TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead Part 1 of 2

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY (June 17, 2025): Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead (1811-1851) Part 1 of 2

I have always liked to visit cemeteries. They are places of peace, beauty, and quiet reflection - but they are also deeply alive. Within their gates rest not only our loved ones, but also the stories, histories, and memories that shaped who we are. Now and then, a hidden gem reveals itself – a whisper from the past, waiting to be heard again. To find such a treasure is a gift; to share it, a sacred joy. And so, it is with the story shared here of Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead. 

In the oldest part of the Port Lavaca Cemetery once known as Lynnworth Cemetery, lies a flat concrete slab marker with the weathered and worn inscription that reads “In Memory of T.M.R. Bankhead Native of Albemarle County, Virginia, Born 30 December 1811. Died 1 July 1851 in Port Lavaca, Texas in his 39 years.” His full name is Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead. 

Known as “Tom Mann” he grew up in Virginia on an 800-acre estate named Carlton. He learned the art of farming using the newest methods of planting, growing, and producing large high-quality crops of from his great grandfather who owned 5,000 acres adjacent to Carlton Estate. 

Tom’s uncle, Meriweather Lewis Randolph was the Territorial Secretary of the Treasury for Arkansas prior to it’s being admitted as a state in 1836. Secretary Randolph made large investments in government lands in the southwestern part of Clark County including 10,000 acres for family and friends in the east part of the county. In November 1836, he built and settled Randolph Farm, cultivating 300 acres. Around this same time, at the age of 26, Tom established and settled Bankhead field in Clark County, which was situated on a small creek and became known as Bankhead Creek. After the death of his Uncle Lewis Randolph in 1837, Tom moved to Spring Hill (Hempstead County). The land was very level for lumber land and the best of freestone water everywhere, springs and wells - everything needed to successfully grow crops that would bring high yields. There in Hempstead County Tom became a prosperous man. He enlarged his estate through Arkansas, U.S., Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, adding 1,360 acres. 

It was here where Tom met Elizabeth Anne Pryor. Elizabeth’s parents were Major Richard Pryor and Virginia Boyd Pryor. Elizabeth was their only known child born in 1822. The family had moved from Virginia to Spring Hill Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas and settled on an estate they named Myrtlewood. 

Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead and Elizabeth Anne Pryor married in1839 and together they made Spring Hill and Bankhead Creek Estate their home for the next 10 years. The 1850 Census lists the couple as living in Hempstead County, Arkansas with Tom listed as a farmer in the agricultural industry and his real estate worth $ 4,500 which today would be $184,500. It was a beautiful and charmed life that Thomas and Elizabeth lived in Arkansas. Both were born in Virginia in the time when Veterans from the American Revolution were still living and the War of 1812 was fresh in the minds of Americans, and they were part of the elite in 1800’s society. 

Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead’s family was well known in Virginia. His father was Charles Lewis Bankhead who attended the University of Virginia and worked for awhile as a lawyer writing legal letters for President Thomas Jefferson. Later he turned to farming and was not particularly successful at it. Charles Lewis’s father was Dr. John Bankhead of Virginia. He was educated at the College of William and Mary and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Thomas’s grandfather Dr. John was friends and corresponded regularly with President Thomas Jefferson. 

Sometime in the year 1850 Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead and his beloved wife Elizabeth Anne came to Texas to find a place to settle. They ended up coming to Port Lavaca, then called La Vaca. Texas had only been a state in the United States for 5 years. While it was growing and settlers were increasing the state’s population, Texas was still a fairly untamed wilderness in many places. The town of La Vaca was still in its infancy, begun in 1840 after the last Comanche Raid on Linnville. In 1850 the population of the town was only 315 souls, and the area was a port that freighted goods to areas in the west, south, and northern Mexico. It exported livestock, minerals, and many agricultural products as well. There were churches, 2 schools already set up and several businesses. So, what would bring a wealthy couple with a beautiful and successful estate in another state to make the long trip to this small town in Texas? Was it the richness of Texas lands, the potential for expanding his wealth, or one of the many new and different avenues of business opportunities that the Texas gulf coast could provide? Thomas gave the reason as being he was looking to settle in a place closer to his wife Elizabeth’s relatives. Her father, Robert Pryor was living in DeWitt County at that time. Not long after arriving in La Vaca, Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead died in July 1851. The cause could have been cholera which ran in waves through the area, or it could have been an early illness due to yellow fever which hit hard during the year of 1852, but with county records lost during the Indianola hurricanes, it has been lost to history. 

So ends the life of Thomas Mann Randolph Bankhead, though it is far from the end of his story. Remember this is a little treasure and a priceless story. To find out what that is, do not miss next week’s Tombstone Tuesday, when this historical nugget will be revealed.

Tombstone Tuesday is written and compiled each week by Jody Weaver and Sheryl Cuellar of the Calhoun County Historical Commission, sharing the people and stories behind Calhoun County's history.