{"id":605,"date":"2016-08-18T20:40:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T01:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=605"},"modified":"2016-09-24T13:33:43","modified_gmt":"2016-09-24T18:33:43","slug":"a-town-called-necessity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=605","title":{"rendered":"A TOWN CALLED NECESSITY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Necessity is located in southeastern Stephens County, Texas.\u00a0 It was first called Mountain Valley and later Cotton Plant. It got the present name when the community applied for a post office.\u00a0 The application stated that it was a necessity that the town have a post office.\u00a0 The approval came back for a post office at Necessity, Texas.<\/p>\n

My family was in Necessity before 1920. They, along with other relatives, lived and farmed in Necessity and the surrounding area.\u00a0 My parents started their dairy there before later moving to Breckenridge.<\/p>\n

The school was the center for activities both academic and social.\u00a0\u00a0 Church was held at the school on Sundays with itinerant preachers from different denominations rotating.\u00a0 My sister and brother started school there, my sister in 1921 and my brother in 1927.\u00a0\u00a0 At one time the school reportedly had ten teachers.\u00a0 When there was a program at the school, most people attended even if they had no children in school. \u00a0A family story involves my sister at age five. The parents of one of her playmates were both teachers.\u00a0 \u00a0My parents were very proud of their little girl.\u00a0 They attended a program at the school and had her dressed up in new clothes.\u00a0 She even had new shoes.\u00a0 The parents of her little friend asked if she could sit with their daughter.\u00a0 My parents agreed.\u00a0 During the program, my parents were astounded when the teacher called my sister to the stage.\u00a0 They were even more surprised when she did a recitation that went like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere once was a young man named Ash,<\/p>\n

Who gave to his wife all of his cash.<\/p>\n

She spent it all for dresses<\/p>\n

And now she confesses<\/p>\n

They have nothing to eat but hash.\u201d<\/p>\n

This brought thundering applause.\u00a0 They were still telling this story many years later.<\/p>\n

\"Necessity<\/a>
Necessity School. Rankin and Ethel Williams at end of 3rd row of those standing, with big hats.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Necessity<\/a>
Necessity School. Vaudine Williams 6th from left, front row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Necessity<\/a>
Necessity School. Carroll Williams 3rd from left, back row<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Note that earlier pictures are of a frame building. \u00a0The last one is brick. \u00a0I am guessing that my brother is 8 or 9 years old, which would make this about 1929 or 1930.<\/p>\n

When oil was discovered in Stephens County, the population of Necessity swelled to 20,000.\u00a0 Many farmers left farming to work in the oil field.\u00a0 There were two banks and numerous stores.\u00a0 The remains of one of the bank vaults can be seen today alongside a county road. \u00a0My \u00a0maternal grandmother, Evangeline Haskins, operated a boarding house during the boom. \u00a0Eventually the boom moved northward and young people left for careers other than farming.\u00a0 Today the population is less than 30.\u00a0 There is still a church and the ruins of the school building are near it.<\/p>\n

My parents moved to Breckenridge before I was born, but their ties to Necessity remained strong.\u00a0 For many years, Sunday afternoons were spent in Necessity visiting friends and relatives. I vaguely remember that there was still a general store at that time.\u00a0 While the adults sat on the front porch visiting, I entertained myself with toys.<\/p>\n

A big Necessity event was the graveyard working, or as more genteel folks called it, the cemetery working.\u00a0 The Necessity Cemetery is the largest rural cemetery in Stephens County.\u00a0 My parents, maternal and paternal grandparents, brother, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins are buried there.\u00a0 The work days are held the first Saturday in May and September.\u00a0 In earlier days, if people moved away and could only come home\u00a0occasionally, they came the first Saturday in May for the cemetery working.\u00a0 It was like a homecoming.\u00a0 The parking area and the roadway overflowed with cars. \u00a0My parents always attended when I was a child.\u00a0 People brought their hoes and rakes and cleaned the cemetery.\u00a0 Work was followed by \u201cdinner on the ground.\u201d\u00a0 Wide boards were placed on sawhorses and loaded with the food each family had brought. \u00a0In those days a barrel was placed atop an open fire to make coffee. \u00a0When I saw the fire going under the coffee, I knew this meant that food would soon be coming out of the baskets and boxes. \u00a0This was a great time for children.\u00a0 It meant all of the fried chicken and chocolate cake we could eat.<\/p>\n

When I married, I told my husband I wanted to visit my family on the weekend of the graveyard working. \u00a0He asked, \u201cFor the what?\u201d\u00a0 He soon fell into the custom.\u00a0 When we had children, they became accustomed to going to Necessity. \u00a0Our youngest son had trouble with the terminology when he was about three or four years old.\u00a0 He raised more than a few eyebrows when he told people he was going \u201cto the grave digging.\u201d\u00a0 On another occasion the children were puzzled by another old expression.\u00a0 We arrived on the given Saturday and were soon surrounded by relatives greeting us.\u00a0 There was a new grave near where we parked.\u00a0 Ken asked my brother if it was anyone we knew.\u00a0 My brother answered that it was a new arrival to the area and he \u201cwent over to Fort Worth and got knocked in the head.\u201d\u00a0 The children\u2019s eyes widened. \u00a0I knew they did not know what happened to the poor fellow. I explained to them that was an old fashioned expression meaning he got hit over the head and killed.<\/p>\n

The crowds are dwindling, but my family still attends if possible. There is now an association which hires a caretaker to mow and clean several times a year.\u00a0 The old arbor has been replaced with a nice covered pavilion.\u00a0 Lunch is still served.\u00a0 Visitors renew friendships, reminisce, and get caught up on local news.<\/p>\n

\"image.png<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Flagg<\/a>
Flagg Hotel, Necessity, TX. My gradmother, Mary Evangeline Haskins, was cook and manager during oil boom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ruins<\/a>
Ruins of bank vault, Necessity, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Union<\/a>
Union HIll Baptist Church, annexed to First Baptist Necessity
Pictured in 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Necessity<\/a>
Necessity School ruins, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Necessity is located in southeastern Stephens County, Texas.  It was first called Mountain Valley and later Cotton Plant. It got the present name when the community applied for a post office.  The application stated that it was a necessity that the town have a post office.  The approval came back for a post office at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[183,184,178],"class_list":["post-605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-early-days-to-1955","category-uncategorized","tag-early-texas-boom-town","tag-largest-cemetery-in-stephens-county-texas","tag-necessity-texas"],"yoast_head":"\nA TOWN CALLED NECESSITY - Loose Strings From The Past<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The town got its name when the application for a post office stated that it was a necessity to have a post office.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=605\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A TOWN CALLED NECESSITY - 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