Person Page - 131

     Floyd Cecil Creek was born on Aug 11, 1905 at Comanche County, Texas. He married Opal Fay Nutt on Oct 16, 1927. Floyd Cecil Creek died on Jan 31, 1993 at Ramona, San Diego County, California, at age 87.

     George Raymond Rushia married Margaret Lloyd. George Raymond Rushia was born on Sep 4, 1905. He died on Dec 26, 1975 at Columbus, Ohio, at age 70.

     Russell Evert Wilt married Palmetto L. Phipps. Russell Evert Wilt was born on Sep 11, 1905 at Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio. He died on Jul 27, 1983 at Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, at age 77.

     Hazel Coyle Stuard was born on Sep 15, 1905. She married Lawrence Edward Vassey, son of John Jonas Vassey Jr. and Ann Leila Cooper, on Dec 24, 1968. Hazel Coyle Stuard died on Jan 28, 1987 at age 81.

     Kirk Irving Wood was born on Sep 25, 1905 at Brownsville, Anderson County, Texas. He married Jewell Gertrude Oakes on Jan 3, 1927 at Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas. Kirk Irving Wood died on Oct 7, 1962 at Raymondville, Willacy County, Texas, at age 57.

     William Vinson "Bill" Kirkland was born on Oct 30, 1905 at Stratton, DeWitt County, Texas. He died on Aug 25, 1977 at McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas, at age 71.

     Jenna Mae Rice was born on Dec 3, 1905 at Llano, Texas. She married Robert Pendergrass, son of Frank Marion Pendergrass and Ada Robertson, on Apr 11, 1932 at Gallup, New Mexico. Jenna Mae Pendergrass died on Jul 11, 2002 at Desert Hot Springs, California, at age 96.
     “My Story” By Jenna Mae Rice-Pendergrass; transcribed by her daughter, Norma Jean Pendergrass Soza in 1991 from tapes and interviews:
"While I was still a baby we moved from Llano, Texas to El Dorado, Texas. My dad bought a cattle ranch and raised cows and mules. Dad bought a big stud-Jack mule and every year or so he would take the young mules to town to sell. Dad rode a saddle horse and the young mules followed him. He could have done it by himself, however he did have help. He sold those mules to the government. We were told to stay away from the barn where they kept the Jack mule. The Jack was so big that dad put him in a pen by himself. We were not supposed to even get close to him, but we would go to the pen and peek through the fence and scare ourselves to death just looking at him. We had a little house with a big front room and two bedrooms. It was an easy place to live. All the children slept in one room. We would sleep two at the foot and two at the head of the bed. We would start kicking one another and the first thing you would know we were having a pillow fight.
My folks built a water tank out by the windmill and mama would plant a garden. We would have potatoes, beans and okra. We didn't have carrots in those days. I never saw a carrot until I was almost grown. We did have a few fruit trees and we always had milk cows. We made butter from the milk. I remember getting so tired of churning. We were just small children and we thought it was very hard work. Mama also made cottage cheese from the milk and she would put it on the back of the stove to warm and it would separate. We always had cottage cheese, butter and clabber.
Mama would hitch up the buggy and go to town once in a while. The buggy had two seats and a top. Even though the top did not have a fringe on it we really thought we were high class with that "two seater." Mama would go to the grocery store and take half the children each time. We lived about five miles from town.
The folks did not have a church to attend or a Sunday school for the children. However, there were traveling churches in those days. They called them camp meetings and the church service would be held at the campground. Everyone would bring a dish of food and after the service they would have a pot luck similar to what we have now at the Methodist church in Dominguez. I remember they had a big long table and we thought it was wonderful because we could eat all different kinds of food. We went to the camp meetings in a horse drawn wagon. The wagon had blankets on the bottom so we would have something to sit on and cover up with when it got cold. We would start out in that wagon and dad would tap the horses with his big long quirt (whip) and say, "get out of this rocky road!" By the time we got home after dark we were all asleep, cuddled under the blankets down in the bottom of the wagon.
Arba used to take care of Oscar when he was a baby. She would carry him on her hip and still manage to run and play with the rest of us. Sometimes Arba would put him down and tell the other children to watch him, but we would all run away and leave poor Oscar alone and crying. So Arba would have to go back and get him. We made play houses out in the toolies. There was a lot of solid rock around the ranch and we would sweep off a small area and pretend that was our house. We had a lot of fun while we were growing up. We didn't particularly want other children to come over and play with us. The neighbors would come visiting occasionally and sometimes bring their children. One family had a daughter who was a real smart aleck. We didn't like her at all. I guess we were a little jealous because we didn't have the nice presents that she did at Christmas time. We did get one doll apiece. It was a good doll with glass eyes and a bisque head. They are very expensive nowadays. Of course, we would accidentally break them the day after Christmas. The girl we didn't like came over once after Christmas and brought her fancy doll and doll buggy. She bragged all about how many presents she got for Christmas. So we had just as soon that she stayed away. We played well together and had more fun just by ourselves. There were always five of us together. We played hide and seek and all kinds of games.
We had a big barn that was used for a storm cellar. Whenever it looked like there was a cyclone or tornado coming we would all run into the barn. It was strong and could not be blown over because it was built into the ground. The barn had shelves on the walls and we would sleep on them when there was a storm. It was a safe place to stay.
One time when Elva and I were about three or four years old, we were in our front yard playing on a swing. We had been out there for quite a while when mama missed us and looked out of the house and saw us just sitting there staring at something. She knew something was wrong so she ran down to the swing, and there was a big old bull whip snake. She grabbed us out of the swing and chased the snake away. She said that the snake was just about to try and eat us. So we were very glad she came to our rescue. They are good snakes that help keep the rats away; so most people don't kill them.
Martha and Lewis walked to school every day. After they reached a certain grade papa got a one horse buggy for Lewis to drive to school. That same year Arba started school, so all three of them rode to school on that buggy. Lewis behaved himself for a long time and didn't get into any trouble. However, he had seen a wire hanging from a telephone line and had wanted to stop and get it but Martha would not let him. She said they were not supposed to stop for anything. But one day he decided to stop anyway and climb up the pole after that wire. While he was doing that, my sisters decided to get out of the buggy and pick some flowers. A car came down the road and spooked the horse. The horse started running down the road past a house where our families knew one another. The man in the house saw the runaway horse and knew who it belonged to so he ran out and stopped it.
I never got to ride to school in that buggy. You couldn't go to school until you were seven years old in those days and my dad decided to sell out and move when I was about five years old. We moved to Blanco, Colorado. It was very cold and very beautiful. Papa was just a young man in those days and he wanted to see the country and find other ways of making a living.
After papa sold the ranch we moved from El Dorado, Texas to Blanco, Colorado. We rented a railroad car from the train company and managed to put everything we owned into that one car; including five horses, a wagon and two buggies. We rode on a passenger car. We were all dressed up in our best clothes. We had gone shopping for new clothes just for this trip. It was a lot of fun. We had to spend the night in several towns during the trip. We spent the night at hotels and you can just imagine poor mama; she had to care for Tom who was just a tiny baby and six children. We finally got there. I think it took about two days. It was November when we arrived in Blanco.
We settled on a small farm near Blanco, Colorado. The school was within walking distance. The teachers decided that I should skip kindergarten and go into the first grade because they thought I could do it. We were two months late starting school. The school we attended separated the boys and girls. They put the girls on one side of the room and the boys on the other side. They also separated them outside at recess with a line on the ground. When we thought no one was looking we would put one foot over the line and we thought we were very brave.
We liked living in Blanco. It was out in the country and we would go for long walks. On some of our walks we would find old boarded up wells and mines. If mama had known we were around wells and mines she would have spanked us all. There were wild burros in the area and Lewis finally caught one and tamed it enough for all of us to ride.
Papa decided he wanted to go into the mountains and prospect for silver. Papa and another man did find some silver and mined it. They worked very hard. Papa's brother, Royal Rice, came out from Texas to help him in the mine. The mine did not pan out, but Uncle Royal stayed and lived with us on and off almost all of his life. We liked him a lot. In 1914, before we moved from Colorado to Arizona, there were rumors of Mexico taking over Arizona and the rest of the United States, too. We were not afraid, because we had decided that if we hid under the kitchen table we would be safe!
After the mine ran out in Colorado my family decided to move to Arizona. We packed up our wagons (some were actually covered wagons) and started on our way to Arizona. We had to leave a large stove and cupboard by the side of the road because it made the wagons too heavy for the horses to pull. We traveled for a whole month before we arrived in Arizona. We would stop and camp each night and have our evening meal. Mama would open the flour sack; make a hole in the flour itself and mix the biscuits right in the hole. That way mama would have fewer pans to wash. She would cook them in a skillet over the campfire. Papa would stop at stores along the road and buy lunch meat. We had never had anything like lunch meat before and we thought it was really good. Some of us rode in the back of the covered wagon and some of us in the buggy. Uncle Royal and Lewis would take turns driving the buggy. Mama made a bed each night in the covered wagon for herself, Papa and baby Tom. They pitched two tents, one for the girls and one for the men and boys. It was tiresome riding in the buggy all the time. One day we decided it would be fun to hang onto the back of the buggy and put our feet up on the axle. We would get to laughing so hard that we would fall off onto the road. We sure had fun. One time, after we had fallen off the buggy we got so tickled we stayed on the ground a little too long and the buggy disappeared at a fork in the road. We were really scared, until we retraced our steps and found the buggy. Another time we were doing the same thing; laughing and having a good old time, when we heard a noise behind us. We looked up and much to our surprise, there was a car behind us. The people in the car thought what we were doing was so funny. They laughed at us and we were so embarrassed because we were just in old dresses and panties.
We rented an old house outside of Phoenix, Arizona. The whole family picked cotton for a few months. On Saturday nights we would all go into Phoenix to see a movie and we thought it was absolutely wonderful. Jobs were very scarce during this time so when we had enough money papa decided we would move to New Mexico. We got all our camping equipment together and started out on the road again. We rented a house near Lakewood, New Mexico. It was a two story house. The boys slept upstairs. The girls slept in one bed in a room downstairs. We didn't mind all sleeping in one bed unless one of us was mad about something. Mama and papa slept in the living room.
We had to walk four miles to school each day. It seems like a lot now, but we didn't mind. All eight grades were held in a one room schoolhouse. Our school teacher was real nice and we liked her a lot. I was in the second grade and it was 1913. There was no playground at school so papa and Uncle Royal decided they would fix something for us to play on at home. They got a big pole and put an old wagon wheel on top of it. The wagon wheel turned on the pole. They tied pieces of rope to the wagon wheel, dug a hole and put the pole in the ground. We could swing on the ropes. It was like a merry-go-round or maypole. Later, we rented a ranch with a house and barn about ten miles outside of Lakewood. Lewis would take us the ten miles to school in the buggy. Sometimes it was after dark when we got home. One time it rained so hard we couldn't see the road and we had to go over a dam on the way home. The road was very narrow and the flood waters were rising. Also, the horses were skittish because of the thunder and lightning. We decided to stop at a neighbor's house and wait out the storm. They invited us to stay for supper and we ended up staying the night. We thought they were wonderful to do something like that. Of course, mama and papa didn't know where we were. We got up real early the next morning and left for home. Mama and papa were glad to see us and thanked the neighbors for their kindness to us.
We used to go swimming in the Pecos River. It was about a mile from the ranch. The men liked to fish in the river. One time papa caught a big catfish but it slipped off the hook so papa jumped in the river, grabbed him and hung on. We had a water tank at the ranch. Papa put the catfish in the tank with other catfish he had caught and we had fresh fish every once in a while.
Papa was raising cattle on the ranch and they did pretty well for a while. Then we had a drought. With no rain there was no vegetation and therefore nothing for the cattle to eat. Papa sold all the cattle and we moved again. This time we moved into the town of Lakewood. We rented a two story house. It was close to our school. We stayed in this house for about six years.
We always had milk cows wherever we lived. I always loved warm milk fresh from the cow. We had a pen for the cows. When they were let out to pasture it was the girl’s job to bring the calves home. We never could ride the calves, but we would take hold of their tails and run with them. It was sure funny. I remember one time we were playing out in the pasture and I got up on the fence and started singing. I said "lets play like everyone in the world can hear me sing." This was long before I had ever even heard of a radio. I never even saw one until I was grown. I also rode in a car for the first time when I was twelve years old. My school teacher gave me a ride.
We finally got a telephone. All of us wanted to talk on the phone, so mama let us call the telephone office and we would say "hello central?" and then ask for the correct time. The operator knew what we were doing and she was real nice about it. Our artesian well ran dry and all of our fruit trees died. So we moved to another place in town. We took care of a vegetable garden that we had planted and we took care of our chickens and lambs. We named all the chickens. We just loved our lambs and had more fun playing with them. We moved again and had to give up all of our animals. We were really hurt and we never kept anymore pets because we didn't want to have to leave them behind again.
There was a total eclipse in 1914. I remember it scared all of the children. Times were really bad. No one could find any work and everyone was broke. Papa could not find any work so we moved back to Arizona. There were always jobs picking cotton and we could get along for a while. Looking back on it now, papa should have rented a cotton farm the first time we were in Arizona. Some men he knew did just that and they did very well. Papa could probably have been a rich man. However, papa wanted to see the world so he passed up the opportunity.
We were not happy about moving back to Arizona. We liked our school and we were tired of moving. We moved to Mesa, Arizona. We stayed at a campground in the Salt River Valley. They had cabins and tent-cabins. It was winter time and the coal oil stoves didn't keep the cabins warm. It was 1918 and I was thirteen years old. Apparently, soldiers coming home from Europe after World War I brought a flu virus back to the United States. There was a huge epidemic across the country and everyone in the family came down with this virus except papa and he took care of everyone. He really worked hard. There were so many of us to care for that he finally had to hire someone to help him.
Papa finally rented a house in Chandler, Arizona. We lived three miles from our new school. Our teachers were a husband and wife team and they lived next door to the schoolhouse in a cabin. No one liked them very much. They planted a garden next to their cabin. One day when we arrived at school we discovered that they had taken the American flag and draped it over the young plants to keep them from freezing. Everyone thought that was terrible and we felt like running them out of town on a rail. One day we decided to walk to school on the railroad tracks. A man came along the track on a handcar and offered us a ride to town. He said he wouldn't go fast, but he did and we really got to school fast that morning.
We stayed in Chandler for about a year. Papa worked on different farms for a living and mama had a garden. We moved to Mesa and papa rented another house. It was a farm with about one hundred acres and papa raised cantaloupes and cotton. After school we would come home and pick cotton. When the cantaloupes were ripe papa would hire people to pick them and then we would put them in wooden boxes and nail them shut. We lived in Mesa for about five years.
Papa belonged to a Federation of Farmers. Farmers would get together and voice their complaints. Papa went to one of these meetings in Phoenix and met Frank Pendergrass for the first time. He was my future father-in-law. They got to talking and liked one another. Frank Pendergrass made a living driving a long haul truck north through Arizona into Utah. He invited papa on his next trip to Kanab, Utah. He was taking several men to Utah deer hunting. Frank had a farm east of Flagstaff and he thought papa might like to see some of the property in the area because papa was thinking of moving again. One reason papa was involved in the Federation was the problem he was having shipping his cantaloupes. By the time he paid the rail freight he was in the hole. So he quit farming and was looking for some other way of making a living. Papa spent the night at the Pendergrass ranch in east Flagstaff. Frank Pendergrass showed him around the area and papa liked it. A farm was for rent not too far from the Pendergrass ranch. Papa liked it and rented it. He returned to Mesa with Frank Pendergrass and we packed Frank's truck with our belongings. We rode in the back of the truck with all of the furniture and our dog, Prichard.
Lewis and Oscar loaded up our tools and farming equipment in a wagon. It took them about five days to make the trip from Mesa to Flagstaff. After we were settled at the farm, Frank Pendergrass and his sons came by for a visit. I met Robert Pendergrass, my future husband, for the first time. We raised one crop of potatoes on this farm. Then papa decided he would buy a farm. He looked around the area at different places for sale and finally found one that suited his needs. He and mama would spend the rest of their life on this farm. The farm was eight miles east of Flagstaff on highway 66. I was seventeen years old and it was 1922.
I was not able to attend high school the first year we lived in Flagstaff because I had no transportation into town. Finally, papa made arrangements for my sister Elva and me to board with a family in Flagstaff. Elva met and married her first husband the first year we boarded in town. After Elva left I was on my own. I boarded with several different families who had children that also attended Flagstaff High School. I graduated in 1927. I tried to find a job but jobs were scarce because of the Depression. I did baby-sit for some people in town for a while. I eventually went back to the farm. I helped digging potatoes and stacking beans.
Times were hard for everyone during the depression. Our only real entertainment was country dances. There was a dance hall by Lake Mary on the outskirts of Flagstaff. Dances were held there every Saturday night. I didn't have a steady beau, so I would go to the dances with different people. There were also country dances held at community buildings or people’s homes. I went to these dances with my family. I had met my future husband, Robert Pendergrass before and we had been at country dances and family get togethers at the same time. One time we were at one of these country dances and Bob and I started talking and we liked one another. We went together for two years. In 1932 we went to a Justice of the Peace at the county courthouse in Gallup, New Mexico and we were married.
We rented a small farm next to the Pendergrass place. We farmed for two seasons. It was a bad time to be a farmer. Prices for the crops went way down so a person couldn't make any money and then the drought began. Our first child, Norma Jean was born in Flagstaff in 1935. We decided to quit farming. We moved to Daly City, California in 1935 when Norma Jean was just a baby.
Bob bought a semi-truck and got a job hauling beer from San Francisco to Los Angeles. He would stay overnight in Los Angeles and then bring a load of empty beer barrels back to San Francisco. He drove his truck for nearly a year until it got too dangerous because of all the competition for the truck routes. Truckers would do almost anything to get rid of their competition. Some trucks had sugar put in their gas tanks and their tires slashed. Bob didn't think it was worth the risk, so he sold his truck and we moved to Boulder, Colorado.
Hoover Dam was being built and Bob thought he could get a job working on the dam. However, at that time in California you could not get a job of that sort unless you belonged to the union and Bob didn't belong to one. It was 1937. We decided to move back to Flagstaff. We bought a little house trailer and parked it on the Pendergrass farm. Bob got a job as the driver for movie producers from Hollywood, California. They came to Arizona to make western movies. One was "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell. They made a number of movies around Flagstaff and north of Flagstaff in Monument Valley. Bob would drive them wherever they wanted to go. He also drove a bus. He would take tourists on tours of Indian ruins and different historical sights around the area. My second child, Christine Marie was born in 1940. The trailer was too small for all four of us so we rented a little house on Highway 89 close to the Pendergrass farm. We stayed there about a year. We moved to California in 1941 to 420 Maine Avenue in Long Beach. Bob worked at the shipyards during World War II. We lived there about six years. In 1947 we bought a house in Dominguez and I have lived here ever since."

     Dwaine Lockwood was born on Dec 7, 1905. He married Elva Eva Rice, daughter of Charles Allison Rice and Sallie Belle Martindale, on Dec 30, 1926 at Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona.

     Maria Watson was born circa 1906.

     George Elmo Oakes was born in 1906 at Cove, Arkansas. He married Neva Scless Wood, daughter of Oscar Lee Wood and Ida V. Webb, on Aug 28, 1925. George Elmo Oakes and Neva Scless Wood were divorced in 1930.

     James Louis Brown was born in 1906. He died in 1975.

     Hester Rose Garrett was born in 1906. She died in 1985.

     Addie Cooper married Buster Bailes. Addie Cooper was born in 1906 at Arkansas. She died in 1985.

     Alice Johanna Parker was born on Jan 21, 1906 at DeWitt County, Texas. She died on Jul 22, 1919 at Cuero at age 13 after a water cistern collapsed and fell on her, breaking her back and was buried at Alexander Cemetery.

     Infant Wood died on Jan 25, 1906 at Stratton, DeWitt County, Texas. He was born on Jan 25, 1906 at Stratton, DeWitt County, Texas.

     William Earl Cooper was born on Feb 8, 1906 at Stratton, DeWitt County, Texas. He married Ida Belle Odom, daughter of William Earvin Odom and Sarah David Morris, on Feb 12, 1926 at Wharton, Wharton County. William Earl Cooper and Ida Belle Cooper were divorced in 1941. William Earl Cooper married Imogene "Jean" Junek. William Earl Cooper died on Dec 22, 2000 at Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas, at age 94. He was buried at Brookside Cemetery, Houston, Texas.
     He resided between 1929 and 1930 at Houston, Texas; was a milker for Pure Milk Dairy. The 1930 Federal Census enumerated him as head of household Houston, Harris County, Texas; Cooper, William Earl, head, renter,$28 monthly, m/w/24, born Texas, father and mother born Texas, dairy laborer, Ida B., wife, f/w/19, married at age 17, born Texas, father and mother born Texas, William E. Jr., son, m/w/1 9/12, born Texas, Harvel, son, m/w/2/12, born Texas. The 1940 Federal Census enumerated him as head of household on on Apr 4, 1940 Houston, Harris County; was a rivet sticker in the structural steel industry; worked 52 hrs/wk, wages $663; owned home, value $400. He was a Pentecost. He was a retired labor foreman for City of Houston, formerly self-employed, vending business, dairy; and leadman, Houston Shipyards.

     John Drake "Doc" Bowen was born on Apr 1, 1906 at Yoakum, Texas. He died on Apr 20, 1928 at Wink, Winkler County, at age 22 [died of pneumonia; death certificate no 19277; informant Odie Bowen, brother] and was buried at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Yoakum, Lavaca County.
     He was oil field worker.

     Bertha Iris Cooper was born on Apr 4, 1906 at Chase County, Nebraska. She married Kenneth Alden Fickes on Dec 9, 1933 at Kimball, Nebraska. Bertha Iris Cooper died on Aug 19, 1999 at Kimball, Kimball County, Nebraska, at age 93.

     Covert (Tobe) O. Wilson was born on May 24, 1906 at Palmer Township, Ohio. He married Mabel Diest on Aug 20, 1931. Covert (Tobe) O. Wilson died in May, 1955 at Lowell, Ohio.
     He was farmer and drove a school bus in the Muskingum Twp rural school district; was a Mason.

     Palmetto L. Phipps married Russell Evert Wilt, son of Evert Merton Wilt and Helen Short. Palmetto L. Phipps was born on Jul 7, 1906. She died on Jun 18, 1971 at Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, at age 64.

     Mary Ruby Hodges married (?) Johnson. Mary Ruby Hodges married (?) Hanoard. Mary Ruby Hodges married (?) Jones. Mary Ruby Hodges married Sterling Boussard. Mary Ruby Hodges was born on Aug 22, 1906.
     She was married many times: Johnson, 1 child; Carl; Hanoard; Jones, 2 children Bobby, Janice; Boussard, Sterling.

     Walter Lee Means died on Aug 29, 1906. He was born on Aug 29, 1906 and was buried at Alexander Cemetery.

     Luther Mylburn Newman married Margaret Fowler. Luther Mylburn Newman was born on Sep 17, 1906.

     Otto Paul Creek was born on Oct 14, 1906 at Vandyke, Comanche County, Texas. He married Gladys Opal Wireman on Dec 23, 1934. Otto Paul Creek was buried on Jan 26, 1978 at Coleman Cemetery, Coleman County, Texas. He died on Jan 26, 1978 at Coleman County, Texas, at age 71.

     Rolla Franklin Cooper was born on Oct 19, 1906. He died on Nov 11, 1908 at age 2.

     Raleigh "Roy" Patrick Hoofard was born on Nov 5, 1906. He married Lois Marie Graham, daughter of Vawdry Burtram Graham and Ethel Ruby "Goldie" Rice, in 1938. Raleigh "Roy" Patrick Hoofard died in 1960.
     The 1940 Federal Census enumerated him as head of household on Shady Acres (Unincorporated); was a carpenter.

     Walter William Grant was born on Nov 26, 1906 at Ennis, Texas. He married Nettie Cooper, daughter of William Cader "Billy" or "W.C." Cooper and Hattie Goode.

     Elmer Roy Hall was born in 1907. He died in 1969.

     Joe D. Cooper was born in 1907 at Cherokee County, South Carolina. He married Moree Phillips. Joe D. Cooper died on Oct 16, 1967 at Greenville, South Carolina. He was buried at Frederick Memorial Cemetery, Cherokee County, South Carolina.

     Margaret Lloyd married George Raymond Rushia, son of William Frederick Rushia and Nellie B. Wilt. Margaret Lloyd was born in 1907.