The Stalcup Saga
 (as it pertains to Grayson County, Texas)

John Wesley Stalcup was the fourth child born into the Moses Stalcup family and he arrived November 11, 1825. John - or "J.W." as he preferred to be known when he was older was the first of the siblings known to settle in Grayson County, Texas. Originally John had left the farm on Mouse Creek (eastern Tennessee) in the mid-l840s and set up as a merchant in the neighboring community of Athens. He followed that occupation approximately 8 to 10 years. Although doing well enough for himself, by the mid-1850s John made the decision to change direction with his life. Like many others before him, he set out to discover the opportunities that Texas supposedly had to offer. And, apparently, John was satisfied with what he found.

Before his older brother arrived in Kentuckytown, Grayson County, John W. Stalcup had begun putting down his own roots on a 100 acre farm on the southern outskirts of Georgetown by 1857. With hard work and perseverance John gradually increased the productivity (and profitability) of his small farm. Although military hostilities between the North and the South began in April 1861. John did not enlist until January 1863. It is not known whether his enlistment was voluntary or if he was drafted. John W. Stalcup signed on with Company C of the 7th Regiment   Texas Infantry more than 150 miles from home at Jefferson, Texas for a 3 year enlistment. Unfortunately for John, he was far from suited to Camp life and apparently extremely susceptible to the ravages of illness and disease that were rampant throughout the military camps. After several bouts of illness - including being hospitalized in Canton, Mississippi - John left his regiment in the spring of 1864 and eventually made his way back to Texas. On July 10,1867 John married Miss Eleanor "Ellen" Elizabeth Stephenson in Sherman, Texas. It was the first marriage for both parties - he was 41 and she was 34. Ellen was born in Tennessee, October 7, 1832 but grew up in Texas. She was the daughter of Joseph A. and Elizabeth (Anderson) Stephenson who had established the Stephenson's Ferry on the Sulphur River in now Cass County, Texas in 1838. After her father's death circa 1845, her mother sold the ferry business in the 1850s and moved her five children to Grayson County.
Three known children were born to John and Ellen:
William Riley February 2, 1869;
Minnie - July 19, l87l; and,
Robert King - December 1I,1872.

Daughter Minnie died on February 29, 1872 at the age of 7 months. Ellen (Stephenson) Stalcup died August 7, 1878 just two months shy of her 46th birthday. Both mother and daughter are buried in the Brogdon Cemetery in Grayson County. Fortunately for John and his family, his mother Nancy Stalcup had arrived from Tennessee 1877/1878. She stayed with John and his family for a few years.

Drusilla "Dru" M. Sawyers became John's second wife on August 14, 1879. Dru was born September 13,1844 to James and Alzira Sawyers in Knox County in eastern Tennessee - her widowed father had moved his family to Grayson County in the early 1870s.  John and Dru had no known children together. Drusilla (Sawyers) Stalcup died December 30, 1892 at the age of 48. Her father and siblings are buried in Georgetown Cemetery in Pottsboro, but Dru's place of burial is unknown. John welcomed his first daughter-in-law into the family when son William Riley married Deidama B. Collins January 8, 1893. The first grandchild, Beulah, was born December 1893. The second daughter-in-law joined the family November 7, 1894 with the marriage of son Robert King to Effie Victoria Conner and this couple presented a grandson to John in August of 1895. John Wesley Stalcup died in Grayson County,Texas on February 16, 1896. He was buried in Brogdon Cemetery with first wife Ellen and infant daughter Minnie.

All together John W. Stalcup had a total of eight grandchildren although he only knew of two. Riley and Deidama were the parents of a total of five daughters - Beulah, Lena, Cleo, Eunice and Margueritte. The family resided in Grayson County until the early 1930s when they moved to Los Angeles County, California.

King and Effie parented three sons - Clarence, Ernest and R.K. Jr. They also lived in Grayson County. King died October 15, 1913 and is buried in Georgetown Cemetery in Pottsboro. Effie remarried and the family moved to Dallas County, Texas after 1920.

C. A. Parsons
January 16, 2021

Stalcup Index
 
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
©2025

If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.