James A Billington - D.S. Billington's dad

No pictures of James A. has been found so far, but we have a few artifacts including his signature,

 that tell some of his story.


James A. was born in 1828, Bedford, Tennessee

James A's parents were:

Allison Billington (1807-1860) North Carolina and Elizabeth.Hamilton (1805-1871) North Carolina

        *They were married in 1825, McCracken, Kentucky

Allison's parents were:

  Ezekiel Billington(1759-1848)New Jersey and Elizabeth Penny (1786-1846),North Carolina.

         *Ezekiel Billington was granted land in Tennessee for his service in the Revolutionary War.

          That area became where Fort Knox was built in 1918.

Ezekiel's parents were:

  James Billington (1723-1764) from England and Anna America Garner (1723-1767) New Jersey.
        *So James was the immigrant parent.

James' parents were:

    James Billlington (1697)and Isabell Lawrenson (1697), Lancashire, England.

James' parents were:

  John Billington (1653-1710) and Katherine Ward ( 1657) Lancashire England.

John's parents were:

  Thomas Billington (1607-1678 and Ellen Kitchen (1615)  Lancashire, England.

Thomas' parents were:

   John Billington (1583-1630) and Agnes Eccleston (1583) Lancashire, England.

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James A. came to Texas with his family about 1850.  His family was greatly influenced by Sam Houston, who was the governor of Tennessee until he moved to Texas in 1832.  Houston became a senator in 1846 and later became Governor of Texas in 1859.

    *more about Sam Houston here: https://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/tx/es_tx_houston_1.html

    * and here:  https://www.nga.org/governor/samuel-houston-2/

James A. met and married Florinda Atkinson in 1953.

The Atkinson family lived in Cotton Gin, Freestone County, Texas.

More about this family in future blogposts.

The Allison Billington family moved to Limestone County, Texas around 1850-1852. When James married Florinda Atkinson in 1853 he started his own ranch near by and their first three children were born on their ranch there:

Demetrious Seldon ( 1855-1944); Roberta E. (1856-1879) and Quintus Sebastian (1858-1864).

When the Civil War broke out and all came to be enlisted, the drafting officer noticed the gun carried by James and asked him where he got it. James replied that he made it himself. So rather than being sent to the front, he was sent to the gun factory to make guns for the southern army. He was enlisted in the Texas Confederate Cavalry in 1861 in Tyler , Smith County, which was about 110 miles from their ranch.

Billington Ranch was in Limestone County - nearest town on this map is Waco

Three of his children were born in Tyler:

Merriot Ciscilian (1861-1940), Corinthia Aldonia (1862-1864), and James William.

(1865-1890). His son, Quintus and daughter, Corintha died, while the family was living in Tyler, Texas.

One story of their lives in Tyler, Texas, when James served at the gun factory, highlights the fact that the gun factory was hidden in a wildness area.  Protecting the location was paramount to the citizens of the area.  James' son, Dee, was entrusted with the responsibility of secretly delivering lunch to his dad, and returning without being followed or caught.    

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Inscription on the historical marker:  Founded in 1862 by J.C. Short and Wm. S. N. Biscoe (both gunsmiths) and Col. Geo. Yarbrough. In 2-story brick main building, on 125 acre site, contracted to make for State of Texas 5,000 rifles for the arming of troops in the Civil War. After trouble obtaining men and material, plant was sold in October 1863 to the Confederate government. Short and Biscoe stayed on with the plant, to continue making guns.

With machinery and men evacuated from areas under siege in Arkansas, operated under the command of Lt. Col. G.H. Hill. Plant included leather shop, tin shop, dry kiln, carpenter shop. The 150 to 200 man work force had (besides gunsmiths and guards) butchers, tanners, blacksmiths, draftsmen, carpenters, harness makers, and coal burners; guns made were .54 caliber, long and short Hill Rifles; long and short Texas Rifles; Austrian, Enfield and Tyler Rifles, with barrels 27 to 37½ inches long. Some were equipped with steel tipped bayonets invented by Short. During 3 months of 1864, products made were 394,156 cartridges, 411 rifles and 3,531 canteens; 160 guns were repaired.

Many Tyler rifles were sent to troops fighting 

Photographed By Randal B. Gilbert, December 5, 2015

2. Ordnance Plant Marker

north and east of Red River, to prevent a Federal invasion of Texas.

To see the historical marker: 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=91303

The Tyler gun plant was bought by the Confederate government for $100,000, and a Colonel Hill was placed in charge to make rifles of both the Enfield and Austrian models. Some 200 persons were employed.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/gun-manufacturing-during-the-civil-war#:~:text=The%20Tyler%20gun%20plant%20was,Some%20200%20persons%20were%20employed.

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At the close of the war James A. Billington returned to the Limestone Ranch,

where his last son was born: Thomas Jefferson (1867-1869).

James then turned all of this Texas property into thoroughbred horses and took his family up the old Chisholm Trail. They traveled with many other ranchers who had suffered losses from the Civil War. The book “North of 36” describes this migration. It was often said that the South wasn't beaten, they were starved out. The period that followed, called the Reconstruction, was a bitter time for southerners.

(looking at the map of the time, it looks like the Billlington's started off on the Chisholm Trail and took the Shawnee branch a little to the east toward St. Louis, rather than going all the way up the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, Kansas.)

On this drive, the story is that Dee, being the oldest, and having his own horse, rode farther than the rest of the drovers because he just had to ride over and investigate everything he saw in the distance. Dee was adventurous and mischievous. When James caught Dee racing he reprimanded him sharply. He then told him to tie his horse to the wagon and ride in the wagon until he could think about caring for his horse properly. After all, the horse had a long way to go and racing him wasn't very kind to him .

On one of his escapades, Dee was in grave danger and got a strong scolding from James. He had found a dead Indian, so he quickly galloped back to tell the others. Several men rode back to see what he was yelling about. They saw that the Indian had died of small pox. Dee was severely reprimanded for "endangering" the others. He was told to stay with the group from then on.

The story of the trek from Texas to Missouri is filled with tragic events. The economy in Texas was so bad, many cattle ranchers left for northern states.  In Billington's case, he was moving horses, not cattle. When they reached the Arkansas River, the horses were loaded on flat boats to be ferried across. Dee riding his favorite horse swam into the river, and some of the horses immediately got off the flat boat and swam after the boy. So James hired a number of friendly Indians in skiffs to help get the horses across. One very young colt enjoyed the water so much it swam back and forth three times. The Indians became so interested in watching and laughing at the antics of this little animal, that they allowed 20 fine head of horses to drown.

typical cattle drive across a river

By the time they arrived in St. Louis, the horses were such a poor price that James decided to remain in the horse business .

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There was an old black man and his wife who had been Billington servants for years back in Texas. When the slaves were freed, they didn't know where to go or what to do. They begged to go with the family as they were leaving Texas for Missouri. Finally, James A. and Florinda told them they could come but to remember they were free. The family and servants arrived in Missouri at a time when there was great conflict as to whether Missouri was to be slave state or a free state. Feelings were still strong against those who had slaves. People acted as if they would fight the war over again because they thought this couple were slaves. It was hard to convince some of the citizens that these "slaves" were free and had begged to come because they didn't know where to go or who would take care of them. In 1967 Missouri became a free state.

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The following stories from Estelle gives insight into James' interaction with his servants and his children: 

"James and his brother T. often talked about slavery when they were back in Texas. They were quite religious (Baptists) and the felt strongly that slavery was wrong. They had a few slaves, though, and they concluded that the right of some human beings to own others would have to end. They felt the slaves would have to be educated so they could take care of themselves. Therefore they required the children of their slaves to go to school with the others as it wasn't against the law in Texas to teach black children. "

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"One day the thought came to Dee when he was quite young in Texas, that one of the children of the slaves, Jim, could become his personal slave. That made him feel pretty important. That evening he asked his father if Jim could be his slave.

"Would YOU like to be a slave?" asked James.

"No, but I'm not black," said Dee.

"You don't have to be black to be a slave. Being a slave means you belong to someone else. They can do anything they want with you and you can't do the things you want to do. You can't plan what you want to be or want to do."

"I would be good to HIM," replied Dee.

"Dee," James admonished, "Jim can either be your slave or your friend. Which would you want?"

Dee thought awhile and said, “I guess I’d rather have him as a friend.”

And they were friends until the slaves were all freed and James and his family left Texas for Missouri. Things got pretty tough during the Reconstruction and people lost contact one with another."

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Although James intended to sell the herd of thoroughbreds in St. Louis, when he learned  that prices were so poor, he decided to keep the herd and remain in the horse business. This would give his worn out horses time to recover from the drive before selling them. He settled in the Grand River area near Carrollton, Carroll County, Missouri. 

But the next year James A. died:  July 5, 1868.  Florinda, Dee, Roberta (Bertie),  Merriot (Bud)  and J.W. were left to maintain the ranch themselves. Life was hard on Florinda now that she had lost two children and her husband and she had little knowledge of the horse business. In addition, Thomas died the following year which added to her sadness and bitterness.

Fortunately, James had taught his boys, Dee, Bud and J.W. much of what was needed to take care of the horses. Dee missed many days of school during his teen years, as he was taking care of the ranch and selling horses to keep the family going for the next 10 years. They most likely let the ranch go when Bertie married in 1878 and left for South Dakota with her husband, Tom Hardwick. Dee and Marriot also left for South Dakota within a year of that time. Florinda and J. W. who was 15, most likely moved into Carrollton. Bertie died in childbirth in August of 1879 and her husband brought her remains back to Carrollton by wagon to be buried in their local cemetery, Oak Hill.

Bud returned from Deadwood around the same time and in 1893 married a local girl, Cora Agnes Eddy(1869-1954). More about this family in future blogposts.

James A. is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Carrollton along with several members of the Billington and the Atkinson families. He was well known as a 32nd degree mason, a Shriner, a father of 7 children, a Texas landowner, a gun expert, a locksmith, and a thoroughbred horse rancher.

To us, the present generation, James is not only an honored ancestor, and example of a man of  passion and grit,  but he is also a hallmark of the American Dream and the Westward Movement in the early history of our nation- we can be proud to share his story.