Joseph Thomas (Joe) and Emma Gill

This is from the notes of Tom McGaughy. He could not remember who wrote this.

Joseph Thomas (Joe) Gill and his family moved to Montague county in 1913 from Wilson, Oklahoma. The Gill family originally came from Bardwell, Kentucky, where J.T. Gill was born October 28, 1872. His parents were Wilks H. and Susan (Bennitt) Gill. On August 31, 1893 Joseph Thomas Gill and Miss Emma Sonsen Vaughn were married in Cairo, Illinois. Emma was the daughter of Banjamin F. and Fannie L. (Manuel) Vaughn, also of Bardwell, Kentucky. Emma was born August 5, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Gill and three children moved from Kentucky to the Indian Territory around 1900 settling at Loco. The Gills had three sons while living in this area before returning to Bardwell, Kentucky where a daughter was born. In 1912 the family once again returned to Oklahoma. When the family moved across the Red River into Texas, their first home was near the "Rock Chimneys" in the north part of Montague county. The following year the family moved to the Noah Howard farm which joined the Red River where Mr. Gill engaged in farming. The family lived there for eight years. Later they lived on the J.H. Brown and Mattie Fortune farms in the Red River valley. Joe Gill lived and worked at various jobs in the Spanish Fort area for fifty years. There were seven children in the J.T. Gill family: Delia Ann, born November 25, 1894, Bardwell, KY., died June 27, 1981, Wichita Falls, Texas, married William Beall McGaughy, had five children - Evelyn Inez, Geneva Lorraine, Dexter Eugene, William Baxter and David Thomas, buried in the New Spanish Fort Cemetery; Isaac Paten (Ike), born 1897, Bardwell, KY., died 1946, married Noma Cardwell, had two children - Isaac Paten, Jr. and Qwanna Tennesse; Mable Rose, born October 10, 1899, Bardwell, KY., married Joe H. Brown, had four children - Billy Joe, Marjorie Ann, Paul H., and Mary Joyce; William Cleborne (Dick), born 1902, Granite, Indian Territory, died 1947, married Ruth Williams, had no children; Thomas Judson, born July 22, 1905, Loco, Indian Territory, died March 9, 1974, Houston, TX, married Bernice Ruth McGaughy, had two daughters - Merry Anna and Norma June. Jud is buried in the New Spanish Fort Cemetery; Benjamin Thurl, born 1908, Granite, Oklahoma, died 1969, Fort Worth, Texas, married Georgie Speed, had no children; Esta Lee, born 1912, Bardwell, KY, married I Wiley Cook, had four children - Emma Joan, James Wiley, George Allen, and Betty Marie; The children in the Joe Gill family attended the March, Rowland and Valley View Schools. After the March and Rowland schools consolidated to become Valley View, Joe Gill was elected to serve on the board of trustees for several years.

Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Gill continued to live in this area of Montague county for the remainder of their lives. Emma Gill died at 74 years of age on March 16, 1947. Joe Gill was 93 years old when he died June 22, 1965. Both Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Thomas Gill were members of the Baptist church and they are buried in the New Spanish Fort Cemetery, Spanish Fort, TX.