This information was found in the vertical files of the Genealogy Department of the Longview Public Library.

THE AVINGER CITIZEN
Special Historical Edition
June 18, 1954

HEARNE ANCESTRY TRACED TO 1066

Hearne ancestry can be traced back to the time of William the Conqueror and the battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. Several Herron's as the name was spelled then came across from Normandy with the Conqueror during his historic invasion of the British Isles. The Chateau Du Heron is a huge impressive castle built in Normandy during the 10th century.

From 1066 on down to 1627, birth date of Willie Hearne, a London merchant who later emigrated to America, various members occupied positions of prominence in British life. Several were barons, knights and gentlemen over huge estates such as Bamborough Castle, others held public office. The family coat of arms appears on the fly leaf of a sizeable volume entitled "Hearne History" published in 1907.

This same volume contains the following information about the local descendents of the family which we quote verbatim: "David Thomas, son of Asa and Easter Hearne, born April 8, 1831 in Talledega, Alabama, went to Cass County, Texas, 1854, enlisted in the Confederate Army 1861; elected 1st Lt, then promoted to Captain and served through the war. Jan. 10, 1866 married Miss Elmira Abernathy, and settled on a farm near Avinger, Cass County. He was elected to the Legislature twice and served both terms creditamly. He owns one thousand acres of land, and grows fruit, and has stock of all kinds. April 13, 1904 his wife died, leaving two children, Sarah Frances and John Thomas. Sarah Frances married J.G. Archer May 4, 1896. In 1904 Mr Archer was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the Methodist Church and is now an evangelist, and Mrs. Archer is a teacher, in public and private schools. No children. John Thomas married Miss Nolie Wilson, recently from Missouri, Dec. 18, 1892. Children: Elsie, Vivian, Florence and Frances. All live in Avinger. Asa Hearne, father of David Thomas Hearne, was living at Vicksburg, Miss., at the outbreak of the Civil War, and in 1861, wrote his son at Avinger, then Hickory Hill, stating he had four children by his last wife; was eighty years old, and had not a decayed tooth nor a gray hair; this is the last known of him.

It is supposed he was killed during the war and that his wife took the children and went to some of her people. It is known that he possessed considerable property, but whether it was destroyed by the ravages of the terrible Civil War, or went to the second wife and children is not known."

In another portion of the same book is the following: "Asa Hearne's first wife, Easter died from a snake bite, and 1848 he married Martha McDonald, and moved to Vicksburg, Miss., taking none of his children by his first marriage with him."

Quoting further, in reverse chronological order, we have the following: "Asa Hearne married Miss Easter Benton 1822 in Talladega, Ala., and lived there till 1848. Their children were: Jefferson, Monston, David Thomas....Elisha (father of Asa Hearne) born in Somerset County Maryland, 1770; he went to N.C. with his father, and 1876 settled in Jasper County, Georgia; married and raised four children, and was killed in a well accidentally 1810, and his wife died soon after; his children moved to Talledega County Ala.......Joshua Hearne (father of Elisha) born in Somerset County Maryland, 1748, moved to N.C. to that part of Montgomery County that is now Stanley County and settled where the town of Albermarie now stands. He was drowned in the Pee Dee River, eight miles from Albermarie. Joshua Hearne's father and mother's names were Nehemiah and Bettie. Nehemiah, who died in Maryland in 1769 was the son of Thomas Hearne, born May 31, 1691 and died in 1762 in Somerset County Maryland, and Sally Wingate Thomas was the son of William Hearne and wife Mary; William being the first Hearne to come to America, shortly after 1681......to the province of Maryland. He was born in 1627 in London, England and died in Oct. 1691 in Somerset County, Maryland." From here the lineage goes on back through early England to the time previously mentioned in this article. A sizable family tree prepared in 1891 by a member of the family in Covington, Ky. is a good example of how innumerable bearers of a given family name can be traced back to a common ancestor when sufficient records are available.

To come back to the local branch of the Hearne family tree, Elmina Abernathy married David Thomas Hearne shortly after his return from the Civil War. She was the young lady who had presented him with a Confederate flag in a special departure ceremony given for soldiers leaving from Cass County. Elmina, born November 1834, daughter of Alfred W. Abernathy and Magdalene Friday, pioneer Young's Chapel residents. Alfred W. Abernathy, born October 1798 in S.C. was an early S.C. and Alabama merchant prior to coming to East Texas around the year 1860. The M.L. Felkers have one of his old store ledgers showing many interesting names and business entries as early as 1823. He met and married Magdalene Friday, born in 1803, prior to coming to Texas.

The Firday's and Abernathy's emigrated to Texas at about the same time, settling about two miles north of the present town of Avinger. They each owned a number of slaves who, after the war, took up their former owner's names. The present Abernathy and Friday colored families in this vicinity get their names from that source.

These early Fridays and Abernathys and some of their descendants are buried in the old Hearne cemetery.

Local descendents of this interesting family still living are: John Thomas Hearne; Florence, (Mrs. M.L. Felker, Sr.); Elsie, (Mrs. Tip Stephenson), Sonny Stephenson; M.L. Felker, Jr. and daugher, Patti Felker; and Mary Frances (Sis) Felker Ownes, and her daughter, Cathy.

Tom Hearne Felker, son of Mr and Mrs. M.L. Felker, Sr. was killed when his plane crashed in Belgium, returning from a mission over Germany during WWII. He had previously ordered his crew to parachute to safety.