Aunt Maggie frequently received photos from relatives who had moved to Texas. Shown below are some we would like to know more about. An assumption is that Uncle Joe is Joseph H. Prince, Simon's youngest brother born in 1867, who married Ina Griffin in Blount County, Alabama on March 1st, 1896, then moved to Texas. In 1900 he is living in Blount County, Alabama, so the census does not provide any clues to where or when he lived in Texas. He died October 15, 1908, and is buried out in the woods in Sargent Cemetery in Blount County, Alabama. More information on this family would be appreciated.
insert some small images of the TX locations discussed on this page.
Another story told is of the Vaughn's and Prince's going west in a wagon train. Claude Vaughn always told his grandchildren the trip happened when he was 16 years old, which would place it about 1895/1896. This wagon train went to Texas about the time Uncle Joe got married, so he might have gone at that time. A couple of pictures of a wagon train were found in Aunt Maggie's belongings, and we can only assume this was of their trip, though the word "oregon" written on one of the pictures doesn't really make sense. Barbara has noticed one person in the picture she says must be Uncle Fate, because of how he is standing.
The farm pictures had notes written on the back, which have been typed on front of these web photos. Uncle Joe is shown in some of these pictures, and I am assuming it is Joseph H. Prince. There is also an Uncle John and Uncle Steane who have not been identified. Note the Billy goat in one picture. One of the "Unknown" family photos showed an infant in a cart being pulled by what on first glance appeared to be a sheep. But compare the "sheep" to the "Billy", below, and they look the same, so this "Unknown" has been moved to the Texas page. One picture is of Hermleigh School House. The farm and the school are probably in the same general area.
Vina Prince's sister, Mary Elizabeth McCauley, married John Cornelius Torbett on February 5, 1865 in what is now Etowah County, Alabama. Around 1870/1871 they moved from Etowah County, Alabama to Texas, where they had their first Texas-born child, John Walter Torbett in 1871. This son became a prominent physician in Marlin, Falls County, Texas. He and his brother-in-law, Dr. John W. Cook were largely responsible for the development of Marlin as a health resort, after hot springs were found in the area. In 1898 they built the Bethesda Bathhouse for the treatment of chronic diseases, and in 1908 Torbett (along with his partners) built the Torbett Sanatorium. In 1940 it became the Torbett Clinic and Hospital. Old postcards depicting buildings in the Marlin area, including Torbett Sanatorium and Torbett Clinic, have been posted online by the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center, part of the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library. Other pictures from the Marlin, TX area, including the bathhouse and sanatorium, have been posted on RootsWeb by various people. Dr. J. W. Torbett also wrote "The Doctor's Scrapbook", an extremely interesting autobiography, which is now online on RootsWeb, as part of the TXGenWeb Project. Some of the unknown pictures in Aunt Maggie's collection are probably of the Torbett family.
Vina Prince's brother, Monroe Cobb McCauley married Naoma C. Hendrix in Etowah County, Alabama on September 27, 1879, and they were living in Marshall, Texas by 1882. They lived in the same general area as his sister Mary Elizabeth Torbett's family.
Like all the other pictures on this site, if you want a good, clean copy of an image, or if you have more information on these pictures, or have stories to share from your family, please send an email to the address shown at the bottom of page.
