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Thomas Joseph Monroe Grear, father of the late L.C. Greear of Lampasas, was born April 7, 1869 near Grapevine, Tarrant Co., Texas. He told some of his children that he was Scotch-Irish and Indian. It is not believed that Thomas Joseph Greear ever resided in Lampasas, even though his wife and children and his parents were all residents there.
Parents of Thomas Joseph Greear were Jonathan Thomas and Margaret {Marie (Burgoon) Greear. He married Sarah Vashtie Burgoon July 3, 1890 in Granbury, Hood Co., Tx. Sarah was born Dec. 26, 1870 in Tarrant Co., Tx. to Joseph Amos Burgoon and Minerva (Milliken) Burgoon, who were married March 8, 1866.
Joseph Amos Burgoon, father of Sarah Vashtie (Burgoon) Greear was born May 21, 1830 either in Maryland or Ohio. It is probable that Joseph Amos Burgoon arrived in the Grapevine Prairie area near the Dallas and Tarrant Co. line, around 1853 with his siblings and parents, Charles Burgoon and Ann Maria (Geiger) Burgoon. The elder Burgoons had married in Baltimore, Maryland and started west soon afterwards. The family lived in Ohio and Iowa before becoming farmers in the Grapevine Prairie area of Texas. Joseph Amos Burgoon at some time settled near Minters Chapel in Tarrant Co. in the area that is now the location of Dallas-Ft. Worth International Air port. (Minters Chapel cemetery is located here and many Burgoons are buried here.)
Minerva (Milliken) Burgoon, mother of Sarah Vashtie (Burgoon) Greear was born March 8, 1844 in Illinois, and was Cherokee according to family members. She was proceeded in death by her husband, Joseph Amos, on Dec. 19, 1889. She later married a man named Millican on April 26, 1893, but she passed away a few years later.
Children born to Thomas Joseph Greear and Sarah Vashtie (Burgoon) Greear were: John Elmer, b. April 26, 1892, Granbury, Hood Co., TX., m. first wife--Ruth Hamric, Feb. 4, 1916, Ballinger Tx., d. Dec. 17, 1948, Houston, Tx.; Roy Clinton, b. April 18, 1895, Grapevine, Tarrant Co., Tx., m. Violet (Penny) Bullion, Oct. 2, 1920, Lampasas, Tx., d. August 28, 1968, VA Hospital, Temple, Tx., buried--National Cemetery, San Antonio, Tx.; Lillian Beatrice b. March 4, 1898, Santa Anna, Coleman Co., Tx., m. Addison W. Fullwood, Feb. 27, 1918, San Antonio, Tx., d. July 4, 1985, El Monte, Calif.; Eda Belle, b. Oct 27, 1900, Claremont, Kent co., Tx., m. Alec Moten, Dec. 11, 1921, Lampasas, Tx., d. March 9, 1979, San Jose, Calif., buried--ashes in Sunset Cemetery, long Beach, Calif.; Rosie Lee, b. June 10, 1904, Elk City, Woodard Co., Ok., m. Leonard Bowie McDonald, March 23, 1921, Lampasas, Tx., d. Oct 16, 1987, Bakersfield Calif., buried--Greenlawn Memorial Park, Bakersfield, Calif.; Loise Clifton (L.C.), b. May 18, 1907, Ballinger, Runnels Co., Tx., m. Alma Smith, Dec.10, 1932, Lampasas, Tx., d. Dec. 13, 1983, Scott & White Hospital, Temple, Tx., buried--Smith Cemetery, Burnet Co., Tx.; William Otis, b. Feb. 7, 1910, Winters, Runnels Co., Tx., d. Oct. 10, 1910, Winters, Tx.
Thomas Joseph Greear became a stonemason and bricklayer in order to support his growing family. He worked on churches, bridges, courthouses, etc. and in 1913 helped build the Blanco Co. Courthouse in Johnson City, Tx. His work took him from job to job across the state of Texas and into Oklahoma. His wife Sarah finally let it be known that she was ready to settle down; she wanted her children to get an education, she was tired of her husband being away from home, and she was tired of moving. Sometime after 1913 she moved her family to Lampasas where she until 1921. She and Thomas Joseph were divorced around 1917.
Years later while Thomas Joseph Greear was working on a ranch near Flagstaff, Ariz., his horse stepped into a gopher hole throwing him and breaking his leg. He lay in the sun all day and suffered a bad sunstroke, paralyzing his lower intestines. He was in and out of a hospital for a long time in San Bernardino, Calif. Two of his daughters, Rosie McDonald and Beatrice Fullwood, eventually located him and he lived with Rosie in Bakersfield before he died in Kern General Hospital, Bakersfield, Calif. on April 17, 1943. He is buried in Green Lawn Memorial Park in the same city.
After divorcing T.J.M. Greear, Sarah Vashtie remained in Lampasas, where she worked hard to raise her children. She took in washing, ironing, and sewing, making such things as wedding dresses, graduation dresses, etc. She was skilled at knitting and crocheting and made many beautiful pieces. She also worked as a practical nurse in people's homes. On March 23, 1921 she married John Henry Jernigan in Lampasas. This was a double wedding for her and her daughter Rosie, who married Leonard Bowie McDonald at the same time. Mr. Jernigan was living on the E. Babe Smith, Sr. place in the Rocky creek area near Oakalla, Burnet Co., Tx.; Sarah and son L.C. (who was almost 14) moved there with him. John Henry Jernigan died April 19, 1930 near Oakalla.
Sarah Vashtie (Greear) Jernigan left Texas around 1935 and went to California to be near her 3 daughters who lived there. She returned to Lampasas around 1948 where she died of Leukemia on June 7, 1950. She is buried in the Smith Cemetery, Burnet Co., Tx.
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