John Washington Bordeaux - pt. 2

August 1877

JUST THE FACTS

Birth :          Feb 3, 1853              Jackson Perish, Louisiana 

Death :        June 29, 1936          Coolidge, Pinal, Arizona

Burial:         Hot Springs Cem., Truth or Consequences, Sierra, NM

Parents :     James N Bordeaux and Mary Jane Harvill 
Siblings:      Ann, Emma, George, Robert, William, I.T.

Wife :          Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams

Marriage:    Aug 29, 1877       Eastland Co. Texas 

Children:     Charles, Betty, Mary, Lula, Jim, Delana, 

                   Ellene, Dewey, Harvel



AND NOW FOR THE STORY    (Part 2)



 July 1878
Denton Co. Texas


Although married near his family home in Eastland County; John and his new bride Louisa didn't stay in Eastland for long. The young couple being eager to strike out on their own, traveled to Denton County where John found a job as a farm laborer.  It wasn't too long before Louisa gave birth to their first child, a son. They named him Charles William.


June 1881
Eastland Co. Texas

By summer of 1881 John, Louisa and little Charles had moved back to Eastland as they welcomed a new member into their family, a baby girl they named Sarah Virgina. As young Sarah grew she became known as "Betty" and forever after; our family has known her as such.
 It had been many years since John had lived  around his mother and step father. But now he chose to move near them again. He and Louisa bought a farm of their own in Eastland Co. John's sisters Ann and Emma, as well as his 1/2 brother Robert  also lived close by. I'm sure it was nice to live around family again.

Around 1882 John's step dad, John Blalock unexpectantly passed away during a trip to east Texas. Shortly after in 1884 John lost his mother too. It was good that John moved his family back home when he did so that they had a few years with his parents before they died.

 With their family planted firmly in Eastland, for the next several years John worked in his fields becoming very prosperous and Louisa began to have more children. After Charles and Betty, came Mary, Lula, and Jim. Then Delana, Ellene and Dewey were born and at the last another son, Nathan. John and Louisa had a very large and happy family.

June 1900
Eastland Co. Texas

John was a man who believed in education. He made sure that all of his children finished school, even his girls. The oldest kids were all grown up by the beginning of 1900,  soon to move out and begin families of their own. His oldest two sons, Charles and Jim were able to help out on the farm. As Jim got older he and his dad bought more land. Each acquiring a great deal and soon they had mineral rights to some oil wells. Everyone was doing well. Life was good.

                        
                          
About this Photo:        

Taken:         My Best Guess is about 1902 -1903 
                     During the properous years
Occasion:   ??

This was my grandmother's photograph. She is the one who wrote the words naming the people. Although I have cropped the photo here, the original is a photo postcard. On the back of the postcard as seen below, she wrote: "J W Bordeaux your Great father, James Bordeaux your uncle, Porter Daniels. 

 
  
Note:
 Is the Porter Daniels in this picture really Peter Daniels? I am not 100% sure but consider this -  I'm not aware of any Porter Daniels in our Daniels Family connection, John Bordeaux was good friends with Peter Daniels and this photo does resemble other photos of Peter.  So given these facts I can assume it is Peter in this picture. Porter could be a nickname.


 Dec 4, 1907
Eastland


Sometimes life can be going great and then all of a sudden out of nowhere a catastrophe  hits you right in the face. That's what happened to John on Dec 4, 1907. When the day was done a man lay on the ground mortally wounded and John was standing over him. The story as I heard it  goes like this:

Hiram McCleskey and John Bordeaux were neighbors. They both had  wives and children. On that fateful day in December John was driving his wagon back from town after buying supplies when he saw Hiram abusing his wife. John decided to try and stop him. John had his gun, but didn't intend to use it.  However that's not how it played out. Hiram came up and hit John. Of course John couldn't stand for that and a fight pursued. It escalated and the next thing John knew, Hiram lay dying on the ground from a gunshot wound. Naturally  John was horrified even though it was self defense.  He went into town right away, told the sheriff what had happened and surrendered. In June 1909, after a long trial John was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in a convict work camp in Walker Co. Texas, home of Huntsville State Prison.
Naturally this was newsworthy and the incident  got written up in the Ft Worth Star Telegram and the Dallas Morning News. You can find these two short newspaper articles at the subscription website www.genealogybank.com.