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January 31, 2022 - Most people know what share-cropping was but few can talk about it from personal experience anymore. Former Timpson City Councilman and high school teacher Ronnie Wolfe can, though. Speaking at the January meeting of the Timpson Area Genealogical and Heritage Society, Wolfe said “From the time I was born until 1966 share-cropping was all my parents did.” Describing the life of a share-cropper, Wolfe quoted his former THS student Burt Hairgrove when he said, “It was real and it was fun, but it wasn't real fun.”
The Emancipation Proclamation and the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War ended slavery and the plantation system of agriculture in the south, Wolfe explained, “You can't talk about share-cropping without talking about cotton.” He said, “because cotton was the major crop produced in the south. Growing cotton was very labor-intensive and after the end of the war the south had huge plantations with no labor and a huge labor force with no jobs, so share-cropping was created. Since the labor force had nothing, the landowner had to furnish housing, clothing, food, animals, and equipment to the share-cropper. In return, the landowner got a portion of the farmer's crop, usually about half. This wasn't the best of systems but it gave laborers jobs and housing and allowed the production of cotton to resume.”
“My daddy, Marvin Wolfe was born in 1895, and he had known some of the former plantation owners in this area," Wolfe continued. “His father came to Texas after the Civil War and settled out at Rose Hill. Our family used the German spelling of “Woolfe” until WWI when anti-German sentiment forced us to change it. Judge Hooper owned a league and a labor of land in that area, which totaled 4605 acres, upon which many share-croppers lived. The Great Depression brought an increase in share-cropping as many small farmers lost their land to foreclosure and were forced into share-cropping,” Wolfe explained. “My parents married in 1931, right in the middle of the deep depression, and started share-cropping. They farmed with my grandfather for about a year and then moved out onto the Todd farm, which had been part of the Hooper Plantation before the Civil War. They lived with Tom and Lucy B. Todd until the Todds lost the property to foreclosure. Then they farmed with Joe Collins, who had twenty-two acres, and later on the Grey's place, between 1970 and the Gary Fire Hall. When WWII broke out my uncle, Bud Thompkins, left to work in the shipyards on the coast and they farmed on his place. On a cold February morning in 1946 I was born, and I was born into share-cropping. I was plowing behind a mule when I was five years old,” Wolfe said.
My Uncle Bud returned to his farm in 1946 with the end of the war and took his place back, so we moved in with my grandmother out behind the Mount Bethel church and farmed there 'on a third and fourth' which means the landowner furnished the house and got a third of the corn and a fourth of the cotton. If we could get a bale of cotton off an acre we were doing good. Cotton was the money crop but corn was the feed crop. The corn fed the animals and us. Meat-wise, we ate chickens and we cured two hogs a year. There are two methods of curing pork but we salt-cured ours. Salt is an astringent and it pulls the water out of the meat. We had a smokehouse but you have to have cold weather to cure meat. You can also sugar-cure meat. I started hunting when I was twelve years old. Squirrel season was October 1 to January 1 and maybe a little more. I still love squirrel. I shot two in my back yard the other day because I was hungry for some. I called the school and told them not to shut down, it was just me shooting a couple of squirrels in my yard!” Wolfe laughed.
In the 50s and 60s small cotton farmers were forced out of the market by large growers, who could afford mechanized picking machines that smaller growers couldn't, continued Wolfe. “I think we were probably the last ones share-cropping in Panola County. Tomatoes replaced cotton as the primary cash crop for the small farmer. We grew two acres of tomatoes a year and they are what got me over the hump at SFA. An acre of tomatoes is five thousand plants and it takes an ounce of seed to grow an acre of tomatoes. We grew them in a hotbed, then put them in a cold frame, and then put them into the field. Then we had to pick them. It's labor intensive. My job was to carry them out of the field, two bushels at a time. My daddy said 'You ought to tip your hat every time you see a tomato plant.' I asked why and he said 'They sent you to college, didn't they!'" “We grew Homestead tomatoes, and later on they came out with the Homestead 24 and later with the Homestead 500. But let me tell you, if you want to grow tomatoes now, I've found a new variety last year: Super-fantastic Hybrids! You won't be disappointed! Those things produce like crazy! I still love to farm. I can't eat all I grow and am happy to give it away. I have learned that if you will plant a row of marigolds right along side your tomatoes, you won't have a problem with bugs. I haven't put any insecticide on my tomatoes in years. It works.”
“I learned a lot of stuff share-cropping,” Wolfe continued. “I learned how to split shingles, I learned how to hew logs with a broadaxe.. I built a house down in the Sabine River bottom in 1976 with R.M. Nugent. We hewed the logs and notched them up. I wouldn't have learned that somewhere else. Mostly it was just survival skills. If something broke, you had to fix it. One morning about nine or ten o'clock Daddy came home from the field and Mother sked him what he was doing home. He said he had broken the tongue out of his row disk. She asked him what he was going to do and he said 'I'm going to make me one.' He went out and cut down a little pine tree and used an axe to hew it up. By noon it was finished. He ate lunch and then went back to the fields. That was the mentality we had.”
“We moved around a lot. Since we were share-cropping, we didn't own the land we farmed or the house we lived in. Daddy never cared much about the house, as long as it didn't leak. He wouldn't live in a house with a leaky roof,” Wolfe continued. “It had to have good water, though. We had to find somebody to move us because we didn't have a way to move. We didn't have much to move anyway. We had a wood cook stove, four or five dining chairs and a kitchen table, and our beds. Our farm implements were the biggest things we had to move. We lived in one house that had about nine coats of wallpaper on it and every time somebody new moved in they would put on another one. The first layer of paper had come unglued from the wall so when the winter wind blew, the walls would breathe in and out several inches,” Wolfe chuckled.
The Timpson Area Genealogical Society meets at 2PM on the third Wednesday of each month in the meeting room of the Timpson Public Library on the corner of Austin and Bremond Streets in downtown Timpson. The TAGHS library is located within the Timpson Public Library and is open and staffed from 9AM until 5PM weekdays. Telephone 936-254-2966 and ask for the Genealogical Library.
January 28, 2022 - Luncinda David, 7th Grade student at Joaquin Jr. High School accepts her second place award in the District 19 VFW Patriot's Pen essay contest. She competed with eight other students from VFW Posts in the district by writing an essay on the theme "How Can I Be A Good American."
Presenting her award on Friday, January 28. 2022 is (L-R) her uncle and VFW Post 8904 Life Member Kenneth Dickerson, VFW Post 8904 Commander Gene Hutto and VFW Post 8904 Quartermaster Larry Hume.
Post 8904 would like to thank her teacher Whitney Hooper for her support of the Patriot's Pen program.
January 28, 2022 - Sam Houston State University recognizes two students from Center, Texas for earning the honor of being on the Dean's List for the Fall 2021 semester. The two students are Katelyn Bolton, a 2019 graduate of Center HS, and Daniel Chavez, a 2018 graduate of Center HS.
The students listed on the Dean's List of Academic Honors at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, are undergraduates who have achieved a grade point average of at least 3.5 out of a perfect 4.0 in all work attempted while enrolled in not less than 12 semester hours.
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January 27, 2022 - VFW Post 8904 and Auxiliary held a Vietnam Peace Accord Observance on Thursday, January 27, 2022, and honored those who served in Vietnam.
Names were read in honor of those that served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice there.
VFW Post 8904 Quartermaster Larry Hume welcomed those who attended the observance at the Veterans Memorial, "Good morning, thank you hearty souls for being here today as we remember those who served in the Vietnam War."
Following Hume's greeting Kenneth Ramsey, Post Chaplain, gave the opening prayer.
Hume gave the history of the ending of the Vietnam War, "The Paris Peace Accord ending the Vietnam War was signed 49 years ago on January 27, 1973, and was followed by the withdrawal of the remaining American Troops. The terms of the accord called for a complete ceasefire in South Vietnam. It allowed North Vietnamese forces to retain the territory they had captured. It provided for the release of U.S. prisoners of war. It called for both sides to find a political solution to the conflict, and as an enticement to South Vietnam, President Nixon offered U.S. air power to enforce the peace terms. Of course, this stopped in December 1974 when the Congress cut off all military aid to South Vietnam."
"More than 58,000 Americans gave their lives in the Vietnam War and there are still 1,584 missing in action. At this very time our POW/MIA accounting teams continue to search around the world wherever there are missing Americans," said Hume. "There are 11 veterans in Shelby County who were killed in action in Vietnam. There was one who was killed in a training accident in preparing to deploy there, and we like to remember this day by reading their names."
The names, which are listed at the bottom of this article, were then read by members of VFW Post 8904, members of the Post Auxiliary and civilians attending the observance.
VFW Post 8904 member Mike Wulf then hung a tribute wreath on the Veteran's memorial in honor of these 12 Veterans and all those lost in the Vietnam War in honor of those who served, survived and have since passed; and in honor of all those who served.
After the reading of names of Shelby County Vietnam Veterans who died in service, everyone attending was offered the opportunity to say the name of someone they know who served in Vietnam.
Hume said, "You know it has been said, and I've said it many times that no one is truly dead until their name is no longer spoken. And this morning, each of our 12 Shelby County Veterans are alive today because of you here in attendance. We spoke their name as we did last year and as we will again next year."
The program was closed with the playing of taps by Post Commander and bugler Gene Hutto.
Following the program, Commander Gene Hutto recognized Post Honor Guard members Mary Fausett and Larry Hume for their volunteer time in this endeavor. Fausett was recognized for 150 hours of service to this effort and she was presented with a 150 hour pin. Hume was also recognized for his contribution and he was recognized for 500 hours of service.
"At the request of Shelby County families we will attend their funeral, do the flag folding for the family and so forth and it's all done on a volunteer basis and we started this in 2003, 19 years ago and each of our members volunteers their time," said Hume.
Shelby County Vietnam Veterans who died in service to our Country
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Ted Wayne Adams, Private First Class - Born in Beaumont, Texas, July 31, 1944. Inducted into the U.S. Army November 14, 1965. Killed in action on November 15, 1966, age 22. Buried in the Tennessee Cemetery, Timpson, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 12 East, Line 76.
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William Larry "Shorty" Andrews, Specialist Fourth Class - Born in Shelby County, Texas October 25, 1945. Inducted into the U.S. Army 1965. Killed in action on February 16, 1967, age 21. Buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 15 East, Line 38.
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Jimmy D. Barnett, Private First Class - Born in Joaquin, Texas February 28, 1943. Inducted into the U.S. Army May 1967. Killed in action March 26, 1968, age 25. Buried in the Jackson Cemetery, Joaquin, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 46 East, Line 28.
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Mac C. Buckley, Private First Class - Born in Center, Texas November 7, 1945. Inducted into the U.S. Army 1967. Killed in action on July 5, 1968. Buried in the Westview Cemetery, Center, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial wall can be found at Panel 53 West, Line 16.
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Larry Stephen "Possum" Byford, Private First Class - Born in Center, Texas May 1, 1945. Inducted into the U.S. Army October 1965. Killed in action June 23, 1967. Buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 22 East, Line 52.
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Ray A. Chatelain, Seaman First Class - Born in Louisiana May 6, 1946. Join the U.S. Navy Ocotober 1965. Killed in an explosion aboard the USS Forrestal on July 30, 1967. Buried in the Longstreet Cemetery, Longstreet, Louisiana. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 24 East, Line 50.
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William Henry Eaden, Sergeant - Born in Timpson, Texas August 12, 1939. Joined the U.S. Army December 13, 1961. Career soldier killed in action on November 12, 1965. Buried in the Mount Gillion Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 3 East, Line 42.
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Jerry Lynn Hughes, Sergeant - Born in Center, Texas July 17, 1946. Inducted into the U.S. Army May 1966. Killed in action on July 12, 1967. Buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 23 East, Line 59.
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Taylor D. "Sonny" Johnson, Major - Born in Joaquin, Texas December 15, 1952. Joined the U.S. Army 1953. Career soldier. Killed in action January 28, 1966. Buried in the Joaquin Cemetery, Joaquin, Texas. Awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 4 East, Line 103.
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John B. Lightfoot, Corporal - Born in Shelby County, Texas July 27, 1952. Joined the U.S. Marine Corps June 14, 1971. Killed in a training accident on October 3, 1974 in Louisiana while preparing to deploy to Vietnam. Buried in the McClelland Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas.
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Samuel R. Lynch, Specialist Fourth Class - Born in Nacogdoches, Texas May 26, 1949. Inducted into the U.S. Army 1969. Killed in action December 12, 1970. Buried in the White Rock Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 6 West, Line 130.
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Calvin R. Patrick, Private First Class - Born in Houston, Texas November 23, 1950. Inducted into the U.S. Army November 30, 1968. Killed in action May 25, 1969. Buried in the Wimberly Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His name on the Vietnam Memorial can be found at Panel 24 West, Line 106.
January 24, 2022 - The Fannie Brown Booth Library will not have Preschool Story Time or Crafternoons this Wednesday, January 26th due to high Covid case numbers.
January 19, 2022 - The Piney Woods Photographic Society held their first meeting for the 2022 season this past Saturday. There was a workshop on "Depth of Field" presented by Billie Jones and the January Challenge was "Photographer's Choice.” These were photographs submitted by club members for critique and voting by members with suggestions on how to make the photo better.
January Challenge "Photographer's Choice"
1st Place Favorite: Bobbie Jean Wood, Center, TX - "It's Like Thunder & Lightning"
2nd Place Favorite: Lawrence C. Davis, Center, TX - "Festival 2021"
3rd Place Favorite (Tie): Janice Carter, Milam, TX - "Wide Angle Close Up"
3rd Place Favorite (Tie): Billie F. Jones, Center, TX - "Fall Sunset"
From left: Robbie Kerr, Carole Ann Chance, Cherry Jones, Rita Hughes, Janette Whittman, Pam Sykes, and Carolyn Bounds.
January 17, 2022 - The Center Garden Club enjoyed a program on plant propagation on Wednesday, January 12th at the Agri-Life Building.
Club President Carolyn Bounds led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance, business meeting and prayer followed by lunch served by hostesses Pam Sykes and Rita Hughes.
After lunch, Carolyn presented an informative program on plant propagation which included the process of starting new plants by various methods including seeds, divisions, and leaf rooting. She provided cuttings for each member to choose to take home to nurture for starting new plants. The members will nurture the new plants to be ready for their April plant sale.
Other members in attendance were Robbie Kerr, Carole Ann Chance, Cherry Jones, Janette Whittmann, Vanessa Davis, and Cathy Williams.
Submitted by Rita Hughes
January 17, 2022 - Reagan Hovey, son of Todd and Mary Hovey and husband of Miranda Prnka Hovey, has been awarded a membership to Baylor Law Review. During Reagan’s first three quarters of attending Baylor Law School, he has remained in the top 15% of his class.
Reagan is a graduate of Joaquin Highschool (2017) and Texas A & M University (2020).
January 3, 2022 - The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) invites faith and secular communities to stand with us during January, which is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. DFPS makes fighting against human trafficking a priority, and strives to improve awareness, services, and prevention efforts to help eradicate trafficking in Texas.
Please see this Participation Guide, which contains ideas and activities that individuals, groups, organizations, businesses, and communities of faith can use to help fight human trafficking.
January 3, 2022 - Daniel Chavez received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and TV Production during the 2021 Fall semester at Sam Houston State University. He graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors.
During his time at Sam Houston State University, he also received the honor of making the President's Honor Roll and the Dean's List. Chavez is a 2018 graduated of Center High School.
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