For the past fifteen years I have had more than passing interest in Mastin Brack, for somehow I feel he represents the key to my genealogical problem. For fifteen years I have searched in vain for the parentage of my great-grandfather, Simon Peter Ford, who came to Texas as a very young man and fought at San Jacinto. State records indicate he was born "near Nashville, Tennessee" about 1815.

After San Jacinto, Ford settled in Many, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, and there he remained until after the Civil War. In 1870 he was residing in Jefferson County, Texas.

On January 21, 1856, Ford filed suit for divorce in Sabine Parish against one Jane Brack. Several citations were issued on her, but she never appeared in her behalf. Thus, on February 27, 1857, a judgement of separation of bed and board in favor of Ford was granted by the Parish courts against Jane (Brack) Ford. And thus my interest in the Brack name is revealed. Tradition states that Jane Brack was Indian, but it is my belief she was only partially so, and that she was the daughter of Mastin Brack. Her mother could have been Cherokee, as there were many Cherokee families living along the Sabine River at that time.

One child was born of this marriage - Martha Ann Ford, who married Milton Kirkham in Sabine Parish, Louisiana on July 8, 1857. There is no denying Martha's Indian heritage, as photographs of her in family albums so clearly reflect it, revealing her high cheekbones and "blue-black hair which hung to the floor in enormous braids." Her surviving grandchildren still recall Henderson Brack, and refer to him as "Uncle Henderson". Martha's daughter, Loretta (Kirkham) Horton, at one time resided in the Henderson Brack homestead in Newton County.

So, it is unmistakably clear that there was a family relationship to Jane Brack who married Simon Peter Ford "on the Texas side of the Sabine River in 1839", as the Parish records so state.

Who was Jane Brack? Was she the daughter of or a sister to Mastin Brack? This is my genealogical puzzle. I believe her to be a daughter.

Each year around the Fourth of July, the Bracks hold a family reunion at Sycamore Cemetery in Newton County. The following information was distributed at one such reunion some years ago, possibly from the family records of James Polk McMahon of DeRidder, Louisiana:

The Bracks came to Texas from around Nashville, Tennessee. Maston Brack came to Texas in the early 1840's, purchased land on the A.S. Droddy League tract east of Burkeville, Texas, built a home there and died in a community known as Sycamore. Maston Brack had the following children: Henderson F. Brack, known as the one-armed fiddler. Lost arm in civil war near Mansfield, La. Died in Memphis, Tenn. in 1924 during an old soldiers' reunion. Buried in military cemetery in Austin, Tex. He married a Sutton woman. They had the following children: (1) Tom, never married. (2) Kate, had 1 boy and 1 girl; (3) Maston had no children; (4) Bob Brack, who married Angeline Watson. Bob had 2 boys, clarence and Johnny. Wife died when Johnny was approx. 6 months old. Henderson Brack married a Stevenson the second time. Had children Matilda, who married William Ira Lott, and Burl Frank. Both are dead.

Willie Brack died during the civil war. Jane Brack* married and husband died; They had 1 girl Adline Brack who married Richard West. John Brack, a brother to Maston Brack, died in Tennessee about 1839. His widow Sedorah Stephens Brack after his death married a Mr. Nipper. They had no children. John Brack and his first wife had the following children (1) Thomas J. Brack, born 3 March 1829; (2) William Brack born 12 Nov 1830; (3) Eliza Jane Brack, born April 22, 1833 (4) James F. Brack born Aug. 6, 1835; (5) Elizabeth Brack born Dec. 4, 1837; (6) L. Margaret Brack born 3 Sept. 1839.

Thomas Brack came to Texas about the time Maston Brack arrived. Thomas Brack was a steamboat captain and merchant. He married Sarah Lamb Youngblood. They had 3 girls, Birty and Leon (they both died young) and Tommie. Tommie married Billy Wilcox and had 1 girl who never married. All now dead. His wife, who formerly married John Youngblood, had Evie and Henry Youngblood. Henry died, never married. Evie married Peter Wilcox. Both dead. Had several children. Dr. Dickerson of Jasper, Texas is a grandson of Evie.

William Brack married Letha Ann Rutledge. He died during the Civil War. Eliza Jane married, husband died. They had 1 girl. James Brack married in Tenn., came to Texas long after his mother and brother. James and Nancy Brack had the following children: (1) Jesse S. Brack, who married Matilda Watson, both dead. They had 2 children, Adrian and Leona Brack. Leona married Taylor Brooks, Jr. She lives in Sycamore. Husband is dead. (2) Lula Brack married a Mr. Claud (Cloud?). After his death she remarried. Now dead. (3) Kennel Brack married Kirk Gunter, both dead. (4) Jim Brack married a Jarrell, both dead. (5) Joseph Brack married a Woods, both dead. (6) Robert Brack married Willie Brown. Robert is dead. (7) Tat (J.C.) Brack married Drue Young. Tat is dead.

Elizabeth Brack, sister to James, Thomas and William Brack, married Josh Smith. Margaret Brack, mother of J.P. McMahon, Jr. (of DeRidder, La.) first married John Chaddick. He died in the Civil War. They had a daughter, Dorah Octavine Chaddick who married Sim Youngblood, who died in 1882. They had daughter, Ella Youngblood, who is the wife of Byron J. Miller of Burkeville, Texas. After death of Chaddick, Margaret, in 1866, married J.P. McMahon.

Clarence Brack, son of Bob Brack, grandson of Henderson F. Brack, married a woman from Hawaii. They had no children. He was born in 1892 and died in 1951, buried in military cemetery in Austin, Texas. His brother, Johnnie, born 1894, married Selma Miller and lives in Burkeville, Texas. They have 5 girls and 3 boys living: (1) Beatrice Tilley; (2) Myrtle Lee Harrison; (3) Angie Rue Johnstone; (4) Ois Idel Brien; (5) Laurence A. Brack; (6) Coy Brack; (7) L.C. Brack; (8) Venice Irvin. Matilda Lott, daughter of Henderson F. Brack and his second wife had (1) John Corbett; (2) Bessie Pearl; (3) Pauline Newman; (4) Willard Bernell; (5) Ruth Jeannette; (6) Kenneth Wade and (7) Betty Joyce Pedigo. Matilda's brother Burl married and had 2 daughters, Evelyn and Virginia Burl.

*Is this JANE BRACK who married S. P. FORD? It could well be that the rambling text of these Brack family notes which have been widely circulated among Brack descendants has obscured her identity.