John Wade

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

1.  Corpus Christi History by Murphy Givens

            Corpus Christi Caller Times (December 20, 2000). Available on microfilm.

2.  Corpus Christi History by Murphy Givens

            Corpus Christi Caller Times (December 19, 2007).

3.  Biography

The beautiful stone that honors the final resting place of John Wade and his spouse was erected by their son, John L. Wade who was born April 28, 1822 in the town of Ribston, Yorkshire, England.  His parents came with him to America in 1852 like many others from the British Isles in response to H. L. Kinney's advertisement for land in south Texas.  They came aboard the ship "Essex" to begin a new life.  The senior John Wade had been born at Yorkshire November 5, 1786.  He had married Mary Dunn on December 11, 1815 at Coatin Church, England.  However, he died on December 26, 1852 not long after the family's arrival in their new home.  His widow Mary had been born December 30, 1790 and would live long enough to see her son a prosperous member of the sheep raisers of the coastal bend.  Along with the Almond, Wright, Adams, and Beynon families, John L. Wade would be a prominent herder in south Texas during the years when the sheep industry was a commercial bounty for the area.  Mary Dunn Wade died June 11, 1876.  John and Mary's son, John L. Wade, married Sarah Beynon who had been born on November 18, 1837 at Hanuger near Solva, Pembrokeshire, South Wales.  They married in Nuecestown on November 27, 1861 (see especially the "Joseph Almond Diary: 1861-1875" written and compiled by Vernice P. Garrett).  By 1880 (see census p. 77D) John and Sarah Wade had five children: John L. (17 years old), Wallace D. (14 years old), Sarah M. (11 years old), Rosalind (7 years old), and Gertrude (1 year old).  The Wade family would leave a strong legacy in the area of Nueces County, and many results of their hard work and family growth still remain to this day.

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell