Texas History Notebook

Dr. Mark Francis

Dr. Mark Francis was born in Shandon, Ohio on March 19, 1863 to Abner Francis (1829 – 1894) and Martha Ann Vaughn Francis (1832 – 1905). He was the fourth child of eight born to the farming family, likely considered to be a wealthy family at the time. Two of his siblings, John and Edward Francis, became medical doctors.

Marie J. Riggs, Cattle Raiser

Maria “Marie” J. Riggs was born Maria Jane McCord on June 23, 1842 to John S. McCord (1814 – 1881) and Sarah B. Watt McCord (1819 – 1896) in Mount Pleasant, Illinois. She was the second of four children born to the couple. John was a farmer, born in Tennessee. When Marie was 18, she married Samuel R. Riggs, also a farmer. Two years later, they had their only child, a boy named John who lived only a year. The baby was born while Samuel was serving in the 116th Illinois Infantry of the Union Army during the Civil War. His Army record says that he mustered in on September 6, 1862 and served until his discharge in December, 1864. Samuel entered the war as a private and was promoted to second lieutenant and later first lieutenant by the time he mustered out. He shows to have been wounded on August 18, 1864 near Atlanta, Georgia and was home on furlough when the war ended.

Oliver Loving’s Family, Part 2

The children of Oliver Loving and Susan Doggett Loving:

Sarah Irvin Loving (1831 – 1915) married John F. “Jack” Flint (1827 – 1886) in 1853. Jack Flint was about five years older than she was and had come to Texas from Kentucky, as had the Oliver Loving family. The Flints were a farming (and most likely ranching) family, according to the 1870 federal census and had three daughters and two sons born from 1857 to 1867. All the children lived to be adults, except for their first born daughter. The family lived first in Palo Pinto County and later moved to Young County. They had been living in Young County no more than a couple of years when Jack died of pneumonia in 1886. Sarah lived in town and survived him almost thirty years before she also passed. Both Sarah and Jack are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Graham.

Tex Hughson

Cecil Carlton “Tex” Hughson was born February 9, 1916 in Buda, Texas to Cecil Hughson and Ada Rowland Hughson, a farming family. The 1920 federal census listed him as the middle of three children with an older sister and a younger brother. He grew up in Kyle, graduating from a small class there before enrolling at University of Texas at Austin. There he played baseball under Uncle Billy Disch, long time coach of the Longhorn baseball team and one of the individuals for whom the university’s Disch-Falk field is named. In 1937, Tex was named as a First Team All-Southwest Conference pitcher, earning a 9-2 record. His club went 11-6 that year and finished second in the Southwest Conference. 1937 was the only year during Disch’s last five season as head coach that his team did not win the Southwest Conference.

Jarrell Tornado, 1997

Jarrell, Texas is located in the northern part of Williamson County, about thirty miles north of Austin. It was founded in 1909 and named for O. D. Jarrell. It has been the site of two recorded tornadoes. The first occurrence was on May 17, 1989 when an F3 tornado touched down. The second and more devastating F5 tornado struck the area on May 27, 1997.