George Washington Massingill (1794 - 1884)

Born 15 Apr 1794 in Watuga Settlement, Greene, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann (Gann) Massengill — married 15 Jul 1817 in Greene, Tennessee, USA

Descendants

Died 28 Jul 1884 at age 90 in Lufkin, Angelina, Texas, United States

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Biography

George Washington Massingill was born 15 Apr 1794 in Watuga Settlement, Greene Co., Tennessee, USA ^[1] to William Massingill and Mary Duncan. He married 1) Mary Ann "Polly" Gann on 15 Jul 1817 in Greene Co., Tennessee. ^[2] After Polly's death in 1865, George married 2) Elizabeth Lilly on 19 Mar 1866 in Angelina Co., Texas. Elizabeth appears in the 1870 Census with George, but not the 1880 Census, where he is living with his son, John. ^[3]

He changed the spelling from Massengale to Massingill, saying “spell it like it sounds.” A nephew, John, and some of his children, occasionally spelled the name the original way in business deals and to assist in bookkeeping records.

George fought in the War of 1812 (at age 18), enlisting in 1812 under General Jackson. He went with the Tennessee Rifles ^[4] to defend New Orleans against the British. He was stationed at Mobile, Alabama and was on the march there to New Orleans at the time of the Battle of New Orleans. He was under Captain Gann (his future brother-in-law) and drew a pension the last years of his life for his services in this war. After the Battle of New Orleans, George and Captain Gann moved their families to Texas when Sam Houston began his fight there. They encountered delays and did not get there until 1837; therefore, they did not get to fight except to drive the Indians out of East Texas. ^[5]

When the Massingill clan members, led by George Washington Massingill, arrived in Texas in 1837, they chose home sites in Shawnee Prairie, which was named for an Indian tribe. There are records for a conditional land grant of 640 acres in Nacogdoches Co., Texas on 5 Sep 1839 (made unconditional on 7 Jul 1845), ^[6] as well as other land records for 160 acres in Angelina Co. (Nacogdoches Scrip) on 1 Feb 1860. ^[7] A 160-acre tract of land was surveyed for George W. Massingill on Dec 10, 1860 in Angelina County, Texas. ^[8]

George and Mary "Polly" had the following children (not in chronological order): ^{[9] [10]}

• John, who was born in 1816;
• Henry;
• Isaac (Ike);
• Nathaniel, died of sickness in the army during Civil War;
• William, died of sickness in the army during Civil War;
• George, died before the Civil War;
• Susan, who married John Clover;
• Jane, who married John Cole;
• Ruth or Rutha, who married G.W. Underwood, and after his death, a Mr. Standelin; and
• Lucindia, who married John Suttles.

All of George Washington Massingill’s children except John, the eldest son, moved from Angelina County in 1866 or 1867.

The Massingill’s were friends of Sam Houston, Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett and other frontier people. The few people on the frontier united for frequent fights with Indians. The Alabama-Coushatta Indians were friendly with the settlers and warned them of other Indian attacks.

When the Civil War began, George Washinton Massingill was at least 65 years old. He was still farming, but too old for army service. His son, John, was 45 and too old for active duty. He was assigned the duty of making wagons for the Confederate Army. He also hauled supplies in to Louisiana from East Texas. His sons, George and William, were in the Confederate Army.

After the war there was little money since Confederate money was useless paper. John Massingill earned money by hauling freight from Louisiana. The Angelina River was used for paddlewheel boats that brought goods to be distributed in East Texas. The family farmed while he hauled freight.

None of this group of the Massingill clan that came to Texas ever owned slaves. After the Civil War, former slaves needed a white family to be their protectors or sponsors. Squire (Uncle Square) Long came to John Massingill and asked if he would permit him to buy a homestead adjoining the John Massingill homestead. Permission was granted. This land joined the land bought by the Lufkin Independent School District from the grandchildren of John Massingill. The Square Long land was still owned by his descendants in 1974.

Uncle Square’s wife, aunt Haley, was an attendant the birth of Alvin Roderick Massingill in 1894. Aunt Haley took care of the needs of Alvin and his mother, Sarah Lilla Durrett Massingill, until she was able to take over her housekeeping chores.

In 1882, Mary Jane Lilly Massingill gave birth to David Word Massingill. A few weeks later she was sick with the measles. When she died, Aunt Haley took Word to nurse with her son, Bud, who was the same age. Because babies often died of “summer complaint’ (diarrhea), she nursed Word until he was eating solid food (about 20 months old) before returning him to the family.

John Massingill was a Freemason. Uncle Square was one in the Negro Branch of Freemasons. Both were builders and supporters of chapels used for church and school….John for the whites and Uncle Square for the blacks. John M. Massingill also served as county judge of Angelina County.

DURING THE WAR OF 1812, GEORGE WASHINGTON MASSINGILL SERVED AS A MEMBER OF THE "TENNESSEE RIFLE VOLUNTEERS" AND TOOK PART IN THE DEFENSE OF NEW ORLEANS. HE WAS A FRIEND OF SAM HOUSTON, ANDREW JACKSON, DAVY CROCKETT AND OTHER PIONEER FAMILIES. IN THE FALL OF 1837 AT THE AGE OF 43, HE LED HIS FAMILY AND A GROUP OF RELATIVES TOTALING 101 PERSONS WHICH INCLUDED MEMBER OF THE EVANS, MILLER AND GANN FAMILIES, FROM TENNESSEE TO TEXAS AND SETTLED IN A COMMUNITY KNOWN AS PAPHIR VILLAGE, NACOGDOCHES DISTRICT, AND WHICH LATER BECAM KNOWN AS SHAWNEE PRAIRIE - A PART OF ANGELINA COUNTY. IN 1841 HE MOVED TO THE UPPER END OF THE COUNTY TO THE AREA KNOW AS THE WALKER NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE HE LIVED OUT THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN THE HOME OF HIS SON, JOHN. HE AND HIS FAMILY ESTABLISHED ONE OF THE EARLY CHURCHES IN ANGELINA COUNTY AND IT WAS KNOWN AS MASSINGILL'S CHAPEL. IN 1866 AND 1867 ALL OF HIS CHILDREN, EXCEPT JOHN, MOVED AWAY FROM ANGELINA COUNTY AND LOCATED MOVED TO NORTH, CENTRAL AND WEST TEXAS WHERE THEY SETTLED LAND AND BECAME HISTORICAL FIGURES IN THOSE AREAS.

Census Data

1850: Angelina County, Angelina, Texas, USA ^[11]

Age 45, farmer, born in Tennessee. Includes wife, Mary (45, born in Tennessee), and children, Rutha (17, born in Tennessee), Mary Vincent (19, born in Tennessee), Lucinda (14, born in Tennessee), and George (2, born in Texas).

Note: Age should be 55, but other data aligns with this George W. Massingill.

1860: 2nd District, Angelina, Texas, USA ^[12]

Age 64, farmer, born in Tennessee. Includes wife, Mary (55, born in Tennessee).

1870: Angelina, Texas, USA ^[13]

Age 75, farmer, born in Tennessee. Includes wife, Elizabeth (58, born in Tennessee).

1880: Precinct 1, Angelina, Texas, USA ^[14]

Age 85, born in Tennessee. In household of son, John Massingill (65, farmer, born in Tennessee), and his wife, Mary (40, born in Alabama), and their children, Elizabeth (16, born in Texas), John (12, born in Texas), Laura (11, born in Texas), Jasper (6, born in Texas), Edward (5, born in Texas), and Wiley (2, born in Texas). Also includes Viney Massingill (55, black, servant, born in Tennessee), and Hayden Jones (16, laborer, born in Texas).

Death

Died: 28 Jul 1884 in Lufkin, Angelina Co., Texas, USA. ^[1]

Buried: McKindree Cemetery, Angelina Co., Texas, USA. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find A Grave, database and images, memorial page for George Washington Massengill (15 Apr 1794–28 Jul 1884), Find A Grave: Memorial #42492913, citing McKindree Cemetery, Angelina County, Texas, USA.
2. ↑ "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch : 18 October 2017, George Massengill and Polly Gann, 15 Jul 1817; citing Greene, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,148,702.
3. ↑ "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch : 22 December 2016, George Massengill and Elizabeth Lilly, 19 Mar 1866; citing Angelina, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,035,039.
4. ↑ "United States War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910," database with images, FamilySearch : 11 March 2018, George Massengill, ; citing military unit Private Capt Andrew Lawson's Co Tenn Mil, NARA microfilm publication M313 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 840,493.
5. ↑ Massengill, Samuel Evans. The Massengills, Massengales, and variants, 1472-1931, Briston, Tennessee : King Printing, c1931,pages 712-713 (738 in PDF).
6. ↑ The Texas General Land Office, Land Grants, File #000529, Abstract 476, #359 George Massingill.
7. ↑ The Texas General Land Office, Land Grants, File #000071, G. W. Massingill, Sr.
8. ↑ Massengill, S. E. Massengills and variants, page 470 (496 in PDF).
9. ↑ Massengill, S. E. Massengills and variants, pages 493-494 (519 in PDF).
10. ↑ Massengill, S. E. Massengills and variants, pages 501-502 (527 in PDF).
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch : 12 April 2016, George Massingill, Angelina county, Angelina, Texas, United States; citing family 56, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch : 12 December 2017, George Masingale, 1860.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch : 15 June 2019, Geo Massingill, 1870.
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch : 15 July 2017, George Massingill in household of John Massingill, Precinct 1, Angelina, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 8, sheet 228C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,289.

• https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/10999/dvm_GenMono000272-00104-0/202?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/154531601/person/132126506315/facts/citation/562177477736/edit/record From Massengill and Varients book