......dad knew a Roy Mefford in Erath County. I am 69 and can't remember much about him except dad said he was a good farmer and well respected. When you mentioned Arendells, we may be cousins. Tom Arendell was one of the first settlers between Selden and Pleasant Hill (Chigger Hill Methodist Church) about 7 miles out of Stephenville south on Canadian- Mexico trunk Route 281- the American Legion WW1 Memorial Highway used for shipping out troops. Seems Roy held a county office, maybe precinct commissioner. Some old histories said Tom Arendell is buried in Hamilton County. I can show you his grave in Erath Countyon the Moncrief Dairy near the Selden Road. His log cabin- one room- was on the north of the present road and my dad's first cousin'husband has moved it to his home a mile northeast of Selden and completely restored it with dirt floor, fireplace, and hanging hooks. He is a retired dairyman and when hot weather, feed, and milk prices used to bother him, he would go set in the cabin and rock a while- still does. When he built his cabin the Indians had returned to the area during the Civil War absence of men, and many Caddo were friendly. Many Whites had Cherokee blood from the Carolinas and Georgia. Most of these were settled farmers, but Stephenville City Park was used by Choctaw and Comanche Indians for camping on their way to Oklahoma after Texas joined the Union. Before that, Pres. Sam Houston declared all north and East of Tyler as Indian Territory. Pres. Lamar said it was not a reservation but no one had to move if they had personal land and were law abiding. Intermarried Cherokee settled down to the Alabama-Coshuta reservation of today. This was one escape from the Trail of Tears before 1845. Rev. John R. Baylor led the Central Texas Rangers (mostly vigilante, sometimes deputized temporarily) out of Stephenville and Comanche and forced all Caddoes and Lipans- farmers with homes- to Oklahoma. He became the first Governor of Arizona. My Grandmother Ida Kathryn (Moxley) Wyly had a sister, Minnie Olivia Moxley, born 1879 who married Minnie Russell Arendell . They had 6 children, Louis, Belle, Ida, David, and Elmo. I have their birthdates and some children. One Moxley married a Darnell. Dorothy Scrimsher Suitt's mom was their daughter. Dorothy is still in Selden. If I am on the right track, let me know and I can send you more. Must stop now ands attend a former student's funeral. Charles Wyly- also at Wyly1@mci2000.com On Wed, 05 Aug 1998 08:46:09 -0500 Mike & JoAnn Brown <mikeb@dfw.net> writes: >I am searching the surnames of >Mefford,Arendell,Bolling,Manahan,Marks,& >Cook. >I have alot of information on the Meffords & Bollings.I really need >help >on the Arendell, Marks,Cook & Manahan families.All of these families >lived in Erath County,some as far back as 1850. > I would be more than willing to share my information with others. > I am also seeking information on the Davis,Sanders & Lott families of >Erath & Bosque Counties. > Any information on any of these families would be greatly >appericated. > Thank you, > JoAnn > > _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]