Hello, I found the following information on Eliza Richey, daughter of Andrew Jackson Richey and Carey Ann Ferguson. Carey Ann was the sister of my 3rd g-grandmother, Frances Ferguson who married Thomas Spillman in Allen Co. in 1817. Eliza Richey married James Virgil Spillman 5 Feb 1867 in Allen Co. James Virgil Spillman was a second cousin of my gg-grandfather, James Monroe Spillman (through the Spillman family of Allen Co.). Eliza Richey and James Monroe Spillman were first cousins through the Catherine Gilmore/William Ferguson Family of early Allen Co. The second obituary shown below is from Jim Wheat's web page on early Dallas Co., TX. Jim Wheat has a really good article regarding the wagon train from Allen Co. to Dallas Co., TX in 1869. I sent that article to the list a few years back. Here are the obituaries: Dallas Morning News, 2 Apr 1926, Part 1, page 9 - Many Survive Early Resident - Eighty-Six Descendants of Late Mrs. Eliza Spillman A total of eighty-six descendants, a number equal to the population of some of the smaller towns of Texas, survive Mrs. Eliza Spillman, early settler, who died at home in Vickery, Dallas County, Saturday at the age of 75. Nine children, forty grandchildren and thirty-seven great-grandchildren are among those surviving. Mrs. Spillman was born in Kentucky and came to Texas with her husband, the late James V. Spillman, in a covered wagon. They arrived in Dallas in 1869. Her sons are C. R. Spillman of Holdenville, Ok.; Euclid and Joe Spillman of Dallas; daughters, Mrs. Lizzie Melear of Seymour, Mrs. Hattie James of Wichita Falls, Mrs. Laura Hibbler of Austin, Mrs. Jim Miller of Dallas and Miss Emma Spillman and Miss Erma Spillman of Vickery. Mrs. Otelia Gwinn, her tenth child, died some years ago. The grandchildren are Sterling Gwinn, L. K. Gwinn, Roy Gwinn, Adrian Gwinn, all of Electra; Truett Gwinn, Los Angeles; Mrs. Virgie Snyder, Amherst; Mrs. Hattie Malone, Seymour; Miss Audrey Gwinn, Amherst; Raymond Spillman and Miss Marie Spillman of Holdenville, Ok.; J. E. Melear, Houston; M. G. Melear, Palestine; C. W. Melear, Amarillo; Mrs. Vallie Williams, Tahoka; J. V. Melear, Seymour; W. A. Melear, Seymour; Mrs. Ruth Thomason, Wichita Falls; Miss Edith Melear, Seymour; Edith Fay Spillman, Dwight Spillman, Euclid Eugene Spillman, all of Vickery; H. C. James, Mrs. Eliza K. Ward, R. E. James, E. E. James, Mrs. Thelma Perkins, Miss Edna James, J. C. James, T. G. James, Miss Marietta James, Miss Mildred James, R. W. James, Bettie Lavern James, all of Wichita Falls; Mrs. Lola Sherbert and Mrs. Willie Rendher of Santa Barbara, Cal.; Jenice Hibbler, Austin; James Virgil Spillman, Joe Shelby Spillman, Ruthie Ann Spillman, R. F. Spillman, all of Vickery. Great-grandchildren are Estes Malone, Cletis Malone, Francis Malone, B. M. Malone, William Malone, Georgia Fay Gwinn, Sterling Gwinn Jr., Gladis Gwinn, Clois Gwinn, Earl and Earline Gwinn, Billie Gwinn, Francis Gwinn, Troy Snyder, Mildred Snyder, Otelia Ruth Snyder, Ocilla McCauley, Clyde McCauley, Margarett Melear, Edith Williams, Louise Williams, Navinia Melear, Margret Ruth Melear, J. W. Melear, Hattie Elois James, Jaunita Cristine James, R. L. Ward, R. M. Ward, E. E. Ward, C. F. Perkins, Mary Ruth Perkins, H. W. Perkins, Dorthy L. James, R. E. James Jr., R. W. James, Dura Letria Sherbert, and Ernest E. Sherbert. Dallas Morning News 8 Apr 1926, page 13 - Leaves $50,000 Estate Mrs. Eliza A. Spillman, 75 years old, early Dallas County citizen, who died several days ago at her home at Vickery, left an estate estimated to be worth $50,000, the will filed with Fred Patrick, clerk of the Probate Court, shows. Mrs. Spillman left practically all of her property to her three sons and six daughters share and share alike. * * * http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~jwheat/obits/obituaries1926.html 28 Mar 1926, Dallas Daily Times Herald, Section II, p. 6, col. 5 CALLED BY DEATH - MRS. ELIZA SPILLMAN Death, Saturday night, claimed one of the first settlers of Vickery at the age of 75 years. A resident of Dallas county for more than half a century, Mrs. Eliza A. Spillman succumbed at 8:30 o'clock Saturday evening at the family residence, following an illness of five years. When Dallas was a small town with a few stores and a handful of inhabitants, Mrs. Spillman, her husband and an infant child, passed through in a covered wagon in quest of fortune. That was fifty-six years ago. A native of Allen county, Kentucky, born on April 1, 1850, Mrs. Spillman obtained her education in the rural schools of that state. At the age of 19, she was married to James V. Spillman in Allen county, and a short time later, they started on their journey to the West. Sixty wagons composed their train, and the travelers arrived in Dallas during the rainy season. Several months were required for this trip, and Mrs. Spillman often told of their tiresome trip, fording flooded rivers and plodding over muddy prairies. The travelers spent only a short time here before continuing their journey to what is now known as Vickery. The Spillmans lived there with their friends many years before the little town was given a name. They bought supplies in Dallas and wagons were their only means of transportation. Mrs. Spillman was in good health until five years ago, when she became confined to her bed. Of the early settlers of Vickery who made the journey with her and her husband, only three survive. They are Rev. T. J. Penson of Dallas, Mrs. Mattie J. White of Richardson and Dr. Perry Penson of Paris, a brother of Rev. Penson. Surviving are three sons, C. R. Spillman of Holdenville, Ok., Euclid Spillman of Dallas and Joe Spillman of Dallas, and six daughters, Mrs. Lizzie Melear of Seamour [Seymour], Tex., Mrs. Hattie James of Wichita Falls, Misses Emma and Erma Spillman of Vickery, Mrs. Laura Hibbler of Austin and Mrs. Jim Miller of Dallas. Funeral arrangements will be announced later, pending advice from out-of-town relatives. *** VICKERY, TEXAS. Vickery was at a site that is now on Loop 12, State Highway 75, Interstate Highway 635, the Southern Pacific line, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line in north central Dallas County. It was located on the original land grants of W. Jenkins, D. Barrow, N. McGraney, and W. P. Wyche. The area was originally settled by John J. and William Jenkins in the 1850s, and a small settlement began to develop around the Jenkins homes. The Houston and Texas Central Railway built through the community in 1873, but by 1900 it was still a small settlement of a few scattered houses. In the early 1900s before World War I, John E. Vickery laid out and promoted a townsite, which received a post office in 1912. Ten years later the community had 200 residents, six food and drug stores, four automobile repair shops, three churches, a bank, a cotton gin, a dining hall, and a public school. It had no water or fire department facilities. The population of Vickery fluctuated between a high of 800 in 1927 to a low of 200 in 1933. By 1939 the number of residents had increased to 650, and by 1941, to 1,000. Dallas annexed the community in March 1945. In 1991 the residents living in the area of Vickery still retained a strong sense of community and were working to redevelop and preserve this historic site.