Trav and Jo, as they were called, married in Alabama. Her father had already made plans to head out for Arkansas, so the newlyweds made the trip with the rest of the family. Records show Trav’s land patent in Section 10, Healing Springs Township in 1871 joining land of his father-in-law, Reuben Phillips who patented earlier that same year. All of Trav’s children were born in Healing Springs with Wolf Bayou listed as their address. When the oldest son, Thomas, was barely eighteen he homesteaded land nearby as did the Phillips boys who were Jo Cranford’s brothers.
Sometime in the early 1900’s this family moved to Section 25 near Wolf Bayou along the southeast side of the old Cherokee Boundary Line. I think this is land that once belonged to some of the Dill and Chastain families. Trav and Jo spent the rest of their lives of this land as did their younger sons, Oscar and Leonard.
Leonard Travis Cranford (1840-1923) and Josephine Phillips Cranford (1853-1946) are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery at Wolf Bayou.
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Sons of Trav and Josephine Phillips Cranford |
THE L.T. "TRAV" CRANFORD HOUSE
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L.T. and Josephine Phillips Cranford came from Alabama with her father’s family around 1870. After living a few years in the Macedonia community (Five Mile) they moved to the Wolf Bayou area. This house was on land they purchased from the Dill and Chastain families. It was just a short way south of the Longview School where some of the daughters taught at different times. It was about a mile east of Wolf Bayou and divided by the old Cherokee Boundary Line. |
Trav and Jo spent the remainder of their lives here. He died Mar. 14, 1923 and she died Oct 24, 1946. They are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery. Their children were Thomas, Dora, Mollie, Maud, Leonard, Oscar, Ada and Murrel.
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Standing in back is Wilson Mannon, seated left to right; Josephine Phillips Cranford, Fanny Phillips Mannon (wife of Wilson) and Jeanette Phillips Ward, about 1938. |
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