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[This page is part of the Joseph Alvey Clayton-Margaret Amanda Poole Web Site]

Mitchell Steele Clayton
(1854-1920)
And Some of His Descendants

1. Mitchell Steele CLAYTON, first son and third child of Joseph Alvey CLAYTON and Margaret Amanda POOLE, was born on 18 Sep 1854 in Chatfield, Navarro County, Texas.^1,2,3,4 He married Georgia ('Georgie') PANNILL, daughter of Major Henry PANNILL and Margaret ("Maggie") Eliza Jones, on 13 Aug 1885 in Navarro County, Texas.^5,6,7,8,9 He died on 31 Jan 1920 in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, at age 65.^10,11,12,13 He was buried in Old Cemetery, Chatfield, Navarro County, Texas.^14,15

Known as Steele, he worked as a cowboy in West Texas from 1874 to 1878 and raised sheep in Navarro County from about 1878 until 1887. He farmed about 150 acres near Chatfield and operated the Guynes and Clayton store there. He was a constable and then a deputy sheriff, lost a race for sheriff in 1904, was elected sheriff in 1908 and 1910, did not run again, and primarily farmed the rest of his life. For a while after leaving the sheriff's office he served as county statistician for Navarro County, "a position in which he [was] required by the government to keep an accurate record of the number of cotton bales ginned in the county, the amount of cotton consumed by the Corsicana cotton factory, stocks of cotton retained in warehouses, amount of seed crushed and statistics concerning production in the various cotton-seed oil mills of his district, and other incidental data, ten gin reports being made by him to the census bureau in Washington between September and March of each year." He was a Democrat and member of the Odd Fellows. A 1914 biography said that he "has a host of friends in his native county and as a citizen he maintains a liberal and public-spirited attitude." A sister's granddaughter remembered him as "a rather tall, well built handsome man" and a "very gentle man as well as a 'gentleman' in every sense of the word." They lived at 616 S. 15th St. in Corsicana.^16,17

Georgia ('Georgie') PANNILL was born on 16 Sep 1867 in Ellis County, Texas; "Georgia, 8th child of H. & M.E. Pannill Born on Trinity River, Ellis Co., Texas Sept. 16, 1867 4 o'clock A.M."^18,19 She died on 23 Dec 1939 at age 72.^20,21 She was buried in Old Cemetery, Chatfield, Navarro County, Texas.²²

Children of Mitchell Steele CLAYTON and Georgia ('Georgie') PANNILL were:

• 2. i. Margaret Amanda ('Maggie') CLAYTON was born on 9 Apr 1889.²³ She married Charles H. HIGHNOTE.²⁴ They lived in Corsicana, Texas.²⁵
• 3. ii. Joseph Pannill CLAYTON was born on 28 Nov 1894.^26,27 He died on 23 Oct 1911 at age 16.^28,29 He was buried in Old Cemetery, Chatfield, Navarro County, Texas.³⁰ He was known as Pannill.³¹

1. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," in Navarro County History, vol. 2 (Corsicana, Tex.: The Navarro County Hist. Soc'y, 1978), p. 100 (stating that he was born at Chatfield in Sep 1854).
2. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3 (Corsicana, Tex.: The Navarro County Gen. Soc'y, 1984), p. 28 (giving only the date).
3. Maggie Highnote, undated records (giving only the date and stating that he was born at 6:00 p.m.). These five pages are marked "Record from Family Bible (Clayton)" on one page and "Family Record" on another. Two pages are on letterhead of Charles H. Highnote, 616 S. 15th St., Corsicana, Tex. Some or all are thought to have been written by Mrs. Highnote from a family bible. The bible probably is now in the San Jacinto battlefield museum, near Houston, Texas. Joe Guthrie, Corsicana, Tex., provided copies to Roger Bartlett on 31 May 1973.
4. Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, ed. Eugene C. Barker and Ernest William Winkler (Chicago, Ill.: The American Historical Society, 1914), vol. IV, p. 1727, s.v. "Mitchell S. Clayton" (stating that he was born on a farm near Kerens, Texas).
5. Navarro County, Texas Marriages, vol. 1, 1846-1888 (Corsicana, Tex.: The Navarro County Gen. Soc'y, 1987).
6. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," above (not giving the date or place).
7. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above (stating that they were married on Thursday evening at 8:00 but in another place stating 8:30).
8. Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, above, vol. IV, p. 1728, s.v. "Mitchell S. Clayton" (giving only the month and year and not naming the place).
9. Susie Robinson, Corsicana, Tex., letter believed to be to Will Bachman in California, 18 Sep 1938, p. 6 (no date or place).
10. Index to Texas Death Records (Austin, Tex.: Tex. Dept. of Health, Bur. of Vital Statistics), 1903-40, vol. 10, p. 4634, file 2762 (giving his name as M. Steel Clayton).
11. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," above (giving only the date).
12. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28 (giving only the date).
13. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above (giving only the date and stating that he "was taken sick at 2 p.m. and died at 3:30 p.m.").
14. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," above (stating only that he is buried in the Chatfield cemetery).
15. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
16. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," above.
17. Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, above, vol. IV, p. 1728, s.v. "Mitchell S. Clayton."
18. Navarro Leaves and Branches, vol. XX, no. III (Aug 1997), p. 8 (quoting from Henry Pannill's Bible, which stated that she was born "on Trinity River, Ellis County, Texas").
19. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
20. Ibid.
21. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above.
22. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
23. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above (stating in one place that she was born at 7:00 a.m. and in another that she was born at 7:30 a.m.).
24. Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, above, vol. IV, p. 1728, s.v. "Mitchell S. Clayton."
25. Ibid.
26. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
27. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above (stating that he was born at 9:30 p.m.).
28. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
29. Maggie Highnote, undated records, above.
30. Navarro County Cemetery Records, vol. 3, above, p. 28.
31. W. P. Murchison, "Mastifer Steele Clayton," above.

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Last revised on 12/23/01