The James E. Hearne Family

By Ruth Cox Hearne

Ebenezer D. Hearne was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, in 1817. He married Ester Lee and had six children, one of whom was James E. Hearne, born in Libon, Tennessee, in 1843. James E. came to Texas in 1852 by wagon and settled at Pirtle near Kilgore, where they owned the Hearne Hotel. He married Ophelia C. Hearne in 1869, and they had two sons, Alford Charles, born 1881; James M., 1885.

Alford Charles Hearne came to Jacksonville in 1895 and was a telegrapher and ticket agent for Missouri Pacific Railroad for 32 years. He was a dispatcher during World War I. He married Anna Laura Easton in 1904. Anna Hearne was an organizer of First Methodist church and one of the first women on the Board of Stewards. She taught a boys' Sunday School class and belonged to Susannah Wesley Class.

Alford Taylor Hearne was their only child, born in 1907. He attended both Texas A. & M. and Texas in the class of 1925. Except for his military service, he made his home in Jacksonville, where he was an active member of the Methodist church.

Al T. was a member of the Army Reserves going into active service in 1940 at Ft. Mcintosh, Laredo. He served in the Philippines and Alaska during World War II, retiring as Colonel in 1962.

He married Ruth Cox in 1933 and they had six children including Eugenia Ann Wharton, Ft. Rucker, Alabama, wife of a Lt. Col., Army Corps; Al T. Hearne, Jr., CPA, Dallas; (Mrs.) Linda Sue Childress, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Barbara Ruth Hearne and Mary Louise Hearne, both of Dallas; and Jennifer Lynn Hearne, Jacksonville. Their home was on O'Keefe Road.

Al T. Hearne owned an insurance agency and was a realtor, also a 32nd degree Mason and Shriner. He was one of the leaders in the successful "Farm Family Days" held annually in Jacksonville for many years, and was instrumental in getting a number of new businesses located in Jacksonville. He was working to complete a shopping center at time of his death in 1966.

James M. Hearne, the second son of James E. and Ophelia Hearne also came to reside in Jacksonville and later became a telegraph operator for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He married Sallie Elder and they had two daughters, Mildred and Anna Louise.

Mildred Shoel resides in Arlington, and Anna Louise (Mrs. Edwin Pearman) resides here. She has been on the Texas Bank & Trust staff for a number of years. Her husband presently is Sanitary Inspector for the City of Jacksonville. They are parents of two daughters, Barbara Sockwell of Nacogdoches, and Carol Jean Smith of Jacksonville, and a son, Jimmy Pearman of Jacksonville.

A. C. Hearne home, N. Main Street, 1934.

A. C. and Anna Laura Hearne with son, Alford Taylor, in 1924, A. & M. uniform.