A father and two sons with difficult-to-determine death dates.
Lycurgus Lincecum was born 1815 in Cotton Gin Port, Monroe County, Mississippi. He was the first-born son of Sarah "Sallie" Bryan (1796-1867) and Gideon Lincecum II (1793-1874). Lycurgus married Mary Jane Cox 28 May 1838 in Franklin County, Tennessee. This young couple had five children, including a set of twins, Lascassas and Leander. They were born about 1846 in Mississippi.
Lycurgus fought in the Mexican War; he was enlisted in a Texas group. According to Texas Veterans in the Mexican War: Muster Rolls of Texas Military Units compiled by Charles D. Spurlin, Lycurgus (age 31) was part of Company G, 1st Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers. The same reference noted Lycurgus "died at Mexico City, Mexico on December 22, 1847."
Further, Spurlin lists Lycurgus (age 35) as part of "Benjamin McCulloch's Company, Texas Mounted Volunteers (Spies)," in Federal service from January to July 1847.
This death date for Lycurgus is questionable, however, given his daughter Mary Eliza was born about 1848. Lois Burkhalter gets to the truth in her biography [affiliate link] of Lycurgus's father:
"Lycurgus, the first born, was the first of numerous Lincecums to be buried in Washington County. He died on February 3, 1849. Eleven years after his death Gideon was amazed to receive a letter from J. H. H. Woodward, a Houston lawyer, inquiring about Lycurgus' death in the Mexican War and mentioning the possibility that his widow and children were eligible for a pension. Gideon explained that his son enlisted in a Texas group, was discharged and paid off in Monterrey, Mexico, in August, 1847, and died two years later in Long Point...
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| Cropped image from original by Margie LoneStarB via FindAGrave |
'I had not moved to Texas then...My son, from the heavy service and exposure in guarding a train of wagons on their route from Laredo to Monterrey, contracted what he denominated the Mexican bowel complaint, was never well and of which complaint he finally died...He left five children who are all living...'
Colonel Dancy [commander of a regiment raised by Ben McCulloch (same as above)] cleared the situation, remembering that Lycurgus became ill after arriving at Monterrey with the Texas volunteers and that he hired a substitute to answer his name for the remainder of his term. The unknown substitute was killed in battle."
The final resting place for Lycurgus Lincecum is disclosed in the part of the biography pertaining to the death of Gideon's wife of 52 years, Sarah: "She was buried by the side of her first-born, Lycurgus, at the Baptist Meeting House between Long Point and Union Hill." Today, that location is known as Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Burton, Washington County, Texas.
📚 BOOK #AD -- Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874: A Biography -- "In Gideon Lincecum's lifetime the United States expanded from fifteen to thirty-eight states—and Lincecum moved always with or ahead of that expansion. Possessed of a driving intellectual curiosity undeterred by lack of formal education, Lincecum examined all he confronted. He learned from Indians, he read widely, and he corresponded with the great minds of his day. In the process he became many things: physician, musician, botanist, entomologist, ornithologist, and translator of Indian dialects."
Leander "Andy" Lincecum, one of Lycurgus's and Martha's twin sons, married Mary Catherine Yontz/Yonts (d. 1872) September 1867 in Washington County, Texas. I have no record of any children from this union.
Lascassas "Lass" Lincecum, the other twin, married Mary E. Jameson 22 July 1869 in Washington County, Texas. I have no record of any children from this union, either.
I had no information regarding the deaths of Andy and Lass until I came across a page from a family Bible connected to the Yonts family. Neal St. Martin uploaded an image of this page to his Ancestry [affiliate link] Family Tree. About halfway down on the right side of this page dedicated to family deaths are handwritten entries regarding Leander and Lascases. They died just days apart — Leander on 22 January 1870 and Lascassas on 31 January 1870. (Oh, how I wish I knew what happened!)
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| Monument dedicated by Wm. Mark Lincecum, great great great grandson of Gideon. (Originial image credit same as above.) |
