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Treadwell Family

The Treadwell family was a leading Burke family throughout the 20th Century. The made their appearance in Burke in 1886 when S. J. and S. E. (probably Stephen and Sarah) Treadwell bought a lot from Harvey Belote. Previously they had lived at Renfro Prairie, arriving there in 1859. They are thus among those who moved to the newly thriving town of Burke to purse opportunities.

The Treadwells trace their ancestry to Oxfordshire England. The first Treadwell to come to America was Edward, who settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts (then part of the Plymouth Colony) before 1642. The family then migrated to Fairfield, Connecticut, and then a branch of the family led by John Treadwell moved to Onslow Co, North Carolina before 1654. Later generations of the family lived in Georgia and then Mississippi.

Stephen J. Treadwell

Stephen J. Treadwell was born in Georgia in 1811 and was married first to Faith C. Jordan in 1833 in Henry County, Georgia. They lived in Georgia until about 1836 when they moved to Alabama. They remained there until about 1849 when they moved to Leake County, Mississippi. They had the following children:

• Isaac, born 1834
• Leroy, born 1836
• Martha Sarah, born 1837, who married Francis Harris Neyland in Angelina Co.
• Sarah, born 1839
• M. C. (daughter), born 1842
• Joseph B., born 1845
• Permelia, born 1847
• M. (perhaps "Docie"), born 1849
• John, born 1852

Faith died in Leake County in 1853, and in 1854 Stephen married Sarah (Sally) Williams, and they had the following Children:

• Frances, born 1854
• William Buchanan, born 1856
• Thomas J., born 1860

About 1859 Stephen and Sally moved to Angelina County, Texas. In 1870 the Stephen Treadwell family lived at Renfro Prairie nine residences away from Moses Spivey, whose family also later moved to Burke. The Treadwells were among those who were attracted to Burke in the early 1880s by the opportunities created by the railroad.

By 1886 Stephen Treadwell owned and operated a country store in Burke described as having " an assortment of every thing usually found in a country store.".

In 1892 Stephen and son Thomas Treadwell started a sawmill that they called Burke Lumber company, and it operated into the 1920s. The sawmill was located at the intersection of Roads 63 and 63A very near the railroad track.

Stephen died in 1890 and Sarah in 1900, and both are buried at Treadwell Cemetery near Huntington.

Thomas J. and and wife Lucy J. Treadwell lived in a large Texas-style home (on blocks with a central dog trot (breezeway) and large front porch) just west of Burke School. Their son Ben Treadwell later lived in the same home. Tom and Lucy has the following children:

• Benjamin F. (1884) - remained single and lived at Burke all his life
• Sallie L. (1887), who married a Pigford and was a school teacher at Burke and later in the Houston area. For several years the webmaster's parents leased a farm that she owned southeast of Burke.
• Roy S. (1892), who was a prominent landowner and cattleman at Burke. He married Pauline (Bob) Smith, and they lived large home on Highway 59 just across from the Methodist Church., which was the site of the old Belote homestead. Roy's son Tom Treadwell lived just north also on Highway 59. Bob was from somewhere south of Burke, perhaps Conroe, and her uncle Buck Davis also lived at Burke. Tom married Jewell Courtney, and they had a son Steve. The webmaster attended Burke School for several years with Steve and later Lufkin High School. Steve was a welder until his untimely early death in the 1970s.
• Thomas J. (Jeff) - 1894
• Nobie D (1897) -died in 1918 and buried at Renfro Cemetery
  

James M. Treadwell

Stephen's brother James M. Treadwell and wife Mary Ann did not come to Angelina County, but their daughter Mary Ann married William B. Hall Carrell and moved to the Homer area. Their son Isaac had a daughter Sudie, who married Bill Burrous and lived at Burke.

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