| Very little is known of the genealogy of the Huey clan. This
matters very little to me. I’ve always told my children that if Columbus
had not discovered America, I would like to have been born an Indian -
preferably right in the heart of Texas. There is one thing I do know
about the Huey nationality. They were pure Patty Irish. All
you had to do to confirm this fact was to see my granddaddy Huey after
he had taken a sip or two from his old corn whiskey jug.
The first Huey of this line of whom I have any information is John M.
Huey who was born in Alabama about 1850. His wife was Una (Brown)
Huey who was born in Mississippi in 1847 (see James M. Brown). These
were my great grandparents. There were five children born to this
couple in Pachuta, Mississippi, Clarke County, before all of them moved
to Grandview, Ellis County, Texas. John, who was very much in love
with his pretty wife, had decided to move to Texas because she had tuberculosis
and the good climate in Texas was what she needed. Their children
were: James Walter; Edgar (see Green F. Givens); Alma; Virgil; and Pearl.
While in Grandview, James Walter (my grandfather) married Mary Eppa
Tabor and had their first child, Bonnie Beatrice (my mother). Then,
in about 1903, the John M. and James Walter families decided to move farther
west where some of their kin had settled. It was then that they came
to Coleman County and settled on the old Hanks Ranch on Little Grape Creek,
just a few miles south of Talpa. Then Gladys, Vernon, Obgazell, Iva
Dell, Fermon, Arnold, and finally Allene were added to the James Walter
family.
(1) Bonnie married Hayden Anderson Mercer. Their children
were Herman, Elton, David, and Dixie “Cooter” (see Silas Hood Mercer).
(2) Gladys married Westley Mask and they had a boy, Harold, and a girl,
Jimmy Carol.
(3) Vernon married Lucille Burker. They had two children: James
Wilborn and Joan.
(4) Olgazell married David Perkins and they had David Clark, Mary Louise,
and Bill.
(5) Iva Dell married Fred Briggs and they have one son, Freddie.
(6) Fermon married Annie Perry. Their children are Judy Ann and
Fermon Duwayne.
(7) Arnold married Marie Kelly. Their children are Arnold Lee
and Mackey.
(8) Allene married Charley Trapp. Their children are Bob, Lana
Kay, and Joe.
The Hueys were mostly agricultural people and grew mostly cotton.
They were tenant farmers, and lived on several places around Talpa, Gouldbusk,
and Coleman. I have heard my mother tell of the times when they lived
on the Old Hanks Ranch on Little Grape Creek. Poppa could always
go to the creek and catch a wash tub full of fish with a pole and stopper.
There was always plenty of quail in that area. Poppa Huey was a good
cotton farmer, and I enjoy owning the farm he once farmed as a tenant farmer.
Although this way of life has long since passed - I still look back to
these people and thank God for such a heritage.
Mary Eppa died in 1918, during the flu epidemic. During the Depression
and World War II, all of the James Walter children left the farm to seek
other employment as this way of life slowly came to an end. Vernon
and Arnold served in World War II. James Walter died in 1940, while
he was still farming the Lobstein farm just south of the Coleman Country
Club.
(Image to be added)
James Walter and Mary Eppa Huey
|
