The Rowena Coincidence
December 11th, 2009 @ 01:37
Posted by: Charlie Whipple
In the “Short Tales from West Texas†stories I have posted over the past several weeks there have been three having a little bit to do with the town of Rowena and the area.
1. Uncle Ralph and Bonnie and Clyde — Bonnie Parker grew up in Rowena. (Now the town’s main claim to fame).
2. How Uncle Henry Kept Order in the Classroom at Gouldbuske — Rowena is not far away.
3. Bank Robbers—the “retired†bank robbers referred to living in Uvalde — This was the Newton boys. National headlines were made in 1968 when Doc Newton decided to make one last try at bank robbing — at Rowena
I have one more story coming up about Paint Rock, Texas which is also not far away from Rowena.
So, it was a little startling to read the return address on the envelope of the last letter Orva Whipple sent to Henry which John posted. It reads:
Rowena Public Schools
O.L.Whipple
Superintendent
ROWENA, TEXAS
Was the rest of the family living there at the time? Does anyone know? If Rowena is Googled there is a photo of an old school. Does it date back to that time period?
December 11th, 2009 05:41
Charlie,
Maybe you can clear up a story I had heard over and over from my parents about a train wreck and loosing all the family belongings and furniture in the river. I was thinking Rowena was mentioned and possibly going to a job in Goliad .Do you know anything about this?
The other one I am confused on is a wagon wreck trying to outrun an Indian chase and the wagon flipped. His leg was so mangled that it had to be cut off with a saw while he held it.
Can you help?
John Sr.
December 11th, 2009 11:07
John,
The person to answer those questions might be Gini Hill. I remember something about either reading or hearing about the loss of the family possessions, but that is all.
The story I heard from my dad was that our great grandfather William Crouch Whipple was hunting buffalo from a wagon which turned over, his leg was caught in a wheel and mangled. The leg had to be amputated and he held the flesh back while the doctor sawed the bone–without anesthetic. He made a wooden leg and lived many years thereafter.
I have read a variation of that story, possibly in Grandfather Orva’s diary, referring to his father, that the wagon turned over (with no mention of hunting buffalo) that he refused anesthesia, that the amputation was where a wooden leg would not work and that he used crutches for the rest of his life.
I have heard two stories about Goliad. First that the reason to have moved to Goliad was that Orva had been told he could grow a fig orchard down there and make money thereby. Second, that sometime after moving down there, he sat up in bed one night and said to grandmother Sabra. “Dear, we have lost the farm.” She replied, “Hush up and go back to sleep. I have known that for weeks”. However, I don’t know if this was at Goliad or elsewhere.
Again, maybe Gini can clarify this.
Charlie
December 11th, 2009 13:23
John and Charlie, yes, I think my Mom could help with this! In the past, she has talked about Orva Lester going to Goliad, but I don’t recall any of the details. I think a train was involved in the move, though. She has also told me a story about how the family piano was lost. As near as I can remember, this supposedly occurred during the first land rush of the early 1890′s in Indian Territory, when Orva and Sabra got the land near Waukomis. The story goes that all the family belongings, including the piano, were loaded into the wagon, and then, during the mad rush across the prairie, the piano fell out of the wagon. It was Sabra’s prized possession, but Orva refused to stop the wagon to retieve it, because then they might not have gotten the land they were after. You’ll have to ask my Mom, but I also seem to remember that she said that Sabra never forgave Orva for not stopping to save the piano. FYI, Orva’s rocking chair, which was also supposedly in that wagon during the land rush, is currently in possession of my parents, or possibly my sister Elaine.
BTW, my Mom has Orva’s diary. It’s written in pencil, which is fading, and his writing is difficult-at-best to decipher anyway. It really ought to be transcribed and digitized. There’s another project for us.
December 11th, 2009 16:10
Yeah, if we can decipher it and print it out it we should. That old handwriting is beautiful but usually super hard to read.
I bought the old William Couch Whipple family clock that supposedly fell from that wagon when it overturned. I guess it was light enough to carry and the piano wasn’t. It has some signs from where it was repaired. Again, supposedly, this had been on the wall when the family was in Iowa when Orva was a baby and MAY have come from some generation before that. I should have it dated.
Howard inherited it from his parents who inherited it from their parents.
I couldn’t physically go to the sale but Uncle Raymond came by and picked up all the money I had, $300. I told him to just make the decision himself. The fact is, in hindsight, I lamented a little when it wasn’t a gun.
Anybody get a cool old Colt 45 signed by Lyndon Johnson from the sale they’d like to trade for an slightly used old grandmother clock?
December 12th, 2009 16:56
In 1952 Dad bought a new big black Packard automobile. My folks were interested in visiting old relatives and finding out more about some old stories they had heard in the past and along through the years. I’m not sure, which means “I don’t know” who it was we were going to see but we went up through Leaky and Junction, Abilene and San Angelo, Amarillo, I believe I remember Rowena, Palo Duro Canyon. I remember a huge western museum where we spent a half a day finding one famous relative after another.They seemed to know so much about the family strings and stories I had never heard.I wish I had paid more attention. Mother had books she was writing in. She was very interested in family ties and connections. The trip was about 4 days long and we returned a different way after going to visit TSCW, Texas State College for Women in Denton Texas where Jill was entering the following year.
I think History is for old people, like me now, because one finally sees that we are really a part of it and realize that the only thing you keep forever is what you gave away during your life!