Lela Alma Davidson

1897 - 1999  (102 years)

• Name	Lela Alma Davidson  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	20 Jan 1897	Milam, Sabine County, Texas   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Death	4 Jul 1999	New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas   [1]
  Notes	San Augustine Tribune January 16, 1997, Page 8 Lela Wyatt's 100 Years Celebration Saturday at Twin Lakes Lela Davidson Wyatt celebrates her One Hundredth birthday Saturday, January 18, 1997. [Assumed Saturday, January 18 was chosen to celebrate because it was a weekend, according to the SSDI, Lela's actual date of birth was January 18, 1897.] Her friends and famiy are invited to come out to Twin Lakes Care Center between 2:00 and 4:00 that afternoon to share in this celebration. Lela has had a very interesting life. She taught school for 41 years. She graduated from Huntsville Teacher's Normal that is now known as Sam Houston State Southwest Texas Teacher's College and Stephen F. Austin State University where she received her BA and MA. Her first degree was handed to her by Lyndon B. Johnson. Her first experience in teaching was in 1912-1913 at the age of 16. She was chosen by the community to take the teacher's exam. She was awarded a teacher's certificate to teach in Sabine County. Her salary was $37.50 per month and she paid $7.00 for her room and board per month to Mr. and Mrs. Hamp Pratt. Some of the places she taught were Pratt, Lowe's Chapel (Allen Old Mill), Milam, Camp Springs, New Hope, Spring Hill, Mt. Nebo, Henry Hill, Shady Grove, Grange Hall, Denning, Black Jack and Diboll, where she taught 17 years before retiring. After retiring she still worked as a substitute and then at the Lively Furniture. She has always been active in her church, First Baptist of Lufkin where she lived from 1946-1991. Lela was born in 1897 in Milam, Texas to Calvin and Della Davidson. She was the oldest of 8 children. The family home still stands in Milam under the big oak tree where a lot of memories were made. She has one sister, Ivy Kirk of Houston, still living. She has a daughter, Dorothy Chandler of New Braunfels, a step-daughter Alice Dillon of Nacogdoches, a step-son, Henry Wyatt of Nacogdoches, 3 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. At her retirement dinner, a brother said it best when he quoted from Margurite Stanley about what he attributed her long life: "She has achieved success because she has lived well, laughed often, and loved much. She has gained the confidence and respect of Godly men and pure women and the love of little children. She has filled her niche in life and accomplished her task. She has made the world better than she found it by her devotion to duty and her consecrated life. Surely we can say of her life is an inspiration and her memory will be a benedicition." Lela still enjoys her family and friends coming by to see her. She says her memory is not as good as it used to be, but what can you expect after 100 years? She resides now at Twin Lakes Care Center where she is one of the official greeters as you come to visit. (Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, June 2009)
  Person ID	I25573	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	Calvin B. Davidson, Sr.,   b. Abt 1869, Texas d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Mary Idella "Della" Henderson,   b. Abt 1871, Texas d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F8502	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Edgar Rawson Wyatt,   b. 13 Feb 1902   d. 24 Dec 1991, Angelina County, Texas (Age 89 years)
  Marriage	Bef 1925
  Children	1. Living
  Family ID	F8665	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jun 2009

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 20 Jan 1897 - Milam, Sabine County, Texas Death - 4 Jul 1999 - New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Documents

  Davidson, Lela Alma (former wife of Edgar Rawson Wyatt) An article in honor of Lela Davidson Wyatt celebration of her One Hundredth Birthday on Saturday, January 18, 1997.

  
  

• Sources

  [S333] Ancestry.com - U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current [database online], (Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration Death Master File contains information on millions of deceased individuals with United States social security numbers whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. Birth years for the individuals listed range from 1875 to last year. Information in these records includes name, birth date, death date, and last known residence.). [S481] 1910 United States Federal Census [Ancestry.com database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006, (For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1910. T624, 1,178 rolls. This database is an index to the head of households enumerated in the 1910 United States Federal Census, the Thirteenth Census of the United States. In addition, each indexed name is linked to actual images of the 1910 Federal Census. The information recorded in the census includes: name, relationship to head of family, age at last birthday, sex, color or race, whether single, married, widowed, or divorced, birthplace, birthplace of father and mother, and more.), Texas, Sabine County, Precinct 4 Enumerated 30 April 1910 b y Reginald G. Goodrich SD 2 ED 134 Sheet 9A Stamped 159 (Reliability: 3). [S342] San Augustine Tribune, weekly, 807 E. Columbia, San Augustine, TX, (San Augustine Tribune, USPS No. 479-040, Published every Thursday at 807 E. Columbia St., San Augustine, Texas 75972 Stephen Hays & Arlan Hays, Publishers. Postmaster: Change of Address notice should be made at P.O. Box 539, San Augustine, Texas 75972. The Tribune is a continuation of the Texas Chronicle moved from Galveston to San Augustine in 1837 and published as the Redlander.), January 16, 1997, Page 8 (Reliability: 3).