Reading obituaries has always been interesting to me, as long as it is not mine. A recent funeral notice spoke of an 89-year-old native Texan named Jerry. He was married for over 61 years and had numerous children and grandchildren. Jerry was born and raised in Stranger, Texas, and attended a single-room schoolhouse. Where’s Stranger? On a map, Stranger is located southeast of Waco, near Marlin. Originally known as Blue Ridge, the town was settled around 1840. It received a n

In pioneer Texas, the family was under constant assault. Many fathers lost their lives in deadly battles including the revolutionary war against Mexico and the Civil War. Settlers in west Texas were often attacked by marauding Indians and wild beasts. Sometimes both parents died defending the homestead. And then there were rampant diseases that frequently left children as orphans. Having few choices, these orphans had to fend for themselves and hope that someone would provid

When visiting the city of Alvin, Texas, you can enjoy a good meal at Joe’s BBQ or Dairy Land. Or you may dine at the historic Stanton’s Shopping Center which has been providing groceries, meats, clothing, fabric, housewares, hardware, and a fountain area for meals for over 100 years! Additionally, Alvin has several notable athletes who grew up in their fine city. Some of them include MLB pitchers Nolan Ryan and Nathan Eovaldi, NFL quarterback Joe Ferguson, and sprint car r

In the mid-19th Century, when Texas was struggling to recover from the war with Mexico and the Civil War, the fledgling state was not prepared to fight the deadly yellow fever epidemic. The pathogen that caused this plague was not isolated until 1927, though some doctors accurately suspected earlier that it may have been transmitted by the Aedes aegypti female mosquitos. But that was too late to save thousands of victims. In 1867 alone, Galveston lost about 5% of its populati

In late 1836, the frontier town of Houston was more infamous than famous. The gossip drifting east of the Sabine River whispered that houses of gambling and prostitution outnumbered other businesses two to one. Rumor had it that the leading citizens were mainly thieves, drunks, and shysters. Truth be told, the gossip was spot-on. Sketchy historical documents record that there were many seedy watering holes in the crusty town. Popular amusements included cards, dice, boxing,

Peter was respectfully known as the Old Texas Ranger. Not that he had ever been a member of Texas’ famous frontier law enforcement agency, but that he had ranged all over the state preaching the Gospel. Born in Kentucky in 1797, Peter H. Fullenwider came from a modest Christian family. He completed his secondary education in old field schools, which were built on worn-out farm fields and taught by volunteers. After graduating from Centre College in Kentucky, he completed thr

On Dec. 11, 1926, Rebecca Bradley, aged 22, robbed the Farmers National in Buna, Texas. She had been impersonating a reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise while interviewing employees about county agricultural concerns. Rebecca followed two tellers into the vault and confronted them with a .32 caliber pistol. She locked them in and left with $1,000 cash, or $18,500 in today’s money. So begins the curious story of an uncommon criminal whom the newspapers dubbed the Flapper Band

Sophia Suttenfield Aughinbaugh Coffee Butt Porter was a complex character who attracted curious attention for her colorful behavior. Her life included four marriages, and was filled with a mixture of balderdash and mystifying exploits. Columnist Frank X. Tolbert referred to Sophia as the Texas version of Scarlett O’Hara. Born in 1815 in Indiana, Sophia was just 17 when she married Jesse Aughinbaugh. Some say that he was the headmaster of her school when they eloped to Texas

The history of Texas is filled with salacious accounts of gunslingers, human traffickers, gamblers, and corrupt politicians. The following observation by historian V.V. Masterson could have portrayed many towns in Texas when he described Skiddy Street in Denison in 1873: “Here were the tented gambling halls, the hurdy-gurdy joints, lowest class saloons, cockfighting pits, variety houses, and the deadly ‘dovecotes’ that served as houses of prostitution for all races, colors, a

The Alamo in San Antonio is rightly named the “Cradle of Texas Liberty.” It was first established in East Texas, and was later moved to San Antonio around 1719 where it was known as the Mission del San Antonio de Valero. By 1836, the Alamo church and convent were enclosed by a wall that was eight feet high, and two and a half feet thick. It was built to enclose 1,000 men plus animals and supplies. With around 200 fighters, Col. William B. Travis could not protect such a vas