A Brief Account of the Hetherington and Broughton Families

Compiled by Charlie Tillery

The Broughton Family

My maternal grandmother was Margaret Ann Broughton, the daughter of Charles Richard Broughton and Mary R. Broughton. She was born November 16, 1851, near Monroeville, Alabama, and died at Reagan, Texas, of pneumonia, January 10, 1916, in her sixty-fifth year.

Information found in a pamphlet, ‘The Name and Family of Broughton,” by Henry E. Waite of West Newton, Mass., indicates that the name Broughton is derived from the Saxon “Broc”, which means brook or broken land, and “town”, the dwelling or town. With few exceptions, all the families that have borne the name “‘Broughton” in England are traced to the Counties of Chester and Buckingham. The name continued prominent among the knights and sheriffs of England for three or four centuries following the year 1001, the date of King Ethelred’s Charter to the monastery of Shaftesbury, in which the boundaries of Broctun are mentioned.

CHARLES R. AND MARY BROUGHTON

The following information is found in the 1860 census of Monroe County, Alabama, September 27, p. 928: P. 0. Burnt Corn; Real Estate, 9,000 acres; Personal Property, $15,670.00.

Mrs. Charles L. Brown, of Mexia, Alabama, a daughter of Charles Broughton, tells me that Sarah died in her “teens” and that Dianna is likely Laura, who married Julius Wiggins.

According to information received from Mrs. E. L. Rikard, Monroeville, Alabama, a daughter of Laura Broughton Wiggins, Charles Richard Broughton emigrated from Green County, Georgia, to Monroe County, Alabama, with his family, which consisted of a father and a brother and sister. The three children were grown at the time of the move, and no mention is made of a mother. This means that the move west occurred in the early 1830’s. The father bought a home in a community known as the Ridge about six miles north of Monroeville. The brother went to Mobile to live, married a Mobile girl, and entered the shoe business. The sister married a man named Brown, who lived on the Ridge.

Charles R. Broughton married Mary Snell about 1840, and they established their home at Monroeville. They prospered and reared a large family. During the early days of his marriage he was sheriff of Monroe County. As the years went by he acquired more and more land until he was the largest land holder in the county. He owned a good many slaves. He had a cotton gin drawn by horses, and a grist or water mill. He tanned leather and made shoes. He raised sheep, cows, horses, and hogs. He had looms to spin and weave cloth, and both cotton and woolen cloth were woven. He made molasses and sugar, and kept bees so that the family had honey. During the Civil War, he served as a Captain.

The Census Record given above would seem to indicate that the C. R. Broughton activities had a post office called Burnt Com, although it is said that the Broughton home was within walking distance of Monroeville. But a good many people, other than the slaves, must have worked for the Broughton interests, and they may have had their own little village. Some of the Broughton descendants remember that the Broughton home had a landscaped lawn of five acres, and that the slave quarters were not too far to the rear of the big house. By the time the. Civil War began, C. R. Broughton was in his early forties, and his family would have been fairly mature. The oldest son would have been old enough to go into service.

Charles R. Broughton was a Mason, receiving all degrees in Alabama Lodge No. 3, as follows: Entered Apprentice, November 22, 1850; Fellow craft, December 14, 1850; Master Mason, January 11, 1851. He admitted from Alabama Lodge No. 3 June 30, 1851, and affiliated with Monroeville Lodge No. 153 on February 9, 1852, as a charter member. He was the first tiller of this Lodge, and served as tiller until 1872, or twenty years, at which time he was elected treasurer. He served as treasurer until June, 1884, or for twelve years. He admitted July 9, 1887, because he was no longer able to attend lodge.

Family tradition tells us that he was also a Shriner, but I do not have a record of other Masonic Orders of which he might have been a member.

My grandmother often told about the Yankee Army raiding the Broughton plantation, freeing the slaves, driving off the horses, the soldiers cutting off the heads of the chickens with their swords, and destroying or carrying away hams and bacon and other provisions. It is said that the officer in charge of the Union soldiers was a Mason, and when he discovered that Charles R. Broughton was also a Mason he offered to make some amends. But the damage had been done, and the family was pretty well broken financially by the end of the war. My grandmother never ceased to be a good rebel, and to talk about the cruelty and the harshness of the Union soldiers.

Mary R. Broughton, the wife of Charles R. Broughton, was Mary R. Snell. She was born April 26, 1819. Her mother first married a Mr. Nettles, then a Mr. Snell, and finally a Mr. Richard.

Mary R. Broughton was a sister of Aunt Sarah McCoy, J. W. (William) Snell, and Jim Snell, all three of whom came to Texas and owned farms near Reagan and are buried in the Covington and Johnson Cemeteries. She had two other brothers: Henry Snell, who lived at Houston, Texas, and Joe Snell, who lived at Hearne, Texas.

There is a rather good tin type picture of Charles Richard Broughton and his wife, Mary, about 10″xl2″, in the possession of Jimmy Hetherington. This picture was possibly made during the Civil War days. It is the picture of a mature couple, apparently in good health and vigorous, possessing dignity, intelligence, and poise.

It is the impression of some of the older members of the family that Mary R. Broughton lost her health during her later years and that mentally she was not quite normal. I believe that she died in the early 1890’s, surely not later than 1895.

About this time, Laura Wiggins and her family left their home in Reagan and moved back to the old home at Monroeville to help look after Charles R. Broughton and his wife if she were still living. But Mary Broughton was either already gone or soon passed on, and he was not happy with the rather large family who came to look after him. He went to live with Jack Broughton, the son of his brother who had moved to Mobile to enter the shoe business, and there he stayed until his death, possibly on September 8, 1897. His daughter, Laura, insisted that he return to live with them, but he never would.

My grandmother, Margaret Ann Broughton Hetherington, had four sisters and two brothers, as follows:

William Nathaniel Broughton, born in 1841, was killed in the Civil War, in the first battle in which he participated. There are several pictures of this young soldier in his uniform in the possession of the descendants of his brothers and sisters.

Mary Broughton, born in 1848, first married a man named Fore, and later married Will Stacy, and lived in, or close to, Monroeville.

Susan M. Broughton, born in 1849, married William G. Hetherington, already listed in this record. Their children have been listed previously in this account, and are, of course, double first cousins of the children of John M. and Margaret Hetherington.

Nancy Jane Broughton, born in 1854, married Billie Hixon, and came to Texas with him in December, I883. They came at the same time as William G. Hetherington and his family. In 1884 they made a crop with Mr. Tom Rogers, near Reagan. In I885 and 1886 they worked William Snell’s farm, now owned by W. P. (Bud) Price. Then they moved to Robertson County, where Aunt Nanny died and was buried. One daughter, Maybelle, lived for a time with the J. M. and W. G. Hetherington families in Reagan following the death of her mother. There are two sons of this family still living A. B. Hixon, 206 E. Paschal, Hillsboro, Texas, and W. B. Hixon, Box 494, Edcouch, Texas.

Charles Edward Broughton, born in 1857, married a Miss Ross, who was an aunt of Will Hetherington’s first wife, Mollie, who called her Aunt Til or Tilda. There were two sons in this family, Russell C. Broughton, Monroeville, Alabama, and John S. Broughton, Atmore, Alabama. There was one daughter, Lillie Belle, who married Charles L. Brown of Mexia, Alabama. They have eight living children. Charles Edward Broughton and his wife are buried in the Baptist Cemetery at Monroeville.

Laura Broughton, born late in 1859 or early in 1860, married Julius Wiggins, and lived in the old Broughton home at Monroeville, Alabama. She had a large family, a majority of whom were girls, as shown by a group picture in the possession of Jimmy Hetherington. This family lived for a short time near Reagan on what is now known as the Walter Linn Shaunfield place. Mrs. Maggie Wiggins -Rikard, a daughter of Julius and Laura Wiggins, at a recent date, lived at Monroeville, Alabama. Laura Wiggins is buried in the Baptist Cemetery at Monroeville.

The remaining member of the Broughton family was Margaret Ann Broughton, born in 1851, who married John Monroe Hetherington, and they are my maternal grandparents. I remember them distinctly, as they lived on the farm adjoining our farm, and I was in their home frequently as a small boy. At that time, they were past middle age and beginning to be old. Their children were all married except the oldest and the youngest sons, and these sons married while I was still quite young.