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Rt. 13 Box 132
Paris, TX 75462
Lemuel Dickson Skidmore was born January 31, 1827 in Morgan Co., Alabama to Abraham and Celia (Thompson) Skidmore, and died February 15, 1891 in Lamar Co., Texas. He was married to (1) Mary Baker Smiley March 08, 1849 in Lamar Co., Texas by A. J. Biard, J.P., as recorded in Lamar County Marriage Records, Book 1, Page 52. He married (2) Mrs. Emmaline Click July 14, 1881 in Lamar Co., Texas as recorded in Lamar Co. Marriage Records, Vol. 8 - Record 320.
On the 1850 Lamar Co., Texas Census we find in Home # 96; Skidmore, Lemuel, 24, Ala., Farmer; Mary, 24, Ky. On the 1860 Lamar Co., Texas Census we find: #470-474; farmer; /350; Lem D. Skidmore, 33, Mary, 28; Thomas, 9; Nancy, 6; Isaac, 3; and Samuel, 7/12.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he first enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Texas Militia, under Brig. General Shelton, commanding. The records shows: Lem D. Skidmore, 2nd Lt., age not stated, appears on a Muster Roll and Election Returns from the Texas State Archives for the Texas Militia, Company for Lamar County, Texas, Beat No. 2, 9th Brigade of the State of Texas; officers elected on 5 Aug 1861, in Lamar County; company enrolled by T. L. Click; J. J. Martin elected Captain commanding.
Most of the able bodied men of the Texas Militia resigned in order to join regular Confederate Army units. As Texans, the chivalry (and no foot marching) of the Cavalry Corps was especially attractive. Lemuel was no exception as he later enlisted on 9 Mar 1862 at Paris, TX for 12 months as Private, Co. G, Whitfield's Legion (also known as 27th Texas Cavalry), under Capt. Ed O. Williams.
There is a story about Lem and his cousin, Mathew Skidmore, told by Sam Skidmore of Reno, Texas. "Mathew was a private in Co. G., 27th Texas Cavalry, often called Hoods Cavalry, and not connected in any way with General Sam Bel Hood. There is a family story about Uncle Matt's capture by the "Yankees", this story was first told by cousin Lemuel of the Biardstown Skidmores, south of Paris. He was also of the same cavalry. He talked with an unusually long southern drawl and said when the Federals made an early morning surprise attack, Mathew had to get every old blanket and everything and the Yankees captured him. As for Lem he jumped on his horse and made run for it with a Yankee chasing and hammering him on the head with his pistol yelling 'halt'. Every time he would yell 'halt' Lem would say 'just up yonder' and finally got away. Matt told of being paraded in Washington, D.C. as Hoods ragged cavalry, and that was quite humiliating. Ragged they were indeed."
Returning to his home after the war, Lemuel's father, Abram, had died. Lem received a special mention in his father's will, giving him the property he was improving at the time of Abe's death. Lem and Mary have a son born at the beginning of the war and two daughters born after the end of the war, as we see on the 1870 Lamar Co., Texas Census: 185-185; farmer; 400/500; Lemuel D., 44; Mary, 37; Thos. A., 19; Nancy A., 15; Issac H.,12; Samuel N. (M.), 10; Lemuel S., 8; Eliza J., 4; Sarah M., 1. Emeline Click, the widow of Richard Click and neighbor of the Skidmores, would later marry Lemuel Skidmore. She is listed as a Head of Household on the 1870 Lamar Co., Texas Census: 124-124; H K; 480/200; Click, Emeline, 34, Tenn.; Susan, 17; Mary E., 14; Bill M., 10; John, 5; Emma, 5; Andrew, 1. All the children were born in Texas.
Lemuel's family appears on page 48 in the 1880 Lamar Co., Texas Census, enumerated on the 13th day of July, 1880. 405-405; Skidmore, Lem, 55; Mary B., 48; Lem S., 18; Eliza J., 14; Salie M., 11. Lemuel's father was born in Kentucky, and his mother in Tennessee. (Other records show his mother born in South Carolina.) Mary's father and mother were born in Kentucky.
While Lamar Co. Texas Marriage Records show L. D. Skidmore married Emmaline Click on 14 July 1881, the Bible entry shows L. D. Skidmore and M. E. Click married 20 July 1881. Emmaline Click was born 6 September 1832, according to her grave marker. She is shown as 27 on the 1860 census and 34 in the 1870 census. She died 4 October 1901.
Katy Skidmore Allred visited the Friendship Cemetery in May 1994 and observed the layout of Skidmore graves located on fourth row directly in front of gate and listed as follows from south to north. Although there is no grave marker, it appears certain that Lemuel and Mary were buried in Friendship Cemetery in the southern part of Lamar Co. (Biardstown area). There are two graves marked for L. S. "Jack" Skidmore and his wife, V. Ann Yancey Skidmore. L. S. "Jack" is the son of Lemuel and Mary. The next three unmarked spaces (about 16') are believed to be Lemuel and Mary and their young daughter Sarah Mahala born 18 Mar 1868. (On Nov. 12, 1995, with the assistance of detection sticks, it was determined that three bodies were buried in this space - two full size adult graves and one grave some 5' in length were some 5' in length located beside Eliza J. Rudy.) Next to the unmarked spaces is a grave marker for Lemuel and Mary's daughter, Eliza J. Rudy; next to her is a grave marker for Nancy J. Rudy (daughter of A. H. and E. J. Rudy), born 2 January 1892 and died 29 April 1892. Then there is a cedar tree and the grave of Lemuel's second wife, Emaline (Click) Skidmore; there is a tall monument for Emmaline with 6 September 1832 - 4 October 1901. Next to Emmaline is her daughter, Lucy Emma Click 1865 - 1891. (Note: James Earl King, lifelong resident of Biardstown, states to his knowledge there are no existing records for Friendship Cemetery.)
Children of Lemuel Skidmore and Mary Smiley are:
1. Thomas Abram Skidmore (twin).
2. William Kirkpatrick Skidmore, (twin) born June 21, 1851 in Lamar Co., Texas; died January 17, 1852 in Lamar Co., Texas.
3. Nancy America Skidmore.
4. Isaac Harvey Skidmore, born August 21, 1857 in Lamar Co., Texas; died September 23, 1887. The 1880 Lamar Co. Census, page 24, enumerated on June 11, 1880, 185-212, shows Isaac Skidmore, wm, 22, is single, a farmer, living with the William H. Jennings family. He is buried in Shady Grove Cemetery, Lamar Co., Texas.
5. Samuel Milton Skidmore, born December 21, 1859 in Lamar Co., Texas; died August 30, 1886 in Lamar Co., Texas. He married Mary J. Patterson January 29, 1885 in Lamar Co., Texas. Notes for Samuel Milton Skidmore, from Katy Skidmore Allred: "Bible record and monument date differ. Buried in Woodard Cemetery, Minter community, Lamar Co., Texas."
6. Lemuel Shedrich "Jack" Skidmore.
7. Eliza Jane Skidmore was born March 14, 1866 in Biardstown, Lamar Co., Texas, and died July 27, 1892 in Lamar Co., Texas. She married Alexander Hamilton Rudy December 21, 1887 in Lamar Co., Texas. Eliza J. Skidmore Rudy is buried in the Friendship Cemetery in Biardstown, Texas, along side her daughter, Nancy J. Rudy. Alexander H. Rudy is buried in Black Oak Cemetery in Hopkins Co., Texas.
8. Sarah Mahala Skidmore, born March 18, 1868 in Lamar Co., Texas. Death date unknown.
Children of Lemuel Dickson Skidmore and Their Families
1. Thomas Abram Skidmore was born June 21, 1851 in Lamar Co., Texas, and died 1900. He married (1) Mary V. Coleman August 29, 1872 in Lamar Co. He married (2) Mrs. Eliza A. Fields Kennedy August 14, 1890 in Lamar Co., Texas as recorded in Vol. 12 - Record 139. Mary V. Coleman was born 22 May 1854 and died 19 April 1888. She is buried in Woodard Cemetery, Minter community, Lamar Co., Texas. Eliza was the widow of Jim Newton Kennedy. Eliza Skidmore was later married to William Hamby on 26 Feb 1906 in Lamar county Marriage Book 22, page 282.
Thomas is murdered about 1900 by hanging and this is investigated by both Lamar and Red River County. The crime is unsolved. This is told in the book about the Hiram Kennedy family by Cassie Watson Cook. Also in "Backward Glances" by A. W. Neville, published in The Paris News on December 26, 1934.
At the Lamar County Court during the August term A.D. 1906, E. A. Skidmore seeks legal guardianship of her 5 minor children: Blake Skidmore, a boy 15 years old; Dona Skidmore, a girl 14 years old; Frank Skidmore, a boy 12 years old; Mitch, a boy 11 years old, and Demps, a boy 9 years old. Eliza remarries to Hiram Hamby. She wills to her five children her interest in land which was patented to Hiram Kennedy. There are records in Lamar Co. of the subsequent sale of this land.
3. Nancy America Skidmore was born January 21, 1855 in Lamar Co., Texas, and died June 12, 1927 in Lamar Co., Texas. She married J. P. Craft August 12, 1873 in Lamar Co., Texas. Nancy America inherited the Lemuel Dickson Skidmore Family Bible. It was printed in 1849. Nancy America and J. P. Craft are buried in Shady Grove Cemetery, Lamar Co., Texas.
Children of Nancy America Skidmore and J. P. Craft are:
A. Amanda Craft, born October 2, 1875.
B. J. Monroe Craft, born November 15, 1879.
C. John Harvey Craft, born June 8, 1882.
D. Ludie Craft, born February 5, 1886.
E. Annie Leora Craft, born October 17, 1891.
F. Nina Belle Craft, born September 14, 1895.
6. Lemuel Shedrich "Jack" Skidmore was born August 1862 in Lamar Co., Texas, and died March 17, 1909 in Lamar Co., Texas. He married Vinie Annie Yancy November 07, 1894 in Lamar Co., Texas. Jack Skidmore was a farmer. He and his wife are buried in Friendship Cemetery, Biardstown, Lamar Co., Texas.
Children of Lemuel Skidmore and Vinie Yancy are:
A. Eula B. Skidmore, born August 26, 1895 in Lamar Co., Texas; died March 19, 1993 in Lamar Co., Texas. She married Luther Nelson Dotson in Lamar Co., Texas.
B. Gladys Henrietta Skidmore, born July 2, 1897 in Lamar Co., Texas; died May 22, 1992 in Lamar Co., Texas. She married Theodore Roosevelt Stuart February 28, 1926 in Lamar Co., Texas. Both are buried in Dallas, Texas.
C. Mary Ann "Annie" Skidmore, born September 1, 1899 in Lamar Co., Texas; died September 10, 1991 in Seattle, Washington. She married Eulis Clifton East.
D. Clayton Ancimer "Ancil" Skidmore, born February 19, 1902 in Lamar Co., Texas; died October 18, 1967 in Lamar Co., Texas.
E. Lemuel Samuel Skidmore, born December 18, 1903 in Lamar Co., Texas; died November 11, 1988 in Pattonville, Lamar Co., Texas. He married Etra Eugenia Parker.
Children of Eliza Skidmore and Alexander Rudy are:
1.) William Fred Rudy, born August 17, 1889 in Lamar Co., Texas; died January 16, 1965 in Dallas, Texas.
2.) Nancy J. Rudy, born January 2, 1892; died April 29, 1892 in Lamar Co., Texas. Buried in Friendship Cemetery, Lamar Co., Texas.
According to a family Bible, Lemuel Dickson Skidmore died 15 Feb 1891. In the year 2000 descendants placed a tombstone in the Friendship cemetery to finally mark the last resting place for their southern patriot and hero.
©Ron Brothers, Katy Allred, All Rights Reserved, 2000.
June 4, 2000
