Descendants of Susan DeBusk
1 -- John Elias Helms was born 21 October
1867 in McMinn County, Tennessee and died
23 February 1938 in Ysleta, El Paso County,
Texas. On 11 March 1886 in Cisco, Eastland County,
Texas he married Julia Ann Francis Westerman the daughter of John Wilson Westerman, Sr.
and Rhode "Rody" Jane Harris. She was born 17 December 1869 in Collin
County, Texas and died 09 March 1955 in El Paso, El Paso County,
Texas. They are both buried at Sierra Alto Ranch, Hudspeth County, Texas.
John Elias was around 3 years old when his
parents moved from Lee County, Virginia to
Collin County, Texas. Later they moved to
Brown County, Texas. He only attended the
first four grades in school before he took
up the life of of cowboy. In the fall of
1892 he and his wife and and three children
moved west to Crow Flat, near the present
day town of Dell City, Hudspeth County, Texas.
They initially lived in a tent made from
wagon sheets. Later they lived in a dug out,
a hole in the ground covered with logs and
branches. He drove cattle over the Guadalupe
Mountain. In 1906 he leased 144 sections
of University land from the state. In 1907
he sold Crow Flats to H.H. Altman. From 1905
to 1908 his family lived in Hud, Fisher County,
Texas. The family moved to the Sierra Alto
Ranch in Hudspeth and El Paso Counties. The
ranch was located 38 miles east of El Paso
and 7-1/2 miles north of U.S. Highway 62,
(the highway to Carlsbad, New Mexico. The
main house and headquarters of the ranch
was built in 1929 on the eastern slopes of
the Sierra Alto Mountain. The rock house
still stands today and is in excellent conditon.
The Butterfield Trail, route for the stage
coach, ran through the ranch. "John
Helms is one of the few remaining Cattle
Barons of the West" was written in an
El Paso newspaper dated 5 July 1922. When
the ranch was at its larges, it was 27 miles
by 65 miles or aroud 1,123,200 acres. He
ran thousands of head of cattle all wearing
the A Bar brand. He died at his ranch home
23 February 1938 and is buried at the foot
of the Sierra Alto Mountain. He was inducted
posthumously into the Radford School of Western
Heritage Hall of Fame on 16 April 1994 along
with his son James Oliver "Tobe"
Helms. His only remaining daughter Nellie
Frances Helms Williams, 96 years old, of
El Paso, Texas accepted the plaque.
2 -- Fielden Jasper Helms was born 07 March
1869 in Lee County, Virginia and died 13 March 1959 in Wilkinson Hospital,
Roby, Fisher County, Texas. On 10 January 1893 in Washington School House,
Burkett, Coleman County, Texas he married
Mary Mercie Keller the daughter of Peter Oscar Lewis Keller and Julia Elizabeth
Freels. She was born 29 April 1872 in Audrain County, Missouri
and died 29 December 1942 in Home Ranch, Scurry
County, Texas. They are both buried at Cottonwood Flat Cemetery, Scurry County,
Texas Father. Jasper and his wife and two
children went to Cottonwood Flat in northeastern
Scurry County, Texas in 1897. His brother
Camel and the two Bogart brothers bought
four sections of land in the Cottonwood Flat
area. They camped among large cottonwoods
along a creek until lumber for the top of
the dugout could be hauled the 50 miles from
Sweetwater, Nolan County, Texas. They lived
in a dugout for two years. In 1899 he traded
two steer calves to Billie Johnson for a
ready-made two room house with upstairs.
Seven or eight years later they built the
main ranch house. He managed the ranch on
a profitable basis when others were failing
due to drouth and depression. He even bought
several more sections of land. He divided
his property among his children by having
an independent appraiser divide his property
in equal value parcels. His children drew
for the parcel from his hat. He maintained
his herd until his death at the age of ninety.
Mary Mercer Keller had diabetes which resulted
in the loss of both legs. Her friend Fonie
Bogart move in and took care of her.
3 -- Christopher Elijah "Lige"
Helms was born 26 September 1870 in Fannin
County, Texas and died 30 December 1929. He is buried
at Cottonwood Flat Cemetery, Scurry County,
Texas. On 08 November 1891 he married Mary Mahaley "Minnie" Wesley the
daughter of John William Wesley and Laura Amanda Gilbert.
She was born 19 October 1875 in Lavaca County, Texas and
died 17 August 1934 in Fisher County, Texas.
4 -- James Camel Helms was born 08 May 1872
in Fannin County, Texas and 15 October 1951. On 10 December 1905 he married Mentie Conel "Dollie" Latham the
daughter of Emmitt Latham and Lula Brittin. She was born
25 February 1889 in Hill or Bosque County,
Texas and died 04 July 1978. They are both buried at Cottonwood Flat Cemetery, Scurry County,
Texas. Camel, his brother Jasper, George
Bogart, and Dick Bogart pooled their money
and bought four sections of land in northeast
Scurry County in the Cottonwood Flat Community
in about 1898. When he moved to the Cottonwood
Flat Community, the land was flat and black
with few mesquites. This uninhabited area
was cut with rugged canyons and small creeks
with unreliable water supply. After marriage
to Dollie they lived on the Double Mountain
Fork of the Brazos River between Goldsteins
and Cox Holler Creeks. They sold this land
and moved up to Cottonwood Flat where they
built a large white house. They were members
of the County Line Nazarene Church. Camel
would give each child and grandchild a heifer
calf when they were born.
5 -- Martha Emaline Helms was born 11 May
1874 in Collin County, Texas and died 22 October 1961 in Almagordo, Otero
County, New Mexico. She was buried at Cross Plains, Callahan County, Texas. On 12 December 1893 in Burkett, Coleman County,
Texas she married James Henderson McDaniel the son of Henry Lee McDaniel and Susan Victoria
Penelopa Cochran. He was born 23 October 1870 in Mena, Polk County, Arkansas
and died 30 May 1949 in Cross Plains, Callahan
County, Texas. He moved from Arkansas to
Cross Plains, Texas when he was 9 years old.
6 -- Nancy Ann "Nan" Helms was
born 21 August 1876 in Collin County, Texas
and died 23 March 1951 in Burkett, Coleman
County, Texas On 10 January 1893 in Washington School House,
Burkett, Coleman County, Texas she married
George Homer Keller the son of Peter Oscar Lewis Keller and Julia
Elizabeth Freels. He was born 29 April 1872 in Audrain County,
Missouri and died 12 February 1944 in Burkett, Coleman
County, Texas. They are both buried at Burkett Cemetery, Coleman County, Texas.
Her brother Fielden Jasper Helms married
George Homer Keller's sister Mary Mercie
Keller. Her sister Martha Laura Keller married
her cousin William Layne DeBusk, the son
of William Andrew DeBusk and Martha Jane
McAbee. George Homer Keller and his brother
Granville Beverly Keller owned one half of
the Peter Keller Estate. They paid their
sisters cash for their interest in the estate
7 -- Sallie Jane Helms was born 19 August
1880 in Brown County, Texas and died 19 February
1965 in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas. On
27 December 1903 she married Ellis Briscoe. He was born 11 August 1882
and died 26 May 1968.
8 -- Elizabeth Louise Helms was born
05 June
1882 in Brown County, Texas and died
26 February
1967 in Crowell, Foard County, Texas.
She
married Britton Lilly
9 -- William Thomas Helms was born 23 May
1884 in Brown County, Texas and died 21 October 1943 in Lubbock, Lubbock
County, Texas. On 14 January 1912 in Acker Place in Longhorn
Valley, Fisher County, Texas he married Sallie Pearson Underwood the daughter of
George Washington Underwood and Eliza Ann
Rodgers. She was born 15 December 1893 in Kent County, Texas and died 02 September 1970 in Rotan, Fisher
County, Texas. They are both buried at Cottonwood Flat Cemetery, Scurry County,
Texas. He was a baptist. He donated the land
for the Baptist Tabernacle. When the church
disbanned, he moved the building to use as
a barn. They ranched and farmed in the Fisher
and Scurry Counties. He died following surgery.
10 -- Julia Malisia Helms was born 14 September
1886 in Coleman County, Texas and died 09 November 1973 in Burkett, Coleman
County, Texas. On 07 September 1922 she married Elmer E. "Eph" Knight. He was born
18 October 1899 and died 15 Jauary 1975.
They are both buried at Burkett Cemetery,
Coleman County, Texas. Elmer E. Knight also
married Mineola Edington the daughter of
Hugh Barto Edington and Molly Ann DeBusk.
11 -- Joseph Franklin Helms was born 28 August
1888 in Coleman County, Texas and died 15 December 1971 in Scurry County,
Texas. He married Elizabeth Jane Murphree the daughter of Jesse Reding "Pat"
Murphree and Frances Lurida "Fannie"
Fowlkes. She was born 15 February 1894 in Longhorn Valley, Fisher
County, Texas. and died 01 September 1961 in Mountainair, Torrance
County, New Mexico. They are both buried
at Mountainair, Torrance County, New Mexico. He and his brothers Jasper, Camel, and Lige
all left Coleman County, Texas and settled
in Cottonwood-County Line communities in
the early 1900's. He came to the Fisher/Scurry
Counties after his brothers. After he married,
they bought the Lucy L. Jackson survey in
the Longhorn Valley. Later he sold this land
to Frank Clegg in March 1913.
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