Hello All, I'm forwarding the following story, which was passed on to me. However, please understand, that I do not know these people, nor have I made any connections from my family to this one. I'm just hoping that maybe, it will help someone else out there, make a connection, or at least a little something extra to add to their gen notes. Thanks, Pam HARDIN COUNTY CONNECTIONS Vol 10 No.4, December 2000 PIONEER RECALLS EARLY DAYS IN CALL Submitted by Edna Pitts Jack Holmes, whose family patented land in the Call Area, grew up the may many pioneer children did. Stories of his life and lives of family members permeate the room as he begins to share what life was really like in those days. Jack's father, Tom Green Holmes, and called Black Tom, because he had beautiful dark, curly hair, taught his son how to live. Black Tom lived on land granted to his father between 1870-1889, His father, Thomas Harrison Holmes always had crops planted and ran several hundred cattle on an open range from the Sabine River to the Neches. Tom, only 13 when his mother died, took on the responsibilities of a man. He worked side by side with his father plowing fields or driving cattle. Black Tom's first wife, Arsula West, gave birth to seven children. Four died at birth from what is now believed to be complications related to the negative RH blood factor. She died young, leaving him with three young children. At 35 Tom married Stella Carter, 19, from Iowa and started another family They had 9 children, of which 3 died. Tom and Stella raised 10 of the sixteen children. Jack was born of this union when his father was 65 years old. One of Jack's earliest memories is, " Mama in the kitchen cooking a big noon meal and the different folks, like Judge Lindsey, who would come by to eat. This was a way of life ! Everyone was welcome, to the Holmes' table. The old Orange to Hemphill Road ran right in front of the house. Bittereweed grew between the ruts. Wagons and early model cars traveled this road until Highway 87 was rerouted. The word spread of a big spring located near the old road, which became a customary stopping place for travelers. They would stop for water to refresh themselves and to water their horses. If they were traveling any distance, they would usually make camp for the night, then set out again the next morning. As a child Jack remembers the virgin timber, logging operations, carrying logs to the trains, putting rocks on the tracks thinking he could derail the locomotive. He remembers when there were lots of chinquapins, hickory nuts, and berries for the abundant wild game. Harvesting the timber changed the ecology. " That's the down side," stated Holmes. " The upside is a lot of children went to bed with a full belly. Death knew no stranger during those days. A young farmer, his wife, and son had just settled in. They had erected a shack, were in the process of digging a well, when suddenly his wife took ill and died. The young man and his son buried her. Everything was left as it was and they were never seen again. This land has many unmarked graves on it. People traveling died and were buried on the spot. The old home place nestled on a hundred-twenty acres across the creek is " haunted " with ghost tales. Jack states 8 or 9 people died in it over the years. Life was hard. Medicine was not available. People did their best to survive. Black Tom's main source of income was raising cattle. The cattle picked up ticks and were dying from the infestations. The men built a dipping vat to dip the cattle. The vat was a deep hole about 9-10 feet deep with a concrete sloped walk which the cattle used to climb out of the hole. Arsenic was added to the water and tested for color. When the color was just right, the animals were forced into the pit and drenched. After several applications of this solution over a period of time, the tick problem was brought under control. There were at least 9 of these dipping vats on the Holmes land. Jack loves to tell how Black Tom hated cars. When the V-8 auto come into existence, it could travel 60 MPH. Black Tom moaned how those poor cows could not walk across the highway in a minute and the cars were going to kill all of his cows. Not long after the arrival of the fast vehicles, Black Tom sold most of his cows for the top dollar price of $ 27.00 per head. The little country boy, who did not know there were any other children in this world, other than his brothers and sisters, until he started to school at Call, grew up to follow in the footsteps of those who had gone before him. Being the Great Grandson of Thomas C Holmes, Revolutionary soldier, and the grandson of Civil War veterans, Jack, too, followed tradition and fought in war. He served in World War II in both Africa and Germany. War is not a subject broached easily with him. He lost most of his hearing there and his youth. He came home to the land he loved to resume his legacy and to keep the Holmes traditions of farming and raising cattle. He and his companion of 50 years, Mary Lazenby, raised 3 daughters, Dinah, Velma and Patricia. Jack always has a pot of coffee on the burner, a funny story to tell and cows grazing in the meadow. Source: Interview with Jack Holmes

Pam, do you know what state this Hardin county is in? By the way, I JUST LOVED THAT STORY! Betty P -----Original Message----- From: Emil Serda [mailto:kelly298@earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 3:57 PM To: HOLMES-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [HOLMES] Fw: Jack Holmes of Call Texas Hello All, I'm forwarding the following story, which was passed on to me. However, please understand, that I do not know these people, nor have I made any connections from my family to this one. I'm just hoping that maybe, it will help someone else out there, make a connection, or at least a little something extra to add to their gen notes. Thanks, Pam HARDIN COUNTY CONNECTIONS Vol 10 No.4, December 2000 PIONEER RECALLS EARLY DAYS IN CALL Submitted by Edna Pitts Jack Holmes, whose family patented land in the Call Area, grew up the may many pioneer children did. Stories of his life and lives of family members permeate the room as he begins to share what life was really like in those days. Jack's father, Tom Green Holmes, and called Black Tom, because he had beautiful dark, curly hair, taught his son how to live. Black Tom lived on land granted to his father between 1870-1889, His father, Thomas Harrison Holmes always had crops planted and ran several hundred cattle on an open range from the Sabine River to the Neches. Tom, only 13 when his mother died, took on the responsibilities of a man. He worked side by side with his father plowing fields or driving cattle. Black Tom's first wife, Arsula West, gave birth to seven children. Four died at birth from what is now believed to be complications related to the negative RH blood factor. She died young, leaving him with three young children. At 35 Tom married Stella Carter, 19, from Iowa and started another family They had 9 children, of which 3 died. Tom and Stella raised 10 of the sixteen children. Jack was born of this union when his father was 65 years old. One of Jack's earliest memories is, " Mama in the kitchen cooking a big noon meal and the different folks, like Judge Lindsey, who would come by to eat. This was a way of life ! Everyone was welcome, to the Holmes' table. The old Orange to Hemphill Road ran right in front of the house. Bittereweed grew between the ruts. Wagons and early model cars traveled this road until Highway 87 was rerouted. The word spread of a big spring located near the old road, which became a customary stopping place for travelers. They would stop for water to refresh themselves and to water their horses. If they were traveling any distance, they would usually make camp for the night, then set out again the next morning. As a child Jack remembers the virgin timber, logging operations, carrying logs to the trains, putting rocks on the tracks thinking he could derail the locomotive. He remembers when there were lots of chinquapins, hickory nuts, and berries for the abundant wild game. Harvesting the timber changed the ecology. " That's the down side," stated Holmes. " The upside is a lot of children went to bed with a full belly. Death knew no stranger during those days. A young farmer, his wife, and son had just settled in. They had erected a shack, were in the process of digging a well, when suddenly his wife took ill and died. The young man and his son buried her. Everything was left as it was and they were never seen again. This land has many unmarked graves on it. People traveling died and were buried on the spot. The old home place nestled on a hundred-twenty acres across the creek is " haunted " with ghost tales. Jack states 8 or 9 people died in it over the years. Life was hard. Medicine was not available. People did their best to survive. Black Tom's main source of income was raising cattle. The cattle picked up ticks and were dying from the infestations. The men built a dipping vat to dip the cattle. The vat was a deep hole about 9-10 feet deep with a concrete sloped walk which the cattle used to climb out of the hole. Arsenic was added to the water and tested for color. When the color was just right, the animals were forced into the pit and drenched. After several applications of this solution over a period of time, the tick problem was brought under control. There were at least 9 of these dipping vats on the Holmes land. Jack loves to tell how Black Tom hated cars. When the V-8 auto come into existence, it could travel 60 MPH. Black Tom moaned how those poor cows could not walk across the highway in a minute and the cars were going to kill all of his cows. Not long after the arrival of the fast vehicles, Black Tom sold most of his cows for the top dollar price of $ 27.00 per head. The little country boy, who did not know there were any other children in this world, other than his brothers and sisters, until he started to school at Call, grew up to follow in the footsteps of those who had gone before him. Being the Great Grandson of Thomas C Holmes, Revolutionary soldier, and the grandson of Civil War veterans, Jack, too, followed tradition and fought in war. He served in World War II in both Africa and Germany. War is not a subject broached easily with him. He lost most of his hearing there and his youth. He came home to the land he loved to resume his legacy and to keep the Holmes traditions of farming and raising cattle. He and his companion of 50 years, Mary Lazenby, raised 3 daughters, Dinah, Velma and Patricia. Jack always has a pot of coffee on the burner, a funny story to tell and cows grazing in the meadow. Source: Interview with Jack Holmes ==== HOLMES Mailing List ====