Pioneers of Ellis County John H. Moffett   [Source: A Memorial and Biographical History of Ellis County, Texas. Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago. 1892]. John H. Moffett, pioneer farmer of Ellis County, was born in  1834 in Chester District, South Carolina, the fourth of ten children  of John and Letticia M. (Strong) Moffett.  John Moffett Sr. was a farmer and in the spring of 1835, moved to Indiana, settling in Monroe County where he died in 1868, age 66 years. Both sets of grandparents were natives of Ireland, the paternal immigrating to America as young men. Of the ten children born to the John Moffett Sr. family, seven grew to maturity: Samuel, (deceased, family lived Illinois); Charles, (lived Clayton, Ill.); John H., (more later); William, (lives Iowa);  David, (lives Florida); James, (lives Maryland);  and Martha, (married Amos Brandth of Des Moines, Iowa).  Letitia Moffett died age 60, three years after her husband's death.. John H. Moffett received a common school education in Indiana, and was 21 when he came to Texas.  He had only $1200 which he used to buy 320 acres of land at $1.50 per acre.  His land holdings are now 1,000 acres - half under cultivation and his home is one of the finest in the county.  He also owns  acreage in Hardeman and Wilbarger Counties - fenced, and partly under cultivation.  In addition to farming, he devotes part of his time to the breeding of fine horses and mules. In 1862, Mr. Moffett enlisted in Company K, Thirtieth Texas Cavalry, and served in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and the Indian Nation, participating in the battles of Roseville and Poison Springs, Arkansas, and numerous skirmishes. He was discharged in 1865, and immediately began to recover his fortune. John Moffett and Mary F. Lancaster (daughter of Dabney and Nancy (Fry) Lancaster)  were married in 1859. There were seven children:: Frank L, (lived Hardeman County); John C.,(died 1880, age 27); Lura M., (d. 1886, age 17); George S. and Ella F., (at home) and two  others died in infancy.   Copyright © 2005-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:30:07 MDT