By Peggy Smith
Henderson County Historical Commission
October is Archeology Month for the Texas Historical Commission. While that may not sound like pure excitement for some, for those of us who have started the trek to finding our families roots, or even just trying to see what life was like in generations past archeology is exciting. Webster defines archeology as “the study of the life of ancient peoples, as by excavation of ancient cities, etc… Since I am now a great-grandmother some might think and one of my grandchildren referred to me as old. We laughed!
In 1998 my mother brought me a folder and a rolled up chart and asked me if I wanted it. When I opened it up she told me that my Daddy had started a history of our family and I was immediately hooked. I was so excited to think of finding out about my family. My Aunt Ruby had also done some work so we also worked together and shared what each of us had discovered. It has been an exciting journey and a frustrating one as I would seemingly hit brick walls down a line of our ever growing tree.
We moved in 2003 to our present home and no one wanted the family safe that sat in a closet for many years seemingly unused so rather than leave it there we brought it with us. One day I decided to put some items in there and was astonished to find an Abstract of Title and two Supplements that gave the history of the family farm from the beginning of our state to where my grandparents acquired it from his parents. I caught my breath, seeing what I held in my hands, and ran calling my husband to see what I found. It was a concise history of the land that connected his family, the Cooks, to my family, the Milners. It was so exciting and we both read it from front to back. I documented all of these transactions in my history and have shared with several other family members my find.
That was exciting enough, but my mother brought me an expandable wallet that looks like what you would file coupons in. She said she found it in some of Daddy’s things and no one wanted them. She asked me and, well you know what my answer was: “YES!”
I carefully opened the fragile wallet and pulled out paper after paper. They were very fragile and some had faded where they were hard to read, but there was a treasure trove of information on those documents. There were Fosterville School tax receipts dating back to 1876, receipts from merchants in Fosterville and Palestine, handwritten deeds dating back to 1856, subscription to the Palestine Advocate dating 1893 and 1895, a note where my grandmother asked her dad to pay Willie Warren $3.50 for cutting wood, and the list goes on. These documents told me dates when my great-great-grandfather was living in Fosterville. They told me when my great-grandmother had moved into Poynor and paid taxes. I learned when my grandfather bought and where he bought some of the family farm from his mother and siblings. There were documents where my great-great-grandfather attested to a note that someone owed another and she could only put an X for her mark, so her name was written above and below the X.
Why did I get so excited? I learned about how the land where mine and my husband’s family lived changed hands and was divided up through the years. I learned about the everyday things that my great grandparents bought and how much it took for them to live day to day. I learned that my great-great-grandfather and a great uncle did legal work for family and friends. I learned there was an Anderson County Farmers’ Alliance Co-operative Association and my great-grandfather purchased stock in it. I also found out that some of the family land was deeded for a school and if it ever wasn’t used for a school it would go back to our family. There are many, many other things I gleaned from these wonderful gems but surely by now you can understand my excitement.
I share yet another story of Archeology Month with you because many people have an old box, album, an old tin that has old documents that are aging and deteriorating. These don’t last forever and it would be awesome if we all shared the treasures lurking in the top of the closet or out in the barn. Who knows what history lurks in those old documents or the back of old pictures in grandma’s album.
We at the Henderson County Historical preserve history. We welcome any chance to scan old documents and pictures so these can be preserved for your Great Grandchildren. I hope you get a renewed interest in pulling them out and seeing all the people your ancestors knew and conducted business with. Call us anytime at the Henderson County Historical Commission or visit us in the Old Jail in Athens. And don’t forget to check out that old safe you haven’t looked in for all these years.