Yoakum County Genealogy

In 1916, William Maitland Anderson, bought Section 735 which is southwest of Plains in Yoakum County. He and his sons developed this section which was known, from then on, as “home”.
William was born in New York City on August 23, 1851, the son of Immigrants Samuel and Jane (Kennedy) Anderson who came to America from Scotland in 1849. Samuel died in 1853 and by 1880, William and his mother had moved to Council Grove, Kansas. But William soon migrated to Texas for health reasons and at Elkhart, Anderson Co, Texas, he met Anna “Annie” Parker and they were married on December 24, 1890.

 Anna was born October 28, 1866, in Elkhart, the daughter of Rev. Benjamin and Irena (Douthit) Parker and the grand-daughter of Baptist Minister Daniel Parker and his wife, Martha (Dixon) Parker. Her Great-grandparents were Elder John and Sally (White) Parker. Elder John had moved to Crawford County, Illinois, in 1814 where he organized the church, and then came to Texas bringing the 40 members with him. His son, Daniel, established the first protestant church in Texas, “Pilgrim Presbyterian Regular Baptist Church”, near Elkhart where he and his son, Benjamin, served as pastors.

Elder Daniel’s brothers and their father, moved on to the west and built Fort Parker near the town of Groesbeck, where, on May 19, 1836, Elder John, age 79, and others were killed by Indians. Cynthia Ann Parker, age 9, and her brother, John, age 6, were captured. Daniel Parker signed the Resolution of Confidence and Respect in 1845. This document preceded the Texas Declaration of Independence of 1846.

Anna Parker and her husband, William Maitland Anderson, lived at Council Grove, Kansas, Newton Co., Arkansas, and Elkhart, Rochester, and Floydada,Texas. While they were living in Floydada, Floyd Co., Texas, Anna became ill and died on July 7, 1908. A piece of her handwork that was saved, a red and white quilt made when she was a girl, is now at the Texas Tech University Museum in Lubbock.

William traveled on with his children and came to the Midway Community on the Texas-New Mexico border in January 1909. They lived in a half-dugout while he operated the Midway Store and post office. The boys worked at odd jobs while they attended school at Midway. It was just a few short years later that he bought Section 735 in Yoakum County and set up the family home. William died April 16, 1929, and was buried beside his wife at Lakeview Cemetery near Floydada. From New York City to Kansas to Yoakum County, this pioneer family traveled and found the home they loved in the High Plains of West Texas.

The eight children of William Maitland Anderson and Anna Parker Anderson were:

• Jennie Parker Anderson (1891-1971) married Daniel Charles Allen
• Robert Lucas Anderson (1893-1946) married Samantha Bilbrey
• Benjamin Young Anderson (1895-1967) married Iva Wehunt
• Charles Samuel Anderson (1897-1971) married Rosa May Fillingim
• Walter Earl Anderson (1899-1975) married Martha Camp
• William Arthur Anderson (1901-1964) married Mildred Alexander
• Albert Lee Anderson (1903-1974) married Gertrude Hayes
• Wallace Wesley Anderson (1906-1972) married 1) Clara Taylor, 2) Irene Tucker McMillan

Submitted by Anna Beth Anderson Ward (Credit for the information in this sketch goes to Billie Anderson Sullivan’s biographical article in “From Sod to 1986” published by Yoakum Co. Historical Commission, and to my many dear family members who contributed so much to the genealogy of the Anderson Family.)