BUFFALO MOTT/ODDS TEXAS

History of Buffalo Mott and Odds Texas and the people that once lived there

ODDS TEXAS BULLETIN BOARD

Received the following cute story about Stranger and Odds Texas:

"Barbara Bartlett" (threebar3@hotmail.com)
Subject: Stranger Tales
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008

I stumbled across your website and the information regarding the history of Falls County--particularly the communities of Reagan and Stranger. I was born in Marlin, and raised in the little community of Odds--just across the county line in Limestone County. And, if you are a native of Falls County, you probably realize that there are a bunch of Erskines there. (Yes, I'm probably related to all of them, but my dad has been dead for many years and I've had no contact with that side of the family, so I can't tell you much about the family connections).

HOWEVER, there is one true story that I will tell you, and I hope you get a grin out of it. I first heard this from my dad when I was a kid, and later repeated it to someone who inquired about that Erskine background. "I'm one of the Odds Erskines, but there are Stranger Erskines." See? If you know the background, that is both true and funny. However, my husband...who is NOT from around here......looked at me with stunned disbelief. It took a while for me to explain it all to him!

Barbara Bartlett
You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in.
~ Arlo Guthrie

BUFFALO MOTTS SETTLEMENT 7 MILES WEST OF KOSSE TEXAS (EST. 1854)

In the 1840's, settlers from Tenessee established a small settlement on Duck Creek known as Eutaw. For a few years, a stage stop for the Franklin-Springfield and Waco-Marlin stage routes operated in the vacinity of Duck Creek.

A Texas Historical Marker placed in the area in 1976 reads," Kentuckian W. F. Williams met Sam Houston in Tennessee and later joined his army to fight for Texas Independence at the Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836.

In about 1854, David Barron established a trading post in a settlement known as Buffalo Mott (changed to Odds, Texas in 1899 when they got a new post office).

FOUNDING OF ODDS TEXAS(1899)

Odds, Texas officially became a town in 1899 when they got a post office changing their name from Buffalo Mott to Odds. The Odds post office lasted only seven years (served by the Thornton Post Office beginning in 1906. In the early 50's, Odds had a population of sixty, one business, a school, and two churches, the Cumberland Presbyterian church and the Locust Grove church.

Before Odds became a part of the Groesbeck Independent School District in 1965 it belonged to the Little Brazos School District. Along the way, the Baptist and Methodist congregations of Odds operated a union church, where each group's preacher would preach on alternate Sundays. In 1967 Odds had a population of twenty and no businesses. By 1990 Odds was a ghost town.

Interview with Mr. Leroy Dean, Early-Day Buffalo Mott/Odds settler

"My mother was Miss Eliza Steele, who emigrated to America with her parents from Ireland in 1860. They landed from a boat at Galveston and came directly to upper ridge Blue Ridge settlement. My father bought a tract of land on the upper Ridge, east of the present village of Stranger. At that time, Marlin was just a small village and the railroad had not built that far, the people did their trading at Bremond and Kosse, which was eight miles to the east. The present community known as Odds (earlier was called Buffalo Mott) was also within a few miles of their home.

"These communities were known an Rocky Creek and Steele's Creek, the latter creed was named for my grandfather, Steele. My father's name was Lon Dean, who came from Mississippi to Texas just after the close of the Civil War, in 1866. He was a soldier in the Lost Cause and surrendered his arms at Appomattox. He fought in a number of battles but came out unharmed. When he first came to Texas, he located at Bryan, Texas, where be lived for a few years and helped to build several brick buildings which are standing today. About 1869 or 1870, he came to the present communities of Stranger and Odds.

There Lon Dean met my mother, Eliza Steele, and they were married 1870. They lived in this community, where they reared their family.

Lon and Eliza Steele Dean had had nine children :

Lizzie
David
Leon
Leroy
Eva
Arthur
May
Cleveland
Herman.

Grandfather Steele built the first gin in the community, between Stranger and Odds. It was operated by ox-power, long before horses were used. In the days before there were the communities of Odds, Stranger, Eureka, Ogdon, or the other little settlements on Blue Ridge, or close by, the country was part prairie, part lowland and part timber, surrounding the Ridge.

I can recall, as a boy, how we used to roam over the wooded part, up and down the creeks hunting for birds of all kinds and wild turkeys, and hogs. We learned the lore of the birds and the woods, to understand the wild life was part of our education. It was our delight to listen to the talk of the older men as they discussed the politics of the day; or the latest hanging; or the newest committee of Vigilants who were organized to help the officers to see that the law was upheld. For, at that time, law enforcement was yet in its infancy in Texas.

"The organization known as "Quantrell's Men", were bushwhackers during the Civil War had some members who lived after the war in our nearby town of Marlin, Texas. There were three or four whom my father knew well. These were Major Swann, a lawyer of Marlin; Stump Ashby, another lawyer, and Professor Lattimore, father of the late Professor John Lattimore, who was at one time the County School Superintendent of Falls County. After the Civil War ended, and the days of Reconstruction required the best of men to help to uphold the law, there was a committee of men formed called Vigilants

These men who had belonged to Quantrell's Organization were among the first to help to make Texas a place unsafe for criminals. The course of the law being so often delayed and not enforced caused many a man to be dealt with without recourse to a trial by jury. I remember that in our own community there was an example of this. It was the hanging of one of the neighborhood men, Milt Brothers, who was accused of cattle theft. "Another instance of taking the law into ones own hands was the killing of a Mr. Heaton, who was a Northern man who came to this country soon after the end of the Civil War. He owned a ranch in the community now known as Mart, but at that time it was known as Willow Springs. This was east of Big Creek and twelve miles north of the Odds settlement. He was killed in a dispute about some cattle that he had bought from the widow Walker. Her son, Abner Walker, was accused and tried by jury and sent to the penetentiary for life for this murder. He only stayed there eighteen years. He was pardoned and came home a broken man. He plead his innocence to the last day of his life. From later evidence, it was believed that he really was innocent and that another party was guilty. But this revelation came to late to remedy the result of circumstantial evidence which sent him to the pen. In those days of hasty judgment, there were perhaps many men who suffered for the crimes of others.

"The first post office in the Odds community was about a mile north west of the present Odds store, at the cross roads. It was on the Milam-County-Waco road and the post master was named "Noon Curlee." This post office was known an Olcott. W. J. Durham, a son of M. T. Durham who came with his family to the community from Georgia soon after the Civil War ended, built the store at what was known as Criswell Lake.

Mr. Durham became post master and the name of the post office was called Ogden for George Ogden who lived in the community. At present he lives at Marlin.

Both of these post offices disappeared with the coming of Uncle Sam's rural route system; but a store had been located at Odds. It was more favorably situated on the cross county roads and Bill Cooper and W. J. Durham had built a gin in 1899.

So the name Odds remained with this community. The present site of the Odds post office was selected in 1891. It was at a store owned by Frank Adair, its first postmaster. A man named Diezell carried the mail. It was in the day before good roads and automobiles, and so the mail carriers either rode or drove a pair of mules in wet weather to a buggy or cart.

"When they arrived at the spot where the Methodist Church now stands a few hundred yards west of what is called Buffalo Mott, the black land in the low valley often became so muddy that the mail carriers had to unhitch his team, tie the mail on one of the animals and ride the other, driving the mule with the mail, across the mud hole. But the beginning of the Odds community dates back before this time.

"Perhaps the first to settle on the hills and valleys of the Odds community were the families of Jim and John Erskine. These families left many descendants who are still living. About the same time that the Erskines came to Buffalo Mott, the McAllistors arrived from Blue Ridge in 1856, according to local history.

Then, the William Criswell family settled. Next came the M. T. Durham family came from Georgia. According to Mrs. T. L. Criswell, of Marlin, who is a daughter of Mr. Durham, they came soon after the Civil War. Some of the older people hold memories of one, C. C. Clock, who never married and who lived in the community in the seventies and was supposed to have come from "up North". There were two other early settlers, L. Vioson and Zack Cockburn, who lived in the community for awhile but went away.

"The A. W. McDaniels family came in the early eighties, and built a home on the rocks on the hill which is another outdropping of the famous Balcones Fault which extends almost across the State in a [northeasterly] direction. The McDaniel house stands today and is one of the oldest homes in the Odds community. The other early houses have been removed or torn down. The rocks are there, as they have been for ages, and the spot is still known to some of the older inhabitants as "Old Buffalo Mott."

Buffalo Mott was a famous stopping place or identifying place in the early days when cowboys ruled the prairies. The outcropping of rocks-at this place was an easy marking for directions to go by, and so 'Buffalo Mott' became a well known spot. Before the days of the Texas cowboy, the spot was famous as a meeting place for hunting buffalo. These animals were found in the hills and valleys around the spot which afforded a choice grazing meadow.

"There was a large tree which stood in this vicinity within a few feet of the McDaniel home. Until a few years ago, nearly every cow boy carved his initials on this tree. As the tree grew in age, the markings grew with it and the initials carved in the bark assumed grotesque shapes. The letters grew upward as the tree grew. Not many years ago this tree died and with passed many a story which, could it have talked been told of the gatherings of hunters and cowboys under its spreading branches.

"The gin built by W. J. Durham and Bill Cooper in 1899 burned about 1900 and was replaced by Frank Adair who owned the store at Odds. When Mr. J. C. McClelland married he bought the land with the gin. He married the daughter of the man who owned the old Chisum Ranch. ([Chishum?]) This land finally became the property of the Marlin Oil Company.

"J. C. McKinley and family moved into the Odds community about the year 1889 and John Shipp came there in 1894.

Tom Cleaver is another early settler. It is not known where he moved or where his descendants are now. Tom Garrett now lives at Kosse bug was prominent in the Odds and Stranger communities for years and several of his sons and daughters now live in either the Odds or Stranger communities. In fact, because of the close connection between the Odds, Stranger and Blue Ridge communities and their families, they are very closely related.

"About the time of the Civil War, the records show that land could be bought in the Odds community for $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. Many of the modern farms of this section, according to the deeds, came from the 'R. A. Skinner Survey'; the Stephen's Section'; the 'Bracy Section'; and h the Chisum Ranch'. The McDaniel home on the hill was built in 1885, but has been remodeled since then. This family came from Georgia, soon after the Civil War. Mr. McDaniel is known as "Tom"s but his initials are A. W. He is a Confederate veteran. Mrs. McDaniel is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. McKinley.

"Another interesting family is that of Reuben Springfield. Mrs. Springfield is a daughter of the pioneer settler, William Erskine, but she was reared by her uncle, James Erskine. Mr. and Mrs. Springfield observed their fifty-fourth wedding anniversary on the 24th day of December 1938.

"The old McAllister home, built of logs, in the fifties, was located a short distance from the Odds store and gin. It burned a few years ago. As far as I know not a person was arrested for violation of the law in the Odds community during the last forty years. I have been a constable and deputy sheriff of Precinct #2, McLennan County for many years.


"It is a long time since I sat around the fire and listened to the men who had belonged to the bush whackers in the Civil War days. They often spent the night at my father's home and told of their experiences during the Civil War. And it seems today as I look into the days of my boyhood and recall the stories of how they dealt out justice {Begin page no. 7}"in the hasty way of that day, so it became my ambition to be of service in helping to keep law and order. It has been a privilege to me to be numbered among those in the community in which I have lived to be among the men who helped to uphold the low.

"In 1901 I married Miss Ella Bailey of Nart, Texas. To us were born four children. They were: Velma, Ellen, Ira, Lee and Blanche. All are still living. My first wife died in 1934 and in 1935 I married Mrs. Rosia Smith, my wife now.

"While most all of those who lived in the days of reconstruction have passed to that mysterious realm where all must go, what they did, how they did it, are still living in our memories. Their generation was the generation of our forefathers and, as our minds dwell on the past, once again their spirit seems to hover o'er us and bids us hold fast to the example set by them so long ago. The influence of their lingering personalities are held in our minds and we hallow their memory for their quiet, unassuming love of their fellow-man.

Interview with Mr. R. A. McAllister, Odds, Texas.

The following interview provides us with considerable first-hand, early day history of the Buffalo Mott/Odds area!

"I was born in 1865 near the present town of Odds, but at that time was just an open range country. It is located half way between Marlin and Groesbeck, on the road which connects the two towns. My father was Willliam B. McAllister. He was born in South Carolina, a son of Andrew McAllister who came to America from Ireland in the days before the Revolution.

"Father came to Texas in 1853 and located on the strip of land known as Blue Ridge, come eight or ten miles from Marlin, Texas. He lived there a few years and moved to the present Odds community in 1856. Here he married my mother, Mary Erskine, who was a daughter of Hugh and Jane Erskine of this community and who came to Texas with my parents. To my father and mother were born sever children, all of whom lived to reach maturity and had families of their own.

There were three boys and four girls, namely: Margaret, who became Mrs. Z. T. Todd of Falls County; Mary Ann, wife of T. H. Hammond; Olive, wife of J. Walker of Falls County; and Lizzie, wife of J. H Sundy. The boys were Hugh (who moved to the Indian Territory before it became the State of Oklahoma), and myself. All have passed away but my sister, Mrs. Walker and myself. {

"My father's family were of the old school Presbyterian denomination, and he belonged to the Blue Ridge and later the [?] Church, was an elder in the Church from the time I can remember. The first church which we attended was the first church organized in Falls County. This was a non-denominational church located at Salt Branch.

"The first Presbyterian minister to preach to the Odds Church was named Jones, and he went from house to house. The first Methodist that I remember was Rev. J. [C.?] Jordan and later Rev. Sanders. And for the Baptist, Rev. Willingham, who was an evangelist. Before the Baptists had a church, either on the Ridge or in the Odds community, they went to Marlin to hear Rev. Z. Morrell who organized that church on April 10, 1852, just one year before my father located in the Blue Ridge settlement. I have heard my father speak of the charter members of that church, who were A. B. Ewing, L. S. Barton, Nancy Dobbs, and [Margay?] Morgan; a Mr. and Mrs. Prewitt, and their one servant.

"The first Presbyterian church organized in Falls County, was across the Brazos River two miles east of the present town of Durango at a place known as Carolina, and was organized by John Balsch, on November 12, 1853. As it was the only church of my father's faith in the county, we sometimes attended church there.

"The pioneer schools were supported by private donation, the first in the county being held at Coleman's Prairie, three miles south-west of Marlin, with J. [W.?] Jarvis as teacher. The early school buildings were made of logs. Marlin, the county seat of Falls County, was just a cross-roads village when my father came in 1855. In 1856 Green and Bartlett had a hardware store, and so did Boles and Company. The latter store was the first brick building to be erected in Marlin. And until the new City Hall was rebuilt, it was used as the City Hall.

The first court-house was built by Francis Fredro. This was one large room built of split logs with a ground floor. The old court-house was replaced by a two-story cedar building in the early fifties and this was burned in 1868. They had a Union Church in Marlin which was used as a school building during the week; this building was located about 250 yards west of the present court-house.

"After father moved to the Odds community in 1856, I remember that there was a one teacher school about three miles south of us, where I attended and my teacher was named Miss Mollie Sanders. I was a small boy then. There was a school which served the Odds community, in 1880, taught by Rev. John Soders on what was called Rocky Island near the T. Garrett home about a mile south of the present town of Odds. Among the first teachers were Jeb Long, Mrs. Price, Solon Bunn and later A. C. McDaniel who taught for ten or twelve years. Some of the trustees were A. C. McDaniel, John Erskine, J. C. McKinley, Jim Brady and later on Tom Garrett.

"The first school was built on the present site of Locust Grove School about 1890. The original building being rebuilt. This is on the Odds-Groesbeck road. It is called the Locust Grove School and the present teachers [areMr.?] and Mrs. J. A. Byrd and Miss Dimple Miles. The present trustees are R. R. Erskine, G. Small and Carl McAllister. All descendants of the early pioneers. It was about this time that a church was built at the present site of Odds. Mr. McDaniel and Tom Garrett helped to organize the Methodist Church. It was under the Thornton charge.

The Baptist denomination organized several years later. Ellsbury Criswell was Church Clerk. The membership in both churches was small, but they were in earnest and believed in having the benefit of the schools and churches close by. The younger generation had the benefit of the religious and educational advantages at their door.

"Father was a stock man. We did not raise cotton at all those first years of my boyhood. There was some stealing of the young calves on the range. The unbranded calves or yearlings were called mavericks. In that day it was not really thought to be stealing, the range was free and therefore the stray yearlings were supposed to belong to the first man who branded them. The cattle were taken to Marlin, after the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built from Houston to Waco, and shipped to the markets. Before that time, the men would go in together and drive their cattle up the trails to the market as in Abilene and Kansas City.

"I do not remember the exact year, but I was a boy about twelve years of age and was working in the field thrashing grain. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the sky all at once became dark and no clouds to indicate rain, we rushed to the house, the chickens all went to roost, and we could not at first think what in the world it meant. We children were scared and thought the world had come to an end. It was dark as the darkest of nights. My oldest brother was out on the range hunting cattle and when he saw it, he had but one thought and that was to make it to our uncle Jeems before the end of the world came. But after awhile the sun came out and father said it must have been the sun in eclipse. In that day we had no weather forecasts and did not know when to expect these things.

"It was in the fall of 1877, that the grasshoppers came thro' our community and the sky was again darkened for two or three days. They were in great droves and destroyed the grain and damaged the bark of the trees, they left their eggs and the next spring they hatched out and the gardens were ruined from them. When they grew wings they left. They came with a September equinox storm.

"In the earlier days the land produced far more abundant crops than it does now. It was expected after we commenced to raise cotton that at least a bale would be harvested to the acre. The insects had not gotten a start and the soil had not washed away. If we had the coil conservation in those days our production now would have been a different story and the land in much better shape . The open spaces in the Odds community in the early days was covered with mesquite trees. It was considered Prairie land, altho' the terrain is hilly and rolling. Prairie fires must have prevented the growth of trees in days gone by. A few trees dot the community here and there and if they could talk, they could tell many a story of picnics and happy days of the young (now the old) generation. Up at Buffalo Mott, where the cowboys used to camp, and rest in the heat of the summer sun, many a boy's name with the initials of his sweetheart was carved on the trees. Bill Cooper owned a gin in our community. I can recollect taking the cotton to the gin, where it was unloaded from the wagon, and baskets were used to carry it to the gin stands. This was before the invention whereby the cotton was carried to the stands by conveyors or wind blasts. It was not only work to carry the cotton to the gin stands, but it was very uncomfortable at times. Stinging scorpions were bad and many times the carrier was stung by them.

"I recoollect one time the late Whit Criswell decided to play a prank or the man hired to carry the baskets to the gin stands. He found an extra large stinging scorpion, clipped his tail and said, "Now watch!' whereupon he dropped the tail in the workmans open shirt. Of course the workman gave out a long range of bad words when the stinger took effect but the funny part was that Whit Criswell gave a yell at the same time, a lizard had stung him just below the right eye!

"Speaking of jokes when boys and girls got together and did not have the benefit of picture shows and radios, as well an automobiles to help pass the time, they found other amusements some times in jokes on each other. One instance was when the following boys and girls were picnicking around the rocks at old Buffalo Mott. In the group were Irma Ship, now Mrs. R. Carter; Oscar and Frank McKinley, Beulah and Amelia McKinley (the latter now Mrs. Turner Criswell of Marlin); John, Jim and Lee Brady and others. Lee Brady (now vice-President of the First National Bank of Mart), became dissatisfied because the others would not play the games he wanted to play. he assumed a downcast attitude and told the crowd that he had as soon kill himself as not. He disappeared from the crowd and a little later they heard groans coming from a grove of small trees nearby. Some of the boys and girls went to investigate and there lay Lee Brady with what looked like blood all over his shirt and face, around his throat and collar--with a bloody knife across his chest.

"With wells of surprise and horror every one ran frightened to break the news of the tragedy. Lee had to run like the devil to keep up with them to stop the news from getting back to the old folks, since the boys and girls were really frightened out of their senses. Lee had only faked the stunt by using poke-berry juice to resemble blood.

"This is my father's diary, written when he was in business in the Stranger-Odds community. The first pages read as follows;

"Monday, December 25, 1848--Myself, A. Stevenson, Wm R. Erskine and John Todd went to Broadway bottom and split out some buggy spokes and it rained all day. We stayed all night at Erskine's.

"Tuesday, 26th--clear in the morning, but clouded up in the evening. "Myself Wm. R. E., A. S. and I. T. went to the sewing at John Stevenson's this evening but part of us left after supper and went to Andersons to a dance. Stayed all night at A. Todds'.

"Wednesday, 27th--It rained all day today. I stayed in town and spent the night again at Todds'.

"Thursday, 28th--A little cloudy and cold. I came home this morning Myself, A. S, and I. T. started serenading and gathered a crowd and had a frolic at Mrs. Smith's. It rained all night and we played all night. Misses N. S., D., M. E., M. E. K., I. [?.], [B. S.] S. were the crowd of girls.

"Friday, 29th--I came home this morning. It was cold and rained all day.

"Saturday, 30th--I came home this morning and went to Dr. Anderson's today. Returned home and again went to Uncle James Todd's.

"Each day is more or less of a routine nature until starting again on): "Monday, January 8th, 1849--I went to Anderson's to the clerk's election. I also went to Mr. Bailey's this morning.

"Sunday, January 14th, 1849--I went to Broadway to preaching today and Mr. Carlile preached from the 8th verse of the 49th Psalm. I went with Margaret home and stayed all night at Todd's.

"Monday, January 15th--I stayed all day in the village trying to get a negro boy for mother. I bargained for Henry, a yellow boy, today.

"Tuesday, January 16th--I went to B. Erskine's last night and stayed all night. I came home this morning and went to work.

"Wednesday, January 17th--I made a pair of cart shafts for D. Brown on account today etc.-----.

"Saturday the 20th--I went to the election today; we elected I. B. Moor Captain----,

"Monday 22nd--I worked today and went to Anderson and stayed all night and heard a temperance lecture by Mr. Duryee.

"April 15th, 1849--A considerable snow fell today.

"April 16th.--A heavy frost this morning. Also on the 17th, 18th and 19th.

"Father's Diary was not kept up but the names in the book to whom the blacksmith work was done are of interest. Some of these names dated for the years 1848 to 1854-55 are those of the following: Elias Pool, James Long, [.?] R. Todd, Robert Todd, J. D. Erskine, Jesse Brothers, Dr. Pouncy, Rv. B. Erskine, Mr. Wells, Moffett, L. Kilpatrick, Sparks, A. H. Morrell, John Todd, James Guffye, W. Gaimpson, H. Steele, Col. Goudy, T. Garrett, Samuel Bell, Thos, Garrett, E. Thompson, David Barclay, James Stevenson, E. P. Stevenson, Larkin Rogers, G. Hunnicutt Other names in the list of customers were names of residents all along the Blue Ridge settlement: Willaby Sparks, James McGhee, L. Edwards, Isaac Hason, Henry Rogers, Garrett Long, Wm. , M. L. Edwards, Mr. Vinson, John Hodge, G. B. Duncan, Isaac Smith, Robert Smith, R. Keogans, John Henefee, Granville Rose. Other names in this day book for work done by my father were Alexander Hodge, John Mitchell, Mathew Sparks, Dr. Forbes, John Ferguson, Mr. Farris, Jesse Corneilison, John Rogers, Mr. Kendall, Dutch George, Henry Woodland, G. [.?] Duncan, Milliford Long, R. S. Springfield, B. Y. Bennets, Wilkins.

"This day book shows that branding irons were in use then (1848-1856) The words "pinchers, staple, clevis, horse shoeing, buzzard plow, re-rim wheels, hooks, chains, ox-tongues, filling wagon wheels mend spur, sharpen plow, fit head or barrel, sharpen maddox, set of chair-frames, ragwheel and catch for loom chimney irons, were all used in describing the work done.

"In the day book are receipts of accounts paid by my father as well as those he received. One receipt is a final payment on the estate of Wilburn Jones, and reads this way:

"Received from S. McAllister the sum of $20.00 same being the amount in full of all demands in favor of the estate of Wilburn Jones deceased. May 10, 1860."

"Our forefathers were not without their feelings of sentiment and in view of the shortage of song books, in the back of his day book are the following songs written in his own handwriting: "Remember Me", "Will you love me then as now?" "think of Me", and a few other popular songs of the day.

"The book reveals the lives of the working world in the accounts, as well as my father's own life--as evidenced by his diary, and the finishing touch with the longing common to all the world, to be remembered when 'Time will be no more'."

THE ERSKINES OF EARLY DAY BUFFALO MOTT/ODDS AREA

John Wilford Erskine

John Wilford Erskine, son of Hugh and Jane (Richards) Erskine was born February 10, 1840 in McMinn County, Tennessee and moved to North Blue Ridge (which became Stranger) in 1853. John attended school in the Blue Ridge Cumberland Presbyterian Church building as a boy, which was located two and a half miles north of the present-day Methodist-Presbyterian Union Church at Stranger. In 1869, John Erskine bought a 100 acres in the Buffalo Mott community. Later that year (October 13, 1869), John married Nancy Griffith, daughter of Leonard Lenore and Sarah (Owen) Griffith, who moved to the Stranger Community after the Civil War. Nancy was a member of the Stranger Baptist Church, while John was an Elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Stranger, and later in the Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

John died on October 8, 1913 at Odds, Texas and is buried in the nearby Tidwell Cemetery in Limestone County, Texas. John Wilford and Nancy (Griffith) Erskine had five children:

Martha Alice Erskine, born in 1870, married William Glover, of Stranger in the Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church in July 1889. Martha is buried in the Kosse Cemetery, Limestone County, Texas

Robert Richards Erskine, born August 29, 1872 married Mary Tennessee Hammond

Carrie L. Erskine,born August 16, 1874, d April 19, 1959 - married James E. Coleman in December 1890 at the Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Arthur D. Erskine, Born in 1876; married Minnie Williams in Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Rosa E. Erskine, born 1877, died young.

In 1879, John Wilford Erskine married Sarah Jane (Snipes) Posey. John Wilford and Sarah Jane (Snipes) Erskine had seven children :

Edgar T. Erskine - a twin, b ca 1880, d before 1938 - no further information. Edward M. Erskine , born in 1880; married Tommie McDaniel, and lived in Marlin, Texas.

Nancy L. Erskine, born in 1883, married Bruno C. Morgan

John Chester Erskine, born March 9, 1885; married Della Petura Criswell

Jasper Clinton Erskine, born June 23, 1888; married Bessie Mae Criswell

Mortimer M. Erskine, born in 1890

Leonard W. Erskine, born in 1893; married Mrs. Lucille Hale. She had children by her prior marriage, but she and Leonard had no children. They lived in the Odds Community.

Sarah Jane (Snipes) Erskine lived a long life, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She had lost her sight before her death, but still possessed a joy of living - especially when her grandchildren were around.

This is a work in progress. Bookmark this page and come back often. If you have old photographs of Odds, Texas, please email me a copy and I'll include your photos on this webpage.
Thanks

Leonard Kubiak



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