THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS LIBRARY

 

Col 7184

John W. Lilly Family Papers

1835-1936

 

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Collection information

 

Physical description: 1 document box

Acquisition: Gift of Alice Harris, 1985

Processed by: Warren Stricker, 1994

 

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Table of contents

 

 

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Biographical note

 

John W. Lilly (b. 1818) appears to have arrived in Texas by 1838, and in the ensuing years conducted business in Matagorda and Wharton Counties, including a partnership under the name Wadsworth and Lilly.  He received a third class headright grant from the Republic of Texas in 1845, which was later patented in Maverick County.  Sometime prior to 1861, Lilly relocated to Sutherland Springs in Wilson County, where he entered into a partnership with W.K. Baylor in a mercantile business.  He had a daughter, Rowena, from an early marriage, and another daughter, Alice Viola, from his marriage to Eliza T. Craighead.  He died in Sutherland Springs in 1883. 

 

John Sutherland, born in Virginia in 1792, came to Texas in 1835, and took part in several events during the Texas Revolution, including the siege prior to the Battle of the Alamo.  He lived in Egypt, Texas before settling in Wilson County, where the town of Sutherland Springs was named for him.  Married three times, Sutherland had eleven children.  He died in Sutherland Springs in 1867.

 

References:

 

Hudson, Florence Sutherland. We Cousins, vol. II. Harlingen, Texas: Valprint, Inc., 1970.

 

Meyr, Irma M. Cemeteries of Wilson County, Texas. n.p., n.d.

 

Sutherland, John. The Fall of the Alamo. San Antonio, Texas: The Naylor Co., 1936.

 

Webb, Walter Prescott, ed. The Handbook of Texas, vol. II. Austin, Texas: Texas State Historical Association, 1952.

 

White, Gifford. 1840 Citizens of Texas, vol. 3: Land Grants. Austin, Texas: Gifford White, 1988.

 

 

Scope and content note

 

Consisting of correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, maps, essays, printed material, and an artifact, the John W. Lilly Family Papers document members of the Lilly, Sutherland, and Craighead families.  The bulk of the papers are related to John W. Lilly (1818-1883), a merchant who lived or worked in Matagorda, Wharton, and Wilson Counties during his residence in Texas.  In particular, the bills and receipts and promissory notes record Lilly's business activities, while land records document a number of transactions, often involving Lilly and his wife's family.  Some records of Lilly's estate are part of the papers, including his will.  Much of the correspondence is related to the family of Lilly's wife, Eliza T. Craighead (1843-1877), including her parents, James P.N. Craighead (1812-1874) and Sarah A. Craighead (1833-1870), her maternal grandfather, John Sutherland, Jr. (1792-1867), and Sutherland's third wife, Ann Margaret Dickson (1809-1862).  The letters primarily contain family news and current events in Texas and Tennessee.  Letters to John W. Lilly are both family and business related.

 

 

Folder

 

 

Correspondence

 

 

1

1835-1842

 

 

 

William Gamble, U.S.S. Brandywine, Callao, [Peru] to James P.N. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1835 September 30.

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Egypt, Texas to Sarah A. Sutherland, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1842 August 6.

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Colorado City, Texas to William S. Kennedy, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1842 December 28.

 

 

2

1844-1849

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Galveston, Texas to Sarah A. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1844 February 1.

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Wharton County, Texas to J.P.N. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1847 October 24.

 

 

 

Robert L. Dillard, Petty's Head Prairie, Texas to James Denison. 1848 November 24.

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Sulphur Springs, Texas to Sarah A. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1849 May 29.

 

 

3

1851-1854

 

 

 

Maggie H. Ramsey, Nashville, Tennessee to Sarah A. Craighead. 1851 August 6.

 

 

 

A.M. Sutherland, Sutherland Springs, Texas to Sarah [A. Craighead]. 1852 February 18.

 

 

 

John Sutherland, Sutherland Springs, Texas to Sarah A. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1852 July 23.

 

 

 

M.A. Sutherland, Chattanooga, Tennessee to Sarah A. Craighead, Knoxville, Tennessee. [1852?] October 11.

 

 

 

Louisa M. Hamilton and A.M. Sutherland to ________. 1853 May 3.

 

 

 

Lue F. Birdsong, Harmony Grove, [Virginia?] to John W. Lilly, Matagorda, Texas. 1854 August 17.

 

 

4

1860-1874

 

 

 

Anson Lewis, Alexander, New York to John W. Lilly. 1860 April 20.

 

 

 

Elizabeth S. Pooley, Franklin, [Louisiana] to Mr. Lilly. 1860 November 18. 

 

 

 

B.S. Williams, Kalamazoo, Michigan to J.W. Lilly. 1861 March 28.

 

 

 

Robert W. Lilly, Ashland, Texas to John [W. Lilly]. 1874 April 8.

 

 

 

Joe N. Lilly, Ashland, Texas to [John W. Lilly]. 1874 September 13.

 

 

 

 

5

Land records

 

 

 

Deed: Andrew Lynch to John W. Lilly. Wharton County, Texas. 1847 May 20.

 

 

 

Deed: Daniel R. Kincheloe, Augustus J. Kincheloe and Laurence H. Kincheloe to John W. Lilly. Wharton County, Texas. 1849 April 27.

 

 

 

Deed: John Sutherland to John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1860 August 27.

 

 

 

Deed: John Sutherland to John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1865 November 16.

 

 

 

Deed: Jack Sutherland to John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1869 February 1.

 

 

 

Mortgage: John W. Lilly to Jack Sutherland. Wilson County, Texas. 1869 February 1.

 

 

 

Release: Jack Sutherland to John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1870 February 11.

 

 

 

Deed: J.J. Hankinson to Eliza T. Craighead. Wilson County, Texas. 1870 March 5.

 

 

 

 

 

Land patents

 

 

 

John W. Lilly, 3rd class headright. 1856 July 29.

 

 

 

Andrew Lynch, 3rd class headright. 1856 July 30.

 

 

 

(Housed in Land Patent Collection)

 

 

 

 

6

Miscellaneous legal documents

 

 

 

Power of Attorney: Elizabeth S. Pooley to J.W. Lilly. St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. 1860 January 24.

 

 

 

Articles of agreement: W.K. Baylor and John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1866 September 1.

 

 

 

Brand record: John W. Lilly. Wilson County, Texas. 1861 January 14.

 

 

 

Registration certificate: Webb County, Texas. 1874 May 12.

 

 

 

Registration certificate: Webb County, Texas. 1874 May 12.

 

 

 

License: A.G. Pickett, Clerk of the County Court, Wilson County, Texas to J.W. Lilly. 1874 November 4.

 

 

 

Insurance policy: Texas Banking and Insurance Co. to J.W. Lilly. 1876 March 29.

 

 

 

Registration certificate: Dimmitt County, Texas. 1881 June 18.

 

 

 

Redemption certificate: Texas Comptroller's Office to J.W. Lilly. Austin. 1881 October 24.

 

 

 

 

7

Estate records

 

           

 

John W. Lilly estate, 1883, 1887, 1891: 6 items.

 

 

 

 

8

Promissory notes

 

 

 

1838-1862: 9 items

 

 

 

 

 

Bills and receipts

 

 

9

1838-1841: 4 items.

 

 

10

1846: 21 items.

 

 

11

1847-1849: 18 items

 

 

12

1850-1859: 18 items

 

 

13

1861-1898: 15 items

 

 

 

 

14

Maps

 

 

 

Kinney County-Webb County (includes Andrew Lynch survey no. 566)

 

 

 

 

15

Essays

 

 

 

James P.N. Craighead, "Temperance," n.d.

 

 

 

James P.N. Craighead, "Forensick," n.d., incomplete

 

 

 

 

16

Miscellaneous papers

 

 

 

1928, n.d., 2 items

 

 

 

 

17

Book

 

 

 

John Sutherland. The Fall of the Alamo. San Antonio, Texas: The Naylor Co., 1936. (Inscribed to Jack and Edith Caskry by Annie B. Sutherland)

 

 

 

 

18

Artifact

 

 

 

Spur