JOHN QUINCY ADAMS CHRISTOPHER

The following bio was taken from page 149 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

John Quincy Adams Christopher, son of William, was born January 28, 1825. After going to the California gold rush, he returned to Texas and bought hundreds of acres of land in Nacogdoches, Cherokee, and Rusk counties. He bought a beautiful maroon leather Bible and inscribed the family records in large flowing script. After the death of his first wife, he married Martha Caroline Boatman. Six children surviving to adulthood were: Martha, Jim Christopher, Columbus Cunningham Christopher, who married Sally Richey, Lee, Etta, and Ida.

About 1873 the family moved from Nacogdoches County and settled near what is now called Striker Lake in Cherokee County.

One family tale is about John Quincy Adams Christopher and a friend on their way back from California with gold in their saddlebags. Indians surprised and chased them. J. Q. A. made his escape on a mule, but never heard from his friend again.

Family tradition says that John Quincy lived with a relative in Henderson before going to California. Be that as it may, in 1851 he bought land in Rusk County from William and Mary (Christopher) Wilson Hays. He had a brother, Benjamin F. Christopher, who was in California in 1867, and another brother, James Monroe Christopher in Tennessee.

During the War Between the States, he rendered gold for Confederate money, and upon his death in 1888, he left a small trunk filled with worthless Confederate currency. Descendants still have some of this money.

Submitted by Jewel Irwin Shankles