Hello again Mr. Wyly, It is of great interest to me--the stories of Mingus and Thurber. My great grandfather Ferd Hill had a store in Thurber during the boom years I would say possibly the 20's. He later lived in Mingus and had a dairy there and had 80 acres of pecans. I posted to the Rootsweb Palo Pinto site stories that my dad, Everett Jones told about his life in the Mingus area and things that he remembered happening. I believe the webmaster posted them under Ferdinand Hammond Hill. The night before my dad died, he began telling stories as he remembered them the more he talked the more I took notes. No one knew that his last remembrances would be about Mingus and some of the folks there. His Uncle Tom Boggus, married Nell Hill one of Ferd Hill's daughters. Uncle Tom was a bootlegger but also was elected to public office in either Mingus or Strawn. If any other of you folks in and around the Mingus, Thurber area know or have heard of any stories about the life there I would love to add more to my Mingus notes. Sincerely, Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: Charles A. Wyly <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2003 7:25 AM Subject: [ERATH] Fw: Mail Not Delivered > Hi, > Apparently Tom's box is full again. Perhaps he will see it here. My E > mail company will store messages for a few days- short term. have that > problem too sometimes and have to file or delete like Crazy- nothing for > a few days then 15 to 20 in one day. > > In addition to Txerath news in letter below, Read all Historical Markers > in Stephenville listed on a Texas list. The private non charterred bank > of Cage and Crow on Northwest corner of Stephenville was 2 story. A > marker there stated that an italian Opera House was in the second floor > of the bamnk and many Italian and other European miners came to the > Stephenville Cage and Crow Opera house over the bank. Not sure, but I > think this was when Stephenville had open saloons instead of hiding > behind the skirts of private Clubs of today. Bet that has cut in on the > Mingus and Glen Rose trips . Also read the Erath County Historical > calendars published by Dan Young - Brenda Lamb assisted on some of them. > ( Historic calendars are old calendars- Historical calendars are recent > printing from collection of Historic events day by day). Stephenville > Century or 20 th Century club still publishes new calendars of historic > events., different each year. > > I never went to Mingus except passing through to other towns. A one time > the Horseshoe shaped bar there, run by some Italians at one time, was the > largest bar between Fort Worth and El Paso. , or so the Big Boys said. > Uncle Lewis Wyly and dad hauled Thurber Bricks from the Baptist Church, > 1930's. Building for foundations of Chicken houses and a milk shed on > same land Selden ( Hatchett related) Cemetery is on. The old Bandstand > from Thurber was moved to Hwy 6 road to Duffau , back to Mingus in the > last few years. . It was a "Round" or Hexagonal shape- and was the home > of 2 brothers who came to Bosque Valley League adult Baseball games at > Johnsville and Iredell in a Model T open top touring Car. They traded > even for a new Ford in Cleburne,as they said it was cooler for their > hounds when they attended Hunting dog shows. > > The Historical Calendars (with references)state that when karankawa > Volcano erupted in Indonesia, people in Stephenville, Mineral Wells and > Eastland heard a slow low rumble- Stage drivers said it was reported in > all towns they stopped in. The ash circulated the globe 3 & 1/2 times. > Sound Ridicilious? For the second time since 1989, the Mexican farmers in > Drouth stricken Central American countries are doing their annual field > burn offs to plow for the next crop in Jungle clearings and the fires are > out of hand. Yesterday in area from Austin to past Waco we did not see > the sun on a clear day, because of the smoke- sometimes there was a light > spot in the haxe, but no full sun. This blows across the Gulf into > Houston- corpus area or comes across the Rio Grande, depending on Jet > stream fluctuations.In 1988, it reached Lubbock. If your friends are > strange lately, maybe the smoke has a little Marijuana in it. Naw, it's > just the lack of normal sunlight. > > Take care, > Charles A. Wyly > > --------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: 11 May 2003 03:27:43 -0000 > Subject: Mail Not Delivered > From: "Charles A. Wyly" <[email protected]> > > Tom, > read your Thurber History again. TP Coal and Oil had recruited short men > all over Europe for digging the coal from veins in some mines, that a 6 > foot man would have to lay on his side and kneel or crawl in. The Company > had separate Catholic Churches for the Irish in one group and Czechs > and Italians in the other, and they were assigned as groups to some > jobs.They had some differences in holidays and famil;y life. The word > Mingus is Italian. I have talked to elderly Czech men in West, Texas , > McLennan County who said they were born in either Mingus or Newcastle > Mine town near Graham. Oklahoma Coal Miners in Yukon, Okla, and in > another town east of OKC towards Tahlequah also had similar history of > European Coal miners- but only 2 restaurants in Okla, still make good > Kolaches and Koblisneik and Strudle . > > Some in the edge of Eastland and Erath County who now own land had > Italian roots. They have posted to this site a few years ago. Should be > in Archives of Txerath or Southern Trails. Wendell Montgomery of West > Pharmacy and Bakery died last month. he was Catholic and had some Erath > County connections- and knew the history of the Dr. Wylie of Bosque > County, as Wendell 's dad had bought Dr. Wylie's home and clinic- 2 story > frame, on hill behind West Dairy Queen.Wendell's 35 women and Co-op > school kids supplied Czech food for Ennis Polka Festival every year. > > When I was in the West Kiwanis Club and teaching there, Vince Incardona , > deputy, and later County Commisioner was also a member. He was born in > Marlin. One of the West Lumber Tuckers was kidding him just before > Westfest as to why he spoke Czech and Vince laughed and said speaking > Czech was desireable for an Italian in Falls County. One black man I > taught with said he had bought land from a white farmer who carried his > own note and he preferred to sell to him than one of the Italians who > wanted it. Back then West and Cameron Churches of Unity of the Brethern > ( Moravian) had Czech language preaching by Rev. Bezdek of West.On other > Sundays all services were in English (1960's) They were similar to Modern > Menninites or conservative Baptists.One of these churches south of Texas > A&M on Hwy 6 is unusually beauriful . > > 2 blocks towards the railroad in West is the Aderholdt Funeral Home- and > was run by Al Payne for many years- a kin. Dr. Aderholdt had practiced > medicine in Erath County before moving to West. Could he have been Czech > or Italian?Sounds more Swiss or Moravian. His granddaughter in 1998 was > Chief administrator of Ridgecrest Retirement Village on south side of > Lake Waco- on Hwy 6 in Woodway, near Bosque Blvd > > I suppose you know about the Mexican group in Falls county who were > Charcoal burners with a big pit- and sold the charcoal to some > Wholesaler. Also, the village around the Falls County gravel works. I > would have had to recruit Adult Ed students from there had I taken the > job, after retirement, with headquarters in old Elm Mott School (near > Wao) for > several countiues. Sounded like too much time for the pay. > > For a starter,check Google for the San Francisco Library daily newspapers > of japanese and Italians who were relocated from the West Coast when WW2 > started. New York Library or Smithsonian should have this on line for > East Coast. > Same happened on the East Coast- notsure about Gulf of Mexico. Some went > to kansas on a 2 week notice with Military Escort guards. . My present > neighbor - Hoshizaki, wasfirst generation American born and left San > Francisco area for Louisville, Ky resetlement area- old Barracks and > cottages. he attended Baptist > Seminary in Louisbille and becamea Japanese Missionary to Japan. His son > is now involved in English- Japqnese Computer programs and spends muv=ch > of his time there. He is a Baylor Grad. > > Those in present Mexia State School buildings in WW2, and those in > Cleburne were German Prisoners of War, not relocated civilians. In > Cleburne they lived under the North Football bleachers on U.S. 67,built > in 1930's by WPA, and openings were coverred with tarps. > > Take care, > Charles A. Wyly > > t, 10 May 2003 08:30:40 +0000 "Tom Rogers" <[email protected]> > writes: > > Hi, Charles, > > I just now read your interesting letter of Apr. 6 about > > Italians in > > Marlin and Erath Co. I am not on the Erath mailing list any more > > because my > > inbox filled up and too many messages bounced. > > I had no family in Marlin after 1902, and my father never > > mentioned any > > Italians there. In fact, the only Marlin family names I recall are > > Falconer > > (Bolivar and Theodore), Barton (Harry), and King (Conway). > > I think one of the Bartons originated Barton's Dyanshine. Another > > started an > > oil company in SW Arkansas. > > I never knew any Italians in Erath County. I knew one Mexican > > family > > (Lozano), one Jewish family (Novit, Siegel, Hoffman), and one Irish > > family > > (D.W. Sheehan). > > Tom Rogers > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* > > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > > > > > > > > > ==== TXERATH Mailing List ==== > --- Author Retains Copyright --- > -- Copyright 2003 Author -- All Rights Reserved > Post to List: [email protected] http://www.selfroots.com > Unsubscribe request To: [email protected] > ARCHIVES: http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl >