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Largent Family

The Largent family settled in Angelina County shortly before the Civil War, having emigrated from Simpson County, Mississippi. William James and Martha Albritton Largent left many descendants in Angelina County. Most remained in the Lufkin area, but several moved to Burke or married Burke residents.

George Washngton Largent, Jr.

The first Largent in Burke was George Washington Largent, Jr., son of George, Sr., and grandson of William J. Largent. He married Mary Rosa McCarty, a daughter of Elias D. McCarty and sister of Ken, Lee, and Reid McCarty. In 1900 they lived in the town of Burke. They had the following children:

• Gordon Franklin, b. 1894
• Bobbie, b., 1896, who married Alfred Cook
• Asa Lee, b. 1900
• Price Billingsley, b. 1903, who married Beryl Medford and settled between Burke and Diboll on Old Texas 34. One of their sons, Medford Billingsley Largent,married Agnes Louise Murrah.
• Oscar Weldon, b. 1910

Children of Malcom David Largent

Malcom David (Mack) Largent, a son of Thomas Wayne Largent, and grandson of William J. Largent, and wife Eliza Spears raised their family on a farm at Boles not far north of Hurricane Creek south of Lufkin. Three of their children married Burke residents and lived at Burke all their lives:

• Florence Ophelia Largent, b. 1892 at Lufkin, who married Franklin John Johnson and lived in rural northwest Burke all their lives.
• Bessie Largent, b. 1895 at Lufkin, who married Gordon McCarty.
• Marshall Clayton Largent, b. 1908 at Lufkin, who married Oneta McCall. Clayton died young leaving a daughter Ruby Jean, who married a Bourque and lived in Louisiana.

After Mack's death Eliza lived with her daughter Delia Hunt and granddaughter Lila Fay adjacent Frank Johnson in rural northwest Burke.

Susan Largent Spears

Another child of Thomas Wayne Largent, Susan Matilda, b. 1880, married Benjamin Franklin Spears. She and Ben lived at Hoshall and ran a grocery store there. They were succeeded in the store by their son Jim, who eventually opened a store at Burke.

Stella Largent Burrous

Stella Largent, daughter of William James (Jim) Largent, a son of Thomas Wayne, married John Dearmond Burrous and lived at Fairview.

John Willard Largent

In the 1920s John Willard Largent, a son of Thomas Wayne, moved from the Largent settlement at Boles to a farm near Ryan's Chapel. His daughter Evelyn married J. C. (Jim) Watson, and they had sons Milton, J. W., and Kenneth.

The Largent Mayflower Connection

All the Largents listed above, except George Largent, have the distinction of being descendants of two passengers on the Mayflower. The first was William Brewster, the organizer and financier of the Mayflower voyage. As the ruling elder and only university educated passenger on the Mayflower, Brewster probably had a major role in drafting the Mayflower Compact, the first constitution written in North America.

The other was Stephen Hopkins, the only early American settler who lived both at Jamestown and at Plymouth.

The Mayflower connection comes via Talitha Maria Freeman, who was a daughter of David B. Freeman, and who married Thomas Wayne Largent. David Freeman was born in Nova Scotia and came first to New Orleans about 1830 and then to Newton County, Texas about 1840. By 1850 he and his family lived in Angelina County just west of the intersection of Highway 94 and Loop 287. They lived very near William J. Largent who had settled several miles west of what is now Loop 287 and several miles north of what is now Highway 94. David Freeman's forebears came to Nova Scotia from Massachusetts about 1750.

© 2006-24 Burke History Project
M. Lee Murrah, Editor
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