Hendley Bothers at Farquar Cemetery

Why are two youthful brothers buried side by side with matching gravestones in the Farquhar Cemetery? They were born two and a half years apart - Sidney Munroe Hendley, Aug. 14, 1836, and Thomas Timothy Hendley, Feb. 22, 1939, both in Mississippi. Their parents were Ivah Jean (Wells) and William Hendley. Ivah Jean was a sister of Farquhar’s wife Huldah.

Married in the late 1820s, the Hendleys settled on a farm near what was known as the Choctaw Reservation. When President Andrew Jackson established what were called the “Pet Banks,” it made money easy to get with speculators borrowing recklessly to invest in government land. Hendley borrowed and purchased land. The “Pet Banks” failed and created one of the greatest and most widely spread financial panics in U. S. history.

Hendley was forced to ‘leave’ the farm and all improvements to pay his indebtedness. The Hendley family, with their Negro slaves and a few household necessities, came to Texas and settled in Burleson County. Where the Hendleys located may still be known as Hendley’s Hill. This was in the early 1840s and the James Farquhar family was already relocated from Mississippi to Washington- on-the-Brazos area.

Hendley died in October 1847 and is probably buried in the Old Farquhar Cemetery, though there is no marker found. Before leaving Mississippi the Hendleys had several children born that included Sidney and Thomas.

Sidney was nicknamed ‘Mun’ from his middle name. Family records state he was a deeply religious and studious boy. He died at the age of 18 on June 12, 1855, although his cause of death is unknown. Thomas was nicknamed “Tim.” On Aug. 5, 1859 Thomas was accidentally killed when an “anvil exploded,” according to a record in the 1860 U. S. Mortality Schedule for Texas. Thus, their look alike gravestones stand in the Old Farquhar Cemetery.

There is more to the Hendley story, as following the death of Ivah Jean’s husband William, she was living with the Farquhars. Word came that Ivah Jean and Huldah’s father, Mike Wells, was seriously ill in Mississippi. Ivah Jean gathered up her children and headed for Mississippi. Accompanying her was a longtime family friend, Robert Moore. He along with the Wells and Farquhars knew each other at Persons County, North Carolina before they all ended up in Texas.

When the group reached her father’s home, Wells was already dead and buried. Before returning to Texas, Ivah Jean and Moore were married. By 1860 they are recorded in the U. S. Census in Washington County. In the household according to that census record are Robert and Ivah Jean with three of Ivah Jean and Hendley’s children, a son Francis Marian Hendley and two Hendley daughters, Angelina and Mary. There also are now four of Ivah Jean and Moore’s children, daughters Ophelia, age 11; Parthenia, age 7; son Robert, age 7; and a daughter Penelope, age 5.

Moore’s early history is that he was born June 12, 1809 in North Carolina. A family story is that he left home as a young boy embarrassed because his mother sold cider and ginger cakes at all public gatherings.

There is more to Moore’s history that will be addressed in the next Sandbar. By now, there may be many of Moore’s descendants living in the Navasota area that recognize this Robert Moore that had a distinct connection to James Farquhar and family.

Descendants of Moore, Michael Moore and Robert Moore, are the two Navasota men who are responsible for the Texas Historical Cemetery marker that now stands next to this Washington County historic cemetery.

(Written by Betty Dunn, Two Rivers Heritage Foundation. See www.tworiversheritagefoundation. org for more info and membership).