1844 :: Elisha Roberts, Early Texas Alcalde

On this date in our family history . . . the 3rd day of October . . . in the year 1844 . . . Elisha Roberts dies in San Augustine County, Texas . . . and is laid to rest in a small family cemetery near his home . . . this Elisha is the father of our Mahala . . . and a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog. 

In celebration of the Texas Centennial in 1936, granite Centennial markers were placed at historical sites around the state, including the grave and the homesite of our Elisha. According to The Handbook of Texas Online . . . 

ROBERTS, ELISHA (1774-1844). Elisha Roberts, pioneer and public official, was born in 1774 at Watauga Settlement, near the Holston River in Hawkins County, Tennessee, the son of George and Rhoda (Payne, Paine) Roberts. He was married by 1800 in Kentucky to Martha Gill; they had nine children, including Esther Jane, who married Philip A. Sublett. The family moved in 1811 from Green County, Kentucky, to the northern part of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana (later Washington Parish). During the War of 1812 Roberts served as lieutenant and quartermaster under Gen. Isaac Roberts' Brigade of West Tennessee Militia and lieutenant in Captain Bickham's company, Louisiana militia.

In 1822 Roberts entered East Texas in pursuit of a runaway slave whose wife had been carried to Texas by another master. Roberts was attracted by the redland countryside east of Ayish Bayou. He returned to the site in 1823, when his slave ran away again, and found the land occupied by a Spaniard, to whom he traded a slave for the land and improvements. In January 1824 he settled his family near the site of present San Augustine. Shortly after, his brothers [sic], Redden and William Roberts, moved into the area. In 1825 Roberts's thirty slaves dug out the branch springs on Tiger Creek, a tributary of Palo Gaucho Bayou that became known as the Old Brick Spring, and built a cotton gin, at that time one of four in the district; the others belonged to John Cartwright, John Sprowl, and John A. Williams.

Roberts was elected alcalde of the Ayish Bayou district in 1831. He held court on the broad front gallery of his house; Sam Houston, James Bowie, David Crockett, William B. Travis, and Stephen F. Austin all boarded there. In 1833 Roberts was elected delegate to the convention in San Felipe. He was one on a committee of fifteen to select the townsite of San Augustine, which was built in 1834. He received a Mexican land grant on November 7, 1835. In 1835-36 he furnished provisions, lodging, and transportation for the revolutionary cause. In 1837 he became a member of the board of trustees of San Augustine University.

On October 3, 1844, Roberts died, and on December 18, 1845, his wife died; both were buried near their home. In 1936 a Texas Centennial marker was erected at the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Eugene C. Barker, ed., The Austin Papers (3 vols., Washington: GPO, 1924-28). George L. Crocket, Two Centuries in East Texas (Dallas: Southwest, 1932; facsimile reprod., 1962). Mary Smith Fay, War of 1812 Veterans in Texas (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1979). Emily Griffith Roberts, Ancestral Study of Four Families: Roberts, Griffith, Cartwright, Simpson (2 vols., Dallas, 1939, 1948). Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941). Gifford E. White, Character Certificates in the General Land Office of Texas (1985). McXie Whitton Martin

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "ROBERTS, ELISHA," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fro12 (accessed April 19, 2006).

1800 :: Marriage of Patsey & Elisha

On this date in our family history . . . the 9th day of February . . . in the year 1800 . . . Elisha Roberts and Patsey Gill were married in Green County, Kentucky . . . this Elisha and Patsey are 4th great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Know all men by these presents that we Elisha Roberts and John Abney are held and firmly bound unto his Excellency the Governor of the Governor [SIC] of Kentucky in the sum of L50 current money for the true payment where of to be made to the said Governor and his successors we bind ourselves our heirs etc. Jointly and Severally firmly firmly [SIC] by these presents. The Condition is such that whereas a Marriage is shortly intended between the above bound Elisha Roberts and Patsey Gill. Now if there be no lawfull cause to obstruct the said Marriage then this obligation to be void else to remain in full force.

1833 / 1891 / 2013 :: News from San Augustine

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 19th day of September . . . in the year 1891 . . . Easter Jane Sublett nee Roberts dies at her residence, three miles east of San Augustine, Texas [click HERE to read what some of the 1891 papers had to say about Easter and her family] . . .


Easter Jane is an older sister of Mahala Lee Roberts . . . who is a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . this Easter Jane and Mahala are two of nine children known to have been born to Elisha Roberts and his wife, Martha "Patsy" Gill . . .



By the time Mahala was 16 years of age, in 1833, Easter Jane had already been married for five years, to Philip Sublett . . . and that was the year when Elisha, as well as this son-in-law, were two of the twenty-one men who signed the original founding document of San Augustine . . . those twenty-one men, and their place in the family tree of the Keeper of this family history blog (if any), are listed below . . .

• John Cartwright || findagrave [paternal grandpa of wife of 1st cousin four times removed, Benjamin Thomas Roberts]
• Chichester Chaplin || findagrave [son-in-law of Haden Edwards and Martin Parmer]
• Samuel Davis, Jr. || findagrave, and his sister Mary Richardson Willson nee Davis, wife of Dr. Stephen Pelham Willson [these Davis siblings are my 2nd cousins five times removed . . . this connection is via a different maternal line which our Roberts descendant, Berta Mary Henry nee Sharp, marries into in 1895]
• William English
• Claiborn Garrett
• William Garrett || findagrave [father-in-law of 1st cousin four times removed, Henry William Sublett]
• James S. Hanks [brother of Wyatt Hanks]
• Wyatt Hanks || findagrave
• Alexander Horton || findagrave [entered Texas with Elisha Roberts, and served as Sheriff when Elisha was Alcalde]
• Benjamin Lindsay
• L.H. Mabbitt [stepson of Wyatt Hanks]
• Thomas McFarland || findagrave
• William McFarland || findagrave
• Elisha Roberts || findagrave [4th great-grandpa]
• Philip Sublett || findagrave [husband of 3rd great-grand-aunt, Easter Jane]
• Charles Stanfield Taylor || findagrave
• Edward Teal [father of Henry Teal; brother of George Teel]
• Henry Teal
• George Teel / Teal || findagrave [father-in-law of nephew of wife of 3rd great-grand-uncle, Noel Gil Roberts]
• I D Thomas [brother-in-law of 3rd great-grand-uncle, Noel Gil Roberts; grandpa of the renowned artist, Seymour Thomas, who was also a grandson of Stephen W. Blount, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence]

A special invitation has been issued to descendants of the above men to gather in San Augustine during the annual Sassafras Festival for an event hosted by San Augustine Main Street . . . during this annual festival, at 2 p.m. on the 26th day of October . . . there will be a gathering at the Historic Museum Theatre on Columbia Street in downtown San Augustine . . . regarding this special event it has been stated that . . .

Historic San Augustine is celebrating its 180th birthday with a presentation of the newly discovered deed dated July 11th, 1833 purchasing the land where the town of San Augustine was laid out by Thomas McFarland. The document is signed by these 21 Texas patriots who established the town.

If you are a descendant of one of the twenty-one signers listed above, please contact Connie at . . . deed dot descendants at gmail dot com . . . for more info about the Sassafras Festival, please call 936-275-3172 . . .

1833 :: The Night the Stars Fell

 

Texas is the finest portion of the Globe
that has ever blessed my vision.
The above poetic statement was penned by Sam Houston in an 1833 letter to a cousin, shortly after Sam had crossed the Red River and stepped onto Texas soil for the first time, i.e. . . .

On December 2, 1832, an imposing figure stood on the north bank of Red River. His passport read: "General Sam Houston, a Citizen of the United States, thirty-eight years of age, six feet, two inches in stature, brown hair, and light complexion."

Sam would soon become a frequent visitor in the homes of some of the men later described by Alexander Horton as . . . some of the noblest men to be found in any county. They (were) generous, kind, honest and brave . . . Elisha Roberts* . . . Philip A. Sublett* . . . These were the most earliest settlers of East Texas. . . .

*This Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . Sublett is married to Elisha's daughter, Easter Jane . . .

Before Sam left Tennessee, he served as a commander in the Tennessee volunteer militia of General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 . . . among those serving under Sam were the Parker brothers, Daniel and Isaac . . . by August of 1833, this Daniel and Isaac were members of a wagon train leaving Illinois, their destination being Texas . . . regarding the people on this wagon train (including a young girl known as Cynthia Ann), according to Glenn Frankel in his book, The Searchers, The Making of an American Legend . . .






In mid-November they reached the brown, placid Sabine River, bordered by pine trees as tall and erect as sentinels, and crossed over into Texas. They camped that first evening, November 12, 1833, near San Augustine, twenty miles deep inside their new promised land, just in time for one of the most awesome celestial events in human history.


On the Night the Stars Fell, the heavens blazed with shooting stars as large as moons trailing clouds of bluish light like divine afterthoughts. Although well past midnight, the bright burning sky illuminated the wide, awestruck faces of the pilgrims as if it were high noon. . . .




As it happens, during the year the stars rained all over the sky, Grandpa Elisha and a large assortment of his kith 'n kin lived near San Augustine, just about Twenty miles deep inside their new promised land . . . i.e., just east of San Augustine and about 20 miles west of the Sabine River . . . so it is quite possible this group of travelers actually camped on land owned and / or occupied by some of our Roberts kith or kin . . .






 

Meanwhile, in another part of Texas in 1833 . . . a family by the name of O'Docharty is residing in San Patricio County during this year of the Plenty Stars Winter . . . as the years passed and their lives on this earth came to an end, many of these family members were laid to rest in the Old Cemetery on the Hill (FYI, it is believed by some that our Elisha's son-in-law, Bryant Daughtry, might be buried in the same cemetery) . . . the matriarch of the O'Docharty family was Susanna, who was tall and slender with a shock of red hair . . . it has been said of her that she accurately predicted her own death . . . the following is a portion of what is referred to as her epitaph . . . it is from a collection of stories handed down through generations by oral tradition . . .

And now I lie with them upon this hill
Mingling with Texas earth as seasons come and go.
Chilling northers bend grasses almost to the ground;
Low-hung clouds are misty blankets
Dropping days of rain upon the earth.

Then wild flowers make sweet the air in spring;
At dawn birds chirp and trill as if to wake us,
But we lie immutable, insensible to summer heat and winter cold . . .
While we lie here a segment of a forgotten colony.




Here I lie beside my own --
A hundred springs have come and gone
Since first I lay upon this lonely hill. . . .

This blogpost was researched and prepared specifically for The Fifth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge over at cousin Bill's blog which is known as . . . West in New England . . .

1885 :: Death of Mahala

On this date in our family history . . . the 27th day of June . . . in the year 1885 . . . Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts dies on the Hall Plantation in Houston County, Texas . . . this Mahala is a 3rd great-grandma of the Keeper of this family history blog. . . .


Mahala Lee Roberts was born in Washington Parish, Louisiana on 3rd November 1816, the 7th of nine children born to Elisha Roberts (1774-1844) and Martha "Patsy" Gill (1781-1845), who had moved from Kentucky to Louisiana ca. 1811. 

By the time Mahala was 10 years of age her family was living in the Ayish Bayou area of Coahuila y Tejas, where Mahala would grow up in a house that fronted on the public highway (El Camino Real / King's Highway) coming into Texas. The Elisha Roberts home was frequented by many overland travelers, and while known far and wide for its hospitality, there is also a record of a murder or two on Elisha's property -- ca. 1826 or 1827 -- when a Matthias Yokum and his brother-in-law, James Collier, were killed by a man reported to be named Charles Chandler.


During Mahala's teenage years, her father was elected as Alcalde of Ayish Bayou (1831), as well as being a delegate to the 1833 convention at San Felipe de Austin. During the Texas Revolution, this household furnished provisions, lodging and transportation for the revolutionary cause. Mahala was 19 years old at the time of the Battle of the Alamo (1836), and when Gen. Sam Houston was wounded at the Battle of San Jacinto shortly thereafter, he spent a part of his recovery period in the household of our Elisha.


On 22nd March 1838, a 21-year-old Mahala became the wife of John M. Sharp (age & further info unknown at this time). Their son -- Samuel Houston Sharp (1839-1885) -- was born the following year, followed by a daughter in 1840, and sometime after that birth, our John M. Sharp disappears from all records we have been able to research.


In 1844, Mahala's father dies, followed by the death of her sister, Elizabeth, in May of 1845, and then her Mother, Patsy, the following December -- just 9 days before Texas is annexed as the 28th state of the Union. In 1846, Mahala is listed on the tax list for San Augustine County, indicating she is head-of-household. In 1847 her sister, Anna, dies in Austin County.


On the 1850 Census for San Augustine County, Mahala is enumerated as living next door to Lt. Governor John A. Greer. In February of 1851, Mahala marries a much older Joshua James Hall, and they set up housekeeping on the Hall Plantation in Houston County, Texas.

. . . In 1850, he (J. J. Hall) married his third wife, Mahala Roberts Sharp, a widow who came to Houston County before 1835. She was the daughter of Elisha Roberts, an early Spanish Alcalde, of San Augustine, Texas. To this union were born two children, a daughter Roberta, born 25 May 1852, and a son, Horace was born 22 Sep 1854. Both of these children were born on the Elkhart Creek Plantation. Horace was called 'Toby' by the slaves. He was very close to these people and he always included them as his friends. Joshua and Mahala were very fond of dancing. They went into Crockett to dancing school. At their Plantation, they had balls for the benefit of the Confederacy. They were active Methodists in the early Methodist church of Crockett. . . . by Esther M. Biggers nee Hall (great-granddaughter of Joshua & Mahala)

Mahala's life between 1860 and 1866 is documented on a sometimes daily basis in the Civil War-era journal of her stepson and son-in-law, James Madison Hall (1819-1866), who had married Mahala and John's daughter, Margaret Sharp, in 1859. Mahala's son and my 2nd great-grandpa, Sam, marries Mary Alexandrien Lemaire in 1861, who dies in 1876. Mahala's 2nd husband dies sometime after the 1870 census, and her daughter, Margaret, dies ca. 1878.


Mahala is enumerated as the head-of-household on the Hall Plantation at the time of the 1880 census. Other family members in the household are her widowed son, Sam, and his 6 surviving children, including my great-grandma, Berta Mary (1873-1955). It is said that Sam as well as his youngest daughter, Willie, died ca. 1885, which is the same year Mahala died.


The deceased family members listed in the last two paragraphs are buried in the Hall Cemetery in Houston County, Texas, which has been designated by the State of Texas as an official historical cemetery.





FYI . . . I created the collage image of our Mahala by starting with a background paper designed by Robyn Gough. I then used Picasa to select that backround page, plus Mahala's photo, plus a brown backer for the photo, and created a new image using the collage feature. I then used Picasa to add Mahala's name as well as the floral frame (dingbat font) around Mahala's face.

1822 :: Elisha Roberts in Texas

On this date in our family history . . . the 29th day of April . . . in the year 1822 . . . a letter of reference is drawn up in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana for our Elisha Roberts (c.1774-1844) in preparation for his planned trip into the area we now know as East Texas . . . 




This Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history timeline . . . click > HERE < to view a scan of the three-page letter of reference which was shared by our cousin, Diane Baldwin . . .

1843 :: Sterne visits Elisha Roberts

From 28th September 1840 until 18th November 1851, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne kept a diary of his daily activities, which is a valuable source of information on the period of the Republic of Texas . . . the names of some of our kith 'n kin are scattered through these pages . . . and regarding this date in our family history . . . the 20th day of May . . . here are the words Sterne penned in his diary in the year 1843 . . .

Saturday the 20th May [1843] fine weather for traveling -- left after Breakfast, called to see my old friends ELISHA ROBERTS and his wife, arrived at Sabine Town at 5 P. m. stopped at the House of Judge Hotchkiss, met with Mr Pemberton, Mr Peck, and Mr Austin, was introduced to Mr Clapp partner of Austin, they appear to do good Business they have the only Store in the place, wrote a letter home to be send in the mail to morrow morning --

This Elisha Roberts, an early Texas alcalde, is a 4th great-grandpa to the keeper of this family history blog . . . Elisha lived until the 3rd of October 1844 . . . and his wife, Patsy, died on the 18th of December 1845 . . . both were buried near their home in San Augustine County, Texas . . . in 1936 a Texas Centennial marker was erected at the site . . .

1837 :: Elisha Roberts in the News

On this date in our family history . . . the 29th day of July . . . in the year 1837 . . . our Elisha Roberts is mentioned on the front page of the Telegraph and Texas Register . . . this Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

AN ACT
To incorporate the Trustees of Independence Academy and of the
University of San Augustine.

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the republic of Texas in congress assembled, That John P. Coles, Robert Stevenson, Asa Hoxie, M. Cummins, Shubael Marsh, James B. Miller and James G. Swisher, be and they are hereby incorporated a body politic under the name and style of the "Trustees of Independence Academy," capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, of holding property either personal, real or mixed, of selling, alienating and conveying the same at pleasure, of having a common seal and of changing the same at pleasure, and of doing whatever else that may be necessary and proper to be done for the benefit and advancement of said institution, not contrary to the constitution and laws of this republic.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That this charter and privilege shall extend to the said trustees and their successors in office, as long as they confine the benefit of the same to the advancement of the sciences, and the promotion of useful knowledge to the rising generations, which institution shall be accessible equally alike to all, without regard to opinions of religion or politics.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That Elisha Roberts, Jesse Burdit, William McFarland, John Cartwright, Sumner Bacon, George Teal, Augustus Hotchkiss, Henry W. Augustine, Andrew J. Cunningham, Philip A. Sublett, Iredell D. Thomas, Albert Gallatin Kellogg, Almanzon Huston, William W. Holman and Joseph Rowe, be incorporated a body politic, under the name and style of the "President and Trustees of the University of San Augustine," and shall have the same powers and privileges which are conferred by this act on the trustees of Independence Academy.

B.T. ARCHER,
Speaker of the house of representatives.
JESSE GRIMES,President pro tem. of the senate.
Approved, 5th June, 1837.
SAM. HOUSTON.

1843 :: Sterne visits Elisha Roberts

On this date in our family history . . . the 3rd day of December . . . in the year 1843 . . . Elisha Roberts (1774-1844) has a visitor at his home in San Augustine County, Texas . . . this Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . and this visit is documented in a diary that was kept by Nicholas Adolphus Sterne (ca. 1801-1852).

Sunday the 3d December 1843 at 7 A. M. got into the FerryBoat at McLanahan's Store and went down the Sabine landed in the Swamp on the left Bank of the Palo Gacho had to wade out. (and nearly Swimming) to get to dry Land-- paid Mr Cook $3.00 for our last nights Expences and ferriage-- very cheap-- waded trough mud, water, and morass-- to Elisha Roberts's where we were once more comfortable and at home.

Regarding the area of the Republic of Texas referred to here, I found the following in Texas: the rise, progress, and prospects of the Republic of Texas (1841) at Google Books :-

Our Mahala's Extensive Timeline for the CoG

This timeline was prepared for the March 2010 Carnival of Genealogy, focusing on Women's History. Click > HERE < to view the accompanying article (with photo) for this timeline about our Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts (1816-1885).

YEAR	WHERE	COMMENTS
1774	TN	Mahala’s father, Elisha Roberts, is born at Watauga Settlement in Hawkins County.
1781	VA	Mahala’s mother, Martha Gill, is born in Bedford County.
1800	KY	Mahala’s parents, Elisha Roberts & Martha “Patsy” Gill, marry in Green County on February 9th.
1811	LA	Mahala’s parents relocate their family to Louisiana from Kentucky sometime after February.
1812	LA	Mahala’s father is recorded as the seller of Nancy, a 20-year-old black female, to Joseph Baham for $500 in St. Tammany Parish on October 1st.
1813	LA	Mahala’s father is recorded as the buyer of Betsy, a 17-year-old black female, and her 8-month-old daughter, Maryanne, for $500 from Gideon Rester in St. Tammany Parish on January 2nd . On June 5th, Elisha is recorded as the seller of Ben, a 30-year-old black male, for $500 to Daniel Edwards in St. Tammany Parish. On September 13th, he is recorded as the buyer of a 23-year-old black male known as Jim alias Sim (from Mississippi), for $450 from Craven P. Moffett (from Green County, Mississippi).
1816	LA	Mahala Lee Roberts is born on November 3rd, the 7th of 9 children born to Elisha & Patsy.
1818	LA	Mahala is just one year old when her 17-year-old sister, Anna Roberts, marries Bryant Daughtrey in St. Tammany Parish on January 25th. This is also when her father is recorded as the seller of Matilda, a 15-year-old black female, to Isaac Roberts for $525, in St. Tammany Parish on June 16th. Mahala’s baby brother, Felix Grundy Roberts, is born on August 23rd in Washington Parish.
1820	LA	Mahala is 3 years old when her parents are enumerated in Washington Parish. They are shown as having 18 slaves at that time.
1821	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 4 years of age when the flag of Spain is lowered for the last time in Coahuila y Tejas on July 21st in San Antonio, and when Mexico gains independence from Spain on August 24th.
1822	LA	Mahala is 5 years of age when her baby sister, Margaret S. Roberts, is born in Washington Parish on February 22nd.
1823	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 6 years old when it is said that her father trades a slave for land and improvements located east of Ayish Bayou. This is the same year Stephen F. Austin would receive a grant on January 3rd from the Mexican government and begin colonization in the region of the Brazos River.
1824	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 7 years old when her 20-year-old sister, Elizabeth Roberts, marries William David Smith in San Augustine County, and when the Mexican Congress passes the colonization law on August 18th. She has just turned 8 when the “Department of Texas” is established as a subdivision of the state of Coahuila & Texas. The Constitution of 1824 gives Mexico a republican form of government. It fails, however, to define the rights of the states within the republic, including Texas.
1825	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 8 years of age when, in 1825, the people of Ayish Bayou begin to make rapid improvement, opening large farms and building cotton gins. This year Elisha Roberts, John A. Williams, and John Sprowl each will erect cotton gins on the main road, for at that time there was no one living either north or south of the old king's highway.
1826	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 9 years old when her parents leave Louisiana & move their family to the red lands of East Texas.
1827	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 10 years of age when the Fredonian Rebels flee when approached by Mexican troops on January 31st, and when the Constitution of Coahuila & Tejas is adopted on March 11th.
1828	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 12 years old when her 20-year-old sister, Esther Jane Roberts, marries Phillip Allen Sublett in San Augustine County in March.
1830	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 13 years of age when her parents & assorted siblings are enumerated in San Augustine County. Relations between the Texans and Mexico reached a new low when, on April 6th, Mexico forbids further emigration into Texas by settlers from the United States. It was also around this time period when Mahala’s sister, Matilda Fair Roberts, marries John H. Connell (1st of 3 husbands).
1831	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala’s father, Elisha, is elected as Alcalde of Ayish Bahou.
1832	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 15 years of age when the Battle of Velasco occurs on June 26th. This battle results in the first casualties in Texas' relations with Mexico. After several days of fighting, the Mexicans under Domingo de Ugartechea are forced to surrender for lack of ammunition. The Convention of 1832 gathers on October 1st at San Felipe de Austin, with the Ayish Bayou district represented by Mahala’s brother-in-law, Philip Sublett, as well as Donald McDonald, the future father-in-law of her little sister, Margaret. Also attending was John Connell, another of Mahala’s brothers-in-law, representing Mill Creek.
1833	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is 16 years old when her father, Elisha Roberts, is a delegate to the Convention of 1833 held at San Felipe de Austin in April. This is a gathering of 56 men, including family friends, Samuel Houston and Adolphus Sterne, as well as present and future family members, Philip Sublett and Donald McDonald. Also present was Bartlett McClure, who is portrayed in the movie, True Women, which was made for TV from a historical novel written by Janice Woods Windle. 12th of November. The Night the Stars Fell.
1834	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 17 years of age when her brother-in-law, John H. Connell, dies at Viesca in Milam County.
1835	Coahuila y Tejas	Mahala is about 18 years of age when her widowed sister, Matilda Fair Connell nee Roberts, marries Samuel Tabor Allen, and when her brother, Noel Gill Roberts, marries Mariah Thomas. Mahala is 19 years old when the Consultation declares Texas a separate state in November. at San Felipe
1836	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 19 years of age when the Runaway Scrape occurs in February, and when the Texas Declaration of Independence is signed on March 2nd, and at the time of the Battle of the Alamo on March 6th, and, and when the Goliad Massacre occurs on March 27th, and at the time of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21st, and when a wounded Sam Houston is recuperating in July at the home of her sister, Esther Sublett, and when her brother-in-law, Phillip Sublett, nominates Sam Houston for President of the Republic of Texas on August 15th.
1838	Republic of Texas	Mahala Lee Roberts is 21 years old when she marries John M. Sharp in San Augustine County on March 22nd, and when her brother-in-law, Samuel Tabor Allen, is killed in Navarro County on October 8th when a band of Kickapoo Indians attack the surveying team he is working with.
1839	Republic of Texas	Mahala is about 22 years old when her 1st child, Samuel Houston Sharp, is born, probably in San Augustine County.
1840	Republic of Texas	Mahala is about 23 years old when her 2nd child, Margaret Annot Sharp, is born, probably in San Augustine County.
1842	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 25 years old when General Sam Houston writes to his wife in Alabama that he will not be attending the wedding of Mahala’s sister, Margaret S. Roberts, who marries Alexander McDonald in Harris County on June 15th, and when her brother, Felix Grundy Roberts, marries Elizabeth Keyser Layton on August 2nd.
1844	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 27 years old when her father, Elisha Roberts, signs his Last Will & Testament on May 8th in San Augustine, and when her father dies on October 3rd in San Augustine County. His burial spot is later marked by a Texas Historical Marker (as of 1936, Texas Centennial).
1845	Republic of Texas	Mahala is 28 years old when her sister, Elizabeth Smith nee Roberts, dies in San Augustine County on May 2nd. It is possible this sister was buried beside their father. A few months later, Mahala had just turned 29 when her mother, Martha “Patsy” Roberts nee Gill, dies in San Augustine County on December 18th, and when Texas is annexed by the United States as the 28th state on December 29th. Patsy is buried beside her husband. Their home place is also marked by a Texas Historical Marker as of 1936 (Texas Centennial).
1846	TX	Mahala is 29 years old when she is listed on the Tax List for San Augustine County. There is no mention of her husband, John M. Sharp, and no record of him has been found since the date they married.
1847	TX	Mahala is 30 years of age when her sister, Anna Daughtrey nee Roberts, dies on March 12th in Austin County, and is buried at the Starr Hill Cemetery. It is about this time period when Mahala’s twice-widowed sister, Matilda Fair Connell Allen nee Roberts marries Thomas Johnson Allen, the brother of her deceased 2nd husband.
1850	TX	Mahala is 33 years old when she and her two children are enumerated in San Augustine County, and when her sister, Matilda Connell Allen Allen nee Roberts, donates 120 acres of land for the Town of Belton from the Connell Estate.
1851	TX	Mahala Lee Sharp nee Roberts is 34 years of age when she marries Col. Joshua James Hall on February 12th in San Augustine County, and when Nicholas Sterne stops by to visit them in their home on June 15th (as recorded in the Sterne diary).
1852	TX	Mahala is 35 years old when her 3rd child, Roberta Hall, is born on May 25th in Houston County.
1854	TX	Mahala is 37 years old when her 4th child, Horace Oscar Hall, is born on September 22nd in Houston County.
1859	TX	Mahala is 42 years of age when her oldest daughter, Margaret Annot Sharp, marries James Madison Hall on July 14th. Hall is Mahala’s stepson.
1860	TX	Mahala is 43 years old when she & her family are enumerated on August 3rd in Houston County -- head of household is J.J. Hall; post office is Elk Hart. Her 1st grandchild, Florence Mahala Hall, is born on October 19th
1861	TX	Mahala is 44 years old when her oldest son, Samuel Houston Sharp, marries Mary Alexandrien “Nellie” Lemaire in Liberty County on July 11th. This is also the year when Texas secedes from the Union, and joins the Confederacy.
1863	TX	Mahala is 45 years old when her 1st grandson, James Wrigley Hall, is born in Houston County on October 8th. He is a son of J.M. Hall & Mahala’s daughter, Margaret.
1863	TX	Mahala is 46 years of age when her grandson, James Hall “Major” Sharp, is born to Sam & Nellie on January 25th in Houston County. She is 47 when her granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall, is born on December 15th in Houston County. Josephine’s parents are J.M. & Margaret Hall.
1864	TX	Mahala is 47 years old when Sam & Nellie lose a baby thru a miscarriage on January 16th while Sam is in jail on charge of being liable for conscription. It was also about this time when Mahala’s brother, Noel Roberts, dies in San Augustine.
1866	TX	Mahala is 49 years of age when her granddaughter, Josephine Martha Hall (daughter of J.M. & Margaret) dies on July 16th, and is buried in Liberty. Just a few months later, Mahala’s stepson / son-in-law, James Madison Hall, dies in Liberty County. She has just celebrated her 50th birthday when her grandson, Madison Hall, is born on November 11th.
1867	TX	Mahala is 50 when her grandson, James Wrigley Hall (son of J.M. & Margaret), dies on October 11th, and she has just turned 51 when her grandson, Samuel Houston Sharp, Jr., is born to Sam and Nellie in Liberty County on November 8th.
1869	TX	Mahala is celebrating her own 53rd birthday when her granddaughter, Margaret Elizabeth Sharp, is born on November 3rd in Liberty County to Sam & Nellie.
1870	TX	Mahala is 54 years of age when she is enumerated with her family on December 2nd in Houston County. Head of household is her 2nd husband, J.J. Hall, and their post office is listed as Crockett. Within the next year or so after this census, Col. J.J. Hall dies, and is buried in the Hall family cemetery in Houston County. Also enumerated in Houston County on December 2nd are Mahala’s daughter, Margaret, and her 2nd husband, Frank Stewart. Margaret’s youngest son with J.M. Hall, Madison Hall, dies (or disappears from the records) sometime after this census is taken.
1871	TX	Mahala is celebrating her own 55th birthday on November 3rd when her granddaughter, Ida Mae Sharp, is born in Houston County to Sam & Nellie.
1872	TX	Mahala is about 55 years of age when her grandson, Edward F. Stewart, is born in Texas, to Margaret & Frank Stewart.
1873	TX	Mahala is about 56 years old when her grandson, Louis O. Stewart, is born to Margaret & Frank Stewart. Mahala had just celebrated her 57th birthday when her granddaughter, Berta Mary Sharp, is born on November 10th in Houston County to Sam & Nellie.
1876	TX	Mahala is 59 years of age when her grandson, Sam S. Stewart, is born on September 24th in Texas, to her daughter, Margaret. Less than a month later, Mahala’s daughter-in-law, Mary Alexandrien “Nellie” Sharp nee Lemaire, dies in Houston County on October 10th, shortly after giving birth to a baby girl known as Willie Sharp. Nellie is buried in the Hall family cemetery. A Texas Historical Marker at that cemetery identifies Nellie’s grave as the earliest marked grave. In November of that year, possibly after Mahala’s 60th birthday, Margaret’s new baby boy, Sam, dies, and Margaret dies sometime after that (before 1880).
1879	TX	Mahala is 62 when her sister, Matilda Connell Allen Allen nee Roberts, dies in Georgetown in April.
1880	TX	Mahala is 63 when she is enumerated in Houston County as a widowed head of household. Those enumerated with her include her widowed son, Sam, and his surviving children, also a servant named Fannie Bass [who would give birth to a son named Andy Sharp in 1881]. Mahala’s daughter, Florence, is enumerated in the household of Mahala’s widowed son-in-law, Frank Stewart.
1882	TX	Mahala is 65 when her father Elisha Roberts’ will is recorded in San Augustine County
1885	TX	Mahala is 67 years old when she dies on June 27th in Houston County, with burial in the Hall Cemetery. It is supposedly about this same time when Mahala’s son, Sam, and his youngest daughter, Willie, die and are buried in the same cemetery.