The Walker County, Texas, Deans

The earliest and only known Dean in the line was Louisa Dean who married William Pinkney Wilson in Walker County, Texas in 1858. The census records indicate that she was born in Alabama about 1841. It is not known when Louisa or her family arrived in Walker County, but a J. N. Parker of Trinity, Trinity Co., TX, stated in Louisa Wilson’s application for Confederate Widow’s Pension that he had known both her and her late husband since before their marriage in the "early fifties" in Walker County.

Nothing is known of Louisa's family, but she may have been related to the family of James and Sarah Dean who lived in Walker County on Harmon Creek since at least 1838. In 1860 they lived four houses away from Pinkney and Louisa, and Louisa and Pinkney named their two eldest children James and Sarah. Although the census states that both James and Sarah Dean were born in North Carolina, they lived in Alabama since their son Fulton Dean was born there about 1835. James and Sarah Dean were probably too old to be Louisa's parents, and they apparently did not live in Alabama in 1841 when she was born. Perhaps she was the daughter of a son who remained in Alabama until the 1840's or was an orphan living with her grandparents. The censuses state that her parents were born in Alabama (1880) or South Carolina (1910).

Louisa and Pinkney Wilson lived in Walker County until after 1870 when they moved to San Jacinto County. Pinkney died at Old Honea in Montgomery County in 1894, where he was likely following sawmill work at the time.

In 1901 Louisa Wilson was living at Trevat in Trinity County, Texas, when she applied for the Confederate Widow's pension.

By 1910 Louisa lived in Angelina County. At some point she lived at Pollok, and eventually she moved to Keltys, Texas, where she died in 1921. She is buried at Keltys Cemetery, which is now located in the midst of a large industrial tract.

My Dean Line

  1. M. Lee Murrah (1947-now)
  2. Earvin Elroy Murrah (1918-1995) m. Ina Gertrude Johnson (1924-1988)
  3. Samuel Virgil Murrah (1885-1971) m. Hester Ann Laura Forsythe (1896-1978)
  4. Samuel Becton Murrah (1856-1937) m. Henrietta Wilson (1867-1943)
  5. Louisa Dean (1841-1921) m. William Pinkney (Pink) Wilson (1836-1894)

Published Genealogies and Other Sources

None known.

Other Dean Internet Resources

Updates to Dean Family Information

Please report any Dean information by e-mail to Lee. Please mention this web page in your message.

Sources

  1. Crews, D. M., Huntsville and Walker County, Texas--A Bicentennial History, p 346-7.
  2. Marriages, Walker Co., Texas
  3. Census, Walker Co., Texas, 1850, 1860, 1870
  4. Deeds, Walker and San Jacinto Cos., Texas
  5. Census, San Jacinto Co., Texas, 1880.
  6. Confederate Pension Records, State of Texas, Louisa Wilson
  7. Lillian Wilson
  8. Samuel Virgil Murrah

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