Isaac Medlin, fourth child of Hall Medlin, came to the Grapevine area at age two in a wagon train led by his father in 1844.  Hall, a restless man and devout Baptist, moved to Travis Co. near Austin prior to 1850.  Isaac inherited many of his father's characteristics.  He was fifteen when the family made a trip to California.  In 1868 a second historic trip (a rather ill fated cattle drive) was made.  This venture was later narrated by the Los Angeles Times in 1907.  Interesting stories of difficult times and dangerous situations concerning the trip have been passed down by the family (see Trek to Texas, by Pearl Foster O'Donnell, p 128-132).

Isaac returned to Texas and married "Sally" Mulkey in Travis Co. in 1872.  Their children were: John Hall, born 1875, and Lewis Jerome, born 1876, in Hays Co.; William Jasper, born 1879, Lena Malinda, born 1881, James Marion, born 1883, and Sarah Ethyl, born 1885 in Burnet Co.;  Roy Virgil, born 1891, in Haskell Co.;  and Essie Emaline, born 1895, and Cecil Alvin, born 1898 in Oklahoma.

Isaac moved from Burnet Co. to Knox Co. in 1885, remembered by the children for the school attended there.

Isaac moved to Oklahoma in 1893, where the family took part in the Cherokee Strip Land Rush, resulting in the settling of Woodward.  Sons Hall and Lew made the race on horseback with their father, while Sally and the younger children followed by wagon.  The distance traveled was twenty miles.  Many "winded" their horses and did not finish.  Although Isaac's family successfully completed the race, they made no great financial gains from it.

He moved to Howard Co., Texas in 1903, then successively to Glasscock, Martin, Dawson, and finally Gaines counties, where he died in the "flu epidemic" of 1920, as did sons William and James.  At each location Isaac ranched, put some land in cultivation, and established orchards.  He and Sally always attended church and took their children.  After everything was well started, he was generally ready to move on.  Although he encountered many hardships and was never wealthy by money standards, the family prospered and might have become wealthy if he had stayed longer in one place.

E.R. Bates' History of Denton Co. of 1918 reported on the Medlins and others who came to the Peters Colony in 1844:  their objective was doing all they could for each other and making their way into a better world.  The Medlin families have tended to continue those traditions as strong family units, good neighbors, and active church people.

About one hundred descendants of Isaac Medlin held a reunion in 1978 near Fredericksburg, Texas, and descendants of Lewis Jerome, second son of Isaac, hold a reunion at Thanksgiving each year.

Lewis Jerome Medlin, born September 2, 1876 in Hays County, Texas died November 19, 1949 in Amarillo, Texas, married first, Eunice Williamson, had Lora Ann Medlin.  He married second, Mary Lydia Ward, born October 7, 1892, Coleman County, Texas, died December 1951, Amarillo, Texas, and they had three children:  Homer Lewis Medlin, Shirley Allen Medlin, and Mary Lou Medlin.

Homer Lewis Medlin, born September 3, 1920, Midland, Texas, married Dorothy Adeline Jordan, daughter of Ulyses Erastus and Ara Ruby (Adrian) Jordan, had three children"  Debra Sue Medlin, September 7, 1950 Dallas, Texas; Dianne Cecile Medlin, September 18, 1953, Dallas; Gary Lewis Medlin, March 27, 1957, Dallas.

Shirley Allen Medlin, born March 9, 1923, Midland, Texas, married Frances Geraldine Russell, daughter of William J.D. Russell and Eunice Rowena (Bachtel) Russell, had three children:  Russell Lewis Medlin, July 12, 1949, Amarillo, Texas;  Allen Douglas Medlin, May 2, 1951, Dallas, Texas;  Marianne Medlin, June 3, 1957, Dallas.

Mary Lou Medlin, born October 8, 1924, Garden City, Texas, married Joseph L. McGregor, son of James Benton and Ana Lillian (Strange) McGregor had two children:  Patsy Lou McGregor, March 18, 1951, Amarillo, Texas, and Shirley Joe McGregor, October 4, 1953, Abilene, Texas.

Some of the Medlin descendants are involved in agriculture as were their fathers and grandfathers, but others are in business and professions as minister, teacher, engineer, airline pilot, attorney, and architect.  Many live within a short drive of Grapevine, Texas.

By Homer Lewis Medlin

and Shirley Allen Medlin