Mina Harrison Welch
page 439.Mina Harrison Welch came to Rusk County, settling in the Pine Hill-Brachfield area in 1867. Born in 1821, a native of Walton County, Georgia, Mina came west in search of better economic opportunities than those existing in the war-torn, reconstruction economy of his native state.
In Muscogee County, Georgia, on February 20, 1843, Mina married Sarah Ann Tinsley, born in 1816. Of the eight children born to their marriage, all but one, Mary A. E. Welch, came with their parents to Texas.
Mina and Sarah Welch are believed to have been among the first fifteen charter members of Zion Hill Missionary Church at Brachfield. Church minutes, contained in the history of the church, written by Mrs. Mary Frank Dunn, record that on May 1, 1869, Mina H. Welch was called upon to lead the church music, another member having declined to do so.
Mina Welch last settled one mile north of Pine Hill. In 1880 he sold this property to William H. Hillin and evidently left the county; however, five of his children remained in Rusk County: Francis Edmund, Sarah Jane, Jessie Thomas, Tempy, and Susan M. Welch.
Alvira Welch, the oldest of Mina and Sarah's children to come to Rusk County, married John J. Dulin and died in childbirth in 1873. Then Alvira's sister, Tempy, married John J. Dulin. Their families are recounted elsewhere.
Francis Edmund Welch (1848-1931) was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in Company G, 6th Mississippi Cavalry, C.S.A. in 1864. After his discharge from military service, he married Sarah Catherine Tucker (1848-1928). Their children were: Martha "Mattie" Jane, William Franklin, Edmond Harrison, Susan Amey, and John Thomas Welch. Frank moved to Tatum, Texas, in the late 1880's, where he ran a cobbler's shop and made peanut and coconut candies in various colors, from a personal recipe for which he never disclosed the ingredients. Frank was also a hardshell Baptist preacher and traveled about Rusk and Panola counties delivering his sermons. He was especially noted around the Fairplay Community in Panola County. Many of the Dixons and Hillins in and around Tatum descended from Frank's daughters, Susan Amey (Welch) Dixon-Capps and Martha "Mattie" Jane (Welch) Hillin.
Sara Jane Welch, born in 1848, was a twin to Francis Welch. She married John A. Perkins in 1871. They had three sons: Obediah H. S., Frank Sim, and Marion A. Perkins. A grandson, J.E. Perkins, son of Marion and Nora O. (Stracener) Perkins, still lives in Henderson.
Jessie Thomas Welch (1853-1935) married Nancy Jane Peters (1851-1933), a daughter of Jeff Peters, on Christmas Day, 1873. Their children were Jessie Powell, George, John Minor, Amanda and Mary Welch. Jessie and Nancy Welch lived first at Glenfawn and later at Tatum, where both are buried. A granddaughter, Mrs. Leuloa Harrell, daughter of John M. and Lucy (Rowell) Welch, still lives in Henderson.
Susan M. Welch, born in 1863, married J. R. McCoy in 1879. They left Rusk County soon after their marriage.
Mina and Sarah Welch's youngest son, William Farley "Dick" Welch (1850-1934) settled in Henderson County, Texas.