A Grassburr Love Story

Our special collections and archives staff has being going through all the print copies of the Grassburr yearbooks (also online) that we have, to figure out which ones we should keep.  We came across two from 1933 that have an interesting story and connection.  Click on all images throughout this post to view them larger.

The first book belonged to James Byron "Mississippi" Gregory, who graduated from Tarleton in 1933.  Besides his name and nickname inside the front cover, we found a couple loose items - his diploma, and a valentine.

Here's the inside of the valentine.  It is signed simply, "Jo."

Another yearbook from 1934 belonged to a Josephine "Jo" Coleman, who listed her address inside the front cover as 4709 Pershing in Fort Worth.  It had an envelope pasted inside the front cover, with a handwritten paper titled "Advice for girl" (with some pretty bad puns) folded inside it:




Paging through Byron's yearbook to the page with Jo's picture, among the many signatures there is "Yo te amo. Jo," next to journalism major Josephine Coleman's name and picture.  Yo te amo is, of course, Spanish for "I love you."  Jo served as a proofreader on the J-TAC.

Further on in Byron's yearbook (on the blank page opposite the beginning of the Athletics section), Jo wrote a long message to "my darling" Byron, including these sentences:

"You are a part of Tarleton - it will never be complete without you.  Tarleton gave me a lot of things - things both in and out of books, these things I shall never be able to forget.  You are the most important."

Paging through Jo's yearbook to the page with Byron's senior picture, you can see he was from Thaxton, Mississippi (hence the nickname), and majored in Agricultural Education.  He was a member of the Hired Hands club, the Glee Club, the basketball team, and the "T" Association.  To the right of the picture, he wrote this message for Jo:  "just a crazy boy what's very fond of you.  Try to love Mississippi a little bit always."

Byron's yearbook included a number of loose items tucked among the pages, including these photographs.  They may not all be from his time at Tarleton.  Unfortunately none of the photographs has any identifying information, although the headshot is clearly of Byron.  There was also a calling card from Jo (whose given first name was actually Mary), with a handwritten note wishing him a happy birthday.

There was also a paper John Tarleton Agricultural College pennant (scanned here against the reverse side of Byron's diploma, to provide adequate contrast).

Jo's yearbook had a number of glued-in items, particularly clippings from the J-TAC newspaper.  There weren't as many loose items, but one was a negative, which I scanned to produce this lovely image.  It wasn't immediately clear if this was Jo, though.

There was another loose item proved to be significant - a graduation program for the 1930 class of W. C. Stripling High School.

What was Stripling High School from 1927 to 1937 is now Stripling Middle School in Fort Worth.  The school is just a few blocks from Jo's Pershing street home address.  A little more searching turned up Josephine's picture in the high school's 1931 yearbook, and it looks just like the picture of the graduate above.

According to his obituary in the July 30, 1998 Fort Worth Star Telegram (page 8), James Byron "Mississippi" Gregory was born December 18, 1910, in Thaxton, Mississippi, one of 13 children.  After graduating from Tarleton in 1933, he attended what was them Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in Stillwater.  (He is in their 1934 and 1935 yearbooks, and also attended the 1934 summer session).

In the 1940 Census, Byron and Jo are living in Idabel, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, and are listed as married.  J. B. (Byron) is a county agent and has had five years of college.  Josephine (Jo) has one year of college, so it appears she did not return to Tarleton after the 1932-1933 school year.  In 1935, Byron was living in Stillwater and Jo in Fort Worth, so they must have married sometime between 1935 and 1940.

Byron served in the Oklahoma National Guard, and then joined the Army, serving in World War II.  He and Jo lived in Texas, Germany, Kansas, Indiana, Virginia, and Taiwan during his service, according to the Alumni J-TAC.  He retired from the military in 1962 as a colonel with the Army adjutant general's office in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. After retirement, he became a real estate broker and retired again in 1982.  He died July 27, 1998, in Fort Worth.  

Mary Josephine "Jo" Coleman Gregory was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on March 13, 1913, the oldest of two daughters.  She died October 21, 1994, in Fort Worth.  The couple is buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth.

They had no children, and Byron was a Diamond Century Club member in the 1996-97 Tarleton Alumni Association, so that is perhaps how these two lovebirds' yearbooks ended up back at Tarleton.

Adventures in the Archives: Dr. Richard Lee Thompson

Adventures in the Archives continues....

Here's a little more information about Dr. Richard Lee Thompson, whose papers are part of the archives at the library, pulled together by Crystal Stanley, our former Archives and Reference Assistant (now the Director of Library Services at Ranger College):

Richard Lee Thompson was born in Stephenville on November 4, 1925.  He was the youngest son of Robert Lee Thompson and Corinne Barkley.  They had married in 1920 and purchased a home located at 343 North McIlhaney Street in Stephenville, on the east side of the present-day Tarleton State University campus.

Remember, soon-to-be graduates: "The Gates are Always Open!" ™

A photo posted by Tarleton State University (@tarletonstate) on Apr 4, 2013 at 2:20pm PDT

The Thompson house had belonged to James Cox, who became President of John Tarleton College in 1913.  Cox had the house built in 1915, and lived and worked in the house until the Thompsons purchased it from him in 1920.  The original price for the house and surrounding acre of property was $4,800.  The house has a second front door because it was the door to Cox’s Presidential office.  Most of the house itself is still the original construction, minus three fireplaces, which were taken out in 1937 and replaced with a natural gas heating unit.
Richard’s parents are credited with providing John Tarleton College a soda shop, called Campus Corner. His mother Corinne operated the establishment for 20 years. However, the Campus Corner did not make enough profits to keep open, and it was closed.

Richard Thompson graduated from Stephenville High School in 1943.  That same year, he enlisted into the U.S. Navy on his eighteenth birthday.  Six weeks later, he was drafted.  He served as a medic with the Marine Corps for three and a half years, from 1944 until 1946.  He participated in the invasion of Okinawa, Japan, where he spent one year of his service.

Upon returning home, he enrolled in John Tarleton College.  He then attended Southern Methodist University, where he worked as a student instructor in Biology.  After graduating, Dr. Thompson was accepted into the Baylor University Dental School.

Dr. Thompson practiced for ten years at the State Hospital in San Antonio and was working in the VA Hospital in Chicago when his father Robert died in 1969. He returned to Erath County and took over the family real estate business. Over the years, the Thompson family acquired the full block of property adjacent to Tarleton on McIlhaney and at times had as many as 22 renters living in the houses once there.

Dr. Thompson's mother Corrine Barkley Thompson passed away in 1984.  Thompson continued to live in the family home.  In 1998, Dr. Thompson donated six land parcels on McIlhaney to the university for use as parking for nearby dorms. He also donated a 20-foot magnolia tree moved from one of his rental properties to a location near Davis Hall. When renovations on the Trogdon House (then called the Hall of Presidents) were completed and a request was made for donations of authentic period furnishings, Dr. Thompson contributed items with  unique historical ties the furniture has to the University.  The Tarleton Alumni Association named him a Distinguished Friend at Homecoming in October 2002.

Dr. Richard L. Thompson passed away on Saturday, June 5, 2004.  In his will, he created a trust fund of $100,000, where the interest alone would pay for the upkeep of his family home.  His will further stipulated that the house and all the furnishings remain as is.  The house currently functions as the Tarleton State University Alumni Association building.

Tarleton Alumni Association - Alumni House

A photo posted by Tarleton State University (@tarletonstate) on Mar 4, 2013 at 8:56am PST

Search the Grassburr Yearbooks

Do you know how to search the Grassburr Yearbook archives online? Through the Portal to Texas History, Tarleton has made over 40 years of Grassburrs available and searchable online.

Currently, the yearbooks from 1970-2012 are available, and more years are added frequently. Once you are on the Portal website, you can browse through the yearbooks, or search inside them to find yourself and your friends. Have fun walking down memory lane this Homecoming!

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

It’s Graduation Time!

In my blog posts on May 13, 2010, and September 13, 2012, I wrote about the 1962-63 school year being a significant one in Tarleton’s history.  The May 26, 1963 graduates were in the first class to receive degrees in over fifty years!

The 1903 class pictured above was the first John Tarleton graduating class.  The last graduating class for John Tarleton College was in 1908  -  until Tarleton became a four year institution in 1959 and conferred the first degrees in May 1963.

The first graduates in 1903 were (left to right) William M. Bowman,  Monnett Chambers, Walter Powell, William Bryant Williams, and Pearle Mulloy front and center.  Mr. Bowman and Mr. Williams attended the 1963 graduation ceremonies as shown above.  Also attending the 1963 ceremony was long time educator and retired Tarleton faculty member Charles Hale, who is standing in the photo above behind Mr. Bowman and Mr. Williams.  My November 19, 2009 blog was about Charlie Hale.

The 1963 Tarleton graduation was held in front of the library.  Degrees were awarded to 29 men and women.  In addition, 27 certificates of completion were awarded for two year special and pre-professional programs.  The first degree was awarded to Pete Stanford as shown in the photo above.

“Tonight’s ceremony was a culmination of the dream of a West Texas pioneer, John Tarleton!  The school that started in 1899 with a single building has developed into a college with some 25 buildings, with a more than 96 acres campus, and 725 acres of farm land for agricultural research.  In the last 5 years, 5 of the buildings were completed or begun  – the library, student health center, a men and a women’s dorm, and the groundbreaking for a new student center was held March 12, 1963."

Among the 1963 graduates was honor graduate Leveta Hord, history major from Stephenville, who also at one time worked in the library, and Rodney Davis, the first Tarleton ROTC student to enter the army upon graduation, and who for a time later worked in Tarleton’s Financial Aid department.

Tarleton’s Community of Inquiring Minds

have

Come a Long Way!!

Congratulations upon Completing Finals!

Have a Wonderful Summer!!

Cross Timbers Historic Images Project.

Dallas Morning News, May 26, 1963.

Grassburr, 1963.

JTAC, May 14, 1963.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

George Oliver Ferguson

George Ollie Ferguson was a lifelong Erath County resident.  He attended John Tarleton College from its opening in 1899 until 1901.  He received his BA from the University of Texas in 1907 and his masters from the University of Chicago in 1917.

G.O. Ferguson joined the Tarleton faculty in 1913 as professor of history and economics, and head of the economics and social science department.  He became associate dean and registrar in 1919.  Dean Ferguson retired in 1946, but continued teaching until 1950.  During his tenure he also taught Spanish, German and sociology.   Dean Ferguson, along with other faculty members, stuck it out at Tarleton through the thinnest of times.

Upon his retirement, Dean Ferguson was given the status of Associate Dean Emeritus.  In 1959 Tarleton built a new men’s dormitory and named it after Dean Ferguson – Ferguson Hall – which is still here today, the dorm closest to the library.  Dean Ferguson is shown above in his office in the administration building (now the Education building).

G.O. Ferguson died April 8, 1963 of a heart attack at his ranch sixteen miles southeast of Stephenville.  He was buried across the street in Stephenville West End Cemetery.  His family home was on Vanderbilt Street.  His widow Nona Laney Ferguson continued living in their home on Vanderbilt and caring for their rental duplex apartments next door.  Mrs. Ferguson was my first landlady when I moved to Stephenville in 1969.  She died in 1971.

Dean Ferguson’s sisters, Mett and Minn, were also long time educators.  Minn was on the Tarleton faculty as an instructor of piano and secretary of the Music department.  She graduated from John Tarleton Agricultural College in 1915 and from the New York School of Music and art in 1920.  Mett was a long time public school teacher in East Texas.  Mettie died in 1961 and Minn in 1972.  Both are buried in Stephenville West End Cemetery.

Dean Ferguson’s daughter and son in law, Mary and Jack Anderson, have been longtime members and supporters of the Dick Smith Library Friends and have helped with many book sales and programs.  Jack also served as president and as secretary treasurer of the Friends group.

Here’s to a family of great supporters of Tarleton and the Dick Smith Library!

Dick Smith Library Cross Timbers Historic Images.

JTAC, April 23, 1963.

Homecoming and More in the Library

Tarleton is "Celebrating 100 years of the Tarleton Alumni Association" during Homecoming Week 2012. We kicked off the week with Midnight Madness on Sunday, Silver Bugle Hunt on Monday, and the Purple Out Picnic last night. Tonight we will have Yell Contest followed by the Snake Dance and the beginning of Beating the Drums. Midnight Breakfast is tomorrow night, Bonfire on Friday, and the Homecoming Parade, Queen Crowning & Game on Saturday (Texans vs. Kingsville @ 6pm).

Photo by: Tracy Holtman

Where does the Library fit into all of this, you might be thinking? Well, the Library has put together a Homecoming display to add to the festivities. We used Homecoming issues of the JTAC, opened Grassburrs to the Homecoming pages and proudly displayed the Purple & White. You can come to the Library and discover what previous Homecoming events were like, who was crowned Homecoming Queen, and if the Texans won their game.

Robert M. Gray Doolittle Raider and Tarleton Alumni

Seventy years ago today Robert Gray, a Tarleton alumni, was embarking on the greatest adventure of his life. He was one of 80 aviators who volunteered for the Doolittle raid on Japan. This raid on April 18, 1942 was first time that American forces would attack the Japanese homeland after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a year earlier. It was a daring plan that used land based B-25 bombers to take off from an aircraft carrier. It was determined if the aircraft were stripped of all armament, armor plate, and non essential equipment it would be possible to take off from an aircraft carrier. The B-25s were fitted with additional fuel tanks including ten five gallon cans for manual refueling in flight. The 16 B-25 bombers were loaded aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) and the task force set off for Japan. The plan was to launch the aircraft 400 miles from Japan, the aircraft were to bomb their targets and hopefully land at airfields in China and Russia. On April 18, 1942 the ships were spotted by a Japanese patrol boat, a decision was made to launch the mission. the crews took off 600 miles from their targets instead of 400 miles. Colonel Doolittle took the first aircraft off in 40 knot winds with 30 foot wave crests in only 467 feet of deck space.

Robert Gray was the pilot of the number 3 aircraft, serial 40-2270 named "Whiskey Pete". Their targets were a steel mill, a chemical company, and a gas company all in Tokyo. Gray bombed all assigned targets and headed for China. Unable to make an airfield, Gray and his crew bailed out over China. All of his crew members survived the bailout and made their way back to United States forces.

Gray was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the Doolittle raid. He was born in Killeen, Texas and a member of the 1940 class of Tarleton majoring in Civil and Aeronautical Engineering. Robert Gray was killed in action in a B-25 crash during a combat mission six months to the day of the Doolittle raid on October 18, 1942 near Assam India. Robert Gray airfield at Fort Hood Texas is named in his honor. Today there are only five surviving members of the Doolittle raid. We salute them and their comrades for all that they have done. In the image on the right Robert Gray is the second person on the left. (Official USAF photo) Official Doolittle Raider website: http://www.doolittleraider.com/
The James H. Doolittle archives are located at the University of Texas-Dallas http://www.utdallas.edu/library/uniquecoll/speccoll/hac/doolittle/jdlttl.html

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

"Miss Mary Marrs Enjoys a Trip to Mexico City"

"Not all faculty members suffered from the Texas heat all summer!" Miss Mary Marrs and her sister, Mrs. W.B. McAdams, flew to Mexico City for a weeks vacation the summer of 1936. It was Miss Marrs' first time to fly, but after the trip she was then a "confirmed air traveler."

Miss Marrs and her sister had a wonderful trip, making side trips to Tasco, Cuerna Vava, and the famous Floating Gardens....."where orchids are a dime a dozen." However, I'm not sure that they escaped the Texas heat - it's hot in Mexico too - but the trip was awesome!

Assistant Professor Marrs taught mathematics at Tarleton for 27 years, retiring in 1952. Not only did she teach at Tarleton, she was a member of the first Tarleton class in 1899. Miss Marrs recalled that the first year there were four teachers, Dr. W.H. Bruce, the president, who also taught the advanced students upstairs in the first Tarleton building. Other teachers were H.J. McIlhany, Mrs. Pearl Ponder Chamberlin, and Miss Clara Bartholomew. She stated that most students rode horses to school and tied them to the trees. A windmill and wooden water tank were located behind the building. Dubbed the "Dog House", this is where the athletes took their baths.

In 1899 the girls and boys weren't allowed to associate with each other. One time Miss Marrs and her date wanted to go to a party. Just before time to go they donned their party clothes and went to see Dr. Bruce for permission.....it worked....he let them go!

During her Tarleton teaching career Miss Marrs taught a number of future Tarleton faculty including Dick Smith, Zeddie Edgar, H.W. Leach, Autis McMahan, Reuben Friou, and former Tarleton business manager Gerald Fanning.

Miss Marrs retired from Tarleton in the summer of 1952. Regretting that she didn't finish out a full 50 years, she stated that "after all, 48 years is a long time!" After retiring, "I am going to travel in the Northeast, particularly Washington, New York, and Boston."  Unfortunately, Miss Marrs died October 15, 1953, after being hospitalized for seven months.

Hope you can escape some of the Texas heat this summer too......even if it is to Mexico heat!

Grassburr, 1935.

J-TAC, September 16, 1952, October 20, 1953.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Dyess

Edwin Dyess Ends Year of Leadership

Last week I mentioned that Edwin Dyess, president of the Student Council, was one of the five Tarleton students that attended the Memphis, Tennessee Southern Federation of College Students and Press Representatives Convention in April 1936. The spring of 1936 was Dyess' last semester at Tarleton. Just before graduation he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the Cadet Corps.

Lt. Col. Dyess was also a star in track and a capable and inspiring leader. A true defender of the purple and white, he was nominated for All Tarleton Boy. After graduation he attended flight training at Kelly and Randolph Fields in San Antonio and was commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Army. He then was promoted to first lieutenant and led the 21st Pursuit Squadron to Nichols Field, Manila, Philippines in October 1941.

Dyess was captured by the Japanese on April 9, 1942 and later that day he and the others began the Bataan Death March. He was a POW at Camp O'Donnell, but after two months of planning and preparation he and the others escaped, eventually being evacuated by the U.S. Navy to Australia. After arriving back in the United States he was taken to an army general hospital in Virginia to regain his health and was promoted to lieutenant colonel upon his release.

Lt. Col. Edwin Dyess then resumed flying December 22, 1943, but was killed that day in Burbank, California. His plane caught fire while on a training mission and he was killed attempting an emergency landing. He stayed in the plane rather than bail out in order to guide it to a vacant lot in Burbank, saving countless civilians on the ground.

Dyess received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Service Cross and the Abilene Army Airfield in Abilene was renamed Dyess Air Force Base in 1957.

Handbook of Texas Online.
J-TAC, April 11, 1936.
J-TAC, April 25, 1936.
J-TAC, May 16, 1936.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Frey Fries!
Fire Razes Frey Hall, Airmen Made Homeless!

On Tuesday morning, November 6, 1951, Tarleton's Frey Hall burned. The dormitory housed approximately 125 USAF cadets of the 3470th School Squadron in 31 rooms. The students were attending the Clerk-Typist School at Tarleton. All their personal belongings were lost.

The fire, of unknown origin, broke out about 8 a.m. while all students were in class. No one was injured as a result of the blaze. Firemen from Stephenville and Dublin were called in to fight the blaze. Because of the asbestos shingles, they were able to contain the fire and keep it from spreading to the adjoining Yearwood Hall. Loss was estimated at $100,000.

The wooden barracks was moved here in 1947 from Eagle Mountain Lake where it had been the bachelor officers' quarters. It was named for Lt. Henry B. Frey, a Tarleton alum, who lost his life in World War II.

The photos above show namesake Henry Frey, Frey & Yearwood Halls, the fire, and where Frey Hall had been. Can you tell where Frey & Yearwood Halls were located?

Dick Smith Library, Cross Timbers Historic Images Project.

Grassburr, 1952.

J-TAC, November 13, 1951.

Stephenville Empire-Tribune, November 9, 1951.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

75 Years Ago

Last week the Tarleton Thursdays blog was about Charles Froh and the Fine Arts Department - about when he came to Tarleton in 1910 and the department had 3 pianos and one instructor - and then by 1930 had a new conservatory with fine equipment and splendid staff! Seventy-five years ago, in the fall of 1935, the J-TAC boasted headlines such as the "Band is Largest in School's History," "Plans Made for Coming Years in Fine Arts Club," and "College Orchestra to have Tryouts."

One of the students in 1935-36 was Clyde H. Wells, shown in the photo above. Clyde Wells, a Stephenville native, attended Tarleton from 1935-1936, going on to graduate from Texas A & M. While at Tarleton he was an agricultural education major, was on the livestock judging team and was a member of the SOTS (Sons of Tarleton Society).

Clyde Wells served on the faculty at Tarleton and Texas Christian University. He was also with the USDA Soil Conservation Service and lived in Granbury, where he was associated with the Black Ranch. He was Director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, and served as a trustee for the Texas A & M Research Foundation. As chairman of the A & M Board of Regents and chairman of the Council of Governing Boards of Texas Colleges and Universities, he was devoted to Tarleton and one of the best friends Tarleton has ever had.

Clyde Wells was involved in many organizations, contributing time and funds to various community activities in Granbury, as well as Tarleton. He was selected as Tarleton's Distinguished Alumnus in 1971. He was honored by the House Concurrent Resolution 63 adopted by the 68th Legislature in 1983, recognizing him for his many educational and agricultural contributions to the state of Texas. He was a member of the board of Trustees of Tarleton's Development Foundation, was a member of the President's Commission and served as president of the Tarleton Alumni Association from 1952-1954.

Little did Clyde Wells know 75 years ago when he was a Tarleton student that our Fine Arts Center of today would be named in his honor!

Grassburr, 1936.

J-TAC, September 28, 1935

J-TAC, February 5, 1987.