Family notes on George Moore Echols, MD
The Echols family has resided in America for many generations dating back to the original immigrant, John Echols who arrived in 1650 from England. He married his wife Mary Cave in Virginia. Branches of this family lived in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and later descendants migrated to Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama by 1820. During the late 1840’s, many Echols families came to Texas taking advantage of the inexpensive land and new opportunities the state offered.
George Moore Echols, son of James Echols and Nancy Winbush of Morgan County, Alabama, was listed as a physician in Cass County, Texas on the 1850 census. George was born in Georgia about 1804. His known siblings include Samuel, James Templeton, John Herbert, Cynthia A., and Helen. Brother James Templeton Echols married the second cousin of General Sam Houston, Martha Cyrena Houston. Sister Cynthia married Joe Matthews, later a governor of Mississippi.
George’s parents and other Echols relatives were involved in land cultivation, government, and early mercantile enterprises in Morgan County, Alabama, as well as organizers and supporters of early churches in that same county. (It is of interest to note that several other Cass County families also were previous residents of Morgan County, Alabama, that is, the Blantons, Speake, and Blevins). George evidently received a higher education and began to acquire property in Morgan County.
He would marry in 1831 to Ms. Dorothy (Dot) Hodges. By 1840 they had two daughters and three sons. George was shown on that same Morgan County census as the holder of three slaves.
About 1844 or 1845, George’s family and perhaps the family of his brother James T. Echols began a westward journey toward Texas leaving their Alabama homes and relatives behind. This wagon train made stops in Mississippi as evidenced by the birth of one of George’s sons there in 1845 or 1846.
It is known that George’s brother John began his own trek to Texas shortly afterwards. One of John’s sons was born on a wagon train in 1848 near Booneville, Prentiss County, Mississippi, while on their way to Texas. It is thought that John’s family journeyed eventually on to Palestine, Texas while James Templeton Echols settled in nearby Upshur County, Texas.
George and wife Dorothy Echols purchased land in Cass County, Texas and would appear on the 1850 tax roll with property in the A. Crane survey located on the Black Cypress River. Property included two negro slaves, horses, cattle, etc. Beginning in February 1850, G.M. Echols began to appear on the crew list for Linden-Smithland road repairs. Sometimes records stated that hands from Dot Echols’ home provided assistance with road repairs. In 1851, Dorothy met with neighbors to organize the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Isaac Echols (cousin of George?) and his wife Mary and Obadiah Echols (cousin of George?) also attended the same meeting. Later records indicate faithful church attendance. George was elected in 1854 as a school trustee along with Fleming Jones, J. B. McReynolds, J.P. Matthews, and Wm. Watson in district 17 of Cass County.
In what seemed to be an unusual action, George gives all of his plantation and three slaves to his wife Dorothy on March 1, 1855. George and Dorothy raised quite a large family.
Their children included Martha J., Francis (Frank), Anthony W., Ann, Sarah Elizabeth, Mary Francis (Fannie), Benjamin Templeton, Milton, Maria, Aurora, and Emma. Several children married in Cass County between 1851 and 1875 and bought land in the county. Others married in Upshur County, Texas and resided there with spouses. Son Benjamin Templeton resided near the Lodi community in Cass county in 1880.
About 1857, Dorothy died at her home in Cass County, Texas. Her burial site is not known. George is shown as a widower with two daughters and two sons on the 1860 census.
George sold his land in Cass and Marion counties and would move to live with his daughters in Glenwood, Upshur county, Texas by the year 1880. He died there in 1883 and is buried in the Glenwood cemetery. His cemetery stone is incorrectly marked with the name Dr. Gregory Echols. Descendants lived in the Jefferson and Longview, Texas area for many years.
Sources: Cass County, Texas courthouse records; Morgan County, Alabama history collections and records; and information from Barbara Vernon and Dorothy Berry Hamilton.
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