JAMES ANDREW BEARDEN

The following bio was taken from page 109 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

James Andrew (Jim) Bearden was the son of Abe and Adeline Taylor Bearden. He was born in Rusk County on October 5, 1863. In 1890 he married Mary Frances Clinton, daughter of James Ed Clinton and Amanda Jane Cooper Clinton. Mary Frances Clinton was born on November 5, 1873. An uncle of hers nicknamed her "Rip" when she was a girl, and she was known as "Rip" by her grandchildren as well as her great-grandchildren.

James A. Bearden and Mary F. Bearden lived with her mother Amanda J. Clinton, the first two years of their marriage, then moved to the Patrick Community on the place now owned by Herman Hunt. In 1902 Jim Bearden purchased 200 acres of land from Burl H. Hambrick for $10.00 an acre and moved his family to a house on this land. This property was in Panola County and was a part of the Moses Boynton place. They lived about a mile west of Longbranch.

Three children of Jim and Mary Bearden were born in Rusk County: Zack, Nora Bell, and James E. Bearden. John Abe was born in Panola County.

James Andrew Bearden was a Grandmaster in the Masonic Lodge at Pine Hill.

The first child of James A. and Mary Bearden was Zack, born November 12, 1893. On June 23, 1918 he married Ida Pearl Roquemore, daughter of Dr. James L. Roquemore and Julia Daniels Roquemore. Zack and Pearl’s children were Zack, Jr. (January 26, 1926-April 22, 1975); Frances Bearden, who married Robert L. Patrick, son of Smith Patrick and Vertie Wallace Patrick of the Patrick Community in Rusk County. Mary and Robert had three children: Judith Ann, who died in infancy on January 24, 1954; Robert Michael (Mike), who married Vicki Flood, their children being Kassi Dee and Robert Ashley; and a son, Jim Smith Patrick. The third child of Zack and Pearl Bearden is Billy Roquemore Bearden.

The second child of James A. and Mary Bearden was Nora Bell, born July 25, 1895. She married Thomas Ernest (Tom) Brady, son of James C. and Sarah Hughes Brady, on December 26, 1915. Their son, John Rayford Brady, born January 18, 1917, married on June 7, 1952 Betty Jane Wall, daughter of Tom Travis Wall and Bertha Lawrence Wall. John Rayford and Betty’s children are John Thomas (Tommy) Brady, Terry Wall Brady and Debra Ann, who married Keith Edward Griffith, son of Billy Joe Griffith and Hyla Pirtle Griffith. Nora and Tom Brady had another son, Jim Bearden Brady, who died in infancy, January 17, 1926.

The other two sons of James and Mary Bearden were James E. (July 28, 1899-February 12, 1937) and John Abe Bearden, (August 6, 1904-January 18, 1916).

James Andrew Bearden died at the age of forty-seven on September 29, 1911 and is buried at Shiloh Cemetery.

Mary F. Clinton Bearden married Lewis M. Sauls, a Baptist minister on June 6, 1922. They made their home in Mt. Enterprise until his death when she moved back to Longbranch to live with her daughter, Nora Brady.

Mary F. Bearden Sauls died on September 25, 1968 and is buried at Shiloh.

Submitted by John R. Brady