Pegues
George Hicks Pegues was First Collin County Judge
The following story wis written by Etta Bearden Pegues of Newark, Texas. Her husband was the grandson of Judge Pegues:
McKinney was only a one-room log building operated as a saloon in one end and a general mercantile in the other end when George Hicks Pegues arrived there in an ox-wagon with his family from Alton, Illinois, in January 1845.
Scion of the distinguished Claudius and Henrietta Butler Pegues, of South Carolina, he was born near Cheraw, S. Carolina, December 10, 1801. At an early age he taught a subscription school in his community.
Like all school teachers in early day his method and management included spelling as a principal study. One day he had the spelling class lined up against the wall as usual and began pronouncing the words in a distinct voice.
""Squirrel," he enunciated clearly to one little fellow who had been trying hard to get to the head of the class by "turning down" the pupil ahead of him.
The little boy felling certain that he knew how to spell the word and that this would be his "crowning moment" threw back his head and swelled out his chest preparatory for the triumph "Squee i r l," he said proudly. But his teacher ignored the ludicrous incident with his usual diplomacy. George Hicks Pegues gave up teaching for a position a salesman in the store of his uncle, William Spencer who was the son of Samuel Spencer, one of the principal judges of the state of North Carolina previous to and after the Revolutionary War between the U. S. & Great Britain.
Thrown in close proximity with his employers lovely daughter, Elizabeth, George lost his heart to her and asked for her hand in Marriage.The date of their marriage is not known to us nor the date when they left their natal state and migrated to Illinois. All we know is that tales of big old Texas appealed to him and he drifted to Collin County where he preempted one and one-half section of land.
With the aid of his negro slaves he operated 960 acres, buying more land year after year for one dollar per acre.The town f Murphy is located on acreage once operated by this versatile pioneer of Collin County. From Murphy westward his acreage stretched for miles. A creek still known a Pegues Branch flows across land once operated by George Hick Pegues, and two springs bearing the name Pegues Springs still furnish cool water for occupants on part of the acreage. From this springs the Pegues family carried water up a hill and drank it fro a gourd.
George Hicks Pegues was loyal to the Confederacy and much of his land was sold for Confederate money which died on his hand when the Southern Cause was lost.
George Hicks Pegues studied law under Collin McKinney, who was one of the signers of Texas Independence. He held every office in Collin County except High Sheriff and Constable, and these he refused despite the urgent appeals from his many friends. He was he first judge of Collin County and died during his term of office, as Judge, August 11, 1871.
His wife, who could neither read nor write, thinking everything in her husband's office belonged to him, went to the office and emptied the contents of desk drawers into her apron and proceeded to take them home with her. Naturally, some of the documents were important, such as deeds and records of various sorts and were promptly returned by the family.
To the union of George Hicks and Elizabeth Spencer Pegues were born 10 children, five of which reached maturity. The name of their children were: Enoch, Claudius, William S., Leonidas King, Sarah Ann, Mary, Harriet L., Mary S. Olive Spencer and Robert B.
Elizabeth Spencer Pegues passed away September 1, 1886 and was laid to rest beside her husband in a little cemetery west of Murphy on land once operated by them as farm land.
The descendants of this couple are scattered over the United States from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the east to the west coast; most of them functioning as useful citizens following for the most part the example set for them by their illustrious progenitor, Judge George Hicks Pegues. McKinney Examiner, January 20, 1966
The following story wis written by Etta Bearden Pegues of Newark, Texas. Her husband was the grandson of Judge Pegues:
McKinney was only a one-room log building operated as a saloon in one end and a general mercantile in the other end when George Hicks Pegues arrived there in an ox-wagon with his family from Alton, Illinois, in January 1845.
Scion of the distinguished Claudius and Henrietta Butler Pegues, of South Carolina, he was born near Cheraw, S. Carolina, December 10, 1801. At an early age he taught a subscription school in his community.
Like all school teachers in early day his method and management included spelling as a principal study. One day he had the spelling class lined up against the wall as usual and began pronouncing the words in a distinct voice.
""Squirrel," he enunciated clearly to one little fellow who had been trying hard to get to the head of the class by "turning down" the pupil ahead of him.
The little boy felling certain that he knew how to spell the word and that this would be his "crowning moment" threw back his head and swelled out his chest preparatory for the triumph "Squee i r l," he said proudly. But his teacher ignored the ludicrous incident with his usual diplomacy. George Hicks Pegues gave up teaching for a position a salesman in the store of his uncle, William Spencer who was the son of Samuel Spencer, one of the principal judges of the state of North Carolina previous to and after the Revolutionary War between the U. S. & Great Britain.
Thrown in close proximity with his employers lovely daughter, Elizabeth, George lost his heart to her and asked for her hand in Marriage.The date of their marriage is not known to us nor the date when they left their natal state and migrated to Illinois. All we know is that tales of big old Texas appealed to him and he drifted to Collin County where he preempted one and one-half section of land.
With the aid of his negro slaves he operated 960 acres, buying more land year after year for one dollar per acre.The town f Murphy is located on acreage once operated by this versatile pioneer of Collin County. From Murphy westward his acreage stretched for miles. A creek still known a Pegues Branch flows across land once operated by George Hick Pegues, and two springs bearing the name Pegues Springs still furnish cool water for occupants on part of the acreage. From this springs the Pegues family carried water up a hill and drank it fro a gourd.
George Hicks Pegues was loyal to the Confederacy and much of his land was sold for Confederate money which died on his hand when the Southern Cause was lost.
George Hicks Pegues studied law under Collin McKinney, who was one of the signers of Texas Independence. He held every office in Collin County except High Sheriff and Constable, and these he refused despite the urgent appeals from his many friends. He was he first judge of Collin County and died during his term of office, as Judge, August 11, 1871.
His wife, who could neither read nor write, thinking everything in her husband's office belonged to him, went to the office and emptied the contents of desk drawers into her apron and proceeded to take them home with her. Naturally, some of the documents were important, such as deeds and records of various sorts and were promptly returned by the family.
To the union of George Hicks and Elizabeth Spencer Pegues were born 10 children, five of which reached maturity. The name of their children were: Enoch, Claudius, William S., Leonidas King, Sarah Ann, Mary, Harriet L., Mary S. Olive Spencer and Robert B.
Elizabeth Spencer Pegues passed away September 1, 1886 and was laid to rest beside her husband in a little cemetery west of Murphy on land once operated by them as farm land.
The descendants of this couple are scattered over the United States from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the east to the west coast; most of them functioning as useful citizens following for the most part the example set for them by their illustrious progenitor, Judge George Hicks Pegues. McKinney Examiner, January 20, 1966
