Amanda Elmira Stringer

Both Joseph (known most of his life as ‘J T') and Amanda (sometimes known as ‘Mandy') were born in Harris Co, Georgia ; and they presumably knew each other before migration, along with their respective parents and siblings, to Harrison Co, Texas, ... settling with their parents in about 1856 on adjoining farmsteads located in far northwestern Harrison Co, Texas, but near the boundary with Upshur Co. Joseph and Amanda were subsequently married April 29, 1860, in Harrison Co; and there are few clues about how long they remained near the parent's homes or the precise timeframe that the young couple actually moved their household from Harrison Co. into Hopkins Co, Texas. There is some ancillary evidence in which their eldest child, Thomas Melvin, later declared in a public document that he was born in Hopkins Co in 1862; however, Joseph volunteered for military service at Jefferson, Texas, in the spring, 1862, and served in ‘C' Company, Nineteenth Texas Infantry of the Confederate States Army until 1864. It stretches the imagination to assume that Amanda might have been left in Hopkins Co, far from her family, during those years that they were separated during the conduct of the Civil War.

J T was primarily a farmer … from a family of farmers; and, in 1877, J T purchased a 155.8 acre farm located on the banks of Coffee Creek, several miles south of Como in Hopkins Co, but near the common border with Wood County. While it is likely that he moved his family into Hopkins Co before that date, the family can definitely be placed there by 1877.

J T and Amanda sold the Coffee Creek farm in 1885; and, presumably, moved at that time from Hopkins Co, Texas, into the Indian Territory of Oklahoma, in advance of the completion in 1886 of an extension of main railroad line from Fort Worth, Texas … through Ardmore, Oklahoma … and northward to Purcell, Oklahoma. In the 1900 U S Census, they were found living and farming with sons, Walt & Alonzo, in T-5-S, R-1-W, several miles southwest of the Town of Ardmore. Two of Thomas Melvin's children from his first marriage, Davis and Maggie, are counted in that Census living with J T and Amanda; and their son, Orval, & their son-in-law, James Kennedy (Lula's husband) are also living and farming nearby. Cotton was king in this part of Oklahoma; and the railroad line easily connected Ardmore with the Port of Galveston. By the early 1900's, Ardmore had developed a reputation as the largest inland cotton port in the world. The photo of J T and Amanda, which is a part of this memorial, is a postcard; and the backside indicates that the photo was taken by 'Tourist View Co., N Y City, G W Eichelberger, Manager'. It is not dated; but it was likely in the early 1900's. Therefore, it should be presumed that J T was a successful farmer … probably cotton.

How long J T and Amanda stayed and farmed in the area is unknown; however, it is a known fact that cotton production will rapidly deplete the fertility of the soils on which it depends; and the importance of cotton was reportedly in pronounced decline by about 1910. The Satterwhite family group, which had apparently also been very close knit working group, began to scatter. J T and Amanda's son, Walt, and their daughter & son-in-law, Lula & James Kennedy, moved to Eastland County, Texas, in 1909 . J T and Amanda have not yet been found in the 1910 U S Census; but in the 1920 U S Census they are found either living with, or near, their eldest daughter and son-in-law, Mattie Jane and Gideon Jones, in Hopkins County, Texas; and J T is retired. It was shortly after this 1920 Census that J T and Amanda moved for the final time to Electra, Wichita County, Texas. It was in Electra that J T passed away in 1923 … reportedly while living with, or near, their daughter & son-in-law, Mary Eugenia and Abe Thomas … followed in death by Amanda in 1926 … reportedly while living with her daughter, Lula Kennedy.

Children of J. T. and Amanda Satterwhite: Thomas Melvin Satterwhite Mattie Jane Satterwhite Mary Eugenia Satterwhite ... known as Mollie W. Orval Satterwhite Alonzo David Satterwhite ... known as Lon Walter Booth Satterwhite ... known as Walt Antoinette Letitia Satterwhite ... known as Lula George Levingston Satterwhite ... known as Levi Adolph M. Satterwhite

Amanda (Stringer) Satterwhite had the misfortune to have two death certificates..... one listing her burial in the Electra Cemetery (Wichita Co., TX) and one listing her place of burial in "Harrold, TX".....causing confusion on her actual burial place.

A family treasure was found though! A letter written by Amanda's granddaughter, who was caring for her at her death and was present at both funerals, was discovered in family estate papers. This letter clearly confirms that both Amanda and her husband, Joseph Satterwhite, were buried in the Harrold Cemetery.