Joe Cabaniss' genealogy: A little Cabaniss history Files to download Why this web site Other Cabaniss web sites Notable descendants        of Matthew Cabaniss Searches by other   Elijah, my gg-grandfather: Elijah did what? Elijah's path; GA to AR Union County, AR home Where is Hillsboro, AR Elijah's mother

A Cabaniss Descendant Wrote His Family Memories. Now, a Little Help is Needed to Make Some Connections Edwin Rice Brown, III (1903-1994), chronicled his genealogy back to his grandfather, John Carter Cabaniss (b. Feb 1, 1838, d. Oct 23, 1912). Now, the daughter-in-law of Edwin Rice Brown, III, seeks to link John Carter Cabaniss to his parents. Can you help fill in some of the blanks?   by Suzanne Brown (SBrownBTY@aol.com) June 12, 1998 (See the update penned by Suzanne following this article)   Return to opening page   Return to Others Are Searching     My name is Suzanne Brown and my husband's grandmother was a Cabaniss. My late father-in-law set pen to paper and wrote down his memories, family traditions and the results of some research. About 11 years ago I compiled his notes into a narrative for him. I still have his hand written notes and have been trying to verify his account and fill in the gaps. It has been easy enough to trace the line back to his grandfather, John Carter Cabaniss (b. 2/1/1838, d. 10/23/1912), but not beyond him. His Aunt Annie's count of the generations may be missing one.      Who were the parents and grandparents of John Carter Cabaniss? Were there two Susannahs, one Bibb(s) and one Carter? Where did he find a record of the SEVEN generations that he mentions below? Read a little from my father-in-law's narrative.   From the Narrative Written by Edwin Rice Brown, III (1903-1994): "We have a detailed record of seven generations that becomes as boring as Genesis, but Ann Cabaniss, my beloved Aunt Annie, marked the fourth generation where Mathew, son of Charles, married Susannah Bibbs Carter and lived in Halifax County, Virginia. Their son John Carter Cabaniss came to Texas and became my grandfather when he met and married Mary Adele Noble Graves in Houston, August 2, 1865.      "While the [prominent Noble] family lived in Anderson, Edward Bishop Noble's daughter Mary Adele, who was born in Nacogdoches in 1841, was an attractive teenager, active in church work and social life of the day, at fifteen she became engaged to Dr. Leonidas Patrick Graves, and was married in Anderson. Dr. Graves (b. 12/7/1833, d 12/12/1868) was a member of a respected Virginia family who came to Texas by way of Kentucky; they had two daughters, Sarah and Adele. In 1868 Dr. Graves died leaving an eighteen year old widow with two small daughters, our aunts, Sallie and Dellie.      "John Carter Cabaniss (b. 2/1/1838) came to Houston, Texas, possibly in connection with the railroad then pushing across Texas, as many young men felt the future lay in going west. It was there he met Mrs. Mary Adele Noble Graves, the handsome young widow of Dr. Leonodas Graves, whose 1860 death had left an eighteen-year-old widow with two small daughters. As Molly Noble was of a pioneer Texas family, she was able to introduce the lonely young Virginian to a large circle of relatives and friends. It was a period of strong religious faith, and social life centered on the church.      "The grandson of Mathew Cabaniss was a rather handsome man of obvious good family and proper protestant faith. The widow Graves and her family were a strict Baptist family who were probably attracted to the great-grandson of a Baptist preacher and a French anti-Catholic family.      "It was natural that a very pretty young widow of highly respected family would have opportunities to remarry, the war having ended. She was attracted to John Carter Cabaniss, a 27-year-old Virginian of good family, though none were in Texas.      "On August 29, 1865, they were married in Houston. Men were returning to Texas from the disbanded Confederate forces and normal life was returning to Texas. I do not know about the early days of the 27-year-old groom and the 23-year-old bride, but they eventually settled in the railroad town of Katy just west of Houston, where the Noble family had interests.      "Of this marriage there was one son, John Edward ("Uncle Buddy") Cabaniss, who was deeply religious, but also was possessed of a keen eye for business. Edward saw the possibilities of the lumber business where so many new homes and farms were being built around Katy's new rice fields. A lumber yard and a small office were opened near the railroad track, and prospered. He then married Jeanette Barrett, a capable Waco girl with a mind for business rather than family or personal appearance. She was a very practical person who managed whatever project Edward started. He became interested in milling rice and decided that the unpolished rice retained the nourishment that was sacrificed to appearance in the polished rice. Aunt Jeanette also took on that business so that he could promote religion through a series of revival meetings that he also supported. (Fortunately, Jeanette was an excellent business woman who managed the lumber and unpolished rice businesses in Katy, Texas, so that he could afford it.) Edward's mother, our Grandma Cabaniss, approved his religious efforts as a devout lay preacher and generous contributor to revival meetings, and he gave away money as fast as Aunt Jeanette saved it.      "After Edward there were Myra Lubbock (named for Governor Lubbock's daughter), Annie, Louise and Mamie. Myra is of especial interest to this family.      "Her half-sister, Adele Graves (Aunt Dellie), was very pretty, with a sense of style and social usage. It was she who undertook to give Myra advantages not available to her sisters, and helped to raise Myra Cabaniss, her half-sister, away from her Cabaniss sisters. I suspect that Adele (wife of Major Leonidas Upshaw) saw to Myra's college education and social skills. When Myra finished school, Adele invited Myra to visit her when Adele's husband, Major Ushaw, was appointed Indian agent in Montana. In Montana Myra met Edwin Rice Brown II, a Mississippian of "good family", who would become her husband on January 9, 1890, after he followed her home to Texas." Their son, Edwin Rice Brown III, was my father-in-law. Update ! ! ! by Suzanne Brown (SBrownBTY@aol.com) August 21, 2001   In the middle of 2001 I have finally found enough pieces to be confident of the sequence I am now trying to verify. I started with the conviction that in the society of 1865 the widowed daughter of a prominent Texas family would not have married a man she had only known a few months. My firm belief was that the couple must have known each other before the war. I concentrated my search in LaGrange, Fayette County, Texas, because the family had so many ties to that town.      Finally, I found John C. Cabaniss (44, b. Va) and his wife, Virginia (35, b. Va), and their six children, Isabella (16, b. Va), Mary (14, b. Va), John (12, b. Va), Elizabeth (10, b. Va), Missouri (8, b. Va) and Samuella (2, b. Tx), in a transcription of the 1850 Census for Fayette County, Texas. Since the John Carter Cabaniss I was looking for was born in 1838, this looked like a lead.      I went back to some of the material I had collected over the years and started with Allen Cabaniss' book. He records John C. Cabaniss (b. 1804) s/o Mathew Cabaniss and Susannah Carter (d/o Theoderick and Judith Carter), gs/o Charles Cabaniss and his first wife (name unknown), gg/s of Mathew Cabaniss and Hannah Clay.      The Neal/Carter Bible records Virginia S[usannah] B[ibb] Carter (d/o Samuel Carter and Elizabeth H[olcombe] Bibb, born May 2, 1814) married John C. Cabaniss October 22, 1829. Virginia's family also included the name Missouri.      John Kent Cabaniss was generous enough to send me photocopies of the Kent/Cabaniss Bible and a newspaper transcription (reprinted in the Newport News Daily Press, August and September, 1959) which included a handwritten note that John C. Cabaniss, son of Matthew & Susannah Cabaniss, d. ?, 18?? "to Texas." Some sources say he died in Texas before 1885. On a photocopy of page 11a of the1880 Census for LaGrange, Fayette County, Texas Virginia is now listed as Susanna (62) living with her two daughters, Missouri (31) and Samuella (29), and her son, William (27). Since Virginia is listed without her husband, John C. Cabaniss must have died before 1880. Since William's age is recorded as 27, he must have been born about 1853 and therefore John C. Cabaniss must have been alive at about that time.      I still need the 1860 and 1870 censuses for Fayette County, and more documentation on the birth and marriage of John C. Cabaniss and Virginia S.B.Carter.   Return to Others Are Searching Return to opening page