James Jefferson LeFors

• Ref: FindAGrave memorial

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James J. LeFors, father of Perry, was born July 8, 1808, near Louisville, Kentucky.· His second wife, Perry’s mother Mahala West, was born May 11, 1827 a native of Tennessee.· They were married November 30, 1845

This growing family moved from Missouri to Arkansas in 1851, to Paris, Texas, 1863, back to Arkansas in 1868 and in 1869 to Indian Territory about 10 miles east of now Vinita, Oklahoma.

Father James J. age 70 and six sons from 11 to 25 years old, started out in three wagons for the Panhandle by way of Ft. Sill to avoid the Indians. After leaving Pt. Sill, they were seized by Indians and held two days without food until soldiers came to their rescue. With more supplies, a week later they started again and arrived at Mobeetie without incident.

Born in Fayette or Scott Co KY on 7/18/1808 the son of Samuel Lefors & Margery Montgomery (m 1806) & grandson of Raney La Force, who fought in the Revolutionary War.

While still in KY on 10/20/1830 he married Jenetta Jones (11/11/1817 - 2/25/1845). He probably moved to Morgan Co Ill at the same time as his father (1831) & shortly went with him to what was later Dade Co., MO. There were 7 children by his first marriage: Sarah Eliza - 1831, Margery Eleanor - 1833, Mary Jane - 1835, John Benly - 1836, Jennetta - 1839, Molita Ann - 1840 & Nancy Elizabeth - 1843.

After his first wife died he married again on 11/30/1845 to Martha Mahala West (5/11/1827 - 8/21/1875). The children born to this marriage were: Alsada Clarinda - 1847, Dolly Arminda - 1848, James (Perry) Isham - 1848, William Jasper West - 1851, Thomas Newton - 1853, Samuel Houston - 1855, Eliza Jane Catherine - 1857, Isaac Hughes - 1858, Rufus Anderson - 1859, Jefferson Davis - 1861, Doctor Price - 1863, Joseph Shelby - 1865, Robert Edmon - 1866 & Ida - 1870.

4 of his children by his second wife were born in Dade Co. In 1851 he started south with his family & 50 slaves. Near Ft. Smith Ark his daughter Mary Jane married Reuben Cope who took her to Caddo, Grove, TX.

James J. settled near Jenny Lind Ark & remained there for several years. During the Civil War, in 1863, he moved to Lamar Co., near Paris, TX. At the end of the war, having lost his slaves, he returned to the vicinity of Ft. Smith, but over in Indian Territory on the Choctaw Nation. His 2 youngest children were born there. when his wife died, he moved up near Vinita in the Cherokee Nation & raised wheat & corn for 3 years.

Three of his older sons, Perry, Bill & Sam, left home in 1877 & drove cattle from TX to Dodge City, crossing the panhandle of TX. Their glowing description of the area caused him to start west with 3 covered wagons, one drawn by oxen, in the late spring of 1878. Settlement on the plains was now possible, for the Indians had been removed to reservations years before. He was accompanied by 6 of his younger sons: Newt, Ike, Rufe, Jeff, Joe & Bob. His youngest daughter Ida was sent to boarding school in Waco, TX.

The party made a long swing southwest & west because of better trails & less danger from Indians & outlaws who were very active along the KS border. They arrived at Ft. Sill in the middle of June, just as some of the tribes went off reservation, raiding to the north & west.

They were advised to go with a large party, but tired of waiting, they started north along the Cache River. They took a wrong fork in the trail & ended up at the foot of Wichita Mountains; almost in an Indian camp. The Indians rushed them, herded them into a bunch under guard & appropriated their wagons & animals. They were held without food for 2 days, constantly in fear of their lives. A company of colored troops saved them & forced the Indians to give them back their outfit - minus the food, which had been eaten.

There is a family tradition that Newt escaped & brought the troops to their rescue.

After returning to Ft. Sill for supplies, they started on for the Panhandle a week later & arrived without incident at Mobeetie, the last miles of their journey being along Sweetwater Creek.

Within a short time James J found a settler on Cantonment Creek who wanted to move on, & was willing to exchange his squatters rights & his improvements for 2 horses. Shortly they got a letter from Perry saying that Sam had been killed by Indians near Dodge City.

James J sent his older sons to Breckenridge TX to buy cattle. They returned with a good herd of breeding stock. It was a pleasant sight to see his range dotted with cattle bearing his brand "LE4".

2 years later he decided that his 2 youngest sons, Joe & Bob, needed more schooling & he wanted to see his daughter Ida. He went to Caddo Grove in Johnson Co. TX where his daughter Mary Jane Cope & his son Will were living. He died a few months later (9/19/1881) & is buried in Caddo Grove Cemetery near present day Joshua.

Mahala West's grandmother was a Cherokee Indian & when the Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Indian Territory her father, Isham West, followed with his wife & younger children. 2 older sons, Perry & William, remained behind & didn't go west 'til later, when they settled in southeast MO.

During the Civil War Perry, William & their younger brothers joined Quantrill's band. 2 of them were killed during the war. The survivors were among those who escaped the reprisals of the following years, though Perry was killed in a controversy about a horse in 1868. Perry's family lived on in Jasper Co. near Joplin MO. One of his grandsons spent an eventful life in the west & settled down near Denver Colo. Williams family drifted west into southwestern Missouri & northern OK.