WILLIAM ABNER APPLE

1859 - 1876

LINK TO:  William A. Apple genealogy

LINK TO:  1915 LETTER abt. Wm. Apple's death & burial

Obituary - William A. Apple

Family members are in possession of a letter dated Feb 16, 1915 about the death of William Abner Apple at the age of 16.  This letter mentions prominent names of residents of Houston County, TX: Judge E. Winifree, William Stanton, John Brown Stanton, and Tom Matlock who was a neighbor of Judge Stanton.  Also, it mentions that a Mrs. Worthington attended the funeral.

Although William Apple died in 1876, it was not until 1915 that some of the family journeyed to Crockett, Houston Co., TX to gather facts on his death and try to locate his grave in the Stanton Cemetery.  The grave was unmarked, but it was known that 15 years later a maiden lady named Miss Kate Layman was buried beside him.  Her grave was also unmarked.

William and a friend, David Marshall left Crawford County, Pa and William Apple was to teach in Crockett, Texas.  He was staying with the Stanton Family when they went on a deer hunt and by accident he was shot and killed. 

 William Abner Apple was born Nov 8, 1859 in Venango Twp, Crawford County, PA; he died May 13, 1876 in Crockett, Houston Co, Texas.  Cause of death:  Gunshot wound to the head from his friend David Marshall.  They had stopped to get a drink of water at a spring after a deer hunt.  The gun went off accidentally.  When David lifted his gun to his arm the gun discharged, hitting William in the nostril and killing him. 

William was staying on the farm of William Stanton of Crockett as a boarder while teaching school.  Mr.  Stanton had him buried in the cemetery on his plantation.

William was the son of William L. Apple and Barbra Siverling Apple.  He was the youngest of nine children born to them. 

As far as the family knows, there were no Apples that had settled in Texas before William went there.  It is a possibility that the Marshall boy could have had relatives in the area and that may be why they went to Texas. 

Houston County, TX - TXGenWeb Project Site

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