Thomas A. Clinton
Thomas A. Clinton Family History
Balls Edens (1805-1872) came with his father (1783-1857) and mother (d. 1838), Mr. and Mrs. John Edens, to Houston County in the early 1830s. Balis first married Louisa Thompson Grigsby (1815-1843). Their only child was Maria Louisa (1843-1896) who married C.C. Swindle June 13, 1865. Balls second marriage was to Ruth Ann Grigsby (1826-1884) on September 10, 1843. Ruth Ann was the daughter of John and Hester Sharp Grigsby who were married in Indiana in 1817 and came to Texas in the middle 1830s. To Balls and Ruth Ann were born eight children. Benjamin Franklin (1845-1890) married Sarah E. Matthews and Willie Meriwether; John Randolph (1847-1922) married Rebecca Matthews and Elizabeth Home; Lucinda Elizabeth (1849-1850) died in infancy; Isaac Newton (1852-1873) did not marry; Elizabeth Luvenia (1854-1876) married Charles Harrison Beazley; Sarah Josephine (1856-1927) married W.D. Taylor (1846-1920); Ruth Ann (1858-1950) married Beazley Dailey; and Robert Balis (1861-1947) married Annie Harriet White (1886-1955). Elizabeth Luvenia Edens married C.H. Beazley (1850-1927), youngest son of Charlie Beazley (1808-1888) and Thursa Hyde Beazley (d.1951) who had come to Houston County with their seven older children in 1848. Luvenia and Charles Beazley had one daughter, Luvenia, called “Venie”, born December 8, 1876. Luvenia Edens Beazley died December 10, 1976. Charles Beazley’s second marriage was to Betty Lively; their children were Pearl, William Henry, Nugent, and Harry. On December 26, 1894, Venie Beazley married Thomas Argailus (Gail) Clinton (1865-1906), son of Thomas J. (1839-1872) and Vina Kyle Clinton (1843-1873). Their children were Charles Thomas (1896-1980) and Vina Ruth. Tom married Luna Frank Lively and they had two children who live on the west coast. Tom’s second marriage was to Lee Ramsey in 1949. They had no children. Vina Ruth married Jack Spence, son of Artie B. (1874-1958) and Ida Pennington Spence (1875-1962) on December 25, 1924. Their son is Jack Clinton Spence. He first married Nan Morrow Thompson in 1954. On September 4, 1965, he married Ouida Jean Elliott Clark (1930-1986), daughter of Marvin and Cleo Elliott. Ouida Jean had two daughters, Phyllis Tilotta and Peggy Clark. Phyllis first married Robert Hoch; their children were two sons, Jeremy and Ryan. Her second marriage was to Ron Clark. Peggy is married to Ed Smoldas and they have a daughter, Julie Elizabeth. Thomas Gail Clinton died in 1906; in 1908, Vernie married George Blain Kent (1866-1923). To this union was born one daughter, Hazel Hester, on September 1, 1910. Hazel married Jack F. Stewart on July 2, 1930. Their children are Joan. Who married Guy W. Cook and James Kent who married Jessica Luckle. George B. Kent had three daughters by his previous marriage to Julia E. White (1871-1907); they were Laura Lena (1897-1985), Cora Belle (1899-1982), and Mary Alice. Julia White Kent was the daughter of John Banks (1820-1893) and Harriet Keen White (1828-1889) who came from Mississippi with the Keens and Dailey’s. Other children of John Banks and Harriet Keen White were John W. (1855-1888); Joe Argalus (1859-1900) who married Dora Stovall; Mary P. (1862-1930) who married W.C. Laseter; Caledonia Isabella (1863-1940) who married James Harvey Beazley; Annie Harriett (1866-1955) who married Robert B. Edens; and James F. (1868-1890). Laura Lena, oldest daughter of George B. and Julia White Kent, married Tom Laseter in 1920. Their three children were Lena Tom who died at age thirteen; Georgia, and Keith. Tom Laseter died in 1937 and Laura Lena married Harvey Leach; they had no children. Harvey died in 1964. Georgia married Frank Corbell and they had one daughter Mary Rita. Frank died and Georgia married A.E. Walker; they had no children. Keith Laseter married Joyce Montgomery; their three children are Sherry, Christy and Lanny Keith. Cora Belle married Woodie W. Eaves in 1917. They had four sons: Leon, Billy, Ray and Jimmy. Leon Eaves married Ruth Howard; they had five sons and one daughter: Bobby, Lynn Dale, Larry Leland, Lonny and Linda Ruth. Mary Kent married Fred Davidson in 1959. They have no children.