Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall
By Mike Landwehr
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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Many family researchers list Benjamin Couch as a son of Lindley Couch, and grandson of Moses Couch, rather than as a son of Moses Couch. I once leaned in that direction as well. But, I now feel confident in asserting that Benjamin was a son of Moses Couch. There are several reasons for my confidence.
First, in both her notebooks, Sarah Jane Literal lists both “Linley Couch” and “Ben Couch” as sons of Moses Couch. Second, we believe that Benjamin Couch was born in 1815. The 1820 census record for the Lindley Couch family indicates that there was only one male less than ten years of age in Lindley’s household. If Lindley Couch’s son, Simpson Couch, was born in January of 1819, as we believe, then the male less than ten years of age in Lindley’s household was probably Simpson, and Benjamin Couch was not a member of the household.
Third, all evidence currently available to us consistently points to Alabama as the birthplace of Benjamin Couch. There can be no doubt that Benjamin believed that he was born in Alabama. As noted earlier in our biography of Moses Couch, it is not difficult to make a case for the migration of the Moses Couch family to Alabama in 1815, just prior to Benjamin’s birth. Based on evidence currently available to us, it is more difficult to make a case for the migration of the Lindley Couch family from Kentucky to Alabama before 1818 or 1819.
Finally, and most importantly, Perlina (Couch) Stogsdill, daughter of Lindley Couch, and granddaughter of Moses Couch, died before her father. After Lindley Couch’s death, Perlina’s widowed husband, Archibald Stogsdill, was appointed guardian of their minor children. On May 23, 1867, Archibald Stogsdill submitted an inventory of the real estate inherited by the children of Perlina (Couch) Stogsdill from their grandfather, Lindley Couch. The record indicated that the real estate was being held in coparceny by 1) Perlina’s three minor children, 2) Simpson Couch (son of Lindley Couch), and 3) William and Angelina Evans (Angelina was a daughter of Lindley Couch). The inventory indicated that the minor children owned a one-third part interest in the real estate, and there was no mention of Benjamin Couch as an heir of Lindley Couch. Since Lindley Couch died intestate, there was no will that could have excluded any of Lindley Couch’s descendants as legal heirs. Benjamin Couch would have shared an interest in Lindley Couch’s real estate if Benjamin was Lindley’s son.
Benjamin Couch was probably the last child born to Moses and Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch. I suspect that Moses and Elizabeth Couch moved from Pulaski County, Kentucky, to Alabama, during the summer or fall of 1815, and that Benjamin was born soon after their arrival in Alabama. Our limited information about Benjamin Couch’s date of birth is consistent. In September of 1892, in her application for a Widow’s Pension, Benjamin’s widow reported that he was born in Alabama on December 13, 1815. That same date of birth appears on Benjamin's gravestone, and in the Emanuel Couch family Bible.
We suspect that the Moses Couch family remained in Alabama until about 1821, when they moved back to Pulaski County. Moses and Elizabeth Couch moved their family to Whitley County, Kentucky, a few years later, and then to Madison County, Illinois, where the family lived in the early 1830’s.
I don’t know why Benjamin Couch returned to Alabama in the 1830’s, but it is clear that both Benjamin, and his older brother, Avery, were in Alabama in 1836. In June of 1836, both Benjamin and Avery enlisted for military service in the Second Creek War. The Second Creek War was a conflict fought between the United States and factions of the Creek Nation in 1836 and 1837. The war took place in the border region between Alabama and Georgia along the Chattahoochee River. It resulted in a defeat for the Creek forces and the removal of the Creek people from their native lands to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.
When Benjamin volunteered for military service, he was 20 years old, and single. Avery, on the other hand, was about 30 years old, and had a wife and at least three young children. Benjamin and Avery volunteered at Elyton, the county seat of Jefferson County, in north-central Alabama.
The settlement of Elyton was named for William H. Ely, a commissioner for the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, who went to Alabama in 1819 after the federal government gave land in that area to the institution. The village located there before 1820 was called Frog Level. The settlement was incorporated in 1820, and a Post Office was established in 1821. When the settlement was chosen to become a county seat in 1821, Ely donated land for a courthouse and jail. Birmingham replaced Elyton as the Jefferson County seat in 1873, and Elyton is now part of the western section of Birmingham.
The exact date(s) on which Benjamin and Avery volunteered are somewhat uncertain, and of little importance. In a declaration made in 1850, Avery would state that he volunteered at Elyton on or about the 6th day of June, 1836. Benjamin and Avery served as Privates in the company commanded by Captain James McAdory, and the term of their enlistments was three months.
Captain James McAdory was born in the York District of South Carolina in 1802, and was married in Jefferson County, Alabama in 1826. During the Second Creek War, James volunteered under General Andrew Jackson, and was commissioned a Captain. After his service in the Second Creek War, James returned to his plantation near Jonesboro, southwest of Elyton. It seems likely, based on what we know, that Captain McAdory, himself a resident of Jefferson County, enlisted other Jefferson County men to serve in his Company. It would be interesting to know whether Benjamin and Avery Couch were residents of Jefferson County (or an adjoining county) when they enlisted, or whether they traveled to Jefferson County from homes more distant, for the express purpose of joining the fight against the Creeks.
Information about Captain McAdory’s Company, obtained from the Ainsworth List, indicates that his company was one of six which comprised Lt. Col. McMillion’s Regiment, in the 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment of Alabama Mounted Volunteers. The records provided by the Ainsworth List indicate that the soldiers who served under Lt. Col. McMillion did not serve the full term of their enlistment. Each of the six companies in his regiment was mustered in near Ft. Mitchell, Alabama, and mustered out at Montgomery, Alabama. Captain McAdory’s Company was mustered in on June 19, 1836, and mustered out on July 21, 1836. There were 77 men on the muster-in roll, and 74 men mustered out.
The information provided by the Ainsworth List is borne out by the information provided by an 1893 Treasury Department audit of Benjamin Couch’s service records. The audit indicated that Benjamin was enrolled at Cowaga, Alabama, on June 12, 1836; that he was discharged with his Company at Montgomery, Alabama, on July 21, 1836; and that he was paid from June 12 to July 19, for one month and 19 days, including ten days for travel of 100 miles from place of rendezvous, and 100 miles from place of discharge. The audit also noted that there was no evidence of hostile engagement.
The reference to “Cowaga” should have read “Coweta”, which was the name of an old Creek Indian town north of Ft. Mitchell, in Russell County, Alabama. Ft. Mitchell is on the Alabama-Georgia border, about 70 miles due east of Montgomery, and about 140 miles southeast of the site of Elyton, Alabama. I believe that Benjamin and Avery Couch enlisted at Elylton, then traveled by horseback with the rest of Captain McAdory’s recruits to Coweta, or Ft. Mitchell, where they were mustered into service.
There is reason to believe that Benjamin Couch remained in Alabama for at least two years after mustering out of service with Captain McAdory’s Company, and returning to Elyton, Alabama. For it was in Alabama that Benjamin Couch met and married his wife, Celia Hall.
We believe that Celia Hall was the last child born to Thomas and Sarah Mily (Williams) Hall. Celia may have been the last of the Thomas Hall children to marry, and apparently was the first of the Thomas Hall children to migrate from Alabama to Missouri.
There is some uncertainty as to Celia’s date of her birth. Her gravestone indicates that she was born on January 24, 1819. But I suspect that date was in error. The 1830 and 1840 census records suggest that Celia was born between 1820 and 1825. The 1860 census suggests that Celia was born in 1821 or 1822, while the 1870 and 1880 census records suggest that Celia was born in 1820 or 1821. In an application for a Widow’s Pension, dated September of 1892, Celia reported that she was born in Jackson County, Alabama, on January 24, 1822. . The Emanuel Couch family Bible also lists Celia’s date of birth as January 24, 1822. In the 1900 census, recorded only 17 months before her death, Celia reported her date of birth as January of 1822. It appears evident that Celia, in her later years, believed that she was born in 1822, and that is the date of birth that we accept as accurate. We also accept Celia’s own statement that she was born in Jackson County, Alabama.
There is also some uncertainty as to Celia’s full given name. Every record I have seen lists her name as Celia (or Cela or Ceilie). These records include census, land, pension, church and family Bible records, as well as her gravestone inscription. Yet, many researchers interested in the Benjamin Couch family list her name as Cecilia Caroline Couch. Was Celia just a nickname for Cecilia Caroline? The first time I ever saw the name Cecilia Caroline was on a family group sheet provided to me by Vernon and Donna O’Leary in 1994. Vernon is a grandson of Emanuel Couch, and great-grandson of Benjamin and Celia Couch. That family group sheet listed Celia’s full name as “Cecilia Caroline Hawl”. Vernon has generously shared his information with other researchers over the years, and I suspect that his record of Celia’s full name is the original source of that name for most, if not all, of the researchers who have that name in their records. Once posted to the Internet, any family information, whether proven or unproven, finds its way into the records of other researchers with amazing speed!
Vernon reports that he received family information from several relatives, and that the information he received included several variants for Celia’s name. He believes that Cecilia was one of the variants he received. The youngest daughter born to Benjamin and Celia was Delila Couch. According to Vernon, her full name was Delila Caroline Couch. Vernon reports that one of Delila’s granddaughters, Sylvia Payne Couch, told him that Delila was named Caroline after her mother, Celia Couch.
There is some circumstantial evidence to support the assertion that Celia’s full name was “Cecilia Caroline Hall”. Sherry Gassaway is a g-g-g-granddaughter of Benjamin and Celia Couch. When she started doing genealogical research, she solicited the help of her great-aunt, Idella Fargo, who was a great-granddaughter of Benjamin and Celia, and was born in 1905. Sherry’s Aunt Idella filled in some names on pedigree charts for Sherry. One of those names was that of Benjamin Couch’s wife. Sherry’s aunt wrote the names in cursive, and Sherry had a little trouble reading the names, but interpreted the name of Benjamin’s wife as “Collie”. One of the common nicknames for Caroline in the 18th and 19th centuries was “Callie”.
As mentioned earlier, Benjamin and Celia Couch named their youngest daughter Delila Caroline Couch. Family members report that her nickname was “Callie”. Three of Celia (Hall) Couch’s daughters used the name “Caroline” in naming their own daughters. Sarah (Couch) Hankins named one of her daughters Caroline Hankins, though her nickname was Carrie, rather than Callie. Lavisa (Couch) Morris named one of her daughters Nancy Caroline Morris, and her nickname was “Calllie”. And, Susannah (Couch) Morris named one of her daughters Lydia Caroline Morris. While I will continue to use the name Celia for Benjamin Couch’s wife until further evidence is found, I think that it is likely that her full name was Celia Caroline Hall or Cecilia Caroline Hall.
Our earliest record of Celia Hall is found in the 1830 census of Jackson County, Alabama. The description of the members of the household of Celia’s mother, Sarah Hall, includes a female aged 5-10. I believe that this female was Celia Hall. It appears likely that Celia spent all of her youth on Larkin’s Fork, in northwest Jackson County. The minutes of the Primitive Baptist Church, which was located on Larkin’s Fork, indicate that a “Celia Hall” was among 16 new members received into the church by baptism in February or March of 1836. If our assumption about Celia’s date of birth is correct, Celia would have been 14 years old when she was baptized. That was a typical age for baptism in this early Primitive Baptist Church.
In her “Declaration of Widow for Pension”, completed in September of 1892, Celia reported that she was married to Benjamin Couch in Jackson County, Alabama, on September 6, 1839, by George Griffin, a Justice of the Peace. She also reported that it was the first marriage for each of them. In support of Celia's claim, William Stogsdill signed a statement at Alton, Missouri, in December of 1892, stating the "he was at the Marrage of Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall it was the 6th day of Septemen 1838". William Stogsdill, son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, was Benjamin Couch’s nephew.
In June of 1893, 66-year-old Daniel Stogsdill, of Dallas County, Missouri, signed (with his mark) an affidavit on behalf of Celia Couch, stating:
“I am well and personally acquainted with the claimant, and have known her ever since the year of 1825 or as far back as I can remember, and the claimant and Benjamin Couch were married in the year of 1838, as the claimants husband, was then living at my Fathers house and they were married at my Fathers House and I futher state that the claimant was never married prior to the year of 1838, nor neither was her husband married prior to that date, 1838.”
Daniel Stogsdill was also a son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, and nephew of Benjamin Couch. So Benjamin Couch must have been living with the family of his sister, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, on Larkins Fork, in the Paint Rock Valley of northwest Jackson County, Alabama, when he and Celia were married.
Should we accept Celia’s own statement that she was married in on September 6, 1839, or the statement of William Stogsdill that Celia was married on September 6, 1838? One would think that Celia’s recollection of the date would be the most accurate. However, we believe that the first child born to Benjamin and Celia was born on February 24, 1840. We will, therefore, accept the assertion of William Stogsdill that Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall were married at the home of William Stogsdill in Jackson County, Alabama, on September 6, 1838.
If our assumptions are correct about Benjamin’s date of birth, Celia’s date of birth, and the date of their marriage, Benjamin would have been 22 years old, and Celia would have been 16 years old, when they were married in September of 1838. In one of the statements submitted by Celia Couch in pursuit of a pension, Celia described Benjamin as "about 5 feet 5 inches high with blue eyes dark hair & rather dark complexion".
The fact that Benjamin married Celia Hall, who was a neighbor of William and Malinda Stogsdill, and who attended the same church as the Stogsdill family, suggests that Benjamin lived with his sister’s family long enough to meet, court and marry Celia Hall. But the marriage of Benjamin and Celia was not the first union between the Couch family and the Hall family. Josiah Stogsdill, eldest son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, was only a year younger than his uncle, Benjamin Couch. And Josiah Stogsdill was married two years earlier, in 1836, to Lydia Hall, an older sister of Celia Hall. So, Benjamin Couch married the younger sister of his nephew’s wife.
Benjamin and Celia probably left Jackson County soon after they were married. Their first child, Sarah Elizabeth, was apparently born in Missouri in February of 1840. And the 1840 census of Ripley County, Missouri, includes the family of Benjamin Couch. Lindley Couch was also a resident of Ripley County in 1840, and the census lists the Lindley Couch family and the Benjamin Couch family "next door" to each other. We believe that Lindley Couch was the first of the Moses Couch children to settle in Ripley County. If that assumption is correct, it seems likely that Lindley influenced Benjamin and Celia to move to Ripley County. Whether Benjamin and Celia settled on vacant land near Lindley Couch’s farm, or settled on Lindley Couch’s farm, is probably a moot point, as both families were squatters, living on public lands. The Avery Couch family was also listed in the 1840 Ripley County census, but was separated by several pages from the entries for Benjamin Couch and Lindley Couch. The 1840 census described the inhabitants of Benjamin's household as one male aged 20-30 (probably Benjamin), one female aged 15-20 (probably Celia), and one female under five years of age (probably their daughter, Sarah E. Couch).
Their next four children were probably born to Benjamin and Celia in Ripley/Oregon County. Josiah was born in June of 1842; Avery was born in January of 1844; Mary Jane was born in September of 1845; and James Madison was born in June of 1847, but lived only a few months.
We don’t know when Benjamin and Celia moved further west, to Greene County, Missouri. A daughter born to Benjamin and Celia in November of 1849, Lavisa Jane, was reportedly born in Cass Township of Greene County. And Benjamin purchased a 40-acre farm in Greene County on June 3, 1850[1]. The farm was located about three miles northwest of the present site of Willard, Missouri. While living in Greene County, Benjamin and Celia were “next door” neighbors of Benjamin’s brother-in-law and sister, Charles and Delila Literal, who also migrated to Greene County from Oregon County during the 1840’s. Charles Literal is reported to have died about 1849, and to have been buried at Cave Spring. The farm that Benjamin purchased in June of 1850 was located about two miles east of Cave Spring.
The 1850 Federal census of Cass Township of Greene County, dated November 23, included the Benjamin Couch family. The family was comprised of Benjamin and Celia and their five children. A description of Benjamin’s farm, provided by the census records, is provided on page 90. The description of Benjamin’s farm did not include the size of the farm, in acres, or the cash value of the farm.
By 1850, quite a few members of Benjamin’s extended family had already settled in Dade County, immediately west of Greene County. And, between 1851 and 1857, Benjamin made several purchases of public lands in Dade County. On January 27, 1851, Benjamin purchased the first 40 acres[2], which was located about 13 miles west, and three miles south, of his Greene County farm (see tract #8 on page 231). Benjamin paid cash for this 40 acres of land. Benjamin would continue to own his Greene County farm for several years after he began acquiring land in Dade County. While we don’t know when Benjamin actually moved his family from Greene County to Dade County, it seems logical that they would have made that move soon after their first land purchase in Dade County.
On May 21, 1852, Benjamin purchased a second 40-acre tract of Dade County public land[3]. The southeast corner of this second tract of land was ¼ mile west of the northwest corner of Benjamin’s first purchase (see tract #9 on page 227). In Celia’s application for a pension, filed after Benjamin’s death, Celia reported that Benjamin had received a bounty land warrant for 160 acres of land, presumably based on his military service in the Second Creek War. I suspect that Benjamin, like his brother, Avery, actually received two bounty land warrants—the first for 40 acres of land, and the second for 120 acres. In a later statement, sworn April 4, 1893, Celia indicated that Benjamin “rec'd 80 acres of bounty Land warrant & located the same in Dade Co Mo. about 40 years ago where he resided at the time". I suspect that this was a reference to Benjamin’s first bounty land warrant, for 40 acres of land, and that Benjamin used that warrant to pay for the 40 acres purchased in 1852.
Public lands in Missouri, like public lands in most Midwestern and western states, was surveyed and identified using the Public Land Survey System. This system divided the public land into survey townships, with each township described by a unique combination of Township number and Range number. Each survey township was six miles by six miles in size. Each of these survey townships was further subdivided into 36 Sections, with each Section being one mile by one mile in size. The Sections are identified by Section Numbers, with each survey township containing Sections numbered 1 through 36. When Missouri was admitted as a State, the federal government gave to the State of Missouri the land in Section 16 in every survey township in the state, to benefit public education in the various counties. The land was later sold to the public by the State of Missouri, with profits going to build schools and/or pay teachers. Title to the land was conveyed to the purchasers via Missouri land patents, similar to the federal land patents issued by the federal government to convey title to federal public lands. On September 12, 1854, a Missouri land patent was issued to Benjamin Couch for 40 acres of Township School Land located in Dade County[4], about one-half mile northwest of the Sinking Creek Baptist Church. This land was located about two miles north and one mile west of Benjamin’s home place (see tract #10 on page 231). Benjamin paid $1.25 per acre for the land. The Missouri land patents, like federal land patents, were issued some time after the actual purchase of the land, so Benjamin probably purchased the land several months prior to the date the patent was issued.
Benjamin used cash to purchase an additional 80 acres of Dade County public land from the federal government on September 20, 1854[5] (see tract #11 on page 231). A month later, on October 21, 1854, Benjamin and Celia sold their 40-acre farm in Greene County.
On March 7, 1856, Benjamin made two additional land entries, paying cash for a total of 120 acres[6]. This additional land abutted the land previously purchased by Benjamin in 1851 and 1852, and the 80-acre tract purchased in 1854 (see tract #12 on page 231). It is interesting to note that Benjamin Couch and his nephew, William Stogsdill, both made land entries on March 7, 1856 for adjoining parcels of land. The certificate numbers issued to the two men suggest that they stood in line together that day in the Springfield land office as they waited to make their entries.
With the 120 acres of land that he purchased in 1856, Benjamin completed the acquisition of a 280-acre farm located about two miles south and two miles east of the current site of the village of Everton. The northern border of Benjamin’s farm abutted a 160-acre farm purchased by John R. Brewer in 1851. John R. Brewer’s wife and Benjamin’s wife were sisters. The northwest corner of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm was only one-quarter mile from the 40-acre tract of land purchased by Benjamin’s brother, Lindley Couch, in 1854. And the northeast corner of Benjamin's farm was separated by little more than one-half mile from a sizable farm owned by Benjamin’s nephew, Josiah Stogsdill.
Some time in the mid-1850’s, Benjamin also made a cash entry on 113.59 acres of public land[7] in Lawrence County, Missouri. This land was located immediately south of the Lawrence-Dade County line, and abutted the county line. The land was approximately two miles west and four miles south of Everton.
On February 16, 1857, Benjamin purchased another 160 acres (a quarter section) of Dade County land[8] from Robert C. Hastings and his wife, Sarah Emily. Benjamin paid $1200 in cash for the land, which was located immediately west, and one-half mile south, of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm (see tract #13 on page 231). On the same day, Benjamin purchased 80 acres of land[9] from John H. Hastings and his wife, Rachel. Benjamin paid $320 in cash for this land, which was located about three miles west and one and one-half mile south of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm (see tract #14 on page 231).
On February 18, 1857, only two days after purchasing 240 acres of land from Robert C. Hastings and John H. Hastings, deed records indicate that “Benjamin and Sealy Couch" sold the 280-acre farm they had acquired between 1851 and 1856, along with the 40 acres of Township School Land conveyed to Benjamin by the 1854 Missouri land patent (tracts #8, #9, #10, #11, and #12 on page 231). Benjamin and Celia sold the 320 acres of land to James Harralson, of Greene County, Missouri, for $1600 in cash. Benjamin and Celia both signed the deed with their marks. Combining the land transactions of February 16 and February 18, Benjamin and Celia sold 320 acres of land for $1600, and purchased 240 acres for $1520.
Another document in Celia’s pension file indicates that Benjamin received Bounty Land Warrant No. 56166 for 120 acres, issued under the bounty land act of 1855. This would have been the second bounty land warrant issued to Benjamin for his service in the Second Creek War. Benjamin did not exercise this warrant to buy land. Instead, he assigned the warrant to his nephew, William Stogsdill. William used the warrant to purchase 120 acres of Dade County land. He probably made the purchase at the Springfield Land Office about 1857, as the patent for the land was issued to him on July 10, 1858. William undoubtedly bought the warrant from Benjamin, but it is curious that Benjamin did not exercise it himself. Perhaps Benjamin was not in the market for more land when he received the warrant, and preferred to convert it into cash. By selling the warrant to a relative, he probably avoided the fees charged by the brokers who dealt in bounty land warrants.
Approximately 1858, Benjamin purchased 160 acres of land[10] located about one and one-half miles south, and three miles west, of his 280-acre farm (see tract #16 on page ). The land adjoined the 80 acres of land purchased from John H. Hastings and his wife on February 16, 1857. Benjamin did not pay cash for this land. Instead, he used Bounty Land Warrant #40188, which had been issued to a man named Garard Trammel for his service as a Corporal in Captain Buster’s Company of the Missouri Militia in the North Western Frontier Disturbances. Benjamin probably bought the warrant on the open market from a bounty land warrant broker. The land patent granting ownership of the land to Benjamin was issued on June 10, 1859.
About 1859, Benjamin purchased another 120 acres of land[11] located about one mile south, and two miles west, of his 280-acre farm (see tract #15 on page 231). Benjamin also used a Bounty Land Warrant, good for 120 acres, to purchase this land. The warrant, #58201, had been issued to a man named John Patton for his service as a Private in Captain Harris and Barretts Companies of Tennessee Militia in the War of 1812. The land patent granting ownership of the land to Benjamin was issued on July 2, 1860.
The Benjamin Couch family continued to grow during the 1850’s. Emanuel Couch was born in May of 1851, Lydia Ellen Couch in March of 1853, William Riley Couch in February of 1856, and Susannah Couch in December of 1857. Benjamin’s eldest child, Sarah Elizabeth, married James D. Hankins in 1857 or 1858. And, in March of 1860, Benjamin and Celia had another son, whom they named Samuel Benjamin Couch.
By the summer of 1860, Benjamin and Celia had substantially expanded both their family and their farming operation. In June of 1860, the Benjamin Couch household consisted of Benjamin and Celia, and nine of their children, ranging in age from three months to 18 years. Benjamin Couch reported land holdings of 460 acres, but my accounting suggests that he may have owned 713 acres (tracts #5, #6, #13, #14, #15 and #16 on page 231, as well as the 113 tract in Lawrence County). Josiah was 18 years old, and Avery was 16, so they were old enough to be a big help to Benjamin and Celia with the farming. Benjamin’s eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, and Sarah’s husband and baby daughter, lived near Benjamin and Celia. Benjamin valued his real estate at $4000, and his personal property at $1500. For a more detailed description of the Benjamin Couch farm in 1860, see page 93.
On April 10, 1861, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Anderson refused. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 p.m., April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. The Civil War would have a significant impact on the Benjamin Couch family, as it would on every family residing in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
We are long on family stories about the involvement of Benjamin’s family in the Civil War, but short on facts. I’ll tackle this subject by concentrating first on what we know, then what we think we know. I’ll then speculate about the family stories we’ve heard.
We know that Benjamin and his family were living in Dade County in June of 1860. And we know that their farm was located in the extreme southeast corner of the county, about three miles south of the present site of Everton. The Civil War erupted in April of 1861, and would last four years. On April 29, only sixteen days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, it appears that Benjamin and Celia Couch sold all, or most, of the land they owned in Dade County. The land was sold to three separate buyers. By one deed, they sold the quarter section (160 acres) that they purchased from Robert C. Hastings in February of 1857[12] (tract #13 on page 231), along with their 120-acre farm that Benjamin bought with the John Patton bounty land warrant[13] (tract #15 on page 231). This 280 acres of land was sold to David J. Harrell, of Lawrence County, for $1600. David Harrell was the son of Benjamin’s new brother-in-law, Archibald Harrell, who was married to Benjamin’s sister, Delila.
By a second deed, Benjamin and Celia sold an 80-acre tract of land[14] located immediately east of the quarter section of land that they sold to David J. Harrell. This 80 acres consisted of two 40-acre tracts of land originally purchased by Benjamin’s sister, Delila, before she married Archibald Harrell (tracts #5 and #6 on page 231). The Federal land patents granting ownership of these tracts to Delila were issued on March 10, 1856, and on June 1, 1859. I don’t know, at this point, how ownership of these 80 acres passed from Delila to Benjamin. But, on April 29, 1861, Benjamin and Celia sold these 80 acres to James A. Harshbarger for $600.
By a third deed, Benjamin and Celia sold the eighty acres of land they purchased from John H. Hastings in February of 1857[15] (tract #14 on page 231), along with the tract of land they owned in Lawrence County[16], just south of the Lawrence-Dade county line. This land was sold to Henry F. Howard for $500.
The only land that Benjamin Couch had previously purchased, but which we don’t know the disposition for, was the 160 acres that he purchased about 1858 with the bounty land warrant that had been issued to Garard Trammel. Did he hold onto this land when he sold the balance of his land in April of 1861, or had he previously disposed of this land?
What are we to make of Benjamin’s sale of all, or most, of his Dade County land holdings on April 29, 1861? The most logical assumption is that Benjamin was selling his land in preparation for a move away from the Dade County area. And, I suspect that was the case. But, if Benjamin and his family left Dade County in the spring of 1861, where did they go? We know that Benjamin and his family settled in Grayson County, Texas, no later than 1865. If the family left Dade County in the spring of 1861, did they move directly to Texas, or did they make an interim move? Our earliest evidence suggesting that the family moved to Texas in 1861 is the enlistment of Benjamin’s son, Avery Couch, in the Confederate Army. Avery enlisted as a Private in Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company of the 4th Regiment of Texas Volunteers (CSA). Avery was mustered in at Camp Reeves, near Sherman, in Grayson County, on October 14, 1861.
A little background about Captain M. J. Brinson will be helpful to our discussion. Matthew Jackson Brinson moved to Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, in 1847. He was a business man, later became the first postmaster of Fort Worth, and was a leading citizen in the town. In 1861, he raised a company of troops to fight for the Confederate cause. The company was reportedly the second company raised in Tarrant County, and was the company in which Avery Couch served.
Avery Couch’s entry on the muster-in roll for Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company indicates that he traveled 100 miles to rendezvous. The drive today, from Fort Worth to Sherman, Texas, is 90 miles. I believe that Avery Couch was recruited by Matthew Brinson in Tarrant County, in the fall of 1861, and then traveled, with the rest of the Brinson’s recruits, to Camp Reeves, in Grayson County, where they were formally mustered into service on October 14, 1861.
What conclusions might we draw from Avery Couch’s recruitment in Tarrant County some time prior to October 14, 1861? If the date of birth recorded for Avery in the Emanuel Couch family Bible is accurate, Avery was only 17 years old when he signed up for military service (though he reported his age as 18). At that age, would Avery have left his family in Missouri, and traveled the 460 miles to Tarrant County alone, or with a brother or cousin? We don’t recognize the name of any of Avery’s relatives in Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company. I lean toward the theory that Benjamin and his family were living in Texas when Avery enlisted.
While we don’t know whether Benjamin and his family ever lived in Tarrant County, we have stronger evidence that they were residents of Grayson County, Texas, by the summer of 1863. We believe that Benjamin’s daughter, Mary Jane Couch, was married in Grayson County on June 28, 1863. Mary Jane was only 16 years old when she married, so her marriage provides strong evidence that Benjamin and his family were living in the area in the summer of 1863. As further evidence of the family’s move to Texas during the Civil War, Delila Caroline Couch, the last child born in Benjamin and Celia, was born in Texas in August of 1863.
A family story passed down through Emanuel Couch, son of Benjamin and Celia, and passed to me by Vernon O’Leary, indicates that Emanuel moved to Texas with his parents at the age of eleven. There is some question about Emanuel’s date of birth. The date of birth inscribed on his gravestone is May 11, 1850. The date of birth recorded in the Emanuel Couch family Bible is May 11, 1851.
We don’t know why Benjamin and Celia moved from Missouri to Texas during the early months of the Civil War, but it seems logical to assume that the political climate in Dade County was a contributing factor. The family was undoubtedly sympathetic to the cause of the Confederacy, and that viewpoint was most certainly among the minority in Dade County. It must have been, at best, an uncomfortable situation, and there may have been serious concerns about the family’s safety if they remained in Dade County.
For able-bodied men between 18 and 45 years of age, service in the Civil War, either in the Union Army or in the Confederate Army, was difficult to avoid. And both younger boys and older men often served, particularly in the latter stages of the war. Not surprisingly, there is evidence that several members of Benjamin Couch’s family served.
We have already mentioned the enlistment of Benjamin’s son, Avery, on October 14, 1861. Benjamin’s eldest son was Josiah Couch. Josiah was not quite 19 years old when the war began. A study of Civil War records and 1860 census records leads me to the conclusion that Benjamin’s son was the Josiah Couch who served in Company A of Capt. John Scanland’s Squadron of Texas Cavalry (Confederate). The Muster Roll of this company includes the name of Josiah Couch, as well as the name of William Stogsdill. Josiah was enrolled as a Private by Captain Scanland at Ft. McCulloch, in Indian Territory, on June 23, 1862. William Stogsdill was also enrolled as a Private by Captain Scanland at Ft. McCulloch, but four days earlier, on June 19, 1862. I suspect that this William Stogsdill was the son of Josiah and Lydia Stogsdill. If true, William Stogsdill and Josiah Couch were neighbors from Dade County; first cousins once removed on the Couch side of their family; and first cousins through their mothers’ family.
Josiah Couch’s enlistment in the Texas Cavalry in June of 1862, provides additional circumstantial evidence that the Benjamin Couch family completed their move from Missouri to Texas prior to that date. At 20 years of age, Josiah Couch could have struck out on his own for any of a variety of reasons, and could have enlisted far from home. But, when you consider that he was the eldest son in the family, and that times were difficult, and when you consider that Ft. McCulloch was roughly 320 miles from the Benjamin Couch farm in Dade County, but was only 40 miles from the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, I lean toward the conclusion that the Benjamin Couch family had already moved to Grayson County before Josiah’s enlistment in the Texas Cavalry in June of 1862.
We know that Benjamin Couch’s son-in-law and daughter, James D. and Sarah Elizabeth (Couch) Hankins, were neighbors of Benjamin and Celia in Dade County in 1860. We suspect that James and Sarah also migrated from Dade County to Grayson County about the same time that Benjamin and Celia moved their family. James and Sarah may have accompanied them, or may have joined them in Texas after they got settled. Census records indicate that James and Sarah had a son who was born in Missouri in March of 1861, and another son born in Texas in May of 1866.
We suspect that James D. Hankins fought for the Confederacy while he and Sarah lived in Texas. A soldier by the name of James D. Hankins is listed as a Private in Company B of Martin’s Texas Cavalry (CSA). We have no information as to when or where this James D. Hankins enlisted. We do know that the 9th Texas Partisan Ranger Battalion (CSA) and the 10th Texas Cavalry Battalion (CSA) were organized in the fall of 1862. On February 6, 1863 these two units were consolidated at Fort Washita, Indian Territory, to form the 5th Texas Partisan Rangers, also known as Martin’s Texas Cavalry. If the James D. Hankins who served in Martin’s Texas Cavalry was Benjamin Couch’s son-in-law, the date of organization of the units which were later consolidated to form Martin’s Texas Cavalry are consistent with our suspicion that Benjamin Couch moved his family to Texas in 1861. It is also worth noting that there was a Confederate war veteran named James D. Hankins living in Grayson County, Texas, with three dependents, in February of 1865. There is little reason to doubt that he was the son-in-law of Benjamin Couch.
Keith Couch, a grandson of Benjamin's son, Emanuel Couch, and a Couch family historian, is our source for an interesting family story about the Benjamin Couch family in the Civil War. The story was passed from Keith to Vernon O’Leary, who passed the story on to me. The story from Keith Couch indicates that Benjamin Couch fought for the Confederacy, and that he was accompanied in battle by his young son, Emanuel. Keith reported that two of Benjamin's older sons, Josiah and Avery, served in the Union army, and that Benjamin and his three sons all participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas [on March 7 and March 8, 1862]. If the story is true, Benjamin Couch would have been 46 years old, Josiah would have been 19, Avery would have been 18, and Emanuel would have been only ten years old. Keith reported that Emanuel served as a drummer boy, or water boy. The story also relates that when young Emanuel Couch saw his father, and other men, fall wounded on the battlefield, Emanuel picked up a gun from one of the fallen soldiers, with a pledge to kill Yankees.
Most family stories, passed down by word of mouth for generations, change over time. Details are mixed up, or forgotten, or modified, but most family stories retain at least a kernel of truth. Can we make any sense of this family story? We do know that Avery Couch, son of Benjamin Couch, was a member of the 9th Texas Cavalry (CSA) when that regiment participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge. So it is very likely that one of Benjamin’s sons participated in that battle. While he would have participated as a Rebel, rather than as a Yankee, Avery’s participation in that battle may have been one of the events behind the family story.
To date, I have been unable to locate any records which suggest that any member of the Benjamin County family served in the Union Army. I have also been unable to locate any service records, Union or Confederate, for Benjamin Couch. When the war broke out, Benjamin was 45 years old, and it is likely that nine of his children were still living at home. This was not the profile of a man whom we would expect to volunteer for military service. But anything is possible, and I certainly don’t dismiss this family story in its entirety.
If Benjamin Couch and his family remained in southwest Missouri after the sale of their Dade County land in April of 1861, it is possible that Benjamin and some of his sons could have participated in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the site of the battle was near Republic, Missouri, south of Springfield, and only 30 miles from where Benjamin and his family lived in Dade County. This bloody battle was the second major battle of the Civil War, and the first major battle west of the Mississippi River. Many Missouri men fought in this battle as members of the Missouri State Guard, organized by the secessionist Governor of Missouri in 1861 to protect the state from “invasion” by Federal forces. Only a few records of service in the Missouri State Guard survive, so we don’t know the names of most of the men who served in the State Guard and fought at Wilson’s Creek. Though I think it unlikely at this point, it is possible that Benjamin and his sons could have fought at Wilson’s Creek on August 10, as members of the Missouri State Guard, and then moved to Texas in time for Avery to enlist in the 4th Regiment of Texas Volunteers (CSA) on October 14.
The earliest written record we have found of Benjamin and Celia in Texas is an entry in the 1865 tax list for Grayson County. This list was probably compiled near the end, or shortly after the end, of the Civil War. It should be noted at this point that I have not searched any Grayson County tax lists prior to 1865. In 1865, Benjamin Couch was assessed State taxes of $1.13 and County taxes of $.81 on 18 horses, valued at $540; 54 cattle, valued at $280, 18 sheep, valued at $36; and miscellaneous property valued at $50. There is no indication that Benjamin owned any land.
In 1866, the Grayson County tax list indicates that Benjamin owned 14 horses, valued at $560; 40 cattle, valued at $192; and miscellaneous property valued at $100. Benjamin was assessed a total of $2.98 in state and county taxes, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Again, it did not appear that Benjamin owned any land.
In 1867, Benjamin Couch’s name again appeared in the Grayson County tax list. He was assessed taxes based on his ownership of 20 horses, valued at $600; 75 cattle, valued at $375; 27 sheep, valued at $54, and miscellaneous property valued at $115. He paid a total of $4.22 in state and county taxes, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Again, there is no indication that Benjamin owned any land.
Benjamin’s first purchase of land in Grayson County apparently occurred on October 3, 1867, when Benjamin purchased 10 acres of land[17] from W. D. Fisher for $200. A survey of old Grayson County plat maps reveals that this 10 acres of land was located about one mile east of the present site of Sandusky, Texas. Sandusky, in turn, is located seventeen miles northwest of Sherman, in northwestern Grayson County.
The Grayson County tax records for 1868 reflect Benjamin’s purchase of the 10 acres of land in 1867. The 1868 tax records indicate that Benjamin was assessed taxes on 10 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Wm Fisher, and valued at $30; as well as 70 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Wm Tolson, and valued at $210. Benjamin was also assessed taxes for 10 horses, valued at $250; 20 cattle, valued at $100; 22 sheep, valued at $33; and miscellaneous property valued at $200. Benjamin paid total state and county taxes of $3.78, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Note that the 10 acres of land Benjamin purchased in 1867 for $200 was valued, for tax purposes, at $30.
The land records back in Dade County, Missouri, include the sale, for delinquent 1868 taxes, of nine properties. The nine properties totaled 480 acres, and the delinquent 1868 taxes totaled $19.02. The Collector of Revenue for Dade County advertised the real estate for sale on June 20, 1869. When the taxes were still not paid by July 31, the properties were sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger, in October of 1869, for the taxes due. Benjamin Couch was listed as the owner of record for two of the properties, totaling 120 acres[18], which were sold for back taxes. These two properties were sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger for $4.60. It should be noted, however, that Benjamin previously sold this 120 acres of land to David J. Harrell in April of 1861. While I suppose it is possible that Benjamin could have reacquired ownership of this land through some default by David J. Harrell, I think it is more likely that the land had been abandoned by David Harrell, and that David Harrell never recorded his purchase of the land from Benjamin Couch. By official records, the land would still be in Benjamin Couch’s name. Benjamin’s nephew, William Stogsdill, was the owner of record of two of the other nine properties sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger.
The following year, back in Texas, the 1870 Grayson County tax records indicate that Benjamin was assessed taxes on 50 acres of land from the tract first assigned to William Tolson, and valued at $150; as well as 62 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Carmon, and valued at $186. Benjamin was also assessed taxes for 5 horses, valued at $250; 22 cattle, valued at $88; and miscellaneous property valued at $230. He paid total state and county taxes of $2.52, as well as a poll tax of $1.00.
On October 8, 1870, Benjamin and Celia sold 30 acres of land to James R. Findley, of Grayson County, for $450. James R. Findley was the father of William R. Findley, who had married Benjamin’s daughter, Lydia Ellen, only six months earlier. The land that Benjamin sold to James Findley was “out of the N. E. corner of a 160 acre survey Patented to W. D. Tolson assignee of David Fisher.”
Sometime between 1866 and 1870, Benjamin’s eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, moved from Grayson County back to Dade County, Missouri, with her husband and children. In November of 1870, Benjamin and Celia and their four youngest children appeared in the 1870 census in Grayson County. Benjamin valued his real estate at $1000, and his personal property at $500.
Researchers reviewing the 1870 Grayson County census record for the Benjamin Couch family will note that S. P. Couch and Nancy Couch, aged 37 and 27, were listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia in the 1870 census. One would assume that S. P. Couch and Benjamin Couch were probably related. To date, I have not been able to establish a relationship between these two men. My limited research, much of which is unproven, suggests that S. P. Couch was Sidney Pinckney Couch, son of Jacob Bull Couch and Elizabeth Clanton. My research suggests that Sidney Pinckney Couch was born in Pulaski County, Arkansas, on September 8, 1835, and that he married Nancy Jane Norwood in Grayson County, Texas, on February 6, 1859. Some Couch family researchers report that Jacob Bull Couch was the son of a Thomas Couch Jr., and was born in Orange County, North Carolina, about 1800. Jacob Bull Couch married Elizabeth Clanton in Pulaski County, Arkansas, on September 6, 1829. Some researchers report that Elizabeth Clanton’s family lived in Madison County, Illinois, where Moses Couch settled in 1830 or 1831, only a year or two after Jacob Bull Couch and Elizabeth Clanton were married.
Reviewing the 1870 Grayson County census, the reader may also note that only six dwellings separated the household of S. P. and Nancy Couch from the household of 65-year-old E. Couch, and his 58-year-old wife, Julia Ann Couch. Was E. Couch related to either Benjamin Couch or Sidney Pinckney Couch? Again, my research on this Couch family should be considered as unverified. This E. Couch was identified in the census as a minister, and was born in South Carolina. I believe the E. Couch was actually Ezekiel Couch. I believe that I have located Ezekiel Couch and his wife in the 1830 census of Hardin County, Tennessee, and in the 1840 census of Tippah County, Mississippi. There is a land transaction in Tippah County dated November 20, 1840, reflecting the sale of property in the town of Ripley by Ezekiel Couch and Juliann Couch. In 1842, an Ezekiel Couch was issued a land grant for 160 acres in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. I have not been able to locate Ezekiel and Julia Ann in the 1850 census, but suspect that they may have been living in the Indian Territory. In 1852, when the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, founded a school called the Colbert Institute at Perryville, in the Choctaw Nation of the Indian Territory, a man named Ezekiel Couch was in charge of the school. Ezekiel and Julia appear in both the 1860 and the 1870 census of Grayson County, and are buried in the Sandusky Cemetery, in Grayson County. I believe that Ezekiel was born on May 1, 1805, and died on April 21, 1880. Julia Ann was apparently born on February 4, 1812, and died on December 18, 1887. At this point, I have not found any evidence of a relationship between Benjamin Couch, Sidney Pinckney Couch, and Ezekiel Couch. It may just be a coincidence that they lived so close to one another in Grayson County.
After living in Grayson County for nearly ten years, Benjamin and Celia moved their family again. The records relating to Celia Couch’s application for a Widow’s Pension include a promissory note, dated June 19, 1871, and signed in Grayson County, Texas by Benjamin Couch's mark. The note promised
"to pay Samuel A. Roberts on order nine hundred and ninety Dollars specie with interest at 10 per cent from date, on the first day of January 1872 it being in part payment of a tract of land this day purchased by me from said Roberts off of the Chas. Scarborough Head Right Cook Co Texas".
It appears that Benjamin, still a resident of Grayson County, was purchasing land in Cooke County. Another note indicated that $355 was paid on the note on July 29, 1871, and $500 was paid on October 30, 1871. There is also a note indicating that the promissory note had been paid in full.
There is an interesting, and possibly related, document among the land records of Grayson County. It reads as follows:
“Know all men by these presents. That I have this day for and in considration of the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars. Bargained Sold and conveyed. And by these presents do bargain sell and convey unto P. B. Scarbrough all of my labor that I may have put on the said P. B. Scarbrough’s Land. Situated in the north west Part of Grayson County between the waters of Sandy & Brushy creeks Including Houses Fencing & Fruit trees Excepting select rails enough to make a good & lawful fence beginning at the S. E. corner of Benj Couche’s cow lot & running with said Couche’s Line to the Head of a Branch at or near the S. E. Corner of the said Couches tract of land.
Given under our hands & C Aug 10 1871
Witness. We Benj Couch & Celia Couch both agree to give the said Scarbrough possession of the houses by the 25th day of Dec. 1871.
Benj X Couch
Celia X Couch”
While the exact nature of the document is unclear, I suspect that Benjamin and Celia had been living on P. B. Scarbrough’s land, and had been asked to leave. The reference to “Couche’s Line” and “said Couches tract of land” suggests that the land on which the houses being vacated were situated may have been immediately adjacent to land owned by Benjamin Couch. And, indeed, the two dwellings listed immediately prior to Benjamin Couch’s dwelling in the 1870 census were occupied by the “B. Scarbough” family, and the “G. W. Scarbough” family. B. Scarbough was 53 years of age, and valued his real estate at $1300. G. W. Scarbough was 38 years of age, and valued his real estate at $600. I suspect that G. W. Scarbough was a son of B. Scarbough, and that B. Scarbough was the P. B. Scarbrough who was apparently repossessing houses located on his property. B. Scarbough had eight children living at home, so perhaps he had reached the point where his family needed the dwellings that Benjamin and his family were occupying.
It appears that Benjamin and Celia agreed to vacate the houses once Scarbrough paid Benjamin $350 for the improvements that Benjamin had made to the land. The reference to “houses” may suggest that Benjamin and Celia were agreeing to the move of multiple families. It would not be surprising to learn that the family of S. P. Couch, who apparently lived in a dwelling listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia in the 1870 census, was also involved in this relocation.
The 1871 tax rolls for Grayson County document that Benjamin was assessed for five horses, valued at $400; 22 cattle, assessed at $110; 26 sheep, assessed at $39; other live stock assessed at $30; merchandise assessed at $128; and other articles assessed at $75, for a total of $782. He paid $4.31 in state taxes, and $9.39 in county taxes, as well as state poll tax of $2.50, and county poll tax of $.25. Benjamin was also assessed $4.13 in state taxes, and $9.00 in county taxes, on 50 acres of land valued at $750. The land was located on the plat originally surveyed for William Tolson.
It does appear that Benjamin and Celia were making plans, in August of 1871, to move from Grayson County to Cooke County. On December 1, 1871, Benjamin and Celia Couch, of Cooke County, Texas, sold 50 acres of land[19] in Grayson County to George L. Scott for $1200.
In 1872, Benjamin again appeared on the Grayson County tax rolls. He was assessed for 160 acres of land first assigned to Samuel Craig, and valued at $960. He had six horses valued at $200, ten cattle valued at $60, money on hand of $170, and miscellaneous property valued at $30. Benjamin was assessed state and county taxes of $23.80. Benjamin Couch’s name disappeared from the Grayson County tax rolls after 1872.
Our next record of Benjamin and Celia is dated June of 1880, when the couple was enumerated in the census of Cooke County. Listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia was the family of their 30-year-old daughter, Lavisa, and her husband and six children. And listed “next door” to Lavisa’s family were Benjamin’s 20-year-old son, Samuel, and Samuel’s wife and daughter.
But Cooke County would not be the final stop for Benjamin and Celia. They made one final move, to Montague County, Texas. We don't know when they made the move to Montague County, but it must have been after the 1880 census was enumerated, and before November of 1884, when Benjamin Couch paid $5.72 in County and State taxes in Montague County.
There are a number of deeds filed in Montague County involving Benjamin and Celia Couch, and Benjamin’s son, Samuel Couch. At least 13 of these deeds, dated between 1881 and 1889, involve the purchase and sale of land in Titus County, Texas. On the surface, these deeds seem to suggest that Benjamin and Samuel may have been speculating in Titus County land.
In her pension application, Celia stated that Benjamin died at Salona, in Montague County, Texas, on June 23, 1889, at the age of 71. We believe that Benjamin was 73 years old when he died. A statement filed by "J. Younger, Physician & Surgeon", of Sunset, Texas, certified that Dr. Younger attended Benjamin Couch in his last illness, and confirmed the date of Benjamin's death. Keith Couch reports that Benjamin died of pneumonia. Benjamin was buried in the Salona Cemetery, a church grave yard near Salona, about five miles southeast of Bowie, Texas. Benjamin’s gravestone lists his date of birth as December 13, 1815, and his date of death as June 22, 1889.
We believe that Celia was 67 years old when Benjamin died. She did not remarry. The wonderful photos of Benjamin and Celia (see page 1) were generously provided by Vernon O’Leary. We don’t know when the photos were taken, but are fortunate to have them. The photo of Benjamin was obviously taken in his later years. With his full head of hair, his beard, and his piercing eyes, the photo leaves the impression of a strong individual—a man to be dealt with! The photo of Celia may have been taken at the same time as Benjamin’s photo, but I suspect that it was not. It could have been taken after Benjamin’s death.
On September 12, 1892, Celia filed a "Declaration of Widow for Pension" under the Indian War Pension Act of July 27, 1892, which made pensions available to survivors of the various Indian Wars and their widows. Celia listed her residence as Salona, Texas, where she had continued to live after Benjamin’s death three years earlier. Celia was unable to write, and signed all of her papers with her mark. She also stated that Benjamin "could not write, he always made his mark". Celia was granted a Widow's Pension on November 2, 1893. The pension paid her the standard rate of $8.00 per month, retroactive to July 27, 1892, which was the effective date of the government act authorizing the pension.
In June of 1900, Celia was living in Montague County with the family of her youngest daughter, Delila. Celia was probably living with Delila and her family when Celia died on November 13, 1901. Celia was buried with Benjamin in the Salona Cemetery. We believe that Celia was 79 years old when she died. Her grave stone, however, lists her date of birth as January 24, 1819, and her date of death as November 13, 1901.
[1] Described as the N ½ of the E ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 11 in Township 30 North of Range 23 West.
[2] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[3] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[4] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 16 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[5] Described as the North ½ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[6] Described as the Southwest ¼ of the Northeast ¼ and the South ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[7] Described as Lot #8 of the Northwest 1/4 of Section 1 in Township 29 North of Range 26 West.
[8] Described as the Northeast ¼ of Section 33 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[9] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Southwest ¼ and the Southwest ¼ of the Southeast ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[10] Described as the East ½ of the Southeast ¼ and the Northwest ¼ of the Southeast ¼ and the North ½ of Lot #1 in the Southwest ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[11] Described as the North ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 32 and the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 31, all in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[12] Described as the NE ¼ of Section 33 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[13] Described as the N ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 32 and the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 31, both in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[14] Described as the N ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 34 in Township 30 North or Range 25 West.
[15] Described as the E ½ of the SE ¼ and the E ½ of the SW ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[16] Described as a part of Lot No. 8 of the NW fractional ¼ of Section 1 in Township 29 North of Range 26 West.
[17] The land was “situated on the divide between Breshy [Brushy] and Sandy Creek, taken out of Qr. No. 2, section No. 7, League 42, University lands.”
[18] Described as the North ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 32, and the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 31, all in Township 30 West of Range 25 North.
[19] The land was “on the waters of Brush Creek and being a part of the ¼ section No. 2 of fraction section No. 7 and League 42 of University land, the same being patented to W. D. Tolson on the 22nd day of Oct 1863”.
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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Many family researchers list Benjamin Couch as a son of Lindley Couch, and grandson of Moses Couch, rather than as a son of Moses Couch. I once leaned in that direction as well. But, I now feel confident in asserting that Benjamin was a son of Moses Couch. There are several reasons for my confidence.
First, in both her notebooks, Sarah Jane Literal lists both “Linley Couch” and “Ben Couch” as sons of Moses Couch. Second, we believe that Benjamin Couch was born in 1815. The 1820 census record for the Lindley Couch family indicates that there was only one male less than ten years of age in Lindley’s household. If Lindley Couch’s son, Simpson Couch, was born in January of 1819, as we believe, then the male less than ten years of age in Lindley’s household was probably Simpson, and Benjamin Couch was not a member of the household.
Third, all evidence currently available to us consistently points to Alabama as the birthplace of Benjamin Couch. There can be no doubt that Benjamin believed that he was born in Alabama. As noted earlier in our biography of Moses Couch, it is not difficult to make a case for the migration of the Moses Couch family to Alabama in 1815, just prior to Benjamin’s birth. Based on evidence currently available to us, it is more difficult to make a case for the migration of the Lindley Couch family from Kentucky to Alabama before 1818 or 1819.
Finally, and most importantly, Perlina (Couch) Stogsdill, daughter of Lindley Couch, and granddaughter of Moses Couch, died before her father. After Lindley Couch’s death, Perlina’s widowed husband, Archibald Stogsdill, was appointed guardian of their minor children. On May 23, 1867, Archibald Stogsdill submitted an inventory of the real estate inherited by the children of Perlina (Couch) Stogsdill from their grandfather, Lindley Couch. The record indicated that the real estate was being held in coparceny by 1) Perlina’s three minor children, 2) Simpson Couch (son of Lindley Couch), and 3) William and Angelina Evans (Angelina was a daughter of Lindley Couch). The inventory indicated that the minor children owned a one-third part interest in the real estate, and there was no mention of Benjamin Couch as an heir of Lindley Couch. Since Lindley Couch died intestate, there was no will that could have excluded any of Lindley Couch’s descendants as legal heirs. Benjamin Couch would have shared an interest in Lindley Couch’s real estate if Benjamin was Lindley’s son.
Benjamin Couch was probably the last child born to Moses and Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch. I suspect that Moses and Elizabeth Couch moved from Pulaski County, Kentucky, to Alabama, during the summer or fall of 1815, and that Benjamin was born soon after their arrival in Alabama. Our limited information about Benjamin Couch’s date of birth is consistent. In September of 1892, in her application for a Widow’s Pension, Benjamin’s widow reported that he was born in Alabama on December 13, 1815. That same date of birth appears on Benjamin's gravestone, and in the Emanuel Couch family Bible.
We suspect that the Moses Couch family remained in Alabama until about 1821, when they moved back to Pulaski County. Moses and Elizabeth Couch moved their family to Whitley County, Kentucky, a few years later, and then to Madison County, Illinois, where the family lived in the early 1830’s.
I don’t know why Benjamin Couch returned to Alabama in the 1830’s, but it is clear that both Benjamin, and his older brother, Avery, were in Alabama in 1836. In June of 1836, both Benjamin and Avery enlisted for military service in the Second Creek War. The Second Creek War was a conflict fought between the United States and factions of the Creek Nation in 1836 and 1837. The war took place in the border region between Alabama and Georgia along the Chattahoochee River. It resulted in a defeat for the Creek forces and the removal of the Creek people from their native lands to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.
When Benjamin volunteered for military service, he was 20 years old, and single. Avery, on the other hand, was about 30 years old, and had a wife and at least three young children. Benjamin and Avery volunteered at Elyton, the county seat of Jefferson County, in north-central Alabama.
The settlement of Elyton was named for William H. Ely, a commissioner for the Connecticut Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, who went to Alabama in 1819 after the federal government gave land in that area to the institution. The village located there before 1820 was called Frog Level. The settlement was incorporated in 1820, and a Post Office was established in 1821. When the settlement was chosen to become a county seat in 1821, Ely donated land for a courthouse and jail. Birmingham replaced Elyton as the Jefferson County seat in 1873, and Elyton is now part of the western section of Birmingham.
The exact date(s) on which Benjamin and Avery volunteered are somewhat uncertain, and of little importance. In a declaration made in 1850, Avery would state that he volunteered at Elyton on or about the 6th day of June, 1836. Benjamin and Avery served as Privates in the company commanded by Captain James McAdory, and the term of their enlistments was three months.
Captain James McAdory was born in the York District of South Carolina in 1802, and was married in Jefferson County, Alabama in 1826. During the Second Creek War, James volunteered under General Andrew Jackson, and was commissioned a Captain. After his service in the Second Creek War, James returned to his plantation near Jonesboro, southwest of Elyton. It seems likely, based on what we know, that Captain McAdory, himself a resident of Jefferson County, enlisted other Jefferson County men to serve in his Company. It would be interesting to know whether Benjamin and Avery Couch were residents of Jefferson County (or an adjoining county) when they enlisted, or whether they traveled to Jefferson County from homes more distant, for the express purpose of joining the fight against the Creeks.
Information about Captain McAdory’s Company, obtained from the Ainsworth List, indicates that his company was one of six which comprised Lt. Col. McMillion’s Regiment, in the 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment of Alabama Mounted Volunteers. The records provided by the Ainsworth List indicate that the soldiers who served under Lt. Col. McMillion did not serve the full term of their enlistment. Each of the six companies in his regiment was mustered in near Ft. Mitchell, Alabama, and mustered out at Montgomery, Alabama. Captain McAdory’s Company was mustered in on June 19, 1836, and mustered out on July 21, 1836. There were 77 men on the muster-in roll, and 74 men mustered out.
The information provided by the Ainsworth List is borne out by the information provided by an 1893 Treasury Department audit of Benjamin Couch’s service records. The audit indicated that Benjamin was enrolled at Cowaga, Alabama, on June 12, 1836; that he was discharged with his Company at Montgomery, Alabama, on July 21, 1836; and that he was paid from June 12 to July 19, for one month and 19 days, including ten days for travel of 100 miles from place of rendezvous, and 100 miles from place of discharge. The audit also noted that there was no evidence of hostile engagement.
The reference to “Cowaga” should have read “Coweta”, which was the name of an old Creek Indian town north of Ft. Mitchell, in Russell County, Alabama. Ft. Mitchell is on the Alabama-Georgia border, about 70 miles due east of Montgomery, and about 140 miles southeast of the site of Elyton, Alabama. I believe that Benjamin and Avery Couch enlisted at Elylton, then traveled by horseback with the rest of Captain McAdory’s recruits to Coweta, or Ft. Mitchell, where they were mustered into service.
There is reason to believe that Benjamin Couch remained in Alabama for at least two years after mustering out of service with Captain McAdory’s Company, and returning to Elyton, Alabama. For it was in Alabama that Benjamin Couch met and married his wife, Celia Hall.
We believe that Celia Hall was the last child born to Thomas and Sarah Mily (Williams) Hall. Celia may have been the last of the Thomas Hall children to marry, and apparently was the first of the Thomas Hall children to migrate from Alabama to Missouri.
There is some uncertainty as to Celia’s date of her birth. Her gravestone indicates that she was born on January 24, 1819. But I suspect that date was in error. The 1830 and 1840 census records suggest that Celia was born between 1820 and 1825. The 1860 census suggests that Celia was born in 1821 or 1822, while the 1870 and 1880 census records suggest that Celia was born in 1820 or 1821. In an application for a Widow’s Pension, dated September of 1892, Celia reported that she was born in Jackson County, Alabama, on January 24, 1822. . The Emanuel Couch family Bible also lists Celia’s date of birth as January 24, 1822. In the 1900 census, recorded only 17 months before her death, Celia reported her date of birth as January of 1822. It appears evident that Celia, in her later years, believed that she was born in 1822, and that is the date of birth that we accept as accurate. We also accept Celia’s own statement that she was born in Jackson County, Alabama.
There is also some uncertainty as to Celia’s full given name. Every record I have seen lists her name as Celia (or Cela or Ceilie). These records include census, land, pension, church and family Bible records, as well as her gravestone inscription. Yet, many researchers interested in the Benjamin Couch family list her name as Cecilia Caroline Couch. Was Celia just a nickname for Cecilia Caroline? The first time I ever saw the name Cecilia Caroline was on a family group sheet provided to me by Vernon and Donna O’Leary in 1994. Vernon is a grandson of Emanuel Couch, and great-grandson of Benjamin and Celia Couch. That family group sheet listed Celia’s full name as “Cecilia Caroline Hawl”. Vernon has generously shared his information with other researchers over the years, and I suspect that his record of Celia’s full name is the original source of that name for most, if not all, of the researchers who have that name in their records. Once posted to the Internet, any family information, whether proven or unproven, finds its way into the records of other researchers with amazing speed!
Vernon reports that he received family information from several relatives, and that the information he received included several variants for Celia’s name. He believes that Cecilia was one of the variants he received. The youngest daughter born to Benjamin and Celia was Delila Couch. According to Vernon, her full name was Delila Caroline Couch. Vernon reports that one of Delila’s granddaughters, Sylvia Payne Couch, told him that Delila was named Caroline after her mother, Celia Couch.
There is some circumstantial evidence to support the assertion that Celia’s full name was “Cecilia Caroline Hall”. Sherry Gassaway is a g-g-g-granddaughter of Benjamin and Celia Couch. When she started doing genealogical research, she solicited the help of her great-aunt, Idella Fargo, who was a great-granddaughter of Benjamin and Celia, and was born in 1905. Sherry’s Aunt Idella filled in some names on pedigree charts for Sherry. One of those names was that of Benjamin Couch’s wife. Sherry’s aunt wrote the names in cursive, and Sherry had a little trouble reading the names, but interpreted the name of Benjamin’s wife as “Collie”. One of the common nicknames for Caroline in the 18th and 19th centuries was “Callie”.
As mentioned earlier, Benjamin and Celia Couch named their youngest daughter Delila Caroline Couch. Family members report that her nickname was “Callie”. Three of Celia (Hall) Couch’s daughters used the name “Caroline” in naming their own daughters. Sarah (Couch) Hankins named one of her daughters Caroline Hankins, though her nickname was Carrie, rather than Callie. Lavisa (Couch) Morris named one of her daughters Nancy Caroline Morris, and her nickname was “Calllie”. And, Susannah (Couch) Morris named one of her daughters Lydia Caroline Morris. While I will continue to use the name Celia for Benjamin Couch’s wife until further evidence is found, I think that it is likely that her full name was Celia Caroline Hall or Cecilia Caroline Hall.
Our earliest record of Celia Hall is found in the 1830 census of Jackson County, Alabama. The description of the members of the household of Celia’s mother, Sarah Hall, includes a female aged 5-10. I believe that this female was Celia Hall. It appears likely that Celia spent all of her youth on Larkin’s Fork, in northwest Jackson County. The minutes of the Primitive Baptist Church, which was located on Larkin’s Fork, indicate that a “Celia Hall” was among 16 new members received into the church by baptism in February or March of 1836. If our assumption about Celia’s date of birth is correct, Celia would have been 14 years old when she was baptized. That was a typical age for baptism in this early Primitive Baptist Church.
In her “Declaration of Widow for Pension”, completed in September of 1892, Celia reported that she was married to Benjamin Couch in Jackson County, Alabama, on September 6, 1839, by George Griffin, a Justice of the Peace. She also reported that it was the first marriage for each of them. In support of Celia's claim, William Stogsdill signed a statement at Alton, Missouri, in December of 1892, stating the "he was at the Marrage of Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall it was the 6th day of Septemen 1838". William Stogsdill, son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, was Benjamin Couch’s nephew.
In June of 1893, 66-year-old Daniel Stogsdill, of Dallas County, Missouri, signed (with his mark) an affidavit on behalf of Celia Couch, stating:
“I am well and personally acquainted with the claimant, and have known her ever since the year of 1825 or as far back as I can remember, and the claimant and Benjamin Couch were married in the year of 1838, as the claimants husband, was then living at my Fathers house and they were married at my Fathers House and I futher state that the claimant was never married prior to the year of 1838, nor neither was her husband married prior to that date, 1838.”
Daniel Stogsdill was also a son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, and nephew of Benjamin Couch. So Benjamin Couch must have been living with the family of his sister, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, on Larkins Fork, in the Paint Rock Valley of northwest Jackson County, Alabama, when he and Celia were married.
Should we accept Celia’s own statement that she was married in on September 6, 1839, or the statement of William Stogsdill that Celia was married on September 6, 1838? One would think that Celia’s recollection of the date would be the most accurate. However, we believe that the first child born to Benjamin and Celia was born on February 24, 1840. We will, therefore, accept the assertion of William Stogsdill that Benjamin Couch and Celia Hall were married at the home of William Stogsdill in Jackson County, Alabama, on September 6, 1838.
If our assumptions are correct about Benjamin’s date of birth, Celia’s date of birth, and the date of their marriage, Benjamin would have been 22 years old, and Celia would have been 16 years old, when they were married in September of 1838. In one of the statements submitted by Celia Couch in pursuit of a pension, Celia described Benjamin as "about 5 feet 5 inches high with blue eyes dark hair & rather dark complexion".
The fact that Benjamin married Celia Hall, who was a neighbor of William and Malinda Stogsdill, and who attended the same church as the Stogsdill family, suggests that Benjamin lived with his sister’s family long enough to meet, court and marry Celia Hall. But the marriage of Benjamin and Celia was not the first union between the Couch family and the Hall family. Josiah Stogsdill, eldest son of William and Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, was only a year younger than his uncle, Benjamin Couch. And Josiah Stogsdill was married two years earlier, in 1836, to Lydia Hall, an older sister of Celia Hall. So, Benjamin Couch married the younger sister of his nephew’s wife.
Benjamin and Celia probably left Jackson County soon after they were married. Their first child, Sarah Elizabeth, was apparently born in Missouri in February of 1840. And the 1840 census of Ripley County, Missouri, includes the family of Benjamin Couch. Lindley Couch was also a resident of Ripley County in 1840, and the census lists the Lindley Couch family and the Benjamin Couch family "next door" to each other. We believe that Lindley Couch was the first of the Moses Couch children to settle in Ripley County. If that assumption is correct, it seems likely that Lindley influenced Benjamin and Celia to move to Ripley County. Whether Benjamin and Celia settled on vacant land near Lindley Couch’s farm, or settled on Lindley Couch’s farm, is probably a moot point, as both families were squatters, living on public lands. The Avery Couch family was also listed in the 1840 Ripley County census, but was separated by several pages from the entries for Benjamin Couch and Lindley Couch. The 1840 census described the inhabitants of Benjamin's household as one male aged 20-30 (probably Benjamin), one female aged 15-20 (probably Celia), and one female under five years of age (probably their daughter, Sarah E. Couch).
Their next four children were probably born to Benjamin and Celia in Ripley/Oregon County. Josiah was born in June of 1842; Avery was born in January of 1844; Mary Jane was born in September of 1845; and James Madison was born in June of 1847, but lived only a few months.
We don’t know when Benjamin and Celia moved further west, to Greene County, Missouri. A daughter born to Benjamin and Celia in November of 1849, Lavisa Jane, was reportedly born in Cass Township of Greene County. And Benjamin purchased a 40-acre farm in Greene County on June 3, 1850[1]. The farm was located about three miles northwest of the present site of Willard, Missouri. While living in Greene County, Benjamin and Celia were “next door” neighbors of Benjamin’s brother-in-law and sister, Charles and Delila Literal, who also migrated to Greene County from Oregon County during the 1840’s. Charles Literal is reported to have died about 1849, and to have been buried at Cave Spring. The farm that Benjamin purchased in June of 1850 was located about two miles east of Cave Spring.
The 1850 Federal census of Cass Township of Greene County, dated November 23, included the Benjamin Couch family. The family was comprised of Benjamin and Celia and their five children. A description of Benjamin’s farm, provided by the census records, is provided on page 90. The description of Benjamin’s farm did not include the size of the farm, in acres, or the cash value of the farm.
By 1850, quite a few members of Benjamin’s extended family had already settled in Dade County, immediately west of Greene County. And, between 1851 and 1857, Benjamin made several purchases of public lands in Dade County. On January 27, 1851, Benjamin purchased the first 40 acres[2], which was located about 13 miles west, and three miles south, of his Greene County farm (see tract #8 on page 231). Benjamin paid cash for this 40 acres of land. Benjamin would continue to own his Greene County farm for several years after he began acquiring land in Dade County. While we don’t know when Benjamin actually moved his family from Greene County to Dade County, it seems logical that they would have made that move soon after their first land purchase in Dade County.
On May 21, 1852, Benjamin purchased a second 40-acre tract of Dade County public land[3]. The southeast corner of this second tract of land was ¼ mile west of the northwest corner of Benjamin’s first purchase (see tract #9 on page 227). In Celia’s application for a pension, filed after Benjamin’s death, Celia reported that Benjamin had received a bounty land warrant for 160 acres of land, presumably based on his military service in the Second Creek War. I suspect that Benjamin, like his brother, Avery, actually received two bounty land warrants—the first for 40 acres of land, and the second for 120 acres. In a later statement, sworn April 4, 1893, Celia indicated that Benjamin “rec'd 80 acres of bounty Land warrant & located the same in Dade Co Mo. about 40 years ago where he resided at the time". I suspect that this was a reference to Benjamin’s first bounty land warrant, for 40 acres of land, and that Benjamin used that warrant to pay for the 40 acres purchased in 1852.
Public lands in Missouri, like public lands in most Midwestern and western states, was surveyed and identified using the Public Land Survey System. This system divided the public land into survey townships, with each township described by a unique combination of Township number and Range number. Each survey township was six miles by six miles in size. Each of these survey townships was further subdivided into 36 Sections, with each Section being one mile by one mile in size. The Sections are identified by Section Numbers, with each survey township containing Sections numbered 1 through 36. When Missouri was admitted as a State, the federal government gave to the State of Missouri the land in Section 16 in every survey township in the state, to benefit public education in the various counties. The land was later sold to the public by the State of Missouri, with profits going to build schools and/or pay teachers. Title to the land was conveyed to the purchasers via Missouri land patents, similar to the federal land patents issued by the federal government to convey title to federal public lands. On September 12, 1854, a Missouri land patent was issued to Benjamin Couch for 40 acres of Township School Land located in Dade County[4], about one-half mile northwest of the Sinking Creek Baptist Church. This land was located about two miles north and one mile west of Benjamin’s home place (see tract #10 on page 231). Benjamin paid $1.25 per acre for the land. The Missouri land patents, like federal land patents, were issued some time after the actual purchase of the land, so Benjamin probably purchased the land several months prior to the date the patent was issued.
Benjamin used cash to purchase an additional 80 acres of Dade County public land from the federal government on September 20, 1854[5] (see tract #11 on page 231). A month later, on October 21, 1854, Benjamin and Celia sold their 40-acre farm in Greene County.
On March 7, 1856, Benjamin made two additional land entries, paying cash for a total of 120 acres[6]. This additional land abutted the land previously purchased by Benjamin in 1851 and 1852, and the 80-acre tract purchased in 1854 (see tract #12 on page 231). It is interesting to note that Benjamin Couch and his nephew, William Stogsdill, both made land entries on March 7, 1856 for adjoining parcels of land. The certificate numbers issued to the two men suggest that they stood in line together that day in the Springfield land office as they waited to make their entries.
With the 120 acres of land that he purchased in 1856, Benjamin completed the acquisition of a 280-acre farm located about two miles south and two miles east of the current site of the village of Everton. The northern border of Benjamin’s farm abutted a 160-acre farm purchased by John R. Brewer in 1851. John R. Brewer’s wife and Benjamin’s wife were sisters. The northwest corner of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm was only one-quarter mile from the 40-acre tract of land purchased by Benjamin’s brother, Lindley Couch, in 1854. And the northeast corner of Benjamin's farm was separated by little more than one-half mile from a sizable farm owned by Benjamin’s nephew, Josiah Stogsdill.
Some time in the mid-1850’s, Benjamin also made a cash entry on 113.59 acres of public land[7] in Lawrence County, Missouri. This land was located immediately south of the Lawrence-Dade County line, and abutted the county line. The land was approximately two miles west and four miles south of Everton.
On February 16, 1857, Benjamin purchased another 160 acres (a quarter section) of Dade County land[8] from Robert C. Hastings and his wife, Sarah Emily. Benjamin paid $1200 in cash for the land, which was located immediately west, and one-half mile south, of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm (see tract #13 on page 231). On the same day, Benjamin purchased 80 acres of land[9] from John H. Hastings and his wife, Rachel. Benjamin paid $320 in cash for this land, which was located about three miles west and one and one-half mile south of Benjamin’s 280-acre farm (see tract #14 on page 231).
On February 18, 1857, only two days after purchasing 240 acres of land from Robert C. Hastings and John H. Hastings, deed records indicate that “Benjamin and Sealy Couch" sold the 280-acre farm they had acquired between 1851 and 1856, along with the 40 acres of Township School Land conveyed to Benjamin by the 1854 Missouri land patent (tracts #8, #9, #10, #11, and #12 on page 231). Benjamin and Celia sold the 320 acres of land to James Harralson, of Greene County, Missouri, for $1600 in cash. Benjamin and Celia both signed the deed with their marks. Combining the land transactions of February 16 and February 18, Benjamin and Celia sold 320 acres of land for $1600, and purchased 240 acres for $1520.
Another document in Celia’s pension file indicates that Benjamin received Bounty Land Warrant No. 56166 for 120 acres, issued under the bounty land act of 1855. This would have been the second bounty land warrant issued to Benjamin for his service in the Second Creek War. Benjamin did not exercise this warrant to buy land. Instead, he assigned the warrant to his nephew, William Stogsdill. William used the warrant to purchase 120 acres of Dade County land. He probably made the purchase at the Springfield Land Office about 1857, as the patent for the land was issued to him on July 10, 1858. William undoubtedly bought the warrant from Benjamin, but it is curious that Benjamin did not exercise it himself. Perhaps Benjamin was not in the market for more land when he received the warrant, and preferred to convert it into cash. By selling the warrant to a relative, he probably avoided the fees charged by the brokers who dealt in bounty land warrants.
Approximately 1858, Benjamin purchased 160 acres of land[10] located about one and one-half miles south, and three miles west, of his 280-acre farm (see tract #16 on page ). The land adjoined the 80 acres of land purchased from John H. Hastings and his wife on February 16, 1857. Benjamin did not pay cash for this land. Instead, he used Bounty Land Warrant #40188, which had been issued to a man named Garard Trammel for his service as a Corporal in Captain Buster’s Company of the Missouri Militia in the North Western Frontier Disturbances. Benjamin probably bought the warrant on the open market from a bounty land warrant broker. The land patent granting ownership of the land to Benjamin was issued on June 10, 1859.
About 1859, Benjamin purchased another 120 acres of land[11] located about one mile south, and two miles west, of his 280-acre farm (see tract #15 on page 231). Benjamin also used a Bounty Land Warrant, good for 120 acres, to purchase this land. The warrant, #58201, had been issued to a man named John Patton for his service as a Private in Captain Harris and Barretts Companies of Tennessee Militia in the War of 1812. The land patent granting ownership of the land to Benjamin was issued on July 2, 1860.
The Benjamin Couch family continued to grow during the 1850’s. Emanuel Couch was born in May of 1851, Lydia Ellen Couch in March of 1853, William Riley Couch in February of 1856, and Susannah Couch in December of 1857. Benjamin’s eldest child, Sarah Elizabeth, married James D. Hankins in 1857 or 1858. And, in March of 1860, Benjamin and Celia had another son, whom they named Samuel Benjamin Couch.
By the summer of 1860, Benjamin and Celia had substantially expanded both their family and their farming operation. In June of 1860, the Benjamin Couch household consisted of Benjamin and Celia, and nine of their children, ranging in age from three months to 18 years. Benjamin Couch reported land holdings of 460 acres, but my accounting suggests that he may have owned 713 acres (tracts #5, #6, #13, #14, #15 and #16 on page 231, as well as the 113 tract in Lawrence County). Josiah was 18 years old, and Avery was 16, so they were old enough to be a big help to Benjamin and Celia with the farming. Benjamin’s eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, and Sarah’s husband and baby daughter, lived near Benjamin and Celia. Benjamin valued his real estate at $4000, and his personal property at $1500. For a more detailed description of the Benjamin Couch farm in 1860, see page 93.
On April 10, 1861, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Anderson refused. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 p.m., April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. The Civil War would have a significant impact on the Benjamin Couch family, as it would on every family residing in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
We are long on family stories about the involvement of Benjamin’s family in the Civil War, but short on facts. I’ll tackle this subject by concentrating first on what we know, then what we think we know. I’ll then speculate about the family stories we’ve heard.
We know that Benjamin and his family were living in Dade County in June of 1860. And we know that their farm was located in the extreme southeast corner of the county, about three miles south of the present site of Everton. The Civil War erupted in April of 1861, and would last four years. On April 29, only sixteen days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, it appears that Benjamin and Celia Couch sold all, or most, of the land they owned in Dade County. The land was sold to three separate buyers. By one deed, they sold the quarter section (160 acres) that they purchased from Robert C. Hastings in February of 1857[12] (tract #13 on page 231), along with their 120-acre farm that Benjamin bought with the John Patton bounty land warrant[13] (tract #15 on page 231). This 280 acres of land was sold to David J. Harrell, of Lawrence County, for $1600. David Harrell was the son of Benjamin’s new brother-in-law, Archibald Harrell, who was married to Benjamin’s sister, Delila.
By a second deed, Benjamin and Celia sold an 80-acre tract of land[14] located immediately east of the quarter section of land that they sold to David J. Harrell. This 80 acres consisted of two 40-acre tracts of land originally purchased by Benjamin’s sister, Delila, before she married Archibald Harrell (tracts #5 and #6 on page 231). The Federal land patents granting ownership of these tracts to Delila were issued on March 10, 1856, and on June 1, 1859. I don’t know, at this point, how ownership of these 80 acres passed from Delila to Benjamin. But, on April 29, 1861, Benjamin and Celia sold these 80 acres to James A. Harshbarger for $600.
By a third deed, Benjamin and Celia sold the eighty acres of land they purchased from John H. Hastings in February of 1857[15] (tract #14 on page 231), along with the tract of land they owned in Lawrence County[16], just south of the Lawrence-Dade county line. This land was sold to Henry F. Howard for $500.
The only land that Benjamin Couch had previously purchased, but which we don’t know the disposition for, was the 160 acres that he purchased about 1858 with the bounty land warrant that had been issued to Garard Trammel. Did he hold onto this land when he sold the balance of his land in April of 1861, or had he previously disposed of this land?
What are we to make of Benjamin’s sale of all, or most, of his Dade County land holdings on April 29, 1861? The most logical assumption is that Benjamin was selling his land in preparation for a move away from the Dade County area. And, I suspect that was the case. But, if Benjamin and his family left Dade County in the spring of 1861, where did they go? We know that Benjamin and his family settled in Grayson County, Texas, no later than 1865. If the family left Dade County in the spring of 1861, did they move directly to Texas, or did they make an interim move? Our earliest evidence suggesting that the family moved to Texas in 1861 is the enlistment of Benjamin’s son, Avery Couch, in the Confederate Army. Avery enlisted as a Private in Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company of the 4th Regiment of Texas Volunteers (CSA). Avery was mustered in at Camp Reeves, near Sherman, in Grayson County, on October 14, 1861.
A little background about Captain M. J. Brinson will be helpful to our discussion. Matthew Jackson Brinson moved to Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, in 1847. He was a business man, later became the first postmaster of Fort Worth, and was a leading citizen in the town. In 1861, he raised a company of troops to fight for the Confederate cause. The company was reportedly the second company raised in Tarrant County, and was the company in which Avery Couch served.
Avery Couch’s entry on the muster-in roll for Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company indicates that he traveled 100 miles to rendezvous. The drive today, from Fort Worth to Sherman, Texas, is 90 miles. I believe that Avery Couch was recruited by Matthew Brinson in Tarrant County, in the fall of 1861, and then traveled, with the rest of the Brinson’s recruits, to Camp Reeves, in Grayson County, where they were formally mustered into service on October 14, 1861.
What conclusions might we draw from Avery Couch’s recruitment in Tarrant County some time prior to October 14, 1861? If the date of birth recorded for Avery in the Emanuel Couch family Bible is accurate, Avery was only 17 years old when he signed up for military service (though he reported his age as 18). At that age, would Avery have left his family in Missouri, and traveled the 460 miles to Tarrant County alone, or with a brother or cousin? We don’t recognize the name of any of Avery’s relatives in Captain M. J. Brinson’s Company. I lean toward the theory that Benjamin and his family were living in Texas when Avery enlisted.
While we don’t know whether Benjamin and his family ever lived in Tarrant County, we have stronger evidence that they were residents of Grayson County, Texas, by the summer of 1863. We believe that Benjamin’s daughter, Mary Jane Couch, was married in Grayson County on June 28, 1863. Mary Jane was only 16 years old when she married, so her marriage provides strong evidence that Benjamin and his family were living in the area in the summer of 1863. As further evidence of the family’s move to Texas during the Civil War, Delila Caroline Couch, the last child born in Benjamin and Celia, was born in Texas in August of 1863.
A family story passed down through Emanuel Couch, son of Benjamin and Celia, and passed to me by Vernon O’Leary, indicates that Emanuel moved to Texas with his parents at the age of eleven. There is some question about Emanuel’s date of birth. The date of birth inscribed on his gravestone is May 11, 1850. The date of birth recorded in the Emanuel Couch family Bible is May 11, 1851.
We don’t know why Benjamin and Celia moved from Missouri to Texas during the early months of the Civil War, but it seems logical to assume that the political climate in Dade County was a contributing factor. The family was undoubtedly sympathetic to the cause of the Confederacy, and that viewpoint was most certainly among the minority in Dade County. It must have been, at best, an uncomfortable situation, and there may have been serious concerns about the family’s safety if they remained in Dade County.
For able-bodied men between 18 and 45 years of age, service in the Civil War, either in the Union Army or in the Confederate Army, was difficult to avoid. And both younger boys and older men often served, particularly in the latter stages of the war. Not surprisingly, there is evidence that several members of Benjamin Couch’s family served.
We have already mentioned the enlistment of Benjamin’s son, Avery, on October 14, 1861. Benjamin’s eldest son was Josiah Couch. Josiah was not quite 19 years old when the war began. A study of Civil War records and 1860 census records leads me to the conclusion that Benjamin’s son was the Josiah Couch who served in Company A of Capt. John Scanland’s Squadron of Texas Cavalry (Confederate). The Muster Roll of this company includes the name of Josiah Couch, as well as the name of William Stogsdill. Josiah was enrolled as a Private by Captain Scanland at Ft. McCulloch, in Indian Territory, on June 23, 1862. William Stogsdill was also enrolled as a Private by Captain Scanland at Ft. McCulloch, but four days earlier, on June 19, 1862. I suspect that this William Stogsdill was the son of Josiah and Lydia Stogsdill. If true, William Stogsdill and Josiah Couch were neighbors from Dade County; first cousins once removed on the Couch side of their family; and first cousins through their mothers’ family.
Josiah Couch’s enlistment in the Texas Cavalry in June of 1862, provides additional circumstantial evidence that the Benjamin Couch family completed their move from Missouri to Texas prior to that date. At 20 years of age, Josiah Couch could have struck out on his own for any of a variety of reasons, and could have enlisted far from home. But, when you consider that he was the eldest son in the family, and that times were difficult, and when you consider that Ft. McCulloch was roughly 320 miles from the Benjamin Couch farm in Dade County, but was only 40 miles from the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, I lean toward the conclusion that the Benjamin Couch family had already moved to Grayson County before Josiah’s enlistment in the Texas Cavalry in June of 1862.
We know that Benjamin Couch’s son-in-law and daughter, James D. and Sarah Elizabeth (Couch) Hankins, were neighbors of Benjamin and Celia in Dade County in 1860. We suspect that James and Sarah also migrated from Dade County to Grayson County about the same time that Benjamin and Celia moved their family. James and Sarah may have accompanied them, or may have joined them in Texas after they got settled. Census records indicate that James and Sarah had a son who was born in Missouri in March of 1861, and another son born in Texas in May of 1866.
We suspect that James D. Hankins fought for the Confederacy while he and Sarah lived in Texas. A soldier by the name of James D. Hankins is listed as a Private in Company B of Martin’s Texas Cavalry (CSA). We have no information as to when or where this James D. Hankins enlisted. We do know that the 9th Texas Partisan Ranger Battalion (CSA) and the 10th Texas Cavalry Battalion (CSA) were organized in the fall of 1862. On February 6, 1863 these two units were consolidated at Fort Washita, Indian Territory, to form the 5th Texas Partisan Rangers, also known as Martin’s Texas Cavalry. If the James D. Hankins who served in Martin’s Texas Cavalry was Benjamin Couch’s son-in-law, the date of organization of the units which were later consolidated to form Martin’s Texas Cavalry are consistent with our suspicion that Benjamin Couch moved his family to Texas in 1861. It is also worth noting that there was a Confederate war veteran named James D. Hankins living in Grayson County, Texas, with three dependents, in February of 1865. There is little reason to doubt that he was the son-in-law of Benjamin Couch.
Keith Couch, a grandson of Benjamin's son, Emanuel Couch, and a Couch family historian, is our source for an interesting family story about the Benjamin Couch family in the Civil War. The story was passed from Keith to Vernon O’Leary, who passed the story on to me. The story from Keith Couch indicates that Benjamin Couch fought for the Confederacy, and that he was accompanied in battle by his young son, Emanuel. Keith reported that two of Benjamin's older sons, Josiah and Avery, served in the Union army, and that Benjamin and his three sons all participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas [on March 7 and March 8, 1862]. If the story is true, Benjamin Couch would have been 46 years old, Josiah would have been 19, Avery would have been 18, and Emanuel would have been only ten years old. Keith reported that Emanuel served as a drummer boy, or water boy. The story also relates that when young Emanuel Couch saw his father, and other men, fall wounded on the battlefield, Emanuel picked up a gun from one of the fallen soldiers, with a pledge to kill Yankees.
Most family stories, passed down by word of mouth for generations, change over time. Details are mixed up, or forgotten, or modified, but most family stories retain at least a kernel of truth. Can we make any sense of this family story? We do know that Avery Couch, son of Benjamin Couch, was a member of the 9th Texas Cavalry (CSA) when that regiment participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge. So it is very likely that one of Benjamin’s sons participated in that battle. While he would have participated as a Rebel, rather than as a Yankee, Avery’s participation in that battle may have been one of the events behind the family story.
To date, I have been unable to locate any records which suggest that any member of the Benjamin County family served in the Union Army. I have also been unable to locate any service records, Union or Confederate, for Benjamin Couch. When the war broke out, Benjamin was 45 years old, and it is likely that nine of his children were still living at home. This was not the profile of a man whom we would expect to volunteer for military service. But anything is possible, and I certainly don’t dismiss this family story in its entirety.
If Benjamin Couch and his family remained in southwest Missouri after the sale of their Dade County land in April of 1861, it is possible that Benjamin and some of his sons could have participated in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the site of the battle was near Republic, Missouri, south of Springfield, and only 30 miles from where Benjamin and his family lived in Dade County. This bloody battle was the second major battle of the Civil War, and the first major battle west of the Mississippi River. Many Missouri men fought in this battle as members of the Missouri State Guard, organized by the secessionist Governor of Missouri in 1861 to protect the state from “invasion” by Federal forces. Only a few records of service in the Missouri State Guard survive, so we don’t know the names of most of the men who served in the State Guard and fought at Wilson’s Creek. Though I think it unlikely at this point, it is possible that Benjamin and his sons could have fought at Wilson’s Creek on August 10, as members of the Missouri State Guard, and then moved to Texas in time for Avery to enlist in the 4th Regiment of Texas Volunteers (CSA) on October 14.
The earliest written record we have found of Benjamin and Celia in Texas is an entry in the 1865 tax list for Grayson County. This list was probably compiled near the end, or shortly after the end, of the Civil War. It should be noted at this point that I have not searched any Grayson County tax lists prior to 1865. In 1865, Benjamin Couch was assessed State taxes of $1.13 and County taxes of $.81 on 18 horses, valued at $540; 54 cattle, valued at $280, 18 sheep, valued at $36; and miscellaneous property valued at $50. There is no indication that Benjamin owned any land.
In 1866, the Grayson County tax list indicates that Benjamin owned 14 horses, valued at $560; 40 cattle, valued at $192; and miscellaneous property valued at $100. Benjamin was assessed a total of $2.98 in state and county taxes, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Again, it did not appear that Benjamin owned any land.
In 1867, Benjamin Couch’s name again appeared in the Grayson County tax list. He was assessed taxes based on his ownership of 20 horses, valued at $600; 75 cattle, valued at $375; 27 sheep, valued at $54, and miscellaneous property valued at $115. He paid a total of $4.22 in state and county taxes, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Again, there is no indication that Benjamin owned any land.
Benjamin’s first purchase of land in Grayson County apparently occurred on October 3, 1867, when Benjamin purchased 10 acres of land[17] from W. D. Fisher for $200. A survey of old Grayson County plat maps reveals that this 10 acres of land was located about one mile east of the present site of Sandusky, Texas. Sandusky, in turn, is located seventeen miles northwest of Sherman, in northwestern Grayson County.
The Grayson County tax records for 1868 reflect Benjamin’s purchase of the 10 acres of land in 1867. The 1868 tax records indicate that Benjamin was assessed taxes on 10 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Wm Fisher, and valued at $30; as well as 70 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Wm Tolson, and valued at $210. Benjamin was also assessed taxes for 10 horses, valued at $250; 20 cattle, valued at $100; 22 sheep, valued at $33; and miscellaneous property valued at $200. Benjamin paid total state and county taxes of $3.78, as well as a poll tax of $1.00. Note that the 10 acres of land Benjamin purchased in 1867 for $200 was valued, for tax purposes, at $30.
The land records back in Dade County, Missouri, include the sale, for delinquent 1868 taxes, of nine properties. The nine properties totaled 480 acres, and the delinquent 1868 taxes totaled $19.02. The Collector of Revenue for Dade County advertised the real estate for sale on June 20, 1869. When the taxes were still not paid by July 31, the properties were sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger, in October of 1869, for the taxes due. Benjamin Couch was listed as the owner of record for two of the properties, totaling 120 acres[18], which were sold for back taxes. These two properties were sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger for $4.60. It should be noted, however, that Benjamin previously sold this 120 acres of land to David J. Harrell in April of 1861. While I suppose it is possible that Benjamin could have reacquired ownership of this land through some default by David J. Harrell, I think it is more likely that the land had been abandoned by David Harrell, and that David Harrell never recorded his purchase of the land from Benjamin Couch. By official records, the land would still be in Benjamin Couch’s name. Benjamin’s nephew, William Stogsdill, was the owner of record of two of the other nine properties sold to Samuel A. Harshbarger.
The following year, back in Texas, the 1870 Grayson County tax records indicate that Benjamin was assessed taxes on 50 acres of land from the tract first assigned to William Tolson, and valued at $150; as well as 62 acres of land from the tract first assigned to Carmon, and valued at $186. Benjamin was also assessed taxes for 5 horses, valued at $250; 22 cattle, valued at $88; and miscellaneous property valued at $230. He paid total state and county taxes of $2.52, as well as a poll tax of $1.00.
On October 8, 1870, Benjamin and Celia sold 30 acres of land to James R. Findley, of Grayson County, for $450. James R. Findley was the father of William R. Findley, who had married Benjamin’s daughter, Lydia Ellen, only six months earlier. The land that Benjamin sold to James Findley was “out of the N. E. corner of a 160 acre survey Patented to W. D. Tolson assignee of David Fisher.”
Sometime between 1866 and 1870, Benjamin’s eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, moved from Grayson County back to Dade County, Missouri, with her husband and children. In November of 1870, Benjamin and Celia and their four youngest children appeared in the 1870 census in Grayson County. Benjamin valued his real estate at $1000, and his personal property at $500.
Researchers reviewing the 1870 Grayson County census record for the Benjamin Couch family will note that S. P. Couch and Nancy Couch, aged 37 and 27, were listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia in the 1870 census. One would assume that S. P. Couch and Benjamin Couch were probably related. To date, I have not been able to establish a relationship between these two men. My limited research, much of which is unproven, suggests that S. P. Couch was Sidney Pinckney Couch, son of Jacob Bull Couch and Elizabeth Clanton. My research suggests that Sidney Pinckney Couch was born in Pulaski County, Arkansas, on September 8, 1835, and that he married Nancy Jane Norwood in Grayson County, Texas, on February 6, 1859. Some Couch family researchers report that Jacob Bull Couch was the son of a Thomas Couch Jr., and was born in Orange County, North Carolina, about 1800. Jacob Bull Couch married Elizabeth Clanton in Pulaski County, Arkansas, on September 6, 1829. Some researchers report that Elizabeth Clanton’s family lived in Madison County, Illinois, where Moses Couch settled in 1830 or 1831, only a year or two after Jacob Bull Couch and Elizabeth Clanton were married.
Reviewing the 1870 Grayson County census, the reader may also note that only six dwellings separated the household of S. P. and Nancy Couch from the household of 65-year-old E. Couch, and his 58-year-old wife, Julia Ann Couch. Was E. Couch related to either Benjamin Couch or Sidney Pinckney Couch? Again, my research on this Couch family should be considered as unverified. This E. Couch was identified in the census as a minister, and was born in South Carolina. I believe the E. Couch was actually Ezekiel Couch. I believe that I have located Ezekiel Couch and his wife in the 1830 census of Hardin County, Tennessee, and in the 1840 census of Tippah County, Mississippi. There is a land transaction in Tippah County dated November 20, 1840, reflecting the sale of property in the town of Ripley by Ezekiel Couch and Juliann Couch. In 1842, an Ezekiel Couch was issued a land grant for 160 acres in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. I have not been able to locate Ezekiel and Julia Ann in the 1850 census, but suspect that they may have been living in the Indian Territory. In 1852, when the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, founded a school called the Colbert Institute at Perryville, in the Choctaw Nation of the Indian Territory, a man named Ezekiel Couch was in charge of the school. Ezekiel and Julia appear in both the 1860 and the 1870 census of Grayson County, and are buried in the Sandusky Cemetery, in Grayson County. I believe that Ezekiel was born on May 1, 1805, and died on April 21, 1880. Julia Ann was apparently born on February 4, 1812, and died on December 18, 1887. At this point, I have not found any evidence of a relationship between Benjamin Couch, Sidney Pinckney Couch, and Ezekiel Couch. It may just be a coincidence that they lived so close to one another in Grayson County.
After living in Grayson County for nearly ten years, Benjamin and Celia moved their family again. The records relating to Celia Couch’s application for a Widow’s Pension include a promissory note, dated June 19, 1871, and signed in Grayson County, Texas by Benjamin Couch's mark. The note promised
"to pay Samuel A. Roberts on order nine hundred and ninety Dollars specie with interest at 10 per cent from date, on the first day of January 1872 it being in part payment of a tract of land this day purchased by me from said Roberts off of the Chas. Scarborough Head Right Cook Co Texas".
It appears that Benjamin, still a resident of Grayson County, was purchasing land in Cooke County. Another note indicated that $355 was paid on the note on July 29, 1871, and $500 was paid on October 30, 1871. There is also a note indicating that the promissory note had been paid in full.
There is an interesting, and possibly related, document among the land records of Grayson County. It reads as follows:
“Know all men by these presents. That I have this day for and in considration of the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars. Bargained Sold and conveyed. And by these presents do bargain sell and convey unto P. B. Scarbrough all of my labor that I may have put on the said P. B. Scarbrough’s Land. Situated in the north west Part of Grayson County between the waters of Sandy & Brushy creeks Including Houses Fencing & Fruit trees Excepting select rails enough to make a good & lawful fence beginning at the S. E. corner of Benj Couche’s cow lot & running with said Couche’s Line to the Head of a Branch at or near the S. E. Corner of the said Couches tract of land.
Given under our hands & C Aug 10 1871
Witness. We Benj Couch & Celia Couch both agree to give the said Scarbrough possession of the houses by the 25th day of Dec. 1871.
Benj X Couch
Celia X Couch”
While the exact nature of the document is unclear, I suspect that Benjamin and Celia had been living on P. B. Scarbrough’s land, and had been asked to leave. The reference to “Couche’s Line” and “said Couches tract of land” suggests that the land on which the houses being vacated were situated may have been immediately adjacent to land owned by Benjamin Couch. And, indeed, the two dwellings listed immediately prior to Benjamin Couch’s dwelling in the 1870 census were occupied by the “B. Scarbough” family, and the “G. W. Scarbough” family. B. Scarbough was 53 years of age, and valued his real estate at $1300. G. W. Scarbough was 38 years of age, and valued his real estate at $600. I suspect that G. W. Scarbough was a son of B. Scarbough, and that B. Scarbough was the P. B. Scarbrough who was apparently repossessing houses located on his property. B. Scarbough had eight children living at home, so perhaps he had reached the point where his family needed the dwellings that Benjamin and his family were occupying.
It appears that Benjamin and Celia agreed to vacate the houses once Scarbrough paid Benjamin $350 for the improvements that Benjamin had made to the land. The reference to “houses” may suggest that Benjamin and Celia were agreeing to the move of multiple families. It would not be surprising to learn that the family of S. P. Couch, who apparently lived in a dwelling listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia in the 1870 census, was also involved in this relocation.
The 1871 tax rolls for Grayson County document that Benjamin was assessed for five horses, valued at $400; 22 cattle, assessed at $110; 26 sheep, assessed at $39; other live stock assessed at $30; merchandise assessed at $128; and other articles assessed at $75, for a total of $782. He paid $4.31 in state taxes, and $9.39 in county taxes, as well as state poll tax of $2.50, and county poll tax of $.25. Benjamin was also assessed $4.13 in state taxes, and $9.00 in county taxes, on 50 acres of land valued at $750. The land was located on the plat originally surveyed for William Tolson.
It does appear that Benjamin and Celia were making plans, in August of 1871, to move from Grayson County to Cooke County. On December 1, 1871, Benjamin and Celia Couch, of Cooke County, Texas, sold 50 acres of land[19] in Grayson County to George L. Scott for $1200.
In 1872, Benjamin again appeared on the Grayson County tax rolls. He was assessed for 160 acres of land first assigned to Samuel Craig, and valued at $960. He had six horses valued at $200, ten cattle valued at $60, money on hand of $170, and miscellaneous property valued at $30. Benjamin was assessed state and county taxes of $23.80. Benjamin Couch’s name disappeared from the Grayson County tax rolls after 1872.
Our next record of Benjamin and Celia is dated June of 1880, when the couple was enumerated in the census of Cooke County. Listed “next door” to Benjamin and Celia was the family of their 30-year-old daughter, Lavisa, and her husband and six children. And listed “next door” to Lavisa’s family were Benjamin’s 20-year-old son, Samuel, and Samuel’s wife and daughter.
But Cooke County would not be the final stop for Benjamin and Celia. They made one final move, to Montague County, Texas. We don't know when they made the move to Montague County, but it must have been after the 1880 census was enumerated, and before November of 1884, when Benjamin Couch paid $5.72 in County and State taxes in Montague County.
There are a number of deeds filed in Montague County involving Benjamin and Celia Couch, and Benjamin’s son, Samuel Couch. At least 13 of these deeds, dated between 1881 and 1889, involve the purchase and sale of land in Titus County, Texas. On the surface, these deeds seem to suggest that Benjamin and Samuel may have been speculating in Titus County land.
In her pension application, Celia stated that Benjamin died at Salona, in Montague County, Texas, on June 23, 1889, at the age of 71. We believe that Benjamin was 73 years old when he died. A statement filed by "J. Younger, Physician & Surgeon", of Sunset, Texas, certified that Dr. Younger attended Benjamin Couch in his last illness, and confirmed the date of Benjamin's death. Keith Couch reports that Benjamin died of pneumonia. Benjamin was buried in the Salona Cemetery, a church grave yard near Salona, about five miles southeast of Bowie, Texas. Benjamin’s gravestone lists his date of birth as December 13, 1815, and his date of death as June 22, 1889.
We believe that Celia was 67 years old when Benjamin died. She did not remarry. The wonderful photos of Benjamin and Celia (see page 1) were generously provided by Vernon O’Leary. We don’t know when the photos were taken, but are fortunate to have them. The photo of Benjamin was obviously taken in his later years. With his full head of hair, his beard, and his piercing eyes, the photo leaves the impression of a strong individual—a man to be dealt with! The photo of Celia may have been taken at the same time as Benjamin’s photo, but I suspect that it was not. It could have been taken after Benjamin’s death.
On September 12, 1892, Celia filed a "Declaration of Widow for Pension" under the Indian War Pension Act of July 27, 1892, which made pensions available to survivors of the various Indian Wars and their widows. Celia listed her residence as Salona, Texas, where she had continued to live after Benjamin’s death three years earlier. Celia was unable to write, and signed all of her papers with her mark. She also stated that Benjamin "could not write, he always made his mark". Celia was granted a Widow's Pension on November 2, 1893. The pension paid her the standard rate of $8.00 per month, retroactive to July 27, 1892, which was the effective date of the government act authorizing the pension.
In June of 1900, Celia was living in Montague County with the family of her youngest daughter, Delila. Celia was probably living with Delila and her family when Celia died on November 13, 1901. Celia was buried with Benjamin in the Salona Cemetery. We believe that Celia was 79 years old when she died. Her grave stone, however, lists her date of birth as January 24, 1819, and her date of death as November 13, 1901.
[1] Described as the N ½ of the E ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 11 in Township 30 North of Range 23 West.
[2] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[3] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[4] Described as the Northeast ¼ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 16 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[5] Described as the North ½ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[6] Described as the Southwest ¼ of the Northeast ¼ and the South ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 27 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[7] Described as Lot #8 of the Northwest 1/4 of Section 1 in Township 29 North of Range 26 West.
[8] Described as the Northeast ¼ of Section 33 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[9] Described as the Southeast ¼ of the Southwest ¼ and the Southwest ¼ of the Southeast ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[10] Described as the East ½ of the Southeast ¼ and the Northwest ¼ of the Southeast ¼ and the North ½ of Lot #1 in the Southwest ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[11] Described as the North ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 32 and the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 31, all in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[12] Described as the NE ¼ of Section 33 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[13] Described as the N ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 32 and the NE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 31, both in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[14] Described as the N ½ of the NW ¼ of Section 34 in Township 30 North or Range 25 West.
[15] Described as the E ½ of the SE ¼ and the E ½ of the SW ¼ of Section 31 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[16] Described as a part of Lot No. 8 of the NW fractional ¼ of Section 1 in Township 29 North of Range 26 West.
[17] The land was “situated on the divide between Breshy [Brushy] and Sandy Creek, taken out of Qr. No. 2, section No. 7, League 42, University lands.”
[18] Described as the North ½ of the Northwest ¼ of Section 32, and the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 31, all in Township 30 West of Range 25 North.
[19] The land was “on the waters of Brush Creek and being a part of the ¼ section No. 2 of fraction section No. 7 and League 42 of University land, the same being patented to W. D. Tolson on the 22nd day of Oct 1863”.