Faded into the Mist of Time
Mariann Musgrave Brownson
The Gaston Family
History
The Gastons were Huguenots in Catholic France.
The name Gaston is an Old French grammatical case of a Germanic
personal name, probably from “gasti” meaning visitor or guest.
The name is also found in England and Ireland, established by the
immigration of the Huguenots to escape religious persecution.
Some Gaston lines of descent exhibit a hereditary overlap of the
two upper front teeth.
Jean Gaston
(1600 - unknown) was born
in Foix, France. By 1640 he
had moved to Melrose, Scotland where he married
Agnes (
- after 1650). They
had three sons: William
(1642), John (1645), and
Alexander (1648). The
family moved to County Antrim, Ireland, between 1662 and 1668 during the
persecution of Protestants in Scotland.
Son John
Gaston married Unknown
and had six children:
William (1680), Hugh
(1687), Mary (1695), Joseph (1700), John (1703) and
Alexander (1714). John was
listed on the hearth money rates (tax rolls) in Magheragall, County
Antrim; a few years later he moved to Carenleigh, Cloughwater.
Son William
Gaston (1680 - 1770) in 1702 married
Mary Olivet Lemon (1688 -
1752). They had nine
children: John (Apr. 4, 1703),
Mary (1712), Jennet or Janet (1714), Martha (1718),
Robert (1720), Hugh (1722),
Alexander (1727), Elizabeth (1730) and William (1735).
The Gastons were difficult to research.
Given (first) names were repeated in every generation and they
immigrated to America in waves.
William’s brothers (Hugh, Joseph, John and Alexander) immigrated
to America around 1720, arriving at the Port of Perth Amboy and settling
in New Jersey. William and
Olivet remained in Ireland, but all of their nine children immigrated to
America a few years later.
Son Robert
Gaston (1720 - before 9May1787) sailed to Lancaster County, PA,
where on Aug. 24, 1756 he married
Margaret Logan (1724)
He was listed as a cooper (barrel maker) when he bought land in South
Carolina. Robert and
Margaret moved to Lynches Creek, Lancaster County, SC in 1768.
Their children were:
William (Jul. 10, 1757, PA - Jan.
12, 1838, IL), Thomas (Jul. 18, 1759, PA),
James (Jul. 24, 1761, PA),
Margaret (1764, PA), John (1766, PA - 1836, IL), Joseph (1770, SC -
Sep. 4, 1839, TN), Elizabeth (1772, SC
- 1810, IL), Stephen (unknown), Martha (1774, SC
- 1851, KY), and Hugh (1776).
Robert is mentioned for performing patriotic
service by supplying 300 pounds of beef and a horse for the American
cause during the Revolutionary War.
His sons James and
William fought in the war.
His brother John’s nine sons fought beside James and William at the
Battle of Hanging Rock in August 1780.
Two of John’s sons were killed,
and son Joseph was severely injured by a ball
(bullet) through the nose which went under his left eye and out by his
ear and fractured his cheek bone, injured his sight, and destroyed
muscles in his jaw.
Son James
Gaston (Jul. 24, 1761 - Mar. 7, 1840) on Mar. 20, 1783 in Lancaster County, SC,
married Catherine Creighton
(1764 - Jan. 5, 1848). During
the Revolutionary War, he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Hanging
Rock. He was paroled from
the Camden, SC, jail after three months and returned home to Lynches
Creek. When he arrived, he
found “his Father’s Farm and everything thereon destroyed”, so he “threw
his parole in the fire and turned out to volunteer in the Company of
Captain William Nisbet.” He
served until May 1781.
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James Gaston Revolutionary War Pension Declaration Click on image to enlarge |
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After the war, several Gaston families moved from
South Carolina into the Northwest Territory, which at the time included
TN, KY, IN, and IL. James
and Catherine first settled in Christian County, KY, then traveled to
Shawneetown, IL, and then on to the Barnhill area of Wayne County, IL in
1810. James, his brothers
Stephen, William, and Robert all appeared on the 1807 Indiana
Territorial Census of Randolph County, which included a large part of
southern Illinois.
James, along with the Bovee family, founded a
Methodist Church at Big Mound Prairie.
The traveling preacher they hired had a 300-mile circuit to
cover. James was also a
teacher at the Mud Prairie School.
By 1816, Gaston’s “band mill” (gristmill) was built
in Little Mound Prairie.
Horses turned a wheel attached to a band which ran the grinding
machinery. Early Wayne
County settlers were very self-sufficient.
They made hair combs and spoons by boiling ox horns, then sawing
and shaping the item they needed.
They grew indigo to make bluing to whiten clothes, and made
starch from wheat bran.
The Gaston and Sons families built schools on their
farms, where they, their wives, and daughters taught the children.
Along with the neighboring settlers, they helped form the
government. When the first
circuit court meeting was held in 1819 (the year after Illinois became a
state), Robert Gaston served on the grand jury.
In 1837 James applied for and was given a
Revolutionary War pension.
While returning to his home in the Big Mound Prairie from Fairfield,
where he had gone to collect the pension, his horse was frightened and
threw him. His widow
Catherine applied for a survivor’s pension in 1843.
James and Catherine are buried in Bovee Cemetery, Wayne County,
IL. There is also a
commemorative stone in the Revolutionary War Soldier Memorial in Maple
Hill Cemetery in Fairfield.
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| James Gaston Tombstone |
Children of James and Catherine Gaston:
Margaret (1784 - 1806, SC)
Jane Catherine (Jul. 11, 1785, SC
- 1865, IL) married (1) John Massey.
She married (2) John Bovee (Sep. 11, 1788 -
Jan. 21,
1868) in Wayne County, IL. They had seven children.
They are buried in Bovee Cemetery.
Thomas Creighton (May 4, 1790, SC
- 1833, IL) married (1) Elender Clark, then (2) Sarah Connor.
They lived in Wayne County.
Robert Rutledge (Jan. 27, 1792, SC - Nov. 11, 1837) married
Betsy Whitney (1792 -
Dec. 28, 1849).
Robert was one of the founders and an elder of Shiloh Church.
He fought in the Mexican War and the Black Hawk Indian War.
He was only 45 when he died, and I believe his wife and children
went to live with one of his brothers, possibly James Cyrus.
Elihu or Eli (1793, SC -1834, IL) married (1) Nancy
Wilson, then (2) Mary Ann Treadway (sister of Jane, below).
John (Jan. 14, 1796, SC - May 5, 1875, IL) married (1)
Jane Treadway, then (2) Hannah Bovee, then (3) Artimissa “Artamacy”
Perrens. John fought in the
War of 1812 and the Black Hawk Indian War.
John and his wives are buried in Bovee Cemetery.
Elizabeth (1797, SC) married Benjamin McGehee.
Our ancestor,
James Cyrus Gaston
(Aug. 28, 1798, SC - 1878, MO)
on Jun. 19, 1821 married Margaret
“Peggy” Clark (Mar. 12, 1798 - 1870).
James Cyrus was a farmer, who also fought in the Black Hawk
Indian War. He received a
military land grant of 40 acres for his service.
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| James Gaston Land Grant (Click image to enlarge) |
Children of James Cyrus and Margaret Gaston:
Esther (Aug. 12, 1822) married John Clark (unknown).
They had four children.
Minerva J. (Aug. 13, 1824 - Sep. 6, 1899) married (1) John
Huddleton, married (2) William Warren (two children), married (3) D.
Marion Wier (two children).
Elizabeth (May 28, 1828 - Mar. 10, 1876) on May 28, 1828
married Michael Book
(Oct. 15, 1823 -
after 1884).
They had seven children.
Catherine (Sep. 24, 1830 - 1850)
Margaret (1833 - 1911) married William Robert
Downen. They had two
children.
Caleb W. (1836 - Feb. 26, 1872) served in the Civil
War.
Our ancestor,
James Alfred Gaston, Sr.
(1838 - before 1880), farmer, married Martha Elizabeth
Denny (Jan. 22, 1841), daughter of James Denny and Matilda Warren of
Kentucky.
Children of James Gaston
and Martha Elizabeth Denny:
Olive (Mar. 27, 1862 - Aug. 27, 1885) married J.E. Simms
(1860 - 1930). Olive
probably died in childbirth.
J.E. Simms remarried to Casandra “Sade” Sons, Carrie Sons
Gaston’s aunt. Olive, J.E.,
and Cassandra are buried in Bovee Cemetery.
Cornelia “Commelia” (Jan. 31, 1865
- Oct. 10, 1909) married Charles Franklin Dezouche (Aug. 11, 1856 -
Sep. 29, 1939). They had four
children.
Clede (Jul. 31, 1867 - Oct. 21,1937) married Nancy Ellen
“Lovie” White (Sep. 6, 1880 -
Feb. 28, 1958). Their
first daughter, Lillian Evelyn, died as an infant.
Their son Clede, age 3, died in the Great Flu Epidemic that also
killed Seth Gaston, Clede’s nephew and husband of Carrie Sons Gaston.
They had six children.
James
Alfred Gaston, Jr. (Nov. 23, 1869
- Jul. 17, 1943) in 1890 married
Evelyn Ada Worstenholm
(May 21, 1871 - after 1947).
James managed the Clifton Mills.
During the Great Depression in the 1920’s, they moved with their
family to Romeo, Michigan.
Carrie Sons Gaston cared very much for “Grandmother Gaston” as she
called Evelyn. Carrie saved
and marked the last letter she got from Evelyn on April 5, 1945, and the
last Christmas card Evelyn sent to her from Detroit, MI, in December,
1947.
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| Evelyn
Worstenholm Gaston (Picture courtesy of Mariann Musgrave Brownson) |
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| L. to R.:Clede
Gaston (James Alfred, Jr's brother), Seth Gaston (James Alfred,
Jr's son) and James Alfred Gaston, Jr. on the farm (Photo Courtesy of Mariann Musgrave Brownson) |
Children of James Alfred and Evelyn Gaston, Jr.:
Alfred Clede (Jul. 12, 1905 - Jul. 12, 1990) married Eunice
Sybil Scudamore ( Jan. 13, 1907 -
Beulah T. (Jun., 1898
- 1970) married Clarence Anderson (Nov. 16, 1890 -
Mar. 6,
1943). They also
moved to Michigan. They had
three children.
Our ancestor,
Seth Clifford Gaston
(Jun. 14, 1892 - Nov. 3, 1918) on
Jan. 14, 1912 married Carrie Edith
Sons (Mar. 9, 1894 - May 1, 1976).
Seth was the cashier of Sims Bank, and loved to sing at church.
He died at age twenty-six during the Great Flue Epidemic. His
obituary states: “He was universally loved and respected by all who knew
him and to count his friends was to count those who knew him.”
Seth and Carrie had two children:
Mary Evelyn (Mar. 18, 1917
- Feb. 17, 1982) married Andrew E. “Andy” Rawls (Jun. 24, 1916 -
Nov. 21, 1986). They had four
children. Aunt Mary was the
sweetest woman and she sewed beautiful clothes.
Uncle Andy liked to joke around with the kids.
Maxine Leota (Apr. 4, 1914
- Nov. 18, 1985) married (1) Donald Vernon Mack
(Sep. 11, 1913 - Feb. 14, 1998).
“Nana” and Vern had one child Carole Ann
Mack (Dec. 11, 1935 - Jan. 8, 1965).
Nana divorced Vern and married (2) Charles C. Williams, whom we
called “Papa” (Oct. 27, 1913 - d Oct. 28, 1985).