Today marks the 160th anniversary for Thomas Gooch and Verlinda Jennings, my Great-great grandparents.
And index to Williamson County marriages records their marriage as 7 Mar 1852. A later pension file gives it as 1852, but the county record is more reliable.
—-G. McLin, Williamson County, Texas Marriage Records 1849-1860 ([S.l. : s.n., 198-?]), p. 3.
One month later they purchased land near Verlinda’s family. Here is an abstract of that record. William Jennings was her father:
22 April 1852- …I, G.W. Glassock of [Williamson County] have bargained unto Thomas Gooch, of [Williamson Co] …land on the waters of Berrys Creek for the consideration of one hundred dollars to me in hand paid by Thomas Gooch…Beginning at William Ginnings [William Jennings] North west corner; thence South 71 West 894 varas to the east line of 640 acres surveyed for J.M. Glassock bears a stone corner; thence South 19 East 1205 varas to the corner of said six hundred forty acre tract a live oak bears 35 East 40 varas another bears South 32 West 32 varas; thence N71E; 894v to W. Jennings thence N19W with Jennings line 1205 varas to the beginning, containing one hundred and ninety acres of more or less…G.W. GLASSOCK (seal) attest: J.B. BERRY
—-Texas. Williamson County Clerk, Texas, Williamson Co. – Deeds, 1848-1902; Index, 1835-1904 ([S.l.] : Southern Microfilm Corp., 1973, 1988-1989, Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah), Film #0977901, v. 3, p. 234.
Here is a link to an explanation of what a “vara” was. (Hint: it is an early unit of measurement for lands that were once under Spanish control.)
Here is a link to an explanation of the “metes and bounds” system for surveying land.
A year and a half later he purchased more land:
27 Dec 1853- …we, Joseph P. Pulsifer of Jefferson County, and William Brazier of Williamson Co…for…the sum of seventy-five dollars to us in hand paid by Thomas Gooch…have sold…to Thomas Gooch…land situated in Williamson Co…being a part of two blocks, numbering 25 and 26, containing sixty six and a half acres of land more or less. Beginning at the NE corner of fraction S. of block 26; and running S 71 degrees W 79.5 varas crossing North San Gabriel to the NW corner of said block 26; from thence S 19 degrees E to the middle San Gabriel, thence N with the meanderings of said stream to the junction of said stream with the North San Gabriel, thence with the main channel of the North San Gabriel to the E boundary of the fraction S of block 26; Thence N 19 W to the place of beginning as represented, upon a plat recorded in Land Register No. 5 page 76 in the County Court of said Williamson County; being a portion of the third of a league of land patented to Joseph P. Pulsifer, and recorded in the aforesaid office…and I William Brazier for the said Joseph P. Pulsifer, for our heirs…witness my hand…this 27th December 1853…Brazier Pulsifer, by William Brazier,atty, for Joseph P. Pulsifer.
—Texas. Williamson County Clerk, Texas, Williamson Co. – Deeds, 1848-1902; Index, 1835-1904 ([S.l.] : Southern Microfilm Corp., 1973, 1988-1989, Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah), Film #0977902, p. 101.
Less than three months later they purchased more land:
7 Feb 1854- …we, Joseph P. Pulsifer of Jefferson Co and William Brazier of Williamson Co…for…eighty dollars to us in hand paid by Thomas Gooch of…Williamson, …do…sell…land in Williamson Co…being a block of forty acres of land No 28 as represents upon the Record of the County of said Williamson County Court, by a platt or map recorded in Land Register No 5 page 76 being a portion of the third of a league of land patented to the said Joseph P. Pulsifer…Witness our hands and seals this 7th day of February 1854. ..Joseph P. Pulsifer, William Brazier, by J.B. Harrell, their attorney in fact.
—Texas. Williamson County Clerk, Texas, Williamson Co. – Deeds, 1848-1902; Index, 1835-1904 ([S.l.] : Southern Microfilm Corp., 1973, 1988-1989, Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah), Film #0977902, p. 203.
On Granny's Trail 
I love the three women who are gracing these pages and simply have to ask who they are. The one on the right looks familiar from ye olde book, but it might be because she looks like someone else – maybe your mother? And the headdresses they are wearing! I can’t say hats! Do you know the story?
Hi Margaret,
If you check the February 6, 2012 post you can see the full photo with the names of the women. The one in the middle is my great grandmother, Sophia Isadora Morris. She was known as Dora. She is my mother’s father’s mother. I just love her. I never met her but all of her pictures and letters reveal a gem of a personality—very playful and full of adventure and life. She was also strikingly beautiful in all her portraits. I will post some at some point. She is the one person I am the most anxious to met on “the other side” and that is why she graces the top of my post.
I have been trying to find out why the women were in these costumes, but I think they must have been in a theatrical pageant of some kind in Mesa, Arizona. These types of pageants were popular in early LDS communities, as a chance for members to perform their varied talents. They were a pretty cultured society despite living in frontier circumstances. Dora even had a piano in her home. Read the letter she wrote to her son, Ivan, for a story about the piano that will touch your heart. Also read the letter to her son Karl for a glimpse into her positive outlook on life. The letters are in the drop-down list under “Stories”.
I’m glad you are enjoying some of the posts. At least I know one person is reading them!
Dayna
I love them even more in full length! In the larger version, I can see that Dora has a treble clef on her head – love it – and a musical score on her skirt. And I think it may not have been just the early LDS communities that were doing these performances! I don’t know how to post pictures on here – tried – didn’t work – but I have a couple of pics from about the same time – around 1900 – of my grandmother Belle Martin Owen and her sisters also doing something with tambourines and sashes – and another of them and other women that I labeled “Dancing Awnings”…..They lived in California – at Santa Barbara – so, perhaps, it was a western thing? I can’t imagine the stuffy ladies of New England doing such performances! Fun. I wonder if they sang, too, or just danced with the tambourines.