Month: July 2018

This grave stone is obviously handmade by someone who loved Mrs. Lois Straley very much. Cary and I have done some research on Newspapers.com, FindaGrave.com, and Ancestry.com, with little results. This is what we learned…Olita “Lois” Loven (also found spelled “Lovin”) was born in Fisher County, Texas on March 14, 1915. Her father had come to Texas from Arkansas. Lois was one of eight children.

She married J. H. Straley, and they had a child, Lonnie James Straley, in 1932. Her  death certificate lists her as a housewife. 

She and her husband lived in Brownwood when she died at 3:30 in the morning on October 9, 1933. She was only 18-years-old, and her child was one. She had gotten a blood transfusion the day before her death. On her death certificate, the cause of death was listed as “acute infection of the face.”

When I look at this grave marker, I am struck by the fact that someone REALLY must have loved her. The making of this memorial would have cost almost nothing, but the love put into it is just beautiful.  -Freda

Clara Jane Farr was born in Indiana on September 4, 1882. On March 2, 1919, Clara married Dr. Noah Achor of Illinois. According to her marriage license, Clara was a school teacher at the time. I am unclear how they came to to be in Texas.

Clara became an osteopathic physician, and in the early part of the twentieth century was the only licensed female doctor practicing in Brownwood. Her sister, Rose Denson, was her nurse and assistant.

Clara’s husband, Noah, was also a doctor. He was a veteran of the Philippine Insurgence, between 1899 and 1902, and also served in both the Spanish American War and World War I. While he practiced medicine in Brownwood, he was active in the Masonic Lodge. Noah died in the VA hospital in Waco in 1939, long before Clara.

Doctors Noah and Clara had two sons: Merlin and William. Merlin grew up to be a doctor like his parents. William served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. His grave stone states, “Teacher and Engineer, At Peace with God.”

During her life, Clara was active in her community. She was a member of the Brownwood Business & Professional Women’s Club, at a time when not that many women in this area qualified. She married, raised children, was involved in her community, and was a physician. She seems to have proven that women can, indeed, have it all.

Dr. Clara Achor died at the age of 77 on December 3, 1959, and was buried beside her husband at Greenleaf Cemetery. Her headstone reads, “Mother, Teacher, Physician, Perfect Peace in God.”   -Freda

 

Thomas Hart was born in Parker County October 16, 1871. Shortly after Daniel Baker College (which was in the area where the Academy of Freedom is now) was opened in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church, Hart became a student. He was one of the first graduates of the new school.

He married Artie Vienna Hart, and they had two sons.

In May of 1909, his wife and sons went to visit friends in Zephyr while Dr. Hart stayed in Brownwood. At this time, Hart was the principal of Brownwood High School.

At about midnight the night of their visit, a cyclone hit the heart of Zephyr, killing thirty-four people and injuring more than fifty. Thirty-seven homes and a dozen businesses were totally destroyed; about that many more were severely damaged. Two churches and a rock school building were damaged. The cyclone turned walls and boards to splinters and stripped limbs and bark from trees. It cut a path 70′ to 150′ wide through the center of town. After the storm, dead farm animals littered the rubble. Circling overhead were seagulls brought in by the wind.

In the midst of the storm, lightning struck the business district, causing fires that destroyed a livery stable, two blacksmith shops, a general store, a newspaper printing plant, and a lumber yard.

Oddly, Brownwood heard about the disaster that happened not even twenty miles away two hours later from a reporter at a Fort Worth newspaper. Communication had been completely wiped out between Brownwood and Zephyr.

At about 4:00 in the morning, a special train arrived in Zephyr from Brownwood, with Santa Fe crewmen, rescue workers, seven doctors, and all available medical supplies. Dr. Hart came on this train to find his wife and children. Unfortunately, his wife and five-year-old son Robert were both dead.

Artie and Robert have a beautiful double head stone, topped with the statement, “We shall meet again.” On the stone are engraved two clasped hands, one female and one male, which signifies a good marriage, and the welcoming gates of heaven thrown wide open to welcome them.

Dr. Hart served many years as a Justice of the Peace. In an ad for re-election in 1958, he listed his accomplishments: former superintendent of Brownwood Public Schools, former teacher of government at Daniel Baker College, former Dean and President at Daniel Baker College, and former member of the Brownwood City Council.