The Pioneer Acker Family

Facts given by various descendants

The first Acker brothers to come to East Texas were Christopher Columbus Acker and Peter Acker, in 1848. They settled near Jacksonville and three years later their brother, Alexander, arrived with their parents, Joseph and Ruth (Alexander) who had been married for 53 years at that time. Their wedding was in 1798 in South Carolina. Joseph Acker had fought with Andrew Jackson in the early 1800s. Joseph and Ruth had seven sons and seven daughters, who all lived to marry. All Ackers in this area are their descendants.

It is impossible to mention all of the vast number of Ackers who have continued to live and marry in the Jacksonville area. Many of these descendants have molded Jacksonville history:

The direct forbears of Tom E., Colonel, Godbey (deceased) and Allie Mae (Mrs. Carlton Odom) are Samuel E. Acker and Eudora Jane Booth Acker, their parents, who were lifetime residents and celebrated their 50th anniversary in Jacksonville. Sam died in 1939 and Eudora in 1946. Sam's grandfather was Alexander Acker, who came to Texas in 1851. Sam's father was Joseph Pinkney Acker who had remained in Alabama, and married Annie Rebecca. Their trip to Texas, about 1869, was in a covered wagon and they stopped for one year in Mississippi to "make a crop" before continuing on to East Texas with little Sam. Ben and Sidney, Sam's brothers, were born in Texas.

Stories of the careers of Tom E. Acker and Colonel D. Acker are detailed on the following pages. Their sister, Mrs. Carlton Odom (Allie Mae) resides in Jacksonville, and is busily engaged in activities at the First Methodist Church. Her son, Wayne Carlton, is assistant pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Dallas. He married Carolyn Parker and they have a son, Carlton, and one daughter, Laura. Mrs. Odom's daughter, Jacquelyn, married Guston Browning, who is pastor of Williams Memorial United Methodist Church in Texarkana. Their children are Mike, Mark, Rebecca and Barbara.

Amiel Godbey Acker is deceased but his son, A. G. Acker, Jr. lives in Jacksonville with his wife, Dorothy (Welker). Their children are married and do not live here. A. G. Acker, Jr., is an executive with White & Mayes, a chain of stores with headquarters in Jacksonville.

Another resident of Jacksonville is William Harvey Acker, 75, who lives on Dallas Street. His father, Baylis Grace Acker, Sr., another son of Alexander, had four wives and seventeen children. All of this family have been lifetime residents of the Jacksonville area. He married Ima Bounds and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1971. Their children are Faye (Mrs. L. E. Martin), whose husband has an automobile business on North Jackson St. Their son, Larry, is a career actor in California. Their daughter, Julie Ann, attends Junior High.

The other W. H. Acker children are: Frances (Mrs. Lowell Jayroe) whose husband owns Jayroe Graphic Arts and has produced this historical book. Their children are Timothy, a police officer in Tyler, Rodney, assistant to his father, Karen (Mrs. Rodney McDaniel) of Homestead, Florida, and Pamela, now attending college. Bounds William lives in Longview and is with the Sheriff's Department, Nelda (Mrs. James C. Allen) lives in Jacksonville with her husband. Their children are daughter Ceabrina, sons Ceabron, Douglas, Paul, and all attend Jacksonville High School.

Other Ackers who now live in Jacksonville are Carl Acker, a painting contractor whose father was Alvin, son of Baylis Grace Acker, Sr., and his sister, Edris (Mrs. Lee Newby). Tom Acker, who has worked at the Bearden Furniture store for many years, is the son of Jim Acker and great-grandson of Peter Acker, who came here in 1848. Albert Richard (Dick) Acker, Sr., who is the son of Sidney Acker, married Norma Wilkerson from Arcadia, Florida. They have two sons, Albert Richard, Jr., and Rodney Fagin Acker, who lives in Jacksonville; a daughter, Norma Jean (Aycock) lives in Houston. There are thirteen grandchildren in the Dick Acker, Sr., family. Melvin Acker, grandson of Baylis Grace Acker, Sr., owned a garage on N. Bolton and lived in Jacksonville with his wife, Emma. Their four children are married. He died in February, 1972.

Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Acker with their children, Tom, Allie Mae (Mrs. Carlton Odom) and Godbey. This picture taken prior to 1904 and before Colonel was born.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Eli Acker upon their 50th wedding anniversary.

John (Skinny) Acker and his wife, Annie (Whitaker) in 1904. John's father was Andrew Jackson Acker and his grandfather was Christopher Columbus Acker.

Baylis Grace Acker, Sr., with his daughters, Nettie Acker (Hicks) to his left, Nattie Acker (Whitaker) top left, and Lee Belle Acker, married her cousin Charlie Acker.