Since stories carry lots of clues here are a few: Granny (Edith Tiner Hemphill) is in her 80s and rode a wagon to Austin on Cnty Rd 969. So your folks probably did also. Not too many people could afford automobiles then. 969 is real windy and she says it was a crooked walking mule that made that road. A lot of the folks here that owned land, share cropped in other places, the most popular being Belton County, TX, near Belton and Temple. My greatgrand father died in Wharton of the flu while they were share cropping there. When he died the family still share cropped but mostly stayed in the Bastrop county area. My grandfather raised hogs and watermelons. Peanuts and pecans were popular along with the regular crops. The hogs were taken into Austin to Callahan's. My grandmother and her siblings had to wear a poultice attached to a scarf around their neck that smelled horrible. I can't remember what it was called. They used to take it off and hang it on a tree when they went to school and picked it back up on the way home so their mother wouldn't know they took it off. It was supposed to ward off disease. Cemeteries: There was supposed to be a ghost around the Young School House Cemetery. A lady dressed up with a bonnet could be seen at night. Sometimes she would ride on the side board of the cars that went by. Tiner hill had a light that would hover above the trees. It was believed to be old man Tiner. After his wife died the light came no more. The Moon or Old Baptist Church Cemetery used to be accessed from the other side. The poor people were buried in the back. The road changed and was made to be on the other side so now the poor are in the front. The Oak Hill Cemetery in McDade was confiscated during the war when Camp Swift was going full force. The land above Bastrop was condemned and the families bought out. Families who wished to bury their family there had to have guards take them. During this time metal was taken for the war effort. So the ornamental fences are gone. The cemetery association brought older folks back to help identify grave sites. There are many unmarked graves here but it's well kept. Many of the Mexican American worked in the coal mine in the county. The Phelan cemetery was donated by the mine for the families. There was a poor farm next door to the Fairview Cemetery in Bastrop. The cemetery has 3 parts, poor, black, and white. The bridge in Smithville isn't the original one. The original one was at the end of main street. It was blasted down in the 1950's. The original bridge in Bastrop is still standing though used as a walking bridge, next to the new one. That's the bridge Sandra Bullock walked across in the fog in Hope Floats. This is also the bridge that the original Chainsaw Massacre was filmed on. There is no Milk Bottle Hotel as in the movie Michael with John Travolta, though there is a house there and an old gas station. Bastrop and Smithville are both 12 miles away from Upton. Back in the day whenever one of the residents went to either town, they made the newspaper. My relative made a living catching and selling wild mustangs when he came down in 1871. Boll Weevils ruined crops in about 1905 causing one of my relatives to give back his land to Orgain and move to San Saba. The flu epidemic was in 1918 and 1919. So many were dying that their graves were not marked. I found an arrow head and a spear looking arrow and had an archeologist look at them. The small one is 900AD and the larger one is 1000BC. Two years ago some Mexican nationals were working in Bastrop digging a septic tank. They found rolls of confederate gold coins still in the wrapper. They left right then for home. There are two water tables through here, with the top one being alum water (probably why the town of Alum Creek is so named) and the sweeter water is the second layer. Sheriff Woody Townsend never carried a gun. Didn't have to. They had a handful of deputies and they rode horses throughout the whole county. Jesse and Frank James used to visit the area, staying with the Petty family in Pettytown. Bonnie and Clyde once was seen in a restaurant in Smithville. No one messed with them. You used to have to do a tick check everyday. The fireants took care of most of them. Bull nettles are plants that have fibers on the whole thing and are above ankle height. You get stinging welts on you if you brush against one. Best thing to do is reach down and grab some sand and rub the spot. It get the fibers out. These plants have nuts under the flowers. You grab a long stem of grass and pop the nut out. Don't know if you have to cook them, haven't ever wanted to try. Mustang grapes are prominent. You can't eat the grapes but they make great jelly. Dewberries grow on the road sides and also make great jelly. Poke salad is around. I can't identify them so haven't tried that either. Dad had to walk 5 miles to put a tree in the yard for his mother. Now you can't walk 5 feet without running into a pine tree. Bastrop is known for it's pine and many a doctor was paid in pine when money was scarce. And if you're having a bad day or you wonder how your ancestors lived: I have a black widow spider on my water meter, killed a scorpion the other day, there are water moccasins in the creek, and have to watch out for copperheads. Rattle snakes are in the county. Someone found a tarantula at the Pettytown Cemetery. Coyotes ate my two Chihuahua's last year along with some cats. Came up in the yard. Can't walk in the yard barefooted because of the stickers and fire ants and bull nettles. I have to do a cat count at night because sometimes I have extra heads eating in the bowl, with the others being possums. Went out to check on the chickens one day and all the heads were gone. A raccoon had pulled their heads throught the wire. I have to have a satellite to watch TV as an outdoor antenna won't get the Austin stations, I had a party line until the phone company came about 7 years ago and put in single lines, have to pay 50 dollar extra to have the calls be local, just to call Bastrop 12 miles away and Austin. So we have one phone line. I do have a cell phone but can't use it at the house as the service doesn't reach. I drive 15 minutes just to get to the road that takes me to town and 45 minutes to get to work, but no one puts it in the newspaper when I do. The tanks (ponds) have been dry for 4 years because of the drought. I'm not complaining, just giving you a measurement. :) Tammy Owen Bastrop County Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbastro/bastrop.htm <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=5647408&siteid=35098265&bfpage=digbutton">Ancestry.com - View Census Images Online</A> The Best! with subscription. <A HREF="http://www.myfamiliesname.com/?AID=2834348&PID=849435">MyFamiliesName.com - "Preserving and Reserving Your Family Name Online."</A> <A HREF="http://www.qksrv.net/click-849435-487817">Go to the AandE, Biography and The History Channels</A> And the best place to find new and used genealogy stuff? <A HREF="http://www.qksrv.net/click-849435-1643272">EBay - the world's online marketplace</A> and <A HREF="http://www.qksrv.net/click-849435-168019">Half.com: The Smartest Place to Buy and Sell Genealogy material.</A>