Beyond our Elusive William Daniel

On the Robert Stokes Daniel, Jr. FGS, "Old Northwest Texas", Vol 1-B, Navarro Co, 1846-1860; 1980 Nancy T. Samuels & Barbara Knox, is cited. Joe Daniel (Josiah M., Jr.) says they were married in Montgomery, AL. Verify. Josiah was in Bradley's Company of the Confederate Army. Josiah Goodson Daniel, a son of Theophilus and Penelope (Goodson) Daniel, was born in Georgia (reportedly Rome) in 1813. He moved, with his parents, to Alabama in 1825. The 1850 census locates him and his wife, Martha Smith Daniel (they were married Nov. 25, 1845). She was the daughter of Robert Smith and Nancy Ann Wells Smith), and one son Willaby E. in Lowndes County, Alabama. (Willaby is a very common family name in Martha Smith Daniel's family.) Josiah was also a farmer and surveyor. While in Alabama, he served as County Surveyor. In 1855 he moved with his family (now composed of his wife Martha, son - Willaby E., a son Theophilus Smith, and a daughter Mary Cuba) to Navarro County, Texas. They came by wagon train, in a party of 114 - including slaves. This group established a settlement called Wadeville (named for Telemachus - called Mack - Wier Wade, one of their party.) Josiah settled on the 640 acres which his father had claimed some two years previously. With slave labor, he cut oak logs and built a house on this property. When completed, this house contained four rooms and a dog run (wide hall through the center). Later a kitchen was added. It also had an attic where they put their sweet potatoes, pears, etc, to ripen. Away from the house, they built separate rooms where the slaves carded the cotton, spun it into thread and wove material. There was also a tool room, a smoke house where they took care of their meats, and a large barn. They went to Shreveport, Louisiana, and hauled cypress logs from there with which to build the eaves and upper part of the house. This house is still in comparatively good condition. It was on the mail route a few miles from the Trinity River crossing at Bradenburg's Ferry. The "mail routers" would often spend the night at the Daniel home. They brought peach seeds, crepe myrtle, bridal wreath, lilacs, rose bushes and other shrubs and flower seeds from Alabama, and they were always known to have a beautiful yard.

In making the long trek from Alabama to Texas - it took them six weeks - Martha Smith Daniel rode in a carriage. Theophilus, the son of Josiah and Martha, who was then 4 years old, and Gus Colbert - a slave of the same age - rode in the feed box on the back of the wagon where they fed the oxen. The oldest slaves were Uncle Bob and Aunt Ann Colbert. Josiah, who was always called "Squire", later deeded them the land on which they lived. Their descendants still live on this property. Josiah was a soldier in Bradley's Company in the confederate Army. Martha Daniel died from a spider bite in 1865. Within the year, Josiah married his sister-in-law, Lucy Sample Smith - the wife of Martha's younger brother. She had been left a widow with two small children. She and Josiah had one daughter - Lula. This second wife died in 1868. Josiah died of flux in 1879. They are all buried in the Jamerson Cemetery near Wadeville, south of the town of Kerens, Texas. Josiah had a brother, John, who settled in the Mexia, Texas, vicinity. He later lived with his son, Bruce, in Waco, Texas. He died there. John also had a son, Leonard (this is incorrect), and other children. There were other children of Theophilus, Sr., but we do not know the number or names. It is reported that two of his sons were killed in the Siege of Vicksburg. I have not been able to verify this, however, in the cemetery where the soldiers were buried in Vicksburg, there are only two by the name of Daniel buried there. One is W. J. Daniel, Co. K, 34th Ga. died April 22, 1863 at City Hospital, buried Potters Field Grave No. 1030 (UDC Book page 29). The other is W. Daniel, Co. Q 41st Ga. Died June 20, 1863 at City Hospital, buried Potters Field (UDC Book, page 28). Be careful, some of this information is incorrect, especially regarding Leonard Daniel who was Josiah's brother, not his nephew. Also, John Adams Daniel finally settled in Erath Co., TX after a brief stay in Mexia area with his brother, Leonard.

In 1863, his home was chosen by the Court of Navarro County to be the voting place for "beate no. 3."

There is a Josiah Goodson on the 1850 census and the 1850 slave census for Pike Co. (next to Crenshaw Co.), AL. Could this be a connection to his mother Penelope Goodson?