PIONEER
SETTLERS OF LINCOLN COUNTY, ARKANSAS
(Donald Earl McKinney Jr)
PASSINS ALVIS THOMASSON was born 8
Jan 1815 near Filbert, York County, South Carolina. He was the son of James C. &
Charlotte (Cozart) Thomasson who left Granville County, NC about 1810 and settled in
York County. They were planters & slave owners with roots in Virginia.
On 9 May 1842, Passins married ELIZABETH GORDON JACKSON, born 8 Sep 1823, the
daughter of David & Elizabeth (Gordon) Jackson & granddaughter of David Sr & Mary
(Morrison) Jackson, who had immigrated to America from County Antrim, Ireland during
the 1760's. This family were also planters & slave owners who resided near Bethel in
York County. Family tradition suggests that this Jackson family was closely related to
President Andrew Jackson whose parents also settled in that area of South Carolina from
County Antrim, Ireland.
Shortly after 1850, Passins brought his family to Conway County, Arkansas where
his wife Elizabeth died in 1852. Soon after his wife's death, he brought his young children
William Lafayette, James Horace & Mollie Thomasson to the Cornerville area of what
was then Drew County, Arkansas, later became Lincoln County. Passins married 2d
wife Almira Jones about 1860 who became the step-mother of the children.
Passins established a sizeable farm in Mill Creek Township of Lincoln County,
maintaining the planting traditions of his ancestors in South Carolina & Virginia. He
passed away 7 Jun 1899 and was buried in the family plot at Hickory Grove Cemetery
near Cornerville.
Children of Passins & Elizabeth (Jackson) Thomasson:
Child 2: JAMES HORACE “Dock” THOMASSON
Child 3: MARY ELIZABETH “Mollie”
THOMASSON
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PASSINS ALVIS THOMASSON
1815-1899
ELIZABETH GORDON JACKSON 1823-1852
Married 9 May 1842 York Co SC
These notes were compiled from materials gathered for many years by personal research & correspondence. I am especially grateful to the following relatives, whose research, photographs, stories & oral traditions, along with my own, helped us all gain a better understanding of our family heritage.
Great-Aunt Angie Greer of Ozark
Great-Grandmother Ada's original family history files pertaining to the Thomasson & Owen families
Lessie Dodds of Pine Bluff AR, a great-granddaughter of Passins & Elizabeth
Gordon Conrad Thomasson, a great-great grandson of Passins & Elizabeth
Marjorie
B. Malloy & Curtis H. Thomasson who published “Thomasson Traces” have contributed
a wealth of information on the ancient Thomasson connections
- - - - - - - - -
(The following is from "Remembrances of Passins Alvis Thomasson" written in 1991
by his grandson, William Reagan Thomasson. William Reagon was the son of William
Alvis Thomasson, the half brother of William Lafayette Thomasson)
My father died sixty-three years ago when I was fifteen years old, so what my
sisters and I remember is from way back in our memory.
These remembrances of Passins Alvis Thomasson are of course passed on from others.
The main four sources of things about him are my mother, my cousin Henrietta Dodds, my
aunt Alice Jones (Daddy's half-sister on his mother's side that lived on the plantation) and
Maggie (or Mattie) Thomasson. She was an aged negro woman that lived back of my
brother in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in the 1920's. She was a young slave on Passins
plantation and looked after my father when he was a baby. She said she called him her
"litttle Willie." Any future reference to her will be as Maggie as that is what I remember.
Due to the years that have passed and the fact that nothing was written, I realize that the
following may have some inaccuracies, but I think most observations are basically factual.
1. It is believed that Passins Alvis Thomasson came to Arkansas between 1852 and
1855 and established residence in the southern most part of Lincoln county. A family
member has an original land grand, signed by President Buchanan in 1860, granting him
land in Drew County. It is believed that this grant adjoined his previous holdings and
several thought that eventually he owned about a thousand acres of land. The home place
being in southern Lincoln County.
2. During the Civil War some slave owners got scared and were selling slaves cheap
and he bought a number of them and it nearly broke him. This is one that I remember
there being doubts as to it's truth.
3. I remember hearing from several sources that during the war that bands of
northern soldiers did come by his place stealing cattle, horses, mules, chickens, and grain.
This apparantly happened several times and on a least one occasion structural damage was
supposed to have been done to the house and/or out buildings.
4. From our early talks with Maggie Thomasson (the ex-slave) any reference she
made in her early life on Passins Thomasson's plantation were of a pleasant nature. She
did not reveal any bitterness so we assume from this that he was a just and fair slave
owner.
5. My sisters and I remember it being mentioned that grandfather changed quite a bit
after the war and became very bitter.
6. In grandfather's later years, he would take his shotgun and go about half-way
between his house and the road and would sit and wait to see that "no damn Yankee" tried
to steal anyting. During one of his frequent naps the negro man that looked after him
would unload his gun.
He died at eighty-four years of age and is buried in Hickory Grove cemetery not far
from his home place.
Born: 9 Oct 1844 near Filbert (York) SC
Died: 3 Mar 1908 Cornerville(Lincoln) AR
Married: Eveline Elizabeth Watson Fish 26 Dec 1867 Lincoln Co AR
Born: 4 Oct 1847 near Filbert (York) SC
Died: 8 Nov 1915 Lincoln Co AR
Born: Abt 1850 near Filbert (York) SC
Died: Unknown
Married: William Robert Owen
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