Silas McCrary was born in North Carolina, the son of Joseph McCrary, in 1806.  He married Malinda Whitaker, the daughter of William and Susannah Sumner Whitaker.  They moved to Bowie County, Texas in the summer of 1852.  They traveled one thousand miles from Buncombe County, North Carolina in a wagon drawn by oxen.  They crossed the Red River at Rocky Comfort, Arkansas.  There was plenty of wild game like turkeys and deer, but there were also ticks, flies, mosquitoes, and chiggers.  They soon began to have chills and fever.  Malinda died in September of 1952 and was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery.  Three of their thirteen children were still at home.  In 1858 Silas married Mrs Nancy A Bateman.  Nancy had four children and two slaves.

The Civil War was very cruel to the McCrary family.  As I name the thirteen children of Silas and Malinda McCrary, notice how many were lost in that war.
 1. Rebecca, 1827-1914, Buncombe County, North Carolina to Bowie County in 1851, married John M Murray who was killed in the Civil War, married
     second Henry C Williams
 2. Charles, born in 1829 in North Carolina, married Elizabeth C ____, second Lucy F Stevens, served in the Civil War
 3. Joel married Sarah T McCarson and stayed in North Carolina.  He died after being wounded in the war in 1863
 4. Mary A, born 1834 in North Carolina, married Garrison Laney who was killed in the Civil War, married second James T Fox, died after 1886
 5. Dorcas J born 1835 Buncombe County, North Carolina, married William Montville Jones who died of pneumonia as he came home from the war,
     married second F Lafayette Bius.  She died in 1894 and is buried at Spring Hill
 6. John H born in 1836 in North Carolina, married Mrs Mary J McBee.  He served in the Civil War, died in Spring Hill in 1899
 7. William, 1837-1842, buried in Cane Creek Cemetery in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
 8. Female, born about 1838, died in North Carolina
 9. Margaret, 1833-1844, buried in Cane Creek Cemetery, Buncombe County, North Carolina
10. Jesse, born about 1840 in North Carolina
11. Alexander, born 1842, died 1862 in the Civil War
12. Francis J, born 1844 in North Carolina, married Nancy J Fox, lived in a double log house in Spring Hill, died in 1909
13. Susan, born 1850 in North Carolina, just two years old when her mother died, married Jonathan D Bateman, second married Miles F Phillips, died
      after 1922

One person who attended school at Spring Hill was Silas Pinckney "Pink" Murray, a grandson of Silas McCrary.  He first attended school there in 1852.  He got a whipping nearly every day for being at the foot of his spelling class.  That was 139 years ago in the Spring Hill School in Bowie County.