| In order to escape religious persecution in Wales, the “Jamisons” fled
to Ireland where they became hemp growers. Because they planted hemp
in hills, contrary to the customary practice, the neighbors began to call
them “hemp-hillers;” thus their name became “Hemphills.”
Charles Wade (C. W.) was the first child of W. C. Hemphill and his wife,
Cuba, born March 16, 1881, in Bastrop County at Hemphill Prairie.
He came to Trickham with his family when he was ten years old. While
he was a sixteen-year old senior at Santa Anna High School, his father
died; he dropped out of school to become the breadwinner for his mother
and seven younger brothers and sisters. For a short time he operated
his father’s grocery store; then he purchased 1600 acres of ranch land
near Trickham for his mother. After a period of hard times, he was
in debt and just about at the end of his financial rope, when he decided
to try growing cotton. The very day that he sold enough of his first
cotton crop to have $1,100, he rode ten miles into Santa Anna where he
paid off his debt. During the next few years he raised cattle only
to find himself in difficult straits again, since the livestock market
continued to drop.
Mr. Hemphill’s fortune began to change from the time that he and Wagie
Ellen Carter married on August 17, 1902. Wagie had graduated from
Howard Payne College in 1901 and she was a school teacher in the neighborhood
schools. At the age of two, she, along with her family, had come
to Texas from Rockwood, Tennessee, where her family had moved, after the
family tobacco farms in Virginia, had been ravaged by the “Yankees” during
the Civil War.
In 1905, C. W. moved to Coleman where Charlie, as he was then called,
obtained a job in the office of Sam Gilliland, County Tax Assessor-Collector.
After a few months, Charlie decided that he could never reach his goal
of being financially secure at what he was doing; he decided that he should
be a banker. Mr. L. E. Collins, the town banker, gave him a job in
the old First National Bank at $35 a month. Finally Mr. Hemphill
got a break in his financial status when he and the cashier of the bank
teamed up to speculate in livestock. The men bought the first load
of cattle at $20 a head and in a short time were able to sell all the steers
for $27 a head. As soon as he had accumulated a small amount of money,
he made a down payment on some land. He was confident that the land
would pay for itself. In 1916, Mr. Hemphill and several other residents
organized the Central State Bank at Coleman and the directors selected
Charlie as the president. The country was in World War I; the livestock
market had fallen. Probably the deal that saved the bank, and Mr.
Hemphill, was his leasing of 50 sections of land in West Texas, then released
the land to West Texas Sportsmen.
During the Great Depression in 1932, the three banks of Coleman reorganized
and reopened under the name of First Coleman National Bank. It was
a source of great pride to Mr. Hemphill that not a depositor in any of
the three banks lost a cent of money. Mr. Hemphill served the new
bank as executive-president until he retired. On March 16, 1945,
Charlie’s 65th birthday, he announced his retirement. On that same
day, the directors chose Wade Hemphill to be the new executive president
of the bank and they made Mr. Hemphill an officer of the loan committee.
Mr. Hemphill was often asked what he attributed his success to and he always
would say: “I am not a self-made man. Mrs. Hemphill worked as hard
or harder than I ever did. She was very astute in analyzing business
deals, and I consulted with her about any venture that I was considering.
Somehow her judgment was always correct about the integrity of people.”
They both sought two things from life: opportunities for their children
and financial security for themselves. They both believed that happiness
came from accomplishments, that it was sinful to be wasteful, that education
made for more opportunities in life, and that an opportunity once neglected
could never be reclaimed. Wagie was a very private person who spent
most of her life at home, where she was doing house work, preparing meals,
sewing shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls. She made sure
that each of her children could read, write, and do arithmetic before he
started to school. She insisted that each girl learn to play some
musical instrument. She visited neighbors, invited women in for visits
in the afternoon, and often in the evenings, she and Charlie played forty-two
with other couples.
To this union of Charles Wade and Wagie Ellen, eight children were born,
all at Coleman:
(1) Hays, Pharmacist, born February 9, 1904, never married,
deceased December 27, 1928, buried at Coleman.
(2) Charles Wade, Jr., banker-rancher (see Charles
Wade Hemphill, Jr.).
(3) Dr. Lee, Minister-educator, born November 2, 1907, married
to Lunelle Nix. Children: Rosalee, married to Milford Prichard, Jr.;
and Hilton, married to Carolyn Armstrong.
(4) Verna Marie, educator, born May 1, 1909. First marriage, Dr.
E.W. Schmidt, child, Joanne Louise. Second marriage, Frank E. Kelley.
(5) Mary Louise, educator, born March 9, 1911. Married to J. D.
Cobb. Children: David Carlton, married to Gail Martin; and Gary,
married to Deborah Short.
(6) Ruth Ellen, educator, born May 20, 1916, married to James Wittenburg.
Children: Jimmie Ruth, married to R. W. Evans, Jr., Mary Lee and Charlie
Joe.
(7) Dorothy Belle, born April 4,1919, married to Peter James McNee,
Jr., deceased March 13, 1972, buried at Henderson. Children: Janet,
married to Dr. John C. Newkirk; Marjorie, married to Rick Rike; and PeterJames,
III, married to Sheryl Suzanne Smith.
(8) Zeno, rancher (see Zeno Hemphill Family).
When Charlie and Wagie became physically incapacitated, Wade assumed the
sole responsibility for them. Wade and his father had a special kind
of relationship, for they had worked together at the bank and the ranch
all of Wade’s life. It was Wade who carried them to the doctors,
picked up their medicines, hired and fired the household help, bought the
groceries, listened to their complaints, and tried to satisfy their whims.
In June 1967, one Tuesday morning Wade, helped his father into the car
so that they could attend a Directors Meeting at the bank. Wade helped
him into his chair where he sat throughout the meeting perhaps without
hearing a word that was said or recognizing anyone. On the way home,
Mr. Hemphill turned to Wade and said, “Take me to the hospital.”
He was admitted to the Overall Memorial Hospital where he spent the remaining
eight months of his life. In his sleep, he would often cry out, “where
are my spurs” or “help me with my saddle” or “hold my horse,” or “Wagie.”
Wagie Carter Hemphill had died from a heart attack on November 30, 1963.
Charles Wade Hemphill died January 25, 1968. They are interred in
the Coleman Cemetery.
(Image to be added)
Verna Marie Schmidt, Wagie Hemphill, Charlie Hemphill, Mary Louise
Cobb (seated), Ruth Hemphill, Dorothy McNee, Wade Hemphill, Lee Hemphill,
Zeno Hemphill (standing) - 1943.
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