From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
William and Joseph Williford were wealthy land owners and wagon makers in Coffee County, Tennesee back in the 1820’s.
After the Civil War their business was no longer needed, and by 1870 they had both sold all of their land and holdings to make new lives somewhere else.
William decided to take his family to Texas. He and his wife Elizabeth had nine children. The oldest son, Woodson, stayed in Tennessee. The second son, Samuel J., his wife Frances and son William joined the family in Texas. It is uncertain what happened to Mary and Susan, but the other five, Sarah (Jenne), seventeen; William M., fourteen; Charles T., eleven; Frank L., nine; and Henry C., seven, came along with William and Elizabeth.
When the families arrived in Texas they bought land and settled in the farming community of Pleasant Valley, northeast of Garland.
Samuel J. and Frances were blessed with a second son shortly after arriving in Texas. Then in April of 1880 a third son, Walter Green, was born.
Soon after Walter was born there was an accident, and Frances’ husband was killed, leaving her with three young sons.
It is uncertain how long Frances lived after the death of her husband. Her son, Walter, could not remember his mother, only a woman he called Aunt Partheny Parks.
The three sons of Samuel and Frances grew up in the Pleasant Valley area and all were farmers.
Walter Green was in his early twenties when he met and married a young lady named Effie Mae Gertrude Jackson who had come to Texas with her mother, Rosa Jackson, and sister Lina and brother Ira B. Jackson. Mae was fifteen when she and Walter married. They were blessed with four children: Lida, Haskell, Retta and Voliviah (Jackie).
Lida Williford married Mr. Hagan and they had one child, Nadine Hagan Frensly.
Retta Williford married Louis Janicek and they had one son, Clifford Thomas Janicek.
Voliviah (Jackie) went into the WAVES during World War II. She was stationed in Washington, D. C., where she met D. E. Nulph. They were married and when the war ended went to live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which was home to Uncle Duke (D. E. Dulph).
Samuel Lee was later known as Lee Williford and farmed in the Garland area all his life. He married a cousin, Frances, who came from Arkansas.
By Irma Carsey Janicek
