BCGHS Journal, Vol V, No 3, Jul-Sep 2023, by LeAnne McCamey – BCGHS Newsletter/Quarterly Editor
James Avery Lomax was born on 29 Apr 1816 in Abbeville, South Carolina, to Terrence and Martha Elizabeth (nee Greene). Corners of Texas indicates that his family were wealthy landowners until they lost their wealth in a land dispute.
James married his first wife, Mary Holt, on 8 Mar 1838 when he was in his mid-thirties. He had five children with her as follows:
Martha Elizabeth Lomax
(1840-1869)
Seaborn Silas Lomax (1842-1912)
Dorothy Roena Lomax (1845-1885)
James Terrence Lomax (1848-1924)
Israel Lomax (1851-1929)
James moved his family to Holmes County, Mississippi, sometime between the birth of his daughter Dorothy in 1845 and his son James in 1848. He worked there as a farmer and tanner. The 1850 census record has him listed as a farmer. He would eventually build a tan yard on his farm. His wife, Mary, died there on 22 Apr 1854.
Susan Frances Cooper, twenty years James’ junior, lived nearby and helped James with the children for several years. She and James were eventually married on 8 Mar 1857. They had ten children.
Richard Cooper Lomax (1859-1934)
Mary Frances Lomax (1859-1897)
Charles Alexander Lomax
(1860-1865)
Anna Lomax (1863-1864)
Jesse James Lomax (1865-1940)
John Avery Lomax (1867-1948)
George Kelley Lomax (1870 -1960)
Robert Payne Lomax (1873-1939)
Susan May Lomax (1875-1965)
Alice Orinda Lomax (1878-1966)
The Lomax family headed to Texas four years after the Civil War ended during the most turbulent time of that state’s history. They departed their home in the fall of 1869 and arrived in Bosque County in December.
In James Lomax’s words, they left their home in Mississippi “to get away from the wreck of the war, and take my young family out of a state of society that can only be expressed by the word chaos.” He also hoped that the climate would help him recover from poor health caused by his service in the war.
James also wished to distance himself from “antebellum Mississippi” culture. He said, “I did not want my family raised in contact with the negro, either as a slave or a freedman.” A prejudicial viewpoint, to be sure. However, James felt that “the ruling classes [in Mississippi] possessed all the culture and intelligence …[and that] slavery was a curse to the South.” Despite James’ lack of desire to socialize with the colored race, he was well known to be outspoken on the mistreatment of blacks following the Civil War.
James was also leaving behind hard feelings between him and his younger brother Tillman. Feelings of animosity arose between the two before the civil war over issues related to the wealth and social position Tillman gained through his marriage. Tillman was appointed Captain of the Home Guard at the onset of the Civil War. James was nearly fifty when Tillman conscripted him into his regiment, the Lomax Battery Light Artillery. James was detailed for particular service by higher authorities to operate a tannery and make shoes for the Confederates, which he did until the war’s end. Tillman maliciously reported James as a deserter on the Nov-Dec 1864 Confederate Roll as deserting on 6 Dec 1864 with one musket, cartridge, and cap box, ten rounds of cartridges, and twelve percussion caps. James’ sons, John and Richard, spent much time and expense to clear their father’s record, to no avail. In 1915, John swore in an affidavit on behalf of his mother’s pension application that “I know these facts from personal observation and experience, and know that my father never deserted, but served the Confederacy in the field and afterward by special detail as a shoemaker.” John also stated that he took his father’s place as a substitute in 1864 when he was about fifteen years old for about six weeks. His father had to go home to do business with the tannery. One Wyatt McFadden swore to the affidavit as well.
Susan Lomax was less eager to leave her Mississippi home. She did not look forward to the 500-mile trip in a mule-drawn wagon to the wild and uncivilized Texas frontier, far from any family or friends. She was seven months pregnant when they began the journey to Texas and greatly feared the Indians that still roamed the frontier where James planned on settling.
Family members that joined James and Susan on their journey included Dorothy, Seaborn, and Israel (children by James’ first marriage), two of Dorothy’s sons (Thomas and James Cooper), and four of James’ and Susan’s children (Richard, Mary, Jesse, and John A). In addition, James Terrence (a son by James’ first marriage) and his wife Mattie followed them to Bosque County a few years later in 1876.
Through the upheaval of Texas Reconstruction, the Lomaxes focused on the necessities of finding and building a home for the family and putting food on the table. One advantage of Reconstruction that James capitalized on was the availability of rich prairie lands for low prices. He found precisely what he was looking for in a 183-acre tract of land on the Bosque River eight miles north of Meridian.
Once James settled on his land, he had his wagons, teams, household goods, and $4,000 in gold shipped to him by rail. Not long after their arrival, James completed “a small two-room cabin at the bottom of the second bluff that marked the Bosque River.” He also cleared enough land for cotton and corn to be planted by spring. He raised horses and cattle as well. When he needed spare cash, he would have his older sons cut timber to sell to the townsfolk for stove wood.
Even though their childrens’ help was essential for the arduous work of farm life, James and Susan made sure their children attended every school session possible. James was a trustee for the Meridian community school and put great value on “book learning.” He subscribed to several national newspapers and always strongly encouraged his children to read and get educated. His son, John, stated that his father was “a stolid straight-ahead man…at times a stern taskmaster…who…kept a jug of whiskey behind the kitchen door…for ‘morning drams.'”
The Lomaxes weren’t regular churchgoers, though Susan was very religious. James was more or less indifferent. However, they did adhere to a solid Christian doctrine. The children were strictly forbidden to play games, go fishing, or swim in the river on Sundays.
The Lomax farm was near the Chisholm Trail. As such, a steady stream of covered wagons and cattle herds were always passing by. The family frequently hosted cowboys and strangers spending the night and visitors from the many camp meetings that took place on a regular basis. These visitors provided a welcome distraction from the brutal, grinding work of farm life.
James died in Meridian on 25 Jan in 1892 at age seventy-five. Susan died on 15 Jan 1928 at the age of ninety-two in Austin, Texas. She had been living with her daughter Alice. James and Susan are buried in the Meridian Cemetery.
Sources
Corners of Texas, Francis Edward Abernethy, University of North Texas Press, 1993
Hunting For Bears, comp.. South Carolina Marriage Index, 1641-1965.https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/18499418/person/697610154/facts
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53212735/mary-lomax) memorial page for Mary Holt Lomax (17 Sep 1822–22 Apr 1854), ID 53212735, citing Shady Grove Cemetery, Goodman, Holmes County, Mississippi
Texas State Library and Archives Commission; Austin, Texas; Confederate Pension Applications, 1899-1975; Collection #: CPA16526; Roll #: 2618; Roll Description: Pension File Nos. 00682 to 15343, Application Years 1897 to 1933
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Mississippi, James A Lomax, ID 58967, Roll 0097, National Archives. Fold3