12 for ’26 Week 2: Further Work with Peter H Hutson

This past week, I have been trying to locate Peter H. Hutson's purchase of land in the Chas Sargent Survey that Peter and his wife, Sarah, sold to T. J. Hayes on 17 January 1897.[1] I have used full-text search for “Hutson,” “Hudson,” and “Huston” with no luck. I also checked the grantee index with no luck. I began searching using full-text search on a portion of the land description, but have not yet finished that.

I located a deed where J. E. Palmer sold some land located in the Chas Sargent Survey to J. T. Cobbs in 1889.[2] This J.E. Palmer also sold land in 1892 to Peter but in the Lucy Pearsall Survey. J. E. Palmer is likely the John Ephraim Palmer who married Sarah’s sister, Mary Caroline Selman.[3] In the deed description for the land sold to Cobb, “Hutson” is mentioned: “at the northeast corner of a subdivision survey made for Hutson now occupied by Thos. Hays on the north line of said Sargent survey.” Now, it does not name Peter per se, but Peter later sells land to T. J. Hays and it may be this adjacent land.

I need to keep in mind that some FamilySearch records do not appear in full-text search when searching from home. These would be the restricted films viewable only at a FamilySearch Center or affiliate library. To be sure, I usually check the catalog of the area I am interested in to see if the digital film is viewable at home. However, if doing a full-text search with the filter for the entire state, then I would not know if a film did not show up because of it being restricted. Note to self: do the full-text search for “P. H. Hutson,” filtered to Texas, the next time I am at the Oakland FamilySearch Center.

Tax Records
There are tax records available for Comanche County and the first entry for Peter is in 1884. He is listed each year after but is not taxed on land until 1892.[4] He was taxed for 80 acres of land on the L. Pearsall survey, worth $300, along with the horse, wagon, 4 cattle, 3 hogs, and some miscellaneous item worth $1. This is the same year he purchased the Lucy Pearsall Survey land from J. E. Palmer. He continues to be taxed for this same land until 1897, when the records end on FamilySearch. So, this is not helping with the 55 acres of land he and Sarah sold to Hayes in January of 1897. He does not seem to have been taxed for it. It is a shame I do not have access to further tax records.

Airtable
I have added the deeds to the Airtable base and created a new view called “source view” so I see all the deeds are together. The image of the deed portion is shown here.

I next need to add the 14 tax records I have found for Peter between 1884 and 1897. Once I have done that, I will create another view in Airtable showing all the records in chronological order.

What’s Next?
The first tax record for Peter in 1884 suggests he arrived in Comanche County a little before that. He married Sarah in Hood County in 1879. I need to locate them between 1879 and 1884.

I have done some searching, but I have not found them in the 1880 census. She was from Leon County but I have not found her family in the 1870 census either. Only her father is listed on her death certificate as Green Selman born in Mississippi. The informant was N. E. Palmer, her nephew, who may not have known his grandparents.

Green B. Selman’s wife was Amanda D. Selman, who was buried at Round Timber Cemetery in Baylor County. She is listed as wife and widow of Jas Selman deceased and wife of G.B. Selman.[5] Green Selman was buried in 1888 at Concord Cemetery in Leon County.[6] This suggests looking for the Selman family in Cherokee, Baylor, and Leon counties. Full-text search at FamilySearch and searching for Selman at Newspapers.com and the newspaper project at The Portal to Texas History are now on the to-do list. 


[1] Comanche Co, Texas, deeds, v. 43, p. 106, P.H. & S.H. Hutson to T. J. Hayes, 1897, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YS66-RW8 : 2 Jan 2026); IGN 004494039, image 104 of 638.

[2] Comanche Co, Texas, deeds, v. Y, p. 124, J.E. Palmer to J.T. Cobbs, 1889, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YS6X-JX9 : accessed 14 Jan 2026); IGN 004492079, image 125 of 629.

[3] Married about 1875 according to 1900 census. 1900 U.S. census, Comanche, Texas, ED29, sht 11B, p 12A (stamped), Prec 2. dwelling 191, family 192, John E. Palmer. Spouse and maiden name listed in death certificate. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1983324 ); #49356, 1938, Mary Caroline Palmer; citing Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, Comanche Co.

[4] Comanche Co, Texas, tax record, 1892, line 27, P.H. Hutson, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-W9S4 : 4 Jan 2026); IGN 004616283, image 189 of 1805. Before this he was taxed generally on a horse or mule, a wagon or carriage, and occasionally some hogs. For example, see 1886: Comanche Co, Texas, tax records, 1886, line 23, P. H. Hutson, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3SL-HZH3 : 4 Jan 2026); IGN 008508449, image 615 of 1805.

[5] Round Timber Cemetery, Round Timber, Baylor Co, Texas, Amanda D Selman (1822-1880), tombstone photo by Nona Forrest, imaged, Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37942895/amanda-deborah-selman : accessed 16 Jan 2026), memorial 37942895.

[6] Concord Cemetery, Concord, Leon Co, Texas, G.B. Selman (1820-1888), tombstone photo by Mary Jo Fellers Fraley, imaged, Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21580900/greenlee_bean-selman : accessed 16 Jan 2026), memorial 21580900. 


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