Vancil

The Vancils

The Vancil family is of German origin, the maternal ancestry being of Irish descent. The name was originally spelled "Wentzel," afterwards "Wensel," and finally "Vancil."

Mollie Vancil's father was named John W. Vancil (born 1849), and her mother was Annie Fones Vancil (born about 1859). According to Mollie's daughter Kathleen, "Annie [Fones Vancil] eloped on horseback on her 16th birthday [about 1875] and headed straight for the Hill Country near Johnson City (Blanco County). LBJ's parents and grandparents lived nearby and were very good to the young bride and new baby when the Indians would attack and when John Vancil was away---horse trading or whatever it was he did on his long trips away from home." Annie Fones Vancil was known as Gammy to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

John W. Vancil died June 2, 1878 in a gunfight with a neighbor. It was called "A Sad Affair " by the newspaper which reprinted the original news story in its 100th anniversary edition. Kathleen Stewart said the incident illustrated John Vancil's temper. It was reported the argument degenerated from throwing rocks to going home to get guns. "John W. Vancil was killed in a shoot-out with James Talley. Mr. Talley shot first, hitting Mr. Vancil in the stomach. Mr. Vancil returned fire hitting Mr. Talley. John Vancil died as a result of his wounds. According to a report in the Gonzales newspaper, Mr. Talley was expected to recover" (source). John is buried in Dickinson Cemetery (off CR 90B, near Dozier Road between Belmont and Gonzales), along with his father, Peter Vancil and other family members.

Mollie Vancil was born in 1875, probably born in Blanco County. In the 1880 census Annie (or Anna) Fones Vancil is listed as a widow with a four-year daughter Mollie; they lived in Gonzales County, Texas. Annie Fones Vancil, at about age 21, apparently moved to Gonzales County after the death of John W. Vancil to live with her 25 year-old brother Charles E. Fones, his wife Sally and their child, and also Annie and Charles' 67 year-old mother Elizabeth Fones (born about 1813). Annie Fones Vancil married her late husband's younger brother Silas (born 1860). Silas was about 11 years younger than John Vancil, and has been described as a religious fanatic. According to the 1880 census, Silas was living in Gonzales County with his older brother David E. Vancil and his wife (Rachel) and child.

Mollie Vancil Stewart, Norris Stewart, Annie Fones Vancil, and Silas Vancil are buried in the same plot in Belton, (Bell County) TX. Norris Stewart died and was buried in Harlingen, but some time later Mollie had his body moved to Belton.

Other members of the Vancil family lived in Bell County. The town of Moffat, Texas, in Bell County, was founded by Amelia Vancil Moffet (1839- ) and Dr. Chauncey Warren Moffet in February 1857. I think Amelia Vancil was a first cousin of John W. Vancil. She was the daughter of Isaac C. Vancil (1810-1892), who was an older brother of Peter Vancil. Isaac C. Vancil was born in Grayson County, Virginia but moved to Illinois, which is where Amelia was born.

Nora E. Vancil (1860-1876) is also buried in the South Belton Cemetery. She must have been the cousin of John W. and Silas Vancil. John W. Vancil must have taken Annie Fones Vancil to live with or near relatives in Bell County.

John William Vancil (1849-78) was the son of Peter Vancil, a farmer (born 1819) and Mary Mitchell Vancil (born either 1830 or 1824--hard to read census). Peter Vancil reportedly buried money and gold all over ranch, but nothing has been recovered. Peter and Mary Vancil had seven children. John Vancil was the second eldest, and Silas was the youngest.


Peter Vancil was born July 3, 1819 in Union County, Illinois. He died Jan 25, 1873 in Gonzales, Texas, and is buried in Dickinson Cemetery in Gonzales.

Other Vancils buried in Dickinson Cemetery:

David Ellis Vancil (1855-1932)
Rachel Vancil (1862-1889)  (wife of David E. Vancil)
Emma M. Vancil (1861-1912)
Homer D. Vancil(1894-1957)
Collis D. Vancil (1892-1893)
Emma H. Vancil (b. Nov. 25, 1877, d. Jan. 15, 1878)
Mary J. Fitzgerald Vancil (1850-1879) (wife of Wade Hampton Vancil, Peter Vancil's son.)

The Vancils are buried under a huge ash juniper in the same plot as Rachel Hemmingner Dickinson Booth (1823-1906), a Citizen of the Republic of Texas. The cemetery is apparently located on on her land, which was granted to her first husband Edward Dickinson--(1107 acres) located on the east bank of the Guadalupe River eleven miles west of Gonzales between plots granted to Eliza and Green DeWitt. The Vancils probably lived in this area west of the town of Gonzalez.

Apparently John Vancil moved from Fayette to Gonzalez to live near his older sister Naomi Catherine (Kate) Vancil Dickinson (1848-1927 or 1934?). Kate was the wife of Edward Dickinson, Jr. So Rachel Hemmingner Dickinson Booth would have been Kate's mother-in-law. Edward Dickinson, Sr. fought with Sam Houston in the Texas Revolution. Edward, Jr. fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War; he died in 1927 in San Antonio and was buried with his father in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.

Peter Vancil's siblings were Sarah Jane Vancil, Adam Vancil, and John Vancil, Jr. Peter was the youngest.

Peter married Mary Mitchell in Austin, Texas (12 Jan. 1847). They then settled in Fayette County. Mary Mitchell Vancil was born 13 Sept. 1823 in Tennessee. She died 22 Jan 1868 in Fayette County TX. Her father was John Tarpley Mitchell (1783 (Virginia)-1865 (Missouri); her mother was Polly Cotten Read (1786 (Virginia)-1881 (Missouri).

Peter Vancil was the son of Isaac Vancil (1787-1850) and Katherine Putmaster (1791-1829). Isaac was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and died in Morgan County, Illinois.

Isaac Vancil was the son of John Vancil, Sr. and Mary Penrod. John Vancil (or Wensel), Sr. was born in 1747 in Patrick County, Virginia and died in 1817 in the same county. Mary Penrod was born in 1750 in Somerset Country, Penn. They married 17 May 1768 in Frederick Co., Maryland. They had twelve children. Isaac was the second to the youngest.

The parents of John Vancil, Sr. were Maria Brerathin Wentzel (about 1725 (Prussia)-1815 (Montgomery, Co, Virginia) married Johann Adam Wentzel in 1743. Children were Jonathan (John Sr.), Mary, Edmund, Susannah.