The Elijah Earle Family

By Mrs. Hubert Earle and Mrs. Ora Gray Ford

Elijah Earle (1804-1880), son of a Revolutionary War veteran of North Carolina came to Texas from Alabama, where he spent most of his life. He traveled by river boat to New Orleans, then up the Red River to Keechi (later known as Shreveport). Loading their possessions on an ox-drawn wagon, Elijah, his wife, Maxcey Blanchet Earle, and five children all walked into Texas in March, 1846.

While in the area of Rusk County, they met old friends who made various offers to induce them to settle there, but Elijah was hopeful of locating a tribe of Cherokee Indians he had known in Alabama and had high regard for their good judgment. When he arrived in the Cherokee Nation territory, he learned his Indian friends no longer were here, but he liked what he saw and immediately purchased 320 acres of land in the Gum Creek community, built the first family house of logs, began clearing land and growing crops. He soon saw the need for a grist mill and gin and he shortly was serving an area within a radius of fifteen miles. (This mill was later known as the Morris Mill). He did milling and ginning from 1850 to 1858, this business netting $3,000 to $4,000 annually, a richly sum in those days.

Elijah acquired more land as his prosperity allowed and at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was owner of ten slaves and 4,000 acres of land, 1,000 of which lies just east of the Neches River. He made annual trips to New Orleans to market cotton and other products from his farms, and always brought back such commodities as flour, sugar, coffee and calico. On one occasion, he brought back an iron wood-burning cook stove—first of its kind in the area.

In 1858, a new home was built, now known as the Lon Earle place; it still is in excellent condition, but with a changed appearance. The growing family felt the need for a school near their home and he set aside an acreage designated for this purpose and for a non-denominational church, and named it Earle's Chapel. Later, in 1874, the church was dedicated as Methodist Episcopal, South, but with school continuing in the building. A portion of this plot was designated as a cemetery for family and neighbors. He directed his place of burial be near a tree upon which he had carved his initials, and here he was buried December 31, 1880.

One night in 1875, thieves were believed to have burned the original church building in a plot to draw attention of the Earle family away from home long enough to loot the place. The plan worked and the robbers got away with a large amount of gold.

When the I. & G. N. railroad was brought through his land in 1871, Elijah Earle installed a saw mill and began shipping lumber into many other states, selling millions of feet of lumber for $25 per thousand.

To Elijah Earle and Maxcey Blanchet were born James Cartney, who married Matilda Benge; Newton, who married Adline Wilson; Elias, who married a Miss Armstrong; Elizabeth, who married Jefferson Skelton; Julia, who married J. V. Brown; also Finley and Russell, both of whom died young.

After the death of his wife, he married Mrs. Mary E. Jarratt Tarum in 1854, and their children were John C; Rufus, who married Rosa Hart; Albert, who married Ammie Dublin; Lon, who married Kelley Farrar; and Ledbetter, who died at a young age.