Pioneers of Ellis County The Gilmore Family Contributed by Brenda   This information is extracted from a book entitled  "Great-Grandmother's Letters" edited by Billie Roche Barnard and Jane Gilmore Rushing (deceased); copyrighted by James Arthur Rushing and James Arthur Rushing Jr., and used with permission. Margaret Elizabeth Rogers (1828-1901) was born in Knox County, Tennessee, and died in Fisher County, Texas. Her father, James Rodgers, brought his familhy to Texas sometime before March 15, 1849, the date of Margaret's marriage to William Gilmore in Harrison County, Texas. William was born May 25, 1821 in Green County, Alabama (according to the Bible record, although census records give his birth state as Tennessee.  His parents,  Susannah and John Parks Gilmore moved to Harrison County, Texas in 1845. . In the spring of 1855,  the John Parks Gilmore family and William and Margaret moved to Ellis County.  In July, 1861, William enlisted in an Ellis County unit of the CSA.  It appears that he was not called into active service until 1863 since the earliest known letters between him and Margaret bear that date.  It is not known when he returned but he and Margaret lived on their Ellis County farm until he died in December 1870. The two oldest children, Harriet Octavia (1850) and James Parks, (1854)  were born in Harrison County, Texas.  Other children , all born in Ellis County were  Elizabeth Rodgers, (1856) Jefferson Davis, (1861)  Willie Ruth Ann (1864)  and John Luther (1868). The youngest, William Joseph, was born posthumously in August 1871. All except Harriet and Elizabeth lived to marry and have issue. Texas Ellis Co   Sept the 27th 1863 My dear husband I embrace this lonesome evening to write you a few liines in answer to your of the 18th which I received this morning it was very gladly received I have been very uneasy and anxious to hear from you. we are all as well as common but feel very much distressed in mind. I am so lonesome and cant get any person to stay with me. I could not get Alla Smock. Mr. riddles oldest daughter staid with me last week, she went hoem last saturday and I have had an awful lonesome time ever since have staid every night by outselves and I cannot stant it I am so lonesome. I tried to get off every day this last week to see if I could get aunt Polly to come and stay with me but I met with disappointment every day. I am going to try to go this week if I can get off. I hardly know what to be as I cam so dissatiffvied the way everything is going on your pa wants me to go to Hopkins and I cannot live in the house with any body that has children and youknow there is not house room enough forf me at fathers and it is so sickly over there that I cant get my consent to go. I got a letter from Sarah wylie last week she has had a bad spell of sickness and they are most always sick and every body nearly was sick in the country. She talks like coming to see me this fall and she wants to buy a young mare if you will sell her   Copyright © 2002-2017, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:29:57 MDT