WILLIAM CHRISTMAS WIGGINS
William Christmas Wiggins
Dec. 25, 1832 – July 1869
William Christmas Wiggins, son of Hundley and Nancy (Wilson) Wiggins, was born in Bedford County, Tennessee on Christmas Day, December 25, 1832. The paternal grandparents of William were James Frederick and Nancy (Smith) Jordan Wiggins. His maternal grandparents are said to be James and Hannah (Bryan) Wilson.
When he was twenty years old he was married to Lou C. Wrenn on December 30, 1852, by J. M. Scates, a minister in Rusk County, Texas, where their union is recorded in the marriage records. The parents of Louisa C. Wrenn are unknown for certain, but at age sixteen, she was found in the 1850 census of Madison County, Tennessee, living in the home of Henry H. Brown and his wife Sarah E., age 27. Also living in the home was William Wrenn, age 26, believed to be a brother of Louisa. Sarah Brown is thought to be their sister. All had moved to Texas by 1860 and were living in Rusk County near Salem.
William “Bill” Wiggins and Louisa “Lou” Wrenn had two sons - William Jackson born April 1855 and James Washington, born two years later near New Salem in Rusk County.
According to the 1860 Federal census of Cherokee Co., Texas, William Christmas Wiggins was listed as W. C. Wiggins, age 28, born Tennessee – occupation “farmer.” He reported a value of his real estate as $2,000 and the value of his personal estate as $10,750. His wife Louisa was listed as L. C. Wiggins, age 22, housekeeping, born in Tennessee. Two sons, W. J., age 4 and J. W., age 2, were living in the home.
Bill, as he was called by family and friends, had been married nine years and was twenty-nine when he enlisted in Confederate service on September 21, 1861 during the Civil War. He joined the “New Salem Invincibles” with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in his brother's company of cavalry known as Captain J. F. Wiggins Company, 3rd Regiment, Sibley's Brigade Mounted Volunteers, Company F. 7th Regiment Texas Cavalry. His brother was James Frederick Wiggins, whose company was mustered into Confederate service October 26, 1861 at Camp Pickett near San Antonio. General Sibley led his force of 3,500 men across the Rio Grande River in Sibley’s New Mexico Campaign in 1862. The New Salem Invincibles went on to fight their first battle at Valverde on February 21, 1862. The Battle of Valverde was a Confederate victory which forced a Union tactical retreat. It was followed by the Battle of Glorieta Pass on March 26-28, 1862.
A company muster roll dated April 30, 1862 reported that William C. Wiggins was "Left at Socoro (New Mexico) wounded February 27, 1862. Horse gave out and equipage abandoned Mar. 7." A later return dated June 6, 1862 shows: "W. C. Wiggins, 2nd Lt. Co. B, 6th Regmt. appearing as a prisoner of war, troops in the Confederate Service captured in New Mexico during the campaign of 1862." And, four months later in a prisoner exchange, he was reported as: "Exchanged June 6, 1862."
A letter dated December 24, 1862 verifies that he resigned his commission due to wounds, to take effect January 1, 1863:
“Dec. 24, 1862
Camp Cleaver
Hd.Quarters 7th Regt.
T.M.V., C.S.A.
Hon. Jas. A. Seddon
Secty at War
Sir, I have the honor of tending my resignation as 2nd Lt. Co. F. 7th Regt. T.M.V. (Texas Mounted Volunteers) to take effect from 1st Jany. 1863.
My reasons for wishing to leave the service is from Disability - caused by a wound of the leg received at the Battle of Val Verdi, N.M. and I do not feel that I am doing justice to my companions to continue in position when I am unable to perform the duties necessarily devolving on a Lieutenant - appended is the Surgeons certificate.
I have the honor to be Very Respectfully
Your Obt. Svt.;
/s/ W. C. Wiggins, 2nd Lt. Co. F 7th Regt. T.M.V.
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After his return to Texas, William’s wife Lou died an untimely death in late 1863 or early 1864 from unknown causes. Of course, he needed someone to care for his two motherless young sons, and not too long after Lou’s death, he married Martha E. Wrenn, reported to be Lou’s sister or perhaps a cousin. They were married April 29, 1864 in Kaufman County, Texas as recorded in the marriage records there. This marriage date disputes the death date listed on Lou's headstone in the Wiggins Cemetery near New Salem which lists - 1833-1865.
William and Martha had one daughter, Mary Etta Wiggins, born November 20, 1865. Martha signed several deeds in 1867 along with her husband when they sold land he had inherited from his father, Hundley Wiggins, who had died July 20, 1863. William, a farmer, never fully recovered from his war injuries and died in July 1869 at age thirty-three from flux. He and Martha were probably living at their homestead in Cherokee County when he died - not far from New Salem.
After his brother’s death, Ransom H. Wiggins applied for guardianship and was appointed guardian of his nephew, William Jackson Wiggins, son of William and Louisa, giving a bond of $500. That same month, another brother, James F. Wiggins applied to become guardian of his nephew, James Washington Wiggins, and he too, put up a bond of $500. In the 1870 census, both boys are listed living with the families of their two uncles, where they were “working on the farm.”
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William’s widow, Martha E. (Wrenn) Wiggins, daughter of David J. Wrenn and his wife Lucinda (formerly of Madison County, Tennessee), was living with her parents by date of the 1870 census, along with her three-year old daughter, Mary Etta. Ten years later when the 1880 census was taken, they were still living in Kaufman County with her parents, where Martha’s relationship to David and Lucinda Wrenn, was listed as “daughter” and Mary Etta as “granddaughter.”
It is unknown if Martha ever remarried. Where she was living when she died or the date of her death and place of burial is also unknown. Her little daughter, Mary Etta Wiggins grew up and married Henry Bell Boatman, June 19, 1881 in Cherokee County. He was born December 2, 1859 in Rusk County.
In the 1880 census, Henry Bell Boatman, 24, son of John "Jack," and Isabella Boatman, was a single man, living with his sister and brother-in-law, Susan J. (Boatman), 21, and Thomas A. Hart, 28, on their farm in Rusk County, TX, probably near Salem in Precinct No. 4. Henry's occupation was listed as "working on farm."
By the time the 1900 census was enumerated, Henry had married Mary Etta Wiggins, and was found living at New Salem, Rusk County, Texas with his wife and children. This couple raised a respectable family of five children - one son, John William “Will” Boatman, who married Ida Victoria Matteson, and four daughters, Tressa A., who married John T. Magee; Viola, who married James Wiley Garner; Leda Odell, who married Jack Sherman, and Lula Gertrude, who married John Washington Wilcox.
In 1910, the Henry B. Boatman family was listed living in Justice Precinct 6 in Cherokee County. Henry was listed as 57 and his wife as 47. Three daughters were still at home: Viola 16, Leda 14, and Gertrude, 11.
Ten years later, all the children had married, and in 1920 Henry and Mary Etta were living in Tyler, Smith County, Texas, with their youngest daughter, Gertrude, 22, who by that date had married a railroad man, John W. Wilcox (age 24 in this census). Henry and Mary Etta's daughter, Leda, age 23, born Aug, 1894, was also living in the Wilcox home in Tyler. Sometime later, the family moved back to Cherokee County.
Henry died in Cherokee County, Texas in 1925, and Mary Etta is next found living with her son, John William Boatman, and his family. Aunt Duffie (Smith) Boatman gave me a photo of this couple together when they were older. Henry, like many men of his day, wore a beard, which was sprinkled with grey.
The obituary from The Jacksonville Daily Progress, issue of May 29, 1925, reported the death of Henry Bell Boatman:
DEATH OF H. B. BOATMAN
Mr. Henry Bell Boatman, a brother-in-law of J. W. Wiggins of this city,
died at the family home in Walker's Chapel Community on Tuesday
afternoon at three o'clock, and was buried Wednesday at eleven
o'clock, at the Myrtle Springs Cemetery. He had been ill for several
months.
Mr. Boatman was born December 13, 1857 in Nacogdoches Co., TX
and had lived in Texas all his life. He is survived by his wife and four
children, the latter being: Will Boatman of Summerfield; Mrs. Wylie
Garner of Lone Star; Mrs. John Wilcox of Tyler and a married daughter
in Dallas, whose surname is unknown to us, but whose given name is Leda.*
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Mary Etta Boatman continued to live with her youngest daughter and son-in-law in Tyler, and died at their home, October 31, 1943, at age seventy-seven.
Henry and Mary Etta Boatman were of the Baptist faith and are buried beside each other at the Myrtle Springs Cemetery, Lone Star, Cherokee Co., TX.
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~ by Janice Cox Brown, Tyler, TX
May 2010
Sources:
1. 1850 Federal Census, Madison Co. TN
2. 1860 - 1870 - 1880 Federal census records of Cherokee Co., TX.
3. 1860 Federal census records of Rusk Co., TX
4. Rusk County, TX marriage records, Volume B, page 17
5. Marriage Records of Cherokee Co., TX, 1846-1880, by Ogreta W. Huttash, 1974
6. Marriage Records of Cherokee Co., TX, 1881-1905, by Ogreta W. Huttash, 1976
7. Kaufman County, TX marriage records, Book 1-A
8. Military Service Records of William Christmas Wiggins
9. The Atlas of the Civil War, edited by James M. McPherson; published Mac Millan, 1994
10. Ancestry.com – Battle of Valverde Pass, NM, Sibley’s 1862 NM Campaign
11. Deed and Guardianship Records of Cherokee Co., TX
12. 1870 Cherokee Co., TX, Mortality Schedule Beat No. 4
13. The Jacksonville Daily Progress, issue of May 29, 1925
14. Bible record of Henry and Mary Etta (Wiggins)Boatman
15. Texas Death Certificate of Mary Etta (Wiggins) Boatman
16. Cemeteries of Northeast Cherokee County, TX compiled by Helen W. Crawford
17. Probate Records of Cherokee County, Texas – 1846-ca 1875 (Minute Books A-1 through N), by Ogreta W. Huttash, Book 1,
18. Cherokee County History, published by Cherokee County Historical Commission, 1986
19. New Summerfield Historical Memories, edited and published by New
Summerfield Historical Association, 1985