Category: Smithwick

Amazing Things, Another Daily Happening, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Evolution of a StateNoah Smithwick

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I have always heard it said that this is one of the best, if not the best first hand account of the settling of Texas ever put into book form. I grew up with a 1st edition, 1900 copy of this book in our home. It had belonged to my grandfather, A.T. Lewis. I knew it was a book that had to remain in our family. I grew up in Smithwick Texas, with the old Smithwick Mill on the Colorado River being on part of our family property. That being the old homestead of Francis Porter Lewis and Florence Stinnett … Continue reading Evolution of a StateNoah Smithwick

Amazing Things, My Family, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

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(My Mother’s Parents) This is a compilation of stories I wrote some time ago about my mother’s parents and what life was like back in the 20s and 30s in Smithwick, Texas. Much, if not all of their married life Nancy and Delbert was spent in Smithwick. Nancy was a member of the Martin Family from Burnet. I believe Delbert was raised primarily in Smithwick. My Maternal Grandparents marriage license. Oscar Delbert Boultinghouse & Nancy Ella Martin married on Jan. 15, 1915. After they married in 1915, they lived on what has always been known to me as the Old … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

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Socks loved paint horses. He had a colt that he was prouder of than anything you could imagine. I’m not sure why this colt was so important to him, but everyone that came along would be shown the little paint filly. Glenn being the expert horseman wanted to handle the colt a little so they went back and got the mother and baby. The mare had a halter and lead rope on so they lead her out in front of the house into the parking lot. Glenn Lewis was a teenager probably around 13 or 14, so I would have … Continue reading Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Saying Goodbye, for the Time Being

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Many of us gathered at the Smithwick Cemetery today, Saturday March 12, 2022 to celebrate the wonderful life of Mona Gayle Waldrip. Always such a beautiful and classy lady. (My apologies for the glare on a couple of these photos) I knew she had several books, but I’m not sure I realized there were this many. These were laid out on a table for us all to view and enjoy. The following book, Mona Gayle’s recording of the history of The Smithwick Cemetery is something we all will continue to enjoy and learn from. For this great work by Mona … Continue reading Saying Goodbye, for the Time Being

Aging, Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story

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This is a story about an old couple that showed up in Smithwick when I was just a kid. One day Minnie and Charlie Campbell arrived in an old Studebaker car. When people around Smithwick said their name, they always left off the “p” and the “b”. It was Charlie and Minnie Camel. I had never heard them mentioned in my 10 or 12 years or so I’d been around at that time in the early part of the 1960s. But that’s not surprising as they weren’t a very remarkable couple, until I got to know them. Then there was … Continue reading Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story

Crazy Times, My Family, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Are You Kin To Glenn Lewis, I Was Asked?

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Earlier I was asked if I was kin to Glenn Lewis. Rather than answer that directly, I have copied a rough draft of the introduction of the book I am writing about Glenn Lewis. Toward the bottom of it it explains the kinship between Glenn and me. Remember this is a draft for the future, the introduction of a book about Glenn. It is my hope that sometime in the future, after COVID, a series of gatherings for the purpose of telling Glenn stories as well as personal visits to those that were around him and witnessed the many things … Continue reading Are You Kin To Glenn Lewis, I Was Asked?

Crazy Times, My Family, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

The Battle Of The Smithwick Lewis Family

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This story dates back to the late 1950s. I will be telling it from my perspective, which is the side I was born on. FP and Florence Lewis had a bunch of kids. There were two girls and seven boys (couple more died young) and they raised them in Smithwick. Best I know they had several pieces of property but our old home place was originally Stinnett land that they bought from Grandmother Florence’s family or inherited it. It was comprised of 450 acres that stretched from FM 1431 down to the Colorado River. It was approximately 1/2 mile of … Continue reading The Battle Of The Smithwick Lewis Family

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, My Friends, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Drilling A Water Well

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Cec talked LJ Henderson into bringing a track drill, normally used to drill holes for blasting rock, down to Smithwick to drill a water well. That wasn’t the conventional way to drill a water well, but Cecil Lewis and LJ Henderson weren’t your conventional guys either. After going down close to 100′, they hit water. When drilling with a track drill, the operator would stand right next to the hole being drilled,so all of the dust and rock cuttings being blown from the hole come out and cover the driller. Very few jobs could be dirtier. When the drill bit … Continue reading Drilling A Water Well

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Runaway Tractor

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We always had a problem with trucks, cars and machinery taking off and rolling away when we parked it at our house. Most of the time it worked out without being a real disaster. We didn’t live on top of a hill exactly, but the ground wasn’t level either. Which was good and bad. Bad if the brakes weren’t set good, but good when the battery was down on a vehicle and you needed to roll it to get it started. Once I started to town, forgot something and came back. Forgetting to set the parking brake and in a … Continue reading The Runaway Tractor