Laura Erline Mitchell

Laura Erline Mitchell was born in the new country of the Republic of Texas on 12 November 1842. Her parents had been in the area before the Republic. Her daddy was a pivotal person in the emergence of the new country. Mitchell county is named for him and one of her uncles. Laura's mama was from one of the original families that came and settled DeWitt Colony in Texas. Both of her parents were educated as they could read and write and made sure all of theirchildren could too. Their signatures are on many documents in the Gonzales County Court House.

She married twice. The first time to John P. Ford in 1862. They had two children together, Nora and George. George died when he was a day over a year in 1865. It wasn't even three months after she had lost their father. They are buried next to each other in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.

Laura's daddy gave her some land around this time period, so she'd have something in her name to hold onto. (1,2). Laura married again in 1867 to another Ford, Joseph R. She had two children with him, too. Joseph Perry and Otho. They moved to Milam County where Joseph died in 1872 leaving her with 3 children to raise. She moved back to Gonzales County after burying him in the Little River Baptist Cemetery. She had her family to help raise her kids there.

In 1881 the remaining Ford grandparent died as Laura filed papers for guardianship of her three children in Gonzales County at that time. (1,2) as they had an interest in land in Starr, Bastrop, Bee, and San Patricio counties in Texas.

As she grew older she lived with Joseph and his family and then with Nora. She was living with Nora in El Paso County, Texas when she died on the10th September 1923. Nora had her buried next to her dad and brother in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.

Active links within these pages will

1. take you to another website, to return click your back button in your browser.

2. take you to an image, to return click your back button in your browser

3. open in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have the Reader installed, go to www.adobe.com and download the reader. It is free.

If you have any questions, comments, additions about this site, please contact us! Click HERE to contact us

Research and website done by Tresa Tatyrek. This site was last updated 01/23/12