THOMAS JEFFERSON HULL

Compiled by John T. Hull

In 1859, at about the age of 16, Thomas Jefferson Hull moved from Georgia to Texas with his parents, Francis Marion and Sarah (Davis) Hull. The family originally settled near Mt. Enterprise in Rusk Co., Texas, but Francis Marion Hull later settled in Leon Co., Texas. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thomas volunteered his services to the Confederate Army (his parole, No. 629, dated 26 July 1865 at Shreveport, Louisiana, indicates he served with Co. 26, Reg. 19, Texas Mil. Div.).

On December 17, 1868, he married Nancy Amanda Zuber in Rusk Co., Texas, daughter of William Moss and Mariah H.(Brooks) Zuber (the Zuber's had migrated from Georgia to Texas in about 1857). Thomas is said to have lived the first 18 years of his married life in Pinehill, Rusk Co., Texas, although he appears in the 1870 census for Panola Co., which tends to refute this. In 1886, he bought the William Morris home in what is now the Gary community in Panola Co., Texas.

After several years, other acreage was added and Thomas became one of the leading farmers in the area. In 1888, he gave 20 acres from his farm to establish the town of Gary. The community was originally called "Zuber," in honor of his wife, Amanda. In 1898, the name was changed to "Gary" in honor of the grandson of S. Smith Garrison, Gary Sanford, when the Marshall, Timpson and Sabine Pass Railroad was built through the town ("The New Handbook of Texas," Volume 3, 1996, page 104). He also gave land for a public school and the Methodist Church. He entered the mercantile business after Gary was formed. He was a member of the Odd Fellow Lodge. He was also a member of the Baptist Church, but he was "cast out" over a disagreement. He later joined the Methodist Church. Thomas Jefferson and Nancy Amanda Hull were the parents of ten children, including 1) Sarah Maude, who died at 2 years of age; 2) John, who died at about 3 years of age; 3) Moss Marion, who married Willie Mary Pope; 4) George, who died at about 1-1/2 years of age; 5) Alice Virginia, who married Quincy L. Collins; 6) Hope H., who married Carrie Maud McLeroy; 7) Thomas Sparkman, who married Mattie Givens; 8) the Rev. William Edgar, who married Myrtle Altus Pickens; 9) Minnie Eber, who married Tot Thomas; and 10) Mattie Odutha, who married James Luther Bailey. Thomas Jefferson Hull died June 24, 1900, and his wife, Amanda, died January 18, 1927. Both are buried in the Mt. Bethel Cemetery near Gary.