William G. Nuckolls

W.G. Nuckolls was married in 1850 to Eliza Polk, born in 1830, the daughter of Shelby Polk of Maury County, Tennessee.  They became the parents of four children; Charles, William Shelby, Mollie and Lenora.

In 1880, the father decided to seek a new home in Texas.  A son, Charles, who was married and the father of four children; Charles Jr., Nolan, Julian and Clara, remained in Tennessee.  The other three children came with their parents to Tarrant County.  Others who came with the family were a former slave remembered only as Mammy, a Negro boy, who later returned to Tennessee and his sister, Neeta.  The trip was made by train.  Land was purchased in the Keller vicinity for $1.50 per acre.  Other land known to have been owned by the Nuckolls family is now in the city limits of Fort Worth.

Family records show that the Nuckolls children who came to Texas married as follows:

1)      William Shelby married Georgia Fair of Bellevue, Texas.  He became a rancher in the Buffalo Springs area.  Their children are:

a) William, born January 31, 1897.

b) Winifred (Boutwell), born September 20, 1898, lives in Henrietta.

c) Lawrence, born October 2, 1901, lives in Henrietta.

2)      Mollie married R.O. Newsome of Mansfield.  Their children are Lenora and Carl.

3)      Lenora married Jim Burnett.  Their son, W.G. Burnett lives in Dallas.

Eliza Polk Nuckolls, wife of William G., died in Keller in 1890 and was buried in Birdville Cemetery.  After the death of his wife, William G. made his home with his son William S. in Buffalo Springs.  While there, he was married in 1898 to Mrs. Ruth Margaret Jones McCoy, widowed by the death of her first husband, James Winfield McCoy, a native of North Carolina.  She had come as a teenage girl from Tennessee to Texas with her older brother John.  Three children by her first marriage were ten year old John C., eight year old Octava, and six year old James W.  The mother’s second marriage changed the family’s residence from a ranch in Clay County to a 250 acre farm south of Keller, owned now by T. E. Tidwell.

In present day terminology, William G. Nuckolls would have been called a master farmer.  At the end of a day of hard work, he brought his diary to date, a habit begun in his youth.  Being well educated, he read a great deal, was an excellent student of the Bible, and had great respect for detailed accuracy.  This latter often led him to question the statements of others less informed.  One such incident occurred during a sermon at the Union Church in Keller.

Shocked and embarrassed, his wife heard him say to the minister, “Brother Spann, that is not correct.”  The answer was, “Brother Nuckolls, I’ll come to your house and we’ll talk this out.”

As usual, Brother Nuckolls proved his point with no ill feeling and the two men remained lifelong friends.  Brother Nuckolls helped organize the First Baptist Church of Keller.  He did not send his children to church, he took them; his own, his stepchildren and the Negro boy and girl he brought from Tennessee.  He mastered the art of being a wise father and stepfather.  Though a man of small stature, he stands tall in the minds of the boys and girls who grew up in his loving care and still speak of him affectionately as “Big Pop”.

In 1900, the farm home was sold to Jock Blevins and Brother Nuckolls purchased a home in Keller from Chick Davis.  The site is owned now by the C.G. Sinegars

When the Negro girl, Neeta, grew older, she was courted by Jack Brown who owned a farm south west of Keller.  According to established tradition, the young man asked for her hand in marriage and in return Brother Nuckolls gave his blessing.

The McCoy children married as follows:

1)      John C. McCoy, born October 28, 1888 and died May 19, 1947.  He married Bessie Joe Gates, born February 27, 1895 and died June 23, 1925.  They had four children:

a)      Bessie Holt, who married Rab Perry, their children Pamela, Tommie and Johnny.

b)      Rose, who married Lt. Colonel Jim Porter, their children are Candy and Jim.

c)      Betty Jane, who married Gary Treadwell.

d)     Johnny Jo

2)      Octava, born 1890.  She married Edwin Kenneth Millar.  Their children are:

a) Kenneth McCoy, who married Delores Noel, they had one child, Bea.

b) Helen Ruth, who married Herbert Jones, their children were Patricia, Ronald and Karl.

3) James W., born October 19, 1892, was married to Mary Gibson.  They had one son, James.