I'll ask my husband when he gets home. He left this morning with his truck and my horse trailer loaded with non-essentials (such as our couple thousand books!) headed east. He does indeed have a younger sister and no other siblings. It was 1954 that they left; his father was a cotton farmer. --MaryK > From: samples@1starnet.com> To: jimgidd@suddenlink.net; txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:56:10 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] [TXREDRIV Returning to roots// rambling> > I vaguely remember a Gray family that lived in the Mabry community (aka > little Chicago) for a while in the 50s. There was a boy about my age (your > husband's age) and a girl a couple of years younger. We rode the school bus > together. Seems like I remember the family moved to somewhere in west > Texas.> > Cynthia> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim Giddens" <jimgidd@suddenlink.net>> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com>> Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 11:36 AM> Subject: [TXREDRIV] [TXREDRIV Returning to roots// rambling> > > > (I pasted below the reply I got on Gray. I added the parenthesis for> > information sake)> > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++> >> > Jim, I'm sorry to say I don't know very much--in fact, nothing, about> > Uncle Roy's (Gray) family. He was an "in-law"; the one I know about is> > Aunt Mary (Roy's wife), his wife, who was Daddy's (Moody Hale) sister.> > After Uncle Roy died, she married an oil wild-catter named Roland Busby > > and> > moved away from Clarksville. My mother (Helen Hale) would have known, > > but> > like so many other things I never asked her, and now it is too late. You> > could ask the family of Alvis Gray if they know of a> > Roy in their family connections. Cindy> > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++> >> > I will ramble a little.> > Mrs Helen Hale taught grade school in Clarksville for many years. I> > think she taught about the 4th or 5th grade, but it was after I got past> > that point. Some of you may have had her as a teacher. She probably> > started in the late 50s or early 60s. Her husband was Moody Hale.> > Moody's sister, Mary Hale Gray lived on a very limited budget (with> > husband Roy) because she thought they must. When Roy died, she found > > you> > they had considerable money in the bank and had several (maybe many) rent> > properties in the area. She was not pleased with living on a very low> > income (they had not children). When Roy died and Mary discovered the> > money, she started spending and enjoying the money. The e-mail above > > is> > the first I remember about her remarrying and moving away. It would be> > interesting to know a little more of her latter life.> > Roy & Mary Gray lived in a house in Clarksville that is easy to> > remember.> > It was built of rock. Not many of those in Clarksville. It was on > > about> > the 700 block of S. Walnut, across the street and about one block south > > of> > the First Baptist Church.> > About 6 years ago I made contact with Helen Hale by e-mail. He was> > living in New Mexico in the same town as one of her sons. She was very> > bright and she gave me a lot of my and her family genealogy via e-mail.> > She never told me she was sick. Finally I notice her e-mail stopped and> > later I found out she had died with a health problem she had lived with > > for> > a few short years. I think I am correct that Helen was a Crabtree and > > a> > sister to my Grandmother Giddens that certainly was a Crabtree. They > > use> > to have a big reunion at White Rock in the 50s. There were 7 Crabtree> > sisters and 3 brothers. The reunion was as the home of Mrs Flora > > Crabtree> > Thompson, widow of Tip Thompson. Actually the home was just west of the> > White Rock Road (FM 1158) about 1/2 mile (on CR 1275 toward Concord)> > before getting to the White Rock Cemetery.> > Jim G.> >> >> >> >> > -------------------------------> > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message> >> > > > > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Many of you may know the Murphy's from Avery. Billy Charles Murphy is the son of the late Joe Mack Murphy. I wish I knew who the rest of this line were. Thanks Max Motorcycle collision with horse results in Avery man’s death A man was killed early Saturday and a woman was taken to a Texarkana hospital after the motorcycle they were riding hit a horse near DeKalb, Texas, authorities said. The accident happened just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday on Farm to Market Road 1701 and County Road 4357. Billy Charles Murphy, 56, of Avery, Texas, was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Gerrold Rankin. Sharon Kay Berry, 45, his passenger, was taken to CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital and was listed in stable condition Saturday afternoon. Murphy was driving a 1999 Harley Davidson motorcycle north on FM 1701 and collided with a horse that was in the middle of the northbound lane. The horse was struck broadside and both the driver and passenger were ejected. The accident was investigated by Department of Public Safety Trooper Keith Lang. The horse’s condition was unknown. —Terri Richardson Max Shumake 157 CR 4291 De Kalb, TX 75559 903-244-1747 Those that beat their guns into plows, will plow for those that don't! Thomas Jefferson ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

The railroad track at Rugby was not the Katie, but the "Pa and Ma," as the Paris and Mt. Pleasant Railroad was known. Sometimes, the nickname was warped: to Ma and Pa----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Giddens" <jimgidd@suddenlink.net> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 12:07 AM Subject: [TXREDRIV] Katie Railroad Track? > "Katie railroad tracks". I am not familiar with this railroad track > near > Ruby. Was not aware of a track in that area. Would appreciate hearing > about it from anyone. > Jim Giddens > Paris, Tx > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com> > To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 10:57 AM > Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots > > >> >> Al will be visiting his mother before we leave here (she's in Colorado) >> and I suggested he pump her for family information and stories, recording >> what she says. Her brother Raymond Epps lived across from the gin on the >> road leading out of Rugby, right by the Katie railroad tracks. --MaryK > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

"Katie railroad tracks". I am not familiar with this railroad track near Ruby. Was not aware of a track in that area. Would appreciate hearing about it from anyone. Jim Giddens Paris, Tx ----- Original Message ----- From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 10:57 AM Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots > > Al will be visiting his mother before we leave here (she's in Colorado) > and I suggested he pump her for family information and stories, recording > what she says. Her brother Raymond Epps lived across from the gin on the > road leading out of Rugby, right by the Katie railroad tracks. --MaryK

I vaguely remember a Gray family that lived in the Mabry community (aka little Chicago) for a while in the 50s. There was a boy about my age (your husband's age) and a girl a couple of years younger. We rode the school bus together. Seems like I remember the family moved to somewhere in west Texas. Cynthia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Giddens" <jimgidd@suddenlink.net> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 11:36 AM Subject: [TXREDRIV] [TXREDRIV Returning to roots// rambling > (I pasted below the reply I got on Gray. I added the parenthesis for > information sake) > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > Jim, I'm sorry to say I don't know very much--in fact, nothing, about > Uncle Roy's (Gray) family. He was an "in-law"; the one I know about is > Aunt Mary (Roy's wife), his wife, who was Daddy's (Moody Hale) sister. > After Uncle Roy died, she married an oil wild-catter named Roland Busby > and > moved away from Clarksville. My mother (Helen Hale) would have known, > but > like so many other things I never asked her, and now it is too late. You > could ask the family of Alvis Gray if they know of a > Roy in their family connections. Cindy > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > I will ramble a little. > Mrs Helen Hale taught grade school in Clarksville for many years. I > think she taught about the 4th or 5th grade, but it was after I got past > that point. Some of you may have had her as a teacher. She probably > started in the late 50s or early 60s. Her husband was Moody Hale. > Moody's sister, Mary Hale Gray lived on a very limited budget (with > husband Roy) because she thought they must. When Roy died, she found > you > they had considerable money in the bank and had several (maybe many) rent > properties in the area. She was not pleased with living on a very low > income (they had not children). When Roy died and Mary discovered the > money, she started spending and enjoying the money. The e-mail above > is > the first I remember about her remarrying and moving away. It would be > interesting to know a little more of her latter life. > Roy & Mary Gray lived in a house in Clarksville that is easy to > remember. > It was built of rock. Not many of those in Clarksville. It was on > about > the 700 block of S. Walnut, across the street and about one block south > of > the First Baptist Church. > About 6 years ago I made contact with Helen Hale by e-mail. He was > living in New Mexico in the same town as one of her sons. She was very > bright and she gave me a lot of my and her family genealogy via e-mail. > She never told me she was sick. Finally I notice her e-mail stopped and > later I found out she had died with a health problem she had lived with > for > a few short years. I think I am correct that Helen was a Crabtree and > a > sister to my Grandmother Giddens that certainly was a Crabtree. They > use > to have a big reunion at White Rock in the 50s. There were 7 Crabtree > sisters and 3 brothers. The reunion was as the home of Mrs Flora > Crabtree > Thompson, widow of Tip Thompson. Actually the home was just west of the > White Rock Road (FM 1158) about 1/2 mile (on CR 1275 toward Concord) > before getting to the White Rock Cemetery. > Jim G. > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

(I pasted below the reply I got on Gray. I added the parenthesis for information sake) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jim, I'm sorry to say I don't know very much--in fact, nothing, about Uncle Roy's (Gray) family. He was an "in-law"; the one I know about is Aunt Mary (Roy's wife), his wife, who was Daddy's (Moody Hale) sister. After Uncle Roy died, she married an oil wild-catter named Roland Busby and moved away from Clarksville. My mother (Helen Hale) would have known, but like so many other things I never asked her, and now it is too late. You could ask the family of Alvis Gray if they know of a Roy in their family connections. Cindy +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I will ramble a little. Mrs Helen Hale taught grade school in Clarksville for many years. I think she taught about the 4th or 5th grade, but it was after I got past that point. Some of you may have had her as a teacher. She probably started in the late 50s or early 60s. Her husband was Moody Hale. Moody's sister, Mary Hale Gray lived on a very limited budget (with husband Roy) because she thought they must. When Roy died, she found you they had considerable money in the bank and had several (maybe many) rent properties in the area. She was not pleased with living on a very low income (they had not children). When Roy died and Mary discovered the money, she started spending and enjoying the money. The e-mail above is the first I remember about her remarrying and moving away. It would be interesting to know a little more of her latter life. Roy & Mary Gray lived in a house in Clarksville that is easy to remember. It was built of rock. Not many of those in Clarksville. It was on about the 700 block of S. Walnut, across the street and about one block south of the First Baptist Church. About 6 years ago I made contact with Helen Hale by e-mail. He was living in New Mexico in the same town as one of her sons. She was very bright and she gave me a lot of my and her family genealogy via e-mail. She never told me she was sick. Finally I notice her e-mail stopped and later I found out she had died with a health problem she had lived with for a few short years. I think I am correct that Helen was a Crabtree and a sister to my Grandmother Giddens that certainly was a Crabtree. They use to have a big reunion at White Rock in the 50s. There were 7 Crabtree sisters and 3 brothers. The reunion was as the home of Mrs Flora Crabtree Thompson, widow of Tip Thompson. Actually the home was just west of the White Rock Road (FM 1158) about 1/2 mile (on CR 1275 toward Concord) before getting to the White Rock Cemetery. Jim G.

Oops! Doggeone my ears, played loud music for 'way too long. Al says his uncle's name was Waymon (or Wayman) Epps, not Raymond. --MaryK > From: marykcroft@msn.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:57:47 +0000> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > > Al will be visiting his mother before we leave here (she's in Colorado) and I suggested he pump her for family information and stories, recording what she says. Her brother Raymond Epps lived across from the gin on the road leading out of Rugby, right by the Katie railroad tracks. --MaryK> > From: DRtom_watson@msn.com> To: jimgidd@suddenlink.net; txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:18:59 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > Mary K> When I was a kid ,I was born in 1941, a claude Gray lived across the street, on Columbia St.. This would have been around the mid 40s. They had only one child at the time. They were a young couple.> Tom Watson> Heath, Tx> ----- Original Message -----> From: Jim Giddens> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 1:16 AM> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > Mary K,> There was a Roy Gray that worked in the Clarksville post office in the > 50s when I was a teen. He is related to me somehow. I think he married > a sister to my grandmother that was a Crabtree. Roy's wife was Mary Gray.> He was well past middle age in the 50s. If you think Roy would be a > connection, I should be able to find out a little more about him.> Jim Giddens> Paris, Tx> ----- Original Message!> ----- > From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com>> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 8:57 PM> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > > >> > His name is Alvis Gray, and the family moved to Clarksville area a bit > > later. When the drought hit in '53 they sold their dairy cattle and moved > > to West Texas. We are currently in central Arizona. --MaryK> >> From: samples@1starnet.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep > >> 2007 20:51:16 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > >> > Welcome to the list, Mary.> > What was your husband's name? How long > >> did he live there? Where do you > live now?> > I bet you might find > >> somebody else on the list who was born in 1939.> > Cynthia Samples> > > > >> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please > >> send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word > >> 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body !> of the > >> message> >> > -------------------------------> > To unsubs> cribe from the list, please send an email to > > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message> >> >> > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message.> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.> > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM> >> > > > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Al will be visiting his mother before we leave here (she's in Colorado) and I suggested he pump her for family information and stories, recording what she says. Her brother Raymond Epps lived across from the gin on the road leading out of Rugby, right by the Katie railroad tracks. --MaryK > From: DRtom_watson@msn.com> To: jimgidd@suddenlink.net; txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:18:59 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > Mary K> When I was a kid ,I was born in 1941, a claude Gray lived across the street, on Columbia St.. This would have been around the mid 40s. They had only one child at the time. They were a young couple.> Tom Watson> Heath, Tx> ----- Original Message -----> From: Jim Giddens> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 1:16 AM> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > Mary K,> There was a Roy Gray that worked in the Clarksville post office in the > 50s when I was a teen. He is related to me somehow. I think he married > a sister to my grandmother that was a Crabtree. Roy's wife was Mary Gray.> He was well past middle age in the 50s. If you think Roy would be a > connection, I should be able to find out a little more about him.> Jim Giddens> Paris, Tx> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com>> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 8:57 PM> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > > >> > His name is Alvis Gray, and the family moved to Clarksville area a bit > > later. When the drought hit in '53 they sold their dairy cattle and moved > > to West Texas. We are currently in central Arizona. --MaryK> >> From: samples@1starnet.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep > >> 2007 20:51:16 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > >> > Welcome to the list, Mary.> > What was your husband's name? How long > >> did he live there? Where do you > live now?> > I bet you might find > >> somebody else on the list who was born in 1939.> > Cynthia Samples> > > > >> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please > >> send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word > >> 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > >> message> >> > -------------------------------> > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message> >> >> > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message.> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.> > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM> >> > > > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

In a message dated 9/21/07 12:49:21 PM Central Standard Time, TXROSE101@aol.com writes: Thank you so much for your response. It was an accident that I sent this email to the list. I nearly died when I realized what I had done. However, It was a great email and I am so glad that you enjoyed it. Rosalie Oh, I am so glad you made the accident! It is a lovely story and I have already shared it with others. .··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··. `·. .·´ «..* Edith *..» `·. .·` (¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`'·.¸) http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanareb/ Co-Owner: Heartmade Blessings Comfortghan Program "Caring Hearts, Touching Lives, One Stitch at a Time" _http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/_ (http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/) A Member of CrochetList Admin ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

Thank you so much for your response. It was an accident that I sent this email to the list. I nearly died when I realized what I had done. However, It was a great email and I am so glad that you enjoyed it. Rosalie In a message dated 9/21/2007 12:45:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time, tempr01@aol.com writes: what a wonderful story on your life.? I can identify with is I was born in 1941.? Thank you very much for the memories. Jane ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

It was only in recent weeks (maybe months) that I saw in the news where UPS or some similar company had instructed there drive to make no left turns. They were to map there route to do this. I never checked it out in anyway, but I guess with "right on red" (not having to wait for a green light) was to save the company expense money or make them more productive. I don't know if this would work in Red River County. Clarksville use to have 3 red light on main (two on the square). One of the red light was recently removed from the square. The work on the C-ville square in make progress and is suppose to be complete in a few weeks. I am anxious to see the final product. Jury still out. Oh yeah, to drive (circle) the square in Clarksville, you will have to make all left turns. Jim Giddens Paris, Tx ----- Original Message ----- From: <TXROSE101@aol.com> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 1:48 PM Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] No Left Turns > > Thank you so much for your response. It was an accident that I sent this > email to the list. I nearly died when I realized what I had done. > However, It > was a great email and I am so glad that you enjoyed it. Rosalie > > > > In a message dated 9/21/2007 12:45:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time, > tempr01@aol.com writes: > > what a wonderful story on your life.? I can identify with is I was born > in > 1941.? Thank you very much for the memories. > Jane > > > > > > > ************************************** See what's new at > http://www.aol.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM > >

I also had family in the same area but have never sent them in.  Cordray, Payne, Austin, Bewley. -----Original Message----- From: NANAREB@aol.com To: txredriv@rootsweb.com Sent: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:51 am Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] No Left Turns n a message dated 9/21/07 11:45:56 AM Central Standard Time, tempr01@aol.com rites: what a wonderful story on your life.? I can identify with is I was born in 941.? Thank you very much for the memories. ane Ditto! I too was born in 1941, but a lovely story for any age. y husband had an accident two years ago in Athens, TX making a LEFT turn. t totaled his car and he said he just thought he wouldn't make left turns nymore! I will show him this solution! ··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··. ·. .·´ «..* Edith *..» `·. .·` ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`'·.¸) http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanareb/ o-Owner: Heartmade Blessings Comfortghan Program Caring Hearts, Touching Lives, One Stitch at a Time" http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/_ (http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/) Member of CrochetList Admin ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

In a message dated 9/21/07 11:45:56 AM Central Standard Time, tempr01@aol.com writes: what a wonderful story on your life.? I can identify with is I was born in 1941.? Thank you very much for the memories. Jane Ditto! I too was born in 1941, but a lovely story for any age. My husband had an accident two years ago in Athens, TX making a LEFT turn. It totaled his car and he said he just thought he wouldn't make left turns anymore! I will show him this solution! .··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··. `·. .·´ «..* Edith *..» `·. .·` (¸.·'´(¸.·'´ `'·.¸)`'·.¸) http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanareb/ Co-Owner: Heartmade Blessings Comfortghan Program "Caring Hearts, Touching Lives, One Stitch at a Time" _http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/_ (http://www.heartmadeblessings.org/) A Member of CrochetList Admin ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

what a wonderful story on your life.? I can identify with is I was born in 1941.? Thank you very much for the memories. Jane -----Original Message----- From: TXROSE101@aol.com To: txredriv@rootsweb.com Sent: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:16 am Subject: [TXREDRIV] No Left Turns Little Sis, aka Anne Russell once told me that Mother was the only person she knew who could get anywhere in Houston by only making right turns. I dedicate this forward to Mother. R Subject: Great Rememberance! This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed. My father never drove a car. Well, that's not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car. He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet. "In those days," he told me when he was in his 90s, "to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it." At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in: "Oh, bull----!" she said. "He hit a horse." "Well," my father said, "there was that, too." So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars -- the Kollingses next door had a green 1941 Dodge, the VanLaninghams across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford -- but we had none. My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines, would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together. My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we'd ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. "No one in the family drives," my mother would explain, and that was that. But, sometimes, my father would say, "But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we'll get one." It was as if he wasn't sure which one of us would turn 16 first. But, sure enough , my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown. It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn't drive, it more or less became my brother's car. Having a car but not being able to drive didn't bother my father, but it didn't make sense to my mother. So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father's idea. "Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?" I remember him saying more than once. For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps -- though they seldom left the city limits -- and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work. Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn't seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage. (Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.) He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustin's Church. She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish's two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home. If it was the assistant pastor, he'd take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests "Father Fast" and "Father Slow." After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he'd sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I'd stop by, he'd explain: "The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored." If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out -- and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, "Do you want to know the secret of a long life?" "I guess so," I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre. "No left turns," he said. "What?" I asked. "No left turns," he repeated. "Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic. As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn." "What?" I said again. "No left turns," he said. "Think about it. Three rights are the same as a left, and that's a lot safer. So we always make three rights." "You're kidding!" I said, and I turned to my mother for support "No," she said, "your father is right. We make three rights. It works." But then she added: "Except when your father loses count." I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing. "Loses count?" I asked. "Yes," my father admitted, "that sometimes happens. But it's not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you're okay again." I couldn't resist. "Do you ever go for 11?" I asked. "No," he said " If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can't be put off another day or another week." My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90. She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102. They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom -- the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.) He continued to walk daily -- he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he'd fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising -- and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died. One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news. A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, "You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred." At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, "You know, I'm probably not going to live much longer." "You're probably right," I said. "Why would you say that?" He countered, somewhat irritated. "Because you're 102 years old," I said. "Yes," he said, "you're right." He stayed in bed all the next day. That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night. He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said: "I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet" An hour or so later, he spoke his last words: "I want you to know," he said, clearly and lucidly, "that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have." A short time later, he died. I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot. I've wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long. I can't figure out if it was because he walked through life, Or because he quit taking left turns. " Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it." ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

Mary K When I was a kid ,I was born in 1941, a claude Gray lived across the street, on Columbia St.. This would have been around the mid 40s. They had only one child at the time. They were a young couple. Tom Watson Heath, Tx ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Giddens Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007 1:16 AM To: txredriv@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots Mary K, There was a Roy Gray that worked in the Clarksville post office in the 50s when I was a teen. He is related to me somehow. I think he married a sister to my grandmother that was a Crabtree. Roy's wife was Mary Gray. He was well past middle age in the 50s. If you think Roy would be a connection, I should be able to find out a little more about him. Jim Giddens Paris, Tx ----- Original Message ----- From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 8:57 PM Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots > > His name is Alvis Gray, and the family moved to Clarksville area a bit > later. When the drought hit in '53 they sold their dairy cattle and moved > to West Texas. We are currently in central Arizona. --MaryK >> From: samples@1starnet.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep >> 2007 20:51:16 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> >> > Welcome to the list, Mary.> > What was your husband's name? How long >> did he live there? Where do you > live now?> > I bet you might find >> somebody else on the list who was born in 1939.> > Cynthia Samples> > > >> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please >> send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word >> 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the >> message > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM > > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

His name is Alvis Gray, and the family moved to Clarksville area a bit later. When the drought hit in '53 they sold their dairy cattle and moved to West Texas. We are currently in central Arizona. --MaryK > From: samples@1starnet.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:51:16 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> > Welcome to the list, Mary.> > What was your husband's name? How long did he live there? Where do you > live now?> > I bet you might find somebody else on the list who was born in 1939.> > Cynthia Samples> > > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Probably because I didn't get the email address right. This one should work. --MaryK> From: samples@1starnet.com> To: TXREDRIV-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:44:01 -0500> Subject: [TXREDRIV] Fw: Returning to roots> > I don't know why this one bounced. It looks like a regular message to me.> > C> > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: MaryK Croft > To: txredriv-bounces@rootsweb.com > Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 7:37 PM> Subject: Returning to roots> > > I signed up for this list to learn more about my husband's roots in the area. He's a Gray, born near Rugby in 1939; his mama was an Epps. We are packing to move back there. Thanks-- MaryK > > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Mary K, There was a Roy Gray that worked in the Clarksville post office in the 50s when I was a teen. He is related to me somehow. I think he married a sister to my grandmother that was a Crabtree. Roy's wife was Mary Gray. He was well past middle age in the 50s. If you think Roy would be a connection, I should be able to find out a little more about him. Jim Giddens Paris, Tx ----- Original Message ----- From: "MaryK Croft" <marykcroft@msn.com> To: <txredriv@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 8:57 PM Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots > > His name is Alvis Gray, and the family moved to Clarksville area a bit > later. When the drought hit in '53 they sold their dairy cattle and moved > to West Texas. We are currently in central Arizona. --MaryK >> From: samples@1starnet.com> To: txredriv@rootsweb.com> Date: Thu, 20 Sep >> 2007 20:51:16 -0500> Subject: Re: [TXREDRIV] FW: Fw: Returning to roots> >> > Welcome to the list, Mary.> > What was your husband's name? How long >> did he live there? Where do you > live now?> > I bet you might find >> somebody else on the list who was born in 1939.> > Cynthia Samples> > > >> > -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please >> send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word >> 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the >> message > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM > >

Mary K, There is a Charles Epps in his 60s from Fulbright. This just about two miles from Rugby. I see he is still in the phone book. His mother died about a year or 2 ago in Regency Nursing Home in Clarksville. My wife was raise in Fulbright. My wife just reminded me that Charles has a brother, Harold Wayne Epps, but I do not see him in the area phone book. Their mothers name was Ethel. Harold Wayne use to visit his mother regular in the nursing home. (He is a big big guy). He must live out of the area. Charles's wife works in Clarksville at one of the banks. Yahoo search says a Harold Epps lives in Plano. Their dad was a farmer for years and they lived in Fulbright. Good bet this is a connection to your Epps. I don't know about your Gray but I hope this gives you a starting place. There are a bunch of Gray names in RR Co listing. At least 4 in Bogata and a couple in Deport. Jim Giddens (Clarksville native) Paris, Tx p.s. Welcome soon back to Red River Co. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cynthia Samples" <samples@1starnet.com> To: <TXREDRIV-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 7:44 PM Subject: [TXREDRIV] Fw: Returning to roots >I don't know why this one bounced. It looks like a regular message to me. > > C > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: MaryK Croft > To: txredriv-bounces@rootsweb.com > Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 7:37 PM > Subject: Returning to roots > > > I signed up for this list to learn more about my husband's roots in the > area. He's a Gray, born near Rugby in 1939; his mama was an Epps. We are > packing to move back there. Thanks-- MaryK > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: > 9/20/2007 12:07 PM > >

Welcome to the list, Mary. What was your husband's name? How long did he live there? Where do you live now? I bet you might find somebody else on the list who was born in 1939. Cynthia Samples