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Bray
Houston
Families Of Hot Springs County Arkansas
This is a postcard of Hot Springs County Seat in Downtown Malvern, Arkansas taken in the early 1900's
It was found among Arlecia Houston Cantrell's family photo's.
Arlecia Houston Cantrell was the daughter of Samuel Dallas Houston and Sarah Caroline Bray married Oct 8,1882. She was also the sister of Lula Houston Bridges, Clark Houston and Roy Houston all born in the area of De Roche and Malvern Arkansas. Samuel Dallas Houston died: Midway AR 1906 at age 49. He was ordained as a pastor at the De Roche Baptist Church where Cynthia Hughes was a member. Hickory Grove Baptist Church was organized on Aug.31, 1873. Sam Houston was one of the early Pastors of the Church. S D Houston was later a pastor of the Midway Missionary Baptist Church. He had moved to Arkansas from Alabama.
Sam and brother Jim Houston where found in the 1880 census living with thei sister in De Roche Township Arkansas. Sam Houston's sister Mary married J.C. HOOD all of Alabama but had moved to De Roche area after the civil war. Mary had three sons Hollis, Robert and John. Her son John Hood's daughter Mary lives in CA and his son Paul HOOD lives in San Diego, CA. Mary and J.C, Hood moved to Fannin County and on to Arlington, Texas area in the late 1800's. Both died there in 1917 just a few months apart. Still researching his side of the family. So email at the link below if you have any information on this family.
Sarah Caroline Bray was the daughter of William Daniel Bray and Cynthia Ann Hughes who married Oct.22 1857 DeRoche, Clark, Arkansas. Their other children were:
1.Bray, John Henry - Birth: ABT 1858 Arkansas
2.Bray, William Thomas - Birth: Nov.16 1859 Arkansas
3.Bray, Marion G - Birth: Nov.2 1861 Arkansas
4.Bray, Amanda J - Birth: Jul. 3 1867 Arkansas
5.Bray, Mathilda - Birth: ABT 1869 Arkansas
6.Bray, Hetty - Birth: ABT 1871 Arkansas
7.Bray, Daniel Stokes - Birth: Nov 1875 Arkansas
8.Bray, Mary B - Birth: Apr.8 1878 Arkansas
According to the census records William Daniel Bray was from North Carolina and Cynthia Ann Hughes was from Tennesse. William Daniel's parents where John Harmon Bray born 1800 Chatham, N.C. died 1862 in DeRoche, Arkansas and Hetty Bower was born 1806 in N.C.and died after 1880 in De Roche, Arkansas. Hetty is in the 1880 census of DeRoche Township living with one of her sons and his family. Gives her age as 74.
Sheriff Daniel S. Bray
Click on Photo to Read News Clipping on Sheriff Bray
Daniel Stokes Bray (family called him Daniel Jr.) was the Circuit Clerk and Recorder for Hot Spring Co in 1912. He was elected Sheriff of Hot Springs County in 1918 and took office in Jan.1919. He was known for his Tough On Moonshiner's Policy. He married Viola Harper and they had only one daughter named Evelyn who was born in 1911. He wrote poetry about WWII, the Depression, and his lovely daughter Evelyn. Those poems were published in a booklet of which the family still has a copy. Evelyn married Cecil Sims and lived in Hot Springs, AR then later moved to Long Beach. CA. where she died of a heart attack abt. 1979.
Sarah Caroline Bray Houston was living with family in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the time of her death in Nov.1941.
After the death of her husband, Sarah was very close to her younger brother and his wife Viola. She would cook for the prisoners at the County Jail in Malvern, mostly moonshiner's, and some would even ask to stay so they could have so more of her good home cooking! Below is a picture of Sarah behind the jail feeding the chickens so she could fatten them up to cook.
Sarah and Sam Houston's daughter Arlecia married John Phillip Cantrell Sr. in 1914 and three children were born of that marriage. Helen Faye, John Phillip Cantrell Jr., and Raymond Howard Cantrell. Sarah's other daughter Lula married J.D. Bridges in 1915. They had three children Carwin, Myrna, and Weda. Daniel Clark Houston married Hetty Moore and his brother Roy Houston married Gladys Rowe. Both brothers lived all their lives in the Hot Springs County area. Roy and Gladys never had children but Clark and Hetty had one son Clark Jr. who still lives in the Malvern area.
Click on Links Below to Read
The Bray Family Tree
Please note that the Bray Family History from the links above were copies from the Hot Springs County Library Historical Society Files.
My brother-in-law and I visited the Old De Roche Cemetery in Bismark, where Troy Bray is the pastor, and made notes on some of the Bray, Hughes, Hardages and even found a marker for Johnnie K. infant son of Samuel Dallas Houston and Sarah Caroline Bray. We also visited the Adams Cemetery, Caney Memorial Cemetery, Prairie Bayou Cem. at New De Roche, Midway Cem., and Mt. Pleasant Cem. at Friendship, Arkansas. Alot of graves are unmarked, marked with a rock, or unreadable and the grave of Phillip Cantrell was not even located in the cemetery records of Caney Memorial Cemetery. The death record was signed by a Dr T.S. Bray and it states that the body was taken to Caney.
I do know that Phillip and his wife have a headstone marked with birthdates, no death dates, in Cedar County, Missouri and are not even buried there. He is in Arkansas and she is in Mississippi of all places! Goes to show that you never know where you will end up. If anyone is interested in the markers I wrote down just email me and I will send you what I have.
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©Granmommie
