Original Settlers in Seadrift

Extracted by John Quigley, Information garnered from Seadrift Memories published by the Seadrift History Book Committee. No copyright on the book, facts only used.

• Members - Seadrift History Book Committee
• Brenda Dworaczyk
• Paul Greenwood
• W. A. Henderson
• Janie Waghorne
• Florence Williams
• Dorothy G. Wilson

The Families

The Barefields:

Roosevelt "Red" and Dessaline Spriggs were married in Seadrift in 1930. Dessaline's gggrandmother, Henrietta Foster was a slave in Mississippi. Her owners moved to Texas when she was 12 years old. She gained her freedom from slavery and became a midwife. Dessaline's parents were Andy and Frankie Spriggs and she had 11 brothers and sisters.

"Red" had 10 brothers and sisters in his family born to George and Betty Barefield.

Barton/Holder/Beaver:

Mary Ethel Beaver's ggrandparents came to Seadrift in 1910, they had been married in 1898 and had 11 children. Little Herbert Barton died on 3/22/1913 and is the first person to be buried in the Seadrift Cemetery. When they first arrived in Seadrift, there was no electricity and they had to live in a tent. In 1910 Ethel Barton married Oval George Holder. They had nine children.

Sallie Bierman:

Born 5/23/1903 in Hill County, TX to B. B. and Nina Greenhill Epting. She married Robert Bierman. She served as a teacher in the Long Mott School and Postmistress in the Long Mott grocery and supply store. In 1968 she sold the store, in 1972 she was voted Victoria's Most Outstanding Senior Citizen.

Earl Albert Bierman:

Born 2/26/1902 in Long Mott TX to Albert and Fannie De Cloudt Bierman. Earl was a baseball player and played semi-pro for a number of years, he also operated a shipyard on the San Antonio Bay.

Rudolph Fredrick Bindewald:

Arrived at Indianola TX in December of 1845. He was originally from Engebrod Hesse and was a member of the Fisher-Miller Colony. He married Catherine Dierlam, also a member of the Fisher-Miller Colony. He purchased his land in Seadrift on March 7, 1851. They had a son Rudolph, who married Emma Christina Cloudt of Long Mott in 1875. They had 7 children.

Will Leo Blevins:

Parents John Wesley Blevins and Polly Ann Adcox Blevins moved to Texas from Tennessee around 1904. They settled on a small farm near Waco, TX and Will Leo was born in 1907. He became a commercial fisherman and married Nora Key, they had one son Marcus and after Nora died he married Mary Louise Smith Strown and they had 13 children.

Coward:

James Vernice Coward was born to Allen Nevell and Henrietta Dierlam Coward 12/6/1892. He married Dora Ethel Arbuckle on 12/30, 1913 (she had come to Seadrift by covered wagon around 1907). They had 5 children. James opened a barber shop in Seadrift in 1913 and was the barber for 44 years.

The Needham Coward Jr. Family:

Needham was the son of Needham Sr. and Elizabeth Perkins Coward. Born in Louisiana, he moved to Seadrift and married Agusta Dierlam she was born in Seadrift (Lower Mott) in 1850 and was the daughter of George and Maria Dierlam, the first known settlers in the Seadrift area. They had 7 children.

Annie Ella was born 10/4/1873 Needham William born in 1875, Christian Willis 4/29/1876, John A. born 11/4/1877 ,Mary born about 1880 Joseph Robert born May 1884 David Sonomon born in 1891.

Culverhouse:

William Wesley Culverhouse and family came to Seadrift in 1910. William worked at odd jobs and did some farming, then became a shrimper. His boat was known as The Sis Of Seadrift it was named after Maybell his daughter.

Dierlam:

George and Maria Schneider Dierlam were the first Dierlams in this county. George immigrated from Darmstadt Vadenrod, a branch of  the parish of Hopfgarten in Hesse Germany in 1848.

Violet Dowda:

Born in the "Old Settlement" of Seadrift in 1900 She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star beginning in 1920 and can remember the Post Office when it was in McIntire's Grocery Store on Main Street. Mail used to come in on Horseback or in a buggy in those days. Mail came on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's.

Lant Gaines:

Born on Matagorda Island, 3/12/1886 to Alonso and Amanda Wilson Gaines. He had 2 sisters Bessie and Lizzie and 4 brothers Luther, Lonnie, James and Lester. Luther and Lonnie were both drowned in the big storm of 1919. They had been fishing at Mesquite Bay and the storm hit while they were there. There was a long railroad wharf out on San Antonio Bay and the storm damaged it very bad. A big tidal wave from the Bay went almost up the the Post Office in town, about 5 blocks. Lant's boat washed up on the shore about one-third of the way to town, there were wrecked boats all over town and ever some homes had been blown away.

James Willson Gurley:

James Wilson was born Sept 23, 1876 in Henderson County TN. He married Sudie Jane Sellers born 7/21/1888 in Fannin County to Mr. & Mrs. John Sellers. They had 5 sons and moved to Seadrift in 1912.

William A. (Bill) Henderson:

Bill was born 1/2/1902 in the Old Settlement, Lower Mott, Seadrift TX, to William Edgar and Annie Ella Coward Henderson. William Edgar worked as a carpenter and helped to build many of the buildings in Seadrift, including the Hotel Lafitte.

Nancy Hill Family:

Nancy Clemintine moved to Seadrift in 1910 and in 1912 married Robert Lee Hill. They had 4 children.

Newman and Shirl Holder II:

Married to Rose Ellie Smith in Moral OK on 10/15/1893. They had 12 children. Around 1911 they heard that you could by a lot for $300 and get 5 acres free. They moved to Seadrift and bought 15 acres on Old Settlement Road.

The Jordans:

Caleb Jordan moved to the Saluria area around 1850 from Tennessee. He ranched on the Matagorda Peninsula, and fought in the Civil War for the confederacy and is buried on the Foester Ranch. His son Thomas Decro Jordan married Mary Dierlam and lived in the Old Settlement Area He supported the family by duck hunting, farming and ranching.

The McCown Family:

Sim and Ophelia McCown moved to Seadrift around 1912 in response to the ads by A.D. Powers (buy a lot get 5 acres free). They lived in town for a few years and in 1917 they bought a farm north of Seadrift. It was 142 acres purchased from Emil and Lillie (Leibold) Roemer for $4,970.

The Charles Arther Middaugh Family:

Charles was born in Crowder, OK on 6/1/1895 and married Maybel Culverhouse 12/24/1917. Maybell was born in Arbala TX on 11/4/1900. They had 3 sons, William Arther was born in Seadrift 10/23/1918, Joe Thomas was born 2/23/1925 in Okmulgee OK and Charles Ray born 9/10/1936 in Seadrift.

Lonnie Dupree Milam and Alta Arietta Scott:

Lonnie was born 3/31/1906 in Dallas TX to Thomas Curtis and Eula Kate (Blake) Milam. He moved to Seadrift in 1913 after his father had died in Dallas. Alta Arietta was born 3/4/1912 at Troy TX in Bell County to Willie Lee and Alice Cordelia Weaver Scott. Alta and Lonnie got married in Bloomington TX on 4/9/1928, Alta was 16 years old at the time.

Fay Etta Morgenroth:

Fay Etta Jones was born in Waxahacie TX on 4/3/1907, the family moved to Seadrift in 1912. Her father ran the Jones Feed Store in Seadrift. Fay Etta married Edwin Morgenroth, they had 1 daughter and 2 sons.

David Andrew Priddy Family:

David (Dave) Andrew was born in Parker County TX in 1890, he moved to Calhoun County about 1906. At the age of seventeen, he was captain of a crew and sully boat for dredging  companies. Dave was one of the settlers in Seadrift when it branched out from the "Old Settlement" to its present location. He married Ola Bell Fisher and together they owned and operated the "Red Wing" a passenger and freight boat running loads of freight across San Antonio Bay from Seadrift to Austwell.

Oscar Alvin Rassmussen:

Oscar Alvin was born 2/9/1895 on Matagorda Island to Andrew Teresa Smith Rasmussen. He was a lifelong resident of Seadrift. He was the Railroad Depot agent for many years.

The Ryon Family:

The F. M. Ryon family moved to Seadrift in Sept. of 1915. Frank (Big Doc) brought his wife and 2 sons to live here at that time. Frank's brother O. H. Ryon also came to Seadrift. Both men were Doctors but Seadrift could only support one Doctor so Frank became the town Pharmacist while O.H. became Dr. Ryon and worked in an office in the back of the Ryon Pharmacy.

The Edward Bee Sanders Family:

Mr. Bee as he was known moved into town (Seadrift) in 1908, He married Myrtle Eliza DeForest who had been born in 1885 in Arkansas County. Mr. Bee had been born in 1887 in Arkansas. They had 7 children.

Louie Walker:

Louie was born at Six Mile in Calhoun County on 12/31/1903. He met and married Myrtle Melissa King and they had 9 children. The family moved to Long Mott in 1907. Louis was a commercial Fisherman and an alligator hunter. He apparently killed over 2,000 alligators, the largest one being 14 feet long.

The Watkins Family:

Bill and Evelyn Watkins came to Seadrift in 1912, Tom Watkins was born in Seadrift in 1914.