Tracy Press

The great-great-grandfather of Frank Williams was a Texas slave-owner who owned the great-grandfather of Tracy's Evelyn Tolbert. Now the two have reconnected, Tolbert hopes to fill in her family tree past its dead end on a Texas plantation.

Glenn Moore/Tracy Press - history:Evelyn Tolbert shows a photo of her father to Frank Williams as they discuss ancestral ties to a Texas slave-owner.

Evelyn Tolbert and Frank Williams don’t look like extended family, yet they call each other cousins-in-law and talk about ancestors as if they were their own.

The family lines of Williams, a businessman from Utah, and Tolbert meet in the late 1800s on a dusty plantation in southern Texas. The plantation’s owner, Matthew Talbot, was Williams’ great-great-grandfather, and the slave master of Evelyn Tolbert’s great-grandfather.

The two met for the first time Wednesday and swapped stories of their families’ small-town heroes, strong-willed women and, primarily, of Talbot, the hinge of the families.

They shared old photos and faded marriage certificates to try to solve some of their family history mysteries.

“When you hear this great story and there’s a gap, you want to fill it in,” Williams said. “We have some great gaps to fill.”

Tolbert hopes the meeting leads to clues about where the slave master purchased her relatives, and, ultimately, what country her ancestors originally inhabited.

Tolbert, a lawyer and Tracy city councilwoman, has always enjoyed learning about her family’s history. So when the Tracy Area Genealogy Society was founded in 1998, she was one of its first members.

A family’s history helps define each individual, she said.

“The very fact that you’re here means that someone in your family sacrificed something,” she said. “The very least we can do is find out what their names are.”

The study of her family came to a dead end at her great-grandfather, Joseph Talbot. He was a slave in Texas who took on his slave master’s last name in the 1800s. Somewhere during the course of history, Talbot transformed to Tolbert.

Tolbert’s genealogical research and yearly visits to Texas eventually unveiled the character of the renowned slave master.

“Everything I’ve found out about him indicates that he was an honorable man,” Tolbert said.

The slave-owner Talbot helped rescue his niece, Ann Harvey, when American Indians abducted her in 1836. The story is told in the movie “The Searchers,” starring John Wayne as Talbot.

He pioneered the first Episcopalian church in Texas and regularly brought his slaves, including Tolbert’s great-grandparents, to the church.

In April 2003, after she prayed in the pew where he and her ancestors prayed, Tolbert wrote a piece about the slave master.

A Google search for Matthew Talbot led Williams to the article, and the two family lines were reunited.

“Not too long ago, I too prayed in that pew with my father,” Williams wrote to Tolbert.

He grew up hearing about his great-great-grandfather; a family man, a Christian, a judge and a slave master. Even now, Williams said he’s always taken aback by the stories of Talbot.

“It’s always made me feel a little creepy,” Williams said. “But it’s comforting to know he treated others well, no matter what the circumstances.”

His father, who died two years ago, and his late aunts fought to keep the family history alive. “I wish they were alive to see this meeting,” Williams said.

Now he and Tolbert plan to pass on their families’ trials and triumphs to their children. Tolbert will travel to Texas in October to visit the church, meet more of Williams’ family and look for the Talbot plantation.

“There are great heroes in our history — we just need to find their stories,” Tolbert said.

• To contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy, call 830-4280 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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