Category Archives: Florence Stratton

Thoughts and Ramblings: October; Deputy Hutcheson; Research and Obsessions

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October is almost here, but not quite here, so I can’t get into my rants on ghost hunters, weather people, and SB-7 ghost boxes. I’m counting the days, though. Do you know of an interesting paranormal happening in this area? I ask this because I stay one step ahead of the journalists who ask the historical commission for leads on spooky stories; the commission refers them to me. I know that some of you have stories to tell. The Rougarou? The light on Bragg Road? Your mother-in-law coming back to continue tormenting you? It’s all good. DM me or email me at rediscoveringsetx@gmail.com.

Last week, I mentioned Deputy John E. Hutcheson. On Wednesday, he finally received a headstone in a ceremony at Magnolia Cemetery. Thanks to Operation Blue Remembrance for making this happen and to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for being present. I also credit fellow Jefferson County Historical Commission member Kate Hambright for the photos and her research on the history of some of the Beaumont Police Department officers who paid the ultimate price while protecting citizens. Finally, kudos to 12 News Now and Fox 4 Beaumont for attending. I’ll add their videos at the bottom of this blog.

Unfortunately, I could not attend the memorial service because I needed to go to a meeting that required a quorum. Since it wasn’t on the agenda, I couldn’t bring it up, but I would like to note that you can’t spell “quorum” without “rum,” and since Monday 19 was Talk Like a Pirate Day, we should maybe add refreshments to future meetings—perhaps more members would show up. I digress.

Afterward, I headed to Magnolia Cemetery for another meeting and to look for another fellow researcher’s person of interest buried there. I did find her, and the backstory is not good. When you start researching people, you never know what you’ll find. Sometimes, you become intrigued with the person, and you can get obsessed with finding the truth about them. I have my own obsessions, including Susie Spindletop, the Rowleys, Catherina Stengele, and Hugo DeBretagne. All these projects are ongoing, but I feel farther away from the Hugo DeBretagne one in terms of learning more about his life. Before I go any further, here is a description of what I know and how this journey began.

While walking through Greenlawn Cemetery in Groves one mid-August morning in 2015, I came across a monument erected by the American Legion Auxiliary. Surrounding the stone memorial, which carried the inscription “They gave their lives that freedom shall not perish,” were the graves of several veterans. Most of them survived the conflicts of World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and they went on to lead healthy lives with their loved ones. However, there was one memorial that differed from the rest. Corporal Hugo J. DeBretagne, it seems, paid the ultimate price for his country and never returned. The inscription on his headstone reads:

In memory of Hugo J. DeBretagne, CO D 1st Bat. 2nd Marines. Killed at Tarawa. Buried at sea. Oct. 13, 1923–Nov. 23, 1943.

I now know that his mother was there in 1945 to dedicate this monument to the fallen. At the time, her name was Berthe Toch DeBretagne; she passed in 1985, and her headstone reads Berthe Toch Hay. As far as I know, she was born in Belgium and came to this country as a war bride (as some would say). Her husband was Hugo Stanislaus DeBretagne, a World War I veteran; they had three boys—Hugo J., James, and Bert (who died the same year of his birth).

Both James and Hugo J. fought in Guadalcanal, but there is little about their experiences. I know that James made it through the war and settled back in SETX. He died in 2008 and is buried in Hardin County. Hugo DeBretagne gave his life on D-day three of Operation Galvanic. It was the final day of the Battle of Tarawa, and only his comrades know what happened. I have all sorts of information about Hugo, including the ship he was on, maps, and war diaries, but nothing that his mom would want, except that he was buried at sea. I grab any photos pertaining to the Battle of Tarawa just in case some young kid with the last name DeBretagne is in them.

One day, I hope to learn Hugo Joseph DeBretagne’s story, but research takes a lot of time. As far as Susie Spindletop goes, I’ve done eleven years of research, and it comes in sections. In the end, I suspect that Florence adds to her story when something needs to be found; then, new information comes up regularly. The Rowleys will never be forgotten because there are so many wormholes to go down, and I think this family deserves to be recognized.

Until next time.

12 News Now: 

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/jefferson-county-deputy-headstone-line-of-duty/502-62a9be17-70a9-45db-ba2c-1d14104b145e

Fox 4 Beaumont:

https://fox4beaumont.com/news/headstone-dedication-for-deputys-grave-nearly-a-century-after-line-of-duty-death

Thoughts and Ramblings: Rediscovering Florence Stratton

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A fellow researcher texted me last week to see if I had a couple of articles on Florence Stratton, one from 1975 and the other from 1980. I looked, and I found that I did have the one from 1975, but not the other. Unfortunately, the Beaumont Enterprise issues after 1940 are not available on Genealogybank.com. I believe you can search the Beaumont Journal up to the 1970s, but there are only a few mentions of her there. I don’t know if any other newspaper archive has the Beaumont Enterprise digitized, but if you see one, hit me up! Rediscoveringsetx@gmail.com

Laura Young wrote the article from 1980, which has some good crumbs from the past in it, although it states that the town of Florence in Williamson County, Texas, was named after Florence Stratton. Of course, this isn’t true because the town was founded in 1858, twenty-three years before Florence was born. At the time, I dismissed this and thought that Eunice might have been wrong; but as I reread the article, I developed a different view of what might have happened. The reporter most likely put two and two together and came up with a fractional number because that sometimes happens when you interview someone. I’ve done a few interviews, and occasionally, when you tell them “this, that, and the other thing,” they’ll only use “that” and forget about “this and the other thing.” I do get that there’s a deadline, but get the story right. I will also state that some researchers have also been guilty of this in the past. So, as Bill Quick would often say, you need at least three sources, not one. I’m not perfect, but this is the rule I follow.

As I said, the 1980 article does have some spot-on facts and some nuggets of oral history that researchers and historians can use. The people interviewed knew Florence, so they can give us a behind-the-scenes account of who she was—a phrase she would say, how she wore her hat, or how people reacted to her. This is all of great importance when researching someone who was not in the limelight. I began my journey researching Florence in 2012, and I have a decent database on her life, which allows me to say that she never put herself on a pedestal. Florence made others feel like they were the talk of the town. I guess this is why, initially, I had so much trouble finding anything about her.

Col. R.C. Duff Drives Gold Spike July 1907

The article from 1975 was written by Susan Gilbert, and it has a lot of the same information on Florence’s life as the other article. It has Eunice, her niece, along with others who knew her, telling stories. One thing this article has that the 1980 one doesn’t is that it mentions the railroad station/town (there is even the same photo) but not Williamson County. There is no mention of a location. But we know now, and we have a map to back up this information. I’m not patting myself on the back for finding the map; I’m just saying this out loud to get Mr. Quick’s approval, as I put him on the research pedestal. I only know him through his research and from stories told at the Historical Commission. I guess it’s just a coincidence that my first meeting as part of the commission was a year to the day after he passed away. I didn’t know him personally, but we share some of the same goals for how SETX historical preservation should be done. Everything happens for a reason, and I will fly this flag! (I keep it right beside my Queen’s Park Rangers pennant, even though they lost to Watford 4-0 on opening day. Sigh.)

Visitors in Mrs. Stephens Garden (Lake Carles?) Florence Stratton and Watson Neyland

My research journey began in 2012, and it’s been hard to find details on Florence’s personal life. It took me fifteen months to figure out her birthday, and what about her birth year? It took one mention in the 1900 census and a letter donated to the Tyrrell Historical Library penned by the ten-year-old Emily Stratton, Florence’s older sister, and addressed to her father, Asa, in February 1883. (Asa E. Stratton Jr. was a Texas senator from 1883 to 1884.) At the end of this letter, Emily writes that Florence can say her name. If you read all the earlier research, it states that Florence was born in 1883. I have no idea where that information came from (maybe Eunice, her niece?). I have no idea, but I also have six mentions in Susie Spindletop’s Weekly Letter that her birthday was on the spring equinox, and two mentions when her article came out on March 21 saying that this was her birthday.

After reviewing my database on Florence, I realized that I need to look into her father’s history more. I believe this will explain her friendship with Willie Cooper, the daughter of Sam Cooper. Both Asa and Sam served in the Texas Senate in 1883 and 1884, but Asa Stratton resigned in the latter year. Sam Bronson Cooper was from Woodville, and Asa Stratton was from Brazoria County; their daughters were best friends in their adult years. We can also add William P. Hobby (from Woodville) to this mix because all three were together in the early days. There is a lot of history to uncover here, but since this is the eleventh year of my research, it may take a while.

Speaking of taking a while, Florence penned or played a part in publishing five books. The Story of Beaumont (1923) was her baby and her most popular volume here in SETX, but republishing O. Henry’s articles in book form in 1923 made her at least $10,000 thanks to W. P. Hobby, who owned the Houston Post at the time O. Henry (a.k.a. William Sidney Porter) wrote his columns.

To me, Favorite Recipes of Famous Women, published in 1925, has the best foreword. Florence was mad because some man had published a book called Famous Recipes of Famous Men, and she was determined to set the record straight about the recipes in his book—even at the expense of her dog. But she did give it a military funeral! I always thought that Willie Cooper, Hobby’s first wife, collected the recipes for this book when she lived in the governor’s mansion in Austin. I guess being a first lady has its advantages. Willie was a socialite, and as the daughter of Sam Bronson Cooper, she was pretty good at schmoozing with the elite. I believe most of the recipes were from Willie. However, in the 1975 article, Eunice said that Florence “wrote to persons asking for recipes even though she had never met them.” I guess this is why there are a lot of “motion picture stars” in the book, such as Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford. But let us give a big shout-out to Mrs. Thomas Edison for her cheese soufflé in ramekins and, of course, to a former congresswoman from Oklahoma for her recipe for boiled potatoes.

Florence Stratton’s next book, The White Plume, was published in 1931 but copyrighted in 1928. I thought this was odd until I found out the reason. The book was cowritten by Vincent Burke, sports editor at the Beaumont Enterprise, and was first published in the July 1928 issue of Bunker’s Monthly. This magazine only lasted about two years. I paid more for it than the original price of five cents, but it answered a big question in Florence’s story.

When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends was published in 1936; it was used as a textbook in this area for years. Florence’s friend Bessie Reid wrote the book, and Florence contributed the foreword. Most know Bessie as the author of the story of Kisselpoo, which was published in the Port Arthur News on July 1, 1923.

It’s amazing just how much you can get out of two articles based on oral history along with eleven years of research. It’s not perfect, but we are getting there. I believe that everyone I mentioned should be researched more, but doing so takes time, money, and the drive to delve into history. I’ll continue to do this, but can I actually get a solid team that doesn’t lose to Watford 4-0 on opening day?

Until next week, Della.

Thoughts and Ramblings: The Blue Moon; Bob West; The Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour, and Catherina Stengele’s Tile

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February 2016

For those who like to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight in your bat cowl or are just camera enthusiasts, you will be extra exuberant this month. August will have not one but two full moons. I’ll admit I’ve been slacking in my photography lately, and it showed its ugly head during the last lunar eclipse, but there’s often not enough time in the week for hobbies. Work life pays for research and camera life, so here we are. If you are interested, the Sturgeon Moon was observed August 1, and the Blue Moon will be visible on August 30. It is also a supermoon, meaning that the moon is closer to Earth than normal. Supermoons happen every three years or so, so it’s only special when the news media, or niche regional blogs point it out, but they are still worth seeing. My problem with photographing the rising moon is that the photos tend to be blurry because of the pollution in the atmosphere. Shout out to Arizona and Colorado for having clean air!

Last week, we lost an iconic sportswriter from our area. I read Bob West’s column in the Port Arthur News weekly, and although I am not into golf, as he was, he did write about and promote high school sports and the players. He also organized the Homecoming Roast’s and raised $700k for the Museum of the Gulf Coast. I remember him as someone who talked sports on the radio on Thursday evenings, but I forget at what restaurant. Boudain Hut? All I remember is that he gave away dinners at the end of the show if you answered a question. The usual listeners won the dinners, but he did an excellent job in his reporting, and he promoted many local athletes nationally. Tom Halliburton was another reporter, who was also on these radio shows that I enjoyed. It is odd that these memories don’t come back until someone passes. And then they flood in. I will end this with a joke from the Jimmy Johnson roast from Bob. 75th Street was renamed Jimmy Johnson Blvd around the time Jimmy was inducted into the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Sports Hall of Fame. At Jimmy’s roast, he stated that the road is rightfully named after him because some parts are kind of curvy, but they straighten out, and  when the road “gets going good, it runs out on you.” At a stop sign on a feeder road of Highway 287 69 96. We won’t get into Dallas Cowboys’ history post-Jimmy.

I listened to a lot of AM radio back then, and if it wasn’t Rudy T and Sharon doing the Lincoln High School football games, it was Bob doing his weekly thing. Also, shout out to Chester Moore because he has always been putting out a great show on KLVI-560 (unless there’s a high school football game on). For some reason, I’ve been hooked on hunting and fishing radio shows, yet I don’t hunt and haven’t fished or crabbed in 30 years. Chester Moore’s show is a bit different, so I listen. He is still doing it even today. I’ll leave a link at the bottom of the blog.

The planning of the 3rd Annual Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour is in full swing, and I learned something important on the tour last year that only leads to more questions. Catherina Jeanette Stengele was a milliner who came to Beaumont in the 1880s. She was Dutch and made her home even before Spindletop. She made her fortune as a hat maker and financer. As for my research into her history, she made more than a good living. Along Highway 105, she once owned land and used to rent it out to rice farmers. The only reason I know the exact whereabouts of the farm is because there was a lawsuit from 1906 against the renter of her property that did not get finalized until 1910, a year after her death. The basis of this lawsuit was that a pump and boiler blew up on the property, and the renter was trying to sue another over this mishap. I will also say that at the time, the rice industry was at rock bottom, and many were going bankrupt in this field, including the Kishi’s in Orange County.

I’ve given a good history on this blog, and on our cemetery tours of Stengele, but last year, after talking to Terry, the cemetery manager, he told me that the tile surrounding the mausoleum of Catherina Stengele was added in the 80s. Well, for me, that puts into perspective the $120k left in 1909 to the three lawyers of her estate. It is quite possible that a trust was set up for the mausoleum. As far as I know, there are no records of it, but someone paid for this tile to span over twelve plots. And I usually mention on the tour that she bought twelve plots because she didn’t want neighbors—but I digress.

As far as this year’s tour, I believe we have some great people presenting some great people of the past. No spoilers, but my favorite 1920s and 30s social media reporter, Susie, will be back on the tour. Keep an eye out on this blog, the Facebook page, or the Friends of the Jefferson County Historical Commission for the latest news on the tour.

Well, that’s it for this week,

To a friend, in Okinawa, Japan, stay safe. They are experiencing the equivalent of Hurricane Harvey right now.

Blue Moon:

https://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html

Bob West:

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/southeast-texas-sports-legend-bob-west-passes-way/502-e9e6081a-2be6-4f1b-ac85-7a43c95df14e

Tribute:  https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1708496952932961&set=a.119163678532971

Moore Outdoors with Chester Moore:  

Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour:

Thursday evening: https://fb.me/e/KIeXU0MR

Saturday Morning: https://fb.me/e/19DUApkIi

Typhoon Khanun:

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2023-08-03/typhoon-khanun-damage-military-okinawa-10925817.html

The Stringbean; The Historic Magnolia Cemetery; Researching for a Historical Marker

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After listening to the Bayoulands podcast, I was triggered by just one word: Stringbean. Probably because I’ve been thinking of my late friend Jerry, and he was the one who introduced this Port Arthur/Pleasure Island train history to me. We will get into this supposed death trap of a vehicle in a minute, but I want to add that the safety standards in 1914 were not up-to-date with modern technology. I guess you can look at things like ski lifts in the 70s and 80s, which would be the same thing, I guess. Many people rode the ski lifts to the top of the mountain—even with children on their laps—unharnessed. “Oh, the horror!” In the end, people do what they can, by necessity, and you can’t judge them by the era you live in. But I do judge people on what they put on their toast. (I’m old and don’t care.) You have to see the whole history, not your 2023 observations. But it’s wild all the same.

Looking at the photo, and knowing the history of the trolley, which charged five cents for a ride across the waterway, it seems there were a lot of people who didn’t pay five cents and walked across the small walkway beside the tracks. I’m sure some safety person would be triggered at this photo for a totally different reason than I am, but back in the 1910s, people did what they could. I’m just amazed that they could produce ice in August 1906 in Beaumont. To me, that’s Egyptian-grade history. We don’t have pyramids in Beaumont, but we do have a fire hydrant. Thanks, Disney!

The Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour is a name we’ve been throwing out there for the past two years, but this year, we can actually promote it as a cemetery tour in a historic cemetery. Why? As of this week, the cemetery has been legally acknowledged by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) as a historic cemetery. Up the road a bit, Evergreen Cemetery has had this designation since 2001, and I know that someone is currently in the process of trying to get Pear Orchard Cemetery designated, too. How does a cemetery become a historic cemetery in the eyes of the Texas Historical Commission?  To be honest, hard work and research by some determined people who get it done is usually the recipe. Legitimate research is a must, because hearsay doesn’t cut it.

Historic cemetery designations are generally a lot easier to achieve than designations for places, people, or historic events, which have their own rules and timeframes to go by. This type of research is solely for the passionate, and I don’t suggest that anyone do it unless they are ready to help. I’ve had someone email me about researching an old family name in SETX, wondering where the cemetery was. That part is easy, but they didn’t stop there—they wanted me to research their old families’ histories in the Netherlands. No. I don’t spend my time and money researching West-end Wanda’s kinfolk. No, I can’t blame this on Wanda (unless it was her cousin from Missouri emailing me), but the sentiment is there. I’ll help out, but you’re going to do the work.

Usually, in the summer months, I can’t do as much research as I would like because of work, so my goal for digitizing all the Susie Spindletop Weekly Letters will have to be extended to the winter months, along with my desire to delve into Toodlum’s Port Arthur News articles. Martha “Toodlum” Ferguson was someone I never met, but I found her articles helpful, especially when researching the Interurban. I also find her honest when bringing up Port Arthur’s history. I will add that scanning through a copy of the Port Arthur News, the Beaumont Enterprise, orthe Journal is much easier nowadays than when I started. Expensive, but easier. I spent two and a half years at the Tyrrell Historical Library on a microfiche machine, keeping them in quarters. It was like being in a casino, but with no alcohol, and hitting the jackpot a few times. (The Tyrrell was a Baptist Church before it was a library, so they may have frowned upon drinks.)

Until next time, tot de volgende keer!

Thoughts and Ramblings: Thanks, Susie; An Old Building off Highway 90; T. J. Chambers’s House; The Intracoastal Waterway; Photographing the Moon and Being Spotlighted by the Coasties

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My shout-out to Susie for stepping in last week. Her Weekly Letter reigned from 1926 to 1938, and I intend to have her take my place every three months to explain what was going on during the times of her writings because her take on what was happening more than 100 years ago will make you think. It will also show you how nothing changes. The fact that my disappearance from the blog last week coincided with the UEFA Nations League Finals is just a coincidence because England or Wales weren’t playing. But I will give kudos to Croatia for hanging tough in the final with Spain, though they eventually lost, as well as for losing to everyone else except when they play England. Again, I digress.

Susie mentioned that they had broken ground on her new home on McFaddin Avenue. The house was constructed using some of the bricks from the old 1893 Jefferson County Courthouse, which was demolished around the same time to pave the way for the current 13-story structure that was finished in 1931. The fireplace bricks were from her grandfather’s Woodlawn Plantation, which he acquired in 1861 and his heirs sold in 1885. This land originally belonged to John McCroskey—actually, it belonged to Stephen F. Austin (SFA), but we may get into that at a later date because due to a marriage of a descendant to a nephew of the Bryan family, which is related to SFA, Florence is technically related to the latter (trust me, it’s an “I’m My Own Grandpa” scenario). Anyway, McCroskey’s log cabin, built in 1824, still stands today. It is the second oldest log cabin in Texas, and Susie talked about this regularly in her weekly letters. She even visited it occasionally because most of her family still resided in Brazoria County.

I need to get back to Brazoria County to do more research on the Stratton family. The help that the Brazoria County Historical Commission has given me has been fantastic.

Two weeks ago, we solved the mystery of where the Florence switch was located. Another mystery that has haunted a few of us is a building located on Highway 90 between Devers and Nome. If you’re driving west from Beaumont, it is just past the rice dryers along the highway. When you see them, look to the left for a building covered in vines. Historian Bill Quick once said that this was where they made munitions during World War I, but he has now passed, and I have found no one else who knows this story. At the time, this piece of information was not known because of the war, but the structure itself stands out, and I want to know more about it. I’ve asked a few people from Liberty County, but they knew nothing about it. Sometimes in these cases, time needs to simmer before we get an answer. So, I will keep watch.

One thing that requires no simmering is the Chambers House. It’s widely known that my favorite museum is the Chambers House Museum in Beaumont. However, back in 2012, I discovered another Chambers House by accident. I was working in Anahuac when I took a wrong turn and came upon T. J. Chambers’s house. The window enchanted me because it was different from other structures. I’ll leave a link to this house’s history and another one about T. J. Chambers’s story and fate.

This week, I was driving down Woodworth Boulevard in Port Arthur when I saw a scene that I’d witnessed many times before but had forgotten about. As I drove closer to Lakeshore Drive, I could see the little flags from a barge passing just over the levee. This is a regular sight if you live near the Intracoastal Waterway, but when you see a tanker passing by, it’s still awesome. Heck, in 2006, I even saw an aircraft carrier there, the Oriskany. A past director of the Museum of the Gulf Coast once told me the sight is one of the many perks of that job, and I believed him!

I wouldn’t say that this extraordinary maritime beauty is limited to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. That little ditch that Arthur Stilwell expanded from the pass when the people in Sabine Pass did some real estate-related price gouging is also lovely. Having worked in this area for many years, my favorite memory is that of a shrimp boat exiting a fog bank, but that was before I had a phone with a camera. I may or may not have been working on the land that the Coasties inhabit, but the scenery was beautiful, especially when looking at the Sabine lighthouse.

When I began my photography journey, I spent many hours practicing taking different types of photos. Shout-out to a few folks at the Beaumont Camera Club for teaching me the art of fireworks photography, but photographing the moon was different. I spent two years taking pictures of the full moon, whatever the weather. It is a good thing that I learned how to photograph fireworks because taking pictures of lunar eclipses is somewhat similar, and boy did we have a few of those between 2014 and 2019 (photo links at the bottom of the page).

These were interesting adventures, and a few were more memorable than others. At the time, I wanted to photograph the moon over the Cheniere LNG Terminal. I planned to park at the Keith Lake Cut Bridge, set up my tripod, and take a few photos before the mosquitoes sucked all the blood out of me. Before I could jump out of my truck and hurriedly set up the tripod, I was spotlighted by a Coast Guard boat. Unbeknownst to me, a car carrier ship had passed through at the same time that I drove up. In this area, car carriers mean military. I guess I was lucky not to arrive a few seconds earlier, or I might have had to explain why I was setting up a tripod in complete darkness while a car carrier was passing. Glad they weren’t trigger happy! I did get the photo though.

Until next week, Semper Paratus!

McCroskey-Stringfellow House:

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=173103

General Thomas Jefferson Chambers’ House:

http://www.anahuactexasindependence.com/house.htm

Rediscovering Anahuac / Wallisville:

Rediscovering Anahuac / Wallisville

USS Oriskany:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany

Museum of the Gulf Coast:

https://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/

Mark Wiess, Not Brownies, Told Stilwell Where to Build (August 2014): https://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/9328.asp

Eclipse Photos 2019:  https://flic.kr/s/aHskQS3gxh

Lunar Eclipse Photos 2014:   https://flic.kr/s/aHsk4pnSod

Semper Paratus:

Thoughts and Ramblings: Susie Spindletop Edition

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It’s been a busy week here, Under the Oakes on Ye Olde Block Farm. So I’ll be back next week with more nonsense and shenanigans. In the meantime, Susie is here to guide you through some SETX life in 1929.

                              Susie Spindletop’s Weekly Letter Snipetts 1929

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.

                                                          May 19, 1929

                 *                                                      *                                           *

DELLA, the passing of the old homes of Beaumont brings many heartaches. But there are heart throbs along with the aches, for as in the case of the old Keith home on Willow street, recently sold, it awakened sweet memories… carries the mind and heart back to yesteryear.

   Mrs. Bucklin once kept a boarding house in the Keith home and I recall the days when Seawillow and Will Keith, Marjorie and “brother” boarded with Mrs. Bucklin. It was from there that Marjorie Bucklin Solinsky finished school.

   Eleanor Ives (now Eleanor Wiggins) was born in one of the big old rooms.

   No one thought then that the place where hospitality reigned supreme, where infants with their cooing songs were romping on the floor, where youth was spending its evenings in innocent merrymaking would one day give way to the pounding of the machinist’s hammer as he worked over automobiles, something almost unknown at that time.

                                                           July 7, 1929

   *                                                     *                                               *

DELLA, my boy friend, I mean one of them, left the Shawnee high and dry on the flood waters of the Neches river when he heard that about the only spirits he would find on the West Indies cruise would be those that might slip out of Davy Jones’ locker for a peep at what was going on on the surface. But there were a lot of fine fellows aboard who only thought of flowers, good wishes from their friends and the pleasures of a cruise among tropical islands.

  That reminds me that the dearest folks on earth are the thoughtful ones, the ones who think about the happiness of people who might otherwise be overlooked—maybe jump overboard in despair. Acting upon this impulse Sadie Wiess sent Jim Edwards a bouquet to take to his state room. Said she knew nobody else would send one.

SINCE the flood I am strong for short skirts and natural stockings. Really natural shoes would come in handy.

   Truth is, the Neches river and all of its little rivers up the country have been cutting up like a seashore party. Motor boats and airplanes have been about the only means of transportation in some sections but Beaumont is high and dry with the exception of a little water around the hem on a skirt.

  The Enterprise delivered papers by airplane and I expect you got my last letter that way. Carried yeast up the country too, saying that the people wanted to make some bread.

                                                June 9, 1929

*                                                    *                                                     *

SOMEHOW, my dear, we can’t get ahead. For geographic prominence we started out with Spindle Top which seemed to carry an impression that we had a mountain that looked like a spindle top until somebody discovered that there was a Spindle Top gulley because some boy lost his top there.

  Then Captain Plummer caught a whale down on the beach and somebody came along and wrote “Down to the Sea in Ships,” showing more whales somewhere else than the average person has advice when you have a bad cold. Then we produced our Big Hill which at least sounded big, but it hardly got on the map before Sour Lake came along and produced a crater.

  Just why they didn’t ask my advice about it I don’t know, but it promises to be constantly widening until it gets up where I can afford to give it a little attention.

                                              October 20, 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

A gravestone in Yorkshire, England

                               June 16, 1929

*                                         *                                             *

LAST Sunday the printer made an error in the last paragraph of my letter. I was worried until a member of my family pulled this: “Why worry? Nobody ever reads to the last paragraph of your letter anyhow.”

  Yours for more and longer miles between relatives, SUSIE

                                     October 13, 1929

                       *                                      *                                              *

Must leave you now. The ground is broke for my new home and so am I

                                             September 29, 1929

                                  Florence Stratton, aka Susie Spindletop

Born in Brazoria County in 1881, Florence moved to Beaumont in 1903. She was a newspaper reporter for both the Beaumont Journal and the Beaumont Enterprise. She is credited with starting both the Milk and Ice Fund (1915) and the Empty Stocking Fund (1920), charities of the Beaumont Journal. Florence authored The Story of Beaumont, published in 1923, which was the most successful of her five books. In 1929 Florence built her home at 1929 McFaddin Avenue, using plans from a New England cottage and brick from the 1892 Jefferson County courthouse. She also wrote a weekly column for the Beaumont Enterprise under the pen name Susie Spindletop from 1926 until her death in January of 1938.

A Brief History of Florence Stratton Part 1:    

https://www.rediscoveringsetx.com/2017/03/21/a-brief-history-of-florence-stratton-part1/

A Brief History of Florence Stratton Part 2:

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

Thoughts and Ramblings: ChatGPT Lies; Susie Spindletop Wasn’t Anthony Lucas’s Wife; Hooks Cemetery; the Mayumi Child

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After receiving many “I’m sorry” and “I apologize” from the ChatGPT bot/Terminator wannabe in reply to my questions, I think this technology is probably only ready to replace politicians. It is vague and just gives out nonsense. To be fair, I asked it to do a bio of myself and a few friends or to provide information about some Southeast Texans. I get it, most of us are not famous, and the internet is where it gets its content, but I did put in a few names of authors and academics that it should have recognized but didn’t. It kept apologizing and telling me it hadn’t been updated since September 2021. Even our technology has been neutered. So, the moral of this story is that I do not need to quit my day job and that AI chatbots lie! No, ChatGPT, Susie Spindletop wasn’t the wife of Anthony Lucas! I’m beginning to hate technology more and more. To all those in college: some professors would love to bring back oral tests because of this new technology. I can only imagine the terror that writing in cursive would bring to their students.

Last week, I forgot to mention that I visited Hooks Cemetery on my journey to Hardin County. I wanted to pay my respects to Bessie and Bruce Reid. Bessie coauthored When the Storm God Rides, a textbook on Native American tribes, with Florence Stratton. She also wrote Legend of Kisselpoo, which was published in the Port Arthur News in July 1923. It was a historical fiction article based on her research on Texas’s Indian tribes and their lore. Bessie was also an avid birder and naturalist.

I’ve written about the Kishi family of Orange County and their role in SETX history. They were not the only ones to farm in this area. Yoshio Mayumi, a prominent banker and landowner in Japan, purchased 1,700 acres near Taylor’s Bayou, where he began to grow rice and raise cattle. Like Kichimatsu from Orange County, Yoshio was not initially trusted by the locals. Still, in time, they got to know him and respect him.

Yoshio Mayumi

Yoshio eventually brought over his brother Yasuo to help manage the farm. In 1915, their father died, and Yoshio returned to Japan. Yasuo took over the farm and did well for a while, but mismanagement, dwindling crops, and a rice market crash after World War I made its future bleak. Finally, in 1924, Yasuo sold the farm to the Burrells and left for Japan. Unlike the Kishis, none of the Mayumi clan stayed behind—none of the living, that is.

If you walk among the rows of section X at Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont, you may come upon a small cement slab with a headstone that reads Mayumi. In December 1917, Toshiko, Yasuo’s wife, bore her and Yasuo’s first child; unfortunately, the baby was born premature and lived only for one day. In a Beaumont Enterprise article, Gwendolyn Wingate wrote the following:

Yasuo Mayumi

“One evening in early December Mayumi rode horseback up to the Bailey Wingate home. For days it had been raining a cold drizzle, and the roads were under water.  Apologizing for what he said was an intrusion, Mayumi explained that his first child, a son, had been born, but after only one day of life, the baby was dead.  Mayumi needed help.

Wingate’s sturdy widowed mother, Artemise, who had borne nine children and had seen three buried, bundled up against the cold and rode back to the Mayumi place with the men. She found Mayumi’s wife with the dead child in her arms rocking back and forth in mute grief. She tried to comfort the woman who spoke no English and helped prepare the baby for burial.”

The Mayumi child was buried at Magnolia Cemetery, and Toshiko moved back to Japan, while Yasuo stayed behind. I’ll leave a link to the full article at the bottom of this blog.

Speaking of Magnolia Cemetery, October will soon be here, which means that the Historic Magnolia Cemetery Tour will take place again on Museum Madness weekend. The dates are Thursday, October 19, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, October 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We’ll have more information soon!

Until next week!

Southeast Texas Rice Beckoned Japanese:

https://hirasaki.net/Family_Stories/Mayumi/Mayumi.htm

History of the Kishi Colony:

http://hirasaki.net/Family_Stories/Kishi_Colony/Kishi.htm

History of the Mayumi Colony:

http://hirasaki.net/Family_Stories/Mayumi/Mayumi_History.htm

Thoughts and Ramblings: The Museum of Hardin County; Evergreen Cemetery; Memorial Day

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On Wednesday, I made a pleasant visit to the Museum of Hardin County. I’d been meaning to get up there for a while, but my work schedule and the museum’s hours didn’t match, so I had to put it off. My main reason for going was to find out all I could on the train stop/depot/newly erected township called “Florence” along the Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railway. The Beaumont Enterprise article that refers to this new stop was published on July 19, 1907, after the railroad’s president R. C. Duff, W. H. P. McFaddin, and B. R. Norvell drove in the last spike to finish the railroad connecting Beaumont to Houston. I hope to get into more of this in the coming weeks, but there is more sleuthing to do.

The museum is top notch and full of content about different eras of our history. Whether it’s the sawmills, early Texas history, or an abundance of family histories spanning Hardin County, it is worth a visit. And I’ve been told that they have a new schedule.

New Museum Hours

Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or by appointment.

409-209-5377, 409-755-7313, 409-658-4712

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and this has different meanings for different people. For me, it’s about remembering those who fought and died serving their country. For some of you, it probably means getting in your Jeep and heading to the beach only to get arrested for DWI, PI, or just for being the idiot who doesn’t realize that Maria Maria La Policia doesn’t take any crap. Oh, sorry, that was last weekend, but I digress.

Memorial Day does have multiple origins and means different things to different people. Despite the nitpicking of most of these people (who have their own agenda), I see Memorial Day as a day to honor and remember those who gave all. And with war, there have been many. Race, creed, color, and religion don’t matter to me, and they shouldn’t matter to those looking at the headstone of someone who died serving their country. Now I’ll get off my high horse and look at this weekend’s services.

Memorial Day weekend in SETX is well attended, and there are memorial services in the cemeteries of every town. Beaumont had two on Saturday. One was at Magnolia Cemetery, and the other at Evergreen Cemetery, further up Pine Street. Both began at ten in the morning; I wish I could have gone to both, but there was a scheduling snafu. I was glad to attend the Evergreen one because of the newly placed headstones for two veterans. Shout-out to Magnolia Cemetery for receiving these military headstones and having their people set them for Evergreen Cemetery because Evergreen did not have the resources to do this.

The two new headstones were for Sargent George Shaw, who died in France during the Great War (WWI), and Jerry Lloyd, who fought in the Indian wars and was a Buffalo Soldier. The replacement headstone for George Shaw was necessary because the original one stated that he was a private. However, thanks to the research done by a member of our Jefferson County Historical Commission, they were able to send a headstone with the correct information, which Sargent Shaw deserves. The situation with Jerry Lloyd’s headstone was a bit different because, as far as we know, he never received one. If there had been a regular one marking his grave, then it had disappeared. Research has shown that he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, but we are unaware of his location.

It was great to see how many people turned out to honor the veterans who have passed. It was quite a diverse group. Some came from as far away as Houston. Some placed flags on the graves, while others placed flowers. Many Beaumonteers showed up after seeing a Friday night report on 12 News Now; they felt compelled to be present and support the event in any way they could. They left with the knowledge of these two heroes and some other stories from this hallowed ground.

That’s it for this week. I would like to leave you with a poem written by Clare Harner.

Do not stand

By my grave, and weep.

I am not there,

I do not sleep—

I am the thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle, autumn rain.

As you awake with morning’s hush,

I am the swift, up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight,

I am the day transcending night.

Do not stand

By my grave, and cry—

I am not there,

I did not die.

                                    The Origins of  Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on peace and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. The origins of this holiday go back to the Civil War, when it was known as Decoration Day.

The official National Decoration Day is said to have begun on May 5, 1868, when General John A. Logan declared the date would be observed as a national holiday. In the South, however, many local ceremonies had already begun in 1866. For example, I found one reference to a group of women from Columbus, Mississippi, who on April 25, 1866, visited a cemetery to honor and decorate the graves of the Confederate soldiers who had died at the Battle of Shiloh. When they saw the bare graves of the Union soldiers, these women decided to place flowers also upon them.

Through the years, people used this day to tend to their family’s plots. They would clean their area since most cemeteries back then were not cared for by staff. They had picnics and spent time remembering their loved ones, which is a tradition I love.

In 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day because on May 5, 1866, people there honored “local veterans who had fought and died in the Civil War.”

No matter when it started or who started it, we all know the meaning of this day: to honor those who fought and died for our freedom. Thanks to their sacrifice, we stand here today and celebrate them on the beaches, at BBQs, and in many other places. They are our family and our heroes, and we remember them now and forever.

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/two-black-fallen-soldiers-receiving-headstone-evergreen-cemetery/502-872d65aa-a1a9-4ec4-b621-529bf8d3d6de

Thoughts and Ramblings: Hillebrandt Bayou; ChatGPT; Bolivar Peninsula; the Beach Road

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905 Edmund and Lorena Toebelman House | 1113 Church Street

Despite the many years I’ve spent running the roads of Beaumont, I never realized that Hillebrandt Bayou ran through the city. I always thought it was a ditch. And before some of you get all huffy about me calling Hillebrandt Bayou a ditch, parts of it are paved. Paved = ditch. I guess you wouldn’t be the first to be irritated by my choice of words this week. Earlier, a docent became pretty arrogant when I called the City National Bank Building in Galveston a house after I found out they were going to make it a rental.

Docent: “Oh no, this will be a residence.”

Me: “No, it’s a bank! Maybe event rental?”

Someone else on the tour: “When was it built?”

Docent: “I’m not sure.”

Me: “In 1920. Our book and your script say 1920.”

Docent: “Probably 1921.”

I’m not blaming the Galveston Historical Foundation for this melee with the suspected realtor with the clipboard. Still, unfortunately, you get Wanda’s family when the pickings are slim for volunteers, but I digress.

I’ve meant to do this for a while, and this week I managed to try out ChatGPT. For those who don’t know, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) engine used to create content. You type in what person or subject you want to write about, and the bot does the rest. Yes, I’m playing with Terminator-type stuff, but it’s not the liquid metal one at this point. The Florence Stratton essay was interesting but very vague, almost like a political speechwriter wrote it. A friend noted that ChatGPT made Florence sound like a combination of Ida Tarbell and Erin Brockovich. I’ll post the essay unedited, but THIS IS NOT A SOURCE OF ACCURATE INFORMATION, so don’t use it as such.

The 500-word essay describing Rediscoveringsetx.com was better but still a bit off. Finally, I typed my name and asked it to do a bio. Boy, this was interesting. I think it just wrote my obituary! I’ll have to tweak it a bit because I don’t have a degree in AI, but I could replace that with my elf spotting certificate. Yes, I have one, and I didn’t have to pay $4K for it. I’ll leave a link at the bottom of the blog so you can see how I got it.

Today is the last day of the Galveston Historic Homes Tour, and I couldn’t leave them hanging. They need volunteers, and I’m still fed up with work, so it’s a win-win situation. I’ll be at the 1905 Edmund and Lorena Toebelman House at 1113 Church Street. With air conditioning, I might add. I have my script, in case someone from Wanda’s family is around. However, in some weird way, I can coexist with people from her family because they are just there for the shiplap, the plaster, and the pretty flowers at Old City Cemetery.

I look forward to my Mama Teresa’s pizza while parked in the parking lot known as Ferry Road. For all you newbies, don’t cut in line or Maria Maria la Policia WILL get you. She has no patience for idiots, and that’s a good thing.

I heard that they are building multitudes of rentals and possibly also an airport on the peninsula. I guess this is a good thing because an airport would be another way to get off the peninsula during the next hurricane. Hurricane Ike really sucked. At that time, everyone thought that all their properties would be lost and there would be no beach for them. Well, the powers that be have rebuilt, and kudos to all of you Parrot Heads for making my drive to Galveston always interesting. Y’all will never let this line in the sand fail, and I’m happy about that. I guess we need to get our beach-road lobbyist going because we need this back. We just need to put it more inland because I don’t want to pass the nudist beach. Sorry, I am not a fan and don’t care for your struggle. Google Maps won’t even go down that road.

I would really love the beach road back for one reason—it would be twenty minutes to High Island! Not an hour of driving on Highway 73, Highway 124, and Highway 87. I’m not reminiscing about sandy hotdogs on McFaddin Beach; I want less driving time! I’m getting old and can’t afford to live with you Parrot Heads. I doubt this will get fixed soon, but at least the Whataburger in Winnie is my one great breakfast stop.

What is the equivalent of Aloha in Karankawa? Lunch? Until next time and hope to see you on the tour.

Thoughts and Ramblings: Port Arthur’s Quasquicentennial and Its Birders; Florence Was a Town in Hardin County?

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Driving the Golden Spike 1907

Well, all the pirates have gone, but I see loads of shiplap in the coming weeks, and that’s a good thing! The Galveston Historic Homes Tour is two weeks away, and the excitement is building—at least for me. Who knows what plans Wanda has? Probably some meeting somewhere where someone painted their house a color considered unsuitable by the neighborhood’s district association. Who knows?

Port Arthur’s quasquicentennial is this year, and they even made an excellent website for the occasion. The quasquicentennial is undoubtedly a milestone and a mouthful of sorts. I remember Texas’s sesquicentennial, and I couldn’t even pronounce that, but one of my four-year-old cousins could, and I was impressed. I look forward to following the year’s festivities.

Speaking of Port Arthur, I saw that they’ve added a bird blind on Pleasure Island. Pleasure Island has been a bird sanctuary for decades, and if the powers that be were ever to name it, I would suggest none other than Mrs. Bessie Reid. She was the original Port Arthur birder. Yes, her legacy was in Native American culture and history, but she was into her feathered friends first, and they needed no other ally at the time.

In my research on Florence Stratton, I initially dismissed a statement by her niece, Eunice Stephens, made in a newspaper article, according to which the city of Florence, Texas, was named after her aunt. Early in my research, I proved this wrong because Florence, Texas, located in Williamson County, was founded in the 1850s. However, a newspaper article from 1907 revealed some details that didn’t make sense with what we see today. Apparently, there was another “town” named Florence between Sour Lake and the newly formed settlement of Hardin. The article mentioned a new sawmill near Florence, located in Hardin County, which is the only documented source we have of this “town.” The article states that the place was named after Florence Stratton. Currently, I have no idea why. The “town,” if you can call it that—there was no post office, nor did it end on any map that I’ve found—didn’t last. It probably was more of a train stop for the sawmill. As we know, many of those lumber towns were abandoned as people moved on to the next big thing at the time—oil.

R. C. Duff, president of the Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railway, was the person who drove the last spike connecting the railroad from Beaumont to Houston. He was also the one to name the town after Florence Stratton. Why? I have no idea other than the fact that the Duff family was close to Florence. At her funeral in 1938, there was a Duff pallbearer. R. C. Duff, his wife, and two daughters made the trip to this special event, and thanks to this article, I know who the skinny giant with the anvil in the photo is. I will say that the photos I have of the driving of the golden spike make more sense now. One problem I have with this is that back in 2014, when I asked pretty much everyone in Hardin County about a town called Florence, they had never heard of it. This will definitely require more research.

One thing I would like to put out there is this: if you have ever heard of a town or a train stop called Florence in Hardin County, I want to hear from you! rediscoveringsetx@gmail.com

I guess this is where I should grovel and say sorry to Eunice for doubting her. Unlike past researchers, I will admit that I’m wrong. However, I will jab back that Eunice still got her aunt’s birth year wrong!

No, I am not Wanda, and history is what it is. We are all just trying to make sense of what happened before us. Eunice was a big part in solving some of the mysteries surrounding her aunt. Although we probably wouldn’t have gotten along, we were here for the same reason—to keep Florence Stratton’s memory alive for all to enjoy and learn about the history of our beloved Southeast Texas.

I’ve added a PDF link of this article to this post if anyone is interested (if that’s the case, you’re greatly appreciated).

https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11FCD9F6C526DCD9%40GB3NEWS-167A1953F2577872%402417776-167A02BEF86FD633%402?clipid=hdgdmxpgzygmxqebjzbtrxnuqydshjkd_wma-gateway010_1682211389364

I will also post the article on the Facebook page later in the day.

Until next week!

Galveston Historic Homes Tour:  https://www.galvestonhistory.org/events/galveston-historic-homes-tour

Port Arthur 125th Anniversary:

home

Port Arthur Birding Site:

https://visitportarthurtx.com/things-to-do/attraction/pleasure-island-bird-blind/

Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railway: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/beaumont-sour-lake-and-western-railway