APPENDIX III. _________ The Following Letters Show Substantially All That I Have Been Able to Learn Touching Major Thomas Dodson Cayce's Ancestors and Collateral Kindred _________ TEMPLE, December 16, 1893. Hon. A.P. McCormick, New Orleans, La. Dear Sir: A few days since I received your kind letter dated at Dallas, October 20th, asking for information in regard to my parentage and family, which I will give you as far as my memory serves me, which is limited, especially as regards dates. My father, Shadrach Cayce, and my mother, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Dodson, were both born and raised in Virginia, and were married there; but at what place or date I do not know. They lived there until three children were born. The oldest was Thomas Dodson, Lula's grandfather; the second was Elizabeth; the third was Fleming. They then moved to Williamson County, Tennessee, where all of the other children were born. Fourth, John; fifth, William; sixth, Shadrach; seventh, Pleasant N.; eighth, James Madison; ninth, Doctor Newnan; tenth, Joel A.; eleventh, Lucretia B.; twelfth, Harriet T.; thirteenth, myself, Nancy Ann. Thomas Dodson Cayce married Miss Hannah Stanley, in Williamson County, where they lived till about 1828 or 1829, when they moved to Texas. George Washington, their oldest son, was killed in San Antonio in 1840, during an outbreak of the Comanche Indians, pending the negotiation of a treaty at that place between that tribe and the Texans. The balance of her grandfather's family, Lula will remember. The only surviving ones of brother Thomas' family are Jane Bertrand and Sophronia Parker, whom you know. My sister Elizabeth Cayce married, in Williamson County, Tennessee, William Neal Little, moved to Kentucky, raised a family of children, and both died there; but I do not know dates. My brother, Fleming Cayce, married Cynthia Little in Williamson County. He also moved to Kentucky; both died there, but I have no knowledge of their family. My brother, William Cayce, married his cousin, Sarah Cayce, also of Williamson County; I think they died there. My brother, Shadrach Cayce, married Miss Sarah Jones in Davidson County, Tennessee; both died many years ago. John Pleasant and James Madison never married. My father and mother, with their seven younger children, moved to Lawrence County about 1830. My father was a Baptist preacher, merchant and farmer. He died in Lawrence County, April 13, 1832. My brother Doctor N. Cayce married Miss Matilda M. Gaether, in Lawrence County, in 1836, and after my mother died in 1839 he moved to Iuka, Mississippi. They had six children -- James Madison, mary Ann, Isabella Jane, Matilda Elizabeth, Newnan and George Burgess. The two daughters married, and both died many years ago. James married, and raised a family in Mississippi. He recently moved to Texas, and settled at Hammond, not far from Waco. Newnan lives in Fulton, Mississippi, and is now judge of the district court for that district. George came to Texas twenty-two years ago, married in Navasota, Texas, and was living in or near Burnet not long since. My brother Joel married a Miss Kidd in Lawrence County, in 1840, moved to Mississippi, and died there. My sister Lucretia married Samuel Casey in Lawrence County, about 1834, and moved to Pulaski, Missouri; I have know but little of them. My sister Harriet married Whitfield Turner, a Virginian, in 1836; they moved to West Tennessee, where she died soon after their marriage. I married Dudley J. Parks in Lawrence County, Tennessee, on June 8, 1837. I was born January 26, 1821. My husband, Dudley J. Parks, was born in Murray County, Tennessee, July 17, 1812. We came to Texas soon after we were married and landed on Galveston Island, August 8, 1837; went first to the town of old Washington, on the Brazos; and early in 1838 moved to old Caney, in Matagorda County, where we lived till 1867, when we moved to Brenham, and have lived there and at Lampasas until two and a half years ago we moved to Temple, where we are now living with our youngest daughter, Pearl, who married William T. Bessonette, of Verona, Mississippi. I will give you the names of our children, living and dead: James the oldest, was killed in a railroad accident fourteen years ago, at Patterson; he was born in 1839. Our next oldest, Foster Axson, was born in 1841, and in died in Brenham in 1882. Hattie was born in 1843, and died on old Caney in 1864. John Dudley died on Caney, 1846. Jennie was born in 1848, Mary in 1849; Willis Newnan in 1852. Shadrach was born in 1854, and died in 1859. Laura was born in 1857, Maud in 1859, Pearl in 1863. Jennie married H.C. Swain, from New Orleans, in 1873; they live in Brenham. Mary married John D. Harden in Brenham; they now in El Paso. Laura married Ben B. Hunt, from Kentucky, in 1878; they live in Caldwell, Burleson County. Maud married Ed. F. Rankin in 1888; they live in Brenham. Willis N. married Miss Althea Breeding, of Fayette County, in 1881, and moved to Hondo City, Texas where she died six years ago; he married again about a year ago; he is practicing law in Uvalde. I have given you a rambling sketch, some of which may interest you and other parts of it may not. I will suggest to you to write to Newnan Cayce, Fulton, Mississippi. I understand he has our old family bible. Ask him to give you a copy of the family record. I hope he will comply, and if you get it, it would gratify me much if you will send me a copy. I was so young, when I married, and having never seen any of my brothers and sisters since, except brother Thomas, and only once or twice my brother D.N. Cayce, you may not be surprised at my ignorance in regard to our family history. With kind regard to yourself and to my dear niece and family, NANCY A. PARKS ______ FULTON, MISS., Dec'r 29, '93. Hon. A. P. McCORMICK, New Orleans, La.: My Dear Sir: I am receipt of your interesting favor of 19th inst., enclosing letter from Aunt Nancy Parks. I am glad to know you, and indulge the hope that our acquaintance may be more than epistolary in the future. I have never met any of Uncle Thomas' descendants, and know but few of our relatives, except immediate ones, residing not far away. I regret to say that I am not well versed in our family history, having been culpably careless in that regard -- a carelessness of which I have frequently blamed myself. This ignorance on my part is not because of a lack of interest in desiring to know, but because of a neglect to avail myself of an opportunity of knowing. My father possessed quite a fund of knowledge of our ancestry, accurate in detail, and often when a boy I heard him speak of them, but the importance of impressing the facts upon my mind did not appear to me then; hence, I cannot now recall much of his statements about them. I remember that my great-grandfather was a Virginian; a soldier in the Revolutionary War, I rather think a captain. He had a brother who was also in the army at same time. He was a survivor of some forlorn party in the assault upon some fort. Congress granted to such survivors each a special land warrant. He also had a land warrant issued to him for his general service in the army. Being in good circumstances, he paid no special attention to the warrants. Several years after the close of the Revolutionary War, a comrade of his was going West to locate his own warrant, and he gave to said comrade his two warrants to locate, provided he found desirable land. His comrade went to Kentucky, then just beginning to be settled up, but never returned, and a few years afterward information was received that the comrade had started to return to Virginia, but had been killed by the Indians. Nothing was known of the disposition of the land warrants at that time. Several years afterward, Grandfather moved to Tennessee, in Williamson County, I think upon what was known as the Military Road. One day an old man very sick and destitute came by his house and Grandfather took care of him. When he began to convalesce, and learned grandfather's name, he told him that he was well acquainted with the comrade who had located the land warrants, was with him when they were located, and together they had started to return to Virginia, when they were attached by the Indians; the comrade was killed, and he was wounded, but finally made his escape. The records of the location were destroyed by the Indians in the same uprising, and that the city of Frankfort (or Lexington) had been located upon the same ground upon which the land warrants had been placed. Grandfather concluded to take steps in the matter to establish the location, but before anything could be done the old man, who was the only witness, died, and the contemplated suit was abandoned. This is all the traditionary circumstances I now recall. My information is that aunt Elizabeth Little moved to Missouri (instead of Kentucky, as aunt Nancy remembers it), and, as corroborative of the place of her residence, in April, 1863, my company captured a section of the 1st Missouri (Federal) Artillery, one of the artillerists (a sergeant), hearing my name, introduced himself to me as Neal Little, inquired if my father was from Middle Tennessee, and on receiving an affirmative response, said. "We are cousins. My mother's name was Elizabeth Cayce. I have often her speak of her brother Dock." He seemed to be an intelligent, gentlemanly young man, somewhat older than I was. He said he was named for his father. A few days afterward he was sent off with the other prisoners. I never heard of him afterward. Upon telling my father of the circumstances, he told me the young man was my cousin. Up to that time I was not aware I had an aunt Elizabeth. My father moved from Lawrence County, Tennessee, to Fulton, Mississippi in 1839- 1840, and resided here until about 1855, when he moved to East Port, Mississippi; in 1856 he moved to Iuka, Mississippi, and continued to reside there until about 1872, when he went to Texas. After his return from Texas he remained at this place (Fulton, Mississippi), until his death, September 25th, 1884. My oldest brother, James Madison Cayce, married Miss Elizabeth Bates, in Itawamba County, Mississippi, in 1860. He entered our (Confederate) army in 1862. He was a member of the 2nd Regt. Miss. Volunteers. He was captured at Gettysburg. He was exchanged, and was surrendered at Appomattox. He is now living at Hammond, Texas. My sister, Mary Ann Cayce, married, in 1857, Mr. D.W. Owen, a brilliant, noble man, a lawyer. He was killed leading a company of his regiment, 10th Miss. Volunteers, December 31, 1862, in the battle of Murfreesborough, Tennessee. They had two children -- Prentiss, a son, who died in 1862, and Norah Belle, a daughter, who married F.J. Johnson, an attorney, and is now living in Llano, Texas. Her mother died December 6, 1868. My sister, Isabella Jane Cayce, married about 1869, Mr. R.L. Young, then living in New Orleans; the year afterwards moved to Texas. She died there about 1871. My brother, George Burgess Cayce, entered the army in the latter part of the war, joining the 12th Miss. Cav. Shortly after the close of the war he went to Texas, married there, and is now living at Burnet, Texas. I entered the army in April, 1861, and remained therein until the close of the war. On December 24, 1868, I married Miss Fannie Graham, who, under the goodness of God, still blesses and brightens my heart and home. Providence has blessed our union with nine children; four of them are still with me, and five "are waiting for me;" the following are their names and ages: Lizzie Lee Cayce born June 11, 1871 Mabel Graham Cayce born Oct. 22, 1878 Gertrude Kendall Cayce born Oct. 7, 1882 Lillian Sale Cayce born Oct. 6, 1885 The above are living. Malcolm Graham Cayce born Jan. 14, 1870 Mollie Amanda Cayce born Dec. 25, 1873 Fannie Matilda Cayce born Dec. 11, 1875 Norah Belle Cayce born Feb. 14, 1881 Newnan Cayce born Aug. 3, 1890 (died Oct. 3, '91) I began the practice of law in 1873, and am now on the bench of this judicial district, and have been since March, 1893. We have some relatives living near Columbus, Kentucky -- I think descendants of Fleming Cayce; I have met but three of them -- Hardy, John and George Cayce. Some of uncle William's family are living at Franklin, Tennessee, or were when I last heard from them; they were named John and Eldred Cayce. One of their sisters married near Franklin. I have thus hurriedly given you such brief statement of family matters are now recur to me. Uncle Joel A. Cayce died several years ago near Iuka, Mississippi. His widow is living in Arkansas. I will be glad to meet you and your wife. Please present my regards to her. Should you ever pass near us, and can do so, I hope you will call to see us. I will be glad to hear from you at any time and to co-operate in obtaining information of our ancestry. My best wishes and love to your family. I am, Sincerely Yours, Newnan Cayce