Letter from Genie (Griffin) DeWolf to Earnest Langford, 12 Jan 1959 Dear Earnest. I
am afraid you have appealed to a very ineffieciant author for
information in your planned historical exposition of early day events
in the Gum Springs-Taylors Gin-Briggs events. I was away from the scene of events from my 3rd year till my sixth, living for a while at Ganns Mill where my sister Belle was born. Then on to Austin where my brother Frank
was born, then back to the farm my grandfather had given my mother and
father there in Burnet County where I was born in 1879. Pinckney was also born on the farm. Then away to Georgetown where Sister Pansy was born. Next stop -- Lampasas. No birth there, but San Antonio where Daisy was born. From there we went to Kempner where Ivy was born. Back to the farm in 1890 where I arrived to attend the Gum Springs school under Prof. Tabor and his daughter Miss Emma -- 2 years. Then my brother West
was born there in 1896. By that time I had entered the Florence
College after teaching a Summer Subscription school at Briggs. I
taught at Oakalla after that in 1898 - 1899 and 1899-1900. I married Hill DeWolfe in 1900 and moved to the ranch with my own private school. Homer and Clinton
started in at Briggs, but Homer's grandfather wanted him to come to San
Angelo when he was 14 and he did and I taught Clinton at home until
Hill had lost his health and we sold the ranch and moved to Lampasas,
where Homer entered school and graduated -- while Clinton volunteered
for the Marines in World War 1. Then
we went to Meridian and Hill took over management of Ferguson
ranch. He [Hill] had a stomach operation at Scott and White's in
Temple and they told him to stay off a horse or he would be in worse
condition as they had cut out the duodenal canal where his food emptied
into his stomach and he was so thin they were sure he had a cancer as
his mother and his father's mother had died of cancer. He soon
developed a new ulceration and they told him that he could not be
helped by surgery any more. As he had what they said was Acute
Melancholia and we would have to travel with him to lift him out of it
as ranching had been his life work, we sold the ranch and put it into a
moving picture show -- on the road. Carried everything but a
place to set it up. For
15 years we lived on the road, from a week to only a few days at a
place. When the depression came and we had to stop, Homer was in
the Legislature and he and Dayton Moses,
who was attorney for the Stock Association got Hill a job as Inspector
for Cattle Ticks and Sheep scabies. He held that for over 16
years and we lived all over Texas, till he was put on the Stock yards
at Fort Worth and contracted Undulant fever. The
third attack made an invalid of him. We had to go live with our
only daughter, Hildagene, and her husband and three children. Mr.
Wiseley and she graduated in the same class from the University of
Texas. And married the next Sept. Jimmy was with Humble and
they valued his services as accountant and sent him to places where
accounts were balled up or where they were to put in new districts to
do the buying and keep accounts. We went to them in 1949 and the
eight years we moved with them to eight different towns or Humble
Camps. I am telling you the above GYPSY life I've lived so you will see why I cannot assist you in your problems. I went to school with Jim Smith
in 1897-1898. Taught at Oak Alla 1898-1899 and 1899-1900.
Married June 1900. I was interrupted in the above when I left out
that I taught 2 years at Oak Alla with Jim Cook, son of Judge Cook of Burnet. My father was W. S. Griffin
- a Missionary Baptist preacher. He was not an itenerant
minister, but always had 3 or 4 country churches where he preached on
alternate Sundays. He never accepted any salary, not even when
offered it. I suppose he was a REAL MISSIONARY. I don't remember his _____ school. Evelyn
sent me the Bertram paper with your article. I wondered why you
left Homer out of it as he graduated from U. Texas Law school then was
elected to the House of Representatives where he wrote and passed ___
College Law. After 2 terms there he was asst atty for 2 terms on
land ... [cut off at end of page] Ernest,
[will] you please pardon this messy letter. I am in my 80th year
and have heart condition. I can't sit up and type long at a time. [signed] |
