| Notes |
- They were of Scottish lineage and came to America about 1830, settling on the Hudson for about two years, and then moving on to New Orleans and then to Natchitoches Louisiana.
Scott Sturrock sturrock-at-marinemwr.or.jp> wrote: "Wm. Sturrock had two brothers: John and James (my forebear) they hit Texas about 1833 out of Dundee, Scotland. James had about 10 kids and most of the males ended up named after American presidents. I come down from George Washington Sturrock. James served in a local Confederate home guard unit in the War between the States. .... Simon Weiss and Wm. Sturrock at one time owned the Old Stone Fort in Nacogdoches which is now a state historical site.
They lived near Colmesneil, also known as Colmesneil Junction, which is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and Farm Road 256, nine miles north of Woodville in north central Tyler County. The current town was consolidated from two towns - Ogden and Colmesneil. The two towns had a long-standing feud, largely between the Manns and Sturrocks of Colmesneil and the Ogdens and Campbells of Ogden. They were brought together under the single name of Colmesneil in early 1888.
Olga Sturrock Prior wrote: "The Sturrock family probably left from Greenock, Glascow's port, about 1830 because during the "Clearances" most Scots embarked from there when they came to the U.S. The trip probably took around six weeks; and family tradition remembers James as having said he celebrated his ninth birthday on the ship, which would have been October 19, 1830. Lack of proof causes us to not know whether the mother and father William & Ann (Swan) Sturrock came with the children. We do know that the eldest sister, Agnes, who was already married to Robert Gellaty, was the guardian of the two youngest brothers, James and John, as they went to Sabine County Texas with her, where they grew up.
Isobel, the second oldest, was evidently engaged to John Ferguson at the time they came to the U.S. Records in Argyll County Scotland show a marriage bond or proclamation between John and Isobel, but the records of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church in Schuylerville, Saratoga County, New York, show that they were married in the home o the widow of Gen. DeRidder. There is also a record of a Betsey Sturrock marrying a Charles Dallas at the same place. The Fergusons went to Red Oak, Iowa, where they are both buried.
Robert and Agnes Gellatly, Margaret, William, James, and John Sturrock headed south. They may have traveled overland or they may have gone by boat to New Orleans, then up the Red River to Natchitoches, LA. According to some family members, James is said to have recalled hearing Niagara Falls on the trip. If so, they would have had to travel across New York State on the Erie Canal, then down the Mississippi River. While in Natchitoches, Margaret married Simon Wiess, a Polish Jew who was at that time a Customs Agent for the government of Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico and Texas. Simon owned several ships, and it could have been one of his ships that brought the Sturrock family to their new home.
This group then went to Nacogdoches, TX where they settled into businesses. Simon owned a store at the Old Stone Fort, a house and two lots. In about 1838 Simon and Margaret sold their property to William Sturrock and his bride Cynthia Frisby and moved a raft of cotton to Beaumont. William and Cynthia stayed about another year, selling to Robert and Agnes Gellatly and moved to Billums Creek, north of Colmesneil, Tyler County and started a mill. Robert and Agnes later moved near Milam, Sabine county, Texas.
There is a Texas Historical marker (# 11454) (that is no longer there) for the Sturrock Cemetery in Rockland, Texas that reads:
"This family cemetery, characteristic of southern folk burial customs, is the final resting place for members of the extended Sturrock family and their neighbors. Brothers John and William Sturrock, along with their brother, sisters, and brother-in-law, left their native Scotland for the United States in 1830 and eventually settled in East Texas. William purchased a tract of land here along the Neches River at the mouth of Billums Creek, where he built a mill operation that included a gristmill, sawmill, and cotton gin. The earliest documented burial in this cemetery, established on land set aside by William Sturrock, is that of his first wife, Cynthia Frisby Sturrock (1819-1853). Distinctive gravestones and structures, including traditional Scottish house tombs or false crypts, mark the graves of generations of Sturrock family members and some of their neighbors, including many children, veterans of the Civil War and World War I, and one African American slave who died in 1864 during the Civil War. The graves are aligned in a traditional east-west configuration. Maintained by descendants, the cemetery serves as a reminder of the pioneer spirit of its founders."
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1807 - 1864 (57 years)
