Early 1930's Family living in Houston

Elgin was not alone in Houston in 1930- he had a grandmother and other family members- aunts, uncles, and cousins- who had also moved to the suburbs and lived within 5 miles of Elgin's home at 4322 Polk St.

His grandmother, Nancy Frances Womack, lived nearby. In 1930 she was 77 years old. For years after the death of her young husband, James C. Womack, she had continued to run the family plantation and live in Trinity County Texas with her sons, Edgar and Holly. 

 Now that she was getting older, she was living in the suburbs of Houston with her youngest daughter, Lillian, age 33, and Lillian's son, Jack Berry, who was 14 in 1930.  Nancy Frances took care of Jack while Lillian, who was divorced, worked in a beauty salon. They lived at 405 Welch Street in Houston. 

405 Welch St.- still standing today

A 1932 Houston directory shows another daughter, Leona, and her husband, Richard Oscar Kenley, living at 303 Welch Street.  Oscar and his son Richard Oscar Jr. had the "Kenley and Kenley" law firm at 1709-12 Sterling Bldg. Two other Sons- Bailey Kenley  and Gorman Kenley and his wife Catherine were also shown living at 303 Welch, and the sons were working with the firm. 

Oscar Kenley giving a speech during prohibition

Just a few blocks away, at 488 Fairview Avenue, lived another daughter; Maude Womack Eaves.  Maude was 40 years old and her husband Herbert Eaves was 42. This couple  had  moved to Houston sometime before 1926. They had two daughters; Reveris 19, and Nelda 14. They owned a beauty shop where Herbert was a barber and Maude a beautician. They also kept a boarder, 24 year old Doris Lewis, who was a stenographer.

A little north of these relatives lived another of Elgin's aunts; Emma Womack Garrison. Emma was Nancy Frances' eldest daughter; she was 59 years old in 1930. She was newly widowed; her husband, Bud Garrison (no relation to Elgin's father Jim Garrison) had just died in February of 1930.

 They, too, had moved to Houston from Trinity County sometime after 1920.  Emma was living with four of her five children. James Alton Garrison was 33 and a telegrapher for an oil company. Ava was 28 and Ruby was 21 and working as an office clerk. The youngest, Lester, was 17 and an office boy at a stationary company. 

 

James Alton Garrison (I think he looks a lot like Elgin!)

(Emma's eldest son, William Garrison, had also lived in Houston in 1929, but recently moved back to Angelina County (next to Trinity) to live with his wife's parents.)

  1932

The picture below had a caption on the back, written by Mattie Womack. Although she had just been ill in the hospital, she looks pretty pleased to be in the center of this bunch! It was her mother's birthday.

"Celebrates Birthday with Daughters" 

"I had just been home from the hospital in Houston when this picture was taken by Alton Garrison in 1932 or near that."

 

Mattie Womack Garrison in center, then counter clockwise to her right- Nancy Francis Taylor Womack, Lillian Womack Wade, Maud Womack Eaves, Dona Womack Kenley,  Ora Womack Burke, Leona Womack Kenley, and Emma Womack Garrison

 1937

 In 1937, Nancy Francis Womack celebrated her 85th birthday in Woodlake, Texas.  A newspaper article tells about the party-it was a two day celebration with square dancing, barbecue, and barrels of lemonade. There were 100 guests- 51 of them relatives, with four generations represented- Womacks, Burkes, and Taylors. "Mrs. Womack gave her formula for longevity- be temperate in habits of eating and exercise."

 This newspaper article from her 90th birthday tells something of her life.

Mrs. Womack is feted today on 90^th Birthday- 

A family dinner in celebration of the ninetieth birthday of Mrs. Nancy Frances Womack will be held today at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Wade of 405 Welch, Mrs. Womack’s daughter and son in law.

Mrs. Womack, a descendant of the Taylor and Ainsworth families, two pioneer East Texas clans, was born in Clinton, Miss. and was brought to Texas by her parents when she was 1 year old. Her family settled in Trinity County in 1851, near Centralia, and she was married in 1866 to John Womack. For 50 years, Mrs. Womack lived on a plantation in Crockett County, continuing to manage it for several years after her husband’s death, and for the last 25 years she has lived in Houston with the Wades.

Among her recollections of early days in East Texas are the spinning of socks for Confederate soldiers during the civil war, and the trials of reconstruction days in the old South. She was an accomplished horsewoman, making three trips on horseback from her birthplace in Mississippi, and she continued to ride horseback even after she had reached her sixtieth year.

Seven daughters and one son of Mrs. Womack are now living, five of them in Houston. They are Mrs. Emma Garrison of Houston, Mrs. Dona Kenley of San Antonio, Mrs. Leona Kenley of Houston, Mrs. Mattie Garrison of Enid, Mrs. Ora Burke of Lufkin, Mrs. Maude Eaves of Houston, H.F. Womack of Houston, and Mrs. Wade.

Mrs. Womack has 29 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren living.

  My dad and his cousins must have been close friends during these days in Houston, and they all remained life-long friends. Here are some pictures of them together at my parents' house in Houston in the 1970's.

  

 The cousins in the 1970's- Elgin, Nelda, Aletheia, Reveris and Lester standing and Ruby and Aunt Lillian seated

The mens table! Elgin Garrison, Reveris' husband Clayton Meadows, a cousin from west Texas (and another oilman!) Raymond Kenley, Aletheia's husband Fred Hainfeld, Lester Garrison, Jack Berry, and Nelda's husband Joe Morris.