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Mary Louisa Johnson Boone Collection

 Collection
Identifier: A-0090

Scope and Contents

The reminiscence are broken up into short half-page to a page entries and poems about Mrs. Boone's life. This volume is a photocopy made in 1967 from the family copy in possession of Mrs. Anne P. Shaw, Longview, Texas.

Table of Contents

MY STORY (Dear Children, I think I will sit down awhile), 1

DAVIS FAMILY (A little of your family tree), 2

OUR FAMILY TREE (A Major up in Washington fixed our family tree), 2

Chart of Families, 3

The Davis Family (Outline), 4

My Grandfather Davis, 5

The Price Family, 6

The Johnson Family (Outline), 7

The Johnson Family, 8

The Boone Family (Outline), 9

Edgar Howard Boone , 10

Boone Coat of Arms, 11

Early Recollections, 12

OLDEN DAYS (Friendly folks are hard to find), 12

OUR HOUSE (In our new house on the big road), 13

JUNE BUGS (Back of our house were fig trees), 13

THE REDLAND'S DEARER THAN ANY OTHER GROUND (My people came from Virginia and some from Tennessee, 14

MY GRANDPA (My grandpa was a colonel), 15

THE OLD CEDAR CHEST (When grandmaw used to live with us), 16

BLUE DICK (My Pa, he raised fine horses), 17

MY MOTHER (My father and my mother were the gayest of the gray), 18

MY UNCLE (With due respect I'll tell you of an uncle I once had), 19

The Railroad Question, 20

Uncle John Rohte, 21

SUMMER DAYS (I wish you could live on a great big farm), 22

IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS (We brought our coffee green to roast), 23

OUR SOAP (You have never seen an ash hopper), 24

WAITING FOR THE WAGONS (Down in the lot was a big old crib), 25

FALL (In the fall of the year when the leaves were brown), 26

HAPPY DAYS (When cool days came we looked for the time), 27

THAT OLD BLUE NORTHER (Old blue norther's comin', geese is honkin' high), 28

THE SNOW MAN (First deep snow I ever saw), 29

WINTER WEATHER (My clothes were fine in winter weather), 30

ON WINTER DAYS (I wore a nice warm balmoral), 31

SCHOOL DAYS (When I was small and went to school), 32

HOW I DRESSED (My dresses were made of linsey wool), 33

Our New House, 34

MY SCHOOL (If you read my story, I'm sure you'll not suspect), 35

The Dough Face, 36

THE STORM (I'll tell you a story I know to be true), 37

Total Eclipse of 1878, 38

BROTHER (When Brother was a little boy), 39

OUR NEGROES (There was old Aunt Martha and Uncle Wash), 40

AUNT LAVINIA (We had loyal Negroes that lived on our place), 41

GHOST TALES (A mulatto girl once cooked for us), 42

Saliny Pick-pocket, 43

A TERRIBLE FRIGHT (That early Christmas morning), 44

It Really Happened, 45-46

THE CIRCUS (Now what did we do for amusement?), 47

THE TOURNAMENT (Always on the first of May), 48

HAPPY TIMES (Back in the eighties, what happy times were those), 49

CAMP MEETING (In my early teens, a long time ago), 49

The Home Owners Loan, 50

OUT WEST (I had heard about the Buffalo), 51-52

ABILENE IN '88 (In Abilene in '88 we were Pioneers), 53

AS LIFE WAS IN ABILENE, IN 1888 (I'm reading today the Reporter), 54-55

MEMORIES (When I think of old San Augustine and take a backward look), 56

YESTERDAYS (I have turned my back on yesterday), 57

DEPRESSION (When old depression picks on you), 57

SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE (I write a lot of nonsense), 57

THE CHANGING YEARS (Gone are the days of the tarleton frocks), 58

THE LITTLE BOY (A brave little lad in an old coat and vest), 59

HOWARD (When Howard was a little chap), 60

WAR (War clouds fast are gathering), 61

NATURE CALLS AND THE SPIRIT ANSWERS (Far from the smell of gasoline), 62

MUSIC OF THE BIRDS, 63

SPRINGTIME (A small brown bird with sweetest voice), 64

AUTUMN (Autumn leaves are drifting down), 64

MY PURPOSE (To be a little kindlier), 65

GOOD ADVICE (If you have a Methodist in your block), 65

THE GAME (Californians, we all know, are given much to boast), 66-67

ETERNAL LIFE (This life that is eternal), 68

WANDERING BACK (I'm wandering back down memory's lane), 68

LEAVING ABILENE (We sold our home not just a house), 69

1937 DALLAS, 70

TRANSPORTATION (Many modes of transportation in this day of thrills abound), 70

A Dream, 71

EMOTIONS (If I could press some hidden valve), 72

JOKES (Many strange things I have learned about folks), 72

IF (If I could get on the air someday), 72

Houston, 73

SIGHTSEEING (On that visit down in Houston), 73

PEACE AND QUIET (If there's a place, I'd like to know), 73

MY VISIT TO HOUSTON IN 1937 (It was down in Houston, Texas, where the perspiration flows), 74

JUDD MORTIMER LEWIS (Judd Mortimer Lewis poems in the morning Houston Post), 75

JUST A THOUGHT (I'd thank my Heavenly Father for keeping me at night), 76

PRAYER (When the western sun sinks low), 76

MISS GAY (Little Miss Gay, one fine summer day), 77

A TRUE STORY (Bring in your tool chest, Kenneth), 77

LITTLE JEANIE (Jean was in the back yard), 77

POWELL (When the Major was a little lad), 78

PETER RABBIT (We had an Easter rabbit), 78

THANKSGIVING (A big turkey gobbler was tellin’ me), 79

MR. GOBBLER (You can strut your stuff, Mr. Gobbler), 79

MR. AND MRS. ROOSTER (Old speckled rooster and his wife, Little Cluck), 80

LOOK AHEAD (You'll never see the sunshine), 80

SLOW AND EASY (Ole' woman says I'm lazy), 80

CONVERSATION IN 1965 (Said little Blan to little Chris), 81

DUCKY DADLING (A ducky dadling in the yard), 81

LITTLE PIG (A little pig once found a home with kind Miss Lizzie Lee), 82

MY PROPHESY (The Browns someday will own a plane), 83

PEYTON A. BROWN, JR. (I know a man of genuine worth), 84

SOMEDAY I PREDICT (Now that Mr. Mark Twain with all his renown), 84

MY GIRLS (When Mary Ann was past fifteen), 85

LAMB CHOPS (When I was jest a little lad), 85

A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE (Happy Birthday to you), 86

HALF AWAKE (Day is dawning - I am yawning, in the morning), 87

IN CHURCH TODAY (I like to worship in this church), 88

MY DAY (A friendly little neighbor with lots of time to spare), 88

THINKING (Am I who I think I am, or what my neighbors see?), 89

OPPORTUNITY (Opportunity knocks at your door each day), 89

MY FAITH (Mankind will never cease to wonder), 89

GROWING OLD (I'm growing old, so I've been told), 90

GOUT (I've had all the ills that flesh is heir to), 90

TIME (Race on old time, race on, race on), 91

AGE (When you get old and cranky), 91

WE WILL ADD THE SCORE (If you have not lived according to the Book), 91

SENSE AND NONSENSE (If misfortune should slip up behind you), 92

FOOLISH THOUGHTS (I thought one time that I might find), 92

A THOUGHT (Don't be perturbed about your age), 92

TO HAVE BEEN A FRIEND (Wish I could speak a kind word), 93

JUST A CARD (I wonder if you ever thought), 93

GOD'S GIFTS (If I were a poet, oh, how I would write), 94

PRIDE (My friends say my pride is an obsession), 94

LONGING (If there be a choir near the great white throne), 95

HIS WILL (Why have I been left so long?), 95

PEACE (Someday the morning sun will rise), 96

JUDGE NOT (I have no desire to be grand or great), 96

WHY (I watch the years that come and go), 96

CHRISTMAS DAY 1952 (Perhaps I did hear angels singing), 97

TO MY GIRLS (I'm thinking today of the loving things), 98

Dates

  • Creation: 1952

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Biographical or Historical Information

Mary Louisa Johnson was born in San Augustine around 1872. She lived there until her family moved to Abilene in 1888. She married Edgar Howard Boone in 1894 and they continued to reside in Abilene until 1918 at which time they moved to Dallas. They had two children, Mary Eugenia and Howard Willoughby Boone, and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Boone wrote these reminiscences, chiefly in verse form, for her grand-children. She describes growing up in rural East Texas in the 1870's and 1880's including games, clothes, food, seasons, holidays, entertainment, and anecdotes about black servants, She includes brief genealogies of the Davis, Price, Johnson, and Boone families. She was the great-granddaughter of Elijah Price, one of the prominent early citizens of San Augustine. The collection is a photocopy of a typescript.

"Mary Louisa Johnson Boone Reminiscences." East Texas Research Center, Ralph W. Steen Library, Stephen F. Austin State University.

Extent

0.10 Cubic Feet

Arrangement

This collection is described in one folder and housed with other collections in a clamshell box.

Related Materials

Price-Hall Family Collection, A-0250

Title
Guide to the Mary Louisa Johnson Boone Reminiscences
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the East Texas Research Center Repository

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