Notes for Mary E. Goodbread
Notes for John C. (Spouse 1)
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. Caldwell County borders Guadalupe County on the Northeast.
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. Their oldest daughter Elizabeth was born. They first appear on the Guadalupe County tax roll in 1859, when they had no property and were assessed a total tax of $ 0.75.
142 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.
143 John Heathcock and his bride Mary Goodbread settled in the Nockenut area in the period 1855-57. John Heathcock's name appears frequently in the records of both Wilson and Guadalupe Counties. 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.
165 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.
166 John and Mary Heathcock had a total of twelve children, several of whom apparently died while still young.
In 1880, 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.
167 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 1904
168 and Mary died just over a year later, 26 October 1905.
169 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.
Misc. Notes