http://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/

RediscoveringSETX, PO Box 2078, Nederland (2024)

04/07/2024

Happy 4th!
Beaumont 2016

23/06/2024

Thoughts and Ramblings: Cold Case Solved; Gilbert Building Gets Sixty Days; Cleaning Headstone’s the Right Way; Willie Mays, and Donald Sutherland

Last week, the mysteries of the disappearance and the whereabouts of Kimberly Langwell were solved—hopefully. I say “hopefully” because, not to be morbid, they still need to ensure that the remains are hers. Yes, it’s bad when someone who is missing is officially declared deceased; at least, though, it gives the family closure. This family has been suffering for 25 years, AND THEY DESERVE CLOSURE!
I will not get into the details of the case, but I will definitely be interested in what comes out in the trial. I’m sure the people at the Listen Closely podcast also want the facts. For my 2013 book, I researched a few serial killers, both male and female. It was interesting. I’m not saying the accused is a serial killer, as he may only be convicted of one murder, but his dad was also killed on the property. I forgot about this until someone I know told me that he grew up in the neighborhood in question and that, as kids, they would ride bikes with the accused, whom they called a momma’s boy. I also talked with someone who informed me that you can watch trials on YouTube and find their dockets online. If this is the case, then I’m interested.

The City of Beaumont has given the owner of the Gilbert Building, Tom Flanagan, 60 days to basically get his crap together and not cast a vote to demolish the building within this period. Fingers crossed; although, from what I hear, Tom Flanagan seems to never get his crap together. He owns many buildings in downtown Beaumont and says many things about restoring this building and preserving that building, but in the end, he does nothing but let the properties deteriorate and become fire hazards. By the way, does anyone know the cause of the fire at the Gilbert Building? A building with no electricity does not usually catch fire. Arson? Homeless people’s arson? I think this needs to be addressed.
To Mr. Flanagan’s credit, he stated in a KFDM interview that his goal is “to preserve the facade and save the building, developing it and retaining a rich part of Beaumont’s history.” I really hope this is legit and not just the same old BS that apparently goes on in Beaumont.
Concerning the public’s reaction to this issue, we had a few members from the Jefferson County Historical Commission speak at the meeting. The Beaumont Heritage Society also showed up, and the Texas Historical Commission sent a letter about saving this treasure. So, it is now up to the owner to do something. The City of Beaumont has done the math, and it doesn’t want to put up a million dollars to demolish the structure. It is great that Mr. Flanagan and his “investors” spent 46 million dollars for their Beaumont properties, but they rarely do anything with them. Note: I’ve thrown in the “investors” quote because all his investments do not seem to come from his funds. Also, I’m sure that when you throw in names such as Umphery, you want to look at the bigger picture of 41 years of investments. I may be a year or two off this in terms of the quote because I, sadly, was not at the meeting—I have to work for a living! In the end, I hope the building can be saved, but I’m not holding my breath, and I also want to know who started the fire! I guess we can acknowledge that the singer Billy Joel didn’t start it. (I love that song!) I digress, but no one seems to give a crap about answering this question.

This week, I was contacted by an organization that repairs and cleans headstones and does other cemetery stonework around Texas. Since they have more work than time and are not local, they reached out to someone at the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, who gave them my contact details. (Shout-out to the McFaddin-Ward House Museum!)
I believed the person at the other end of the line because they were reaching out to find someone who knew the dos and don’ts of cleaning headstones and monuments. They didn’t want to send someone with a bottle of Clorox and a wire brush to help a client who had reached out to them for assistance. (Note: You never use Clorox or a wire brush! Damn you to hell if you do.) We talked for 30 minutes or so, and I found out that someone had a few headstones that needed cleaning, but they didn’t live in the Beaumont area, so they reached out to this organization for help. We shall see where this goes.
I’ve been known to clean a headstone or two, especially at Magnolia Cemetery, if it becomes unreadable due to lichen, algae, mold, or mildew. My only go-to product is the D/2 Biological Solution cleaner. I won’t leave a link because I’m in the retail business, and I don’t sell this product, but it works. You spray it on, and, eventually, you will see a change for the better. I do not scrub or wash it off, but if you’re expecting an overnight improvement, then good luck. It won’t happen. After a period between six months and a year, you will see a change. Sometimes, a few organizations hold workshops on fixing and cleaning headstones in this area. If I see one coming up, I’ll definitely get the word out.

We lost a few people this week. The first one was Willie Mays. He was by far the best baseball player of our time. His humbleness added to his greatness in a time when players weren’t equal in the eyes of some, but he left it ALL on the field. He was like no other. Considering all the overpaid players nowadays, he earned a lot less than he should have.
Another icon, whom I admired through tankery, was the actor Donald Sutherland. He was a brilliant performer, and my love for his work was born with the movie Kelly’s Heroes. Sergeant Oddball is a part of my past and present, and I will keep rewatching that film.

Until next time, when in Beaumont, please get your crap together! And Sherman Vor! (All Sherman’s forward)

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2024/06/23/thoughts-and-ramblings-cold-case-solved-gilbert-building-gets-sixty-days-cleaning-headstones-the-right-way-willie-mays-and-donald-sutherland/

Man Indicted for 1999 Murder After Police Find Human Remains:
https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/crime/man-indicted-for-1999-murder-after-police-find-remains-believed-to-be-missing-beaumont-woman/502-0168a2ed-92f6-458e-a9bc-5cbebf042862

Beaumont City Council to wait 60 days before deciding fate of Gilbert Building:
https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/beaumont-city-council-to-wait-60-days-before-deciding-fate-of-gilbert-building/502-21fbe471-34c4-4182-8785-57f62d525d1e

Willie Mays:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Mays

Donald Sutherland:
https://youtu.be/_PV3F3cKBDI?si=mLSJDedHFVpI00W8

Sergeant Oddball:
https://youtu.be/-IatwoA00E0?si=fpPy9WRnjc9vjE82

21/06/2024

R.I.P. Donald Sutherland A.K.A. Sergeant Oddball. You will be missed! Positive waves going forward!

16/06/2024

Thoughts and Ramblings: Firebugs; The Gilbert Building; Beaumont City Council Meeting

I take one week off, and Beaumont turns into Pompeii. Apparently, there’s a firebug or firebugs in the city who are disgruntled with properties with the name Gilbert in them. Or maybe not; I’m just speculating. I really haven’t heard anything about the cause of the Gilbert Building fire as of this writing, but as the son of an ex-fireman, I have my suspicions. The Caroline Gilbert Hinchee House was also targeted the same night, for those not in the know. Someone threw gasoline around the house and tried to torch it. Fortunately, a neighbor saw this, and the Beaumont Fire Department was quick on the scene. It is somewhat of a miracle that this property didn’t go up in flames.

I rarely check Facebook, because I don’t care about most people’s thoughts and empty prayers or about their opinions on politics or religion and why dem boyz haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 90s. I can answer the latter: Rodger the Dodger’s old neighborhood needs a new owner, and Dak sucks more than Danny White back in the day—but at least Danny could punt!
I did search a few pages when I heard the news of the fire, and boy, oh boy, many West End Wandas in the comments were triggered about other things! “What about this building?” “What about this house?” “What are you doing for these places?” “Why aren’t you doing more?”
Let me explain how preservation works, Wanda. There are many wheels to grease to keep them turning and many hours of volunteer time to grease those wheels. Yes, volunteer time! Volunteers are the unpaid soldiers who preserve our historical sites and do hours of research because we are passionate about history. There are also paid people at originations, some of whom I support and others whom I deem worthless. I will not get into those people because some have a higher boss. .
Wanda, sorry you don’t like when things get torn down. I don’t either, but typing on social media platforms about your agenda doesn’t help. You need to show up in the real world. Things don’t change because you like or share a post that says some buildings are up for demolition. No one cares about your thoughts or prayer-hand emojis in the end. Be the socks-and ruby-slippers-wearing gal we need. Sorry for bringing up your cousin, but sometimes you need to also wear the hat and wear it with authority! Shout out to my spirit animal, Margaret Hamilton!

This is how preservation works. You show up, then you see what you can accomplish by saving the property, updating the history, or just figuring out what needs to be done to a project. On Friday, I learned that the recent fire at the Gilbert Building will be an item on the agenda at Beaumont City Council this week on Tuesday at 1:30 at the Council Chambers City Hall at 801 Main Street.
“Council consider an ordinance to declare 328-338 Bowie & 486-498 Pearl Street, also known as ‘The Gilbert Building,’ as Imminent Danger and order the owner to raze the said structure within 5 days. If the property owner fails to comply within 5 days, staff is requesting City Council authorization to demolish said structure without further notification to the property owner or City Council action.”
I have no idea whether the building’s structure is safe, because, as of this writing, that has not been determined, and this is the problem with being too hasty about demoing things. If you are interested in making your views heard on this subject, I hope you show up at the meeting. As far as I’m concerned, I hope this building doesn’t end up like South Park High School. And yes, this is the same fate as the Central High School campus. Some of you Facebook keyboard warriors need to realize that this was the sole action of the Beaumont Independent School District and that no other organization can do anything about it. So there you go. Take issue with them.

Well, it’s Father’s Day, and I will end this with a short post from Susie’s weekly letter, dated June 16,1929:

MARY AUTRY HIGGINS came along with the epitaph she found somewhere:
Here lyeth the body of WILLIAM STRATTON
buried May 18, 1734
Age 97
Who had by his first wife 28 children
By his second, 17
Own father to 45,
Grandfather to 86,
Great-grandfather to 97,
great-great-grandfather to 23...in all 251
***
Happy Father’s Day!

https://history.rediscoveringsetx.com/2024/06/16/thoughts-and-ramblings-firebugs-the-gilbert-building-beaumont-city-council-meeting/

Beaumont City Council Meeting:
https://portal.beaumonttexas.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=4900716&dbid=0&repo=BeaumontCity

04/06/2024

Evening Edition: We Meet at Midway!

Today is the 82st anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Some say that this battle was the turning point of the Pacific theater. However, in my opinion, the battle that took place a month earlier in the Coral Sea was the game changer because of the damage inflicted on the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku. Both vessels were unable to participate in the Midway campaign. The allies also suffered a great loss when the carrier Lexington was scuttled and the Yorktown was heavily damaged. Amazingly, though, the Yorktown managed to limp back to Hawaii and spent 72 hours in drydock getting patched up in order to participate in the showdown in the Pacific.
Overall, the IJN had ten carriers total to the United States three carriers based in the Pacific. Six had participated on the attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. With that said, the Kidō Butai, which was down to four carriers instead of the six of the main force, was sent to Midway. Obviously, this would have been enough to ensure victory, but unbeknownst to Admiral Yamamoto, the Americans had cracked the IJN’s code used for the target they referred to as “AF.” Joseph Rochefort and his fellow cryptanalysts figured out that “AF” was Midway Atoll.
The main intention of the Kidō Butai was to sink the American carriers. They failed at Pearl Harbor, but after the Doolittle Raid on Japan’s home front, they decided to set what they thought was a trap in Midway. However, the sacrifice of many American pilots manning torpedo planes allowed the dive bombers to sink three carriers in less than ten minutes: the Kaga, the Soryū, and Admiral Nagumo’s flagship the Akagi. The fourth carrier, the Hiryū, kept fighting, and its planes took out the Yorktown. However, ironically, the Yorktown’s dive bombers disabled the Hiryū, leaving a great victory at hand. Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi and Captain Tomeo Kaku chose to go down with the Hiryū as it was scuttled with two torpedoes from an IJN destroyer.
Realizing that the United States had won a great victory, Admiral Spruance pulled back for the night because he didn’t want to risk his ships in a night battle. Yamamoto’s occupying force and reserve fleet retreated. The many losses of pilots, mechanics, and carrier personnel hampered the IJN’s ability to wage a counterattack in later battles. Those who survived the Battle of Midway were transferred to different areas and were told not to talk about it. The IJN treated the survivors as failures, which led to its downfall in the end.
Many books have been written on this historical episode; even a few movies have been made about it. I will leave the links at the bottom of this blog.

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2023/06/04/evening-edition-we-meet-in-midway/

Shattered Sword by Jon Parshall and Anthony Tully:
http://www.shatteredswordbook.com/

Joe Rochefort’s War by Elliot Carlson:
https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/joe-rocheforts-war-the-odyssey-of-the-codebreaker-who-outwitted-yamamoto-at-midway/

Battle of Midway Tactical Overview – World War II | History:
https://youtu.be/kipF5zoCGAk
Torpedo Squadron No. 8:
https://youtu.be/Pa6O5GjUonQ

We Meet at Midway! Sabaton:
https://youtu.be/2IMg7mrfmck

02/06/2024

Well done H-E-B Das Shinerlied.

02/06/2024

Thoughts and Ramblings: Bring Back the Beach Road; Euro 2024; Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour

Today is June 2, and I hope you have a plan ready for the next six months. I do because it’s that windy season, and we need to stock up. I’ve loaded up on canned goods, and I have a strategic beer reserve, just in case all hope is lost. The reserve is at 20%, in case you’re wondering. I don’t expect Jim Cantore to show up on my street within the next couple of weeks, but you never know. It will be at 100% the day something is in the Gulf!

I’ve got a complaint, and it’s an expensive one. Yes, it’s the beach road. I love stopping at Whataburger in Winnie when I head down the highway to hell (Interstate 10), but when I want to go to Galveston, I don’t want to be near this highway. It was good when we could travel down Texas State Highway 87. Yes, most of us stopped at McFaddin Beach to enjoy a day of dodging jellyfish and tar balls and eating sandy hotdogs, but we loved driving from Sabine Pass to High Island. Hurricane Chantal wiped out the road in 1989. There was an outcry to build it back, but it has fallen on deaf ears. The powers that be didn’t listen. I will end this discussion by saying that a 20-minute drive is a hell of a lot better than risking your life driving down an interstate that they’ll never finish, then having to drive down Highway 124. Yes, some of the wild mallow hibiscus are nice, but I can do without them. By the way, did you know that hibiscuses belong to the okra family? Or is it the opposite? Okra is just a crappy seed version of a hibiscus flower. You don’t believe me? Just ask the local Aggie weatherman.

June brings many things to me. The first one is my work with regard to what this hurricane season has in store. The second one is Euro 2024. Yep, although this is a blog on Southeast Texas, I can’t abandon my interest in Welsh/English history or my love of real football. This year, you will not hear me hum the sweet tune of “Yma o Hyd” (“We’re Still Here”) by Welsh singer Dafydd Iwan because the Welsh are sitting this one out. Hopefully, the Scotsmen and the Three Lions will have good runs.
Another June project is to work on the Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour. For those not in the know, we, along with the Jefferson County Historical Commission and Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont, do an annual cemetery tour the third weekend of October. As always, many of your favorite stories will be mixed in with new historical evidence brought to you by researchers who sometimes work on their topics all year. This year, we are thinking of expanding our Thursday tour. Normally, our tour runs from four to six thirty in the afternoon. Although we would love to move it to a later time, the October darkness creeps off Brakes Bayou, and it’s pitch black around seven. In most cases, this would add to the atmosphere, but there is one big problem lurking in the bayou—mosquitoes! Remember what happened in the movie Ghost when someone evil died? First, there was silence. Then, there was a rumbling. Finally, a massive dark blob enveloped the spirit of the newly deceased and dragged it to the nether regions. That’s similar to what happens with the mosquitoes when you stand in the middle of the cemetery after dark—I digress.
We are aware that those who work usually can’t attend the tour until around five, and that’s fine. We also have a Saturday tour from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon. But we do have some attendees who are retired, and maybe it would be possible to start the Thursday tour at two or two thirty. What say you?
Our tour has many presenters, and there is really no start or ending point other than the sign-up table where you receive your program. Unlike walking tours, where you have to be there at a certain time, you can start whenever you like. This is helpful if you have limited time for your visit to our hallowed ground. However, if you had more time, would you be interested in a walking tour on Thursday? What are your thoughts on this? Email me at [email protected], or comment on the page. Well, that’s about it for this week. I hope to get back to Mrs. Sol Elisha vs. Baseball next time, before all eyes go to Euro 2024 on June 14.
Until next time,
It may be coming home, but I’m not holding me breath! Never stop me dreaming!

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2024/06/02/thoughts-and-ramblings-bring-back-the-beach-road-euro-2024-historic-magnolia-cemetery-tour/

01/06/2024

Always have a plan! begins today

27/05/2024

Good morning!

26/05/2024

Thoughts and Ramblings: Baseball; Tapeworms; Mrs. Sol Elisha, and Memorial Day

Usually, when I’m spent, I hand the blog over to the reliever Susie, and boy did she give me a rabbit hole to explore this week. I had just finished reading The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship between John Glenn and Ted Williams by Adam Lazarus, and I was interested in mentioning Hank Greenberg and other Beaumont Exporters who famously made it to the major league, but then Susie mentioned Mrs. Sol Elisha, and down the rabbit hole I went. I even dragged a couple of other researchers down with me. Although I won’t be getting into the Beaumont Exporters, Hank Greenberg, or the odd couple (Ted and Glenn), I will get into a little bit of the Elishas’ story. Some more will follow next week.
The Elishas lived at 812 Magnolia, right next to Magnolia Park, which opened in 1911. Addresses can change over the years; also, according to Don Streater, a reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise, Piggly Wiggly bought the property in 1939. For researchers, Streater is NOT a source of accuracy. He forgot to mention that in 1929, the Masons bought the property, which was supposed to become a new Masonic temple. Plans change, and to this day, the site is still an empty lot. I’m sure Mrs. Sol Elisha would revel in knowing the absence of people, traffic, and baseballs.
In May 1916, the first lawsuit (for $15,940) was filed against the Beaumont Baseball Club, with Ed Stedman, H. C. Langham, and E. A. Fletcher as defendants. I’m sure some of you can recognize these names. The lawsuit against these property owners and baseball itself did not succeed.
I don’t know if the Elishas’ property was at the back of the home plate and the grandstand (I think it was) or in the homerun derby zone. However, I think they were disgruntled, and they had a good reason to be. Most of their gripes were related to baseballs hitting the roof and windows of their property, as well as other damages. Also, they lived in the same scenario that plagues anyone living near a high school football stadium today—loud, obnoxious fans and lots of people walking down their street. I feel for them, but this article appeared in October 1916. A Quaker Herb Extract advertisement states that this elixir got rid of a 33-foot tapeworm from Mrs. Elisha’s body and that you should buy it for a dollar.
The things you saw in the media in 1916 sucked as much as those in 2024. CHANGE MY MIND!
We’re still looking into the Elishas and this episode in particular, but after all that went on, Mrs. Elisha refused to give the baseballs back, so she accumulated a tub of them. Luckily, Florence did not accumulate the legs, arms, and tonsils thrown out by the new medical clinic built next to her apartments on Magazine Street.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and I hope you understand what this holiday is all about. It is not about barbecues, beaches, jeeps, and you getting a DWI charge on the peninsula. Memorial Day is a special day that remembers those who died protecting this country and others. Our heroes are scattered in hallowed ground worldwide, and their memory should be preserved.
Here is the origin of the holiday; it goes back to the Civil War. I understand that there were memorials both in the North and the South, but history is mostly written by the victors. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on peace and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. It is a time to honor the dead, but many have forgotten its meaning over the years. Most people see this day as the start of summer and shenanigans such as barbeques, beach outings, and vacations. I guess this is acceptable. But we should not forget that those who we remember on this day played a vital role in retaining the freedoms we still enjoy.
Finding the origins of this holiday should be simple, but it’s easy to get bogged down in different timelines and arguments about which city and state first celebrated the day. Everyone agrees that the first ceremony was held during the American Civil War. At the time, both the South and the North observed their fallen by placing flowers on their graves. Warrenton (Virginia), Savannah (Georgia), and Jackson (Mississippi) are a few places where people publicly expressed their love toward the dead during the war. There is even a story about 10,000 people, including recently freed slaves, who held a parade in honor of 257 Union soldiers who had died in captivity in Charleston, South Carolina.
The official National Decoration Day began on May 5, 1868, when General John A. Logan proclaimed that this date would be observed as a holiday nationwide. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) website, in 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day because people there honored “local veterans who had fought in the Civil War.” I wouldn’t rely on the USDVA for accurate history. Honor a veteran on Veteran’s Day, and honor the dead on Memorial Day.
There have been many accounts on both sides about when this tradition started; I lean toward the Southern ones. It doesn’t matter if it was Southern women placing flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers or 10,000 ex-slaves marching to honor Union soldiers in Charleston, South Carolina. Regardless of the precise scenario, these events happened. A brother against brother war is idiotic; moreover, sisters also died in this Schadenfreude war. Let us not forget this human tragedy.
As we remember, so shall we honor.

Until next week!

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2024/05/26/thoughts-and-ramblings-baseball-tapeworms-mrs-sol-elisha-and-memorial-day/

20/05/2024

Good morning.

19/05/2024

Susie Spindletop’s Weekly Letter :

Dear Della:
Rumor is telling it around that some doctors are going to build a clinic right alongside of Stratton’s flat in Magazine street. Della, if this is true I DO hope they won’t throw all amputated legs, arms, tonsils, adenoids and appendixes out of the back window into the front yard of the flat. You know, I’m in debt for that flat. However, that mortgage I have plastered all—over the place may keep this human debris out. Guess I had better ask Miss Pearl Brock—she is the yes-and-no man for the building company.
So with a clinic next door, it looks like I will inherit the burden lifted from Mrs. Sol Elisha’s shoulders when the baseball park was moved. Mrs. Elisha had a tub full of baseballs which had fallen into her yard after inflicting damage to the roof of her home. Well, Della, I’ll promise you not to carry the burden that far. I’m not going to save things in my yard until I get a tubful.

* * *
If I had my druthers, druther build over an old house any time than a new one. How about you? Owen Southwell is rebuilding an old farmhouse out from Atlanta that has a natural stone walk and steps. It’ll have a conference room, too. Owen told me so himself. What is a conference room, Della? Owen’s place has toadstools in the front yard and four huge redwoods at the front gate will give it its name “The Red Woods.”
Owen is a bachelor, girls. Don’t crowd.

* * *

Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Mapes and Mr. Thompson are paying daily visits to the foot of Pearl street in case their Tyler county farms come washing down. I’d suggest they carry along spears and spear them.

* * *
Della, believe it or not, but I played a return engagement in Brazoria county last Sunday and visited the Hogg place, although the Hoggs didn’t know it.
My understanding is the Governor bought the old Patton plantation just about the time he went out of office. The colonial house is situated right on the banks of Varner’s creek. There’s a big bell hanging above the kitchen door and a playful cousin tugged at the bellrope just to see what would happen, she said. She saw. A dog gave us a wicked look. Ditto caretaker. A swell thing to do on an incog trip, being uninvited and all that.
The live oak trees on the lawn are too wonderful for words and I blush to repeat what one of our party said… that I could have the live oaks but he’d take the oil wells.
I have been told that Governor Hogg very greatly admired trees and that he requested to be buried beneath the spreading branches of a pecan. I’m going on believing, Della, that the great pecan grove at his place had as much to do with his purchase as the prospective oil field did.
In the offing there’s a crumbling red brick something. An aunt said it must be an old sugar house. Somebody else opined that ’twas Governor Hogg’s big outdoor bathtub. We didn’t go close enough to investigate.

* * *

Speaking about Brazoria county … I’ve had an answer from one of the owners of grandpa’s old place down there about the plantation bell which I aspire to own. He wrote that he was referring my letter to his partner and while not saying so, I rather think he classed it as a nut request.
And he set me straight too on his name. Earley, NOT Easley. Now, how could he blame me with all tha Easleying and Tabering in the papers?

* * *

A postcard in my mail yesterday was signed informally “Sam,” and gave Cadiz, Spain, as the writer’s next stop. I ran up and down the list of all the Sams I know… Mr. Sam Park, Uncle Sam, Sam Young. Nothing doing. Then I took a look at the postmark and read “Ss. Raleigh.” Sam Waite himself, son of Bob and brother of Bitsie.
Join the navy and see the world, Della.
Sam addressed me as Miss “Francis” Spindletop. Don’t blame Mr. Earley a bit for not letting me have that bell.

* * *

Now, Della, what do you know about me getting a letter from the Bow and Arrow Man of Woodville. He’s on the warpath. It seems, against the slaughter of magnolias. “I am sorry the automobile manufacturer ever found out that magnolia lumber makes good auto bodies,” he wrote. “The Rolls Royce uses ash for its bodies; so why is ash not good enough for the best American cars? Unless some one comes to the rescue of our magnolias, as Colonel Roosevelt did in the case of California’s royal sequoyas, they are doomed.”
All I can say is if the auto makers do damage to the big magnolia in Mr. Tubb’s yard, I’ll take it as a personal matter.
Just as soon as the flood waters abate, I’m off to keep a watchful eye upon it and also visit the Bow and Arrow Man’s archery shop just across the canyon from the grammar school because he promises to show me the finest beech tree in Woodville under which he has his summer work bench, but I notice doesn't promise to teach me to arch.

* * *

Texas history furnishes two dramas with marvelous possibilities for the screen, according to D. W. Griffith. These are the life of Sam Houston and the battle of San Jacinto. No, three, Della. Mr. Griffith’s attention must be called to the Battle of Montauk Point.

* * *

When Edna Akers moved into her new home, the girls gave her a book shower, How about a ham shower for me?
Yours for more and bigger showers, SUSIE.

So wrote Susie, May 19, 1929
Until next week!

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2024/05/19/susie-spindletops-weekly-letter/

About Florence Stratton, aka Susie Spindletop:
https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2017/03/21/a-brief-history-of-florence-stratton-part1/

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2017/03/28/a-brief-history-of-florence-stratton-part2/