Julia Medford Cruce and her husband Stephen Ambrose Cruce moved to Red River County, Texas from Cherokee County, Georgia in 1850.  Julia's younger brother, Luke Medford, came on horseback to visit Julia and see about moving here.  Luke planned to move to Red River County the next year and he went home to get ready.  The outbreak of the Civil War wrecked all his plans.  It was 1870, after the war, before he was finally ab le to move his family to Red River County, Texas.  By that time, Julia had died.

Luke Medford and Julia Cruce were two children of eight born to William Medford, 1772-1842, born in County Antrim, Ireland, died in Lumpkin County, Georgia, and Matilda (O') Dempsey, 1772-1846, born in Halifax County, North Carolina, died in Lumpkin County, Georgia.  Their first five children were born in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  The last three were born in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Luke Rupert Medford enlisted in the Confederacy in November, 1862.  He was Fifth Sergeant in the Second Battalion of the Alabama Calvary, later Company H of the Seventh Alabama Calvary.  Many of his relatives served in this war and when it was over they found that their homes had been destroyed as well.  Luck was wounded in the shoulder during the Battle at Peach Tree Creek in 1864 and a Mini ball remained in his shoulder the rest of his life.

Luke Medford, 1824-1895, married Nancy Garrett, 1832-1867, in 1849 in Cherokee County, Georgia.  Nancy was the daughter of William and Mary Garrett.  They had a large tract of land in Cherokee County, Alabama on the Coosa River.  Luke Medford was hired to be an overseer on the Garrett plantation in 1848.  They had seven children:
1. Adeline, 1850-1928, married Thadius Obediah McCleskey in 1867.  She died in Red River County, Texas
2. James Jefferson, 1852-1926, married Martha Matilda "Mattie" Lewis in 1874.  She died in Eastland County, Texas
3. William Monroe, 1854-1932, married Mary E Dalby in about 1893.  He died at Rockwall, Texas
4. Edward Lonzo, 1856-1928, married Mary Emmaline "Emma" Walker in 1875.  He died in Red River County, Texas
5. Parker Josiah, 1859-1949, married Susan Ora "Sudie" Simmons in 1884.  He died in Red River County, Texas
6. Charles Anderson, 1860-1870, died in Red River County, Texas
7. Benjamin Wheeler, 186-1943, married Bettie Mae Ozment in 1893.  He died in Red River County.

The mother of these children, Nancy Garrett Medford, died when Benjamin Wheeler was just a baby.  Luke Medford traveled from Marshall County, Alabama back to Cherokee County, Georgia where four of his brothers lived.  There he met a childhood friend, Louise Tedder Arwood who had lost her husband, E Laval Arwood, in the war.  Louise had two sons, two nephews, and two Negro boys that she had raised from infancy.  Luke and Louise Arwood Medford had nine children:
1. Charles Robert, 1869-1959, married Ruth Anna Beatrice Keen in 1895.  He was born in Phillips County, Arkansas and died in Dawson County, Texas
2. John Anderson, born in 1870 in Red River County, Texas
3. Sara Frances, 1872-1964, married Newton Gordon Ozment in 1894
4. Bonnie, born in 1873 in Red River County
5. Havannah, 1873-1900, married Joseph William Levi Hall.  She died in Bowie County, Texas
6. Matilda, 1874-1923, married William Wolf.  She died in Eastland County, Texas
7. Oscar Newton, 1878-1955, married Mary Emily "Mamie" Hardman in 1900.  He died in Hockley County, Texas
8. Nora Edna, 1882-1972, married Joseph William Levi Hall in 1902.  She died in Bowie County, Texas
9. Mae Florence, 1885-1935, married Lewis Wood in 1905.  She died in Red River County, Texas

Parker Medford and his younger brother, Benjamin Wheeler Medford established Medford Brothers Store in Lydia sometime before September 1900.  Parker moved a few miles north to Avery and established a new store, P J Medford and Son (Brose) in 1908.  The building burned down in 1926 and was rebuilt on the same site where it remains today.