John Brockington DeWitt was born in a tent on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, He was the only son of John Brockington DeWitt and Marilda Burleson Collinsworth DeWitt. He had older siblings from both his father and mother's previous marriages but was the only child of this union. His father died in the same year he was born in August of 1902. He lived a very hard life and was the product of his environment.

His widowed mother took in laundry to help care for her son and he began working at a very young age on the East side of Austin, Texas. He was a shoe shine boy, sold newspapers and did odd jobs. They were very poor. He lived for a short time in Oklahoma with his mother and her Collinsworth family, but soon came back to Austin and attended third grade at Palm Elementary School. This record was from his third grade class.

He learned to run with a rough crowd and without a father's stern hand to guide him, he got into trouble. His mother did marry again to a W.I. McCracken. John liked his stepfather and had a step brother called Buck whom he was fond of and visited in Belton, Texas. Buck was married to a lady named Mittie and they had one daughter called Honey as well as other children.

John married Ann "Annie" Brown. Also sometimes known as Nancy Ann Brown. They had two children. A son John Brockington DeWitt Jr. known as J.B. and a boy Charlie. John was only with the boys a few years when he got into trouble with the law and went to prison for a time. The pattern of boys without a father to guide them caused these boys to get into mischief and later led to J.B. also being imprisoned.

John married Patsy Johnson and had no children. He later married Annie Mae Small and had one daughter named Beulah Mae DeWitt. This child was injured quite young in life and may have suffered from a high fever which left her incapacitated. She is still living at this time in the state hospital in Abilene, Texas.

John then married Nannie Lee Stark. They had two boys; Johnnie Lee DeWitt who was a career Army man and Frank DeWitt. Johnnie married Janice Gaul and had three daughters; Vicki Lynn, Peggy Ann and Becky Sue. Johnnie DeWitt then married Mae Sung and they reside in Austin, Texas. Frank married Deborah Morisset and had two daughters; Francis Lee and Deborah Ann. Frank married again to a lady named Sue who had twins and then they had a daughter Tammy who all live in the Bastrop, Texas area.

John then married Helen Grace Teague. They had a son Robert, daughter Debra (me) and daughter Diane. Robert married and had a son Robert Dale and married again and had a daughter Elizabeth and another son named Robert. Debra married James Crowley and had two children by this marriage; Karen Elizabeth and Kevin James. She later married Benny Wood and they had a daughter named Kristin. Karen had three children; Jessica Lynn, Christopher Nicholas and Cynthia Nicole.

John then remarried Nannie DeWitt and they were together until the time of his death in 1983. He was a hard man but was loved by his wife Nannie and his children. It is not possible to take the man out of the context of his time. He was a product of 1902 and to judge him by later moral standards would be an injustice. He was my father and I loved him very much.

The family tree is on Ancestry.com. or just search DeWitt Family Information thru the Presbyterian Historical Foundation.

Debra A. Jordan

John Dewitt