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Archiver > ARIZARD > 2006-07 > 1152007781


From: Jean Cuevas <>
Subject: Re: [ARIZARD-L] Elizabeth Langston
Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2006 06:09:41 -0400
References: <6.2.3.4.2.20060703105932.03467e60@mail.so.centurytel.net><44A94E9C.9000709@flash.net><001901c69ed5$0f19ce90$798b5c44@BILL>
In-Reply-To: <001901c69ed5$0f19ce90$798b5c44@BILL>


Hi Bill,

Thanks so much for sharing this LANGSTON information with the
list. I had the Ragland Merritt / Laodicia Mauldin information in my
FTM already. I presume that Laodicia MAULDIN is somehow connected to
the MAULDIN family of SC, for which the town is named, as the
LANGSTONS originate back to SC.

Jean C




At 03:15 PM 7/3/2006, you wrote:
>Hi List,
>
>I can shed a little light on how some of the Oregon Co., MO (and Howell
>Co., MO) Langstons connect to the Izard/Fulton Co., AR family.
>
>Zachary Thomas (b. 1874), Robert Taylor (b. 1881) and Mangrum Elvis (b.
>1883) Langston are three sons of Zachary Taylor Langston and Clara Crisp.
>
>Z.T. and Clara Langston were married in Howell Co., MO in 1872 and spent
>some time there. Clara is buried in New Salem Cemetery in Couch, MO as are
>Zachary Thomas and Robert Taylor Langston.
>
>Zachary Taylor (b. 1849) Langston and John Ragland (b. 1850) Langston were
>sons of Mangrum Ephraim Langston and Elizabeth Martin. M. E. Langston
>emigrated with his family from Greene Co., MO to Howell Co., MO before the
>Civil War along with his brother, Ragland Morton Langston (my GGGG
>Grandfather). R.M. Langston brought his second wife, Sarah McGinty and their
>family including sons, Samuel Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, John C. and Walter
>J.
>
>Here are some excerpts from a 1980 West Plains Gazette article about my GGGG
>grandfather:
>
>"Ragland Morton Langston died Intestate. He was bushwhacked by a rebel while
>in Willow Springs. He had his son Jeff with him on a wagon when he was
>shot."
>"It was 1859 when Ragland Morton "Mote" Langston brought his family to
>Howell County, leaving a farm in Greene County which he had homesteaded when
>he came to Missouri in the 1840's. With his 2nd wife Sarah (McGinty), a
>daughter, and four young sons, he settled about four miles east of West
>Plains on 200 acres of rich valley farmland which he "cash entered" from the
>government. Here a home was built and a farm established, and soon the
>industrious Langston family was prospering. The following year, the youngest
>child, Walter, died of scarlet fever. When Mote Langston dug a grave near
>the family home as a resting place for the little son, he could not have
>foreseen that just three years later his own would be added, nor that one
>day the same spot would become one of the most beautiful and well-kept rural
>cemeteries in all South Missouri."
>
>"The Langston family had not been settled long when the Civil War erupted.
>Mote was too old, and his sons too young to serve in the military, but he
>did have two older sons by a former marriage who still lived in Greene
>County and who enlisted in the Union Army. This, coupled with the fact that
>Mote himself supported the North, caused their Howell Valley farm to become
>the target of raiders who supported the Confederacy. Threats were made, and
>all their cattle and horses were taken from the farm by marauders. Fearing
>for their lived, the family decided to go to Rolla, the nearest refuge for
>Union families". "It was the first day of July, 1863, when Mote and his nine
>year old son Jeff went to a neighbor's blacksmith shop to have repairs made
>on their wagon before starting the journey. As they returned home, the
>father was shot out of the wagon-seat by bushwhackers, who also tried to
>ride their horses over the terrified boy. Jeff escaped by diving under some
>rails stacked in the front yard of the Langston home". "Mote Langston
>lingered for ten days before he died, days seemed an eternity to the panic
>stricken family. After the father was hastily buried near his son Walter,
>the family including an aged grandfather and grandmother, set out for Rolla
>with the eldest son, Sam, a lad of just fourteen, as their leader. As the
>new head of the family, Sam was a marked man, forcing them to leave their
>home under cover of night." "All of their horses were gone, and they had
>only an ox-team and wagon with which to make the long journey. War
>conditions made it necessary for them to proceed slowly and with great
>caution. To make matters worse, one of their oxen hung itself in the yoke,
>leaving only one beast to pull their heavily loaded wagon, making their
>progress even slower. Their misfortune was multiplied when John, the son
>between Sam and Jeff in age, died along the route. His burial place is now
>unknown." "They returned at the end of the Civil War to reclaim their farm.
>All improvements had been completely destroyed. Through hard work by Sam and
>Jeff as well as the rest of the family, the farm was restored and was soon
>prospering again."
>
>The aforementioned brothers, Ragland Morton Langston and Mangrum Ephraim
>Langston were sons of Ragland Merritt Langston (b. 1774) and Laodicea
>Maulding. Ragland Merritt Langston was the son of Joseph Langston and Agnes
>Ragland. Joseph Langston was the son John Langston and Mary Agnes Mangum and
>the brother of Absolom Langston, the progenitor of the Izard County
>Langstons.
>
>I apologize for this disjointed offering but I will gladly answer any
>questions anyone might have on this Missouri line of Langstons.
>
>Bill

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