My genealogical research, as always, is a “work in progress”, and especially so in the case of William Henry Phears and his ancestors. I will be doing much more research in Texas, Missouri, Virginia and other places and will be updating this information on a regular basis. So far – here is what I have…..
William Henry Phears, (my great-grandfather) was born June 12th, 1856 in Washington County, TX. His mother, Mary C. York married his father, Pleasant Phears on June 13th, 1855.
The 1860 census of the Pleasant Phears household in the community of Union Hill (where the Phears family lived) in Washington County, TX. holds several mysteries – first of all, the last name Phears is mis-spelled as “Pheaers”, age 36 years, his wife’s name is shown as “Jane or June”, age 34 years, and the children in the household (all carrying the name Phears) are: Mary, age 10, Elizabeth, age 8, “Julian” (male) age 4 (this would be the correct age of William Henry Phears at this time), Albert, age 2 and “Jane or June”, age 6 months. Pleasant shows his place of birth as Alabama and “Jane or June” shows her birthplace as Kentucky. It is interesting that Pleasant’s birthplace is shown as Alabama, when he was in fact, born in Missouri.
Also interesting are the two older children Mary & Elizabeth. It is not known whether these girls are Pleasant or Mary’s sisters or nieces, or if they were they Mary’s children from a previous marriage. It is doubtful they are the sisters of Pleasant, as his parents show up on the 1860 census in the same area with many of their children still living at home.
A brief history of the Pleasant Phears’ family, (I have much more research to do on this branch): Pleasant’s parents were Absalom Fears (he changed the spelling of his last name when he moved his family from Missouri to Texas) and his mother was Sarah Jane Blankenship Fears. I will rely a bit on research done by other family members, as I have not done extensive research into the Fears/Phears family yet, but this comes from a very reliable source with some research into census records on my part.
Absalom Fears/Phears was the son of Pleasant & Isabell Childress Fears and we believe, but have not verified, that he was born August 9th, 1797, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Absalom and Pleasant, as well as the names Thomas, Mc Donald and William, were Fears/Phears family names and it can be very confusing figuring out whom was the father of whom when you go back to the late 1700's/early 1800's. We do know that the Fears/Phears family lived in Virginia (that I know of, in Pittsylvania, Prince Edward and Lunenburg counties) from the 1600's to present day.
In the early 1800’s Absalom (either with our without his family) moved to Missouri, where he met and married Sarah Jane Blankenship. Absalom and Jane had 11 children: William, born 1825, Pleasant, born 1828, Thomas, born 1830, Nancy, born 1833, McDonald, born 1835, Absalom H., born 1837, James, born 1838, Sallie Emma, born 1841, Virginia, born 1843, Valera, born 1846 and Mary Elizabeth, born 1850.
At some point during the 1840’s, the Absalom Fears family changed the spelling of their last name to Phears and moved to Washington County, TX. Their household is listed in the 1850 & 1860 Washington County, TX census. Absalom died in 1869, and in the 1870 Washington County, TX census, his widow Jane is living in his son, Absalom’s household. In the 1880 census, Jane is listed as a member of son Thomas’ household – Thomas being widowed by that time. Jane died some time after 1880 and is buried at the Mount Zion Hill Cemetery in Washington County, TX.
Pleasant Phears died of a measles epidemic on July 4th, 1862 at Waul’s Camp (a Civil War camp of Waul’s Legion in Washington County, TX). Family sources say that Pleasant was buried at the old Union Hill Cemetery in Washington County, TX, which was on land that was later purchased by a farmer who decimated the cemetery to plant additional crops.
Mary C. York Phears married William M. Walden on June 29th, 1865.
I am unable to find an absolute match for Mary C. and William Henry and his siblings in the 1870 census. The nearest I have come is finding a Mary Walden (which matches the name of her marriage certificate to William Walden in 1865) living in the household of J.W. Milligan and wife Mary, age 20, (which would be the exact same age of the Mary that was a member of Pleasant’s household in the 1860 Washington County, TX census as noted above) and their children in Precinct 4, Dallas County, TX. However, Mary Walden’s age is shown to be 38, where she stated (if she was Jane or June of Pleasant’s household) her age to have been 32 in the 1860 Washington County, TX census. Also shown as a member of this household is “William Walden”, age 16. This could be William Henry Phears, who would have actually been 14 years old at this time. There are no others listed in this household that would have been possible siblings of William Henry Phears. This is a mystery that requires further investigation!
In 1880, we find William Henry Phears as a member of his aunt, Nancy Phears Turner Bulls household in the Lee County, TX census. William Henry Phears is listed as age 24 “nephew”, and also listed are Sallie A Phears, age 21, niece, and William T. Phears, age 26 nephew.
On December 28th, 1887, William Henry Phears married my great-grandmother, Mary Ann Wood. To their union were born the following children: Ada, born 1889, William, born 1891, Pleasant, born 1892, Emily, born 1894, Claude, born 1895, Callie, born 1896, Mary Ann, born 1898 and my grandmother, Katie West Phears, born August 24th, 1899.
The 1900 census of Precinct 6, Dime Box, Lee County, TX enumerates the William Henry Phears household with all of the aforementioned children present, and with two others living in the household listed as “Ollie Wood”, age 21 and “Oliver Blackman”, age 30. “Ollie Wood” is listed as “nephew”, so would have been a relative of Mary Ann’s, and “Oliver Blackman” is listed as “hired farm hand”.
In 1901, a pneumonia epidemic swept the area and Mary Ann Wood was nursing her elderly father, William F. Wood, and succumbed to pneumonia herself, dying a few days after her father on April 1st, 1901, at the young age of 30 years.
In 1903, William Henry Phears married Calpurnia (Callie) Tennessee Dement. To their union were born: Lula M. Phears, born 1904, Henry “Elmer” Phears, born 1906, Don Lural Phears, born 1907 and Gerald Phears, born 1908.
William Henry Phears died of bladder cancer on May 17th, 1918 and is buried in the Scott Cemetery in the community of Old Dime Box in Lee County, TX, next to his first wife – Mary Ann Wood Phears and her father, William Francis Wood.
As previously mentioned, I will be doing a lot more research on William Henry Phears, his father & mother, grandparents and other ancestors. The Fears/Phears family has been widely researched and fairly well documented, so it promises to be interesting and fun!
Notes:
My research thus far is based on census records, marriage certificates, a death certificate for William Henry Phears from the Lee County courthouse in Giddings, TX. Other information, as mentioned above, has been gathered from distant cousins that are descended from Pleasant Phears or his siblings. If you have any documented information about or photos of William Henry Phears, his father, Pleasant Phears, his mother, Mary C. York Phears Walden, or any of their ancestors, I would love to hear from you – please contact me!
