Hi, Betty, Did you know of Paul Higginbotham of Stephenville? The courthouse annex now sits where his clothing, hardware, furniture, and funeral store were. Stephenville Funeral on the loop moved from there, Paul had brothers and their Corporate offices were and are in Comanche, Texas- the Comanche store and Cross Plains store are still open . On the Rolling Plains- Sweetwater area and High Plains, from Ralls, Texas to other rural towns the stores were calledd Higginbotham- Bartlett lumber and hardware (Building materials) I understand it was the same Higginbotham families with a Bartlet added to the partnership. Dad used to stand on the sidewalk and talk to Paul. In the early days a store like theirs was also a combination Bank vault for customers and finance Company. In Stephenville they also had the International Harvester Truck and tractor (Farmalls) dealerships. Farmers with good credit or work records could charge whatever what was needed to make a crop and pay hen the grain or cotton harvest was winding down. Paul, in 1940's was very upset that the State wanted to widen the Us. 67 & 377 through downtown- as the downtown merchants would loose business. Dad told him that if they stopped them from widening the road , There would be a loop built around Town and they would loose all out of town and some local Business. It happened. Also, Tarleton State Univ. Refused to let them move John Tarleton's monument and Grave or give up any campus for a wider road. Gone by then were the Cage & Crow Bank and Wyly Mercantile store, (Of the A.C. & B.F. Wyly Wholesale Grocery Warehouse at 4 th and Pryor in downtown Atlanta, Ga.) until 1890 until more of the family came to Texas. The Atlanta store still stands. A photo of it is in the Book "Yesterday's Atlanta", with the local delivery Teamsters standing in their wagons to get through Atlanta traffic easier. No, Sherman did not burn that building. And, I will bet you that the Black workers and Teamsters were taught to read and write, or how could they fill orders and read the street signs and handle the bookkeeping? Some of them today live in Rivierra Beach, Florida, not on dryland hardscrabble Texas farms. In case of a severe drought, the customers sold off cattle for which they were running out of feed and grass and pay the Hardware , grocery, and Cox's Department stores as far as it went. In early Texas at one time Banks were illegal and many wills were kept in store vaults, , a service fort heir customers. A major political issue in many State and National elections was the issue of Banks and not properly registerred securities and bonds. Only 3 of the Privately owned- family owned banks still exist, under a "Grandfather" Clause. A 4 th , the LeRoy Bank, McLennan County (Waco area) went under - not Federally insured on Deposits. Customers, after a year or so, collected around 10 cents or less on the dollar. Rumors say a family member vacationed in Switzerland or Grand Caymans and had bank accounts there. Take Care, Charles A. Wyly. On Thu, 31 May 2001 07:18:05 EDT BMoss69893@aol.com writes: > Is there a web site dealing with north east Mississippi? My daughter > is > researching the Moss and Higginbotham families who settled in > Myrtle, New > Albany and Ripley areas. Thanx. Betty. > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library >