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William David Broughton
William David Broughton was the eldest son of Isaac J. Broughton and his wife R. Ann. He was born April 3, 1839 on Corn House Creek in Randolph County Alabama. A 1990's map of Randolph County does indicate the existence of such a creek located not too far from a cemetery bearing the Broughton name. A visit to the cemetery however did not generate any information pertaining to Broughton's who might have lived in the area during the time W. D. lived there. After his parents moved west to Louisiana, a young William, for a short while, lived in Randolph County with a Georgia manufacturer by the name of R.J. Wood. There he studied to be a shoemaker with several other young men who were also Wood’s boarders.
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William David (pictured at right) then headed west himself and was said to be working in Waco, McLennan County, Texas when the Civil War erupted. A 22 year-old William David went to Dallas where he enlisted in the Confederate Army on September 7, 1861, reportedly with a friend by the name of Joe Black. William David had a "$125 horse, and $25 worth of equipment including a double-barrel shotgun and a Bowie knife" with him at the time. He was assigned to Company G, 6th Regiment of the Texas Cavalry under Colonel Stone. At company muster for November & December 1861, he was reported sick at Camp Washington. On June 23, 1862 William David was "appointed from ranks" to 4 Corporal. He would be promoted to 2 Corporal by mid 1863 when he took leave for a short time in May/June of that year. At company muster in May & June 1864, 1 Corpl. William David was "on detached service riding a government horse."
Walter LaRoy Broughton, William David’s grandson, remembers William David talking about how he caught ponies in the Texas plains at Waco for the war effort. He also recalls hearing how William David survived despite having his horse shot out from under him during a battle somewhere around Brandon, Mississippi. At the end of the war, William David and his friend Joe Black were reportedly heading home and stopped off in a small Oklahoma town. There, Walter LaRoy says William David was falsely accused of getting a girl pregnant by a preacher. Forced to defend himself, William David shot the preacher. But after fleeing the town, he was caught by some Union soldiers. According to family legend, one soldier let William David go after he used the Masonic hand-sign. It’s unknown whether William David ever knew the girl’s name or whether the preacher survived the shooting.
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After the war, William David Broughton married Pothenia Emmaliza "Lydia" Smith (pictured at right), the daughter of Charles Smith and Elizabeth G. Hearne. The couple lived in Vienna, Louisiana where their first son, John William, was born on September 30, 1869. They were still living in Vienna when the census was taken in 1870.
4 According to the 1870 census of Jackson Parish, the family had a "domestic servant" living with them. She was a 25-year-old black female from Mississippi identified on the census as "A."
& There are no records to indicate the Broughtons were ever slave owners, however according to an unpublished book by Leni H. Smith, My Family the Broughtons, William provided work and housing to some former slaves following the war. One woman named in the book was Aggie, but the children knew her as "Black Mammie." She reportedly "came to the family in the first year of their marriage, asked for and was given a home." Aggie’s son, Ves, "who had been sold, but returned to her after the war" joined the Broughton family when they moved to Sabine Parish. There Aggie and Ves lived in the Broughton home until another former slave, known as "Uncle Neith" to the kids, met and married Aggie. They were then provided with a cabin on the Broughton land in Sabine Parish. It was there they had three children, George, Lucy and Roxie, "who were beloved playmates" to the Broughton children. Aggie and her family would later choose to stay behind in Sabine Parish when the Broughtons move further west into Texas.
4 By 1880, William David Broughton had moved his family from Jackson Parish to Fort Jesup (originally a frontier military command post established in Sabine Parish, Louisiana in 1823) where he bought seventy-seven acres for a farm. The final payment of the purchase is documented by a land grant signed by President Benjamin Harrison and dated August 13, 1890. (Rec. Vol.34, page 346.) On the 1880 census of Sabine Parish Louisiana, William David lists two men who live and work on his farm. They are 18-year-old Robert Bennett and 20-year-old George C. Jackson.
Children William and "Eliza", as she was called on the 1880 census, had ten children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. Those children, five girls and five boys are:
Zuma girl who died at age 3 weeks John William born September 30, 1869 Dora born January 23, 1871 Z (just the letter Z) born May 18, 1873 V (just the letter V) born April 17, 1875 Pearl born July 6, 1877 Twins: Walter & Ida born April 23, 1880 Bertie born December 28, 1882 Oscar born November 13, 1885
The children attended school at nearby Fort Jesup Masonic Institute. Masonic records show William D. Broughton was affiliated with Sabine Lodge No. 75 in 1881 and was a major contributor to the establishment of the school which was chartered May 5, 1887. W. D. Broughton was on the school’s first board of the directors. The Masonic Institute would later become the Sabine Central High School.
William David would continue to be an active member of the Masons even after moving to Texas. On March 12, 1907, at the age of 66, W. D. Broughton became affiliated with Lodge No. 31 in Palestine, Texas.
Westward BoundIn late 1890, William David and his wife "Lydia" took their family further west into Texas. William’s son, Walter, would later tell his children how the family camped their first night at San Augustine. He told how, at age 10, he carried a gun at the front of the wagon, along with his "Uncle Jack" who carried a Winchester rifle, because of a threat by some horsemen his father had had a run-in with previously. As a "regulator," William D. helped the Sabine Parish Sheriff "send a man to jail" in Louisiana for shooting another man at the New Hope Church near Fort Jessup. The shooter was a member of the "Buck Wall Gang" which W.D. had helped run out of Louisiana years before.
W.D. Broughton's family lived one year in Anderson County near Nacogdoches, Texas before moving to Runnels County where the family farmed for another year. A man by the name of Jeff Wise and his family joined the Broughtons when they headed further west to Runnels. Wise’s sister was reportedly married to P. E. "Lydia" Broughton’s brother, Clinton Smith. After suffering several hardships, including a lack of water and a lost crop, the Broughtons returned to East Texas in late 1892 where they settled in Anderson County about three miles south of Palestine.
A handwritten note from Walter Broughton, son of William David, confirms the family's trek west. The note was passed on to me from Walter’s son, Walter LaRoy, and it reads exactly as follows:
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Death
William and his wife, Lydia, spent the rest of their lives in East Texas. William died of pneumonia on October 28, 1907 and was laid to rest in Pleasant Springs Cemetery in Palestine. His marker is tall and bears the Masonic Emblem. His last name is spelled "Braughton" on the headstone. Pothenia Emaliza Smith Broughton, also known as "Lydia" lived until 1933. She is buried next to her husband. Her headstone is small and has Lydia etched as her first name and the last named spelled with an "o" instead of an "a."
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