52 Ancestors 2020 Week 9: Disasters

In April of 1927 there was a Category F5 tornado that hit Rocksprings, Texas with devastating results.  According to the National Weather Service it was a mile wide and traveled between 35 to 65 miles.  The twister killed around 70 people, injured 200 or more, and destroyed all but about 12 of the buildings in town.  To this day it is ranked as the 3rd worst tornado in Texas history since 1900 when keeping records were started.

Grandma Dorothy Buswell later Lomax was 15 years old when the storm hit.  She told about the school program scheduled for later that night but fortunately the townspeople had not started to gather or more deaths would have occurred.  The school was completely destroyed.  The Methodist church across the street from the Buswell home did not fair well plus the pastor and his wife were killed.

Grandad Eric Lomax was 18 years old at the time.  He told about of the fury of the storm and everything falling down around him in the garage where he worked.

Thankfully none of the Buswell or Lomax family members were seriously injured.  However I don't recall where they lived or how they recovered during the long clean up and rebuilding phase of Rocksprings.  I do know that references to their home town were measured as before the storm or after the storm.

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 9 Strong Women

Mally Sutherland Buswell was an extremely strong woman.  In the third quarter of the 19th century she moved to England leaving all her very large family in Scotland.  At some point she met Joseph Emlyn Buswell in Leicester, England.  It is said that he went to America first then followed by Mally.  They married in San Antonio, Texas February 25, 1884.

She and Joseph lived for a time in a tent in Leakey, Texas where she had two children, Alex and Alice.  Joseph was a surveyor during the time of the Real and Edward's counties boundary changes.

After their move to Rocksprings, Texas her husband died at a young age (38) in 1895.  Mally/Mollie at age 41 was left alone as a single mother.  She must have been an excellent money manager because she owned several rental properties in Rockspring that provided her with a living.

There is much more evidence of her strength, some of which I wrote about a few weeks ago under "Fresh Starts", Week 1.

A brave, strong woman indeed.

52 Ancestors 2020, Week 8: Prosperity

 I really don't know who was the most prosperous person in my family tree.  However, my great-uncle Earl Bates Lomax did pretty well for himself.  In the 1930 Federal Census he is listed as a bookkeeper at a garage in Rocksprings  Texas.  In 1932 he married his wife Lois and they were listed in the 1940 Census as owning a retail grocery business in Sonora, Texas.   Uncle Earl's 2001 obituary says that for 23 years he owned and operated the Piggly Wiggly grocery store as well as the Sonora Locker Plant.

He ranched in Hamilton County, Texas then later moved to Tipton,  Oklahoma where he developed  the Lomax Housing Addition.  After he retired he used his contracting and carpentry skills to remodel numerous kitchens in the cottages at the Tipton Childrens Home.

Left to right:  Brothers Eric, Homer and Earl Lomax date unknown (maybe Mom or Amy will remember when this was taken)

Sharing Family History

This blog is solely for the purpose of sharing with any family members who are interested little snippets and photos about our family history.  It is based on a challenge of 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks each with a specific theme.  I hope to be able to keep up the weekly pace but if not, I will just do the best I can.

I have already done several weeks so I am publishing all the posts pretty much at the same time but starting next week they will be at least a week apart so as not to overwhelm anyone. You can subscribe to receive my posts via email.  Just put in your email address where indicated in the box on the right side of this blog.

By the way, if you see anything that is incorrect please let me know.

https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52ancestors52weeks/

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 6: Same name

I share my middle name with my maternal aunt, Amy Joyce Lomax Donaghe.  I have not found any other Joyce's in my family tree so far.  Stay tuned.

Here is a photo of Aunt Amy.  I am proud to share her middle name.

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 5: Far Away

Great Great Grandfather Joseph Emlyn Buswell worked in his father's tailoring shop.  The main industry in Leicester, England during the mid- 19th century was producing hosiery and footwear.

In his mid-twenties he left his mother, father and sister in Leicester to emigrate to the United States sometime between the years of 1881-1884. That is almost 5000 miles to San Antonio!  Leicester's population was about 200,000 at that time.

Thus far I have been unable to locate immigration or ship records showing where he left England or where entered the United States but I will keep looking.  I would love to know what lead him to settle in southwest Texas.  

The records show that he was married to Mollie Sutherland in San Antonio, Texas on the 25th of February 1884 and later had two children, a son and a daughter.  A few short years thereafter the Buswell family settled in Rockspring, Texas which had a population of just a few hundred people.

He died very young at age 38.    My research says he was born in 1857.

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 2: Favorite Photo

52 Ancestors 2020: Week: Favorite Photo

Snapped by my mother in January 1959, Debbie, Daddy, Jackie (Ben) and me standing in Grandad Hog's yard next to his house constructed with corrugated steel siding and roof. Debbie and I have matching western trim style pants. Going to Grandad and Grannie's ranch in the Hill Country of Texas was always fun. Mules and horses to ride, walking in the woods of the rocky hills, surrounded by so much beauty and love.

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 4: Close to Home

I am a native Texan born in Uvalde in 1952.

Dad Ben Welch born in Hackberry, Texas in 1930.

Grandad E.A. Welch born in 1907 at Vance, Texas

Great grandad Alfred N. Welch born in Val Verde County, Texas in 1881

2nd Great Grandad William Madison born 1859 in Kerrville, Texas

 All this makes me a 5th generation Texan.  How about that!

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 7: Favorite Finds

My favorite find is the fist I ever made, my great grandparents Alex Emlin [Emlyn] and wife Amy, my grandmother Dorothy and her brother, Uncle Joe, and Alex's mother Mollie on a 1920 census record for Rocksprings in Edward's County, Texas.

I  jumped up and down, whooped and hollered like I had won the lottery.  It was this moment I became a genealogy addict.  

I did not have an ancestry.com membership so I found it on a free site.

52 Ancestors 2020 Week 3: Long Lines

On more than one branch of family tree on my dad's side we have a long line of ranchers.  In the Welch line alone are 4 generations of stockmen. Dad grew up on the last ranch in his family located near Camp Wood, Texas.  They raised mostly Angora goats and/or sheep.

                                      Angora Goats

All of these ranchers were located in southwest Texas.  Some true pioneers.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 | Week 1: Fresh Start

My Scottish third great grandmother Mally Sutherland Buswell had not one but two fresh starts in her life. It is said that she left her home in Kildonan, Sutherland, Scotland because there were too many children in her family.  Being the oldest girl, a lot of the responsibility of tending to them probably fell to her.

Sometime between 1881 and 1884 she immigrated to the United States.  Family stories say that she came to the U.S. to meet up with her fiance Joseph Emlyn Buswell who was from Leicester, England.    Joseph and Mally married in San Antonio, Texas on February 25, 1884 then made their home in a tent in Leakey, Texas. They had two children but moved to nearby town of Rocksprings.  She became a widow 11 years later but she was a determined and savvy businesswoman. She owned numerous rental properties in Rocksprings.

Her second fresh start came as a result of the tragic tornado in Rocksprings, Texas in April 1927 that killed about 75 people and injured more than 200. Casualties totaled roughly a third of the population of Rocksprings at the time.  Fortunately none of her family was injured. Of the town's roughly 247 buildings, only a dozen remained standing after the storm hit. Her home imploded during the storm. Everyone had to dig out and rebuild. Mally and many other townspeople did just that.