Talbot-Taylor County GaArchives Biographies.....Leila Estella Belyew Lucas June 30 1881 - Unknown ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Carla Miles historycam@wmconnect.com April 25, 2004, 4:42 pm Author: Leila Estella Belyew Lucas The Butler Herald Tuesday, May 25, 1915 Page Six Neighborhood News Items Mauk Items By Estella For the benefit of Mr. Respess, the Texas correspondent, I will disclose my identity and will write a short sketch of my life. On the 22nd of March 1879 John Ervin Pinkney Belyew and Mary Francis Payne were united in marriage. Two years later, 30th of June 1881, at Redbone, (Ypsilanti as it is now called) Talbot County, Georgia, the humble scribe of the “Mauk Items” first saw the light of day and was christened Leila Estella Belyew. At the age of one year my parents with my grandfather, Berry Belyew and his family moved to Texas. My mother became dissatisfied after three years and persuaded my father to move back to Georgia as her relatives resided here. Father was never contented away from his people, so in a short time we removed to Texas. The winters being so severe, father contracted that dreadful disease, tuberculosis. He was carried to a sanitarium at Austin where he remained for nine months without much relief; he was aware of his condition, that it was a matter of a few months. We moved back to Georgia to be near Mother’s people, father was only spared to us one short year, leaving mother with four small children, I being only twelve years of age. We moved to Talbotton where we lived until five years later, mother too was taken. I was teaching in Meriwether County at the time of my mother’s death. I have often wondered why God saw fit to take both father and mother. We know that He doeth all things for the best, it is hard for us to understand and be resigned to His will. Mother was taken when I needed her love and advice most but God was both father and mother to me and guided my footsteps over the rugged paths. On December 17, 1899, I was married to Curtis Bell Lucas at Columbus. We were married on my husband’s 21st birthday, he says he has never known freedom. We went to Linwood, Ala., to reside, my husband was a Railroad man, we lived at several different towns in Alabama. Our home has been blessed with six children, two having died in infancy. My husband decided to farm and we moved to Taylor County, lived here three years and removed to Talbot four years, later we moved back to Mauk where we have been near two years. I have never lived at one place longer than five years. I am kinder like the song “Any old place I hang my hat is home, sweet home to me.” I often dream of a little vine covered cottage of my own, where I may live the declining years of my life. My dreams are not likely to materialize at the present strenuous times, but like Tiny Tim I keep hoping. Mauk is a small town near ten years’ growth in the western part of Taylor County, twelve miles of Butler situated on the AB&A Railroad near the line of Marion County. I have never met with better people than there are in Taylor County. In all of my travels The Butler Herald is the best county paper I ever read. I enjoy writing up the happenings of our little town each week and adding my wits to the boosting of our county paper. Perhaps in a year or two at the least we will move to other fields and some other will take my place. I think it would be very nice if the correspondents of the Herald could meet in Butler or some other place and organize a correspondence club, where we might exchange ideas and views, it would be of great help to all, I am quite sure it would be of benefit to me. It would lessen the work of the ever-patient proofreader; I have great sympathy for him sometime on my own account. Mrs. C.B. Lucas This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb