Individuals and Families

From the Garland Local History & Genealogical Society, Volume 7-Number 4, Winter 1996

 

FAMILY STORIES – ARDELIA, A NAME TO REMEMBER

Author: Mary Jackson Sutherland

Ardelia Ellen Jackson was the daughter of James Everts and Diana Jane Jackson,

a pioneer Dallas County family. Their homeplace was at the southwest corner of the intersection of what is now called Audelia Road and Walnut Street in the City of Dallas.

She first married John Chenault in 1869, and her father disliked Chenault so much that he ran him off. You see, Chenault did not like to work.

In 1877, Ardelia married John Frederick West. She always played the organ for church and school as her family was full of musicians.

Her Father, James Everts Jackson, and her husband, John West, built a general store at the southeast corner of the intersection of what is now Audelia and Forest Lane in Dallas. They thought the name Ardelia was such a pretty name that they named the store Ardelia. In later years, someone changed the spelling to Audelia.

There was a post office in the store and a man named Sarver took care of the mail. A barrel was used to put the mail in. Mail was brought to the store from Richardson. Later, George Mercer bought the store from West, and he operated the post office. In a few years the mail was delivered by rural route. There was a grist mill at the back of the store. At the northeast corner of the crossroads, there was a gin operated by Box Whitfield.

Benjamin Prigmore gave the land for the Jackson school, a small country school on the northwest corner of the intersection. The teachers were Ardelia, Sophia Jackson, Dora Jackson, Lena Hoskins, Flo Blank, Minnie Thorp, Sallie Harris, Ben Davis and a man named Dunlap. The teachers were paid $50 per month. C.W. Jackson, Ardelia’s brother, and Will Sharpe were trustees of the school.

The Dallas County community originally called Ardelia is more than 100 years old. The original landmarks are now gone, but the name remains: Audelia Road, Audelia Library, Audelia Baptist Church. The name Audelia is not to be forgotten.

Mary Jackson (Mrs. C. E.) Sutherland is a niece of Ardelia Ellen Jackson West. She was reared

in the Audelia area and now lives in Garland. Mary Sutherland is an active member of the

Garland Genealogical Society and is a frequent contributor to the Quarterly. Her contributions

are greatly appreciated.

From the Garland Local History & Genealogical Society, Volume 3-Number 3, Spring 1992

AUGUSTS MARVIN BAKER

Author:                  Charles Ovid Baker

The owner of Baker's Furniture Store in Garland began his retail sales in Wylie in the Fall of 1929, when he established a hardware and leather goods store in partnership with Buster Scott.  After the bank failure in 1929 greatly reduced sales, Baker purchased a furniture store in Garland and added merchandise from his Wylie hardware store.  In 1978 the hardware section was discontinued, but Baker, born August 25, 1893, still works six days per week in the furniture business.

Baker was born in Prairie View, Arkansas about 12 miles east of Paris to William Barton Baker and his wife, nee Serepts Rotella Gray, both of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  At the age of three years Augustus Baker's father died.  He continued to live with his half brother until his sixteenth year.  There he rented a small acreage which he farmed, as well as worth others.

In 1912, Augustus moved to Wylie to pick cotton for Charley Anderhub.  The following year he rented a farm from Henrietta Housewright.  Henrietta's granddaughters, who were daughters of Charley and Panola Housewright Anderhub, were real beauties.  On March 16, 1916, Baker wed on (ONE) of them, Henrietta Susie "Nick" Anderhub (11/30/1892-3/26/1971).  To them two sons were born who were:

1.  CHARLES OVID BAKER was born June 10, 1917, At Deval, Oklahoma.  He married Mary Maxine Mitchell at Murphy June 20, 1943.

2.  KENNETH FARREL BAKER was born November 16, 1920, at Deval and married Betty Gowan January 29, 1949, at Dallas.

Jick Housewright became his friend when August came to Wylie in 1912.  Jick the local mail carrier, delivered mail via horseback, but he had progressive ideas.  He purchased a motorcycle to speed deliveries.  One rainy day he returned to the horse, but asked friend August to meet him halfway with the rest of the mail on the cycle. He had never ridden one of these contraptions before, but he hopped on at the request of Jick.  All went well until August came to FM 544 at Muddy Creek.  The bike went one way, and he went the other into the mud hole.  When Jick arrived, August was pushing the bike, all covered with mud.  Emphatically, August determined this was his first and last motorcycle ride.

The year 1916 brought many changes into the life of Mr. Baker.  Not only did he marry "Nick" Anderhub, but they moved to Oklahoma.  Her uncle, Walter Housewright, told them of a farm, owned by an Indian, which was available to lease.  They lived there until 1923.  This is where both sons were born.  During this time the Burburnett oil boom (known as Boom Town) occurred.  August helped build a refinery, oil tanks and pipelines in Burkburnett and Oklahoma.

The Baker family returned to Wyllie in 1923.  Due to a November snow storm, the cloth top of his Overland touring car split.  While getting it repaired, he talked to Buster Scott about business opportunities here.  They began a partnership which lasted until Scott moved to Wolfe City in 1926 to open a business there.  Jeff Hamilton was one of their first employees.  He worked for Baker until 1942.

August was an avid fisherman who took his harmonica to lure the fish.  Naturally, it was necessary to carry fishing and hunting equipment in the store.  Other important items which they carried were canning supplies, farming hardware, leather harness, horse collars, toys, custom made auto tops, builder hardware and baseball uniforms.

On March 26, 1971, Henrietta "Nick" passed away at Garland where she is buried.  August continued to come to the home of her maiden sister, Lillian Beatrice "Fiddle" Anderhub for the Sunday dinner following church services at the First Christian Church.  On August 24, 1972, they were wed.  At this writing both are in their nineties and are still active.

This by article was printed in the book Wylie Area Heritage by Bob Fulkerson (@1990) and was submitted CHARLES OVID BAKER of Garland, Texas.

From the Garland Local History & Genealogical Society, Volume 2-Number 1, March 1973

 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH OF GEORGE WILSON CROSSMAN

Author:                  Curtis W. Crossman

George Wilson Crossman, Mayor of Garland, 1916-1917, was born near Santiago, Chile, of English parentage.   His parents were in the Great English migration to Chile as were many Englishmen due to the lucrative sheep, mineral, and whaling industries then developing in South America.  The Crossman family entered the ship-building industry and were quite successful.

The father died in 1872, leaving a widow and five children.  Due to family connections in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Mrs. Crossman decided to come to the United States rather than return to the family home in Bristol, England.   The voyage around Cape Horn was attended by a massive storm which made a lasting impression on the fourteen-year-old George.  He often related incidents of the voyage in his later years.

George Crossman graduated from Valpariso University at Parton, Illinois, majoring in Commercial Law.  Upon graduation, he became a teacher for a short period of time.  He wandered to Duck Creek in October, 1880, where he audited the books of Dr. K. H. Embree and A. J. Beaver, and of the firm composed of J. T. Newshaw, H. N. Thorpe, and W. L. Hunter.

Mr. Crossman acquired land near Richardson where he engaged in farming and auditing the books for firms in surrounding towns.  In 1885, Crossman was hired to teach commercial classes at Duck Creek, then in charge of W. W. Shepherd.  The next year he went to El Paso, but he remained there only one year.

On his return to the then-emerging town of Embree, he opened a grocery business, and for many years, he had the only fire and cyclone insurance agency for the surrounding area.  Over $100,000 had been paid in claims prior to 1912.

George Crossman was one of the first recognized Republicans in Garland, and was appointed postmaster of the community by Presidents (Theodore) Roosevelt and (William Howard) Taft.  His neighbors also recognized his political acumen by selecting him as mayor in 1916.

The Crossman family belonged to the Methodist Church.  To the union of G. W. Crossman and Ella Lee Sparks was born G. W. Jr., Curtis D., and Robert Nathan.

This article originally appeared in the Garland/Mesquite section of The Dallas Morning News  on August 18, 1995.

 

By Michael R. Hayslip

Myra Belle Shirley, later known as Belle Starr, was a local girl who probably made the 10-Least-Wanted List of visitors on many farms during the early days in northeast Dallas County.

Bob Robinson of Mesquite still remembers the grisly tales of his great-grandfather, W. T. Moore, an early settler in the Pleasant Mound community near the intersection of Scyene Road and Buckner Boulevard, who was familiar enough with Ms. Starr to keep a respectful distance and stay out of her sight. His great-grandfather claimed that farmers ducked for cover behind their plows whenever the notorious outlaw rode into view. “Sensible people were convinced that Belle Starr would just as soon shoot you as look at you,” said Robinson.

Born in 1848 in Carthage, Missouri, Belle grew up during the strain of pre-Civil War divisions there, laying foundations for a folklore mystique in which fact becomes blurred with fiction. Amidst the frequent clashes of Confederate guerillas and Federals, in one of which her brother was killed, she is credited with daring exploits to aid the Confederates. She is also supposed to have developed a passion for Cole Younger.

To escape the difficulties in Southwestern Missouri, and perhaps to thwart the two lovers, Belle’s father moved the family to Texas in 1863. Although her older brother had already settled near McKinney, the other Shirleys moved onto a farm at Scyene, now Mesquite, where Belle soon gave birth to a daughter. John William Rogers in The Lusty Texans of Dallas suggests that the child may have been Younger’s, but refuses to speculate on her legitimacy, since all but one of Belle’s marriages seem to be legally suspect. “At any rate,” Rogers concludes, “Cole Younger passed out of the picture and she became known as the wife of Jim Reed, by whom she had a second child, a son.”

For entertainment, the young mother frequented Dallas hot spots and left her parental responsibilities with family members back home in Scyene. She became a singer and an entertainer in a dance hall, later dealing poker and faro as a professional gambler. Frequenting saloons, where she always stepped up to the bar like a man, Belle customarily wore two revolvers, high-topped boots and a Stetson hat with an ostrich plume to complement her tight black jacket, chiffon waists and velvet skirts. She always attracted attention with her dashing appearance while riding her horse either side-saddle or astride, and was considered both a crack shot and an excellent horsewoman.

In his book Belle Starr, Burton Rascoe writes this account: “When the mood struck her, she shocked the women and more respectable citizens of Dallas by (donning Buffalo-Bill-type outfits and) riding at breakneck speeds through the streets of the town, scattering everyone to the sidewalk. The constabulary and the whole town were afraid of her; and she gloried in being pointed out as the Bandit Queen. She had nothing to fear as long as there was no warrant for her arrest.”

After Reed was killed near Paris, Texas in 1874, Belle ran a livery stable and was reported to prefer the steady company of outlaws, for whom she was presumed to have marketed stolen stock and provided refuge in times of trouble. But apparently she had also stolen horses herself in her spare time. The 1927 Garland News local retrospective of Mrs. George W. “Kate” James includes her own memory of Belle, probably from the early 1870s, as “one of the most daring and boldest horse thieves ever infesting this community.”

Due in part to the scarcity of law enforcement officers, the stealing of horses and cattle was prevalent, and none was covered by any insurance; consequently, livestock owners in the area formed vigilante committees to deal with the thieves by suspending them from a stout limb of the nearest tree. Mrs. James, who lived at the time in the Duck Creek community where Duck Creek crosses Forest Lane, remarked that “This method had good affect and lessened stealing perceptibly. We wonder,” she continued, “if that plan would stop some of the auto stealing today (1927).”

But Belle was never apprehended by the local vigilantes, and perhaps they were relieved.  Her demise came instead in 1889 after she had moved out to Indian Territory. According to historian A. C. Greene in Dallas USA, “she married into the notorious Starr gang, made a criminal haven of her farm, Younger Bend, and was later killed from ambush, possibly through accident by her own son.”

This article originally appeared in the Garland/Mesquite section of The Dallas Morning News on July 21, 1995.

 

By Michael R. Hayslip

Bud Walker, a Garland institution wrapped inside another Garland institution, turns 90 on July 29th. It will also be his 61st wedding anniversary, so he is sure to remember that.

As Chairman Emeritus of NationsBank-Garland he will probably show up early that day as usual, patrolling the beat between his office and the coffee room, where the regulars will jostle him around about being the oldest employee on a NationsBank payroll anywhere. He hopes they forget his age, because he says he needs the work and would like to have a raise.

Howard Addison “Bud” Walker is also Garland’s oldest living former tax-equalization board member, city councilman, mayor, savings and loan head, North Texas Municipal Water District board member, and Chamber of Commerce Tall Texan Award winner. The Garland Business and Professional Women gave him their Big G award, and the Salvation Army presented him their “Others” award, the Army’s highest award, for his work as a board member and chairman of the building committee for their first building in Garland.

An adopted transplant from Dallas, Walker moved to Garland in 1937 as a buyer for the Texas Cotton Growers’ Cooperative, covering northeast Dallas, southern Collin and all of Rockwall county, as well as any other spots he found by intent or mistake. He and his wife Evelyn rented a house on Avenue A for $18 a month. The city had less than 2,000 residents back then, and the ones who are left tend to forget that the Walkers ever lived anyplace else. His children, Howard “Buddy” Walker Jr., Martha Stendig, and Bob Walker were all raised here and still live in the area with their families.

His lifelong study of people had begun as a boy, when he assisted members of the Dallas Fishing and Hunting Club in Hutchins, where his parents were resident managers. Almost everybody who was anybody in Dallas then belonged, and Walker enjoyed becoming useful.  Rubbing shoulders at an early age with the rich and powerful taught him valuable lessons and immunized him against being too overimpressed with himself or anybody else.

His first real job was with W. D. Felder & Co., cotton merchants. Felder himself was a member of the club and admired the young man’s style. Dealing between farmers and merchants, Walker developed his “touch” with both. In his kindly, jovial, self-deprecating manner he became a consummate conciliator. It was hard to know him without being his friend and feeling comfortable about it.

Hypoallergic to making speeches and writing letters, Walker was also cautious about adding machines, but could do ciphers in his head at lightning speed. Despite his disdain for detail, he could quickly distill complex issues, but he seemed most comfortable being underestimated.

His normal conversation, best described as “Walkertalk,” tramples over the boundaries of a dictionary with eloquent simplicity. It includes lots of encouraging superlatives, such as “best,” “finest,” and “greatest,” but sometimes adds or drops syllables as necessary. Pleasurable surprise merits at least a “go-osh!” if not an “ain’tat sump’n?” Unpleasant surprise evokes an “uungh,” and discovery produces an “oo-ohh.” His favorite punctuation mark is laughter, mostly self-directed.

All these characteristics sustained him as a city councilman from 1948 to 1952, then as mayor until 1956. He claims he had little hankering for either job, but people kept electing him anyway. Garland was growing so fast that new residents showed up before city services did.  Once, when the Rowlett Creek sewer plant was running brim full and fragrant, Mayor Walker drove out to placate an irate farmer living downwind. “This fella got off ‘n his tractor yellin’ and came at me with a shotgun,” he said. “He was so mad he just threw his hat down on the ground and stomped on it. I never saw nobody stomp his own hat before.”

If there were any cotton left to buy, friends believe Walker would still be propped up against a fence dealing, but when cotton phased out in the ‘50s, he had to move with it or settle for a desk job. Old-timers in town figured he might have something to offer, so in 1958 work turned up running the old Garland Federal Savings and Loan Association. To him it was all a matter of handling people, anyway.

“Then one day in 1960,” he drawls, “Mr. Davis (First National Bank Chairman A. R. Davis) said they needed me up to the bank to help with the real estate and commercial loans.  I’d been on that board since 1946, and they made me a vice-president while I was out of the room. After that I got promoted some. I’ve had alotta help and good secretaries.” He has remained with the bank as it evolved into Republic Bank, Republic-Interfirst and NationsBank Garland, giving sage advice and wise counsel to several generations of local families who prize his friendship..

Walker dodges unpleasantries with a “we-ll, less don’t talk ‘boutat” approach, but when cornered, he follows advice from the late J. E. Coyle, a renowned Rowlett cotton man, who once advised him to “be extra nice and polite to people that do you dirty, ‘cause it shames ‘em.” To answer complaints about interest rates, he has been known to toss a note and pen across his desk at the borrower and say “put down a rate you think’s fair.” When an extended interview is headed nowhere, he simply stands up and looks around silently in all directions, as though seeking relief.

While he no longer makes loans, Walker keeps close tabs on local goings on and enjoys  meeting new people. He trys to avoid gossip, but eagerly absorbs news. Since his eyesight is not as sharp as he would like, he appreciates it when people identify themselves, particularly if they are women hugging on him.

NationsBank Garland will mark Walker’s birthday with a reception on Friday morning, July 28, from 9 to 12. Friends, as well as contributors to this article, are invited to visit and swap stories over cake and punch, so Mr. Bud won’t have to make no speeches.