| Henry Clay, Ida Amelia (Fisher) Gulley and their two oldest children,
Nora, born December 6, 1895, and Lloyd, October 30, 1897, came to Coleman
County by train in 1900. They settled on block 37 of the then Burnet
County School Land, on a knoll just above Home Creek. In 1901, the
Gulleys bought block 39 just west of Home Creek which is now known as the
home place. Two other children were born there, Kate, August 3, 1901
(see William Henry Cagle and Fonie M. Scott), and Alfred, October 25, 1905.
The Gulleys had barely settled when the 1900 flood hit. A 50 gallon
water barrel in the front yard filled completely from the downpour.
Hords Creek filled so full that the tree tops caught feed bundles that
were washed from the fields.
Henry was born October 17, 1863 in Overton County, Tennessee.
The family moved to Van Buren County in 1870. He attended school
and college in Tennessee and taught school in Tennessee and Missouri.
In Missouri, he met his future wife, also a teacher at West Plains and
the couple married November 30, 1893.
Visitation by kin from Missouri was rare in those days, but Ida’s mother
came for a visit and with the country growing and changing, it was of interest
to them to take her to look over some land for sale in the Colorado River
area. The owner was a lady by the name of Day. Mrs. Fisher
and Mrs. Day seemed to hit it off during the visit and Mrs. Day showed
them the area herself. She had a dream to build a town on the land
and to make it more real, building materials had been brought and delivered
to the location. She told Mrs. Fisher she was searching for a name
for the town and welcomed suggestions. The name suggested by Mrs. Fisher
was in honorary tribute to both husbands, “Leaday.” And so the town
Leaday got its name.
During those early growing years tragedy often struck and the Gulley
family was not excluded. On January 30, 1911, Lloyd, the eldest son,
suffering from a heart ailment, passed away at the age of 13. On
September 26, 1927, Ida passed away at the age of 57 (Henry lived to be
94 years of age, passing away January 8, 1958).
The daughters married and moved away. Kate lived in Glen Cove
(see John Bailey Laws), and Nora lives in Lampasas (see Landrum-Mitchell).
Alfred continued to live on the home place and together with Henry farmed
the land raising mostly cotton and grain. Mules and horses were also
an important product and Henry owned a prize mule shown at the county fair
one year. Through occasional flood and droughts the Gulleys stayed
on, one of the assets of the land enabling them to stay was a spring fed
well that never went dry, producing cold sweet water. During the
drought of the 30’s, immediate neighbors in need of water came to the well
for drinking water for family and livestock. On June 17, 1933, Alfred
married Dessie Lee Reis from Talpa and continued to live on the home place
(see R. A. Cox and Box-Caldwell-Touchstone). Maynard and Frances
were born there and Rex, their third child had the privilege of being born
in the Coleman Overall-Morris Memorial Hospital. Maynard owns a farm
near Talpa and the daughter’s family is building a home on the home place.
Her son, Jace Staggs, owns a home and business in Coleman. |
