Clay County, Texas
Martha Elizabeth Thurmond Brown
submitted by Martha
Thompson
Martha E. Thurmond was born in the
Fairview Community, near Rhome, in Wise County, Texas on Dec.
18, 1880, and the daughter of John Faver Thurmond and Amanda
Merrifield Thurmond. She grew up on the farm where she
was born. There is a story that when she was but an infant,
a tornado hit the farmhouse where she slept in her crib and carried
her into the cornfield, crib and all. The other members
of the family had all come in from the field where they were
working and had headed to the root cellar. Each thought
the other had gotten Martha out of the house. She survived
the incident unharmed.
She attended and graduated
from Decatur Baptist College. On December
5, 1905, she married Robert Jarvis Brown, a rancher from Bellevue,
Texas, in the Thurmond home north of Rhome. They
resided outside of Bellevue until 1910 when they moved to Henrietta.
Martha was very active
in community affairs: a member of the First Baptist Church, the
Henrietta Garden Club, the Unity Club, the Woman’s Forum
of Wichita Falls, the Delphian Club, and served on the Henrietta
School Board. During World War 1, Martha assisted by making bandaging
for the soldiers.
Martha and Robert
had 3 children: Don, Born March 2, 1901 on the ranch, Earle (later
named Rachel Earle), born June 20, 1911, and Robert Jarvis, jr.
(Bob), born Oct. 17, 1917 in Henrietta.
Martha loved to garden
and raised Irises in her large back yard. She
experimented with crossbreeding the plants, and it is told that
she created the first truly pure white iris. And
she loved butterflies, especially the Monarch. You
could often see her chasing them with her large butterfly net.
But her favorite thing was to entertain. She
hosted many parties in their home: played lots of Bridge and
Canasta.
Martha E. Thurmond Brown passed away on Sunday,
Feb. 12, 1961 in the farm home where she had been born and married,
while attending the funeral services of her sister-in-law, Mrs.
Forrest Thurmond of Fort Worth. Funeral services
were held at the First Baptist Church in Henrietta, Monday, Feb.
13 at 2p.m. Conducted by Rev. Kenneth Cantrell,
pastor. Interment was in the Bellevue Cemetery
in the Brown Family Plot. Under the direction
of the Hawkins Funeral Home. Pallbearers were
David A.Greer, Macon Boddy, A.V. Slagle, Bryant Edwards, Ham
Douglas, Frank Bunting, Myers Barker, Jim Hill, Gordon Shamburger,
Clyde King, and William Burnside. She was
survived by her husband of 56 years, Robert Jarvis Brown, two
sons: Don Brown of Fort Worth and Robert J. Brown, jr. of Wichita
Falls, and one daughter, Rachel Shaffer of Wichita Falls, one
brother, Joe Thurmond of Rhome, six grandchildren, several nieces
and nephews.
A Tribute
Mrs. Robert Jarvis Brown presented the following to the Museum
at Decatur Baptist College from which she had graduated as a
Tribute to her Mother: Amanda Merrifield Thurmond, and her Grand
Mother: Elizabeth A. Thurmond. This is quoted from
a style show script. “The dress Mrs. Oheim is modeling
is a calico dress copied from a plaid silk worn by Mrs. R. J.
Brown’s Mother in the 1870’s. The taffeta cape
is an original belonging to Mrs. Brown’s grand mother, Mrs.
Elizabeth A. Thurmond, of Newman, Georgia. The cape and
handmade fringe was made by Mrs. Thurmond’s personal maid:
a slave called Clarie, whom Mrs. Thurmond had taught to do fine
sewing and needle work in the 1800’s. Most of Clarie’s
fine sewing was done when the 4 Thurmond daughters attended the
Fayetteville Female Academy - the school where Margaret Mitchell’s
famous character Scarlet in “Gone With the Wind” went
to school. The beaded net made to wear over the “waterfall”,
a coiffure term to describe a style of hair dressing, was made
by Katherine Greenwood Thurmond in 1960. She was Mrs. Brown’s
Aunt.
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