Sylvia Jeannette Payne

1906 - 1991  (85 years)

• Name	Sylvia Jeannette Payne  [1]
  Birth	14 May 1906	Sunset, Montague County, Texas   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Death	8 Jun 1991	Bowie, Montague County, Texas   [2]
  Burial	11 Jun 1991	Davidson Cemetery, Davidson, Tillman County, Oklahoma   [2]
  Notes	Email from Rick Payne [rapayne@frii.com] to Charles Strong (cstrong832@aol.com) on 10/17/2002: BIOGRAPHICAL TEXT: I was told that Sylvia Couch worked as a telephone operator in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before and for a little while after she married. She was a strong Christian woman and taught sunday school at church most of her adult life. She was Southern Baptist. She was a farmer/rancher's wife. From 1921 to 1948-49 her father Aubrey Payne lived with her. She never had any children because she and Woodrow were cousins. When she died, she left everything she had to her nieces and nephews. She was a good a decent woman with no real vices. James Avery Couch gave Woodrow & Sylvia the 1/2 acre in Donna, Texas when he and Sylvia were married. It was a real small house. Then after Woodrow and Sylvia went back to Davidson, Oklahoma circa 1932. Sylvia moved to the Couch Farm once owned by her father-in-law. In March James Avery Couch, Woodrow's father died and left him the family farm. In September of 1934 he had to sell the place to pay off debt. They moved back to Hidalgo County. Sylvia and Woodrow had to sell the Couch Family farm in Davidson Oklahoma to pay off bills, so they rented a farm in south Texas in the Rio Grande Valley in the general area of Edinburg and Donna, they would live here until 1939. Near the end of 1939 or very early 1940, Sylvia and her husband Woodrow Wilson Couch moved to a farm in Bailey County Texas, near the city of Muleshoe, in West Texas. Life was very good for them here. They stayed in this area 25 years. In 1952 Woodrow Wilson Couch was elected as a Bailey County Commissioner. They left the county in 1965, going to Clairette, Erath County, Texas. Woodrow was in the Democratic Party when he was a County Commissioner. Clairette, on State Highway 6 some fifteen miles southeast of Stephenville in southeastern Erath County, was established when the Texas Central Railroad was constructed through the area in the early 1880s. The community was named for a popular brand of soap. In 1940 it had 275 residents, five businesses, several churches, and a post office. Changes in agriculture and transportation patterns subsequently reduced the town's prosperity. From 1968 until 1990 its population was estimated at fifty-five. The 1984 county highway map showed a church, a community hall, and three businesses at Clairette. It is due south of Fort Worth. It was here that Sylvia and Woodrow purchased a ranch in 1965. She resided in Sunset, Montague County, Texas 1966. She died in the hospital: Bowie Memorial Hospital of Acute Myocardial Infarction according to Dr. H.Lorain Evans, M.D. Like so many others in our family she is buried in Davidson, Oklahoma at the Davidson cemetery, her funeral was handled by: Burgess-Fry Funeral Home of 201 West Walnut Street in Bowie, Texas. June 11, 1991. She was 85 years old. She was a grand lady and a good person. You would have liked her.
  Person ID	I6237	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	Aubrey Hamilton Payne,   b. 28 Mar 1877, Shelby County, Missouri d. 25 Nov 1954, Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas (Age 77 years)
  Mother	Sarah Jane Williams,   b. 22 Mar 1881, Texas d. 3 Aug 1964, Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas (Age 83 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1904  [1]
  Family ID	F1085	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Woodrow Wilson Couch,   b. 9 Aug 1910, Oklahoma d. 14 Sep 1972, Bowie, Montague County, Texas (Age 62 years)
  Marriage	18 May 1928	Donna, Hidalgo County, Texas   [2]
  Family ID	F3160	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Dec 2006

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 14 May 1906 - Sunset, Montague County, Texas Marriage - 18 May 1928 - Donna, Hidalgo County, Texas Death - 8 Jun 1991 - Bowie, Montague County, Texas Burial - 11 Jun 1991 - Davidson Cemetery, Davidson, Tillman County, Oklahoma  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  Payne, Sylvia Wife of Woodrow Wilson Couch B. 1906 Texas D. 1991 Texas. Sylvia Payne Couch was a devout Christian woman who taught Sunday School at the Southern Baptist church most of her adult life. She and her husband farmed and ranched in various parts of Texas.

  
  

• Sources

  [S137] Hudson, Sylvia Payne--Family Researcher (chudson@marktwain.net) 7894 Shelby 156 Bethel MO 63434. [S276] Payne, Rick--Family Researcher [rapayne@frii.com].