Hi Monte, and others

This is an old post and you probably have all of your needed Deere Family info by now but just in case I can add a little information about the parents and history your Augustus Deere back to his Mississippi roots.........

Here linked is my (our) DEAR Family file with some Mississippi history.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jerry_l_s... ..............

The gist of your Gus Deere's line is his father Elias Crawford Dear migrated from Simpson Co, MS about 1850 to Bradley Co, AR. Gus is son of Elias's second wife.
It appears that Gus changed the spelling of his surname from Dear to Deere about 1910-1920 while still in Texas.........

As best I can determine our line seemed to be spelled Deer way back in Barnwell Co, SC,, 1700s and early 1800s.......

When our line migrated to Central Mississippi,, Rankin and Simpson Counties early 1800s, it seems they all, several brothers, changed to the Dear spelling.
Your Elias Crawford Dear's, father Willis was in this bunch......

One of our SC Deer line ended up in Marion to Pike Co, MS and retained the SC Deer spelling......

One line ended up in South Alabama and also retained the Deer spelling......

So far your Gus is the only one that I have come across that officially changed to the Deere spelling per his TX Certificate of Death. He was a Dear, per Census records until he was about thirty y/o.....

Anyone familiar with what I am talking about that can correct anything in the linked file above,, I would appreciate very much any corrections and additional info that you can add,, especially birth and death dates, cemeteries, etc......

Thanks ahead for all the Deer/Dear/Deere and affiliated family help anyone can provide. I also love old photos of the old timers if anyone can email copies to me. They will be kept private,, not to be put online by me......

Thanks again,,
jerry stevens
jackson, ms
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=jerry_l_s...