Hopkins Co TX , Sarah E. Nunn obituary From: June E. Tuck 1224be@neto.com> ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitted, and contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGENWEB Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Sarah E. Nunn, age 95, died at her home on Oak Ave. Funeral services were held at Myra Wilson Chapel and burial in the City cemetery. Miss Sarah Ellen Yarborough, daughter of Richard & Hannah Yarborough, was born in Center, Texas, Nov. 29, 1838, and has been a resident of Texas all her long life. Mrs. Nunn had no children of her own, but reared and cared for nine who were bereft by parents. Paul Nunn, a citizen of Sulphur Springs, is the son of her younger sister. He was cared for during his younger days by Mrs. Nunn. Mrs Pearl Morris, one of the recipients of Mrs. Nunn’s kindness, gave the deceased a daughter’s care during the last nine years of her life in which she was almost totally blind. The deceased was the wife of Hope Nunn, who preceded her in death in 1925. During the civil war, she would ride on her horse, picking up letters from families and carrying them to the post office to be sent to their love ones at war. She and her husband operated the Nunn House for 35 years and many a poor man spent the night at their hotel without any charge, during this long period (Hopkins Co. Echo, aug. 24, 1934) Later reported - A few weeks before the death of Mrs. Hope Nunn, Mrs. Kathleen Sherwood Williams visited her parents, Mr. & Mrs. M. B. Sherwood. While here she visited Mrs. Nunn, and from an interview with her, she wrote the following story of her life. (Edited - She passed away Aug. 20, 1934. She was born in Center, Texas, and it was there that she and her brothers and sisters attended school and grew up in the wholesome climate of the South. Her father owned and operated a saw mill which was known in that part of the country as "The Rough and Ready" Mill. She attended many important social functions of the State, and her father engaged a dancing master to teach her the old fashioned square dance. She was a typical Southern lady and was popular with both the white and colored races. Being one of a few commodious farm homes of that section, the Yarborough home was a "stop" for stage coaches, and wherein court was held for many years prior to that section’s first courthouse. During the civil war, she owned several fine horses, but being a girl and unable to enlist for service, she would saddle a horse and do her part in making the rounds to the community homes, collecting and delivering letters to the nearest post-office to be forward to soldiers on the battle field. She would write the letters for the women who were unable to write. In the year of 1870, she married E. H. Nunn whom she met at her father’s saw mill. Mr. Nunn had been previously married and had a small son, Ollie Nunn, by his former wife who died several years later. Having no children of their own, they reared nine children bereft of parents in early childhood. Paul Nunn was one of the adopted children. He was the son of Mrs. Nunn’s youngest sister, Amanda Yarborough, and was born in the Nunn home. Amanda died soon after her son, Paul, was born. He was always first in Mrs. Nunn’s love and affection. Soon after her marriage, Mr. & Mrs. Nunn moved to the village of Brashear in Hopkins County and it was there that the community’s first Sunday School was organized by her. Several years later they moved to Sulphur Springs, the county seat, and bought property located on what is now known as Oak Ave., converted the house into a hotel, and for 44 years the Nunns catered to the "Drummer" trade - that type of traveling salesmen which has become practically extinct because of more modern sales methods. Following her husband’s death in 1925, Mrs. Nunn continued to operate the hotel and has been the "good angel" to many homeless boys and girls, deserted wives and penniless wanderers. One of her nieces has in her possession one of the her Aunt Ellen’s pillow shames with an original verse she had embroidered between two lilies, which read," I slept and dreamed that life was beauty ; I awoke and fond that life was duty." She was passionately fond of flowers, and frequently remarked to friends that "flowers around her home helped her to breath the beauties of nature and were good for the soul." Asking what she attributed her long life, she replied, "By saving my body and using my brain." Another frequent remark is "That a person don’t wear out, but rusts out." The five nieces whom she considered a part of her immediate family are" Mrs. R. M. Robertson, Winnsboro; Mrs. L. C. Clifton and Mrs. J. L. Moore, McKinney; Miss Toby Morris and Mrs. T. L. Palmer, Dallas; and Mrs. W. M. Scudder, Brashear. At the age of 95, the end came as she often wished it might - without pain. She was the last leaf on the family tree of twelve.