About Me

Who am I? And what do I have to do with the book, Trek to Texas?

Hello, my name is Kathy. I am a 6th generation Texan and a direct descendant of the family in the book, written by my grandmother’s cousin, Pearl Foster O’Donnell.

  1. Thomas Jefferson Foster, son of Mary (Armstrong) Foster and Joel Lewis Foster
    Thomas Jefferson Foster was one of the first settlers in Texas sometime between 1832 and 1841. Though born in Tennessee, I still consider him a “True Texan”, since he and his family were among the first Texas Pioneers.
  2. M. Berry Anderson Foster
  3. Minnie Sue Foster
  4. Evvie Reeves
  5. Gloria
  6. Kathy <– That’s me!

KathyI own and run an online gift shop, Yellow Rose Designs, making my own handmade jewelry, stained glass, and other handmade items, as well as creating designs for sale on apparel, mugs, journals, greeting cards, clocks and other gift items.

Growing up, I was always fascinated by the book written about our family. The tales and stories inside kept me fascinated for hours. According to Grandma, there were only a few copies printed, one being given to each branch of the family. I heard stories that Pearl intended to update the book again, with current generations added, though she never had the opportunity to do so. Knowing that Cousin Pearl wrote it with the intention of sharing the lineage with the family and passing on the knowledge contained within the stories, I am doing my part to pass the stories on to the next generation, or anyone who wants to know what life was really like on the Texas Frontier.

Before she died, Grandma gifted 2 things to me that I will always hold dear. One was my grandfather’s cap that he wore in his years working on the Texas Railroads. The other was this book, Trek to Texas. I hope you enjoy it as much as I always have.



8 Responses to “About Me”

  • Karen Foster Beam:

    Hello Kathy: What a joy it was for me today to pull up this website. I am a great great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson Foster. My Great Grandfather is/was Madison O. Foster, son of T. J. and Sarah, his third wife. My daughter lives in Texas and since she graduated from O. U. in Oklahoma, I have been discovering exactly what I was told I would find in Texas, my family. I have been visiting and soaking up everything about the Fosters. I have several of the original copies of your book and trust me, it has helped me out so much.

    Although I am sixty-two and you are much younger, we have much in common. You see, I love to write, work with stain glass, and many more things just like you. I also love music, such as, playing the piano and love to sing. I am finding out that the Fosters were and are with regard to being very artistic people and I can’t tell you how warm it makes me feel inside to find that connection.

    I look forward to talking to you more about our wonderful family.

    Karen

    • Kathy:

      Hello Karen! Nice to meet someone else from T.J.’s line of the family. :D My sister’s name is also Karen. I like that we have that much in common too. Yes, you do have a very large and diverse family here in Texas. Most stayed here in North Texas and many are buried in the Lonesome Dove cemetery; several moved on to Abilene and further west; and then I ended up back close to the original settlement after growing up in Fort Worth. There are many Foster branches but so many of us did land in Texas! I like to say if you’re a Foster, you have a Texas spirit, whether born here or not. :)

      If you’re online a lot and would like to keep in touch, my Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/YellowRoseKat. Thank you for introducing yourself and letting me know I have another cousin out there. :)

  • Ed Morgan:

    Like your family my ancesters(Hutchisons) migrated from Virginia to South Carolina to Georgia and, in 1872, to Texas. I have been doing some research and was looking for background information on 1870’s migrations from the east to Texas when I found your site. It appears either you have not been able to continue your project or have moved to another site. I would love to read your cousin’s book and hope you will continue.
    Ed

    • Kathy:

      Hello Ed, thank you for commenting! So glad that you found the site, even though as you noticed, it’s been slower than I had even planned. Yes, I do plan to continue the project – an injury several months ago caused me to put all of my projects on hold. I had even hoped to announce this week that I would be back working on it already, but recovery has been unfortunately slower than I wanted.

      Although the title of the book says “1770 to 1870″, the family lineages continue on into the 1900s. If I come across anyone named Hutchinson, I will be sure to let you know.

  • I’m so pleased and excited to find your site, Kathy! I have been an avid genealogist since the age of 16 (over 30 years). Quizzing my grandfather never resulted in much information on his father’s family, the Hallfords, so I concentrated on his mother’s side, where there was lots of info. In 1987 my grandparents (in their late 80s) broke up housekeeping and my aunts and cousins and I were going through some things. Someone pulled out Trek To Texas and said “Janice, you’re the historian, you can have this.” A quick flip revealed nothing, but then I started reading and discovered so much about the family. I had grown up in the Panhandle but then lived in Carrollton, a mere 15 miles from the Lonesome Dove Church, which I quickly visited and fell in love with. That book has led me to countless family members, living and dead, and I appreciate your cousin’s work on it so much. I have often wondered who might own the copyright or have the family “right” to pass it on even further. I’m so glad you’ve taken on that challenge. It will be a huge help to so many more searchers.

    Oddly, just yesterday, I visited the grave of James Powel Hallford who was on that Trek To Texas with his wife Sarah Medlin Hallford and his brother and her family. Lots of synchronicity in this discovery!

    I would be happy to correspond with family members also or do a look-up while you are incapacitated.

    • Kathy:

      Hello, Janice! I love hearing from other people who have a copy of the book and love it as much as I do! Isn’t it interesting how there always seems to be that kind of synchronicity with genealogy searches? The same thing happened to me just after I started this project. Within only a couple of weeks, I was contacted by historical societies interested in the book and also by the person who had nearly ALL of Pearl’s original photos, research, and some documents, along with additional books that she wrote but were never published! So exciting!

      I believe I may know some other Hallford family members too – I’ll double check with the historical society members to see if they can help me contact them for you. And thank you for the offer to help. I do plan to restart the project again in the next couple of weeks and have someone here who can help me scan all the new photos so expect to see more updates coming very soon! :)

  • Debbie:

    Hi Kathy,I am so thrilled to find this site.I have been looking for some family history and talking to my brother,reminded me of this book.My grandma gave me one many years ago.Her name is Louise Foster(Bransom)we believe it was her cousin that gave her this book as well.I am sorry to say that my book may be lost with my ex husbands stuff,don’t know if I will ever see it again.This is so upsetting.But finding your site brings back some hope to me.I will be looking forward to your book to be done.It is all I have left of her and that side of the family.My grandma died many years ago as well as my father and uncles so there is know one left to tell me about our history.Thank you for your site and the information in it.I hope your injury is healing well and look forward to more information.Debbie Jackson (Bransom)

  • Hi Kathy. Love your site. Was given to me by Janice Williams. I have been tracing my Hallford/Allford family for about 15 years now and never get tired of it. My line basically comes from the Devon/Shropshire area of England, where there are many by that Surname. I have records of people going back and forward to the US, I have at this stage been unable to link my own line. You never know what turns up! The Hallford/Allford family seem to have followed the development of steel production and some of them moved up to Scotland in the min 1800’s. Thats where my immediate family comes from. I will be watching your site with anticipation. Im happy to share any information or explore new Hallford possibilities! Richard Hallford. Melbourne, Australia.

Leave a Reply for Kathy

Support Our Site
March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Jun    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
Join us on Facebook