52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 12 Theme - Joined Together

In 1860, my 2Gt Grandfather, John Cooper Easter, was a young man of 19. He had land of his own in Personville, Limestone Co, TX worth $750. And personal property of $1800, probably inherited from his father who died back in Alabama.  John, his mother, and siblings had followed other family members to Texas, ten years earlier. 

Meanwhile, in the neighboring county of  Robertson, Nancy Levinia “Viney”Grant is the 15 year old daughter of the wealthy James Davis Grant. She is shown in census to be a student.  

That same summer, John’s brother, Thomas Texas Easter, and Viney’s sister, Sarah Paralee “Pad” Grant, are married in Robertson County.  No doubt John and Viney met at that time and, although very young, they were married In November of that year, 1860.

Each of the sisters gave birth to baby girls in the next year.  Pad’s daughter, Lizzie, only lived for one year.  Viney’s daughter, Nancy Paralee “Nannie” grew up to be my Gt Grandmother, but much sadness followed these families.

John Easter enlisted in Confederate Service as a Private in 1861, attached to the 12^th Infantry. Family stories say that he came home very ill with typhoid fever, and died June 4, 1862.  His wife, Viney, also became ill and she died just 3 days later, June 7, 1862,  leaving baby, Nannie, an orphan at age 9 months.

Nannie’s grandfather, John Davis Grant, was named as guardian, but soon she was taken in  as a foster daughter,  by Thomas and Pad Easter, her aunt and uncle. Thomas was also a Confederate soldier, a member of the Robertson Rebels.   I don’t know if there was an official adoption, but she was raised by this family as her only known parents.  Pad Grant Easter would bear 13 children, but only Nannie and 4 others would live past infancy or childhood.   The Thomas Easter family moved across Texas to Lorenzo, near Lubbock, where they homesteaded, along with Nannie and her husband, Abner P. Avera.

The tombstone shown above, for Nannie’s birth parents, John and Viney, is in Owensville Cemetery in Robertson County, Texas.… a double stone which I’m sure was designed and placed by Viney’s parents, James D. and Sarah Grant. 

Nannie Easter Avera

Valentine Letter from Secret Admirer, 1864

Valentine Letter written on a folded paper, decorated on the outside by a pen drawing of a wreath of leaves, with a dove in the center. At the bottom are two overlapping hearts, pierced by arrows. I have left the spelling as the original.

14th Febuary /64 [1864]

Miss Lavonia Davis
As I do not enjoy [take part in]
a corrispondance with you, I take advantage of
the 14th of February to give you some token of the many
hye regards witch I entertain for you.
You will pleas except my best wishes for your
happiness and prosperity. Ever be assured
that some bosom breathes forth a constant
silent prear for thee.

Perhaps you may find out who this is from.
If so pleas pardon him for so doing and
ever remember that he esteems you hy as a lady.
Also read the inblem of the drawing on the
opposite page and may your path be strene [strewn?]
with roses & heaven bless your whole life,
and crown your death with peace and endless bliss.
From your Valentine

[My note: The handwriting matches the later letters by Alonzo Bosworth, Lavonia’s future husband. These are my husband's Gt gt grandparents.
Alonzo was a Confederate Sgt., AL 14th Regiment, Company D, who had fought in VA and Gettysburg. The above writing was when he was about 21, after the war. He died young, age 37, in 1880, possibly a result of earlier war wounds. Martha Lavonia outlived him by 40 more years. She saved these letters in a trunk as she moved with family to Oklahoma. She was the first victim of an automobile/ buggy accident in Oklahoma, 1921.]