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Ancestors of Billy Robert Wilson


Generation No. 2


      2. Tom Cicero Wilson1, born December 01, 1895 in Montgomery, Louisiana1; died June 02, 1976 in VA Hospital, Pineville, LA1. He was the son of 4. Carroll Cicero Wilson and 5. Jessie Monema Hilbun. He married 3. Grace Annie Haire February 1919 in Lawton, Oklahoma1.

      3. Grace Annie Haire1, born December 24, 1896 in Forney, Texas1; died February 1988 in Pineville, Louisiana1. She was the daughter of 6. Henry Bryan Haire II and 7. Margaret Serena Price.

Notes for Tom Cicero Wilson:
As a child Tommy was very conservative, and so he was throughout his life. When someone gave him a nickel (Indian head) for candy, he didn't buy the candy. He saved the nickel and all the other money he could get his hands on. By the time he was twenty years old he had saved enough to buy 80 acres of land about a mile North of his Father's home. The land was in Winn Parish, bordering Grant Parish. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Tommie didn't get to attend school very much. He and his sister Tamar had to work on the farm as much as possible. His eleven siblings would be educated as a result of his labor. Tommie never regretted helping them get an education. Several of the youngest surviving brothers and sisters got college educations. Tommie just made it through the sixth grade.

Tom's first child, Harry Bernard Wilson was born on August 31, 1920. He was born just in time for the fall harvest. But, I don't think he was much help. They took Harry to the fields in a basket, sat it in the shade of a cotton stalk, or tree, and gathered the crops. Lois was seven years old and she baby-sat Harry. After Mr. Tom and Miss Grace picked two rows of cotton (they called it a round), Grace would stop and nurse, or feed, or change Harry as need be. They made the harvest and were debt free. They had saved enough of their Army pay and Grace's telephone operator pay to build a piece of house. But, they had to borrow a small amount to plant and raise their cotton, corn, and a huge garden. They had a milk cow, pigs, and goats. They grew everything they ate except flour, sugar, coffee, and Tom's chewing tobacco. About once or twice a month they drove their horse and buggy four miles to Montgomery or to St. Maurice to buy these supplies.

The first automobile Mr. Tom owned was a "Tin Lizzy." That was the nickname of the Model T Ford which made its debut in 1908. One car historian called it "a cantankerous, reliable, Spartan, and a mirror of American Society." A society which this minimal motorcar put on wheels through 1927. That's when they discontinued the model after 15 million had been sold. Those cars were around for many years later due to their durability. Not bad for a car that cost only $290 and with a body made mostly of wood. I don't know when Mr. Tom bought his Tin Lizzy but he kept it until 1929 and then bought a new Ford pick up truck. Grace's sister Lou drove a Model T until I was a teen-ager in the nineteen forties. The Tin Lizzy was sold in Dark Red, and Green. But, an oxidation problem soon turned most of them black. As a result many people of subsequent generations believe they were sold only in black. The Model T Ford held the record for the most cars of one model sold for many years.

About that time, Tom traded farms with his brother Wade to keep Wade from losing the farm he had. Tom had a lot of starting over to do on the new farm. He took on three Negro families to help out. He built them small shotgun houses and they worked for their keep (room, board, clothing, and doctor bills). Tom built terraces on that hill farm and started contour plowing like his Father, Carroll. This prevented erosion of the soil. He grew cotton, corn, and sweet potatoes. He trucked the sweet potatoes to Natchitoches, Winnfield, Montgomery and Colfax, peddling them to the stores. Some he sold through the Winter months to buyers who came by the farm. To keep the potatoes very long he needed a potato barn which he built from huge logs, red clay, and pine straw. The clay and straw was packed between the logs to make the barn air tight. A small kerosene heater inside on cold nights kept the potatoes from freezing. The thick logs kept the temperature cool during hot days. That barn is now in Bentley, LA at a museum for old relics.

Almost every Sunday the family attended Church in Montgomery or at Mt. Zion, or at Ebenezer campground. The family was well acquainted and liked by members of all those churches. They alternated between the Baptist and Methodist Churches. Tom was a Methodist and Grace was a Baptist. On April 11, 1935, Tom was baptized as a member of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery. After that they focused their attendance on that Church where both were members, but they occasionally visited with Tom parents at the Methodist Churches in Montgomery and Mt. Zion. One of the things that influenced Tom in changing churches was that Harry had been baptized in the Baptist Church. Another was that Tom never cited one part of the Methodist Creed which stated, "I believe in the Holy Roman Catholic Church." The creed was cited by the congregation each Sunday but most of the congregation omitted that part.

I was Church Treasurer at First Baptist from 1990 to 1992, and had occasion to read through old records there. I found the above information as well as indicators that Tom was in attendance and active at business meetings on August 11, September 4, September 11, September 15, and during a Revival of July 20 to 31, in 1938. The minutes of that Revival included the following: "Each night the house was packed to capacity and many unable to find room inside, listened from without. Wonderful sermons, prayers and singing were enjoyed and a spirit of revival came into the church." I know from experience that Tom was in attendance much more than is indicated above. Those were just the times that he spoke out or accepted duties that were recorded in the minutes of the business meetings.

In 1934, the Nation's economy was beginning to show signs of recovery and so were the Wilsons. In the early Spring, Tom hired two carpenters to build a new home on top of a hill about 100 yards North of his present home. It was Mr. Tom's home for the rest of his life (42 more years) and my home for the rest of my childhood. We moved in July when I was 17 months old. I wasn't much help; didn't move too many heavy pieces of furniture. The house, though not elaborate, was a well constructed wood frame house. It did have glass windows and screens. Some of the homes of that era didn't have these luxuries. Some had only wooden shutters to cover the windows and had nothing to cover the dirt floors. Our floors were well above ground and were smooth finished pine lumber, tongue and grooved. The house was painted white.

Some of the farm hands, with Tom's help and knowledge, dug a well behind our new home. It was thirty two feet deep. They poured a four inch thick concrete curb measuring about three feet in diameter. It was poured in eight foot high sections. The above ground portion of the top section was about four feet square on the outside. To this day it reveals hand prints of Dick and Billy, their initials, Harry's initials, and the year of construction. The top was then covered with cypress boards, and a door made of the same material to keep contamination and kids out of it. Then they built a shed over the well to further prevent contamination and to support the pulley through which a rope would be threaded. A two gallon bucket was attached to the rope to draw our water from the well.

In 1935, Mr. Tom was active in civic and community affairs. He enjoyed for many years, associating with good people. He was active in the American Legion and the affairs of the First Baptist Church. He also enjoyed serving on juries. On September 4, less than one month after Tom's Baptism, he participated in a business meeting and seconded a motion to call Rev. E.A. Autrey as a full time pastor, at a salary of $40 per month. I seem to recall but can't verify that Rev. Autrey was the Revival preacher who baptized Daddy. On September 22, Tom's brother Clifford was elected Chorister (song leader). That meeting was held in the tabernacle (an open air church with a roof over crude benches). During this meeting, Tom was appointed a delegate to the Big Creek Association [a group of Baptist churches]. It is apparent from the records of the Church that Tom had been regular in attendance prior to his conversion and was readily accepted as a leader.

Tom had a summer job of checking cotton acreage allotted to farmers by the Government. The allotment controlled the amount of cotton grown nationwide and thereby controlled the price of cotton. That helped the farmers make a profit. Mr. Tom received photographs taken from low flying aircraft to show where cotton was being grown each year. Then, visiting each farm, he measured the acreage with a long chain. I went along with him sometimes and Dick went others. I held one end of the chain while he walked and dragged the other end. When he got all the slack out of the chain, I yelled stop. I recall going to Pete Poisso's farm between Verda and Dry Prong. We had to walk the last mile back in those woods. Pete had a monkey and some other critters I had never seen before. That and the flooded roads leading to his place is why I remember him. I enjoyed this outing with Daddy for several years, I think from 1938 until 1941.

The U.S. government had formed the Rural Electric Association, REA. Locally it was known as Valley Electric Co-op. I watched the power lines being installed beside Highway 71, and then across the Highway and Railroad to our house. Finally the electricians started inside. The wires were wrapped in cloth, light yellow with green spots, and held in place by ceramic insulators. Each insulator held two wires about two inches apart. These were exposed to view along the walls and ceiling to the center of each room. The wires were stretched tight and looked nice at the time. In later years they would look dirty and "old fashion." The wires were twisted together to form a drop-light about two feet below the ceiling.

The drop wires were attached to a shiny yellow (brass) light socket with a pull chain to turn it on. All of the light bulbs were 100 watt with no fixture to diffuse the glare. But we were happy to be able to see at night. We had no wall switches. Later, when we got an electric iron and fan, we plugged them into the light sockets hung from the ceiling, by screwing in an adapter. We did have one plug-in wall receptacle in the house. It was beside the electric refrigerator. Only we called that a Frigidaire because that was the brand name of it and that was the name on its door. We enjoyed not having to carry ice in, and dripping water out, but we missed the good taste of the block ice we had been buying. The ice from our refrigerator just didn't taste as good.

Another Federal Program came to Montgomery that year. It was called the Agriculture Rehabilitation Program. We called it Rehab. Sharecroppers and farm hands were rehabilitated. They received Government grants to buy farm equipment and supplies to improve their production. County Agents taught improved methods. Daddy was opposed to it because it took away his free labor. As a result the Negroes left the farms. Some were rehabilitated on nearby farms but most started cutting pulp wood or peeling pine fence posts for the Creosote Plant at Colfax. This led us into a new life style.

About February 1, 1941, Tom leased his farm, home and land to W.H. Davis Sr. and his family. Mr. Davis had two sons, W.H. Jr. [Dub] and the younger one who was called Cotton because of his hair color. They were being rehabilitated by the government and used our land, tools, and mules to raise a crop. Tom got one half of their profit. We moved to Forney, Texas. It had taken Mama over twenty two years to persuade Daddy to move to Texas. I had heard only a small part of her efforts, I'm sure. She claimed she would be healthier out there in a drier climate and the land was so much richer there that farming would be better. In retrospect, I think the reason farmers made better money there was because they worked harder and had better equipment than we had. Daddy wasn't accustomed to the physical efforts put forth by his brother in law, Sol Eudy, and his family. Most any of them could pick twice as much cotton as one of us of similar age.

On February 11, Harry married Loreace Low, a good-looking girl from Verda. We weren't at the wedding, we were in Texas. Daddy and Mama opposed the marriage. But, as of this writing the marriage has lasted fifty eight years. So I suppose that Father doesn't always know best. I think Tom and Grace opposed all of their children's marriages because they wanted them to wait and get a better education and more stable financial conditions. There were probably some other motives also, like most parents have, such as "Nobody is good enough for our child." Daddy got a job in Forney as a carpenter's helper.

Mr. Tom found out that those Texas carpenters worked just as hard and long as Texas farmers. He wasn't making enough money to support us in the lifestyle to which we had become accustomed. As a result he and Mama were as dissatisfied as Dick and I. So three weeks after we arrived, we left. Daddy made a trip alone back to Montgomery and convinced the Davis family to move into the tenant house where the Browns had lived. He helped them sterilize the house to get rid of the "Negro odors" and came back to Texas to move us. He never said what he had to do to swing that deal.

Daddy went to work at the Army's new Camp Polk, fifty one miles away by rough back roads, near Leesville, La. It is now Fort Polk. It and several others at Alexandria were being built in expectation of the United States getting involved in World War II, which was already in progress in Europe. Dick and I were tickled pink to be back in our old school. Discipline at home was a little more lax with Daddy leaving before we awoke and returning at about our bedtime. This soon changed though when Mama realized we were taking advantage of a bad situation.

In the Spring Tom went back to farming. He bought a cultivator like he had seen the rehabilitated farmers using. It had two large metal wheels and a tongue like a wagon. The farmer walked behind it holding two handles and lines leading to the mules' bridles. The handles, which were spring balanced, controlled plow blades below in the dirt. Adjusting these springs was an art and required some time and effort. Each handle worked independent of the other so he could plow as close to the plants as he wanted on either side. This was an innovative work saver over the old Georgia Stock or Gee Whiz plow he used on one side of the plants and then the other side. It cut his work in half and made him a one-man farmer. Of course he farmed less acreage. The Davis family was share cropping half the farm that year.

The Army maneuvers started near us in 1942. Soldiers were all around us, in our fields, woods, pasture, everywhere. Dick and I sold newspapers to them and shined shoes to earn a little money. They gave us K-rations which we loved because it was different and contained a candy bar. Tanks tore down some of our fences. Livestock got into our fields, and ate or destroyed some of the crops. Tom never said a condemning word about it because of his patriotism. Three years later he would be surprised to receive reimbursement for it. We had long since repaired the damages. The Federal government started rationing gasoline, sugar, rubber tires, coffee, shoes, and probably other things I have forgotten. We received ration coupons which had to be turned in with purchases of these items. Tom, being very patriotic, did without this stuff as much as he could.

The truck was driven into the garage behind the house, jacked up and put on blocks, after it had been driven about a year and a half. Tom sold the tires off the truck for one hundred dollars. The next year he sold the rest of the truck for seven hundred fifty dollars which was all he paid for it in 1940 with tires. He always had a way of making money. So much for gasoline and tire rationing and so-long to motorized travel. Hello horse and buggy days. Most of our food those days was raised in our garden beside the house. We started ordering baby chickens from Missouri. Tom used a diagram he got from one of the Rehabilitation farmers to build a baby chicken house. I was about 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. It had a room with a wire floor and a roof of wood that served as a lid to the room. It also had a sun porch that was made of wire on all sides, top, and bottom. We raised as many as we could save out of the hundred we had ordered. I loved fried chicken.

Lois had married R.C. Addington and given birth to another son, Raymond Cullen (Pete) Addington Jr. on August 14, 1942. On November 3, Harry and Loreace were blessed with a son, Jerry Wayne Wilson. The Davis family moved out of Tom's tenant house after that year's crop was harvested. Dub was drafted into the Army. Cotton was classified a 4-F, which meant he probably wouldn't be drafted. Then Mr. Olney "Ollie" and Mrs. Mary Hickman moved in the tenant house. Tom bought and helped them tack up a thick wallpaper to help keep the wind from blowing through the cracks. It had flowers on Kraft paper with a light brown background. It wasn't thin and glued onto cheese cloth, like in out house. It was just cheap wind protection. That house had cracks I could stick my fingers through.

One evening about dark we were sitting on the front porch and noticed over at the Hickman place seven or eight small fires in a circle around the house. I asked what was going on, pointing at the fires. Daddy said that they were killing fleas. He explained that just before dark they lit the fires and as the sunlight faded fleas hopped toward the light of the fires and were burned up. Now that was cheap pest control.

With a shortage of farm labor, at cheap prices, Tom started buying cattle and putting his row crop farm into pasture and hay. He bought a hay rake that would be drawn by two mules and ridden many miles by Dick and me. Also, he bought a mule drawn mowing machine. He was the one destined to ride it. The cutting portion of this mower stuck out to the right side, about eight feet. He felt it was too complicated for irrational, unconcerned boys to operate. He bought another pair of mules. He bought a used hay press that would be powered by one mule walking in a circle. The youngest of the seven person crew would be prodding the mule in the world's smallest orbit. I was the youngest. Hay baling was done in the hottest, driest, sunniest, dustiest place and time of the year.

Harvesting sugar cane was much more fun. After cutting it with a machete, Tom took it to our neighbor, Mr. Lee Dean, who had a syrup mill and cooked off sugar cane to make syrup for the whole neighborhood. We cut our cane and hauled it by wagon to his mill. The cane was run through a group of three rollers that pressed the juice out of it. The rollers were powered by a mule going around in orbit like with a hay press. Dick and I prodded the mule and drank fresh cane juice. That was a real treat. The juice ran downhill through an open v-shaped trough to an open vat located above the cooker where the juice would be cooked into a thick syrup. Mr. Dean operated the cooker. He opened a valve in the vat when he needed juice, and skimmed the foam off the top of the cooking syrup. When it had cooked to the right consistency he drained the syrup out of the cooker through a valve (faucet) into one gallon tin cans. These were used to (1) pay Mr. Dean for his time, equipment, and effort, and (2) to sell to the city folks.

Tom enjoyed an oyster supper about once a year, during this era, which was hosted by the American Legion. One of the legionnaires came by and took us this year because we didn't have a truck. Tom was accustomed to leaving earlier than we did that night. He must have been pretty peeved, because we never went again. After that, Tom bought a gallon of oysters and we invited neighbors to help us eat them.

Most previous summers in July we had gone North about ten miles to a plantation on Red River to pick figs. Dick and I climbed up in those huge trees and picked a number three wash tub full. I recall that when we got home Daddy emptied half of the figs into another similar tub and then finished filling each tub with sugar. Maybe he used less sugar than that but I recall we bought sugar in 100 pound cans before the war and used a lot of it in preserves. Of course we washed the figs first. Then after they set overnight Tom would cook them, make preserves, and can the preserves for the future. That was good eating with hot fresh buttered biscuits for breakfast. But sugar was rationed and this year we did without.

Mr. Tom was cutting our hair on the front porch and his old clippers kept pulling our hair. He said he wasn't going to buy a new pair of clippers because those had lasted twenty five years. His children would be long since grown before twenty five more years passed. He managed to get our hair cut that time but that was the last haircut either of us had at home. After that we went to Tom Harrison's barber shop, and paid fifty cents for a hair cut.

Tom's car house being empty, was now converted to a smoke house to cure fresh pork in the winter and to raise chickens in the Spring. Dick and I were old enough to help with the annual hog killing, when the weather turned cold. That's the origin the old saying "hog killing weather." The hogs had in previous years been shot between the eyes with a .22 caliber rifle but now, during the war, Tom stood straddle their back and hit them between the eyes with a small sledge hammer. Then he stuck a long bladed knife into their heart to drain the blood. The heart is located behind the left front leg, near the belly, about an inch or two behind the leg. Then we scalded and scraped the hair off the hog, gutted him and hung him from his back legs to clean his inside, and scraped more hair and washed him down good. Then he was taken to our clothes washing bench under a shed by the car house to be carved. The heart, liver, and loin (pork chops) were eaten fresh. The rest was salted down in a large wooden box located in the car house and let sit for a period of time. Then the salt was wiped off and the meat was hung on long strings from the ceiling. A smoldering oak fire was built and maintained in the center of the dirt floor. This dried the humid air and the smoke flavored the meat well.

Every Monday, in all seasons, was clothes washing day. We all helped if our health permitted. The clothes were boiled in a nearby three legged cast iron wash pot. Then, Mr. Tom soaped them with lie soap and rubbed them on a wash board in a number three wash tub of warm water, which was a mixture of the boiling water from the pot and water that had been hand drawn from the well. Then the clothes were rinsed twice in cold water in two other tubs and rung out by hand, before being hung on the line. All of this was done on the same work bench as the butchering of hogs.

For the first time in his life, Tom had to walk each row in the cotton field that Spring shaking a bag that contained arsenic to kill the bole weevils. They had invaded us from Texas. He would not let me do this, saying that his life was near an end and mine was just beginning. He was afraid the arsenic would kill him. It might have if he hadn't used a cloth over his face and washed frequently. That was the last time he attempted to raise cotton. From then on our crops were corn, hay, and a garden. We would feed the corn and hay to the mules and cows, and the garden to ourselves. We ate an awful lot of turnip greens and sweet potatoes. He took time out to cut and bale hay, and to take corn to Mr. Addington's Black Smith Shop to be ground for cow feed and some for our cornmeal. We took the shucks off the ears that would be ground for cornmeal and ran the ears through a hand cranked corn shelling machine we kept at our barn. We used it to shell corn for the chickens too. They ate the grains whole, but we didn't.

That year Mr. Tom and I picked up a few jobs leveling and clearing lots for building sights. One job was landscaping the large wooded valley that comprised Ross Lang's front yard on Highway 71 in Montgomery. The work was fun and we both enjoyed that, but I was embarrassed to drive the mules and wagon through downtown where all my friends could see me. I felt like a country bumpkin. I never said anything to Mr. Tom about it though. I did ask him why he had not bought another truck after the rationing of tires and gasoline was lifted. He said, "If I did you kids would just tear it up." I let it go at that.

Some sales type people came to Tom's house one day taking a survey to determine if it were economically feasible to build a television station in the area. I wasn't there when they came but Mama told me about them that evening. Anyway, they had asked my parents if they would invest in a television set and antenna. Tom said, "Hell no, I don't go to the movies and you sure as hell ain't going to bring one to me here in my living room." From their description I envisioned a movie projector and screen, not something like Flash Gordon used in the movies. His television set resembled our computers of the 1990's.

That summer Mr. Tom and I dug a pond. It was across the highway in front of our house, one we could look at and watch cows drink from while we sat on the front porch. The Government had changed the rules and would not pay for a pond that was mostly a dam. There had to be a large deep hole in the ground. We dug it as deep as we could and scattered the dirt down below the pond. That dirt would become part of my Christmas Tree Farm in 1983. When we finished, Daddy said, "that pond will never dry up." It hasn't, so far. That was the driest summer I can recall. The old mill pond, about two hundred feet up the drain from our new pond, was almost completely dry. Catfish were floundering around in the mud. Daddy asked me if I were up to digging another pond. He said we would drain the old one and start over. Sounded good to me. We plowed a deep furrow from the mud through the spill way to drain the rest of the water out. Then we picked up the bigger catfish and put them in a tub. We would clean them that night for a fish fry. We ate leftover fish for days.

The next day we started scooping dirt from the East side of the old pond. We built a small levee, about two feet high, between our work and the West side where water would flow into the pond if it should rain. We were able to finish the East side to its original depth, about fifteen feet, before the rain came back with a vengeance. It washed the little temporary levee away and filled both ponds with muddy water. Since then neither pond has dried up. Later we stocked both ponds with Blue gill Brim (perch) and Catfish. The Louisiana Fish Hatchery at Natchitoches brought the fish to us. They put them in our five gallon buckets and we put them in the ponds. They wouldn't let us have a supply for the mill pond, due to some restriction. So we divided them between the two ponds after they left.

In 1960, Tom turned 65 years old. Now he could draw a monthly social security check. He was pretty much disabled at that time so he applied for and was awarded a Veterans Pension. With those two checks coming in he was able to stop row-crop farming. He sold the mules and related farm equipment, but kept his cows. He no longer fed them ground corn. It was necessary to hire someone to bush-hog the weeds and bushes from his pastures yearly, but he persevered. In 1963, he sold two tracts of land which he had bought from Harry, and his brother Clifford, and sold most of the cows. He traded his 1951 Chevrolet pickup for a new Chevy II Nova, four door car. Miss Grace had finally talked him into it. She was drawing a social security check now and that helped. He even got her a radio, their first in an automobile. He never thought they were worth the money, but he enjoyed hearing the news. In 1966, Tom and Grace got in at the beginning of Medicare. He had always had free hospitalization with the Veterans Administration. Now he was happy that Mama could get proper medical care. But most of all he was happy to know he wouldn't have to spend his life savings on doctor bills. They sat on the front porch and watched the world go by, rocking and flattering each other. They had their own mutual admiration society.

In 1975, Tom lost his ability to maintain his balance. The second time he fell he couldn't get up. He was taken to the V.A. Hospital in Pineville. There he stayed until death finally ended his long and productive life. At that time, I lived in Memphis, TN. I visited him twice during the six months he lay there dying. The second visit, he was tied to the bed. Nurses said that was necessary to keep him from removing the tubes from his stomach that kept him alive. He had quit eating. And worse yet, he had quit talking. He stared at me with a blank expression on his face. I got the distinct impression that he was asking me to remove the tubes, take him home, and let him die. I don't know whether that was mental telepathy, or whether I knew how he felt about such matters. The latter may be true, for we had been very close for years. His arteries had hardened. The technology and/or the desire of the Veteran's Hospital was not sufficient to save him. On June 2, 1976, Tom died at the age of 80 and one half years.

Mr. Tom had the ability to treat a child fairly, train him in the way he should be trained, love him and make him feel loved, and in general - raise him right. On many occasions, he told me that he loved me. But more important, he showed me on many more occasions that he loved me. Thank you Mr. Tom for a job well done.

More About Tom Cicero Wilson:
Baptism: April 11, 1935, First Baptist Church of Montgomery
Burial: June 04, 1976, Mt Zion Cemetery, Montgomery, LA
Cause of Death: Hardening of the arteries
Medical Information: High Blood Pressure, Diabetes and Angina
Occupation: Bet. 1918 - 1970, Self employed farmer1
Social Security Number: 435 22 6734

Notes for Grace Annie Haire:
Grace, facetiously speaking, was delivered by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1896. She was born on a farm near Forney in Kaufman County Texas. Grace's father was a farmer and like most people of that day and age, she helped her father in the fields and gave less attention to school. However, she did make it through the eighth grade. At the age of 14 she married Ben Sheltman, in 1911, which would have been another good reason for dropping out of school. To this marriage one child was born, Lois Inez Sheltman on March 21, 1913.

The marriage was not a happy one as Ben drank too much of those alcoholic beverages. That made him abusive. They separated but did not divorce. Ben went off to fight World War I and died in France of bronchial pneumonia. Widow Grace and child had to make it on their own. They went to Oklahoma City to find work. Her Aunt Minnie gave her living quarters until she could get started. She was soon blessed with a job as a telephone operator. Many times I have heard her describe her duties using the antiquated "drop-system" the telephone company had before the "dial-system." She wore a set of head phones and plugged lines into a board full of holes, and occasionally got lines crossed. Of course she had to have a baby sitter for Lois. She eventually took leave and a short trip back to Forney.

            ROMANCE ON THE DALLAS EXPRESS

"Does this train go to Dallas?" was the simple question that changed two lives - that of Grace Haire and Tom Cicero Wilson, her husband for fifty-seven years.

It was 1919 and Woodrow Wilson (no relation to Tom) was President. A young telephone operator on a shopping trip to Dallas and a serviceman on his way back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma met by chance in a train depot and it was love at first sight. He was looking for a Texas girl to marry and when he saw Miss Grace, he said to himself, "There she is." The train was so crowded that he was unable to sit next to the one who had captured his eye, but he sent messages to her through his cousin. At the end of the journey, they managed to exchange a few words. He noticed she was carrying a box and found that inside was a pair of shoes for Lois Sheltman, her four year old daughter from a previous marriage. They parted company but not without each other's address.

A proposal of marriage came with the very first letter. In the letter he told her that he had "80 acres of paid for land, thirteen head of cattle, and a barn built with corn in it." As Miss Grace put it, "To test my mother, I tossed the letter in the trash and said that he's just a flirt." Her mother reminded her that he could be the one. There were more letters and more calls and they arranged to meet twice again in Oklahoma City. One night he called and reported that he was terribly ill and begged her to visit him. Much to her surprise, when she arrived she found a very well man, but one that was anxious to marry her. With charm and persuasion, he soon convinced her that they should marry, and the very next day, on their fourth meeting, they were wed.

The couple spent many happy years together and raised four children - Harry, Richard, Billy, and of course, Lois. It was evident that the romance that brought them together had remained throughout the years. She remembers well one of the last words her husband spoke to her. He said, "Sweet, Pretty, I love you more than I ever did."

The article above was probably written by Miss Grace,
with some help from an unknown ghost writer. It was found
among here possessions of Miss Grace after her death

They were married in Lawton, OK February 6, 1919. [Not Forney, TX as reported in "The Hutch" by R.R. Massegee.] The war was over (1914-1918) and so was Tom's enlistment. They took up residence on the "80 acres of paid for land" after a few months of living with his parents. Grace learned a lot about cooking in those few months. She hadn't done much of that before. But, now there were lots of mouths to feed.

In 1983, when she saw my bathtub for two, she told me about their baths together when they first took up residence on the "80 acres." During the summer months they drew four buckets of water from the well early in the day and let the sun warm it. That evening they stripped naked out there near the well and bathed, using the last two buckets to douse themselves and rinse off the soap. There was no one living in seeing or hearing distance, so why not. She said, "One day Tom drew a fresh bucket of cold water from the well and she could tell by the devilish look in his eye that he intended to douse her with it." She took off running around the house with him right behind her. He caught her and doused her good with that cold water. After that she was careful about being around when he had a fresh bucket of water. Mama told me, in her older days, that Tom was a virgin when they married, and that she had to teach him what to do. Imagine that, a 24 year old virgin.

Grace was very lonely in the wilderness and longed to go home. She was most lonesome when Tom was in the fields, which was most all the time. But, she said when night time came, it was worth the long wait. They enjoyed each other's company then and until death. Apparently, they enjoyed each other a lot because Harry was born August 31, 1920. That should have taken care of some of the loneliness. Mr. Tom decided they needed neighbors to keep Grace from being lonesome and he certainly needed help on the farm. He built a tenant house and got Mitt and Mae Lasyone to move in it and help him on the farm. They were company but they weren't too intelligent. Luckily, other new neighbors moved to the adjoining land. They were the Paige family and judging from the stories I have heard, they kept each other well entertained. They helped each other farm, canned food for the winter, made quilts, played dominoes etc.

Then there was the Model T Ford, learning to drive, breaking away from the horse and buggy days. There was a later model pick-up truck, a Chevrolet. There were even trips to Forney, TX to visit her sister Lou and her mother. Those trips became the highlight of Mama's year, after the harvest. In 1927 she would have much of her time occupied with Lois. Lois fell in love and got married. Mama had it annulled. She didn't approve of the young man. But then she permitted Lois to marry Tom's brother Wade, on December 7, 1927. In 1929 they moved closer to town (Montgomery), trading farms with Wade and Lois. Now she could get away from the house more often. She made new friends with her new neighbors but kept visiting with the Paige family too. Dick got her mind off things after he was born on May 29, 1930. She felt complete in her motherly duties because there was a Tom, Dick, and Harry in the family. Harry was ten years old. Lois was pregnant with Jean. She now had a maid (Negro) who was one of three families of Negroes who were tenants on the farm. She was surrounded by people. But still she longed for home (Texas). Grace suffered from asthma. It was the type usually brought on by colds or bronchial problems. The doctor thought it might go away during menopause. I suspect it may have been related to her longing to go home. Who knows. We never did find out.

Motherly duties were not quite complete. At age 36, she gave birth to her finest yet, me, on February 13, 1933. I was puny and couldn't survive on her milk. I had to be bottle fed. That was a new experience. She lived and learned. Miss Grace's nearest neighbor lived a half mile to the North on old Jefferson Road, which was the forerunner to US Highway 71. This neighbor was Tom's brother Clifford, his wife Mosie and their daughter Beverly (age 2). Clifford owned and farmed 80 acres of land located next door to his father Carroll Cicero Wilson (my grandfather). I have been at a loss to discover the origin and reason for that middle name, Cicero, carried by my Grandfather, and Daddy. Next door to Clifford was Carroll (age 75) and his wife Jessie Hilbun Wilson (age 60). They owned a 110 acre farm which was also dissected by Highway 71, the KCS Railroad, and old Jefferson Road. He and the last two of his twelve children who were still at home, Elree (age 21) and Woodrow (age l9) farmed the land. They were assisted by Tamar's children who lived across Highway 71, three quarters of a mile North of Tom's house. Carroll's daughter Tamar Hardberger (age 42), a widow, and her three children Willard (age 21), Max (age 19), and Carol (age 16) lived in and owned a small house and five acres of land that had been part of the original Wilson farm. Elree, Woodrow, Willard, Carol and Max rode a bus to Natchitoches to attend Normal College (now Northwestern State University). When they weren't in school they worked on their grandfather's farm.

Tom had a sister, Lee McGinty (age 36), who never had a child of her own but married a widower, Ed McGinty (age 47). Ed had two sons, Mac and Willard, whose ages were approximately 21 and 19 respectively. They lived on a farm about three miles away near the Winnfield Highway (LA 34). Tom had another sister Jessie Mae Kimbrell (age 28) who died three months before 1933 in childbirth. Her child, Jo Ann, died with her. Jessie's husband, Lee Baines Kimbrell, was a State Bridge Architect. He and their three sons, Leonard Buell (age 11), Rubin Lloyd "Bug" (age 9), and Tommy Harris (age 5) lived in the town of Montgomery across the street from the First Baptist Church. They moved in 1933 or possibly 1934 to Natchitoches.

Grace had a sister, Carie Lela "Kate" McManus and her husband John McManus who owned a farm on the Verda Highway (LA 122) about four miles East of Montgomery. Aunt Kate had no children but was Stepmother to David, Virgil, and Johnnie McManus all of whom were within five years of age twenty one. There may have been other stepchildren, but these are the only ones I recall.

A significant event of that year of 1933, was the house fire. While Harry was at school and while Aunt Kate was visiting us, Tom smelled smoke and saw some of it near the ceiling over the kitchen stove. Tom grabbed his shotgun, ran outside and fired three times to give the distress signal to neighbors. But, then he went back in the house and started warming himself by backing up to the stove. Grace grabbed Dick and I, and ran out the front door. Aunt Kate went out the back door and squatted to urinate. This is the scene discovered by Odell Dean, our close neighbor to the South, who had run the quarter of a mile from his house to answer the distress signal. Odell ran by Kate on his way to the well, drew a bucket of water, and climbed into the attic and doused the fire. As each of them regained their composure, they laughed and for years later they embarrassed Tom and Kate by telling this story. Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing the story repeated, and repeatedly repeated.

In 1934, Grace moved into her new home, which Tom built next door. She hoped getting away from the dusty old house might help the asthma, but it didn't. It lifted her spirits and made her feel affluent. She was proud to show it off. Like she always showed off her new things. She kept busy now sewing for her two little fellows, making most of their clothes. She was active in Church, especially the Women's Missionary Union (WMU). Lois was pregnant with her third child. Grace told Lois, "No we want be pregnant together again, twice is enough." Her clock had run out.

Years later, rural electricity came to our part of the world. Grace was tickled pink. No longer would she have to light a lamp or lantern, or smell that burning kerosene (coal oil she called it). With her new electric iron she would not have to heat the flat irons in the fireplace of wood stove. Maybe her asthma would get better. No such luck.

In 1941 Grace finally convinced Tom to move to Texas. His Negroes had moved off the farm and were being rehabilitated by the Government. Their son Harry was about to get married and they thought he would go to Texas with them. He didn't, he got married February 11, 1941 to Loreace Low, two days after we moved. We rented a house in beautiful down town Forney. Grace settled in "happy as a lark," she said. Nobody else was. After three weeks we were back home in Montgomery. Grace resolved herself to accept it. Mr. Tom went to work at Camp Polk, helping to prepare for the impending war with Germany. This left grace in a predicament. Tom was gone about twelve hours a day. Her boys were in school. She had no maid and no farm help. The farm had been leased to the Davis family, and all of them worked in the fields. She was lonelier than ever before. But, she gritted her teeth, stuck it out and survived.

Clifford moved from the house next to Grandpa's house and became a State Trooper. They lived in Natchitoches. Daddy bought Clifford's house and eighty acres of land. To pay for the farm, he traded Clifford our new living room and dining room furniture, Mama's Singer sewing machine, plus some cash and perhaps more. I don't know how much. Harry and Loreace moved into Clifford's house. Harry helped Daddy on the farm. As a farmer, Harry was not drafted into the military service. He later enlisted in the Army. But, that is another story.

On November 3, 1942 Grace had another grandson, Jerry Wayne Wilson. Jerry and his mother, Loreace, lived a half mile away. They provided some relief from boredom. I saw Mama age rapidly, turning gray in a matter of weeks, as she and Tom worried about Harry fighting the Japs in the Pacific. Lois divorced Wade and married R.C. Addington that year. Tom sold their truck and reverted back to the horse and buggy days, only now he drove mules and a wagon. We quit going to Church because of the transportation problem.

Miss Grace didn't have a maid anymore. As a result, Dick stayed in the house helping her a lot. He preferred that to outside work. When she got sick he was inside even more, but he didn't seem to get much done. Tom had to do most of the cooking when Miss Grace was ill. He was good, especially with biscuits and making preserves from figs and peaches. We even made tomato preserves. With a shortage of farm laborers, we were busy 16 hours a day.

Jack came to visit Mama like he did most every summer, or when he got drunk and needed to dry out for a week or so. This time he arrived drunk in the middle of the night. I didn't wake up until after daylight. Jack was sitting at the table holding his head. My parents were trying to get him to drink coffee. He told Mama that he threw a partially empty half pint of whiskey off the bus just before it stopped, and that would cure his hang over. Mama got Daddy's permission for him to drink it there in the house, although such things were absolutely forbidden by Daddy. I went down to the Highway and found the bottle. Maybe it helped, Jack did seem to get better. They talked about how the hair of the dog cures the bite. I didn't understand. As usual when Jack came, he was broke. Daddy hired him to work so he would have money for the trip home. He was a good carpenter. He and Daddy ripped the old lumber off the front porch and replaced it with new rough cypress lumber. Then they took hand wood planes and smoothed every board. After they were through, Jack caught a bus back to Texas. Daddy was always glad to see him go, but he never would give him the money to go. Good thinking, otherwise he would have come more often.

Mama was homesick for Texas after she had a visit from one of her sisters or brothers. Daddy told her to take the bus and visit Aunt Lou. But she wouldn't do it. She said that might just make it worse. Mama invited her sister Jewel and was surprised when she showed up one day with her other sister, Lou. But Jewel had a seizure. She hadn't taken her medication for epilepsy. All I saw was her scratching on some furniture like she was removing a glob of something. Mama escorted her to a bed and gave her medication. I wasn't allowed in the room. Soon she left.

In 1945 Grace's second son left for the military. Dick misstated his age and enlisted. Grace found out about it by mail and reluctantly agreed to let him stay in the Army. Tom was at home now and farming again, but he worked another job for the government checking allotted acreage for cotton. Mostly it was Grace and Billy. I learned a lot about etiquette, poise, good morals, and good posture listening to her tell about how she learned those things. She never forgot any of it. She was neat, prim, proper, and prissy even her last days.

She turned 50 years old a few months after WW II ended. She took it well but still she had asthma several times a year. Mostly in the Winter. Tom thought she might be allergic to ashes in the fireplace, wood heater, and wood stove. He installed butane gas to help. The new heaters and stove, and her feeling of affluence, probably helped for a year or two. But the asthma returned eventually.

In January 1951 she lost her last son, her baby as she called me, to the military. The Korean "war" was on. The next month Tom bought a new pickup truck, their first since 1942. Grace was on the road again where she always wanted to be. For the next seventeen years she had no asthma and was in the best of health. It was just the two of them at home. They did almost everything together. I joked with her, saying that she had been allergic to me, that she quit having asthma as soon as I left home. She didn't know how to take it, so I just gave her a big hug, told her I was teasing, and let it pass.

Grace spent the 1950's enjoying her grandchildren by her three sons and by Lois' second marriage. That was something she wasn't at liberty to do with Lois' first set of children because they were both having children at the same time. When the grandchildren were not visiting, Grace pieced quilts for each of her children. That was her "personal legacy to us." I still have mine although it hasn't been used in years. It is just a wonderful memento now.

Life wasn't all a bed of roses though. On February 2, 1957, Grace's granddaughter, Myrtis Beth Wilson died five months before her tenth birthday. Beth was Harry's second child. Her death remains a mystery to most of the family. Some think she had too many X-rays. Harry said that she was called to be an angel in heaven because she was so near to being an angel here on earth. The first night of her wake, Beth's body was viewed by her church family in Baton Rouge. The next night her body lay in state in Grace's living room. That was the night before her funeral. She was the last to be given that honor. In the future, in our family, bodies would be kept in the funeral home or church, for viewing.

That Summer of 1957, Harry, Dick and I happened to visit Miss Grace on the same Sunday afternoon. She delighted in those visits, but today was really special with all her sons dropping in at once. One other special thing about that day was that all three of us brought new cars for them to see. I drove a new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, Dick drove a new 1957 Mercury Medalist, and Harry drove a new 1957 Ford Crown Victoria. We took a photograph of the three cars parked in the shade in her front yard. She ooohed and aaahed as she always did about new or pretty things.

From 1957 to 1963, I lived in Natchitoches, only 20 miles away, so Miss Grace came to see me often. Dick lived there several years during this same time span. Of course she brought Mr. Tom or visa versa, but this is her story. We visited each other at least every three weeks. She got to be a part of my children's childhood. That pleased her a lot. She was able to have an input in their training. When she could, she kept them (one at a time) for a day or two, or even a week. But in September, 1963, I moved off to Alabama, and left her again. She was proud of me for being promoted, but sad at losing the closeness.

On February 6, 1969 she and Tom celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Most everyone came, friends and relatives. I was living in Greenville, MS at the time and I attended. She seemed well pleased with her marriage and was still in love. Later that year she and Tom visited us in Greenville. It was her first trip to Mississippi.

In January, 1970, I moved my family to Alexandria, LA, only 44 miles away from Grace. Dick was living there too. Mama had most of her family close now. Lois had lived in Pineville since the 1940's. Harry was still in Baton Rouge. She and Mr. Tom bought a new Chevy II Nova so they could visit their children in comfort. He had given up farming and didn't need a pickup truck anymore. They came to see us about once a month and did their grocery shopping at the A & P Store on MacArthur Drive and Monroe Street. They like a nearby "Barbecue Joint," as Mr. Tom called it. They bought sandwiches to eat on the trip back to Montgomery, and spoke of those days for years.

Mama and Daddy had a head-on collision at the highway crossing in Clarence, LA. After several days in the hospital at Natchitoches they were well enough to go home but neither would ever drive again. Lois and R.C. stayed with them and kept them alive until they could get well. Lynn and I relieved them for one week end. I had recently been promoted and had moved to Baton Rouge. Miss Grace and Mr. Tom stayed home for the next four years, leaving only on rare occasions, like when one of us children took them somewhere, or when they hired someone to drive them.

In 1976 she lost Mr. Tom. After six months in the hospital, he died of hardening of the arteries. Nobody thought she would stay another night at the old home place. But, she wouldn't leave. She got Dick's son Rickey and his wife to come and live with her for a year or two. Finally, she moved to a small apartment in Natchitoches near a grocery store and the hospital. She could walk to either. Doctors in Natchitoches knew how to handle elderly patients. They gave them all the sleeping pills and pain pills they wanted. As a result, Mama had hallucinations, thinking someone lived in the attic, and she was afraid of car lights that shined in her windows when a car passed or turned a corner. She thought they were being shined by intruders. The Police got to know her really well. She called them frequently for help. They contacted her children.

I had, since last mention, divorced Lynn, moved to Memphis,TN, moved to New Orleans, LA, and married Suzy. We went to see Mama. The apartment was about 90 degrees. We confronted her with her problems and asked her to move in with us. So for the next four months, in 1978, Mama lived with me. Mostly she lived with Suzy. I was gone a lot, as usual. We stored her furniture etc. in our garage. But, Mama and Suzy clashed and had some strong words. So Harry and Jerry moved Mama to Lois's home. Mama stayed with Lois two nights and then checked herself into the Grant Manor Nursing Home in Colfax, La. Lois helped of course. Grace's only impairment was that she couldn't remember to take her medicine. The nurses could and did. Miss Grace had found a home. Her old friends were there and she rapidly made new friends. She became the domino Queen. Mama visited up and down the halls and really seemed to enjoy the rest of her life there.

After Mama went in the nursing home, I traveled as much as possible. It was the "straw that broke the camel's back" in my marriage to Suzy. In 1981, I married Verna. I still traveled but Verna went with me. We got by to see Miss Grace fairly often. Mama attended our wedding in Boyce, at Dick's house. She said that was the first of her son's six weddings she had attended. She acted as bridesmaid. That pleased her to be an 85 year old bridesmaid (they are supposed to be young women I think). Late the following year, 1982, Verna and I started making plans for my retirement. Keeping in mind Mama's old desire for Dick to have the house in which he grew up, I developed a plan to divide the old home place equally among us three boys and buy out Lois's share. Lois didn't want land. Mama and all her children were pleased with the final plans, so Lois got $2500 cash from each son, and each son got $20,000 worth of real estate. Half of that was inherited from Daddy by his three sons, and the other half was a gift from Mama to her four children. She wanted me to build a home on part of the land, the way I had always planned. That would keep the place from growing up in pine saplings. The pines had a good start on it already.

She enjoyed playing the piano and Lois's organ. She played by ear. Mama enjoyed many visits with us and raved about the improvements we made to our home, and our Christmas tree farm. We visited her often in the Nursing home and Hospital. She had another tumor removed. This one weighed sixteen pounds. We teased her about her big baby and she joked about it with other visitors.

Then later, she needed her carotid arteries cleaned. They did the left one successfully and waited a year to do the other one. The right one was not successful. On February 2, 1988, Miss Grace died in Intensive Care a few hours after the surgery. Our Pastor, Charles Harlon, was with her when she died and Lois was in the waiting room. He said it took only a few seconds. Her neck started swelling rapidly. She reached for it and said, "Ouch." Then she lapsed into an unconscious state. The stitches in the artery had pulled loose allowing her to rapidly bleed to death. A year or so later several lawsuits were filed against the Doctor for similar errors in judgment. But, we didn't want to get involved in that sort of hassle. After all she was 91 years old and died a much easier death than most folks. Perhaps it was God's will because she was such a good Christian woman, good mother, and good wife. I saved what I believe to be her last written message. It is included in the scrapbook section of this record of our family history.







More About Grace Annie Haire:
Burial: February 1988, Mount Zion Cemetery, Montgomery
Cause of Death: Surgeon's error in judgement
Census: Bet. 1900 - 1910, Kaufman County Texas
Medical Information: Asthmatic, and other upper respiratory deficiencies. Drafts and cold wind was most uncomfortable to her.
Occupation: 1918, Telephone Operator
Religion: Bet. 1896 - 1988, Baptist
Social Security Number: 433 34 8678

Marriage Notes for Tom Wilson and Grace Haire:

When Uncle Sam called for volunteers to fight World War I, Tom volunteered for the Army. His military career, for the most part, was uneventful. He spent all of it in Lawton, Oklahoma at Fort Sill. Tom was listed as Tommie E. Wilson on military records, and still is. [In the census of 1900 he had been listed as Thomas L. Wilson] He became a Baker and stayed in Lawton until the war was over. Well there was one event occurring there that deserves mention. He met and married Grace Annie Haire Sheltman, the love of his life. Grace had a daughter, Lois Inez Sheltman, born March 21, 1913 during a previous marriage.

"The War to end all wars" ended when the Armistice Treaty was signed on November 11, 1918. It accounted for 8.5 million dead, 21 million wounded, and 7.5 million prisoners and missing in action. That same year 20 million people, worldwide, died of Influenza. The Browning Automatic Rifle [BAR] and Browning machine gun were first used in combat.

Tommie E. Wilson received an honorable discharge and returned to live temporarily with his parents. He soon started building a home on his land in Winn Parish. As soon as he got the well dug and the outer shell of the house built, they moved in. They had no inner walls. Daylight shined through the cracks in the walls. There was no ceiling. One night a snake fell from a rafter or ceiling joist onto their bed. Needless to say, Mr. Tom started their ceiling in the bedroom first. Prohibition became law as it was ratified by the 36th state.

     
Children of Tom Wilson and Grace Haire are:
  i.   Harry Bernard Wilson1, born August 31, 1920 in Winn Parish, Louisiana2,3; died June 01, 2001 in Denham Springs, Louisiana; married Loreace Melissia Low February 11, 1941 in Winnfield, Winn Parish, Louisina.
  Notes for Harry Bernard Wilson:
Harry's children said of him:

A giant among men, Harry B. Wilson lived a very full life from beginning to end, but that "dash" between the dates says it all.

He was part of the group known as "The Greatest Generation." He worked hard as a young man, not complaining when the crops went bad or war broke out. He had a job to do, and he did it with all his heart. A near death experience on Okinawa led him to a commitment to God for the rest of his life. He was baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost in 1948.

His life was not easy in those days, but love for his family kept him going. In 1957, the loss of a daughter, Myrtis Beth Wilson, was another trial he would have to weather. But, just as in the other trials of that time, he trusted the Lord, never looked back, and kept moving forward.

The love of his life was Loreace. She was his queen for 60 years. Nobody could cook like her. Through the last few months of his life, with his health failing, on most nights you could still find them playing dominoes or entertaining friends.

His children were his pride and joy. He was so proud of Jerry and Linda and Cathy and Wayne. He would talk about them to anyone who was willing to listen!

Then the Golden Years set in, and the grandchildren came. With more time on his hands, he was closely involved in their lives. He built sandboxes, barns and corrals, and was the famous "MC" for the play rodeos held with stick horses for Colten and Kyle. He talked to them about his Lord and read the Bible often. There was no prouder moment than when they were baptized and received the Holy Ghost.

His most memorable characteristic was his laugh! Everybody loved to tell him something funny, just to hear him laugh. He could light up a room with his presence. Harry was famous for his poetry --- though not to the world. But in the eyes of those about whom he wrote, he was the best.

What an example! How do you follow in such footsteps or continue to carry this torch? But we must. Harry B. Wilson was part of "The Greatest Generation." His "dash" was full. He fought a good fight, he finished his course, he kept the faith. Now there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness which the Lord shall give. But not only to him, but to all who love His appearing.

We Love You, Dad! Join with Beth and all who have gone home to await us for our final homecoming!

*******************************************

How Do You Live Between Your Dash?

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on his tombstone
From the beginning .... to the end.

He noted that first came his date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years. (1920-2001)

For that dash represents all the time
That he spent alive on earth....
And now only those who loved him
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars .... the house .... the cash,
What matters is how we live and love,
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.....
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.

if we could just slow down enough
To consider what's true and real,
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people of our lives
Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read
With your life's actions to rehash...
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

************************************************
My Father-in-law

What can I say about a man who is a true hero? Who will fill the void left in all of our lives? Who will laugh his laugh? Who will care the way he cared for everyone he came in contact with? Who will pay compliments and love to his friends and family members? I can think of no one to fill his shoes.

His passing from this earthly life will be hard for us all to understand. But I know that heaven has become an even brighter place, when the Lord said, "Harry it's time to come home." We will miss him and find it hard to bear the loss. His wife, family and friends will have a huge hole left in their heart. But if I know Harry he is filling heaven with the hardiest laughs.

We all knew that this day would one day come. None of us are ever truly ready to face the biblical promise that, "every man is appointed a time to die." So yes as Jesus robed himself in flesh, entered the world as a man, then died and ascended to Heaven so that we may have eternal life, Harry is living that promise. We should rejoice with him and make it a point in our life to join him in our heavenly home for that was his only wish. He loved the Lord and was the finest Christian I have ever known. He was a true man with a big heart, but never afraid to shed a tear, the marking of a "real man."

Harry we will miss you more than we know. The hole left in our life will take forever to begin to fill. Not being able to shake those huge hands, or hear those reassuring words, that will never be replaced, but we do look forward to meeting you one the other side. For I know you are there, fulfilling your dream for you have finished the race.

We love you Harry,
Wayne

************************************************

Harry's grandchildren eulogize him:

Good Old Paw-Paw

I'm just a kid and you may think I don't know what I am saying, but I do. There's so much to say. I really don't want to bore you with my story but I think I won't. My grandfather was a great man, Christian, husband, father and most of all to me, good old paw-paw.

I used to go over to his house and it didn't matter what I said, he would always shake his head in agreement, nod, or just look at me as if to say, "Yep that's right." He had the mind of a kid, always wanting to help out, always wanting to do for others, but his body limited those activities. Today as I look through old family albums, I noticed that in almost every single photo, he was building, cleaning, or just watching Kyle and Colten play.

On June 1, 2001 5:30 P.M., the world lost the greatest man to ever set foot on it. I use to have this dream of being in the Air Force, but now my dream is to live the life he lived. I know that is impossible. He was the best person I've ever known. I just wish I could have just said one last good bye before he passed away.

Paw-Paw if you can hear me, I love you and for now, 'Good bye"
Love, Kyle your Grandson.



What a Man

Sometimes in life we run into people who change our lives to make us better people. In my short life I happen to have crossed paths with a man that will live in my heart forever. He was an example of a heavenly angel sent to live on earth. He did his God ordained duty and now our heavenly father has called him home. Never did you find him without a smile, kind words to say, or an act of encouragement to lift you up. He would go out of his way to do things for others just so he could see them smile and say thank you.

He loved the Lord so much and instilled in me the sound moral principles of what a Christian should be. He taught me the values of life and where my priorities should lie. If I had a nickel for every time he told me "I love you Colten" or "I appreciate you so much" I would be a rich man. He always loved for me to come over and talk with him even if it wasn't about anything important. I would give anything in the world to have one more conversation with him even if it was only for a minute.

Every time you talked to him you were hearing words of wisdom from a man who had seen it all. He endured many trials and hardships in his 80 years and they only made him a better person. He endured war in his early years and lately he was at war with his own health. His body was worn out and did not allow him to do the things he desired.

On June 1, 2001 he desired too much. As he tried to help me cut his yard he fell onto the concrete unable to breathe. I held his head up in his fading minutes, pleading with him to come back, and he looked at me with a look that will live with me until I die. It seemed to be a look of peace saying everything is going to be all right Colten, its time for me to go home now. I tried to help him to the best of my ability but God's will was stronger than anything I could do.

He is passed on now and has left us with a legacy and a heritage like no other. He has carved us out a path in this life that we should all try to follow. Can we walk in his footsteps? No, we can only attempt to be the man he was in all of his actions and words. I know he would not want us to cry over him, but rejoice that he is in a better place. That's kinda hard for me to do, knowing that I can't go over to their house anymore and ask for my paw-paw or call and hear that sweet deep voice saying hello. It saddens me deeply to know that my Grandpa is gone but we must move on and try to get over this great loss. Now we have to learn from his actions and take his torch, carrying it until we meet with him again in that glorious place called heaven.

I love you Paw-Paw,
Your Grandson, Colten




Harry's published obituary:

In Loving Memory of
Harry B. Wilson

August 31, 1920 June 1, 2001

WILSON, HARRY BERNARD
(The Advocate: June 3, 2001)

A loving husband, father, grandfather and brother and a retired pipe fitter, he died at 5:30 P.M. Friday, June 1, 2001, at Summit Hospital in Baton Rouge. He was 80, a resident of Denham Springs and a native of Montgomery. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War 11. Visiting at First United Pentecostal Church of Denham Springs from 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. Sunday, with religious services at 7:30 P.M., conducted by the Rev. Ray Johnson. Interment in Evergreen Memorial Park, Denham Springs. Survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Loreace Lowe Wilson; a daughter and son-in-law, Cathy Wilson and Wayne Ducote; a son and daughter-in-law, Jerry and Linda Jarreau Wilson; a sister, Lois Addington; a brother, Billy R. Wilson; two grandchildren, Colten and Kyle Ducote; and a host of other family members and friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Grace Hare Wilson; a daughter, Myrtis Beth Wilson; and a brother, Richard 0. Wilson. Pallbearers will be Henry Soileau, James Vincent, Richard Bryan, Freddie Cryer, John Nodine and Steve Martin. He was a member of First United Pentecostal Church of Denham Springs. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First United Pentecostal Church of Denham Springs Family Life Center.



  More About Harry Bernard Wilson:
Burial: June 03, 2001, Evergreen Memorial Park, Denham Springs
Cause of Death: Heart failure
Medical Information: Harry underwent open heart surgery in 1983. His heart lasted another 18 years.
  ii.   Richard Owen Wilson3, born May 29, 1930 in Montgomery, Louisiana4,5; died April 09, 1988 in Pineville, Louisiana6,7; married Marilyn Freda Pendergrass October 18, 1952 in Yuma, Arizona8,9.
  Notes for Richard Owen Wilson:
On May 29, 1930, Tom Wilson fathered a boy who they named Richard Owen Wilson and nicknamed Dick. Now the family contained a Tom, Dick, and Harry. I'm not sure why that group of names was popular at that time. It was included in sayings such as, "every Tom, Dick, and Harry and the Collins boys" meaning simply "everyone." Who knows, perhaps there was a comedian group by the name of Tom, Dick, and Harry in Vaudeville or in the fledgling movie industry. I'm just guessing. Richard was the first child born to Grace and Tom in ten years. They thought their child bearing years were passed, but they weren't. Dick was a puny baby. His ears were so thin one could see through them. But he later grew into a heavy set man, standing 5 feet 10 inches and weighing sometimes in excess of 265 pounds. Tom always said he wanted a chubby son, and Dick was it.

The Spring that I was 10 years old and Dick was 13, Mr. Tom went to the Veteran's Administration Hospital for three weeks. He had to have hemorrhoid surgery right at the time for planting of the crops. Cotton Davis came over from their house about a mile away and directed Dick and me while we broke the land and planted five acres of cotton and ten acres of corn. We planted the garden with Mama's help and directions. On Sundays we packed a fried chicken lunch and rode the Trailways Bus forty miles to the V.A. Hospital. We had a picnic with Daddy. The large front lawn there was covered with picnic tables and shaded by live oak trees. Then we caught the bus home, and followed Mr. Tom's instructions for farming.

After three weeks in the hospital Tom came home by bus. He stepped down off the bus and injured his surgical scar. He walked to the front porch and sat down in his rocking chair which had a cushion in it. Later when he got up, the cushion was soaked in blood. Dick walked to Montgomery to fetch Dr. Brian. He came and gave Daddy this warning, "Tom, do not try to farm this Spring." So Dick and I finished making the crop. We had good guidance from Daddy though; as he had trained many Negroes how to farm. In the fall he was able to help us harvest the crop. But, he was very cautious.

Dick enlisted in the Army near the end of World War II because he was having problems at school, and because of his adventurous spirit. With Dick gone and only Daddy and me to do the work, Mr. Tom decided we needed an electric well pump and piped water in the house. The cheap pump Tom bought would only pump water from a depth of twenty five feet. But, we could push water up higher once it had been pumped into a pressurized tank. So he and I, mostly I, took pick and shovel in hand and dug a hole eight feet deep and six feet square to make a pit for the well pump and tank. This put the pump twenty four feet from the water level of the well. We mixed and poured concrete for the floor and walls of the pit. I took a small sledge hammer and beat a hole through the concrete wall of the well for the pipe. Then Tom joined together twenty six feet of one inch galvanized pipe with an elbow and two feet of pipe at a ninety degree angle to the long pipe. He tied a rope to the pipe, dropped the straight end in the well first and carefully guided the short end toward the hole in the wall of the well curbing. I was in the pit and we were having great difficulty getting the pipe through that hole. I told Daddy we couldn't do it.

Daddy taught me a lesson then. He said, "Son, can't never did do anything." What he meant was, "think positive." We kept trying. Finally I enlarged the hole in the concrete. Then I stuck a small stick through the hole and into the end of the pipe to help guide it in the right direction. We connected the pipe to the pump. We had running water in the house for the first time. One pipe ran from the pump to the kitchen sink, one went to the nearby wash bench, and one ran to the lot at the barn for cows and mules to drink. We had no hot water heater so only one pipe went into the kitchen sink. It went up, outside the wall, then straight through the wall to a point above the sink. We built a box around the outside pipe and filled the box with sawdust to protect it from freezing weather.

It was cold that Winter. My parents and I came down with the Influenza, simultaneously. We were all cuddled in beds in the back bedroom with a wood fire burning in the heater and the rest of the house closed off when our Pastor came by for an unexpected visit. The Doctor had probably told him about us. For some reason, we didn't have a dependable clock to tell when to take medicine. Our Pastor took the wind-up clock out of the glove compartment door of his car, a 1941 Willys Coupe, and left it with us. That was a big help and left a lasting impression on me, Help those in need. Being young, I started to recover first. I got hungry. I got out of bed, opened a quart jar of tomato juice and drank the whole thing. I slept some, then drank another quart. I did that a couple of days and was feeling real good. Daddy said that he needed some of that miracle cure. I took him and Mama a glass. It apparently tasted as good to them as it had to me. Their recovery followed along the same path mine had. Our Pastor had been in and out daily checking on us. He brought chicken soup after we were well enough to have an appetite.

After Dick finished Basic Training, he was reassigned to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. That wasn't too far from home, so he came home more often. Tom paid for most of the trips. Sometime he came home without leave. He was just too young to make the break, away from home. I would later learn that same hard lesson. Even though he was a bit overweight, he looked pretty sharp in those Army clothes. He had visible muscles now. He hung out on the streets of Montgomery and Natchitoches and tried to impress the girls. I guess he succeeded a few times.

In May the allied Armies met in the middle of Germany. The Germans surrendered unconditionally. At about the same time Dick was reassigned to Germany to relieve some of the war weary soldiers. There was much ado in the news and on the news reels at the movie about the returning soldiers and parades etc. But, Harry didn't come home. He was still fighting the Japanese somewhere on an Island in the Pacific ocean, probably Okinawa.

Dick spent three years selling goods of varying descriptions and for various companies. Then he spent seven years in insurance sales etc. He spent ten years with finance companies, collecting debts, loan officer, and finally loan manager. Then he and Freda bought a truck stop type restaurant at Boyce, Louisiana. He spent the rest of his life operating that restaurant. He was a Thirty Second Degree Mason and a Shriner. He was club president of the CenLa Civitan Club in 1969 and a active member for many years. He was also president of the Alexandria-Pineville Lenders Exchange Club in 1969.

Richard died of multiple organ disfunction in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Pineville, LA after an illness of about six weeks duration. This event followed several earlier admissions to the same hospital. Dick was a secretive sort of fellow in his last days. I think he knew what was happening, but he died without telling anyone. At one point a few months before his death, I asked about his health. He said that he didn't want word to get back to Freda and therefore he had best keep quiet. When we were children, Dick said that he would never live to be thirty years old. I always took that comment to be a plea for love or attention. But, maybe he knew something that I didn't.

The following was written about Dick by his cousin, Max Hardberger in 1986 with some considerable input from Dick:

Richard Owen "Dick" was born May 29, 1930 at Montgomery, La. He graduated from Montgomery High School. As a young man he looked older than he was. He joined the army (with Grace's help on the age) at the age of 14, in WW II. When he got out he still wasn't old enough. He entered the army Jan. 2, 1946 in New Orleans and was given basic training at Camp Plauche. He fought in Europe from May to Nov., 1946, and was brought back on a hospital ship to Ft. Sam Houston, in the Brooke General Hospital until Oct., 1947. His Serial no. was 18-23-1084. He was given an honorable discharge for being underage. but awarded service disability. He enlisted again in the army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina for four months, Serial no. 18265-261. He was again discharged as too young. He went to Northwestern University and later La. Baptist College. He was in the V.A. hospital for a time, then worked for Convair Aircraft and married Marilyn Freda Pendergrass in the Baptist church in Yuma, Arizona on Oct. 18, 1952.

  More About Marilyn Freda Pendergrass:
Record Change: November 16, 19979
  Marriage Notes for Richard Wilson and Marilyn Pendergrass:


Dick's future wife, Freda, accompanied Billy Wilson, Marilyn Cargle
Wilson, and Gwendolyn Wilson on their return trip to San Diego,
California from their home in Louisiana. They traveled by train, coach
fare. Freda had received a letter of proposal from Dick, and had
accepted that proposal of marriage. Upon arrival in San Diego, Freda
and Dick eloped to Las Vegas where they were married. They made their
home with Billy and Marilyn in San Diego for several months
thereafter. Then they were able to rent an apartment of their own and
resided in San Diego [National City] until June 1953 when they took up
residence at Seiper, Louisiana.


  1 iii.   Billy Robert Wilson, born February 13, 1933 in Montgmery, Grant Parish, Louisiana; married (1) Marilyn Cargle August 30, 1951 in Natchitoches, Louisiana; married (2) Susan Henshaw June 24, 1976 in Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; married (3) Verna Ruth Shaw November 26, 1981 in Boyce, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

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