Henry Oliver Hedgcoxe

Henry Oliver Hedgcoxe was born about 1800 in London, England.

Henry's parents were John Oliver Hedgcoxe and Ann Bool of Sussex County, England.
The family came to America in July 1819 on the ship George Washington. They landed in Baltimore, then, Henry and his parents settled in Clark County, Indiana.

Indiana marked on the map of USA

Henry Oliver married on 3rd April 1823 in Indiana. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Ann Parks.

Henry Oliver Hedgecock
mentioned in the record of Henry Oliver Hedgecock and Elizabeth Ann Parks

Name: Henry Oliver Hedgecock
Event Type: Marriage Registration
Event Date: 14 Apr 1823
Event Place: Clark, Indiana, United States
Gender: Male
Marriage: License Date 03 Apr 1823
Marriage Place: Clark, Indiana
Spouse's Name: Elizabeth Ann Parks
Spouse's Gender: Female
Officiator's Name: Guy Guernsey
Page 70
Number of Images 1

Record Source:
"Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXPM-S45 : 8 December 2017), Henry Oliver Hedgecock and Elizabeth Ann Parks, 14 Apr 1823; citing Clark, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,415,852.

The couple had seven children - four sons and three daughters.

After the death of his first wife, Henry married again. On findagrave.com I found the information that his second wife was Indiana Goodwin.

Henry O Hedgecox
mentioned in the record of Henry O Hedgecox and Indiana Goodwin

Name: Henry O Hedgecox
Event Type: Marriage Registration
Event Date: 06 Feb 1840
Event Place: Clark, Indiana, United States
Gender: Male
Marriage License: Date 06 Feb 1840
Marriage Place: Clark, Indiana
Spouse's Name: Indiana Goodwin
Spouse's Gender: Female
Officiator's Name: Newton Short
Page 268
Number of Images 1

Record Source
"Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXPM-LXX : 8 December 2017), Henry O Hedgecox and Indiana Goodwin, 06 Feb 1840; citing Clark, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,415,852.

The Hedgcoxes moved to Texas in 1843.

Henry was designated as an agent of the Texas Emigration and Land Company. He worked efficiently though soon, his actions related to company policies were found controversial by the settlers and the company antagonists. It all resulted in the so-called Hedgcoxe War (15 July 1852). Henry Oliver was forced to leave Dallas. Sometime after the incident, Henry Oliver settled in Austin, Texas where he died ten years later.

I have found the 1850 Census records which say that Henry Oliver, Indiana, their son, and Henry's daughter from the first marriage lived in Galveston. How was that since Henry Oliver worked in Collin County? Besides, the record tells that Henry was born in 1810 not in 1800 as some sources inform*. What's more, according to the info given on findagrave.com, Indiana was to be a younger sister of Felix George Goodwin who was born in 1818.

The record says the particular Indiana Hegcoke was born about 1816. If it was Indiana meant by the findagrave.com post author, she was not younger than Felix. Maybe there was a mistake in the records? Was it then the same Henry O. who worked in Peters' Colony? The man recorded in the Census was born in 1810 in England. Well, seems as if it was 'our' Henry Oliver. Who knows why there were in Galveston then.

United States Census, 1850
Name: Indiana Hegcoke
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1850
Event Place: Galveston city, Galveston, Texas, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 34
Race: White
Birth Year: (Estimated) 1816
Birthplace: Indiana
House Number: 361
Household
Henry O Hegcoke, Male, age 40, born England
Indiana Hegcoke,  F,  34, born Indiana
Henrietta Hegcoke, F, 18, born Indiana
Felix Hegcoke, M, 8, Indiana

Record Source:
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLK-NV8 : 12 April 2016), Indiana Hegcoke in household of Henry O Hegcoke, Galveston city, Galveston, Texas, United States; citing family 372, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Galveston, Texas

Henry and Elizabeth's second son John Oliver was born on 6 Jan. 1828 in Jeffersonville Clark County Indiana. John was our great-great-uncle by marriage.

How? John's second wife was Abigail Obelier Stimson, the daughter of Isaac Stimson and Rachel Obelier Tucker. Abby was born on 6 August 1825 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. She was a sister of our great-grandmother Rachel Belle Zorie Stimson.

John and Abigail got married on 2 March 1858 in Texas. They did not have any children. In 1880 the couple lived with John's niece Margaret at Justice Precinct 1 in Plano, Collin County, Texas.

John Hedgecoxe
United States Census, 1880
Name: John Hedgecoxe
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1880
Event Place: Precinct 1, Collin, Texas, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 55
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Race (Original): W
Occupation: Farmer
Relationship to Head of Household: Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Self
Birth Year (Estimated): 1825
Birthplace: Indiana, United States
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Sheet Letter D
Sheet Number 72
Person Number 0
Volume 2
 
Household
John Hedgecoxe, Male, age 55, born Indiana, United States
Abigal Hedgecoxe, Wife, F, age 53, born Virginia, United States
Mary Hedgecoxe, Niece, F, age 15, born Texas, United States

Record Source:
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFFB-7S2 : 15 July 2017), John Hedgecoxe, Precinct 1, Collin, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 19, sheet 72D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1296; FHL microfilm 1,255,296.

According to the notes provided by cousin Rachel G. B., Abigail passed on 6 May 1894. The date had been copied from her gravestone by aunt Lula (at first, Abigail was buried at the Stimson Cemetery). Later, Abigail's body was transferred to Rowlett Cemetery in Plano. John died on 20 April 1909 in Roswell, Chaves County, New Mexico.

UPDATE

Reading the book (mentioned below*) I learned that the Hedgcoxe War was not a riot organized spontaneously by colonists. It was actually a movement set and run by land speculators who lived outside Peters Colony

In 1853 Henry Oliver Hedgcoxe Sr. was issued a land certificate (Fannin Third Class cert. #954) by the Collin County court.

According to the records, his sons arrived in Peters Colony before 1 July 1848.

H. O. Hedgcoxe II (born 1823, Indiana) - in 1850 he reported that he was married but his wife was living in Indiana. The man claimed 640 acres but was granted only 320. Despite that, he patented 640 acres in Collin County (Fannin Third Class Certificate No. 976).

Robert Farsey Hedgcoxe (b. 1827, Indiana) - settled on a company survey - as a single man, he was granted Fannin Third Class Certificate #975 for 320 acres (he patented the land in Denton County).

Family tree line

Henry Oliver Hedgcoxe Sr.
⇒ his son John Oliver Hedgcoxe
⇒ his wife Abigail Obelier Stimson
⇒ her sister Rachel Belle Zorie (Stimson) Howard - our great-grandmother

* "The Peters Colony of Texas. A History and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers" by Seymour V. Connor, The Texas State Historical Association, Austin 1959

Credits:

Information sources:

1. *my MyHeritage research;
2. findagrave.com;
3. Stambaugh, J. Lee, b. 1889; Stambaugh, Lillian J., b. 1888 & Carroll, H. Bailey. A History of Collin County, Texas, book, 1958; Austin, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61096/: accessed August 20, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu.

Pictures

1. The map: By This version: uploaderBase versions this one is derived from: originally created by en:User:Wapcaplet - own work by uploader, based on Image: Map of USA without state names.svg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4857003
2.  Galveston: By Nsaum75 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7904630
3. Gravestone: the courtesy of  Ms. Sherry Biehn

Update

The information provided by Ms. C. Warman: 

"After the war, the oldest son Oliver had stayed in the area. In the 1870 Census, Oliver's niece, Marietta is living in his household, and later that year he died.  Marietta then went to live with John, the second son, who by that time (1880 Census) was in Austin.  The patriarch Henry had become the official State Surveyor for the State of Texas, responsible for managing many surveyors under him.  He died in 1860 and was buried in Austin.  His first Surveying job was with the State of Indiana in 1838, which I assume is the reason he got the nod to take over as Land Agent for the Louisville, Kentucky Consortium (Peter's Colony) which was licensed first by Mexico, then by the State of Texas to bring colonists to the area".