On the spelling and pronunciation of the family name: The most common spelling of the family name was Hathcock until about 1870. The Madison County, Alabama group uniformly used Hathcock, and no doubt pronounced the name with a short a. In 1868, Alfred signed his homestead papers Alfred Hethcock. The spelling standardized as Heathcock between 1870 and 1880, although the name continued to be pronounced as heather rather than leaf, no doubt as a result of the earlier common usage of the pronunciation Hathcock.

Alfred's eldest son John Heathcock is much more conspicuous in the county records than is Alfred. John married Mary Goodbread, daughter of Thomas Goodbread and Malinda Brewer, in Caldwell County, Texas, in 1856.44 Caldwell County borders Guadalupe County on the Northeast. Caldwell County was named in 1848, after Matthew Caldwell, a ranger captain who fought in the Battle of Plum Creek against the Comanches and later against Santa Anna's armies during the Texas Revolution and was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Caldwell County grew fairly quickly between 1850 and 1860. According to the 1850 census it had 1,055 free residents and 274 slaves; by 1860 the number of free residents had more than doubled to 2,871, and the number of slaves had increased more than 5½ times to 1,610. Among the new communities were Fentress, Martindale, and Lytton Springs. The county's early economy was primarily based on livestock rather than on crops; the number of cattle in the county increased from 3,800 in 1850 to more than 33,000 in 1860, and the number of hogs rose from 3,400 to 11,480 during the same time period. The increase in livestock would probably have been even greater if the region had not been had a severe drought from 1857 to 1859.45

Thomas Goodbread's eldest daughter Elizabeth married Jacob Degan in Bastrop County Texas in 1854, suggesting that the Goodbreads were in Texas prior to the marriage of John Heathcock and their daughter Mary, who were married in 1856 (see above). John and Mary first appear on the Guadalupe County tax roll in 1859, when they had no property and were assessed a total tax of $ 0.75.46 After that initial entry, John Heathcock's name appears frequently in the records of both Wilson and Guadalupe Counties.

The 1860 tax roll shows John Hathcock to be the owner of two horses and 300 acres of land valued at $300. The original grantee of the land was M. Goodbread. It is not known whether this referred to Mary Goodbread, John's wife, or Malinda Goodbread, his mother-in-law. There is no record in the General Land Office in Austin of either woman ever having been the recipient of a land grant. However, Malinda Goodbread was somewhat of a wheeler-dealer in land. For example, she later (1873) sold Catherine Hobbs, wife of Pleasant Hobbs, 200 acres of land, part of a 1280 acre tract that she bought from Phil Clabbron in 1866.47

He was a stock raiser and land speculator and often realized impressive profits in his dealings. For example, in 1875 he bought a 3 1/2 acre parcel for $35 in May and sold it for $450 in December. However, he also had a philanthropic side, and deeded land to the county for a school in 1880.48 A full list of his land dealings between 1875 and 1901 is attached in the multimedia section of this record.

John Heathcock ran both cattle and quarter horses on his farm near Sutherland Springs. His brand, traced from his branding iron, is shown as a graphic connected with this record.49 John and Mary Heathcock had a total of twelve children, several of whom apparently died while still young.

Some of the land near the present location of Stockdale was owned by Allison Green, a soldier who served under John R. King. Green was apparently killed by Indians sometime in the 1850s. Locals allowed timber to be taken from his land and the area became known as Free Timbers. John and Mary Hathcock settled in this area and John Heathcock opened and operated a grocery store. He later sold it to Jethro Bunker, who moved the merchandise to another location and it became a general merchandise store. In addition to being called Free Timbers, the area was sometimes known as Bunker’s Store.50 John Heathcock later named one his sons William Henry Bunker Heathcock.

In the 1880 census, John & Mary Heathcock lived in Wilson County, with eight children, all at home. John and Mary are recorded again in the 1900 Wilson County census, in Sutherland Springs.51 John and Mary, along with son Thomas, appear as household 120, next to James Alford on one side and Joseph Clark and family on the other side. The census was taken on 12 June 1900. John's birth is given as Oct, 1833 and his age as 66; Mary's as Dec, 1839 and 60. Mary is said to have borne 10 children, of whom 7 were living at the time.

John died 1 June 190452 and Mary died just over a year later, 26 October 1905.53 John is buried in the Stockdale cemetery under a tall granite stone inscribed "John Heathcock Sr., Son of Alford and Betty Heathcock." This gravestone was found and photographed in July, 1977, by the author, Steven Heathcock, and James F. Heathcock. Mary's grave site is unmarked.

1860 Census of Guadalupe Co TX

Name Age
Jno Hethcock 26 AL
Mary Hethcock 20 AL
Eliz M Hethcock 3 TX

1870 Census of Guadalupe Co TX

Name Age
John Hethcock 37 AL stock raiser
Mary Hethcock 31 AL
Lizzie Hethcock 12 TX
John Hethcock 6 TX
James Hethcock 8/12TX
Thomas Goodbread 60 NC
Malinda Goodbread 60 AL
Newton Nasbeth 21 TX stock hand
Charles Vircker 32 NY

1880 Census of Wilson Co TX

Name Age
John Heathcock 47 AL GA GA
Mary Heathcock 38 AL IN IN
Elizabeth Heathcock 23 TX AL AL
John Heathcock 16 TX AL AL
James Heathcock 10 TX AL AL
Josephine Heathcock 7 TX AL AL
Thomas Heathcock 5 TX AL AL
Jack Heathcock 5 TX AL AL
William Heathcock 4 TX AL AL
Phillip Heathcock 2M TX AL AL

1900 Census of Justice Pct 3, Wilson Co TX

Name Age
John Heathcock 66 AL GA GA
Mary Heathcock 60 AL GA GA reported to be mother of 12, with 7 still living
Thomas Heathcock 26 TX AL GA

1850 Census of Bellmont, Sumter Co AL

Name Age
Thomas Goodbread 35
Malinda Goodbread 35
Elizabeth Goodbread 17
Mary Goodbread 12

1900 Census of Justice Pct 3, Wilson Co TX

Heathcock, John head 66 Oct 1833 m(44) AL GA GA
---, Mary wife 60 Dec 1839 m(44) mother of 12, 7 living* AL GA GA
---, Thomas son 26 Dec 1878 s TX AL GA

The seven living children in 1900 were daughters Elizabeth Wiley and Josephine Parish and sons John, James, Jackson, Thomas and William. In addition to Phillip, there were four other children who are not accounted for. Since women in those days normally had children about every two years, the missing children were probably born in the six-year gap between Elizabeth (b 1857) and John (b 1863) and in the seven-year gap between John (b 1863) and James (b 1870). None of the missing children were listed in the 1870 census.