William Riley
Stalcup was the second Stalcup sibling to
sink roots in Grayson County, Texas. He was
the third child in the family and the first
of Moses Stalcup's children to be born in
McMinn County, Tennessee. He was born July
7, 1823 at what would become known as Mouse
Creek. The Stalcup parents both had extended
family in Cumberland County, Kentucky and,
indeed, that was where the family had lived
prior to the move to Tennessee. However, the
circumstances that led young William to be
there in the mid-l840s is unknown. What is
known is that there he met, courted and
married young Miss Perlina Jane Cloyd.
Perlina was a native of Cumberland County
and was born there April 8, 1830 to John and
Mary Cloyd.
John Cloyd had established and operated
Cloyd's Ferry on the Cumberland River.
During the years that William and Perlina
were in Cumberland County they presented the
world with six sons: William B., James
Wallis, John Thomas, Lee Moses, Alonso King
and Elias Martin. By 1857 William had
set his sights on moving his ever-growing
family to the wide open spaces of Texas. In
the late 1850s, southeast of Sherman,
Grayson County, Texas about 15 to 20 miles,
was the growing area known as Kentuckytown.
It was a bustling little community at the
time and appealed to William and Perlina as
the place for their new home. March of 1859
brought the birth of their first daughter,
Mary Texana - so named after their new home
state. A second daughter, Missouri Belle,
joined the family in 1861.
During the
Civil War period of the 1860s the frontier
of Texas was not much more than 100 miles
west of Dallas. When the Conscription Acts
of 1862 began taking more and more
able-bodied men into the Confederate Army,
Texas organized and funded troop units whose
basic purpose was to protect the lives and
property of its own citizens. Camp Stonewall
Jackson in Dallas County was the
Headquarters in the summer of 1863. Unit
rotation gave men with young families an
opportunity to keep a watchful eye on their
own loved ones. On August 6, 1863 William
Stalcup was an early enlistee in Co B, 2nd
Regiment Cavalry, Texas State Troops to
serve the North Texas Division. Signing on
as a Private, William's enlistment was for 6
months and he would serve under Capt. J.W.
Bone. He re-enlisted in January 1864 for
another 6 months. When the units were
reorganized in 1864 William again signed up
for an additional 6 months. He became a
Corporal in Captain John W. Bone's
Unattached Cavalry. Perlina had given birth
to the couple's 9th child, Riley Davis,
during William's first enrollment in the
State Troops. After his return two more
children would join the family - daughters
Mary Alice and Harriet Evelyn.
The early 1870s brought increased economic
and political stability to Grayson County as
a whole but saw dwindling populations in
small communities that were being by-passed
by the railroads and/or the coach lines.
Kentuckytown was one of these. William
relocated his family to the western side of
the county near the growing, and sometimes
rowdy, community of Whitesboro. William's
farm, and eventually his children's, were
located outside of the town limits. Over the
20 plus years they were there the Stalcup
family always thought of themselves as being
"of" or "from" Whitesboro although that is
not the same as being "of" or "from" Grayson
County. Technically, after 1872, the
Stalcups resided in Cooke County, Texas even
though they worshiped, were educated,
married and, sometimes buried on Grayson
County soil. Some of the adult children
would "officially'' reside in Grayson County
at various times. William Riley Stalcup died
February 23,1892. Perlina Jane (Cloyd)
Stalcup outlived her husband by about 12
years and died July 30, 1905. They are both
buried in Oak
Wood Cemetery in Whitesboro, Grayson County,
Texas as are four of their children and
several grandchildren.
The children:
William B., born circa 1847 Kentucky - no
other confirmed information
James Wallis, born January 27, 1849
Kentucky; married (1st) Louisa J. Smith,
born November 19, 1868, Grayson County,
Texas; 1 daughter was born 1869; the couple
divorced circa 1870; married (2nd) Emma
Mcllvain, born July 7, 1871, Cooke County,
Texas; 7 daughters, 2 sons; lived several
places before moving to Whitesboro in the
late 1890s and then back to Cooke County
after 1900; died October 12, 1917.
Emma moved to Garvin County, Oklahoma where
she died March 20, 1930. Both James and
Emma are buried in Oak Wood Cemetery in
Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas.
John Thomas - born circa 1851 Kentucky;
married Harriett Stewart April 19, 1871,
Grayson County, Texas; 5 known children;
resided in Cooke County; died 1884-1900;
widow and children moved to Oklahoma.
Lee Moses - born December 19,1852 Kentucky;
married Sarah Ann Donnell - December 10,
1878 Grayson County, Texas; 2 daughters;
moved to Wise County, Texas.
Alonso King - born December 5, 1854 Kentucky
- no other confirmed information.
Elias Martin - born October 22,1856
Kentucky; married (1) Martha Bell Donnell -
December 10, 1878 Grayson County, Texas; 3
daughters, I son; moved to Wise County,
Texas.
Mary Texana - born March 27, 1859 Texas;
married (1st) Henry Sloan - January 4, 1877;
lived in Cooke County,Texas; 2
daughters, I son; Henry died September
18, 1891; moved to Whitesboro, Grayson
County, Texas; married (2nd) Rufus Henry
Hickman - December 20, 1890 Grayson, County,
Texas; 1 daughter, 3 sons. Rufus and Texana
lived out their lives in Whitesboro; Rufus
died February 7, 1923; Texana died December
24, 1932; Rufus, Texana and Henry Sloan are
all buried Oak Wood Cemetery in Whitesboro,
Grayson County, Texas.
Missouri Belle - born May 17, 1861 Texas;
married Julius Fillmore Lassiter - March 13,
1878 Cooke County, Texas; moved to Wise
County, Texas; moved to Whitesboro, Grayson
County, Texas; 3 daughters, 2 sons; died
October 18, 1908; Julius died March 10,
1929; both buried Oak Wood Cemetery,
Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas.
Riley Davis - born October 28, 1863 Texas;
married Medora Ann Thompson - January 19,
1888 Whitesboro, Grayson County, Texas; 6
daughters, 3 sons; moved to Knox County,
Texas.
Martha "Minnie" Alice - born May 17, 1866
Texas; married John David Hart - October 25,
1883 Cooke County, Texas; 4 daughters, 1
son; moved to Ethel, Grayson County, Texas
before 1910; Martha died August 24, 1910;
John died April 22, 1923; both buried Oak
Wood Cemetery, Whitesboro, Grayson County,
Texas.
Harriett Evelyn - born February 20, 1869
Texas ; married William Michael Moore - May
23, 1888 Cooke County, Texas; 3 daughters, 2
sons; lived in Montague County, Texas; moved
to Oklahoma.
C. A. Parsons
January 16, 2021
