Roy Oscar Bennett

Notes:

Biographical information, below, copied from his FindAGrave memorial page, created by Patsy Bennett Miller.

Roy O. Bennett was the son of Wiley Dorson & Lena Mae Bennett. He lived in Los Fresnos, Texas most of his life. He worked as a Long Shoreman at the Port in Brownsville. Roy & Verda helped start a church in their home, called Portway Baptist. When it outgrew their home, the Church built right next door and its still there today. Roy & Verda raised 4 sons and loved on 8 grandchildren and many great grandchildren.

Roy married Verda Julia Haynes about 1936. Verda was born on 13 Nov 1917 in Texas; died on 4 Nov 2007 in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas; was buried in Memory Gardens Cemetery, Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Wiley married Lena Mae Huffenberger. Lena was born on 12 Feb 1886 in Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas; died on 27 Aug 1970 in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas; was buried in Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A copy of his actual Texas Death Certificate can be viewed online at FamilySearch.org, Texas Deaths, 1890-1976. He is listed as a son of Adam Jackson Bennett and Sarah Jane Harvey, both being shown as born in Baton Rougue, Louisiana. The informant was W.H. Bennett, Jr, presumably his namesake son. He was shown as a Farmer, and married. He was buried at the M. E. Cemetery in East Bernard.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1880 Census
Texas, Sabine County, 5th Precinct
Enumerated 6 and 7 July 1880
Page 28D SD 1 ED 86
241-241
Bennett, Dutch W M 30 Farmer Tx La SC
Bennett, Mary E W F 28 Wf Keeps house Ala Ala Ala
Bennett, Noel W M 7 Son Tx Tx Ala
Bennett, James C W M 5 Son Tx Tx Ala
Bennett, Wiley D W M 3 Son Tx Tx Ala
Bennett, Zada A W F 2 Dt Tx Tx Ala

1900 Census
Louisiana, Acadia Parish, Ward 4
Enumerated 17 July 1900
SD 3 ED 6 Sheet 33B
575-577
Bennett, William H Head W M Jun 1850 49 M 27 Tx La La Farmer
Bennett, Mary E Wf W F July 1852 47 M 27 9/9 Ga Ga Ga
Bennett, Noel S Son W M Dec 1873 26 S Tx Tx Ga Farm Laborer
Bennett, Dorson W Son W M Dec 1873 23 S Tx Tx Ga Student
Bennett, Zadie A Dtr W F Sept 1878 21 S Tx Tx Ga
Bennett, Vinney V Dtr W F Jan 1883 17 S Tx Tx Ga
Bennett, Dewit C Son W M Aug 1889 10 S La Tx Ga
Bennett, Ada J Son W M Spet 1893 6 S La Tx Ga

(Medical):See attached sources.

William married Mary Elizabeth Harrison about 1873. Mary was born on 18 Jul 1852 in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia; died on 25 Jul 1934 in East Bernard, Wharton County, Texas; was buried in East Bernard Methodist Cemetery, East Bernard, Wharton County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Patsy Bennett Miller shared the following undated clipping from the Brownsville Herald relating to Mary Harrison Bennett's final illness "Judge D. C. Bennett and Mrs. W. E. McCorquodale, son and daughter of Mrs. W. H. Bennett, formerly of Orange county but now of East Bernard, are at the bedside of their aged mother, whose condition remained critical, according to reports here. Judge Bennett and family left Sunday morning for East Bernard.


Name Mary Elizabeth Bennett
Event Type Death
Event Date 25 Jul 1934
Event Place East Bernard, Wharton, Texas, United States
Gender Female
Marital Status Widowed
Birth Date 18 Jul 1852
Birthplace Macon, Georgia
Father's Name Harrison
Mother's Name:
Certificate Number 34734
GS Film number 2116194
Digital Folder Number 005145491
Image Number 00996



Citing this Record:
"Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K34G-KF9 : accessed 14 Aug 2014), Mary Elizabeth Bennett, 25 Jul 1934; citing certificate number 34734, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2116194.

Notes:

"2nd Lieut. in Co. K in the Mexican War." SABINE COUNTY GENEALOGICAL RECORDS by White and Toole

Kay Parker McCary, in the transcription of the tombstone, writes that he was Born in West Feliciana Parish, LA, Removed to Texas Dec 1842

(Research):
Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Sabine District
Enumerated 30 Oct 1850
Stamped 320
146-146
Adam J Bennett 35 M Farmer $400 La
Mary J. E. Bennett 24 F La
Mary Ann Benett 9 F La
Henry L. Bennett 8 M La
Burtus C. Bennett 6 M Texas
Sarah Jane Bennett 4 F Texas
William H Bennett 3/12 M Texas

1860 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Patroon Beat No. 5. P. O. Box Milam
Page 30 Stamped 333
225-225
A. J. Bennett 46 M Farmer $1600 $3190 La
Mary J. Bennett 37 F La
Mary A. Bennett 20 F La
Henry Bennett 18 M La
Bertis C. Bennett 15 M Tx
Sarah J. Bennett 12 F Tx
William Bennett 10 M Tx
A. J. Bennett 7 M Tx
Robert Bennett 5 M Tx
Major A. Bennett 1 M Tx


1880 Census
Adam J. Bennett Self M M W 65 La Farmer La La
Mary J. Bennett Wf M F W 58 SC Keeps House SC SC
Arch Bennett Son S M W 16 Tx Wks on Farm La SC
Alva Bennett Son S M W 11 Tx Wks on Farm La SC

Texas, Sabine, Precinct 5
FHL Film # 125535 NA Film # T9-1325 Page # 250C

Adam married Mary Jane Elizabeth Harvey on 1 Aug 1839 in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Mary (daughter of Seth Harvey and Zelotus Margaret Ann Boyd) was born on 17 Dec 1821 in Louisiana; died on 8 Mar 1901 in Pine Hill, Pineland, Sabine County, Texas; was buried in Bennett Cemetery, Milam, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Kay Parker McCary, in the transcription of the tombstone, writes that she was Born in Pitt Co., North Carolina, Moved to Texas Dec 1842 (Mary Jane Elizabeth Harvey - Daughter of Seth Harvey & Zelotus Margaret Ann Boyd - Married 1 Aug 1839 h Adam Jackson Bennett, Sr.) The 1880 census shows her state of birth as South Carolina, and early census records instead show her as being born in Louisiana.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1900 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Precinct 5
Enumerated 14 Jun 1900
SD 8 ED 72 Sheet 15B
205-205
Bennett, Burtis Head W M Apr 1845 55 Wd Tx La La Farmer
Bennett, Mary J Mother W F Jan 1823 77 Wd La --- NC

Notes:

Married:
Virgie Speights, in OLD TIMERS OF SABINE COUNTY, TEXAS, in a column about Pearl Chambers Lord Greer, dated January 30, 1964, wrote that "Adam Bennett and Mary Jane Elizabeth Harvey, came with their slaves from Louisiana, just ahead of the sheriff. He was chasing them to take away their slaves in connection with some sort of lien connected with the estate of Mrs. Bennett's mother. They barely made it to Texas and safety in time to camp in the 'sand field' now known as "Bennet Field," just on the Texas side of the Sabine. The Louisiana authorities camped on the opposite side of the river before frustratedly returning home the next day. Then Adam staked his claim atop a nearby hill with gently sloping fields towards the river. The place is still called the "Bennett Place." There is a family graveyard nearby. The elder Bennetts had come to East Feliciana Parish from Alabama, and his father, a silversmith, had come from Germany." In a later article, this one profiling Abbie Della Bennett Travis, January 27, 1966, she added that the lien was due to "a matter of a few unpaid debts. The slaves were to be confiscated, so the Bennett's, their two children, and Zelotus Margaret Ann Boyd Harvey raced to the Sabine River and safety which they attained just before dark."