Mabel Elizabeth Dominy

Notes:

The following is an article in a book entitled "TRINITY COUNTY BEGINNINGS" published by the Trinity County Book Committee. Compiled by Patricia Bartley Hensley and Joseph Woodrow Hensley in 1986. This book was found in the Tyler, Texas library in June 1998, and transcribed by Jeff L. Bott, and copied from his BAKER SURNAME-Descendants of Silas Baker on RootsWeb WorldConnect.

On November 30, 1919, 1 was born in Groveton, delivered by our beloved family physician, Dr. Jap Magee, to my expectant and devoted parents, Reed H. and Maude Inez Baker Dominy. Mrs. Lynn P. Atmar (Mabel) named me; she became my dearly loved "Auntie Mabel". She, her husband, and son, Morris, were friends of our family. Her husband, Lynn, was the banker in Groveton then. Dr. Magee's wife and mother were also kind and good friends.

My childhood was filled with fun and love, so many wonderful memories under the guidance and protection of Christian parents. Many cousins were counted among my close friends and associates and still remain so today.

I remember the gatherings in the home of our grandparents, Daniel and Kittie Dominy, the love of aunts and uncles and their families. At Thanksgiving and Christmas our grandparents expected all to be there, but these reunions continued after our grandparents were gone. I miss them now.

Our mother was full of love for all and had the wonderful ability to take over in homes where there was illness or sadness. She was also a good cook and friend to all.

My dear brother, Reed Harwood, 3/ years older than I, was a freckle-faced, good-looking lad with auburn curls, a winning smile, and lovable personality. I was chubby with curly blond hair, which my mother kept in Shirley Temple style. I remember how beautifully she dressed me in the clothes she made, for she was a good seamstress. My brother was also dressed beautifully.

Growing up was full of happy living among such loving, kind, and good friends among our peers as well as adults. Attending Sunday School, Church, and Groveton public schools contributed to a full and well-rounded education. We had excellent teachers, such as Miss Norma Dawson and Mrs. Jimmie (G. H.) Bradley, who was the best math teacher I ever had.

Reading through the recipes in my mother's cookbook, compiled by members of the Church Circle, awakens more memories of all the dear people who contributed so much to our lives, to each other, and to other Trinity County residents. Among these was Mrs. Joe Locke. She and her husband, Joe, owned the Locke Hotel; and their son, Joe Tom, a dear friend of ours, drowned in the Trinity River. Mr. and Mrs. Roy Robb were also family friends to whom my brother and I delivered milk from our Holstein Dairy.

When school closed, we had great fun gathering with friends at our house for tennis, followed by enjoying tall glasses of butter-milk, fried pork (sow-belly), and cornbread (Soul Food), followed by old-fashioned tea cakes. Then the friends left to do their home chores, while Reed and I turned to our town duties. During football season it fell my lot to do double-duty, while my brother either stayed at school to practice or play football.

In 1934 we moved to Nacogdoches where I finished high school, preparatory to college, and Reed Harwood entered Stephen F. Austin College. We later moved to Center where my father continued his profession in the Dry-Goods business, later serving as a member of the State's Department Program for developing agriculture in Texas, which he enjoyed very much.

After college my brother taught school in Longview until World War II, when he joined the US Air Force and was stationed in California until sent overseas to London. He was piloting a P-35 when shot down over the English Channel. The body was never recovered. When my mother died in 1966 (correction: 1950), the minister referred to her as another casualty or victim of war. My father died in 1973.

Reed Harwood left a widow, Melba, and a daughter Mary Margaret, now Mrs. John Hendrick (correction: Hendricks), of Auburn, Alabama John and Mary Margaret have a son, John, in the University of Alabama, and a daughter, Lisa, who is finishing high school.

I met and married Carl Fussell, a rancher and member of a prominent family in San Augustine. Carl died in 1970. We have one son, Rodger Carl Fussell, who married Sharon Jones Fussell, and they live in Gilmer, Texas. Both are CPA's.

by: Mrs. Mabel Fussell
Jeff L. Bott made two corrections above in what appears to have been typographical errors

Mabel married Wesley Carl Fussell before 1943. Wesley (son of William Hollie Fussell and Lena Gay Mason) was born about 1918 in Texas; died on 25 Jul 1970 in Houston, Harris County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living