Thomas Jefferson Mumford was born February 23, 1857 in Virginia... Mecklenburg Co/Amelia County/Buckingham Co.? He was the son of Richard Bland Mumford and Ann Jane (Meadow) Mumford. The parents were married in 1856 in Buckingham Co.,VA.
For a while during the 1860's, Richard B. lived in Marshall County, Mississippi.

In 1870, Thomas J. Mumford was living with his family in Shelby County, Tennessee.
Thomas J. Mumford's mother died in 1872 in Memphis, Tennessee. RB remarried, and a family traidtion says the children went to live with an family in another state, possibly Arkansas.

He married Lula Harris in Tarrant County, Texas on August 30, 1890. She was born in August of 1872 in Lafayette County, Missouri. She was the daughter of William G. Harris and Louisa (Bivins) Harris.

Lula (Harris) Mumford was the daughter of Louise Johnson, who died at Hurst on September 27, 1918 at the home of her other daughter, Mrs. Mahlon Hurst. She was buried at Arwine Cemetery on September 28. An obituary for Mrs. Johnson appeared in the Arlington Journal on Friday, October 4, 1918.

T. J. Mumford joined the Smithfield Masonic Lodge #455 in 1903.

In 1910, Thomas J. Mumford and his family appear in the federal census. AT the time, he is shown as a 53-year-old native of Virginia, the son of two native Virginians. He and his wife, Lula, had been married 19 years (c1891). Lula was 37 years old and born in Missouri to two native Missourians. To that time she had given birth to seven children, all of whom were still alive. They were all born in Texas: Myrtle Mumford (b.c1892), Richard Mumford (b. c1894), Olin Mumford (b. c1895), Lila Mumford (b.c1898), Thomas Mumford (b.c1901), Elihu Newton Mumford (b. c1906), and Burnett Mumford (b.c1898). In 1910, the census taker noted that they lived on the Fort Worth-Dallas Road west of Bedford.

Thomas Jefferson Mumford's children were: Myrtle Lee Mumford (b.Feb. 17, 1892, married Ira Willburn, d. Apr. 5, 1972, bur. Mt. Olivet); Richard Parker Bland Mumford (b. March 19, 1894-July 5, 1963, married Eva Hutson?, bur Mt. Olivet); Olin Welborn Mumford (b. July 23, 1895-Nov. 18, 1961, unmarried); Lila Mumford (b. Feb. 22, 1898-Feb. 26, 1981, married William Titus Dafft, bur. Keenan Cemetery, Farmer's Branch, Texas); Thomas Wyatt Mumford (b.Oct. 31, 1900-Nov. 14, 1970, bur Arwine); Elihu Newton Mumford (b. Aug. 26, 1905-Sept. 13, 1983, Jessie Pauline Jones, bur. Bluebonnet); David Burnett Mumford (Nov. 4, 1907-27 Feb 1990, m. ....., wife alive bur. Mt. Olivet); Infant Mumford (Oct. 13, 1910-Oc.t. 20, 1910).

Thomas Jefferson Mumford died on March 12, 1944 at the corner of Brown Trail and Bedford Road, southwest corner, where the apartments are.
A Mumford descendant is Paul R. Dafft, 1605 Cottonwood Road,Carrollton, Texas 75006, 1-972-466-0336.

James and Zaney Purkerson were married about 1887, probably in Alabama. They had only two children, both of whom were born in Alabama and both of whom came to live with them near Bedford. The children were Lawrence P. Purkerson (b. March 1881) and Mamie F. Purkerson (b. Oct. 1891). Both were still alive in 1900.

Another more extensive obituary appeared in the Gospel Advocate (Nashville, Tennessee) soon after W. W. Bobo's death: "Bro. W. W. Bobo was born in Spartanburg, S. C., in 1813. Removed with his parents, in early life, to Middle Tennessee. In 1833, under the work of such men as Tolbert Fanning and Jesse Wilkes, he was led out of the confusion of predestinarianism into the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Some time before the war he went to Mount Vernon, Mo., and lived there until the war closed. He then returned to Flat Creek, Tenn., where he stayed until about the year 1870. He came thence to Texas, and settled at this place, which he called Bedford, in view of the fact that the colony was made up mostly of citizens from Bedford county, Tennessee. Bro. Bobo has been a reader of the ADVOCATE from its initial number. He has been "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." From the time of his baptism he learned rapidly and became and earnest and successful advocate for Jesus and the word of his power. In his early Christian career he was assailed on every hand as a heretic, a schismatic, and a Campbellite. Under such dishonoring names he realized that the gospel and the name of Christ must be honored above all else, and so applied himself closely to the study of the Bible and the practice of its precepts. His teachings and examples were such that many were constrained to acknowledge Christ. Those who opposed the Bible could not stand before him, and sectarian assumption was put to flight. He was a tower of strength among Christians where he lived. He did not often appear before audiences as a public teacher; but when he did, he never failed to make himself understood. He dared to speak on occasions where other men were timorous and fearful. The tattler, the busy-body in other men's matters, and strifemakers, met such severe rebukes at his hands that such evils did not long pregail in communities where he lived. He sought to criticise his friends rather than others, and he reproved face to face. He was liberal in support of the gospel, quick to help the needy, and ready unto every good work. The church of Christ was before all else with him. He was foremost in the work of building up the church at this place; and other churches have been started by his effort. For about twelve years his place in the congregation here was not vacant, except in sickness. I have been in public life in Texas fifteen years, and I have not at any time before seen so large an audience gathered to show their regard for the dead. As the people lamented his death, they were heard to say, "He was a friend to the poor, " "He was a Christian, " "His hospitality was without grudging." His watchword and motto, both in business and religion, was, "Be ye ready." He leaves a faithful, Christian wife, three sons and one daughter. The sons are grown to manhood, and in many respects have the traits of their father. It is my heart's desire and prayer to God for them, that they may keep their father's Christian character before the world by living out the doctrines of Christ. W. H. WRIGHT"

In 1850 Josiah T. French and his family were living in Richards Township in Miller County, Missouri. They owned $750 in real estate and $225 in personal property. At the time they had three children living with them, all born in Missouri: Uriah M. (b.c1848), Sarah L. (b.c1852), and Alice (b.c1855). Also living with the family were Josephine Redman (b.c1836 in Missouri) and two Redman children who were apparently hers: Imogene (b.c1858) and Francis, a son born in early 1860. Josephine Redman may be the Nancy J. Redman buried at Bedford near Josiah French and his family; her gravestone records her birth as September 10?, 1836.

In 1870, Josiah's family was living in the Bedford area and are shown in the federal census of that year. J. T. French is shown as a fifty-year-old farmer, who owned no real estate but had $125 in personal property. He was a native of New York. His wife, M. E. French, was born about 1833 in Missouri. The rest of the family included U. M. French (male, b. c1850 in Missouri), S. L. French (female, b. c1851 in Missouri), J. French (female, b. c1859 in Missouri), J. French (male, b. c1864 in Illlinois), and William French (b. 1870 in Texas).

In 1870 Josiah's next-farm neighbors were the families of C. Page and Margaret Moody, the widow of Levin Moody.

Josiah T. French died October 13, 1878. Martha E. French died February 25, 1875.

On March 10, 1884, R. T. Valentine bought three tracts of land from S. D. and Sarah A. Sansom...20.5 acres Sansom had purchased from Tilford Scott, 23.5 acres he had purchased from J. W. Haynes, and 20 acres sold to him by William R. Allen. (32-352)

An obituary for Mary A. Valentine appeared in the Gospel Advocate (Nashville, Tennessee) of September 26, 1901, p. 622: "Sister Mary Ann Valentine, the subject of this sketch, fell asleep in Christ at Bedford, Texas, on August 11, 1901. She was born in Missouri in 1839. At the age of seventeen years she obeyed the gospel and ever afterwards lived a consistent, Christian life. She had been married forty-three years, and leaves her husband, Brother R.T.

Valentine, one son, Ira T. Valentine, of Austin, Texas; and two daughters, Sister Dora Bearden and Sister Mamie Euliss; together with all who knew her, to mourn her departure. Sister Valentine had suffered almost continuously since last October; but she bore her suffering with Christian fortitude, and always maintained an unfailing faith in the promises of God. Her heart and hands were always ready to minister to the wants and needs of the sick and suffering. As the end of her pilgrimage drew near she appeared to catch glimpses of the glory land, and after she had fallen asleep a sweet smile rested on her face, inviting us to follow on toward the rest that remains to the people of God. CHARLES C. BEARDEN

Riley Bell Zachary enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in Carter's Company, Douglass's Battallion of Partisan Rangers. The regiment was organized in September 1862 by Nathan W. Carter at LaVergne, Tennessee. It subsequently became Capt. Carter's Compaby of Independent Scouts, and later still became Co. A of the 21st Tennessee Cavalry.

In 1893 Dr. Zachary made an affidavit in support of one of his old Bedford patients, Campbell Poynor, when Poynor was trying to get a pension for his Mexican War service. Zachary stated that he had known Poynor for 15 years. This would suggest that Zachary moved his family to Bedford about 1878.

R. B. Zachary of Bedford attended the Confederate soldiers' reunion at Dallas on April 23-25, 1902. When he signed the register, he stated that he had been a member of Company E, 8th Tennessee Cavalry.

About 1898 Dr. Zachary was married a third time. His wife's name was Eliza J., and she was born in Tennessee in May 1853 to two native Tennesseeans. She had given birth to two children by one or more previous marriages, and only one of the two was still alive in 1900. Dr. and Mrs. Zachary had no children living with them in 1900.Riley Bell Zachary was born in January 1836 in Tennessee to two native Tennesseeans. In the 1900 census his wife was Eliza J., born May 1853, and they had been married two years. She had given birth to two children, one of whom was alive. No kids were with them, so she must have had the child from another marriage.

Riley Bell Zachary was a soldier in Douglas's Battallion of Partisan Rangers, Carter's Company in the Confederate army. When he attended the 1902 CSA Reunion in Dallas, he told them he was a member of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry.

Jonathan enlisted in the Confederate Army in Tarrant County in May 1862 and served until his company was discharged in 1865. He told pension application officials he served in Company F, Waller's Battallion, Walker's Division, Lane and Tom Green's Brigade of Texas Cavalry. His captain was Jo. Terrell. He stated that he served his entire enlistment in the same command. He remembered that his discharge came at Bryan Station in Brazos County, Texas, on the Houston Central Railway in May, 1865, at which time his company disbanded. This was the company in which Frank Elliston was a Lieutenant.

Jonathan Prather and his wife, S. Ellen, were married in Tarrant County on July 4, 1875.
At the time she applied for her pension on Sept. 12, 1923, she stated she was 72 years, a native of Missouri, and had lived in Texas for sixty-four years. She said she had lived in Tarrant County for the last sixty years; hence she came to Tarrant county about 1863.

Jonathan and his wife, S. Ellen Prather, appear in the 19000 Census of Tarrant County.
He told the census taker that both his parents were born in Illinois. Ellen said she was born in August 1851 in Missouri, to a Kentuckian father and a Missourian mother. She also told the census taker she and Jonathan had been married twenty four years, and that she had given both to two children, both of whom were no longer alive in 1900.

There are readable tombstones for the two children in Bedford Cemetery. One is William C. Prather, who was born May 29, 1877 and died February 2, 1880. The other is Jeremiah D. Prather, who was born May 10, 1886 and died January 2, 1892. If the information Ellen Prather gave the census taker in 1900 is correct, Jonathan and Ellen Prather obviously have no living descendants.

On September 1, 1909, Jonathan applied to the State of Texas for a pension based upon his service in the Confederate Army. At the time, his post office address was Smithfield. He filed the necessary paperwork, but had no further word from the state. On November 23, 1912, he reapplied. At the time, he was living in Fort Worth at 2141 Main Street.

Jonathan T. Prather died at his home at Smithfield on August 20, 1923. His doctor, Henry Clay Gilbert, certified that his death was caused by a "full..........." His body was prepared for burial the same day by R. L. Lucas, , an undertaker in Fort Worth. Jonathan was buried in Bedford Cemetery.

After his death, Ellen Prather applied for and was granted a Confederate widow's pension from the State of Texas. She died of a brain hemorrhage while living at the Tarrant County Poor Farm, near Fort Worth, Texas, on February 5, 1928. Undertaker W. C. Lucas of Grapevine
was in charge of her funeral arrangements, and she was buried in Bedford Cemetery. Since she had no living descendants, her Confederate widow's burial benefit was paid to her friend, R. L. Lucas of Fort Worth.

They had three children still living with them in 1900, all born in Texas: Minnie Lee (b. Dec. 1885), E. Pearl (b. Sept. 1889), and Ira W. (B. Sept. 1893). In the same year, an unrelated farm laborer named William R. Foster (b. March 1874 in Arkansas) was living with them. Also in the family was Robert Black's sister-in-law, Nancy Allmon (b. Feb. 1841 in Tennessee to a North Carolinian father and a Tennesseean mother). Nancy Allmond is buried beside them at Bedford; she was apparently Martha Ella Black's sister.

In 1910, Harris E. Valentine and his family are listed in the 1910 census of persons living "in and near Bedford along the Bedford and Euless Road." At the time, he was shown as a truck farmer.

Valentine was 56 years old, born in Missouri to an Illinoisan father and a Kentuckian mother. His wife, Saphronia, was 53, born in Illinois, and the daughter of two Tennesseeans.
They had been married 34 years, hence they were married about 1876.

In 1910, they had three daughters living with them, all born in Texas: Jessie (age 30), Eunice (age 16), and Irene (age 11).

Melanie Bennett has brought the following information to our attention:

"James K. Polk Hammond is actually buried in Davidson Cemetery, Boone County, AR. He had moved there and again married, living in Zinc, AR. My father's family visited him there. J.K.P. Hammond was the father of Wright Hammond, who was the father of Jessie Mae Hammond Bennett (buried Rose Hill Cemetery), who was mother to Charles E. Bennett (buried White Rose Cemetery, Van Zandt Co, TX), who was my father."

Andrew Jackson Morrow was born in Missouri in December 1853, according to the 1900 census.. He married Mary Ann May. They are buried at Bedford Cemetery. He was known as "Jack" Morrow. He told the 1900 census taker that his father was a North Carolinian and his mother was a Virginian. Jack Morrow's father was Robert Morrow (1820-1906), a veteran of both the Mexican War and the Civil War (CSA); he and his wife are buried at Smithfield.

Jack Morrow married Mary Ann May in 1878 in Tarrant County. She was born in February 1861 in Illinois to two native Kentuckians. By 1900, Mary Ann had given birth to seven children, six of whom were still alive. They were all born in Texas: Annie (b.Aug. 1880), Myrtle (b.Sept. 1883), Ruth (b.July 1887), Grace (b.May 1890), Woodson (b.June 1893), and Pearl (b.November 1895). Pearl Morrow married Clarence Talmage Sparger, Sr.

In 1900 the family lived at Bedford. Their next-farm neighbors were the families of _____ H. Peters, James C. Simmons, and William Leander Miller, a bachelor.

Reported Burials For Which No Markers May Now be Found:

William McKinley Bearden was buried at Bedford by Moore Funeral Home of Arlington. The records of the account are very incomplete. The account was set up on June 16, 1953 and was settled on July 3, 1953. The body was shipped to Moore's from Amarillo, Texas. The 1956 DAR cemetery survey found a marker for this man and recorded his surname as Bradley and his death date as June 13, 1953.

Annie Elias Martin was buried at Bedford by Moore Funeral Home of Arlington. She was the daughter of Bedford settlers John W. Miller and his wife, Virginia B. (Stone) Miller. Her address was Box 14, Bedford. She died at 2:30 (a.m. or p.m. is not clearly written in the records) on January 6, 1952. She was born April 17, 1878. The records state that her funeral was held at the Bedford Baptist Church on January 7, 1952, but some family sources remember that it was held on January 8. Moore's records also state that she had lived in Bedford for 73 years, hence her family would have arrived about 1879. She died of chronic myocarditis, with hypertension as a contributary cause. The 1956 DAR canvassing of the cemetery also found a marker (probably a temporary funeral home plate) for her husband, Oscar Martin, Apr. 7, 1885-July 27, 1956.

John Howard Henry, an eleven-year-old schoolboy, was buried at Bedford by Moore Funeral Home of Arlington. His residence was shown as Fort Worth, and he died of pneumonia at his home on July 1, 1942. He was born in Texas. The funeral was held on July 2. His father's birthplace is unreadable in the records...it looks like "alat." The mother was a Miss Williams who was born in Texas.

Mrs. Ruth Ann Harris was buried at Bedford by Moore Funeral Home in Arlington. She died in Fort Worth on August 20, 1943. She was a housewife and a resident of Bedford. She was born in Tennessee on January 22, 1880. Her funeral was held August 21 at Bedford by R. E. Edwards. Both her parents were native Tennesseeans. The handwriting in the original records is very difficult to decipher...the father's surname looks like Duluant and the mother's looks like Ashlost.

Wanda Bernice Golden, a resident of Rt. 1, Smithfield, was buried at Bedford by Moore Funeral Home of Arlington. She was born at Smithfield on August 27, 1950 and died at home on January 16, 1950 or 1951??????? Her funeral was held at Bedford on January 18. Her father was H. E. Golden, a native Texan; her mother was William Holloway, also a native of Texas. A partially-readable funeral home temporary marker for her was found in the north fence of the cemetery in 1980 but is now lost.

Benjamin Franklin May, who according to a Fort Worth newspaper obituary died March 22, 1946, was buried at Bedford. His wife, Mattie Jane (Poynor) Gray May, predeceased him and is also buried at Bedford in an unmarked grave. There is no readable headstone in northeast Tarrant County for Mattie's first husband, D. S. Gray, who died in the early 1890's. Since they lived in the Bedford community when he died, he may also be buried at Bedford.

D. S. Gray married Mattie Jane Poynor, the daughter of Bedford pioneer Campbell Poynor, in Tarrant County on December 13, 1885. After Gray's death, Mattie was remarried in 1894 to Benjamin Franklin May.

The seventh Poynor child, Mattie Jane Poynor, was born in Tarrant County, Texas on December 27, 1867. She married D. S. Gray in Tarrant County on December 13, 1885. After Mr. Gray's death, she was remarried to Benjamin Franklin May in Tarrant County on October 7, 1894. She had children in both marriages. Mattie died before husband, and probably lies buried beside him in an unmarked grave in Bedford Cemetery. Ben F. May died at his home at 1903 Gould Avenue in Fort Worth on March 22, 1946. His grave is also unmarked.

Markers Located by Mrs. Cushman Which are No Longer in Evidence:

Markers reported by the DAR in 1956 which were not located by
Mrs. Cushman in August 1980.   Many of these may have
been temporary metal funeral home markers.

Burials Reported in Mrs. Cushman's Book
for which no markers have been found: