Sent previously as part of Mary Elizabeth (Shipp) Smith's bio was this tidbit... "There was an article written in the Ozona "Stockman" concerning Mary Elizabeth Shipp Smith. She was celebrating her 86th birthday (no date). The article told how the children feared the Indians. ..." Mary Elizabeth was the dau/o Dr. Austin A. Shipp and Louisa Caroline Chaudoin. This is the whole article with just a tidbit missing in the conclusion. Said to have appeared in the Ozona "Stockman" [undated] "Mother Smith Nears Another Life Milestone Pioneer Resident and Charter Member of Methodists Mrs. M. E. Smith, who is among the oldest residents of Crockett County, will celebrate her 86th birthday anniversary September 20. Mrs. Smith, who was Mary Elizabeth Shipp, was born in Llano County in 1855. Her parent were Dr. and Mrs. A. A. Shipp, who came to Texas in an early day from Tennessee. While living in Llano County, they were always uneasy, fearing attacks from the Indians, especially on the light of the moon when the Indians did their pilfering. Mrs. Smith remembers that when her dad would be away on sick call, she, her mother, and two small brothers would sit in the dark, afraid to light a lamp for fear it would attract the Redskins. After she was grown, Indians would parade around the house at night looking in windows. It was impossible to keep a saddle horse. Many times the children and wives would be hustled to a certain farm house for protection, while the men took up the trail of the raiders. She states that she has had many sleepless nights watching and listening for the Commanches when they were on the warpath. The Shipps moved to Bastrop for a short while and from there to Caldwll County, where they were during the Civil War. Dr. Shipp waited on the Confederate soldiers, contracting from them what was then termed 'camp fever,' which caused his death. Mrs. Smith recalls seeing the Confederate soldiers pass all day before her home. There was a scarcity of food, only what the people raised. It was a common occurrence to see Northern soldiers destroy the fields and plunder homes. Especially does she remember the soldiers ripping open the neighbors' sacks of flour and pouring it out, as biscuits were such a rare treat in those times. After Mr. Shipp's death, Mrs. Shipp moved her family to Blanco. There Mary Elizabeth met James Smith, who was a cowboy. They were married in 1869. The couple started west with their cattle and settled near Big Spring. At that time the country was not fenced and they drifted with the herd as far as New Mexico. Mr. Smith was a great lover of horses and kept a string of thoroughbreds. The Smiths moved to Ozona in 1895. Their son had come here five years earlier. Mrs. Smith has been living in the same house 49 years. At the time of her coming the jail was not completed though the old court house had been moved from Emerald, seven miles east of Ozona. The social center of the town was the old wooden school house on the site where now stands the $170,000 school plant. The building was not only used for school but as a community church house and lodge hall. Mrs. Smith has been a member of the Methodist Church over 50 years and is a charter member of the church here. She has had seven children, the oldest son, Austin, a ranchman at Hope, N.M., Mrs. Belle Toole of Lamesa; Mrs. Tom Casbeer of Ozona, and Miss Lee Smith, who lives with her mother. Mrs. Ned Montieth, a daughter, died here several years ago, and a son, Grant was killed by a horse while roping in Sanderson a few years ago. ...good health. She makes her own dresses, quilts, sews, and reads without glasses."