Freestone County, Texas Biographies Newspaper Articles The Jasper Newsboy newspaper - April 26, 2006 edition Commentary Gus, Edward 'uncles' or just plain characters? Willis Webb OCCASIONALLY one hears people refer to a person, generally someone of considerable age but not related, as "Aunt" or "Uncle." That used to be quite common a generation or two ago. Those titles are terms of love and respect. A couple of "uncles" come to mind when I hear someone use that reference in a case when I know blood relationship doesn't exist. One was "Uncle Gus," a rather simple man who told largely exaggerated tales, meant to entertain people he loved. Some people called Gus a big liar or, more kindly, a "big windy," but he never told a "windy" that harmed anyone but himself. While Uncle Gus was a lifelong bachelor, he loved little children and they were regaled most with his "windies." As a tad of a boy, I remember sitting on his knee as he told me about when he "fit Injuns in 1876." I was too young to do math or I'd have known Gus was telling a windy since he wasn't born until the 1890s. Gus was a big man, probably 6-3 or 6-4, and had a large stomach since he did enjoy eating. He lived with and worked for brothers who farmed the land. Gus was red-faced, had jowls that hung slightly below his chin line and he dipped snuff. That was evident by his teeth. There appeared to be three or four of 'em and they all looked three or four inches long to a little boy. The other "uncle" was a bit stern and regarded as quite serious. Uncle Edward lived in the community of Luna near my hometown of Teague, as did Gus. Edward was always "old" to a boy, even as I grew to teenage and young manhood. He was a widower and he had considerable land. "Uncle" Edward was childless and not inclined to pay much attention to youngsters. He didn't believe in alcohol, tobacco or caffeine. Uncle Edward tolerated most folks who drank caffeine (he preferred "sweet milk"), especially if they brought him some home-cooking or better yet invited him to their house for Sunday noon "dinner" after church. All my relatives, real and adopted, attended the frame, one-room Luna Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by one Bro. Fred E. Folk (yep, Jasper County Judge Joe Folk's dad). Uncle Edward came when he was feeling up to walking the mile or so from his house to the church (if he stayed home, he listened to "radio preachers"). One Sunday, as church was dismissed, there were a few of those farmers who had to have a hand-rolled Bull Durham cigarette as soon as they reached the church's porch. Uncle Edward was usually one of the last ones out of the church because he was elderly and walked with a cane. One farmer was standing on the porch, a custom cigarette dangling from his mouth, as Uncle Edward walked past him, he shifted his cane from the right hand to the left and used his right to slap the cigarette from the farmer's mouth. Uncle Edward punctuated that with, "Smart aleck!" The look on the farmer's face was priceless. At age 20, I became the news editor of my hometown paper, The Teague Chronicle, and Uncle Edward, who was in his late 80s at the time, had a "column" in it called The Luna News. It was scrawled with a pencil on tablet paper and contained all the news of the Luna community - who was visiting who, who'd been to "town"shopping and who was on the "puny" list that week. (Puny, to you city folks, means sick or ill.) Most of the time, the column began with, "Well, I just finished listening to a mighty fine sermon by Bro. Oral Roberts but now I must lay down pencil and paper and go gather the news." That meant he was going to walk around to five or six houses in the immediate Luna community and get someone to help him call all his other "sources" for the news. The calling involved someone taking their wall-mounted, crank telephone and ringing everyone on the 20-or-so-member Luna party line to seek the news Uncle Edward couldn't get by walking to nearby houses. Every year, about six or eight weeks before his birthday, Uncle Edward would write in The Luna News column, "Well, I'm going to have a birthday soon (naming the date) and I just want to see how many birthday cards I get and from how many places." People who'd never been to Texas much less Teague or Luna, would send cards. Usually, they were guys who'd been in military service with someone from Teague whose parents sent them The Teague Chronicle. At mail call, they all got to read that "funny old man's column," the Luna News. Then, they'd subscribe to the paper just to get his column. Uncle Edward also always wrote, "And, on the Sunday nearest my birthday, I expect all my friends to do their usual." That meant for all his neighbors to bring food dishes to his house and celebrate his birthday. He'd pull his rocking chair out on the porch and someone kept a full plate of food in front of him the whole Sunday afternoon. When he turned 89, I interviewed him for a feature story. I asked him to what he attributed his longevity. "Sweet milk," he said quickly. "Never have let alcohol or caffeine pass my lips." I've always thought "uncle" was another term for "character." Neither Gus nor Edward were relatives and they were certainly characters. Most of us respected them and I know a lot of little kids loved Gus because he played with them and entertained them. Edward entertained a lot of people with his Luna News column. So, I guess they both deserved to be called "Uncle." Willis Webb is editor and publisher of The Jasper Newsboy.