| Cemetery Works |
| Boulder, Colorado, USA established 2001 |
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| Family History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Family History Complied and self-published by Alf A. Allen, circa 1970 |
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Transcriber's note:
Another High family researcher, Phillip Gowins, believes Samuel High's ancestory in this history to be in error. In a biographical sketch of Samuel High, available on this website Gowins' wrote: 'It should be noted that High family members of previous generations have sometimes alleged the parentage of Samuel to be one 'Henry High of Warren County, IND' who was a son of 'John High' of PA and NY. The original source of this information is not known but it is in error.' |
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| JOHN HIGH 1756 - 1851 |
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John High was born May 10, 1756, in Schuylkill near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In June, 1780, at 24 years of age, he was drafted to serve in the American Revolution and was sworn in at Romney, Virginia (Hampshire County), assigned to Captain Parson's company and marched to Morristown where he was placed under the command of Colonel Lawson in what was called the Virginia Militia. Later High was sent to Carolina in General Green's army situated near Catawba River. Green, having been warned of the approach of Cornwallis' army, retreated and in 1781 High was ordered back to Morristown, where he was put under the command of General George Washington. This army moved to Elk River and on to Yorktown, where they attacked Cornwallis' fortifications with artillery. French and Americans were primarily involved in this engagement building fortifications and defending batteries. Two ships were captured and set on fire, and when the English attacked, the entire English army surrendered and was marched out as prisoners of war. John High's service record reads: "I saw Lafayette at Yorktown and talked with him". It was a part of his sworn record to the Department of Pensions in Washington, D.C. High was discharged in November 1781, but later re-enlisted in 1788, under Captain Henry Parker, to defend settlements along the Ohio River against Indians. High Moved to Warren County, Indiana, in 1839, according to pension records made in 1850 and died May 8, 1851. John High's children were: George, Henry, Isaac, Nimrod, John, Hiram, Fredrick and Amaziah. Records on John High were obtained from the Archives and Records Building, Washington, D.C.; The Society, Warren County, Indiana; and the Land Deeds Department of Indiana. |
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| HENRY HIGH 1778 - UNKNOWN |
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Henry High was born in Virginia in 1778 and moved to Warren County, Indiana, as shown in the 1820 to 1830 Census Records of Indiana which lists heads of families. There is no indication of when he died. The Land and Deed Bureau records list his children as Walter, James, Samuel, John, Martha and Fredericka. |
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| SAMUEL HIGH 1809 - 1894 |
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Samuel High was born in Warren County, Indiana, March 18, 1809, to Henry and Parmelia Curington High.
His brothers, Walt and Jimmie, came to Texas with him. Walt and Jimmie are no doubt the Walter and James listed as children of Henry High. James was the father of Oat High of Wills Point, Texas. Samuel High arrived in Texas with an ox drawn wagon train. The first horse drawn wagon to arrive in Canton, Texas or that vicinity was driven by the Hubbard's in 1856. The High Family first settled about four miles northwest of Wills Point, Texas. In the spring of 1853 Samuel High bought and settles on 1,400 acres of land five miles west of Canton, which became known as the High Community. As each of Samuel's sons married, he was given 160 acres of land. Thus all the High sons settled around the home site. Samuel donated one acre of land for a cemetery, and his son, Tom, later donated another acre. Still later a grandson, Luther High, gave another acre for the same purpose and the plot is now known as High Cemetery. This record was supplied by R.E. High, another grandson, who lived to be 90 years of age. Samuel High built his home at what later became the crossroads leading to Canton, Wallace, Myrtle Springs, High Cemetery and the school house. Henry H. High inherited his home from this father and many years later sold it to his son-in-law, Tom F. Hoskins. Hoskins several years later sold it to Joe Norman, a relative of the family.
The following item was published in the Canton Herald in the early 1900's:
Samuel High moved to Texas in 1852. He bought 1,400 acres of land at 50 cents an acre and paid for it in gold pieces. High was the father of ten children, but only one was born in Texas.
Samuel High died July 11, 1894, and was buried in the High Cemetery. |
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| HENRY HARRISON HIGH 1842 - 1931 |
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Henry Harrison High was born in Somersville, Tennessee, June 22, 1842. He moved to Texas with his family in an ox drawn wagon in 1852 and grew up in the High Community of Van Zandt County, Texas. Henry High and Sarah Elizabeth Norman were married June 16, 1861, and built their home near the High school building and cemetery in Van Zandt County, Texas. Here they reared a family of ten children whose names and dates of birth [see Note01] follow:
Henry H. High joined the Confederate army on March 29, 1862, and was assigned to the 15th Calvary Division, Second Corps, Company I. He was sworn in at Canton, Texas, by his father-in-law, Alex Norman, and was sent to Clarksville, Texas. Records show that he took with him for duty a horse valued at $175 and a gun valued at $20. The gun was an Eclipse, bought from a mail order firm in Illinois, and is still in the family at this writing, February 1970. From Clarksville, Texas, High's company marched toward Corinth, Mississippi. The unit never reached Corinth, but was engaged in the battle of Cotton Plant and Batesville, Arkansas. These engagements were parts of the general battle of Arkansas Post on January 11, 1863, where High lost his horse. Thereafter, when returned to action, High was connected with the infantry (15th Infantry of Texas).
At the time of the battle of Arkansas Post, a measles epidemic raged and some 1,200 Confederate soldiers died of the decease. After being captured, High was moved to Camp Douglas, Illinois (Chicago),a camp where many soldiers froze to death. He remained a prisoner until April 3, 1863, when he was taken to City Point, Virginia, and exchanged. He was then sent to Camp Lee at Richmond, Virginia, via Petersburg. Henry High took part in the following skirmishes and battles in sequence:
It is believed that Henry H. High was wounded at Nashville, Tennessee, and moved with the army to Tupelo, Mississippi. From that point he was taken with other wounded soldiers to a Mobile, Alabama, hospital for treatment. He went home on furlough March 20, 1865, and never returned to duty. General Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Henry High and his wife Sarah, lived in the High Community until 1912 when they moved to Myrtle Springs, Texas, to be near their son, R.E. High and their daughter, Mrs. Herbert (Hubbard) Vinson. R.E. High and Vinson operated general mercantile stores in Myrtle Springs at that time and for many years after. Henry High died April 12, 1931. Following is an excerpt from an article printed in the Dallas Morning News:
It can be said truthfully that high kept abreast of the times. Upon his return from the Civil War in 1865, he built the home in which he lived until 1912 and in which he reared 10 children and a nephew (Jim High). He neither bought an ear of corn nor a pound of meat, but he often had plenty of both to sell. He never gave a mortgage or signed a note in this entire life. Uncle Henry, as he was endearingly called, was the last of a family of ten children, all others preceding him in death. He was buried in the High Cemetery with services conducted by his pastor, Rev. Jones. High was a consecrated member of the Baptist church, having joined the Old Cana Baptist Church in 1868 and serving as a deacon for more than 50 years. |
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Alex Norman, Mrs. Sarah E. High's father, was justice of peace in Van Zandt County in the 1860's. Samuel High was appointed to a three-man committee that mapped out the first road through Van Zandt County. Much later, the road was known as the Dixie Highway and today is Highway No. 80. Tom High, Emmett High's father and Henry High's brother, was County Treasured of a number of years in Van Zandt's early history. A few years ago, while researching family history, Mrs. Ola High Smith, daughter of Alex High, was contacted by an elderly woman in Virginia whose grandmother was Fredericka, Samuel High's sister. Her mother had told her about her uncle, Jimmie High, Oat High's father, coming to Texas. Mrs. Smith compared history with her for at least a year, until she was notified of her death. The original land grant purchased by Samuel High, written on sheep scroll and signed by Governor Bell, is still intact and owned by Mrs. Lois Byrd, daughter of R.E. High. An old song book, from very early days of worship, small with printed verses but no notes, was given to Mrs. Verda High Beck on San Angelo, Texas, by her grandmother, Sarah E. High, more than 50 years ago and is still in her possession. Sarah E. High kept her sugar hidden from the Yankee soldiers during the Civil War by burying if a short distance from her house. One memorable day she took her sugar bowl and started out to the hiding place. When someone called to her that Henry, her husband, was coming down the road (she had been expecting him) she threw her sugar bowl away and ran to meet him. The sugar bowl is owned by Mrs. Veta Hoskins Allen, a granddaughter.
Some of the gold pieces brought to Texas by Samuel High and later owned by Henry H. High were stolen from a safe in R.E. High's store in Myrtle Springs, Texas, when the store as robbed a few years before Henry High's death. Henry H. High told his family of the following incident. He was shot in the posterior by a Yankee sniper while taking some shoes form the saddle of a dead Yankee. These were the only wounds he received during the Civil War. Grandmother High (Sarah E.) knitted her husband's socks from light-weight wool for year-round wear, cut his hair and trimmed his beard as long as she was physically able, which was many, many years. She delighted in preparing his favorite dessert, apple cobbler with 'dip' poured over it. This dip was made of sweet milk, sugar and nutmeg. The gun which Grandfather High (Henry H.) took with him to war, the Eclipse, is now owned by Mrs. Ola High Smith, a granddaughter. Alex Norman was born in 1797 and was the father of Mrs. Henry High. He and his wife Cynthia are buried in the Old Cana Cemetery located off the Kaufman-Canton Highway. They were both charter members of the Old Cana Baptist Church. Joe Norman, who remodeled the old Samuel High house, was the son of Mack Norman, the brother of Mrs. Henry E. High.
The following quote is an excerpt from an item in the Semi-weekly Farm News in the early 1900's, written by John Hubbard (this branch of the Hubbard's moved to Texas in 1856 and settled in Tundra Community, later marrying into the Norman family. They are related to the High family via Grandmother High):
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| Images |
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| SAMUEL HIGH Born Warren County, Indiana 18 March 1809 Died 11 July 1894 Buried in High Cemetery Van Zandt County, Texas | Samuel High's grave monument at High Cemetery VZC, Texas. The epitaph reads: 'His many virtues form the noblest monument to his memory.' |
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| Permelia 'Millie' [nee Cureton] High Born Green County, Tennessee 17 Feb 1810 - 26 Sep 1895 Buried in High Cemetery Van Zandt County, Texas | Permelia High's grave monument at High Cemetery VZC, Texas. I can not discern the epitaph from the available images. |
| Regarding the Author |
| This HIGH FAMILY HISTORY was compiled and published by Alf A. Allen in early 1970.
My recollection is that Alf A. Allen was a high school teacher at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas,
and that he was a nephew of C.O. Box, Henry Harrison High's son-in-law. The back cover notes: 'Edited and Proceduced by Perry, Abshure, Scott & Assoicates'. |
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