Asa Langford ^{2 3 4 5}

   Another name for Asa was Ace Langford.

  General Notes:

THE ASA LANGFORD FAMILY

Asa Langford was born September 9, 1820, in Clark County, Arkansas, the youngest son of Eli and Mary Edens Langford.

He was married to Eliza Lee McDonald in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, in the early 1840s. To this union was born eight children: Robert Eli; Mary, (Mrs. Sam Gholson); Juriah, (Mrs. W. M. Sneed)' Adaline, (Mrs. B. F. Gholson); Asa Jr.; Charlotte, (Mrs. Sebe Sneed); and twins Hulda, (Mrs. John Boyd) and John Henry.

In 1855 the Asa Langford family and two negro slaves, Sookie and Dudley, arrived in the cove of a mountain in a covered wagon. Asa liked this wild, untamed land, so he established a homestead there and a village soon sprung up, called Langford's Cove. (Later the name of the village was changed to Evant.) It was there that he purchased a tract of land in 1855 with money he had received from the Government of Texas for fighting Mexico to gain independence for Texas.

Tragedy struck the Langford family in 1858, when Asa's wife, Eliza Lee died. In 1860, Asa married Rebecca Ann Morris of Center City. To this union were born ten children; Perry, William, Rachael, Lucinda, Liza, Rufus, Jimmy, Andrew (called Joe), Albert (called Al) and Florence, (Mrs. Monroe Geeslin).

Asa was short in stature, shrewd in business, and possessed untiring energy. He was a member of the "Minute Men", part of the "Home Guard", and endured the trials of frontier life with wisdom. Two of his sons, Asa Jr., and Jimmie were killed by violence of the outlaw mobs.

His wife, Rebecca, stood by his side when the mobs were raging, and when life became unbearable. She insisted that they move to Center City to be near her mother, Mrs. David Morris, then a widow. They moved from Langford's Cove to Center City in 1884 and purchased a tract of land southeast of the small village of Center City, then a part of Hamilton County,

It was there that they lived the remainder of their lives, taking care of his two blind sisters, Juriah Vines and Charlotte Lawson.

Asa Langford died in 1907, and Rebecca Ann died in 1932, both important to history in the winning of the West.
Submitted by Hartal Langford Blackwell for Mills County Memories, copyright 1994 ⁸

  Additional Information:

• Alt. Birth: Louisiana.

Asa married Elizabeth Lee McDonald on 8 Sep 1841 in Texas.¹ (Elizabeth Lee McDonald was born on 8 Apr 1826,⁶ died on 14 Sep 1858 ⁶ and was buried in Langford Cemetery, Evant, Coryell County, Texas ⁹.)

Asa next married Rebecca Ann Morris on 10 Jan 1860 in , Hamilton County, Texas. (Rebecca Ann Morris was born on 2 Jul 1840 in Indiana,⁶ died on 14 Jul 1932 ⁶ and was buried in Center City Cemetery, Center City, Mills County, Texas.)