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Tangopappa.com	Texas To Okla. For Elizabeth The Parson Family Story Chapter 05 Robert Franklin Parsons	N5VHR.com
Contents Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Helen's Benediction Wynn Haynie PHOTOS Stories and Tales (Mostly True)	THEIR AMERICA PART 2 Welcome, Elizabeth, to the world of your more recent ancestors. Having been inspired by your earlier ancestors, it is now time to visit the America of your Great Grandparents, who cemented the family traditions, values, and God-fearing independence of our family and were truly the generation that created the ties that bind our generations together. These are the folks that forged our past to our future and welded our families together. Great Grandparents Robert Franklin Parsons And Doris Oleta Lewallen Parsons Click For Larger Your Great Grandfather, Robert Franklin Parsons, was born on June 14, 1902 in McKinney, Collin Co., Texas, thirty miles south of the Red River. The fertile soil of this black land prairie, surrounded by gently rolling hills along the Trinity River, was one of the richest agricultural regions in Texas. He was the first of your ancestors to be born in Texas. His parents, Robert Lee (1874-1950) and America Elizabeth Elliot Parsons (1882-1950), had been traveling west in search of fertile farmland to raise their ever-growing family, which would eventually include thirteen children. Robert Franklin (Frank) was their fourth child and the oldest of their three sons. Your Great Grandmother, Doris Oleta Lewallen Parsons was born April 7, 1904. Her Grandparents, Lewis Marion Pope (1842-1877) and Serepta Agnes Large Pope (1842-1910) and their family of six children had traveled by wagon train to Kemp, Panola, Chickasaw Nation in Murray, Oklahoma from St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was James F. Llewallen (1862-1904) and her mother was Alice Pope Llewallen (1861-1950). Having been born into a new century, Frank and Doris’ America would certainly change from that of their parents. The century would begin with the assassination of one American President in 1901, William McKinley, and see the assassination of another, John F. Kennedy, in 1963, four years before Frank’s death. The first decade of this century would also see the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 and the Model T automobile that would change America, in 1908. On the 1910 Census, seven year old Frank was living in Township 6, Bryan, Oklahoma. His father and mother, Robert Lee, age thirty-three, and America Elizabeth Parsons, age twenty-six, had been born in Texas and Kentucky, respectively. His father was listed as married, white, Head of Household. Living with them were their children, Cora, age twelve; Lula, age ten; Eula, age eight; Frank, age seven; Lena, age five; John, age three; Ora, age two; and Fannie (Opal), less than age one. On this same census record page, in a separate entry, Robert Lee’s father James William Parsons, age sixty-one, and his wife Lula P. Parsons, age fiftytwo, are found. Living with them was their eighteen year old nephew Callie D. who was the son of James Williams brother, Dewitt Cleveland Parsons. The years between 1910 and 1920 would see not only the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 but also the first trans-continental telephone lines being established in 1915 that would soon provide a communication system run by women who would plug the phone line into the appropriate spot to connect one household to another. By 1917, the United States would become involved in World War \|. During these war years Frank would have been around fifteen years old. The Selective Service Act was not passed until May 18, 1917. It expanded the military through conscription and required men from the ages of twenty-one to forty-five to register, thus making Frank too young to fight in this war. The Spanish Flu Pandemic would ravage the world at about the time that Frank was becoming a young man, ready to set out on his own. In the years between 1918 and 1921, the Parsons children were enrolled in the Bryan Co. School System. No prior school records have been located, but it is presumed they were earlier enrolled in Bryan Co. schools, also at Yarnaby. At this time, Frank, age seventeen; Lena, age fifteen; John, age thirteen; Ora, age eleven; Opal, age nine; and Clara, age seven were all enrolled. In 1920, the urban population in America for the first time surpassed the rural population, but the American people were the best fed generation in the world’s history, thanks to the American farmer. Our troops in World War I were a food-rich army, with a five thousand calorie a day diet of twenty ounces of beef, a pound of potatoes, and a loaf of bread. Thanks to America’s rich soil, golden fields of corn and wheat, and robust production of pork, beef, and lamb, America thrived. In 1920, the Parsons family were still farming the land and were still living in Kemp, Bryan Co., Oklahoma, School District 26. Living in the household were Robert Lee, age forty-five, his wife, Lizzy, age thirty-nine; their children: Eula, age eighteen; Frank, age seventeen; Lena, age sixteen; John, age fourteen; Ora, age twelve; Opal, age ten; Clara, age eight; Harvey, age five; and Vera, age one. The same 1920 census would find Doris, age sixteen, also living in Kemp, Oklahoma with her mother Alice Llewallen, her brother Omer, age twenty-two; her sister, Annie, age twenty; and a boarder, Rose Warden, age forty-two. On Christmas Eve of 1920, Frank, age eighteen, was married to Doris Oleta Lewallen, age sixteen, in Yarnaby, Oklahoma, after having gotten their marriage license in Durant, witnessed by both Frank’s father, Robert Lee Parsons and Doris’ mother, Alice Llewallen after she had given consent for Doris to marry. The marriage took place at the Yarnaby Baptist Church, and was performed by Pastor W. A. Vinson of Hendrix. His wife, Minnie Vinson and J.W. Kennedy of Hendrix were witnesses. Doris” name on the marriage certificate is listed as Dorsey Lewallen, either a misspelling or perhaps Frank did call her Dorsey. In 1922, Frank and Doris, with the staunch conservative values of their ancestors, began to grow their family. Their oldest child, Thelma Ethel was born on April 22, 1922. Their second child, Robert Franklin (Frank Jr.) Parsons Jr., was born on April 2, 1924. This was your PaPa Frank. Their second son, Joseph Douglas (Joe), was born in Yarnaby on September 5, 1927. America was changing. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean and one hundred fifty million Model T’s rolled off Ford’s assembly line. The following year, Amelia Earhart’s plane was lost in the Pacific. Traveling America had changed. The 1930 Census shows Frank, age twenty seven, as Head of Household living with his wife Doris, age twenty-five, in Kemp Township E of Range line between Ranges 9 and 10 in Townships 8 and 9., Bryan Co., Oklahoma. (This more precise description is given in hopes that some future descendant can locate this small Oklahoma farm on a map.) Living with them were their three children;Thelma Ethel (Thelma), age seven; Robert Franklin Jr. (Frank Jr.), age six, and Joseph Douglas (Joe), who was listed as two years old. This same census page shows Lewis Pope and his wife Lilian, either Doris’ uncle or brother, one line down, which would have been on the adjoining property. The Great Depression was in full force from 1930-1933 and beyond, and times were hard. With the war’s end, the economy had slowed. After the stock market crash in 1929, four million Americans were looking for work by 1930 and by 1931 over six million people were out of work and over two thousand banks had failed. In addition, Oklahoma was in the midst of a severe drought; the Dust Bowl had begun, and market prices had rapidly dropped until they were well below the price of production. By 1932, market price for hogs was three cents a pound; cattle, two and a half cents a pound; corn, fifteen cents a bushel; and cotton, six cents a pound. Many farmers, who had borrowed against future crops, lost their land and became sharecroppers; working other’s land for a share of the profits. Those who could, hung on. So many Americans were thankful for a bowl of Hoover stew and bread lines in the cities increased daily. Thankfully, Frank was a farmer, in his prime, and continued to provide for his small family. Through grit and determination he was able to hold on to the family farm and Doris was able to carefully hoard her egg money. They had survived the most agonizing time in our history since the Civil War. In the 1932 Presidential Election, Candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for the government’s responsibility to guarantee every man a right to make a comfortable living, thus redefining the role of the federal government. His belief that government spending could end the depression by stimulating consumer demand resulted in his winning the election by a 57% margin and Democrats taking control of congress. In an attempt to end the depression, Roosevelt called for a four day “banking holiday” and a Federal Banking Act was passed insuring individual deposits and leading to millions of dollars being reinvested into the banking system and thus, the economy. He abandoned the gold standard in order to stop the run on precious metals and because the government could not print enough money to pay the growing debt. All citizens had to exchange their gold for paper bills issued by the United States Treasury. The exchange rate was $20.67 an ounce in 1933 and rose to S35 an ounce in 1934. The price of gold prior to this was a little over $32 an ounce. Punishments of up to a $10,000 fine or imprisonment were imposed on those who did not turn in their gold. It was not until two years after Frank’s death, in 1971, that it become legal for American citizens to again buy gold when it came back on the market at $70 an ounce, quickly rising to over $100 an ounce, and to slightly over $2000 an ounce currently (2023). Between 1933 and 1935, the New Deal was denounced by many Southern farmers, including Frank, who were vehemently against it. They believed, like President Herbert Hoover, that a freemarket economy would eventually right itself. The small government they had known and fought for would be changed into an ever increasing government bureaucracy that would seep into every corner of their lives. And so, it did. In order to re-balance supply and demand, the government ordered the slaughter of six million pigs and the plowing-under of ten million acres of cotton. All, as food lines grew by the thousands in the cities and farmers were forced to abandon their farms, loading all their possessions on rickety old trucks heading to California to pick fruit. So many were asking, “Brother, can you lend a dime?” An alphabet soup of federal agencies was created that did turn the economy around, but at what price? The free market economy became capitalism with safety nets and subsidies and by 1935, the federal government was becoming the nation’s biggest employer spawning the penning and publishing of the 1940 novel 1984 by George Orwell. In order to pay for these new agencies, the government cut military and civilian government pay by 15% and passed the Beer Wine Revenue Act to allow for the sale and federal taxation of alcoholic products until the Twenty First Amendment could be passed. Through these agencies, crop prices were successfully raised, thousands of miles of highways were completed and millions of trees were planted. In Oklahoma, many of the 203,000 farm families were provided cash benefit payments to cut production of agricultural commodities but many, including Frank, were critics of acreage and production controls. The Agricultural Assistant Act (AAA) distributed tens of millions of dollars to Oklahoma farmers yet the benefit payments did not bring much help to farmers on small acreages. The (WPA) Works Progress Administration focused on construction; especially farm-to-market roads, schools, armories, dams and reservoirs; another program Frank opposed and refused to work for. Starting pay was $35 a month. As the 1930’s ground along, the depression lingered. Around 1928, Doris’ brother, Oscar Lewallen, and two of his sisters, Annie Llewallen Carpenter, and Clara Llewallen Dollar and their families headed to Martinez, California. Her younger sister, Ora Della Llewallen Deloach, had married Leon Deloach and was living in Phoenix, Arizona in 1928, and died there in 1937 at the age of thirty, leaving four young children. Frank and Doris, then thirty-five and thirty-three, welcomed one of the four children, Rose Marie Deloach, age five, to live with them. At this time, Thelma was fifteen, Frank Jr, was thirteen and Joe was ten. Rose Marie’s older sister, Geneva Deloach, went to live with Frank’s younger brother Harvey, and his wife Willie Mae. Frank, Harvey, and Lewis Pope, Doris’ uncle or brother, are all listed on the same page in the 1940 census, so lived in very close proximity. Yet unable to find who raised Ora Della’s other two children, Kenneth and Maxine, it is likely they were raised by other members of the Parson or Deloach family. Remembering that this was a time during the Great Depression and times were hard, it does not seem quite so unusual that the children were separated. But, their father, Leon DelLoach always made it very clear that he was the children’s father but just needed help in raising them. Rose Marie and the other three children’s last name would always remain Deloach. In the 1940 Census, Frank is thirty-seven years old, Doris is thirty-five years old, and they are still living in the same small house on the same small farm in Bryan Co. Living in their household are Frank Jr., age 16, Joe, age 14, and Rose Marie; age eight. Thelma, in 1940, had married Leonard Eugene (Gene) Scott, (1921-1990) and is not included on this census record. Harvey and Willie Mae Parsons are located on the same census record several lines up so were apparently Frank and Doris’ close neighbors. He was twenty-six and she was twenty-one. Living with them were Geneva DelLoach, age six, and Ramona, age O (less than a year old). R.L. and Lizzie Parson are also found on this same census page, one line above Harvey and Willie Mae. The Treaty of Versailles, which had ended World War \|, had not achieved it’s ultimate goal of establishing world peace, and instead, led to conditions in Germany which would ultimately lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler and a second World War. In the early 1940’s, Robert Franklin Parsons, (Frank), filled out his Draft Registration card. He was in his forties, 5 ft. 4 in. tall, 131 lbs., blue eyes, brown hair and had a ruddy complexion. He was a self-employed farmer and was registered in Hendrix, Bryan Co., Oklahoma. As he had been too young to serve in World War I, he was now too old to serve in World War II. The second World War began in 1939, but the United States did not declare war until December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed our military base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroying or damaging 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 U.S. battleships. This war would be fought and won by the next generation. Frank and Doris would spend these war years on the farm in Oklahoma. Their children were growing up and starting families of their own. In 1950, Frank and Doris, now in their mid forties, would take a path that would lead them to a new and different America; one of dry, desolate, flat, barren and dusty landscapes. They would sell the beloved family farm and move from Oklahoma to Lovington, New Mexico. Their son, Frank Jr., had sold his farm and moved his family to Lovington in 1950 when he was unable to continue farming in Oklahoma due to “Farmer’s Lung”, and had been advised to move to a drier climate. Always a very hard worker with a strong determination to succeed, as well as being on the sunny side of forty, Frank Jr. had taken a road trip to Southeastern New Mexico with Doris’ brother, John Llewallen looking for a community in which to find a building to start a small grocery store. Looking around Roswell, New Mexico, they decided that the smaller community of Lovington, New Mexico would afford him a better opportunity to begin a growing business. Lovington had been a small, but thriving, farming and ranch community until the discovery of the Denton Oil Pool in 1950 when the population exploded. The population had slowly grown from 411 in 1920to 1,916 in 1940 and from 1940 to 1960 had experienced a 500% increase in population. The thriving community had numerous churches, banks, hotels, boarding houses, cafes, grocery stores, laundromats, barbers, doctors, lawyers, gas stations, mechanic shops, jewelry stores, five and dimes, and oil field supply stores. It was a clean, well cared for community, with an excellent school system. It was in it’s heyday. And FrankJr.”s small grocery store grew and thrived. Also, Frank and Doris’ daughter Thelma had married Eugene (Gene) Scott, a farmer from Loop, Texas and Rose Marie had married Eugene’s brother, Ray Scott, and also moved to a farm in Gains Co. Texas. Joe, Frank’s youngest son had married Clara Whitley of Lamesa, Texas and the family would all be within sixty miles of each other for the next generation. In the 1950’s, Frank would work at a gas station on Main Street, then later at his son Joe’s Cosden Gas Station on the corner of First Street and Ave. D. in Lovington. Frank Jr. had opened his first small family food market a block away on Second Street and Avenue D, with family living quarters in the back of the market, where Helen’s sister, Ruth Ann Putman, would help care for the four small, young children while Frank and Helen would work from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night; six days a week. These were the days that Frank and Doris’ grandchildren would remember and cherish; a shaded front porch swing and a sunny backyard, a picnic table filled with food, and lots of cousins, both Parsons' and Scott's, totaling seventeen, in all. This was a small group for Frank as he had forty nine cousins on the Llewallen side at least ten on the Parson side. As the 1950’s rolled into the 1960’s, Doris’ health remained strong, but Franks declined. He suffered a heart attack and recovered, but two years later was diagnosed with throat cancer. His son, Frank Jr. and his daughter-in-law, Helen, took him to Scott-White Clinic in Temple, Texas but Frank refused the disfiguring surgery recommended and they came home. Home to buy a farm; home to where Frank could be in his America again. Frank Jr. bought a small farm on the Denver City Highway where they raised hogs and planted hay. It was here that Frank spent many happy days. Frank died on September 2, 1967. He is buried in Lovington, Lea Co., New Mexico. Doris went on living in the small home on Ave, F and remained in good health, eventually marrying Ernest (Shorty) Taylor, around 1980, and moving to a large home on Avenue K, across the street from Lovington High School. As he aged and became ill, Shorty’s family moved him to California to be close to them and Doris remained in the house on Av. K. until her death on August 27, 1990. She is buried beside Frank at Lovington Cemetery, Lovington, New Mexico. This was the generation that showed us what happens when adversity meets integrity. Honesty was their rule of thumb and they refused to eat humble pie. They would hold their horses and keep their eyes peeled, waiting for better days. In their prime, and up to their eyeballs in work, they seldom let their hair down, mostly ignored the elephant in the room, and always worked harder than you can shake a stick at. They were as pleased as punch by their offspring and showed us that blood is thicker than water. When they were no longer spring chickens, they still played with a full deck, seldom flying off the handle, but always showing their true colors; and always honoring the red, white, and blue. Yes, they were made in America! Robert Franklin Parson Rabbit Holes Doris Oleta Llewallen Parsons Gomer Llewallen was born in Wales on April 30, 1827. He and his wife, Leanna Rabin, who was born in 1840, immigrated to America and in the 1870’s lived in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio. They had four sons and three daughters. One of these sons was James F. Llewallen (1862-1904), Doris’ father. He was from St. Louis, Missouri and was married to Alice Almeda Pope (1861-1950). She was from Michigan and was from a long line United Brethren Ministers, an evangelical Christian denomination with roots in the early Mennonite movement in Pennsylvania as well as close ties to Methodism. It was one of the five historic “Peace Churches” with strong beliefs in the more literal translation of the New Testament and a strong political belief as well, in pacifism. Alice had traveled west on a wagon train from St. Louis, Missouri with her father and mother, Lewis Marion Pope(1842-1877) and Serepta Agnes Large Pope, (1842-1910) who by 1870, both at the age of twenty-seven, had arrived in Prairie Township, Wyandot Co., Kansas with their four children: Squire, age nine; Alice, age five; Oscar, age three; and Esther, less than a year old. Two other children would later be born into this family, Lewis H. (1875) and Arthur (1877), the same year his father Lewis Marion Pope died. Doris’ father and mother were very early settlers in the Oklahoma Territory, at least a decade before the area had been opened up for white settlement with the Great Land Rush not occurring until 1889. The children born to Doris’ parents, James and Alice Lewallen, were all born between 1884 and 1904 in Indian Township, Chickasaw Nation, Payne, Oklahoma. Granny Doris was the youngest child in this family of six children. The oldest of these children was Clara (1884-1948.) Both parents were twenty-two when she was born. Next, came three boys: Oscar Lewis (1889-1957), John Lewis (1895-1952), and Omer Frank (1897-1977). The next child was Annie Elizabeth (1899-1989), and the youngest daughter was Doris Oleta (1904-1990). Her father, James F. Llewallen, was forty-three when she was born and he died the same year. Her mother was forty-four. The older children were twenty, thirteen, nine, seven and five. In the 1920 Census, Alice A. Llewallen , as Head of Household, lived in Kemp, Oklahoma with her youngest three children; Omer, age twenty-two, Annie, age twenty, and Doris, age sixteen. Also living in the household was Rose Warden, age forty-two. The same year, on December 24, 1920, Doris would marry Robert Franklin (Frank) Parson and our families would be joined. Her parents, James F. Llewallen and Alice Pope Llewallen are buried at Kemp Cemetery, Kemp, Oklahoma. Their headstone reads “At Evening Time It Shall Be Light” from Zechariah 14:7. Rabbit Holes The Ins and Outs of the Aunts and Uncles Robert Frank’s (1902-1967) Brothers and Sisters Cora Catherine Parsons Spaur (1897-1990) Lula Jane Parsons Kennedy (1898-1970) Eula Mae Parsons Brady Flinn (1900-1985) Virginia Elaine (Lena) Parsons (1903-1994) John Lee Parsons (1906-1981) Ora Della Parsons Deloach (1907-1937) Fannie Opal Parsons Adams (1908-1996) Clara Belle Parsons Fitzgerald Wright (1911-200) Dolly (1913-1913) Harvey Eugene Parsons (1914-1982) m. Willie Mae Harrison Vera Parsons Harris Webster (1918-1999) Viva Lorene (1920-1920) Rabbit Holes The Ins and Outs of the Aunts and Uncles Doris Oleta’s (1904-1990) Brothers and Sisters Clara Lewallen Dollar (1884-1948) Oscar Lewis Lewallen (1889-1957) m. Rosa Belle Herndon (1895-1990) John Louis Lewallen (1895-1952) m. Ora Lee Grace (1896-1988) Omer Frank Lewallen (1897-1977) m. Mollie Lorena Carpenter (1902-i993) Annie Elizabeth Lewallen Carpenter (1899-1989) Rabbit Holes Cherished Memories of Granny Doris By Carole Burke Parson Growing up, I spent many hours with Granny Doris. Her house was my safe place where \| was blessed with all the attention any child could want. \| didn’t have to do anything but sit and listen to her stories about her life growing up which I loved hearing even though I'd heard them many times before. We sang her favorite song “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” listened to the little blind boy sing “Peace in the Valley” on her cabinet 78 record player, and leaned the words to Author Godfrey’s “If you Like It, Holler Yea; If You Don’t, You holler Boo!” HOWEVER: Granny Doris had no sense of humor AT ALL! Jokes went right over her head and she couldn’t figure out what you were talking about. She would get frustrated, then angry, when she figured out we were just joshing her. And Granddad delighted in doing just that. And I am sorry to say I was usually a willing accomplice. He came home for lunch one day and told her he needed to get a new back window for the car. (Heat had shattered the glass that morning.) When she asked what happened to it, he told her, (with a straight face) that the police were chasing him and shot out the back window. Of course, she fell for it and came unglued. “OMG, they could have killed you.....they have no business shooting at people.....I'm going to call Frank Jr......Somebody has to do something.....” He let her carry on for quite a while before he finally told her the truth. Boy! Was she angry! Rabbit Holes Frank and Doris Parson My memories of my Grandad Frank and my Granny Doris don’t begin until they too lived in Lovington in the small two bedroom house on Ave. F in Lovington where they also rented out trailer spaces. \| was in grade school at the time. I loved swinging on their front porch swing and the Parsons Easter reunions we had in their backyard. Lots of delicious food and lots of cousins! In the earlier years, \| remember being totally mesmerized by my Grandad Frank. To me, he was like the Pied Piper, this charming small man with the bright blue, slightly squinted, twinkling eyes of what I truly believed had to be an Irishman. He was always joshing us and we were charmed. I think if one wants to know what Grandad Frank was really like, they need to look no further than his Grandson, Doug Scott. Truly, the “Old Uncles” of these two generations. After Frank became sick, Frank Jr. bought a small farm out on the Denver City Highway, a place where Grandad could again be in his America. They both loved the land and they both loved farming. Frank Jr. would pick him up in the morning and take him out to the farm where they would plant or harvest hay grazer, feed the horse and pigs, and do whatever chores were necessary. The farm gave him many hours of pleasure in his later years. When Grandad Frank became sick and was in the hospital, he always wanted us to get money out of his bedside drawer to go get a treat from the hospital’s gift shop; money which Frank Jr. always kept replenished in spite of Granny Doris always trying her best to take it! Yes, indeed, Granny Doris was a thrifty woman! Being raised as the cherished youngest daughter, it has been reported that she was a very spoiled child. And so she would remain. Grandad Frank must have had his hands full! She took everything very literally, and \| can see her to this day, frantically waving her hands and arms in frustration. When \| was about thirteen and ironing at the old ironing board in her kitchen, she asked me why my shoulders were so deformed. It was a hot summer day and \| was wearing a sleeveless shirt and my “angel wings” otherwise known as bony shoulders were showing. I told her that is just the way my shoulders were and her reply assured me that it was ok to be deformed. That was my Granny Doris. In later years, \| came to recognize what a deeply religious woman she was and how she never quite accepted the changes in her America. She never worked outside the home except perhaps once for a couple of weeks at Dewey’s Department Store. This was a Jewish Department Store in Lovington, New Mexico, heavily laden with jobbers merchandise where one could purchase anything from workman’s overalls to delicate ladies calf skinned gloves, and everything in between. She never learned to drive a car and assured us that she never had so much as a sip of alcohol. However, she did love her Geritol! As she aged, her necklaces and clip-on earrings became a bit more gaudy and her face powder became a little thicker and a little lighter each year. Her fine, thin, permed hair became a little blacker, and her lipstick a brighter red. Her perfumed scent was that which only a grandmother can have; powdery and floral scented. Wads of bills were still hidden in socks all around her house. And yes, Elizabeth, she always cheated at Yahtzee! My most treasured memory of my Granny Doris came several months after her death. All of a sudden, my head jerked around to my right shoulder, and \| immediately knew she was right there. Right there on my shoulder! Oh, how blessed, but undeserving \| felt! That happened six or seven times over the next several months and then, never again. Can’t explain it, but know it was real and can’t wait to hug that sweet woman again. Rabbit Holes Black Irish Having always heard while growing up that we were part Black Irish, and never understanding the meaning, \| have recently explored the topic and this is what \| have found: This is a uniquely American term for Irish Americans who do not have the same characteristics of the traditional Irish population, that being red hair and a light or ruddy complexion. The Black Irish, in America, is a subset of the Irish people based entirely on three physical characteristics, hair color, eye color, and skin color. Their hair will be dark, their eyes will be perhaps brown or hazel, and their skin tone will be darker, or perhaps even olive. It is a term that is not related at all to cultural differences. It is still very confusing. Both Frank Sr. and Frank Jr. had cotton-blonde hair as youngsters, Sr. with blue eyes and Jr. with brown, and as yet, \| have not found any link to Irish ancestry. There must be! Rabbit Holes Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch This small village in the north of Wales is pronounced Llan-vire-pooll-guin-gill-go-ger-uqueern- drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch. And yes, it has fifty-eight letters and we are hopeful that Doris Lewallen’s’” Grandfather Gomer Lewallen and Great Grandfather Ebenezer Llewallen did not grow up here. What a difficult time young students must have had learning how to spell the name of their village! The name means ”Church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpools and the church of St. Tysilio and the red cave.” The Welsh language is one of the two official languages of Wales, the other being English. It is a beautiful language and is the last of the Celtic languages still being spoken today. Note to Troy Harris: In Wales, sheep outnumber humans three to one. I think it is a place you would very much like! Rabbit Holes John Lewis Llewallen John Lewis Llewallen, (Uncle John), (1895-1952), holds a special place in our family. He was seven years older than his brother Frank and had a very close relationship with his nephew Frank Jr. His wife Ora was a rather stern domineering woman who greatly frightened Franks’ Granddaughters, Carole, Paulette, and Paula. His only child, John Edward (1924-1991) was the same age as Frank Jr. but apparently had few goals and little direction in life. As a very hard working and very successful farmer in Albany, Oklahoma, John greatly admired Frank Jr.’s hard work and drive to succeed. They became very close. When Frank Jr. became sick and could no longer farm, he and Uncle John took a road trip to New Mexico looking for new opportunities. They chose the small town of Lovington, NM. and it was there that Frank Jr. opened his first small grocery store and for many years thereafter, Frank Jr. would fondly tell stories of his Uncle John. Rabbit Holes Shorty We cannot leave our family story without giving a respectful nod to Shorty, (Ernest Taylor), a delightfully small, but mighty, man. Almost blind, and probably less than five foot tall, he was always, always, always happy. Coming only chest high to many of the women in our family, he loved a good hug and when he found something interesting to look at (like your Chatty Cathy doll, Elizabeth) he would hold it an inch away from his eyes for the longest time and grin broadly. He was fascinated! Yes, he was a small man, but a mighty one! In his younger years, he had fallen from the top of an oil derrick and broken almost all of the bones in his body. He eventually healed, and never looked back. He was the toughest old man I’'ve ever met!
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THEIR AMERICA PART 2

Welcome, Elizabeth, to the world of your more recent ancestors.

Having been inspired by your earlier ancestors, it is now time to visit the America
of your Great Grandparents, who cemented the family traditions, values, and God-fearing
independence of our family and were truly the generation that created the ties that bind our generations together. These are the folks that forged our past to our future and welded our families together.

Great Grandparents
Robert Franklin Parsons
And
Doris Oleta Lewallen Parsons

Click For Larger

Your Great Grandfather, Robert Franklin Parsons, was born on June 14, 1902 in McKinney, Collin Co., Texas, thirty miles south of the Red River. The fertile soil of this black land prairie, surrounded by gently rolling hills along the Trinity River, was one of
the richest agricultural regions in Texas. He was the first of your ancestors to be born in
Texas.

His parents, Robert Lee (1874-1950) and America Elizabeth Elliot Parsons (1882-1950),
had been traveling west in search of fertile farmland to raise their ever-growing family, which would eventually include thirteen children. Robert Franklin (Frank) was their fourth child and the oldest of their three sons.

Your Great Grandmother, Doris Oleta Lewallen Parsons was born April 7, 1904. Her Grandparents, Lewis Marion Pope (1842-1877) and Serepta Agnes Large Pope (1842-1910) and their family of six children had traveled by wagon train to Kemp, Panola, Chickasaw Nation in Murray, Oklahoma from St. Louis, Missouri.

Her father was James F. Llewallen (1862-1904)
and her mother was Alice Pope Llewallen (1861-1950).

Having been born into a new century, Frank and Doris’ America would certainly change from that of their parents. The century would begin with the assassination of one American President in 1901, William McKinley, and see the assassination of another, John F. Kennedy, in 1963, four years before Frank’s death.

The first decade of this century would also see the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 and the Model T automobile that would change America, in 1908.

On the 1910 Census, seven year old Frank was living in Township 6, Bryan, Oklahoma. His father and mother, Robert Lee, age thirty-three, and America Elizabeth Parsons, age twenty-six, had been born in Texas and Kentucky, respectively. His father was listed as married, white, Head of Household. Living with them were their children,
Cora, age twelve;
Lula, age ten;
Eula, age eight;
Frank, age seven;
Lena, age five;
John, age three;
Ora, age two;
and Fannie (Opal), less than age one.

On this same census record page, in a separate entry, Robert Lee’s father James William Parsons, age sixty-one, and his wife Lula P. Parsons, age fiftytwo, are found. Living with them was their eighteen year old nephew Callie D. who was the son of James Williams brother, Dewitt Cleveland Parsons.

The years between 1910 and 1920 would see not only the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 but also the first trans-continental telephone lines being established in 1915 that would soon provide a communication system run by women who would plug the phone line into the appropriate spot to connect one household to another.

By 1917, the United States would become involved in World War |. During these war years
Frank would have been around fifteen years old. The Selective Service Act was not passed until May 18, 1917. It expanded the military through conscription and required men from the ages of twenty-one to forty-five to register, thus making Frank too young to fight in this war.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic would ravage the world at about the time that Frank was becoming a young man, ready to set out on his own.

In the years between 1918 and 1921, the Parsons children were enrolled in the Bryan Co. School System. No prior school records have been located, but it is presumed they were earlier enrolled in Bryan Co. schools, also at Yarnaby. At this time, Frank, age seventeen; Lena, age fifteen; John, age thirteen; Ora, age eleven; Opal, age nine; and Clara, age seven were all enrolled.

In 1920, the urban population in America for the first time surpassed the rural population, but the American people were the best fed generation in the world’s history, thanks to the American farmer.

Our troops in World War I were a food-rich army, with a five thousand calorie a day diet of twenty ounces of beef, a pound of potatoes, and a loaf of bread. Thanks to America’s rich soil, golden fields of corn and wheat, and robust production of pork, beef, and lamb, America thrived.

In 1920, the Parsons family were still farming the land and were still living in Kemp, Bryan Co., Oklahoma, School District 26. Living in the
household were
Robert Lee, age forty-five,
his wife,
Lizzy, age thirty-nine;
their children:
Eula, age eighteen;
Frank, age seventeen;
Lena, age sixteen;
John, age fourteen;
Ora, age twelve;
Opal, age ten;
Clara, age eight;
Harvey, age five;
and Vera, age one.

The same 1920 census would find Doris, age sixteen, also living in Kemp, Oklahoma with her mother Alice Llewallen, her brother Omer, age twenty-two; her sister, Annie, age twenty; and a boarder, Rose Warden, age forty-two.

On Christmas Eve of 1920, Frank, age eighteen, was married to Doris Oleta Lewallen, age sixteen, in Yarnaby, Oklahoma, after having gotten their marriage license in Durant, witnessed by both Frank’s father, Robert Lee Parsons and Doris’ mother, Alice Llewallen after she had given consent for Doris to marry.

The marriage took place at the
Yarnaby Baptist Church, and was performed by Pastor W. A. Vinson of Hendrix. His wife, Minnie Vinson and J.W. Kennedy of Hendrix were witnesses. Doris” name on the marriage certificate is listed as Dorsey Lewallen, either a misspelling or perhaps Frank did call her Dorsey.

In 1922, Frank and Doris, with the staunch conservative values of their ancestors, began to
grow their family. Their oldest child, Thelma Ethel was born on April 22, 1922. Their second child, Robert Franklin (Frank Jr.) Parsons Jr., was born on April 2, 1924. This was your PaPa Frank. Their second son, Joseph Douglas (Joe), was born in Yarnaby on September 5, 1927.

America was changing. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean and one hundred fifty million Model T’s rolled off Ford’s assembly line. The following year, Amelia Earhart’s plane was lost in the Pacific. Traveling America had changed.

The 1930 Census shows Frank, age twenty seven, as Head of Household living with his wife
Doris, age twenty-five, in Kemp Township E of Range line between Ranges 9 and 10 in Townships 8 and 9., Bryan Co., Oklahoma.
(This more precise
description is given in hopes that some future
descendant can locate this small Oklahoma farm on
a map.)

Living with them were their three children;Thelma Ethel (Thelma), age seven; Robert Franklin Jr. (Frank Jr.), age six, and Joseph Douglas (Joe), who was listed as two years old.

This same census page shows Lewis Pope and his wife Lilian, either Doris’ uncle or brother, one line down, which would have been on the adjoining property.

The Great Depression was in full force from 1930-1933 and beyond, and times were hard. With the war’s end, the economy had slowed. After the stock market crash in 1929, four million Americans were looking for work by 1930 and by 1931 over six million people were out of work and over two thousand banks had failed.

In addition, Oklahoma was in the midst of a severe drought; the Dust Bowl had begun, and market prices had rapidly dropped until they were well below the price of production.
By 1932, market price for hogs was three cents a pound; cattle, two and a half cents a pound; corn, fifteen cents a bushel; and cotton, six cents a pound. Many farmers, who had borrowed against future crops, lost their land and became sharecroppers; working other’s land for a share of the profits.

Those who could, hung on. So many Americans were thankful for a bowl of Hoover stew and bread lines in the cities increased daily.

Thankfully, Frank was a farmer, in his prime, and continued to provide for his small family. Through grit and determination he was able to hold on to the family farm and Doris was able to carefully hoard her egg money.

They had survived the most agonizing time in our history since the Civil War.
In the 1932 Presidential Election, Candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for the
government’s responsibility to guarantee every man a right to make a comfortable living, thus redefining the role of the federal government. His belief that government spending could end the depression by stimulating consumer demand resulted in his winning the election by a 57% margin and Democrats taking control of congress.

In an attempt to end the depression, Roosevelt called for a four day “banking holiday” and a Federal Banking Act was passed insuring individual deposits and leading to millions of dollars being reinvested into the banking system and thus, the economy.

He abandoned the gold standard in order to stop the run on precious metals and because the government could not print enough money to pay the growing debt. All citizens had to exchange their gold for paper bills issued by the United States Treasury. The exchange rate was $20.67 an ounce in 1933 and rose to S35 an ounce in 1934. The price of gold prior to this was a little over $32 an ounce. Punishments of up to a $10,000 fine or imprisonment were imposed on those who did not turn in their gold.

It was not until two years after Frank’s death, in 1971, that it become legal for American citizens to again buy gold when it came back on the market at $70 an ounce, quickly rising
to over $100 an ounce, and to slightly over $2000 an ounce currently (2023).

Between 1933 and 1935, the New Deal was denounced by many Southern farmers, including Frank, who were vehemently against it. They believed, like President Herbert Hoover, that a freemarket economy would eventually right itself. The small government they had known and fought for would be changed into an ever increasing government bureaucracy that would seep into every corner of their lives. And so, it did.

In order to re-balance supply and demand, the government ordered the slaughter of six million pigs and the plowing-under of ten million acres of cotton. All, as food lines grew by the thousands in the cities and farmers were forced to abandon their farms, loading all their possessions on rickety old trucks heading to California to pick fruit. So many
were asking, “Brother, can you lend a dime?”

An alphabet soup of federal agencies was created that did turn the economy around, but at
what price? The free market economy became capitalism with safety nets and subsidies and by 1935, the federal government was becoming the nation’s biggest employer spawning the penning and publishing of the 1940 novel 1984 by George Orwell.

In order to pay for these new agencies, the government cut military and civilian government pay by 15% and passed the Beer Wine Revenue Act to allow for the sale and federal taxation of alcoholic products until the Twenty First Amendment could be passed.

Through these agencies, crop prices were successfully raised, thousands of miles of highways were completed and millions of trees were planted.

In Oklahoma, many of the 203,000 farm families were provided cash benefit payments to cut production of agricultural commodities but many, including Frank, were critics of acreage and production controls. The Agricultural Assistant Act (AAA) distributed tens of millions of dollars to Oklahoma farmers yet the benefit payments did not bring much help to farmers on small acreages.

The (WPA) Works Progress Administration focused on construction; especially farm-to-market roads, schools, armories, dams and reservoirs; another program Frank opposed and refused to work for. Starting pay was $35 a month.

As the 1930’s ground along, the depression lingered.

Around 1928, Doris’ brother, Oscar Lewallen, and two of his sisters, Annie Llewallen Carpenter, and Clara Llewallen Dollar and their families headed to Martinez, California. Her younger sister, Ora Della Llewallen Deloach, had married Leon Deloach and was living in Phoenix, Arizona in 1928, and died there in 1937 at the age of thirty, leaving four young children.

Frank and Doris, then thirty-five and thirty-three, welcomed one of the four children, Rose Marie Deloach, age five, to live with them. At this time, Thelma was fifteen, Frank Jr, was thirteen and Joe was ten. Rose Marie’s older sister, Geneva Deloach, went to live with Frank’s younger brother Harvey, and his wife Willie Mae.

Frank, Harvey, and Lewis Pope, Doris’ uncle or brother, are all listed on the same page in the 1940 census, so lived in very close proximity. Yet unable to find who raised Ora
Della’s other two children, Kenneth and Maxine, it is likely they were raised by other members of the Parson or Deloach family.

Remembering that this was a time during the Great Depression and times were hard, it does not seem quite so unusual that the children were separated. But, their father, Leon DelLoach always made it very clear that he was the children’s father but just needed help in raising them. Rose Marie and the other three children’s last name would always remain Deloach.

In the 1940 Census, Frank is thirty-seven years old, Doris is thirty-five years old, and they are still living in the same small house on the same small farm in Bryan Co. Living in their household are
Frank Jr., age 16,
Joe, age 14,
and Rose Marie; age eight.

Thelma, in 1940, had married Leonard Eugene (Gene) Scott, (1921-1990) and is
not included on this census record. Harvey and Willie Mae Parsons are located on
the same census record several lines up so were apparently Frank and Doris’ close neighbors. He was twenty-six and she was twenty-one. Living with them were Geneva DelLoach, age six, and Ramona, age O (less than a year old).

R.L. and Lizzie Parson are also found on this same census page, one line above Harvey and Willie Mae.

The Treaty of Versailles, which had ended World War |, had not achieved it’s ultimate goal of establishing world peace, and instead, led to conditions in Germany which would ultimately lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler and a second World War.

In the early 1940’s, Robert Franklin Parsons, (Frank), filled out his Draft Registration card. He was in his forties, 5 ft. 4 in. tall, 131 lbs., blue eyes, brown hair and had a ruddy complexion. He was a self-employed farmer and was registered in Hendrix, Bryan Co., Oklahoma. As he had been too young to serve in World War I, he was now too old
to serve in World War II.

The second World War began in 1939, but the United States did not declare war until December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed our military base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroying or damaging 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 U.S. battleships.

This war would be fought and won by the next
generation.

Frank and Doris would spend these war years on the farm in Oklahoma. Their children were growing up and starting families of their own. In 1950, Frank and Doris, now in their mid forties, would take a path that would lead them to a new and different America; one of dry, desolate, flat, barren and dusty landscapes. They would sell the beloved family farm and move from Oklahoma to Lovington, New Mexico.

Their son, Frank Jr., had sold his farm and moved his family to Lovington in 1950 when he was unable to continue farming in Oklahoma due to “Farmer’s Lung”, and had been advised to move to a drier climate. Always a very hard worker with a strong determination to succeed, as well as being on the sunny side of forty, Frank Jr. had taken a road trip to
Southeastern New Mexico with Doris’ brother, John Llewallen looking for a community in which to find a building to start a small grocery store. Looking around Roswell, New Mexico, they decided that the smaller community of Lovington, New Mexico
would afford him a better opportunity to begin a growing business.

Lovington had been a small, but thriving, farming and ranch community until the discovery of the Denton Oil Pool in 1950 when the population exploded. The population had slowly grown from 411 in 1920to 1,916 in 1940 and from 1940 to 1960 had experienced a 500% increase in population.

The thriving community had numerous churches, banks, hotels, boarding houses, cafes, grocery stores, laundromats, barbers, doctors, lawyers, gas stations, mechanic shops, jewelry stores, five and dimes, and oil field supply stores. It was a clean, well cared for community, with an excellent school system. It was in it’s heyday. And FrankJr.”s small
grocery store grew and thrived.

Also, Frank and Doris’ daughter Thelma had married Eugene (Gene) Scott, a farmer from Loop, Texas and Rose Marie had married Eugene’s brother, Ray Scott, and also moved to a farm in Gains Co. Texas.

Joe, Frank’s youngest son had married Clara Whitley of Lamesa, Texas and the family would all be within sixty miles of each other for the next generation.

In the 1950’s, Frank would work at a gas station on Main Street, then later at his son Joe’s Cosden Gas Station on the corner of First Street and Ave. D. in Lovington.

Frank Jr. had opened his first small family food market a block away on Second Street
and Avenue D, with family living quarters in the back of the market, where Helen’s sister, Ruth Ann Putman, would help care for the four small, young children while Frank and Helen would work from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night; six days a week.

These were the days that Frank and Doris’ grandchildren would remember and cherish; a
shaded front porch swing and a sunny backyard, a picnic table filled with food, and lots of cousins, both Parsons' and Scott's, totaling seventeen, in all. This was a small group for Frank as he had forty nine cousins on the Llewallen side at least ten on the Parson side.

As the 1950’s rolled into the 1960’s, Doris’ health remained strong, but Franks declined. He suffered a heart attack and recovered, but two years later was diagnosed with throat cancer. His son, Frank Jr. and his daughter-in-law, Helen, took him to Scott-White Clinic in Temple, Texas but Frank refused the disfiguring surgery recommended and they came
home.

Home to buy a farm; home to where Frank could be in his America again. Frank Jr. bought a small farm on the Denver City Highway where they raised hogs and planted hay. It
was here that Frank spent many happy days. Frank died on September 2, 1967. He is buried in Lovington, Lea Co., New Mexico.

Doris went on living in the small home on Ave, F and remained in good health, eventually marrying Ernest (Shorty) Taylor, around 1980, and moving to a large home on Avenue K, across the street from Lovington High School. As he aged and became ill, Shorty’s family moved him to California to be close to them and Doris remained in the house on Av. K. until her death on August 27, 1990. She is buried beside Frank at Lovington Cemetery, Lovington, New Mexico.

This was the generation that showed us what happens when adversity meets integrity. Honesty was their rule of thumb and they refused to eat humble pie. They would hold their horses and keep their eyes peeled, waiting for better days. In their prime, and up to their eyeballs in work, they seldom let their hair down, mostly ignored the elephant in
the room, and always worked harder than you can shake a stick at. They were as pleased as punch by their offspring and showed us that blood is thicker than water.

When they were no longer spring chickens, they still played with a full deck, seldom
flying off the handle, but always showing their true colors; and always honoring the red, white, and blue. Yes, they were made in America!

Robert Franklin Parson

Rabbit Holes

Doris Oleta Llewallen Parsons

Gomer Llewallen was born in Wales on April 30, 1827. He and his wife, Leanna Rabin, who was born in 1840, immigrated to America and in the 1870’s lived in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio. They had four sons and three daughters.

One of these sons was James F. Llewallen (1862-1904), Doris’ father. He was from St. Louis, Missouri and was married to Alice Almeda Pope (1861-1950). She was from Michigan and was from a long line United Brethren Ministers, an evangelical Christian denomination with roots in the early Mennonite movement in Pennsylvania as well as close ties to
Methodism. It was one of the five historic “Peace Churches” with strong beliefs in the more literal translation of the New Testament and a strong political belief as well, in pacifism.

Alice had traveled west on a wagon train from St. Louis, Missouri with her father and mother, Lewis Marion Pope(1842-1877) and Serepta Agnes Large Pope, (1842-1910) who by 1870, both at the age of twenty-seven, had arrived in Prairie Township, Wyandot Co., Kansas with their four children: Squire, age nine; Alice, age five; Oscar, age three; and Esther, less than a year old. Two other children would later be born into this family, Lewis H. (1875) and Arthur (1877), the same year his father Lewis Marion Pope died.

Doris’ father and mother were very early settlers in the Oklahoma Territory, at least a decade before the area had been opened up for white settlement with the Great Land Rush not occurring until 1889.

The children born to Doris’ parents, James and Alice Lewallen, were all born between 1884 and 1904 in Indian Township, Chickasaw Nation, Payne, Oklahoma.

Granny Doris was the youngest child in this family of six children. The oldest of these children was Clara (1884-1948.) Both parents were twenty-two when she was born. Next, came three boys: Oscar Lewis (1889-1957), John Lewis (1895-1952), and Omer Frank (1897-1977). The next child was Annie Elizabeth (1899-1989), and the youngest daughter
was Doris Oleta (1904-1990). Her father, James F. Llewallen, was forty-three when she was born and he died the same year. Her mother was forty-four. The older children were twenty, thirteen, nine, seven and five.

In the 1920 Census, Alice A. Llewallen , as Head of Household, lived in Kemp, Oklahoma with her youngest three children; Omer, age twenty-two, Annie, age twenty, and Doris, age sixteen. Also living in the household was Rose Warden, age forty-two.

The same year, on December 24, 1920, Doris would marry Robert Franklin (Frank) Parson and our families would be joined. Her parents, James F. Llewallen and Alice Pope Llewallen are buried at Kemp Cemetery, Kemp, Oklahoma. Their headstone reads

“At Evening Time It Shall Be Light” from
Zechariah 14:7.

The Ins and Outs of the Aunts and Uncles

Robert Frank’s (1902-1967) Brothers and Sisters

Cora Catherine Parsons Spaur (1897-1990)
Lula Jane Parsons Kennedy (1898-1970)
Eula Mae Parsons Brady Flinn (1900-1985)
Virginia Elaine (Lena) Parsons (1903-1994)
John Lee Parsons (1906-1981)
Ora Della Parsons Deloach (1907-1937)
Fannie Opal Parsons Adams (1908-1996)
Clara Belle Parsons Fitzgerald Wright (1911-200)
Dolly (1913-1913)
Harvey Eugene Parsons (1914-1982)
m. Willie Mae Harrison
Vera Parsons Harris Webster (1918-1999)
Viva Lorene (1920-1920)

The Ins and Outs of the Aunts and Uncles
Doris Oleta’s (1904-1990) Brothers and Sisters

Clara Lewallen Dollar (1884-1948)
Oscar Lewis Lewallen (1889-1957)
m. Rosa Belle Herndon (1895-1990)
John Louis Lewallen (1895-1952)
m. Ora Lee Grace (1896-1988)
Omer Frank Lewallen (1897-1977)
m. Mollie Lorena Carpenter (1902-i993)
Annie Elizabeth Lewallen Carpenter (1899-1989)

Cherished Memories of Granny Doris
By Carole Burke Parson

Growing up, I spent many hours with Granny Doris. Her house was my safe place where | was blessed with all the attention any child could want. | didn’t have to do anything but sit and listen to her stories about her life growing up which I loved hearing even though I'd heard them many times before.

We sang her favorite song “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” listened to the
little blind boy sing “Peace in the Valley” on her cabinet 78 record player, and leaned the words to Author Godfrey’s “If you Like It, Holler Yea; If You Don’t, You holler Boo!”

Granny Doris had no sense of humor AT ALL! Jokes went right over her head and she couldn’t figure out what you were talking about. She would get frustrated, then angry, when she figured out we were just joshing her. And Granddad delighted in doing just that. And I am sorry to say I was usually a willing accomplice.

He came home for lunch one day and told her he needed to get a new back window for the car. (Heat had shattered the glass that morning.) When she asked what happened to it, he told her, (with a straight face) that the police were chasing him and shot out the back window. Of course, she fell for it and came unglued. “OMG, they could have killed
you.....they have no business shooting at people.....I'm going to call Frank Jr......Somebody has to do something.....” He let her carry on for quite a while before he finally told her the truth. Boy! Was she angry!

Frank and Doris Parson
My memories of my Grandad Frank and my Granny Doris don’t begin until they too lived in
Lovington in the small two bedroom house on Ave. F in Lovington where they also rented out trailer spaces. | was in grade school at the time. I loved swinging on their front porch swing and the Parsons Easter reunions we had in their backyard. Lots of delicious food and lots of cousins!

In the earlier years, | remember being totally mesmerized by my Grandad Frank. To me, he was like the Pied Piper, this charming small man with the bright blue, slightly squinted, twinkling eyes of what I truly believed had to be an Irishman. He was always joshing us and we were charmed.

I think if one wants to know what Grandad Frank was really like, they need to look no further than his Grandson, Doug Scott. Truly, the “Old Uncles” of these two generations.

After Frank became sick, Frank Jr. bought a small farm out on the Denver City Highway, a place where Grandad could again be in his America. They both loved the land and they both loved farming. Frank Jr. would pick him up in the morning and take him out to the farm where they would plant or harvest hay grazer, feed the horse and pigs, and do whatever
chores were necessary. The farm gave him many hours of pleasure in his later years.

When Grandad Frank became sick and was in the hospital, he always wanted us to get money out of his bedside drawer to go get a treat from the hospital’s gift shop; money which Frank Jr. always kept replenished in spite of Granny Doris always trying her best to take it!

Yes, indeed, Granny Doris was a thrifty woman! Being raised as the cherished youngest daughter, it has been reported that she was a very spoiled child. And so she would remain. Grandad Frank must have had his hands full! She took everything very literally, and | can see her to this day, frantically waving her hands and arms in frustration.

When | was about thirteen and ironing at the old ironing board in her kitchen, she asked me why my shoulders were so deformed. It was a hot summer day and | was wearing a sleeveless shirt and my “angel wings” otherwise known as bony shoulders were showing. I told her that is just the way my shoulders were and her reply assured me that it was
ok to be deformed. That was my Granny Doris. In later years, | came to recognize what a deeply religious woman she was and how she never quite accepted the changes in her America.

She never worked outside the home except perhaps once for a couple of weeks at Dewey’s Department Store. This was a Jewish Department Store in Lovington, New Mexico, heavily laden with jobbers merchandise where one could purchase anything from workman’s
overalls to delicate ladies calf skinned gloves, and everything in between.

She never learned to drive a car and assured us that she never had so much as a sip of alcohol. However, she did love her Geritol! As she aged, her necklaces and clip-on earrings became a bit more gaudy and her face powder became a little thicker and a little lighter each year. Her fine, thin, permed hair became a little blacker, and her lipstick a brighter red. Her perfumed scent was that which only a grandmother can have; powdery and floral
scented. Wads of bills were still hidden in socks all around her house.

And yes, Elizabeth, she always cheated at Yahtzee!

My most treasured memory of my Granny Doris came several months after her death. All of a sudden, my head jerked around to my right shoulder, and | immediately knew she was right there. Right there on my shoulder! Oh, how blessed, but undeserving | felt! That happened six or seven times over the next several months and then, never again.
Can’t explain it, but know it was real and can’t wait to hug that sweet woman again.

Having always heard while growing up that we were part Black Irish, and never understanding the meaning, | have recently explored the topic and this is what | have found:

This is a uniquely American term for Irish Americans who do not have the same characteristics of the traditional Irish population, that being red hair and a light or ruddy complexion.

The Black Irish, in America, is a subset of the Irish people based entirely on three physical characteristics, hair color, eye color, and skin color. Their hair will be dark, their eyes will be perhaps brown or hazel, and their skin tone will be darker, or perhaps even olive. It is a term that is not related at all to cultural differences.

It is still very confusing. Both Frank Sr. and Frank Jr. had cotton-blonde hair as youngsters, Sr. with blue eyes and Jr. with brown, and as yet, | have not found any link to Irish ancestry. There must be!

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

This small village in the north of Wales is pronounced
Llan-vire-pooll-guin-gill-go-ger-uqueern-
drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch.

And yes, it has fifty-eight letters and we are hopeful that Doris Lewallen’s’” Grandfather Gomer Lewallen and Great Grandfather Ebenezer Llewallen did not grow up here.

What a difficult time young students must have had learning how to spell the name of their
village!

The name means ”Church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpools and the church of St. Tysilio and the red cave.”

The Welsh language is one of the two official languages of Wales, the other being English. It is a beautiful language and is the last of the Celtic languages still being spoken today.

Note to Troy Harris: In Wales, sheep outnumber
humans three to one. I think it is a place you would
very much like!

John Lewis Llewallen

John Lewis Llewallen, (Uncle John), (1895-1952), holds a special place in our family. He was seven years older than his brother Frank and had a very close relationship with his nephew Frank Jr. His wife Ora was a rather stern domineering woman who greatly frightened Franks’ Granddaughters, Carole, Paulette, and Paula.

His only child, John Edward (1924-1991) was the same age as Frank Jr. but apparently had few goals and little direction in life. As a very hard working and very successful farmer in
Albany, Oklahoma, John greatly admired Frank Jr.’s hard work and drive to succeed. They became very close.

When Frank Jr. became sick and could no longer farm, he and Uncle John took a road trip to
New Mexico looking for new opportunities. They chose the small town of Lovington, NM. and it was there that Frank Jr. opened his first small grocery store and for many years thereafter, Frank Jr. would fondly tell stories of his Uncle John.

Shorty
We cannot leave our family story without giving a respectful nod to Shorty, (Ernest Taylor), a delightfully small, but mighty, man. Almost blind, and probably less than five foot tall,
he was always, always, always happy. Coming only chest high to many of the women in our family, he loved a good hug and when he found something interesting to look at (like your Chatty Cathy doll, Elizabeth) he would hold it an inch away from his eyes for the longest time and grin broadly. He was fascinated!

Yes, he was a small man, but a mighty one! In his younger years, he had fallen from the top of an oil derrick and broken almost all of the bones in his body. He eventually healed, and never looked back. He was the toughest old man I’'ve ever met!