Willard Durham (W.D.) Haston (1859-1929) was born on May 10, 1859, in Yell County, Arkansas, after his parents, Willie B. and Mary Durham Haston, left their home on Cane Creek in Van Buren County, Tennessee, in hopes of a better life west of the Mississippi.
W.D.’s father, Willie B. Haston, was the firstborn son of David and Peggy Roddy Haston, and a grandson of Daniel Haston.
Shortly after W.D. was born, his father died in Arkansas, so his mother moved the family back to Tennessee to be near her Durham family and her family of Haston in-laws.
Sometime before 1880, W.D. was back in Yell County, Arkansas, living with his older brother, Nathan Lorenza, and Nathan’s family.
W.D. and Nathan became Freewill Baptist preachers and moved into the Oklahoma Territory to minister to the Chickasaw and other Native American nations. Nathan died in 1897, but W.D. continued his missionary ministry in Johnston County, OK, until about 1905.
From there, W.D. moved his family to Cottle County, Texas, where he was a church-planting pastor and farmer. He died on June 4, 1929, in Cottle County and is buried in Paducah, Texas, beside his wife, Sally Ward McLemore Haston.
David Montgomery Haston (1848-1933) was the son of James W. and Jane Shockley Haston. James W. was the 10th son of David and Peggy Roddy Haston, 15 years younger than his brother, Willie B. Haston. But David M. Haston was about 11 years older than Willie B’s son, W.D. Haston.
David Montgomery Haston and Willard Durham Haston were first cousins, grandsons of David Haston and great-grandsons of Daniel Haston.
According to his grave marker, David Montgomery was born in 1848. That would have been in Van Buren County, Tennessee. He married Lucynda Evalee Jones in 1865, after serving as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War.
David M’s father died in Van Buren County sometime around (shortly before or after) 1860, when his horse slipped on ice and fell on him. After his father’s death, David M’s mother moved the family to her Shockley parents’ plantation.
Jane, with her sons David Montgomery and Isham Phillip and her daughter Evaline (with some grandchildren), moved to Bell County, Texas, in about 1875 or 1876. Son James had already moved to Texas.
David Montgomery Haston died in 1933 and is buried in Leon County, Texas. Lucynda died in 1935 and is buried next to her husband.
You Can Learn More About These Texas Haston Clans in the October 2026 MidAmerica Gathering
Daniel Haston (c. 1750-1826), an early Tennessee pioneer, was the ancestor of many, if not most, people with Haston, Hastin, and Hastain family names, regardless of where they live in the USA.
In the 1800s, many of his descendants moved west to places like Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, etc., and even to California and the Northwest. This Gathering will focus on the history of these branches of the vast Daniel Haston FAMILY.
If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.
