The Crystal Lady

Genealogy

The Goolsby Family History
By James Z. Goolsby Jr.
© 2003

After graduating from high school Frances went to Abilene, got a room in an old boarding house, took classes at Drawn's Business College and worked for a Dr. Snow. While working there she met Leroy Raymond Grissom who was going to Hardin Simmons University, and living in the same boarding house as she was. They married on April 15, 1932 in Abilene, he was still in college so when Frances got pregnant and could no longer work they moved in with us in Hawley. Frances, Mama, and us kids supported them while he was finishing up college.

Leroy was an extremely smart man, the third smartest to graduate from Hardin Simmons at that time. Leroy wanted to become a doctor but because of their growing family those plans went by the wayside. He taught in Hawley for a while after finishing college and during this time a daughter, Faye Marie, was born on Aug. 27, 1935 at our house in Hawley, Totsie assisted in this birth. They then moved to Abilene where he taught for awhile and then on to Brownfield where Leroy taught school at Meadow. While here two more daughters were born, Josephine Ann on Mar. 16, 1938 and Grace Lenora on Feb. 9, 1941. When WW II, broke out Leroy went to Amarillo, Texas where he taught school (I believe for the military). Frances would write him letters and spend hours with a dictionary to make sure all the words were spelled correctly. Leroy gave her what for if her letters weren't perfect, since he was a teacher and perfectionist. They later ran a country store at Needmore, Texas, North West of Brownfield, Frances ran the grocery store and Leroy worked on cars and ran the filling station. A son, Lee Marshall, was born on May 2, 1944 at Meadow, Texas, while the family still lived at Needmore.

They later moved into Brownfield where Leroy went into the used car business and sold cars for many years, he said he never gave any guarantees to the cars he sold. Once he sold a car and he and the man who bought it had to push off the lot. Leroy built France a truly beautiful home and they furnished it with the very best furniture that money could buy. Leroy died Sept. 10, 1960 in Amarillo, Texas, from a brain concussion. Frances died Feb. 21, 1969 after a long battle with breast cancer. They had divorced and Frances remarried twice before she passed away, her last husband was Joseph Birch. Frances and Leroy are both buried  at Brownfield Cemetery at Brownfield, Texas.

(From Elizabeth (Beth) Stokes Goolsby & Oreta Schulte:)

After Bill graduated from high school he went to Raymondville and lived with J.Z. and Lillie for a couple of years. Here he learned from J.Z. how to do mechanical work. In 1935 Bill joined the C.C.C. (Civilian Conservation Corps) and went to Clifton, Arizona. He was here 1 year and then mama helped to get him a job at Moutry Moore Refinery driving a pipe truck. Bill was as generous as possible in giving mama and us money to live on. We all continued to work and were able to save enough to buy a car and Bill drove us to many different places, it was really nice to be able to go to Abilene only 12 miles away. It was after going back to Hawley that he married Elizabeth Jane Stokes on Sept. 18, 1937 in Abilene, he had met her at the dances in Abilene mentioned earlier. Dances were about the only form of entertainment that we had to enjoy during this time.

They lived in Hawley for awhile and a daughter, Kathryn Ann was born on August 3, 1940 in Abilene. When Kathryn was 6 months old they moved into Abilene where he went to work for the Onyx Oil Refinery (about six miles North of Abilene). In March 1942 Bill transferred to Prewitt, New Mexico where he worked at the Petroleum Products oil refinery which belonged to Onyx. It was while they were here that a son, Billy Joe, was born on Oct. 7, 1944 at Gallup, New Mexico (the closest hospital to Prewitt).

In 1945 the family moved into a home on Mt. Taylor called the "Turkey Ranch". So named because of all the wild turkeys that roamed around there. The Game and Fish Department also had traps there and they trapped turkeys to be shipped to other locations. They were snowed in several times and were forced to move into Grants. Bill had a nervous breakdown while working at the refinery and was forced to quit. After the nervous break-down, Bill went to work for the Orbison Chevrolet Company in Grants for several months and then went back to work for Petroleum Products on their pipeline. The family moved to Hospah (an Indian name) which was about 40 miles North of Prewitt. Kathryn started school here, there were 7 white and 8 Navajo Indian children, and it took 15 children to have a school.

The family moved back to Abilene in 1948 where Bill took a job for a short while at the Moutry Oil Refinery. He then took a job as a mechanic for the Kaiser Fraiser Motor Company, they later transferred him to Lubbock, Texas in 1950. On a vacation trip the family stopped in Grants and Bill was offered a job at Lybrook, New Mexico, a refinery pipeline pumping station about 80 miles North of Prewitt. He accepted the job and in 1952 the family moved into a home in Prewitt as there was no school in Lybrook for the kids to attend. Kathryn and Billy were both in school at this time.

Bill worked for about one year in Lybrook and then went to work for the Anaconda Uranium Company in Bluewater, New Mexico as a welder.

The family moved from Prewitt to Grants around 1955 and Beth went to work for the Continental Divide Electric Co-Op. About 1958 they bought a few acres of land at San Rafael (about 5 miles South of Grants) where they placed a mobile home and moved into it in 1960. He worked at Anaconda until his health forced him to retire in 1976. Bill and Beth were good bowlers, enjoyed the sport and won many trophies while there in the Grants area. Bill died of heart attack at the family home in San Rafael on Feb. 21, 1978. Beth continued to work for the Continental Divide Electric Co-Op for several years and retired from there in 1980.  Bill is buried in Grants Memorial Cemetery at Grants, New Mexico.

Married in  Dec. 8, 1938 in Abilene, Texas. Melvin worked in a service station and Totsie at the sewing factory. Totsie was still sewing at the "Fairy Farm Factory" when she and Melvin were married and worked until a son, Melvin Guy was born on May 2, 1941 in Abilene.
We didn't have very much money so Melvin, who was a heavy equipment operator, went to Galveston for about 3 months where he operated a large drag-line. When he returned we transferred to Wichita Falls and then on to New Boston (at the Lone Star Plant). We then moved to Savannah, Oklahoma (near Mc Alister) and then on to Baytown, Texas. We then moved back to Abilene where our daughter, Linda Oreta was born on August 16, 1946. When Linda was about four years old we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where Melvin worked for a construction company. They took a job overseas in Turkey, about 1957, where they put in an oil pipeline. They were there for about 4 1/2 months and his job was a drag-line operator, he also operated bull dozers and a large backhoe. He then returned and went to work in a service station and later had his own service station business, which he operated until his death on Nov. 7, 1979. Melvin is buried in Sea Side Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Totsie played baseball for Moutry Oil Company for three years, after marrying, and was chosen to the All Star Team in Anson in 1940. She and Melvin bowled for years and joined the International League of Bowling in 1970. We went to Mexico City, Mexico in 1971, 1972 and 1973 to participate in tournaments. They were very nice trips and we learned a lot about Mexico, it was very educational for us. Totsie has worked as a shoe clerk and shoe store manager in Corpus for many years and has done so well at it that her services are sought by several businesses in Corpus Christi. She has lived at the same address for many years. She has been able to take a few trips, one to Hawaii, one to Jerusalem and one to Alaska these she enjoyed very much. She has traveled around the U.S. some and if finances allowed would travel much more as she enjoys the trips with her sister Oreta and sister-in-law Beth. In June of 1991  Totsie made a trip to Tucumcari, to visit her Niece and Nephew  (Beth and James) and was able to visit the old homestead ruins at Pasamonte. She says she will never forget this return to her childhood home and all the memories.

From Oreta J. Goolsby :)
Oreta is the last of the Goolsby children that I will attempt to follow through life.

By the time Oreta graduated in 1938, Bill and Tommie were both helping Mama and me. They bought my graduation outfit (dress and shoes) and my invitations and Bill bought my class ring. Oreta had worked for two winters at the school library, for $3.00 a month, which helped buy her school supplies and other things. After graduating from high school she worked in the telephone office 2 1/2 hours two days a week at 10 cents per hour. She finally skimped and saved $10.00 and made the big break from home at Hawley and went to Abilene. Here she rented a room for $2.75 per week and went to Wilson Packing Company looking for work. Finally, with persistence, she landed a job cracking and separating eggs. They put the yolks in one bucket and whites in another and if you couldn't do 4 large buckets an hour you got fired (this was for 10 cents an hour - 8 to 9 hours a day). She was then promoted to the butter room where she wrapped butter, and filled orders for stores. Another promotion to the Lab where she learned to test for butter fat in milk and cheeses. After several months she went into a small office where she kept track of the time clock, inventoried the cans of eggs and handed out pay checks (all for the great sum of 12 1/2 cents per hour).

During this time she and some friends went to a dance at the American Legion Hall where she met Jesse Joseph (S) on Oct. 8, 1942. Three weeks later she married  at Camp Barkley on Oct. 31, 1942 at Abilene, Texas. Jesse was a Tec Sergeant in the Army Medical Corps at the time of their marriage, he rapidly made Master Sergeant. Since the war was on he was soon ordered to Needles, California where he was attached to a Station Hospital that took care of the desert training center. Oreta stayed on in Abilene for awhile and then joined him in California. From there they moved by train to Camp Crowder near Joplin, Missouri, after being stationed there for awhile he and his whole outfit was ordered to the South Pacific. His Hospital Unit shipped out on Dec. 31, 1943 for a two year tour of duty (part of the time was spent in Iwo Jima). During his overseas duty Oreta packed their trunks and went back to Texas.

He returned to Missouri upon the death of his mother, just as the war was ending in the South Pacific, and after three months leave they went to Springfield, Missouri for one year. By this time Jesse had decided to make the Army a career. Jess was helping in closing down hospitals in Missouri and Indiana. From there they were ordered to Arlington, Virginia (he worked at the Pentagon) here a daughter, Jessica Ann was born on Sept. 17, 1947 at Ft. Belvoir, Missouri, it was near by. They were then ordered to St. Louis, Missouri and then on to Okinawa for two years, Oreta only got to spend the last nine months with him because of the lack of housing. Jesse became ill and was returned to San Antonio in the spring of 1951 for treatment. After three months they were transferred to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri where their second daughter, Mary Kay was born on May 28, 1952. In 1955 they left Ft. Leonard Wood and went to Kitzigen, Germany. Here their third daughter, Nena Patricia was born on Nov. 22, 1957 at Wuerzburg, Germany. While in Germany the family was able to visit East & West Berlin, Paris, France, Austria, Belgium and other interesting places in Germany. In August 1958 they got orders for Ft. Sam Houston, Jesse was in the Medical Corps and was a Chief Warrant Officer 3rd Class. The Army was reducing its' personnel and he had his choice, he could retire as a C.W.O.3 or go back to Master Sargent and stay 10 more years. He chose the latter and stayed in altogether 27 years in the Army. He retired in December 1964 with the rank of C.W.O.4. Oreta and children spent many interesting hours in different places during their Army career. Jesse then went to work at Randolph Air Force where he worked for 16 years.

After retirement Oreta and Jesse moved to San Antonio where they bought a real nice farm at St. Hedwige. They spent many hours fixing up the place and it was really a dream. During the service Oreta spent many hours at the hobby shops and picked up many varied talents. She put much of this knowledge to work in building their dream home. During their journeys around the world, Oreta and Jesse collected rocks from each place they traveled to. While building the fireplace in their home, these rocks were used and Oreta oversaw the masonry work and told where each rock was to be placed. Her favorite rock was a piece of stone from the old homestead in Pasamonte, she had this rock placed in the entry way by the front door of their house. She intended to have this rock engraved but never got that accomplished. Jesse J. Schulte passed away in San Antonio on Mar. 8, 1982 after a long illness. Oreta sold the dream farm after three heart breaking years, she hated to see her dreams go. However she will always have the wonderful memories of Jess and their lives and travels together. She moved back into their old home in San Antonio and is pursuing her many hobbies, which include oil painting, and writing poetry, she is was very good at both. Oreta traveled the country with Beth Goolsby and her Sister, Totsie and they all really enjoyed their travels together.

Grandpa William Maynard Goolsby passed away in Abilene, Texas on April 27, 1927 of acute dysentery and dehydration (this could have been caused by colon cancer, we don't know). He was staying with his sister Clyde Goolsby Murray during his last days.

Grandma Arrie Nena Pattillo Goolsby passed away on Sept. 4, 1941 after a long battle with breast cancer. She passed away in the home of her son, James Z. Goolsby Sr. at 918 Lane Ave.- Abilene, Texas. She is buried in Midway Cemetery at Hawley, Texas beside her loving husband and infant daughter, Arrie. God Rest their Souls.

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 This family continues on with several generations.
James Z. Goolsby  passed away before he could complete his research of his family
But I am sure some body will pick up his mantle and continue to record this family
for the generations to come.

 Notes on  Goolsby Family  Lineage

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