Taylor County, TX - Biography - Prentiss Buchanon "Bill" Mayfield

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
Archives by: Geoffrey Youngblood (lonestar357@tx.rr.com)

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Submitted by: Geoffrey Youngblood (lonestar357@tx.rr.com) 
Date: March 9th, 2012 
Author: Prentiss B. “Bill” Mayfield

The exact dates for this collection of wonderful stories are unknown.
Some dates can be determined based upon events mentioned, and
collectively they provide a unique glimpse into the lives of the people
involved.

Most events occurred in rural Texas, specifically in Taylor and Jones
Counties. The Stamford Rodeo first began in 1930, and it's located on
the boundary between Haskell and Jones County, Texas. The Texas
Centennial Celebration was held in Dallas, Texas in 1936. Will Rogers
was born in 1879 and was killed in a plane crash in 1935.

“Bill” Mayfield is my first cousin twice removed, and was both a dear
friend and first cousin to my Grandfather, Archie D. Jackson. Both
Archie's and Bill's mothers came to Texas from Missouri on a wagon train
in 1881, and their families helped settle South Taylor County.

Sarah Evalyn Anderson-Jackson's life and times have been lovingly
remembered by Bill Mayfield in his tribute to his Aunt Evie. He wrote
this in 1974, reasons unknown, and we are very glad he did.

I hope this will be included in Ancestry's time capsule.

Geoffrey Youngblood Arlington, Texas


Bill Mayfield's Bio: Prentiss Buchanon "Bill" Mayfield, son of Moliere
Malcolm Mayfield (1859-1912) and Helena Frances "Lena" Anderson
(1861-1927) was born January 7, 1905 in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
and died June 19, 1982 in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. He is buried in
Magnolia Cemetery, Woodville, Tyler County Texas. He married Alice Hiatt
March 9, 1938 in Galveston, Galveston County, Texas.

“Aunt Evie's" Bio: Sarah Evalyn "Evvy" Anderson, daughter of John
Marshall "Marsh" Anderson (1836- 1898) and Katherine "Kate" Lippard
(1836-1914) was born September 13, 1866 in Meredosia, Morgan County,
Illinois and died March 5, 1946 in Taylor County, Texas. She is buried
in the Bluff Creek Cemetery, Moro, Taylor County, Texas. She married
Jesse Preston Jackson October 3, 1894 in Moro, Taylor County, Texas.
Jesse was born September 15, 1866 on the Berry League, Williamson
County, Texas and died January 25, 1935 in Taylor County, Texas. He is
buried in the Bluff Creek Cemetery, Moro, Taylor County, Texas.

Archie D. Jackson's Bio: Archie Dean Jackson, son of Jesse Preston
Jackson (1866-1935) and Sarah Evalyn "Evvy" Anderson (1866-1946) was
born March 2, 1904 in Hawley, Jones County, Texas and died November 12,
1994 in Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas. He is buried in Milford, Ellis
County, Texas. Archie married Thelma Mae Robinson September 17, 1930 in
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas. She was born March 12, 1908 in Abilene,
Taylor County, Texas and died June 17, 1999 in Arlington, Tarrant
County, Texas. She is buried in Milford, Ellis County, Texas.

MY DEAR AUNT EVIE

Foreword - what I write here is the way remember things. If I am wrong
on some of the details, please forgive me.

Aunt Evie was my mother's sister. Their father moved his family to Texas
in 1881 from Missouri. They settled in lower Taylor County and started
the town of Moro. My mother taught school for awhile and then married
and moved to Helena. They later moved to Abilene where I grew up. Aunt
Evie married a prosperous farmer and they lived near the little town of
Hawley, a two hour buggy ride north of Abilene. We visited there often
as I grew up.

Aunt Evie was a large, forceful woman who talked loudly and often and
wanted to run the show. (Don't they all.) She was a very hard worker, a
good housekeeper and a loving mother. She was a good church member and
was very active in helping those who needed it. The expression "having a
big heart," fit her completely.

My Uncle Jess Jackson was a strong, quiet, forceful man with a good
business head. He would take a lot of Aunt Evie's loud talk and say
nothing or walk away, but at times he would turn on her and quiet her
down. Most of the time they got along swell.

The Jacksons had three children, Wilma, Marshall and Archie, the
youngest, who was my age. We were great friends and great competitors in
everything.

Aunt Evie loved to have a lot of company in and to serve them a very big
dinner at noon. Since there would be too many to serve at the dining
table at one sitting, there would have to be two servings. The children
would be served at the second table. This meant an anguished waiting
with much suffering. At one time Archie and I came in with sagging
spirits and begged to be allowed to eat our plates before the others.
Our prayers were unwisely answered and she fixed us each a plate of food
and let us sit down at the dining table which was already set. While
bolting our food, one of us said something funny to both and both of us
broke out laughing and showered the table with food. Aunt Evie heard the
explosions and ran in from the kitchen. She saw the damage done and the
work we had made her and drove us out with great force. We then had to
wait until after the second table had eaten before we could finish our
meal.

One year we drove up to Hawley for Christmas. I remember only one detail
of the occasion - the tree. It certainly showed Aunt Evie's fine
ingenuity. There were no evergreen trees in that area. The "shinnery"
oaks there do not shed their leaves in the winter, but they turn brown.
She had gone out and found one of the right size and shape and set it up
in the house. She had then decorated it lavishly with ribbons, paper
chains and ornaments. It was real pretty and cheerful and the unusual
appearance stuck in my memory.

I was visiting with Archie when we were in our early teens and he came
up with what seemed to be a very adventurous and thrilling idea. We
would go to the adjoining farm that night and steal some watermelons. Of
course, they had plenty of melons, but to steal some would make them
special. We carried out the plan and came out with two good ones which
we hid in the barn. They didn't stay hidden long. Uncle Jess found them
the next morning and there was Hell to pay. We had to tell where we had
gotten them and the fact that they were good neighbors made it worse.
Aunt Evie decreed that we would have to take them to the people and tell
them that we were sorry. This was terrible as Archie's girlfriend lived
there. This called for thought and planning. We decided that we would
sneak up to the side of the house through a cane field and just roll the
melons into the yard without being seen. This we did and that ended the
matter, but the parents probably had a laugh about it later.

Uncle Jess bought a good sized ranch in the south part of the county and
they moved there. The house was a big old fashioned place with a long
front porch. It was about a mile from the house to the front gate. There
were some small mountains behind the house. It was an attractive place.
Uncle Jess had done well financially. In addition to the ranch he had
some rent farms and an interest in a few oil wells. He later became a
director in a nearby bank.

Wilma had married early and left home. The boys went to college. I
visited there whenever I could and got to know Aunt Evie for what she
was really like through long conversations. Some of these were on the
front porch on moonlight nights. She liked to talk about their trip to
Texas from Missouri and the early days in Texas. She knew a lot of early
local history and we took some drives so she could point out what
happened here and there. I loved that sort of thing, We also talked
about a lot of general interest things and her insight and general
observations were good and sound. We became friends as well as kinfolks.

One year Aunt Evie had a family reunion at Christmas which reached some
kind of record. There were 37 present!! Gay talk went on all over the
place in groups of all ages and there were all kinds of activities. Some
of us took a walk in the pasture and caught an armadillo and brought it
home. It was good for scaring the females and the little kids got great
fun out of catching it by the tail and trying to keep it from crawling
away. Aunt Evie alone had prepared the food for that horde. You never
saw so many preparations. There was turkey, fresh roast ham, baked fresh
spareribs, several vegetables, salads, pies and cakes. We all ate until
we were stuffed and still Aunt Evie urged us on. Then there was a rest
period with lots more talk before all departed to go home. We talked
about that reunion for years.

Through church work and other associations Aunt Evie learned of the
needy and helped out in any way that she could, either personally or
financially. I remember one case in particular. A very poor tenant
farmer and his family lived a few miles away.

She heard that their baby was sick and she went over to take food and to
see what else she might do. She found out that the baby had died and was
going to be buried that afternoon. The baby was laid out in a wooden
apple box with no covering on it and it was going to be buried that way.
There were no flowers there and none expected. She got busy - went home
and got some material to cover the box and then went out in the pasture
and got milkweed and other wild plants to make a spray and some
bouquets. There was no time to go to Abilene to get the proper things.
She took what she had, went over and did all she could. The parents were
very thankful and the burial sadness was somewhat relieved.

My mother died in 1927 and, of course, Aunt Evie came to the funeral.
She did all she could to help out and to comfort us and after the
service she called me over for a private talk. She said that she knew I
had been to college, had a good job with a good future and would
probably not need any help, but if anything ever did happen so that I
needed help, she would be glad to do anything she could and if I needed
a home, she would be glad to have me live with them. Of course I was
very grateful and it was always a comfort to know that I had a home if I
ever needed one.

Uncle Jess died not long after this and, of course, this was an awful
blow to Aunt Evie. She had a lot of new responsibilities and things to
look after as would be expected. Sshe gradually recovered and worked
things out. The children pitched in and helped a lot and she came out
strong.

There were two large ponds, or "tanks" as we called them, on the ranch.
There was always a few fish in them, but after the boys stocked them
with white perch, the fishing became very good. Aunt Evie loved to fish
and she spent many happy hours pulling in the perch. She particularly
liked to go out just before noon and catch a mess of fish and bring them
in and cook them for the meal. I spent some happy hours doing this. One
Sunday at the local church she did a lot of bragging about the fishing
and, carried away with her subject, she invited a bunch to come over and
fish and then have a fish fry. After going home she had some more sober
thoughts -- that bunch would practically clean out the tanks and then
her fishing would be poor. She devised another plan. When the people
came she took them up to a pretty spot in the pasture and served them a
great picnic supper. No fishing was done! Well, anyway, it gave us
something to talk and laugh about.

I generally spent my vacations in the old home area and always spent
some time with Aunt Evie and the boys. One year Aunt Evie wrote asking
if I could spend a certain time there on my vacation. I wondered why
this particular time should be set, but agreed to come. When I arrived
found that there was a swell, good looking girl there for her vacation!
Aunt Evie sure knew how to pick them. We were getting along swell, but
on the second day she told me she was engaged. This was no particularly
big setback to me, but I made the a serious mistake of mentioning it to
Aunt Evie. Her face fell and her mind started working. The next thing I
knew, the girl was on her way home.

Well, anyway, I had a happy stay there.

When the Texas Centennial was being advertised, most all of the ads
covered the entertainment features with girls, night clubs and such.
Little was said of the fine exhibits. Aunt Evie would have no part of
it. After it opened, some people came back with glowing stories about
the fine historical, scientific and business displays and the fine,
clean entertainment. Then she had the boys take her there and after an
extended stay, she returned to become the Centennial's greatest booster.
After that she kept the boys busy taking people there who would not get
to go otherwise, and, of course she paid all expenses.

A rodeo was held at Stamford each year and all contestants must be local
boys. Aunt Evie loved to attend and was highly vocal in supporting her
favorites. Everybody knew she was there. Will Rogers liked to attend
when he could and they let him ride a snubbing horse and do other chores
in the ring. Of course, everybody enjoyed seeing Will there. One time it
was announced in advance that he would not be able to come. Aunt Evie
attended and was having a great time. Someone came up and sat down
beside her. She looked around and saw that it was Rogers. She said.
"Hello Will," he promptly spoke up with, "Hello Mrs. Jackson." They
enjoyed a conversation. She always wondered how he learned her name. She
never seemed to realize that she was very well known in her locality,
and with respect.

One time she learned that the boys were going with some girls whose
moral values were not too highly respected. She was incensed and decreed
that the boys could not use the car.

If they wanted to go with girls they could ride horseback and see some
of the locals. This was a blow to the boys. They had to come up with
some way to get around this prohibition. They cooked this up. They would
saddle up their horses after dark, ease open the garage door, push the
car out, tow it with the horses to the front gate, tie the horses in the
pasture and drive off in the car. This worked fine for a time. Then one
night when they towed the car up to the garage, there was Aunt Evie.
They were so shaken up that they could hardly get off of the horses.
There was no vocal outburst from Aunt Evie and this mystery added to
their tension. She even helped them push the car in. She went on to the
house without saying a word.

The boys spent a bad night trying to figure out her tactics and how she
would punish them. Of course it was part of Aunt Evie's plan to let them
worry. They got the judgment at breakfast. Their financial allowances
would be cut to practically nothing. She controlled the purse strings
and could do just that. The boys were well restricted for some time, but
she finally relented and they could move about again.

One Christmas I visited in the area and saw Aunt Evie for the last time.
We had some good conversation and I realized more than ever what a fine
person she was. She was always willing to do a lot for others who needed
help. Can you say a finer thing about a person than that?

Bill Mayfield, Woodville Texas, August, 1974.