Living

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Memmon married Viola Evon McLemore on 8 Jan 1938 in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Viola (daughter of Vessie Eugene McLemore and Nina Ophelia Fuller) was born on 6 Nov 1914 in Bronson, Sabine County, Texas; died on 18 Oct 2008 in Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas; was buried in Broaddus Cemetery, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Evon was a tiny baby, weighing only 2 and 1/2 pounds a few days after birth. Considering she was born and cared for at home, and not in an incubator, it is a tribute both the Evon's spirit and her mother's loving care that she not only survived but flourished. In describing her infant daughter's size, Nina used to relate that "her face was smaller than a half dollar, and I could have put her in a coffee pot, and still closed the lid." Evon picked out her own name when she was old enough. She liked the sound of Yvonne, but wasn't sure of the spelling. She was listed as Eva V. on the 1920 census.

When Evon started school, she arrived everyday atop a pony led by her brother Percy. Evon's father also thought it important that his daughter be exposed to culture. When she was a young girl, she weekly took the train 10 miles from Steep Creek to Bronson in order to take piano lessons. Most weekends were spent "visiting." Evon has close relations with her many cousins still today.

She attended her primary years of school in rural Sabine County, but attended High School in San Augustine County. Her father paid for her to board at the home of Dr. Davis in the winter, so she could to this. Evon was active in school, perfoming in piano recitals and playing the lead character in the 1932 Senior Class play, "Oh, Kay!"

News clipping
(dated 3-28-1929, newspaper not referenced)

Steep Creek Club
The Steep Creek 4-H girls met on March 26. Seven girls were present.

The following officers were elected:

Evon McLemore, President; Rosa Henley, Vice President; Lois Powell, Sec'y; Bonnie Wilson, Reporter. An apron was cut out.

Bonnie Wilson, reporter.

San Augustine Tribune
Thursday, May 26, 1932, Vol. XXIV, Number 9

School Term Brought to Successful Close

Thursday night at the high school auditorium the commencement exercises were attended by a large crowd....A piano solo was skillfully rendered by Evon McLemore, class musician....diplomas were presented by R. V. Greer, superintendent of the local schools to the following candidates:
Randolph Hankla, Charles S. McMillan, Willys G. Blount, Sam Henry Williams, Lois Marie Thompson, A. C. Everett, Evon McLemore, Willie Mae Stevenphson, Geneva Stallings. Earl McEachern, Hoyt J. Alford, Sidney Westbrook, Allene Stewart, Ruby Mitchill, Mildred Whitton, Clifford Childers, Bonnie Partin, Zelma Soward, Alran Hays, James Bridges, Helen Alford and Early Needham.

After Evon graduated from San Augustine High School, she went on to Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. She became a teacher, majoring in Home Economics and minoring in English. The college classmate that was her best friend was Merlene McLemore, a cousin.

Vessie was able to help his daughter get a job teaching in Chinquapin through a friend of his who was school trustee. She later taught in nearby Broaddus.

Soon after Evon started teaching in Broaddus, Dale Tisdale's mother called her son, who was working in Lawrenceville, Indiana, to tell him that "there were some attractive new teachers in town, and he ought to come home soon for a visit." He did, and fell promptly in love with Evon.

Evon continued to teach after her marriage, while Dale managed his parents store. During World War II, Evon moved to Fort Worth while Dale was in the service. She taught a small school district just outside of the city. They also briefly lived in San Antonio. The Tisdale's returned to East Texas, and Dale opened a small general store in Zavalla.

She returned to Stephen F. Austin and received her Master's in Education in 1951. After the Tisdale's moved to Lufkin, Evon obtained a teaching position at Hudson High School. She remained there until she retired in 1972. Her daughter, Jan, began teaching Spanish at the Hudson in 1971, the year before her mother retired.

She loved music, art and the natural world. She had a beautiful soprano voice and was a member of the Angelina County Choir for a number of years. She was good at creative arts, and especially loved China painting. She participated in this after her retirement, as well as traveling with Dale and Bob with the AirStream Travel Trailer club. She was an active member of the Timberland Drive Church of Christ.

Both Evon and Dale were instrumental in the formation of the Angelina County Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) and supporters of the Lufkin Workshop and Opportunity Center.

Obituary

Evon McLemore Tisdale, 93, of Lufkin, was born November 6, 1914, in Bronson, Texas, the daughter of the late Nina (Fuller) and V.E. McLemore. She passed away Saturday, October 18, 2008, in a local nursing facility. Mrs. Tisdale graduated from San Augustine High School and Stephen F. Austin State University. She married Dale Tisdale, the love of her life, on January 8, 1938. She taught at Hudson Elementary School until 1972. She supported the Lufkin Workshop & Opportunity Center and the Burke Center. She was a member of Timberland Drive Church of Christ. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Janet and A. E. "Pete" Peterson of Lufkin; son, Bob Tisdale of Lufkin; granddaughter, Sheryl Falk and her husband Richard Retz of Houston; grandson, Lee J. Rawcliffe of Houston; brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Bonnie McLemore of Houston; sisters-in-law, Opal McLemore of Nacogdoches and Bobbie McLemore of San Augustine; and numerous nieces, nephews and many dear friends. Mrs. Tisdale was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 51 years, Dale Tisdale; brothers, Percy McLemore, Earl McLemore and Lynn McLemore, all of San Augustine, and Ray McLemore of Nacogdoches. Expressions of sympathy in Mrs. Tisdale's memory may be made to the Burke Center, 4101 S. Medford, Lufkin, Texas 75904; or to Hospice in the Pines, 116 S. Raguet, Lufkin, Texas 75904. Services for Mrs. Tisdale will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, October 22, 2008, in the Gipson Funeral Home Chapel, with Mr. Harold Hancock officiating. Graveside services will follow at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Broaddus Cemetery. Gipson Funeral Home; Duane Hills, director.

Source:
http://legacy.com/LufkinDailyNews/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=119099748

Nearly identical notices were published in the October 23, 2008 issue of the San Augustine Tribune, on Page 11, and in the October 29 issue of The Sabine County Reporter, page 15.

Notes:

His Texas Death Certificate, viewable online at FamilySearch.org, Texs Deaths, 1890-1976, shows that he died at the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. He was shown as the son of J. Tisdale of Arkansas, and no mothers name was listed. The informant was the hospital registrar.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1910 Census
Texas, Angelina, JP 5
Enumerated 23 and 25 April 1910
SD 2 ED 7 Sheet 7A Stamped 197
31-173-119
Tisdale, Isac M. Hd M W 34 M1 2 Tx Tn Tx Manager Lumber Yard
Tisdale, Dora A Wf F W 22 M1 5 2/2 Tx Miss Miss
Tisdale, Hazel E Dtr F W 3 S Tx Ark Tx
Tisdale, Elma (sic) Dtr F W 1 2/12 S Tx Ark Tx
Tisdale, Ambrose Brother M W 26 S Ark Miss Miss Mill-right Lumberyard


1920 Census
Texas, San Augustine, JP 3
Enumerated 2 Feb 1920
SD 326 ED 178 Sheet 17A
323-328
Tisdale, I. M. Hd M W M W 44 M Ark Miss Miss Merchant Retail Grocery
Tisdale, Dora Wf F W 32 M Tx Miss Miss
Tisdale, Hazel Dtr F W 13 S Tx Ark Tx
Tisdale, Elva Dtr F W 11 S Tx Ark Tx
Tisdale, Dale Son M W 8 S Tx Ark Tx

1930 Census
Not located

(Medical):See attached sources.

Isaac + Dora Beard. Dora (daughter of Benjamin Alexander Beard and Ellen Angeline Chipman) was born on 22 Nov 1887 in San Augustine County, Texas; died on 15 May 1957 in Broaddus, San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in Liberty Hill Cemetery, Bland Lake, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Her Texas Death Certificate, viewable online at FamilySearch.org, Texs Deaths, 1890-1976, shows that she was the daughter of Ben Beard, place birth not known, and Ellen Chipman, Mississippi. She was listed as a widow, and a housewife. The informant was her son, Dale Tisdale.

(Medical):See attached sources.

Notes:

Vessie McLemore grew up on his parent's farm in the first precinct of Sabine County. The adjoining farm was owned by his Uncle, Henry Strickland White, Jr. The 1900 census indicates that Vessie, who was 15, could read and write, and that he has attended three months of school that year, as had his brothers Rufus and Earnest. His daughter Evon has a class picture of Vessie from around this period. Evon said that Vessie didn't have much of a formal education, and probably stopped attending school altogether around this time. Vessie's wife, Nina, told her granddaughter Melinda that he even taught school for a time, however Evon doubts that this was so. The 1940 Federal Census indicates he had graduated from the Seventh Grade. His wife, Nina, had made it through only Six years of schooling.

When Vessie was 22, he married Nina Fuller,who was 16. On the 1910 Sabine County census they were shown living on a home farm in precinct six, near both Joe Fuller (Nina's father) and John and Jane Fullen (her mother's parents). Nina was shown as being the mother of two children, neither of them living. Nina's first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, and her next three babies died shortly after they were born. Her first child lived only 10 weeks. Evon said that Nina and Vessie's baby slept in their bed with them, as was the custom of the time. One morning when they woke up, the baby was dead. Tera Fuller, Nina's sister, reported that Nina always worried that she had somehow accidentally caused the babies death, maybe by rolling over it. Evon conjectured that the baby probably died of SIDS, which her mother had never heard of. The second baby lived only a day. In 1911, they had a third baby which also lived only one day. The three babies are buried side by side.

In 1913, Nina and Vessie's son Percy was born. Over the next six years, the McLemore's had three more children, daughter Evon and sons' Earl and Ray. Vessie owned a store in Steep Creek, a sawmill village eight miles south of San Augustine. He also raised cattle. He regularly published a small advertisement in the 1918 Sabine County newspaper, offering a reward for any stray cattle returned to him. His brand was VM on the hip. He later adopted the "Running M" as his brand. Evon remembers her father buying a Brahma Bull, in an effort to improve his herd. Most of the ranchers in Sabine County didn't fence in their cattle, they allowed them to freely roam about to forage for food. Evon remembers people being afraid of the "Brimmer." He wasn't a particularly mean bull, he was just so different from the east texas scrub cattle that everyone raised. Tom McLemore, Evon Tisdale and Melinda Strong had a conversation in November, 2002 with Vance Hargrove that came around to the subject of Vessie's missing cattle. Vance was a neighbor of the McLemore's when they lived in Bronson, and a good friend of Percy's. He said that Vessie asked he and Percy one day to go looking for several cattle that were missing. They found evidence that some of the laborers in the nearby saw mills had been poaching from Vessie's herd. They told Vessie they had found cattle bones in the yards of some of the workers, workers who looked to be half-starved. Vessie said they probably were half-starved, and told the boys not to report their findings to the sheriff.

A son of Enlow Birdwell relayed a similar story to Tom McLemore in September, 2007, at the funeral of Lynn McLemore. He recalled that Enlow had killed one of Vessie's cows and was taking it home to feed his family. He was caught in the act by Vessie. He confessed to what he had done, and said that he was only doing so because his family had done without for a long time, and were starving. Vessie told him to take the beef home and use it as he intended, but added, "let this be the last one of my cows that you steal." It was. When times became more prosperous, Enlow began raising a small herd of cattle of his own. He went to Vessie to borrow some money to get a start. Vessie gave him one of his checkbooks, and told him to simply use it as he needed, he trusted Enlow and knew together they could keep an accurate accounting of what he borrowed. Enlow often told his family that Vessie was the one who helped him get a start in life, and that he especially valued the trust he showed in him.

Vessie's older children attended their primary grades in Sabine County, but had to commute to San Augustine for High School. Evon says that during the winter, she and her brothers boarded with the family of Dr. Davis, who lived nearby the school. In the late 1920s, the family moved to San Augustine. Evon remembers that her mother suffered another devasting miscarriage, which nearly killed her. A few years later, Nina's youngest children were born, son Tommy in 1931 and son Lynn in 1933. They lived in a house Vessie renovated just off Main Street, and had a small home farm. Evon remembers her father first built a garage, and they slept and cooked in this until he had finished with the house. Their home was still standing in 1997. Even the roof is the same one Vessie laid. It is now the second house on the left, on present day Whitton street. It is a block away from the local elementary school. Tom remembers an indigent Civil War veteran, in his late eighties, who his father took into their home. Tom vividly recalls the stories he told about the war each night at dinner.

In the December 21, 1939 issue of the San Augustine Tribune, V.E. McLemore offered a $5.00 reward to anyone who found his dun muley cow branded "M" on the left loin. Around 1940, Vessie sold their house in the city, and bought some ranch land several miles outside of town.

Vessie's brothers and sisters used to say, admiringly, that "Vessie could stand on the corner and make money." He was an industrious man, with a strong enterpreneurial bent. His first job was working in the sawmills, with his brother, Rufus. But Vessie hated working for others, and saved up enough money to buy a general store in Steep Creek. This was around the time of World War I. It was a rough part of town, and he had both black and white laborers from the sawmills as customers.

The sheriff was a frequent visitor to the store. Evon remembers him always having a kind word and a piece of candy for her. He had a reputation for brutality however, and she recalls that he and a brother were eventually sent to jail after being convicted of murder. One day, the sheriff came to the store asking about a particular Negro laborer. Vessie said he hadn't seen him in days. The sheriff asked Vessie to call him the next time this man came in, telling Vessie he intended to kill him. Vessie went home and discussed the sheriff's threat with Nina, worrying about what he should do. In the middle of the night he got dressed, and tracked the man down in his home. He warned him of the sheriff's threat. The man pawned his pocket watch to Vessie, then and there, and used the money to flee town. He succesfully escaped the sheriff and was never heard of again. Vessie later gave the pocket watch to his son Earl. After Earl's death, his children gave this watch to their Uncle Tom, and Tom eventually passed this keepsake down to his eldest daughter, Melinda. It was a brass plated Studebaker watch from the South Bend Watch Company, and widely sold by mail order in the 1920's. These watches were sold on credit, and could be purchased with a down payment of $1. With the onset of the Depression, the company found itself with many delinquent accounts and was forced to close. (http://www.pocketwatchrepair.com/histories/southbend.html)

After the mill near Steep Creek closed, Vessie was also forced to close his store. His family feared that they'd soon be in the poorhouse. But Vessie continued to prosper. He worked as a rancher primarily, leasing and operating land in Pearsall, Garwood and in various sites throughout South and East Texas. He operated up to 20,000 acres at any given time. He also owned and operated a cotton gin and a meat processing plant. He involved his children in all these ventures. He was well known in the community for his willingness to extend credit or make loans to poor families, black or white. Tom McLemore recalls from looking at a lot of the notes he had drawn up that he charged from 6% to 10% compound interest. He was good fried to Will Wade, proprietor of the City Cafe, and W.J. (Wade) McClanahan, Deputy Sherriff of San Augustine.

Vessie felt a strong committment to provide for his family. Before he died, he built a home for each of his eldest four children, as well as giving them each 50 acres of land. He left his homestead and 400 acre ranch, jointly, to his two youngest sons.

When Vessie was in his forties, he was gored by a bull on the ranch. The wound was just under his left eye. He suffered from nearly incapacitating headaches for the rest of his life. In 1950, he had several massive strokes, and was unable to function normally after that. His wife nursed him at home until he died from a brain aneurysm in 1952.

Although Vessie didn't have much formal education, he was an extremely intelligent man. Tom and Evon remember that he read widely. Vessie's daughter, Evon, was the first of the family to graduate from college. She attended Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, where she received a degree in education. She remembers coming home one weekend from college, and her father asked her to check something he had prepared. He had calculated the compound interest that was due on a loan he had made. She told him she didn't know how to do this. "What am I sending you to college for" he grumbled, "if they can't even teach you to calculate compound interest."

His obituary was published in the local papers, as well as in the January 23, 1952 issue of the Houston Post.

Written by Melinda McLemore Strong, granddaughter, circa 1995 and revised periodically

(Research):
Census Listings:

1910 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Pr 6
Enumerated 11 May 1910
SD 2 ED 133 Sheet 32A
209-209
McLemore, Vessie Head M W 24 M1 2 Tx US US Farming Home Farm
McLemore, Nina Wf F W 18 M1 2 2/0 Tx Ga Tx

1920 Census
Texas, Sabine County, JP 6
Enumerated 2 Jan 1920
SD 326 ED 173 Sheet 1A
Bronson Road
2-2
McLemore, Vessie E Head M W 34 M Tx Ga Tx Farmer
McLemore, Nina O Wf F W 28 M Tx Ark Tx
McLemore, Percy L Son M W 6 S Tx Tx Tx
McLemore, Evaughan V Dtr F W 5 S Tx Tx Tx
McLemore, Earl Son M W 3 3/12 S Tx Tx Tx
McLemore, Ira Son M W 1 4/12 S Tx Tx Tx

(Medical):artherio sclerosis, hypertension

Vessie married Nina Ophelia Fuller on 7 Nov 1907 in Many, Sabine Parish, Louisiana. Nina (daughter of Joseph Thomas Fuller and Viola "Ola" Fullen) was born on 15 Sep 1891 in Rosevine, Sabine County, Texas; died on 8 Jul 1980 in Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas; was buried in Rosevine Cemetery, Rosevine, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Nina Fuller was a striking woman. She was nearly six feet tall and slender. When she unwound her hair from the bun she usually wore, it cascaded down her back almost to her feet. She enjoyed gardening and quilting, growing most of her own vegetables. She was a thrifty woman. She continued to make her own soap from lye, pine rosin and "fat cracklings" even when she could just as easily purchased a bar at the store.

Being the oldest daughter, Nina helped her mother daily with the household chores. She remembers that when she was quite young, her parents went to the State Fair in Dallas by horse and buggy. They came home with a washboard and a box of packaged laundry soap. Nina claims they were the first family in Sabine County to have a washboard, and remembers neighbors coming by on wash day just to see how it worked. The 1940 census indicates she had attended school for six years.

She was a staunch member of the Rosevine Church of God. She truly believed in doing good works, and never turned away anyone in need. Her son Tom remembers that their home was on the "hobo circuit" during the depression. He often passed men asleep on a spare mattress in their garage on his way to school. She fed everyone who came to their door hungry, and made regular visits to the local nursing home to take food to friends and relatives.

Nina Sue Wade, who was a backdoor neighbor to the McLemore family when they lived in town, recalls that her mother relied on her more experienced neighbors parenting advice. The Wade family had several young children, mainly very active boys, with Nina being the oldest. Mrs. Wade worked hard to keep her rambunctious children in line, to no avail. Mrs. McLemore advised her to ignore the minor infractions. Nina Sue recalled her mother often quoting a saying Mrs. McLemore told her, "When your children are young, they step on your shoestrings. When they get older, they step on your heartstrings." She would go on to advise her to cherish her children while they were young and full of spirit, because she would miss them sorely when they were grown and on their own.

After her husband died, Nina McLemore remained an independant woman, living alone in a house her brother Lonzo built for her after her husband died. She lived next door to her son Percy, and her grandson's Dental Office was directly behind her home. She was able to live at home and care for herself until she was in her mid 80's, when she went to live with her daughter Evon.

Written by Melinda McLemore Strong, granddaughter, circa 1995 and revised periodically

(Medical):cerebral arteriosclerosis

Notes:

Married:
Nina's mother died six months after Nina's Fifteenth birthday. As the oldest girl, and second of eight children, all the day to day household tasks of caring for their large family immediately fell to her. To make matters worse, Nina's father had relatives who had moved to the fertile lower Rio Grande Valley to farm. They encouraged him to move down there as well. He had made several trips down to visit them, and to inspect land. Nina was desperately afraid of leaving her beloved east Texas.

About this same time, Nina met Vessie McLemore met at a church revival. They enjoyed each other's company, and began secretly corresponding with each other. Vessie soon proposed, and in November 1907, they snuck across the river to Many, Louisiana and eloped. Nina had turned sixteen years old not quite two months earlier. Nina told her granddaughter, Melinda, that she and Vessie had only seen each other twice in person before their marriage. A photo exists that appears to be their wedding picture. Vessie is wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and white bow tie, and Nina in a white dress, with a large flower in her hair.

Witnesses at their wedding were, H. E. White, presumably Henry Ernest White--Vessie's first cousin-- and A. McGown [likely either Albert or Andrew McGown, brothers who lived nearby the young couple in Geneva, Texas].

The license was filed for record on 14 July 1908 in Volume 3, Page 272 of the Marriage Records of Sabine Parish, Louisiana by W. E. McNuly, clerk, oper J. J. McNuly, Deputy.

Joe Fuller was not pleased with his daughters elopement. For at least several months after their wedding, the young couple avoided him. Rumors abounded that he might shoot Vessie on sight. Jan Tisdale, another granddaughter, remembers similar stories. Jan said that Nina's younger sisters were especially saddened by the hasty marriage. They lost both their mother and older sister in less than a year.

Written by Melinda McLemore Strong, granddaughter, circa 1995 and revised periodically