Askew Family

John W. Askew 1818-1904

The earliest documented evidence to date, of John W. Askew is found in Bowie County, Texas with his Certificate for 640 acres, Claim # 135, on June 8, 1841. John was also a member of the Masonic Lodge in Boston, Texas. The Lodge was established in 1850 at Boston (now Old Boston). The first yearly report in Dec 1850 showed 27 members, consisting of a range of occupations shown on the 1850/60 census. The Lodge met on the 2nd floor above the store owned by W. A. Lindsay which sit at the northeast corner of the old town square near where Mrs. Rainey’s store was in the 1950-60’s

He is also shown on the 1850 Census, with his wife Mary Looney-Askew, and their first three children. Margaret Ann age 6, Martha A. age 4, and son Britton Gatewood, age 2. John must of acquired more land along the way because according to this census, John had a total of 1,320 acres of land in 1850. John and his family are well documented on all the census years of Bowie County. John and his wife Mary had 9 children: Margaret, Martha, Britton, Clara, James, George, Matilda, Sarah, and Orre. We know by the 1870 census that Mary Looney-Askew died sometime between 1868-1870, as she is not on this census with her husband John. One can assume that Mary may have died shortly after the birth of her last daughter Orre Della born in 1868.

 By 1880, John had remarried a lady with the initials of M.J. and they had 3 children together, Laura born in 1873, M. L., a daughter born in 1875 and a son, Augustus H. born in 1878. J. W. Askew is located on the 1900 Bowie County Census at age 81 and a widow. Living with John is daughter Laura age 27, along with son Gus H. age 21. Also shows a RR (Neut Terrel, son in law) age 32. One must assume this is daughter Laura's husband. Also in household are grandson's Thomas age 6 and James R. age 4. I would think that these are the children of his daughter Laura and husband.

The 1885 Affidavit of J W Askew for Homestead upon 160 acres of vacant public land that he had surveyed in 1873. This was made for the purpose of obtaining title to the homestead, under the "Act for the benefit of actual occupants of public lands" approved May 26, 1873.

John died on 4 June 1904 in Malta (Bowie Co) TX. He is not listed in the Malta Cemetery which might mean that he had no headstone or possibly could be buried somewhere else. Efforts to obtain a copy of his death certificate have failed.

Much effort has been made, in trying to find the parents of John. At this time, I am still searching Tennessee, and have found that there were a lot of Askew’s that came from North Carolina to Tennessee. The search will continue.