From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
Roderick Rawlins, son of James Mason and Priscilla Blount Rawlins, was born 11 March 1776, family tradition says near Bunker Hill, Massachusetts; however, his birthplace may have been in North Carolina, where the father was imprisoned at Raleigh for his Loyalist activities. Legend also says the father returned to England, leaving his wife and five children in North Carolina. Roderick’s mother died circa 1785.
Roderick Rawlins married Sarah King in 1799 and resided in Tennessee and Kentucky before moving to Indiana circa 1811. Sarah King Rawlins died in 1814. On 10 December 1816, he married Mildred (Milly) Parks, daughter of George and Mildred Davidson Parks. She was born 6 December 1793, in North Carolina. George Parks was a Patriot of the American Revolution.
Rawlins served in the War of 1812 and as a member of the Indiana Territorial government. He farmed near Elletsville in Monroe County. Around 1823 Roderick Rawlins moved to Greene County, Illinois settling near Roodhouse.
The following is an excerpt from a speech given by Judge Newton Fitzhugh to the Lancaster (Texas) Historical. Society on 12 October 1969: “The Roderick Rawlins party (approximately 30 settlers) left Illinois in September, 1844, and arrived in Lamar County, Texas, in early November, seven weeks later. Here they rested for several weeks. Rawlins and two of his sons-in-law, Pleasant Taylor and Samuel Keller, went ahead to select a general area in which to settle. Apparently they came to Dallas, then only a few cabins, crossed the river and selected the Ten Mile Creek area, completely devoid of inhabitants, as a suitable location for their families. Returning to Lamar County, they got their wagons to moving in early December, some of them again riding ahead to prepare a temporary camp in which they could spend the winter. The area selected for this purpose was the high ground lying west of what is now called the Nokomis Road.” This area is located southeast of Lancaster near the site of Edgewood Cemetery.
Nancy Rawlins Taylor, daughter of Roderick Rawlins, reminisced about the journey for The Lancaster Herald in 1891: After arriving in the Dallas area, the travelers camped at Cedar Springs. “The next morning we started for our home, as we called it, on Ten Mile Creek. There were no roads in those times and we had to head the creeks, which made the distance so much farther that we could not reach home that night; in the meantime (it) clouded up and commenced raining, we could find no water therefore we stopped somewhere, I never did know exactly where, we had been lost, we had neither dinner, supper, nor breakfast. As soon as it was light we made another start for our destination and reached it on the second day of January 1845 at two o’clock in the afternoon. The boys that had gone on ahead of us, had made a shelter for us, out of some old boards that were found by some of the party and pressed into service.”
The construction of cabins had probably just begun when the settlers arrived. The cabins were built in a double line divided by a street, running north and south. This arrangement provided a secure defense against the Indians. The settlement became known as “Hardscrabble.”
After the winter of 1844-1845, the settlers began to select homesites of their own. As a member of Peters Colony, Roderick Rawlins chose a 640 acre section of land lying north of the J. McMillan Survey and east of the E. Bader Survey. In 1854 A. Bledsoe purchased part of the Roderick Rawlins Survey and laid out the town of Lancaster. (Bledsoe named the town Lancaster in honor of his hometown, Lancaster, Kentucky.)
In 1845 there was a vote taken in Robertson County (now Dallas County) on the issue of the annexation of Texas to the United States. Twenty-nine votes were cast in favor and three opposed. The three negative votes were cast by Alexander Harwood, John C. McCoy and Roderick Rawlins. All three were followers of Henry Clay of Kentucky, founder of the Whig Party, who was opposed to the admission of Texas to the Union.
Roderick Rawlins was instrumental in the founding of the Christian Church in Lancaster. On 5 July 1846 Rawlins arid thirteen settlers met to form the first Christian Church in the southern part . of Dallas County (then Robertson County). Roderick Rawlins, a lay minister himself, had been influenced by the teachings of Barton Stone, early Christian Church founder. The First Christian Church of Lancaster holds the distinction of being the oldest Christian Church in continuous service in the state.
Roderick Rawlins died on 27 April 1848 at the age of seventy-two. He was buried in Edgewood Cemetery near the spot where he first settled in 1844. His wife, Mildred Parks Rawlins, died on 20 July 1875 in Lancaster, Texas. She is buried beside her husband in the Pioneer Section of Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas.
The children of Roderick and Sarah King Rawlins were as follows:
1) William “Elder Billy” born 19 March 1800, Tennessee, died August, 1869; married (1) Polly Sharp, nine children; married (2) 11 April 1861, Dallas County, Texas, Lucinda Misplay, four children. William Rawlins and his wives are buried in Rawlins Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas.
2) James S. born 6 March 1802, Tennessee, date and place of death unknown; married 1822, Indiana, Cynthia Stout.
3) Angelina born 1 May 1806, Tennessee, died prior to September 1844, Illinois; married Valentine Wampler, who was a member of the Rawlins party. Two sons.
4) Asa born 1808, Kentucky, date and place of death unknown.
5) Elizabeth born 8 September 1811, Kentucky, date and place of death unknown.
The children of Roderick and Mildred Parks Rawlins were the following:
1) Pleasant King born 1 September 1817, Indiana, died 6 June 1887, Lancaster, Texas; married 17 February 1840, Greene County, Illinois, Lydia A. Heaton Spruance, born 23 November 1811, Pennsylvania, died 30 January 1895, Lancaster, Texas. Both are buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas. Six children.
2) Nancy Priscilla born 10 May 1820, Indiana, died 16 November 1891, Dallas, Texas; married 5 May 1836, Greene County, Illinois, Pleasant Taylor, born 17 September 1817, Tennessee, died 4 February 1891, Dallas, Texas. Both are buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas. Nine children.
3) Elusia Catherine born 5 September 1822, Indiana, died 16 December 1897, Kyle, Montague County, Texas; married 20 June 1839, Greene County, Illinois, David Lewis Hall, born 1 September 1817, Pennsylvania, date and place of death unknown. Seven children.
4) Lucinda Ann born 1 January 1825, Illinois, died 1889, place unknown; married 30 January 1842, Greene County, Illinois, Samuel Keller, born 1820, Kentucky, died 3 November 1878, Lancaster, Texas. Eight known children.
5) Mary “Polly” Parks born 5 October 1826, Illinois, died 30 November 1856, Lancaster, Texas; married 25 May 1846, Dallas County, Texas, Madison Moultrie Miller, born 1813, Georgia, died 1 April 1860. Both are buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas. Four children.
6) Mildred Talitha born 15 September 1828, Illinois, died 1876, Tarrant County, Texas; married 27 July 1845, Robertson County, Texas, Carlos Wise, born circa 1819, Illinois, date of death unknown.
7) Hannah M. born 1 September 1831, Illinois, died 18 September 1831.
8) Roderick Alexander born 20 January 1833, lllinois, died 28 May 1910; married 30 September 1852, Lancaster, Texas, Virginia Bledsoe, born 1 August 1827, Kentucky; died 10 February 1890. Both are buried in the Pioneer Section of Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas. Three children.
Robert Westbrook Sears, the author of this article, descends from Roderick Rawlins as follows: Roderick Rawlins (1776-1848), married 1816, Mildred Parks (1793-1875); Pleasant King Rawlins (1817-1887) married 1840, Lydia Heaton Spruance (1811-1895); John S. Rawlins (1844-1914) married 1866, Martha Cole Peacock (1847-1888); Mary Margaret Rawlins (1869-1940) married 1889, Robert Duane Sears (1866-1951); Robert Lee Sears (1905-1980) married 1933, Lois Westbrook (1910- ); 2 children, Margaret Jean Sears (1940- ) married 1961 Ernest Stapleton, and the author, Robert Westbrook Sears (1946- ).
By Robert Westbrook Sears, Dallas
