Submitted by Patsy Williams
patsyann@etex.net
Feb. 2010

Many years ago while older relatives were still living, I took Mrs. Gordie Pruitt to the Perryville Cemetery.  She took me to the grave of her father-in-law, W.A. Pruitt.  Mr. Pruitt was my great-grandfather.  His grave is marked with a large rock that at one time had some writing on it.  The story I was told is Mr. Pruitt died on the last day of 1899 and was buried on the first day of 1900.  He is not with the family on the 1900 Upshur  County census which was taken in June. His widow is listed as Mary Pruitt, age 44.  She has 5 children with the oldest being 11-yr-old Martha E.  I remember Aunt Emma well.  I am now 71, and she spent a lot of time at our home when I was growing up. I also remember Samuel L Pruitt well.  We called him Uncle Sam.  He is the one who married Gordie Nugent. My grandmother was the youngest daughter.  Her name was Lilly Mae Pruitt.  She died about 1915 when my mother was about 2-years-old.  She is buried at Oak Hill.

The older Mrs. Pruitt must have been a very tough woman.  After her husband died, she loaded her children into a wagon and headed for Jack County, Texas.  I believe there could have been another family from the Perryville community that also made the journey.  When they arrived in Jack County, they could not find work.  Mrs. Pruitt began the long journey back to E. Texas.  As she passed through Wise County, a young boy ran out to their wagon and offered them a job picking cotton.  They accepted and made friends with the Roberts family.  They remained there for several years.  During that time (in 1908) Robert (Bob) Roberts married Lilly Mae Pruitt.  These are my grand-parents.  Bob was 23, but Lilly was only 13 and much too young to marry.  They had a daughter within a year.  Martha Emma Pruitt found a boyfriend at a weekly dance.  Mrs. Pruitt didn’t like the boy Aunt Emma chose so she loaded her family up and started the long journey back to East Texas.  Aunt Emma was so heartbroken she became a recluse and spent the remainder of her life grieving.  She was quite old when she died.  On the way back to E. Texas the family stopped near present day Mineola to work for a while.  During that time the young daughter born to Bob and Lilly Roberts developed a high fever and died.  She was buried there before they completed their journey back to Perryville.  They did get back to Perryville, rented a farm, and are listed in the 1910 Upshur County census.  When Mrs. Pruitt began the trip she had 5 children.  She only had 3 in the 1910 census.  Through the years I heard some talk about George and John passing away when they were young, but I had no idea they died while in West Texas.  My mother is 96 now, but she has lost her long term memory.  Each time I ask her for particulars she smiles and tells me she just can’t remember.  After her mother died, Grandpa Roberts was a young man who could not work and take care of a young baby.  Mother was given to Mrs. Pruitt and then to Uncle Sam’s family after Mrs. Pruitt died.  Because mother had no mother when we were born, Aunt Emma often came to our home to help.  She did not like talking about the past.  I assume she was still upset about losing her one true love.