Some biographical sketches of early citizens

Jonathan Russell
Captain Russell was born in Marion County, Alabama on September 7th, 1824. He came to Wood County in 1848 and settled near Winnsboro. Capt. Russell was a volunteer in the Civil War and the war with Mexico. He commanded Company B of the Texas Volunteers which was organized in Wood County. Russell was elected as state representative in 1852 and served two terms. Following the Civil War, he served two terms a state senator, and was a member of the legislature in 1873. He was the father of District Judge Walter G. Russell and of Jonathan Russell who served a Wood County Judge. Capt. Russell died in October of 1897.

Absalom Shamburger
Shamburger was born in 1811 near Raleigh, North Carolina. He lived in Mississippi from 1836 to 1847 when he came to Texas. He came to Wood County in 1853 and settled near Mt. Pisgah Church. Both he and his son, Spnix, were active members of the church. His grandson was John Shamburger.
 

Isham Burnett
Burnett was born in Virginia and lived in Kentucky and Tennessee before coming to Texas in 1840. He came to Wood County in 1850 and settled near the Stinson Mill. In 1853, he erected a saw mill on the Stinson Pond. Burnett was the father of 15 children. A daughter, Minerva Jane, was the mother of the late Isham Robbins, who was the father of Dr. V.E. Robbins of Quitman. Burnett died in 1882.
 

William Grogan
Groggan was born in Georgia in 1828. He came to Wood County in 1851 along with a brother, Henry Grogan. He settled on the Quitman/Winnsboro highway just north of the Sandy Bridge. Grogan was appointed county judge in 1867. He died in 1908 and is buried at the Sand Springs Cemetery.
 

William Welborn
Welborn was born in North Carolina on April 17th, 1771. He came to Wood County in 1850 at the age of 79 and settled in the Sand Springs community. He was a wheelright by trade and erected a mill and a gin on Mill Creek. His neighbors in the community included John Hainey, Pink Maberry and, later on, Reuben Beavers, Reuben Herdon, Bert Glenn, Theophilis West, Reuben Stapler, W.M. Stapler, Billy Stapler and Felix Wells.
 

W.E. Burkett
Burkett settled on the Pine Mills community in 1876. He farmed and ran a blacksmith shop which was the first in that section of Wood County. In 1872, he introduced ribbon cane to the community. In 1886 Burkett began merchandising – selling the first good ever sold at Pine Mills.
 

A.L. Adams
Adams was born in Blount County, Tennessee. He came to Wood County in 1852 and settled in the area where Hawkins now stands. He married Miss Temperance Welborn, the daughter of William Welborn. Adams was elected to the Texas Legislature where he served in 1882 and 1883. He died while attending a session in Austin in 1883.
 

Miles Morris
Morris was born in Tennessee in 1823 and came to Texas in 1847. After one year, he went to Ohio where he served for three years as an apprentice machinest. Then he returned to Texas and came to Wood County in 1853. He built a saw mill in the Perryville Community. The mill became known throughout the region as “the rough and ready.”
 

T.W. Wren
Wren was born in Haywood County, Tennessee in 1836. He came to Wood County in 1863 and settled in the area where Mineola now stands. For a number of years he operated a horse gin. Until the city of Mineola was established, the post office he used was located in Quitman. At the time the T & P railroad came to Mineola, it was said that the Wren farm was the most productive in that area. Wren lost his right arm early in life – however it did not stop him from conquering his land.
 

Thomas Shipp
Shipp was born in Virginia in 1796. He first lived in Tennessee, then Alabama and moved to Wood County in 1858. He settled on what became known as the Shipp Place, several miles above the bridge on Lake Fork Creek on the Quitman/Mineola highway. His mill was believed to be the first in the state to be operated by water power. Wren had 16 children and there are many descendents of his in the county. He served with the Confederate forces during the Civil War. Wren was robbed and murdered in the 1880s.
 

John Puckett
Puckett was born in Alabama and came to Texas about 1855. He joined the Confederate Army as a member of Taylor’s Brigade. He lost his life fighting for the Southern cause at the Battle of Mansfield. Puckett had three sons. The family has been prominent in civic, church and political affairs since their first days in Texas. John Puckett was survived by over one hundred descendents.
 

James I. Hill
Hill was born in Alabama in 1835 and served in the Confederate Army. His company was very active and young Hill was in the Pettus Brigade. It marched from Dalton, Georgia to Nashville, Tennessee, fighting most of the way. In 1864 he was captured and taken to the infamous Camp Douglas prison where he remained for nearly a year. At the close of the war, he moved to Alabama and came to Texas in 1869. He farmed for 23 years and, in 1895, Hill moved to Winnsboro and went into the pharmacy business.
 

More sketches of early settlers will appear in this space from time to time.