(CCG Tom Windham and Laura L. Jones)
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Eustace Windham > Samuel B. Windham > John Darby Windham > Thomas Windham

Thomas WINDHAM "Tom"

Born: Aug 8, 1859, AngeTX
Died: Aug 28, 1951, CallTX

Buried: Tecumseh Cemetery, CallTX

Find-A-Grave 31009465

Father: Dr. John D. WINDHAM

Mother: Fannie MONTEITH

Married:
Dec 21, 1883,
CallTX

Laura Lou JONES

Born: Feb 26, 1866, Homer, ClaiLA
Died: May 17, 1948

Buried: Tecumseh Cemetery, CallTX

Find-A-Grave 31009359
Father: Alfred Walter JONES

Mother: Elenor FLOYD

Children:

1. John D. WINDHAM (b. Jan 22, 1885, Oplin, CallTX; d. Feb 16, 1954, Clyde, CallTX)

  • m. Maggie STRALEY "Bunce" (Feb 16, 1886, Novice, ColeTX; d. Dec 8, 1976, Midland, MidlTX) on Aug 5, 1894
    Parents: John H. Straley/Addie O. Popnoe

Children:

  1. Robbie Ellen WINDHAM (b. Jun 4, 1916)
    m. Roy DAVIDSON

  2. James Thomas WINDHAM (b. Oct 6, 1918)
    m. Bettye J. TAYLOR

Notes:

  •  

 

2. James Calvin WINDHAM "Jim" (b. Dec 30, 1885; d. Aug 15, 1901, TX, age 15; Find-A-Grave 31009302)
 

Notes:

  • Young Jim was killed after being throw from his horse. He and his older brother, John, were helping their father pen some horses. The horses, ridden by the two brothers, ran together and both horses and riders were thrown to the ground. Jim died instantly from a broken neck. He was 15.  After that tragic event, his father, who raised mostly horses, sold almost all of them, and gave up on the horse business to focus on cattle. 

  • The "Calvin" in his name is probably for his Uncle Calvin who died in May 1901.

  • Elsie Straley Durham, daughter of Annie L. Windham (below) named her youngest son after Jim Windham.

 

3. Alfred Walter WINDHAM (b. Apr 25, 1888, TX; d. Sep 27, 1898, TX; Find-A-Grave 31009008)
 

Notes:

  • Alfred died at the age of 10 of fever. His mother, long after his death, maintained that A. Walter had been her favorite child. 

4. Winnie Jones WINDHAM (b. Jul 9, 1890; d. Sep 27, 1975, Abilene, TaylTX)

Child:

  1. Infant daughter (died at birth in 1922)

Notes:

  •  For more information on Winnie and John, click John's name above.

5. Samuel Robert WINDHAM "Sam" (b. Apr 12, 1893; d. Jul 6, 1964, TX)

  • m. Pearl  M. WATSON (b. Jul 28, 1909, Forth Smith, SebaAR; d. Jul 1, 1994, TaylTX)

Children:

  1. Robert Lee Windham (b. Dec 8, 1925)
    m. Ida V. MCWHORTER

  2. Billy Ray Windham (b. Aug 17, 1927)
    m. Rita M. WILLIAMS

  3. Howard Newton Windham (b. Aug 20, 1929)

  4. Infant

  5. Bailey Anson Windham (b. Dec 9, 1932, TX)
    m. Charlyn L. JOHNSON

  6. Tommy Samuel Windham (b. April 11, 1934)

  7. Hal Dean Windham (b. Feb 8, 1938)
    m. Brenda G. RAY

  8. Virginia Lee Windham "Ginger" (b. Aug 20, 1941)

  9. Winnie Joan Windham (b. Sep 12, 1943
    m. Michael ODOM

  10. J.D. Windham (b. Nov 29, 1945)

Notes:

  • For more details on Sam Windham, click his name above.

6. Annie Laura WINDHAM "Lollie" (b. Aug 29, 1895; d. Jan 30, 1985, TX)

Children:

  1. Frankie Lee Straley (b. Aug 14, 1915, TX
    m. Jack HANCOCK

  2. Elsie Louise Straley (b. Apr 3, 1920, TX)
    m. Edmund Earl DURHAM

  3. Charley Tom Straley (b. Jul 11, 1923, TX)
    m. Peggy Eugena SANSOM

Notes:

  •  For more information on Lollie and Charlie, click Charlie's name above.

 

7. Oscar Thomas Windham (b. May 18, 1898; d. Sep 19, 1900, TX; Find-A-Grave 31009417)
 

Notes:

  • Young Oscar died from "a fever".

8. Ernest Richard WINDHAM (b. Jun 15, 1900, Oplin, CallTX; d. Mar 22, 1965, CallTX)

  • m. Sarah Marie BROOKS (b. Apr 12, 1901, MO; d. Dec 17, 1969, TX) on Apr 19, 1919, CallTX

Children:

  1. Richard Brooks Windham (b. Nov 18, 1920, TX
    m. Private

  2. Laura Mae Windham (b. Sep 11, 1926, TX)
    m1. Ocie YARBOROUGH
    m2. Mr. Hill

  3. Wanda Jo Windham (b. Sep 1, 1929)
    m1. Junior MCADAMS
    m2. Donald B. MCLAUGHLIN

Notes:

  • For more details on Ernest Windham, click his name above.

 

9. Infant Boy WINDHAM (b. 1902, TX; d. 1902, TX; Find-A-Grave 31008994
 

Notes:

  •  

10. Frank Anson WINDHAM (b. Aug 8, 1903, Oplin, CallTX; d. Feb 23, 1986, Baird, CallTX; Find-A-Grave 31009218)

Child:

  1. Frank Anson Windham Jr. (b. Sep 7, 1944, Baird, CallTX; d. Oct 22, 2016, CallTX; Find-A-Grave 171751647)

Notes:

  • Frank and Inez Windham were "Lifelong Ranchers", as is inscribed on their tombstone at Tecumseh Cemetery.

11. Tom Ferguson WINDHAM "Tommie" (b. Oct 24, 1906, Oplin, CallTX; d. Nov 11 1991)

  • m1. Catherine WOOD (b. c. 1907, TX)

  • m2. Marietta DYER (b. Dec 28, 1911 near Novice, ColeTX; d. Dec 3, 1993) on Sep 8, 1936

 

Child to Marietta:

  1. Paula Windham

Notes:

  • For more details on Tommie Windham, click his name above.

 

Notes:

  • Tom and Laura were life-long farm and ranchers in Callahan County Texas. They, along with most of their children and ancestors, are both buried at Tecumseh Cemetery, CallTX. There is a nice accounting of their lives in I Remember Callahan County.

  • I have gone back and forth about calling him "Thomas" or "Tom". I cannot officially make it "Tom" because the early census records list him as "Thomas", and someone in the family had to supply that information.  However, Mr. Windham did not like the name "Thomas".  He always went by "Tom", and that is how he signed documents.

    Also, I have a brief story on the subject, as told by my brother, T. Durham, whose own name has been the subject of a small family controversy:

    "Mom wanted to honor Tom, by naming her first son after him, so she named me "Tommy Dean Durham"; not "Tom" nor "Thomas", but "Tommy".  When I told Mr. Windham that I was named after him, he said, "Well, son, you ain't.  My name ain't "Tommy", it's "Tom!"

    My brother has since officially changed his name to "Tom Dean Durham", so the controversy is settled, at least for now.

  • Tom Windham is listed as one of Callahan County's Original Land Owners.

  • In October 2, 1945, a great article on Tom and Laura ran in the Abilene Reporter-News. This has some quotes from an interview with Tom and Laura - amazing stuff!

  • Laura Lou Jones was born in Homer, Louisiana. Laura's father, Alfred, was shot and killed by his wife's brother, Oscar Jones. It was reported that Alfred was angry (and drunk) because Laura Lou had been female at birth and he wanted a son. He claimed he would kill both Elenor and their newborn daughter. Elenor's brother came to her aid and killed Alfred before he could act on his intentions.   After that, the Jones left Louisiana for Texas. Unfortunately, Elenor never fully recovered from childbirth and died shortly thereafter.

  • From 1900 US Census for Justice Precincts 2, 4-5, Callahan County, TX:
    Dwelling 312, Family 316
     

  • Name Rel. Race Sex Birth
    Date
    Age Mar.
    Stat
    Yrs.
    Mar.
    Birth
    Place
    Father
    BPlace
    Mother
    BPlace
    Occ.
    Windham, Thomas Head W M Aug 1859 40 M 16 TX TN MS Farmer
    Windham, Laura Wife W F Feb 1866 34 M 16 LA LA AL  
    Windham, John Son W M Jan 1885 15 S   TX TX LA Farm Labor
    Windham, James Son W M Dec 1885 14 S   TX TX LA Farm Labor
    Windham, Winnie Dau W F Jul 1890 9 S   TX TX LA  
    Windham, Sam Son W M Apr 1893 7 S   TX TX LA  
    Windham, Laura Dau W F Aug 1895 4 S   TX TX LA  
    Windham, Oscar Son W M Apr 1898 2 S   TX TX LA  
    Clark, Dan Boarder W M May 1875 25 S   TX TX AL Farm Labor

     

  • County/State Abbreviations:
    AngeTX - Angelina County, TX
    CallTX - Callahan County, TX
    ClaiLA - Claiborne Parish, LA
    ColeTX - Coleman County, TX
    MidlTX - Midland County, TX
    SebaAR - Sebastian County, AR
    TaylTX - Taylor County, TX
     

  • Page Sources:
    1. Site author's personal experience.

 Young Tom with baby John Granddad, Grandma, Frankie Lee, Sam, Frank Grandma, Granddad, and Frank Windham Tom on horseback 1st Row: Robert., C.T., Billie Ray., Laura Mae, Frankie Lee, Wanda Jo, Richard; 2nd Row: Sam, John, Earnest, Marie, Elsie; 3rd Row: Grandma, Winnie, Bunce, Inez; Back Row: Frank, Charley, Loll, John Jordan Loll, Grandma and Winnie John, Sam, Frank, Caregiver, Loll, Winnie, Earnest, J.D., Granddad  Aug 8, 1950 Tom and Laura Lou Windham
Click on pic to enlarge

Names Added to Name Index: YES

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