Category: Other Things
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THE LITTLE WHITE CHURCH ON THE PRAIRIE with comments by Mary Newton Maxwell
My paternal grandmother, Lenora McCreary Williams, was born and grew up in Parker County, Texas. She referred to the land as rolling prairie. When she was eight years old, her parents, William Rankin and Avis McCreary, joined the Grindstone Branch of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church by letter. The year was 1871 I first saw the…
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Giving Thanks
Butch was the offspring of a dachshund mother and a traveling dog. His coat was brindle. More than one person remarked that he was funny looking and ugly. What he lacked in attractiveness was offset by his personality. I wrote the story of the little dog as a children’s book in 1972. It was…
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MINNIE COOPER’S LETTER
Minnie Cooper was the maternal grandmother of our friend, Warren Beene. He gave permission to share information about her including her last letter to her church. Minnie Cooper was born in 1870 on George Washington’s birthday, February 22. Her father was a doctor. She helped him and learned a lot about medicine. She “doctored” her…
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UNCLE DAVID
I never called him uncle in my life. David Haskins was my mother’s half-brother. He was 5 years older than me. I thought he was an adult who knew everything. I followed him like a puppy. David lived in a community called Coryell City near Gatesville, Texas. He went to school in Gatesville. He arrived…
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CITY GIRL AND COUNTRY BOY
Our cousin, Jackie Lee, was two years older than my brother, Carroll. She immediately dubbed him “Boy Baby.” The name stuck. She used it throughout her life. It was a term of endearment she used only within the family. She never used the term in any situation that might embarrass him. Jackie lived in town. …
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LOST FINCH
I have my dogs. My daughter has her cats. My cousin, Lanier, did not have a dog or cat to keep her company. She had a finch. She enjoyed her bird friend as much as others enjoy their four-legged animal friends. She would take the finch from the cage and talk to it as it…
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COLD AND HOT
We had an ice storm in February. As the temperature dropped outside, we appreciated the warmth inside. We reminisced about our comfort and how it had changed during our lifetimes. One of the early houses Ken remembered had two fireplaces. One fireplace was in the living…
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Hurricanes and Tornadoes
We have been captivated by TV coverage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma the last few weeks. A friend from the Houston area and a cousin from Beaumont were here during Harvey. They could not return home until last week. Fortunately, their homes were unharmed. The devastation has been painful to watch. I am having trouble…
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FALSE ALARM
We had relatives visiting for the week end. We stayed up late, but we eventually retired for the night. Two people slept in each of our guest bedrooms and a fifth stayed in our son’s RV. We were all sleeping soundly when at 3:30 AM, our security alarm jarred us awake. Ken ran to the…
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THERE IS NO CONNECTION
When my sister was born in 1916, she had 10 living grandparents. One of them was our great-grandmother, Margaret Ann Dalton Williams. Margaret had married our great grandfather, George Washington Williams, when she was 17 years old. They lived in Missouri and came to Texas in a wagon train in 1869. By that time…