local civilization in the little town of Carroll's Prairie, and while never over-laden with worldly goods, his life was rich in experience and memories more precious than wealth. He was a soldier in the Confederate Army, joining the Southern forces when about 14 or 15 years old. An interesting incident of the war told by him to his grandchildren in one of his reminiscent moods, was, that when stationed near Galveston, he and another young soldier were sent out on scout duty one morning. Suddenly, a short distance away they spied what looked like to them, the entire Union Army marching toward them. Being pressed for time, and there being no timber of brush in which to hide, they were forced to find a way out at once or be captured. His cool daring is shown here when he instructed his companion as to what to do and at once began it - that of hulling out a hollow place in the sand, crawling in, pulling some brush and weeds hastily over them; here they spent several hours, while 18,000 Yankee troops passed by and all around them.
As a last tribute to two of America's, as well as Texas' foremost pioneers and their pioneering forefathers, we want to say that while their names - Robertson, Carroll - to some will breathe only a quaint fragrance of days that are gone, to us, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the memory of their deed of kindness, their gallant courage, untiring devotion and their lives of complete unselfishness will live forever in our hearts.
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