JOSEPH CLINTON (J. C.)  DURAN

 The following bio was taken from page 191 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 

Joseph  Clinton (J.C.) Duran (1859-1931), the oldest child of John Ross and Sarah Everett Duran, spent practically his entire life in Pine Hill, Rusk County, Texas.  He married Neila Taylor (1871-1889), who died at the birth of Cornelia Duran, who died two months later, September 13, 1889.

 Later, J. C. Duran married Mirtie Susan Wylie (1874-1966), the daughter of William E. Wylie and Mary E. Bullok.  William E. Wylie’s parents were John and Ann McFadden Wylie.  John Wylie’s monument shows the earliest death date, 1848, in the Pine Grove Cemetery.

 In 1894, J. C. and Mirtie Duran established their home on a tract of land adjoining his father, John Ross Duran, about two miles north of  Pine Hill.  Here they lived, raised their family, and died.  Their oldest child, John Wylie (Jack) Duran, was about one year old when they moved here.  The other ten children were born here, and all, except the two who died at an early age, made their home here until they reached adulthood or married.  The original house has been added to and remodeled several times.  Many acres of land were added to the original tract by J. C. Duran, Mirtie Duran, and John W. Wylie, Mirtie’s oldest brother.  The house is still the home of a Duran.  Most of the land accumulated by J. C. and Mirtie Duran has been divided among their nine children and is still owned by each of them or their heirs.

 Since two of the children died at an early age, we all began to think of us as a family of nine children – eight boys and one girl.  These are listed and discussed here.

 John Wylie (Jack) Duran (See article about this family.) was born in 1892 and died in 1974.  Bertha Duran was born August 7, 1893 and died December 21, 1895.

 James Malcolm Duran, who was born in 1896 and died in 1974, lived with his parents longer than any of the other children.  During the last few years of J. C. Duran’s life, Malcolm played a major role in helping manage the cattle and farming business, under the supervision of his father.  Malcolm married Eleanor Clark.  They built their home about one mile north of Pine Hill on land they had bought.  Though adjacent to land the J. C. and Mirtie Duran land, it was not on either of the two tracts received from the J. C. Duran Estate.  Malcolm was in the farming and cattle business.  Eleanor was teaching school at the time she and Malcolm married.  She continued to teach for many years.  They had no children.  Eleanor died in 1980, and they both are buried in Strong Cemetery, Rusk County, Texas.

 J. C. Duran, Jr. (Jay) was born in 1899 and died in 1971.  (See article about this family).

 Chester F. Duran was born in 1902 – (See another article about this family.)

 Leona Duran was born November 4, 1904 and died October 11, 1905.

 Troy R. Duran was born in 1906 and died in 1971.  He was the fifth son and fifth child to reach adult life.  He attended public school at Pine Hill and Henderson, and college at Stephen F. Austin University, Sam Houston University, B.S. Degree; The University of Texas, M.S. Degree.  Troy was “a school man.”  He served as high school principal at Oak Hill, Rusk County; Beckville, Panola County; New London and Gaston, Rusk County.  He also served as superintendent of schools at New London and Minden, both in Rusk County.

 Troy married Nannie Mary Lacey, the daughter of Homer and Lena Lacey, also a teacher; and they had three children.  The first, Joe Gene Duran married May Ann Broome, and they had three children and live in Henderson.  Nancy Sue Duran married W. A. (Buddy) Kelly.  They have three children and live in Deer Park.  Mary Ann Duran married Larry Guinn.  They live in Plano, Texas, and have two children.

 John Duran was born 1909 and died in 1959.  (See article of this family.)

 Clyde Reagan (C. R. Pete)Duran was born in 1911 and died in 1980.  (See article about this family.)

 Jewel (Buck) Duran was born in 1914.   (See article about this family.)

 Kate Duran was born in 1917.  Kate is the youngest and the  only girl of the nine children who reached adult life.  She attended school at Pine Hill, Henderson, and Stephen F. Austin University where she received her B.S. and M. A. degrees.  She started teaching in Chapman, Rusk County, later went to Henderson then to Laneville, and then back to Henderson, where she taught high school mathematics the last twenty years of her teaching career.

 Much earlier Kate married P.J. Phillips, the son of J.H. and Martha Elizabeth Phillips.  They have two children.  The first, James, married Karen Tower.  They also have two children.  James is coaching and teaching and has been for several years in Pine Tree High School, Longview, Texas.  The second son, Johnny, married Cindy Inglish, and they have two children.  They live in Dallas.

 Although Papa (J. C. Duran) was known throughout Rusk County, the following excerpts paint a good picture.  “Pine Hill was my grandfather’s world, gregarious and without being boisterous, tough without being mean, and endowed with a business acumen none of his offspring’s possess.” – “Papa Duran prospered too; cotton farmer, cattle rancher, businessman, merchant, banker, cotton buyer, and furnishing capital to many people to buy land, cattle, or raise their crops.”

 The Great Depression hit East Texas in the early twenties.  The price of cotton, cattle, and other farm products fell rapidly and very sharply.  Good, honest people could not pay their debts.  Papa lost heavily, but he managed to hold onto every square foot of his precious land.

 “Your Daddy was a proud man, and he was proud of his kids.  You could see it on his face-----.”

 “Mama represented love flavored with discipline.”  Her home was her domain.  She bore us children, healed our scratches and bruises, tended the sick, and did all those things a good loving mother and homemaker does.

 “…However, Mama Ran was not a talker, but when she spoke, no one misunderstood.  Reserved and gentle, she nonetheless had what is generally called ‘a mind of her own’ – a common term for determination and independence – traits she never relinquished through all of her ninety-two years.”

 Submitted by Chester Duran