DUDLEY-CLARY

The following bio was taken from page 150 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

My genealogical quest has shed a light as to why I love these East Texas hills so much. Many of my fore bearers have been here since the Spanish days, or the early statehood days. Among them they owned land all over East Texas. My Ferguson’s, Hilton’s, and Fenton’s were here in the 1830’s. Later came the Swain’s, Whitton's, Johnston’s, Burnett’s, Lynch's, Ashby’s, and Dudley’s. The Dudley’s were the newcomers as they, my grandfather Nicholas and his father Joe, came from Arkansas in the early 1900’s.

Who am I? I am Myrle Dudley Clary and I married George Grayson Clary, Jr. and have one son, Michael Timothy, who was born December 2, 1963 in Dallas. My husband died December 10, 1974. My mother is Jewel Johnston Dudley Adair. My father was Homer Hudson Dudley, who died November 1931. My mother’s parents were Johnny Sylvester Johnston and Ada Hilton. Johnny and Ada had three other children – Ruby Wilder Gessel, Donald, and Jack. My grandfather’s parents were Charlie B. Johnston and Willie Ann Swain. Charlie was the son of William Amos and Martha Burnett. On my grandmother’s side, her parents were Nathan B. Hilton and Lucinda Fenton. Nathan and Lucinda were the grandchildren of Alston Ferguson.

To get back to Johnny, my grandfather, his mother Willie was the daughter of Sylvester Swain (Confederate soldier) and Beadie Whitton. The Swain’s were from North Carolina. Beadie’s parents were William Cranfield Whitton (1792) and Catherine Henson (1800). They were both from Virginia and married in Clarke County, Georgia.

On my Dudley side, my Grandfather Nicholas married Effie Elizabeth Ashby after the Dudley’s came to Texas. Effie was the daughter of Hudson Ashby and Elizabeth Lynch. Hudson was the son of John P. Ashby, and I do not have his mother’s name. His grandparents were Samuel and Rachael Ashby of the Carolinas. Both are buried in Lincoln County, Tennessee. The majority of the East Texas Ashby’s are descendants of Samuel and Rachael. Elizabeth Lynch’s parents were William T. Lynch and Mary Ann Williams. William was from South Carolina. He married Mary Ann in Gordon County, Georgia (1856) and served in the Civil War with Company I, Texas Infantry. He lost an arm near Atlanta and was discharged.

Michael, my son, is descended from the Clary's of Vidor and Louisiana and the Blackwell’s of West Monroe, Louisiana. His paternal grandmother is Launa Phillips Clary Jones. Launa’s parents were Caleb "Tim" Phillips and Lena R. Scott. Caleb’s grandfather was Joshua Phillips, who came to America from Ireland in 1818 and settled in South Carolina, Alabama, and then in Texas. Lena’s parents were William Scott and America Lee.

I am proud of these ancestors who helped in the formation of the United States, the Republic of Texas, and then the State of Texas.

Submitted by Myrle Clary