From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
Simcoe Popplewell and his wife, Elizabeth Saunders Murphy Popplewell, were Peters Colonists who owned 320 acres in “Nacogdoches District Dallas County on the waters of Turtle Creek about two miles north from Dallas known as the East half of Section No. 21 in Township One.” (Taken from a copy of the records – being No. 589 – on file in General Land Office in Austin.) According to family tradition, this tract was in the area now occupied by the Highland Park Shopping Village – probably a little west and north of it.
Simcoe, born in Kentucky 23 November 1816, and Elizabeth, born in Kentucky 2 May 1817, were married in Wayne County, Kentucky 21 November 1838 and lived for a time in Miller County, Missouri. They moved with their two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Luvenia, to Dallas County around 1.847/48, where their only son, James Murphy Popplewell, was born 2 September 1849. Simcoe gave his occupation as “farmer” on the 1850 Dallas County census. The family moved to Tarrant County in 1854 and patented another 320 acres in the Birdville area, where a third daughter, Blanche, was born. Elizabeth Popplewell died 1 December 1856 and Simcoe on 7 February 1879. He was an active participant in the development and growth of Tarrant County during this time.
James Murphy Popplewell married Texana B. Leonard, also born in Texas and whose parents, grandparents and great-grandmothers were residents of Texas before statehood; and they had four sons: James M. Jr., Archie L., Thomas E., and A. Felton and four daughters: Addie, Elizabeth, Mary Jo and Leonora (Chic) who lived to maturity. He was a farmer and stock raiser and also active in civic matters.
James M. Popplewell, Jr. was born in Birdville, Texas 6 August 1886. On 21 June 1911 he married Margaret Ruth Rowland, daughter of Rev. William H. Rowland and Martha Cheatham Fowler Rowland, both being early residents of Azle, Texas. Rev. Rowland was an even earlier resident of Dallas County, coming to Dallas from Hartsville, Tennessee with his parents, Robert Montgomery Rowland and Alice Kerley Rowland in 1854. James M. Popplewell, Jr. and family moved to Irving, Dallas County, in 1923 where they resided until 1935 when they moved to Dallas, purchasing a home in University Park – not far from the original Simcoe Popplewell land grant on Turtle Creek. Mr. Popplewell was a building contractor and was well-known in Masonic work, having been the first worshipful master of the Irving Masonic Lodge 1218. He was a life-long Baptist and was a member of the Park Cities Baptist Church at the time of his death 7 August 1945. Mrs. Popplewell continued to reside in Dallas until her death at the age of 94 in 1982. They are buried in Restland Memorial Park.
Their children are: James M. III, Bernice, Lyn Ruth, Mary Elizabeth and William R. James M. resides in Garland; his son, James M. Popplewell IV, and two of his daughters, Emily and Sally, are residents of Dallas. A third daughter, Sandy (Mrs. Eddie Don) McHargue, her son, Patrick McHargue, daughter, Teresa (Mrs. Billy) Robertson and granddaughter, Stacey Michelle Robertson, live in the Austin area. Bernice (Mrs. Griffith H.) Evans lives in Rockport, Texas; her sons: Griffith H. Evans III and his children, Corey P. and Julie Elise, make their home in Houston; Dr. Richard R. Evans and his daughter, Rebecca Rachel, live in Corpus Christi; and James E. Evans resides in Beaumont. Lyn Ruth (Mrs. John L.) Fay is a resident of Mesquite; her son, John R. Fay and his son, Sean Patrick, make their home in Garland; her daughter, Lynne Thyrring is a resident of Laguna Niguel, California. Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. Charles L.) McNulty is a resident of Arlington; her son, Charles L. III, lives in Newark on Eagle Mountain Lake, and her daughter, Eileen (Mrs. Charles) Moses, lives in Alvarado. William R. has retired to Willow Creek Lake near Wills Point; his children, John C. Popplewell, Carol Popplewell and Patti (Mrs. Michael) Mealor and two grandchildren, Amoreena and Spencer Mealor, all live in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
By Bernice Popplewell Evans, Rockport
