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The Family Garden
Notes
William Foster KARNES SR
My Grandfather - William Foster Karnes - "Foster"
There is a picture of him sitting on the floor feeding me mashed bananas. I have often heard the story about him coming home from work and sitting on the floor to feed me. I was probably under 2 when the picture was taken, so don't really remember it except as a warm memory evoked when I see the picture. I do remember him being sick. He was bedridden and he used to tell me stories. I don't remember the stories (sure wish I did!), but I remember spending long afternoons sitting beside him in bed and talking with him. I can still see him in his bed. I remember when he died. I was 6 and I was very sad. For whatever reason, my parents decided I was too young to go to the funeral. I remember being very hurt that from my view, everyone was going to say goodbye to my grandfather and I wasn't going get to tell him bye. My parents left my 2 sisters and me at a friend's house (Betty and Leslie Clark - Leslie was a high school friend of my folks). Betty gave us candy corn to eat. I felt grief stricken at being given candy while everyone was saying goodbye to my Grandfather. I just couldn't eat candy on a day like this. I took my candy outside and went off by myself. I dug a hole in the ground and put the candy in the hole and covered it up. I cried while I was doing it and told my Grandfather goodbye. It was my way of burying him. Funny, I remember this as if it just happened yesterday.
I know more about him from my mother, father and grandmother. They all had such fond memories of him and frequently talked about him all their lives. He was married four times. His first wife was Martha Elizabeth Rogers. They had a daughter named Vivian Lee in 1909 and another daughter named Flossie Mae in March of 1912. Within 2 months of Flossie's birth, Martha contracted spinal mennigitis. They lived out in the country, some 20 miles from town. My grandfather decided to go to town on horseback and get the doctor. By the time he got home, Martha was dead. He had no way of watching after the two little girls and working, so two of his sisters took in his daughters and raised them. The second marriage was to a Mrs. Mae Nichols. It was said that the main reason he married her was to have a mother for his little girls and he brought them back home to live with him. The story is that they only were married for about 6 or 8 weeks when he found out that she had been a prostitute and was out selling herself. He didn't want any part of that, so they divorced and the little girls went back to live with their Aunts. One story about Mae, is that years later my Uncle (William Foster Karnes, named after his father) was installing cable and gave Mae a business card. She looked at the name and asked him who his father was. He told her, and she said, Goodness - I was married to your father once!
The third marriage was to Hazel Shaver. In 1989 my mother (Laurie Jeanne Karnes - daughter of William Foster Karnes) tracked Hazel Shaver down, visited with her and wrote the following based on her visit:
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"His third wife was Hazel Shaver. She was a friend of the family. Foster was 41 years old and Hazel was 17 years old. He was driving by the high school one afternoon and it was raining. He saw Hazel coming out of the school, so he offered her a ride home so she wouldn't have to walk in the rain. After that, he would pick her up pretty often and drive her home.
Someone in the family saw them together several times and told Hazel she could not see Foster Karnes anymore, he was too old for her. Hazel said she was not seeing him, they were just friends and nothing was going on with them, but that he was taking her home from school. Hazel told them to mind their own business, she would see who she wanted too. The next time she saw Foster, she told him what was being said to her. Foster asked her if she thought she was too young for him and she said no. So, he said, "Do you want to get married?" and she said Yes. So, they went straight down to the courthouse and got married that afternoon.
They lived together for two years and Hazel met a man close to her own age and fell in love. She divorced Foster in 1925 and married Ed Wilson. Hazel and Ed had several children and lived together for over forty years when Ed died.
When Foster and Hazel met, Foster was selling Victrolas for The City Bookstore in Corsicana. He would take his record players and a stack of records to people's houses and do demonstrations. He also would demonstrate them at Saturday night dances on Beacon Street. Hazel has told me while she was married to Foster, they never missed a dance. That Foster could dance up and storm and did not sit out any dance.
She told me they had a good relationship while they were married, but that Foster was just too old for her and she probably would not have married him had she not been harassed into it. When I met Hazel, I found her to be a lovely person and easy to talk to. I visited her in her home in Corsicana in 1989. She was 84 years old then."
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My grandmother, Edna Lorena Hanson, lived in Searcy, AR and went to Corsicana to visit some relatives. She was supposed to stay for 2 weeks, but she decided to stay on and got a job at the Navarro Hotel (torn down many years ago) as a waitress. My grandfather came in one day and she waited on him. On that first visit, he told her he was going to marry her. Of course she laughed - she had just met the man. She went back to Arkansas after a few weeks and stayed home for a little while, but then ended up going back to Corsicana and -marrying that man. My grandmother was 25 when they got married. He was 46 and had been married 3 times before. Her family wasn't too happy about it at the time, but soon met Foster and they got on well. They had 3 children and lived together until he passed away in 1956. Although my Grandmother lived many years after my grandfather, she would never date other men. She said Foster had put on her a pedestal and treated her like a queen. A person was lucky to get that once in their life and no one could ever replace him. She said to me many times when I was growing up: "You can be a young man's slave or an old man's sweetheart, I was lucky enough to be a sweetheart".
There is evidence of affection between them from the only surviving letter from my Grandmother to my Grandfather around 1933-34. She used to have a box, securely taped and wrapped with twine of letters between them, but she destroyed it because those were "private" letters. This is the only one that I know of that survived. It was found in her things after she passed on. Grandmother was visiting her parents in Searcy. (Spacing and spelling as in the letter).
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Wednesday nite.
Dearest Honey,
Sure do wish I was with you now. It sure is hot here. Went to Doniphan lake this afternoon. Just as we started home it started hailing and raining. We stopped at a lady's house until it stopped. I never saw such rain and wind. Blew several trees down. But it never rained a drop here. Billy and Laurie Jeanne wanted to go see Gini this afternoon.
Sure wish I was coming home tomorrow but I hated to tell Popa I would not wait until Sunday when he wanted to come down.
We spent the day with Mrs. Wilson yesterday. Mary is pregnant. She sure has fallen off a lot since she married and had to do some work.
Sure is a long time 'till Sunday but guess I can manage someway.
We love you lots.
Edna, Billy & Laurie Jeanne
When anyone asks L.J. where her Daddy is, she says - Work - Little Rock. They haven't objected to any of the groceries I have bought.
I love you Honey
Your Sweet
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My father (Sam Houston Graves) met my mother's brother (William Foster Karnes Jr. - Billy) when he was about 14. They became fast buddies and Sam fell in love with Billy's family, including his little sister! Sam did not have a very good childhood. His father was an alcoholic and had left home when he was very young and his mother having been through some tragic events and wasn't very stable. She shifted Sam around a lot between relatives. The Karnes family was a refuge for him. In every aspect of the word, he adopted Foster and Edna as his parents - they gave him a sense of stability, warmth and love that he had not found in his own home. Foster was not a wealthy man, but my father said that Foster gave him the most precious and priceless gift - his love and devotion to his family. Foster also passed down his belief in how a woman should be treated. However, Foster did get aggravated with Sam from time to time and coined a name he used for him on those occasions "Wham Sam Damuel". The first time he visited my parents after they were married, my mother started to take the trash out, and Foster said "Wham Sam Damuel - I don't ever want to see you let my daughter take the trash out!". That wasn't "woman's" work. After that my mother was never allowed to do any "dirty work". My father did all the dirty work, which included:
Cleaning the oven
Cleaning the refrigerator
Taking up wax off the floors (in those days, the floors were moped, then waxed - the wax would build up and start to turn yellow. About twice a year, it had to be taken up. This involved pouring a liquid wax solvent on the floor, letting it sit for a bit, then using metal spatula's to scrape it up - it was a miserable all day task)
Yard work - if she wanted flowers, she'd have to tell him where to plant them.
Putting gas in the cars
Cleaning the cars and so on.
If she started to do something my Dad felt was "dirty work", he'd say Honey, let me do that - Foster would come down here and get me if I let you do it. Little bits and notes from my mother and grandmother:
Foster was a house painter most of the time they were married and didn't make much money, so my Grandmother always had to work. Foster felt bad about that and tried to make up for it. There was no air conditioning in those days, so most days when they got home from work, my grandfather would have my grandmother take off her work clothes and lay on the bed in her slip and turn the fans on her so she could rest and cool off while he made dinner. My mother said he made the best-fried chicken in the world. The night before he was going to cook chicken, he'd soak it in salt water. He said it drew the fat off, made it tender and taste good. Foster was not a drinker. My Grandmother said that Foster told her he'd had a taste of whiskey when he was young and it was the best thing he ever tasted. He said anyone who liked the taste that much could get in real trouble. So, he never again tasted whiskey or any hard liquor. My father said they went a very few times over to the other side of town to get a glass of beer - but only 1 glass. It had to be far from home because he didn't want his wife to see him out drinking and he had to have a lot of mints afterwards cause he didn't want to go home smelling of spirits. My mother said he played the guitar and sang to them. They would have a big roaring fire and he would sing songs to them. She sang the same songs to us. Mom searched and found the music to many of them a few years before she passed on. Among those songs were: Mademoiselle from Armetieres; The Roving Gambler; Yankee Doodle; Little Brown Jug; Casey Jones; Rye Whiskey; Old Dan Tucker; The Dying Cowboy; Soldier, Soldier; The Blue-Tailed Fly; and Stay In Your Own Backyard. Two of her (and later mine) favorites were:
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BREAK THE NEWS TO MOTHER - A sentimental ballad of earlier years, made popular by the Spanish-American War:
While the shot and shell were screaming upon the battlefield;
The boys in blue were fighting their noble flag to shield;
Came a cry from their brave captain, "Look boys! Our flag is down;
Who'll volunteer to save it from disgrace?"
"I will," a young voice shouted, I'll bring it back or die;"
Then sprang into the thickest of the fray;
Saved the flag but gave his young life; all for his country's sake.
They brought him back and softly heard him say;
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
From afar a noted gen 'ral had witnessed his brave deed.
"Who saved our flag? Speak up, lads; 'twas noble, brave indeed.
"There he lies, sir," said the captain, he's sinking very fast,"
Then slowly turned away to hide a tear.
The gene 'ral, in a moment, knelt down beside the boy,
Then gave a cry that touch'd all hearts that day,
"It's my son, my brave young hero; I thought you safe at home.
"Forgive me, Father, for I ran away.
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
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The second song was found in a book of Texas Folk Songs with the following notation: This song is no doubt of fairly recent composition; the theme and language seem to place it in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
JACK AND JOE
Three years ago Jack and Joe set sail across the foam,
Each vowed a fortune he would make
Before returning home.
Jack was the first to earn his wealth,
Set sail for home one day,
As the pals shook hands to say good-bye,
Joe could only say:
Chorus:
Give my love to Nellie Jack,
Kiss her once for me;
The sweetest girl in all the world,
I know you'll say tis she.
Treat her kindly Jack, old pal,
And tell her I am well.
His parting words were "Don't forget
To give my love to Nell".
Three years had passed when Joe at last
Had earned his wealth for life;
Set sail for home across the foam
To make sweet Nell his wife.
There he learned that Jack and Nell
One year ago had wed;
It was then he spoke the first regret
That he had ever said:
Chorus again.
They chanced to meet upon the street;
Joe said, "You selfish elf,
The next time I learn to love a girl
I'll kiss her for myself;
But all is fair in love and war
And you and Nell have wed -
I won't be angry, Jack, old pal,"
And thus again he said:
Chorus again.
My dear mother had the worst singing voice in the world (which I inherited), but when I was a child I loved hearing her sing these songs, and when my children were very little, I sang them to them. My grandmother's parents were farmers in Searcy, Arkansas, and among other things raised peanuts. They would send big sacks of peanuts to them. My mother often said that one of her most favorite memories of growing up was sitting around the fireplace roasting peanuts and listening to her Daddy play the guitar and sing. I don't know if I ever actually heard my Grandfather singing or playing the guitar….there are some pictures of me when I was little with a guitar on a bed, but I don't know who it belonged to…or just felt the emotion from my mother recollecting her father sing, but hearing these songs always made me feel close to him. Now, with both my Mother and Grandfather gone, these old songs are somehow comforting.
He loved to play dominos and was according to my grandmother and mother the best domino player there ever was. They said he took risks no one could believe and always won. Later when my Grandmother would play dominos at a family get-to-gather and get a good hand, she'd say, oh, I wish Foster were here cause he would really enjoy this one. I don't remember her ever playing dominos that she didn't bring up Foster.
When my mother cooked something that really came out well, she'd say, if my Daddy was here, he's say: "Kiddo, you stubbed your toe on that one".
My Grandmother said that in his youth, a friend of my Grandfather's approached him about investing in a business venture. My grandfather scoffed and told him it was a crazy idea. His name was Kodak. I've never researched when and where Kodak was when he started his business, so have no idea if this is true.
In 1906, his parents purchased a house in the Thorpe Addition of Corsicana, Navarro County, TX. The house cost $850, they paid an $80 down-payment, with installments to be made in the amount of $10 a month at 10% interest. After his father died, his mother couldn't afford to make the payments anymore. In 1919, his sister, Beulah, paid off the $450.00 mortgage for her mother. In 1925, Beulah gave her mother another $900.00 to have a new house built on the same lot. $700 was to be used for materials and $200.00 for labor. Foster tore down the old house and built the new one. After his father's death, he did all the repair work and maintenance at his mother's house to include repainting the outside when needed, plumbing and whatever. In 1928, his sister Beulah, for whatever reasons, had Foster sign a quitclaim deed forever relinquishing any rights to his mother's house. In the same year, Beulah sold the house to her mother for $10.00 provided that her mother pay off the loans against the house in the amount of $830.00. I've always wondered about the circumstances around these transactions. How did Betty develop an income that would allow her to assume this note? Why did Beulah want Foster to sign off any inheritable right to the house? I don't know what happened as far as ownership of the house after Betty passed on, but it was still standing and occupied the last time I was there with my mother about 1990. He never got a driver's license. Story is he was stopped by a policeman once and asked to show his driver's license. He told the officer he had been driving longer than he'd been alive - they didn't require a driver's license then and he wasn't about to get one now. The officer told him to slow down a bit and go on about his business.
He didn't like telephones. He would call someone, tell them what he wanted and hang-up. No hello, goodbye - just a short statement of what he had to say. Mom said he would call, ask if they were coming to dinner on Friday, she'd say yes and he'd hang up. His children learned that when they called him, they better get their message out quick cause if he thought they were done, he'd hang up. My mother and aunt told a story about a phone call he made one day. They were in the bedroom and heard his conversation. He apparently dialed a disconnected number and got a recording. He thought it was a real person, and politely told her it was not a disconnected number and could she please connect him. Of course, the recording kept repeating, and he kept asking her to quit repeating the same thing and listen to what he was saying. My mother and aunt said they were crying from laughing so hard at his repeated efforts to be polite to this woman who wouldn't quit saying the same thing. They said he spent a good fifteen minutes trying to get this lady to listen to him. He farmed part of his life, was a salesman, worked in construction and was a house painter. He was in the Texas Guard. He was stationed in San Antonio, TX and at the Gravity Rifle Camp in Virginia. I don't know what years. I have pictures of him in those 2 places with notations on the back of the photos.
My Grandmother bought a little 2 bedroom house in Dallas after he passed on. In the "back bedroom" was a closet that had a box in it with things that belonged to Foster. As long as I can remember, when I was in that room, I felt like he was in the closet. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, but on almost every trip back there seemed to be a time when my Grandmother and I were alone and we would do two things. She had a hope chest where she kept old things that belonged to her and other members of her family that had passed on, and my grandfather's box. We would go through those things and talk about the people who owned these things. I have some of the things - others I don't know what happened to, but I remember them well…
A broken plastic monkey. (in my possession) His nickname was Monkey. I never knew why.
A little jewelry box with his last pack of cigarettes containing 2 camel non-filter cigarettes.
His cigarette lighter. It was a rectangular shape with rounded smooth ends. It was brass and had carvings on it.
His hair brush (in my possession).
His button hook. (in my possession). A metal hook with an ivory handle. In his time men wore high boots with many buttons. The hook was used to pull the button loops over the buttons.
His hair clippers. (in my possession). These are heavy manual metal clippers.
A plastic box with two yellowed carved dice. (in my son Kenny's possession). I don't know how or when he used these, but my son asked me for them one day. He has them on display in his home.
A small suit. When his son Billy was born, he took an old suit of his and handmade a suit for his little son.
Several carved wooden stars. I don't remember why he made these. My mother painted one of them several years ago with scenes from Texas and gave it to her mother. I have all of them.
There were also many of his clothes, but they were gone when I got the box. In my Grandmother's kitchen, the water heater stood exposed in the corner. On top of it she kept a piece of wood. My grandfather had picked it up out of their yard and brought it in because it looked like a snake. When I got married, my Grandmother gave me one of my Grandfather's work shirts. It is a white long-sleeved shirt, long yellowed, with spots of paint on it. She said it was a reminder that my Grandfather loved me very much and that he was always with me. It has hung in my closet, amongst my clothing since I was 18. I liked the sentiment. When my parents passed on, I took one article of each of their clothing and hung them in my closet too.
I have warm and affectionate remembrances of my Grandfather. Although I was only 6 when he passed on, he was a major impact to my childhood by his strong influence on my parents and the frequently recalled memories by my parents and Grandmother. Linda Carol Graves Walker 2002
Documents in my possession for William Foster Karnes:
Note - Also see documents for Jacob Lee Karnes
1908 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, W Foster, carp
6 Jan 1908 Marriage License
W F Karnes and Bettie Rogers
1922 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F, salesman City Book Store
1924 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F. salsn West-Marks Co (Inc), rms 1441 W 1st av
1928 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes W Foster r1901 W 13th
1 Sep 1929 Marriage License
Granted to W. F. Karnes, age 47, of Navarro Co, TX and Edna LorenaHanson, age 25, of White Co, AR
1936 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F (Edna) pntr h1603 W 9th Av
WWII Era
War Ration Book, No. 3 for William F. Karnes
17 Feb 1956
Death Certificate with following facts:
Birth: 15 Oct 1882 in TN
Occupation: Painter
Fathers name: Jacob Karnes born in TN
Mothers name: Betty Foster born in TN
Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage
Antecedent Causes: Generalized Arteriosclerosis of 10 years duration
William Foster KARNES SR
My Grandfather - William Foster Karnes - "Foster"
There is a picture of him sitting on the floor feeding me mashed bananas. I have often heard the story about him coming home from work and sitting on the floor to feed me. I was probably under 2 when the picture was taken, so don't really remember it except as a warm memory evoked when I see the picture. I do remember him being sick. He was bedridden and he used to tell me stories. I don't remember the stories (sure wish I did!), but I remember spending long afternoons sitting beside him in bed and talking with him. I can still see him in his bed. I remember when he died. I was 6 and I was very sad. For whatever reason, my parents decided I was too young to go to the funeral. I remember being very hurt that from my view, everyone was going to say goodbye to my grandfather and I wasn't going get to tell him bye. My parents left my 2 sisters and me at a friend's house (Betty and Leslie Clark - Leslie was a high school friend of my folks). Betty gave us candy corn to eat. I felt grief stricken at being given candy while everyone was saying goodbye to my Grandfather. I just couldn't eat candy on a day like this. I took my candy outside and went off by myself. I dug a hole in the ground and put the candy in the hole and covered it up. I cried while I was doing it and told my Grandfather goodbye. It was my way of burying him. Funny, I remember this as if it just happened yesterday.
I know more about him from my mother, father and grandmother. They all had such fond memories of him and frequently talked about him all their lives. He was married four times. His first wife was Martha Elizabeth Rogers. They had a daughter named Vivian Lee in 1909 and another daughter named Flossie Mae in March of 1912. Within 2 months of Flossie's birth, Martha contracted spinal mennigitis. They lived out in the country, some 20 miles from town. My grandfather decided to go to town on horseback and get the doctor. By the time he got home, Martha was dead. He had no way of watching after the two little girls and working, so two of his sisters took in his daughters and raised them. The second marriage was to a Mrs. Mae Nichols. It was said that the main reason he married her was to have a mother for his little girls and he brought them back home to live with him. The story is that they only were married for about 6 or 8 weeks when he found out that she had been a prostitute and was out selling herself. He didn't want any part of that, so they divorced and the little girls went back to live with their Aunts. One story about Mae, is that years later my Uncle (William Foster Karnes, named after his father) was installing cable and gave Mae a business card. She looked at the name and asked him who his father was. He told her, and she said, Goodness - I was married to your father once!
The third marriage was to Hazel Shaver. In 1989 my mother (Laurie Jeanne Karnes - daughter of William Foster Karnes) tracked Hazel Shaver down, visited with her and wrote the following based on her visit:
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"His third wife was Hazel Shaver. She was a friend of the family. Foster was 41 years old and Hazel was 17 years old. He was driving by the high school one afternoon and it was raining. He saw Hazel coming out of the school, so he offered her a ride home so she wouldn't have to walk in the rain. After that, he would pick her up pretty often and drive her home.
Someone in the family saw them together several times and told Hazel she could not see Foster Karnes anymore, he was too old for her. Hazel said she was not seeing him, they were just friends and nothing was going on with them, but that he was taking her home from school. Hazel told them to mind their own business, she would see who she wanted too. The next time she saw Foster, she told him what was being said to her. Foster asked her if she thought she was too young for him and she said no. So, he said, "Do you want to get married?" and she said Yes. So, they went straight down to the courthouse and got married that afternoon.
They lived together for two years and Hazel met a man close to her own age and fell in love. She divorced Foster in 1925 and married Ed Wilson. Hazel and Ed had several children and lived together for over forty years when Ed died.
When Foster and Hazel met, Foster was selling Victrolas for The City Bookstore in Corsicana. He would take his record players and a stack of records to people's houses and do demonstrations. He also would demonstrate them at Saturday night dances on Beacon Street. Hazel has told me while she was married to Foster, they never missed a dance. That Foster could dance up and storm and did not sit out any dance.
She told me they had a good relationship while they were married, but that Foster was just too old for her and she probably would not have married him had she not been harassed into it. When I met Hazel, I found her to be a lovely person and easy to talk to. I visited her in her home in Corsicana in 1989. She was 84 years old then."
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My grandmother, Edna Lorena Hanson, lived in Searcy, AR and went to Corsicana to visit some relatives. She was supposed to stay for 2 weeks, but she decided to stay on and got a job at the Navarro Hotel (torn down many years ago) as a waitress. My grandfather came in one day and she waited on him. On that first visit, he told her he was going to marry her. Of course she laughed - she had just met the man. She went back to Arkansas after a few weeks and stayed home for a little while, but then ended up going back to Corsicana and -marrying that man. My grandmother was 25 when they got married. He was 46 and had been married 3 times before. Her family wasn't too happy about it at the time, but soon met Foster and they got on well. They had 3 children and lived together until he passed away in 1956. Although my Grandmother lived many years after my grandfather, she would never date other men. She said Foster had put on her a pedestal and treated her like a queen. A person was lucky to get that once in their life and no one could ever replace him. She said to me many times when I was growing up: "You can be a young man's slave or an old man's sweetheart, I was lucky enough to be a sweetheart".
There is evidence of affection between them from the only surviving letter from my Grandmother to my Grandfather around 1933-34. She used to have a box, securely taped and wrapped with twine of letters between them, but she destroyed it because those were "private" letters. This is the only one that I know of that survived. It was found in her things after she passed on. Grandmother was visiting her parents in Searcy. (Spacing and spelling as in the letter).
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Wednesday nite.
Dearest Honey,
Sure do wish I was with you now. It sure is hot here. Went to Doniphan lake this afternoon. Just as we started home it started hailing and raining. We stopped at a lady's house until it stopped. I never saw such rain and wind. Blew several trees down. But it never rained a drop here. Billy and Laurie Jeanne wanted to go see Gini this afternoon.
Sure wish I was coming home tomorrow but I hated to tell Popa I would not wait until Sunday when he wanted to come down.
We spent the day with Mrs. Wilson yesterday. Mary is pregnant. She sure has fallen off a lot since she married and had to do some work.
Sure is a long time 'till Sunday but guess I can manage someway.
We love you lots.
Edna, Billy & Laurie Jeanne
When anyone asks L.J. where her Daddy is, she says - Work - Little Rock. They haven't objected to any of the groceries I have bought.
I love you Honey
Your Sweet
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My father (Sam Houston Graves) met my mother's brother (William Foster Karnes Jr. - Billy) when he was about 14. They became fast buddies and Sam fell in love with Billy's family, including his little sister! Sam did not have a very good childhood. His father was an alcoholic and had left home when he was very young and his mother having been through some tragic events and wasn't very stable. She shifted Sam around a lot between relatives. The Karnes family was a refuge for him. In every aspect of the word, he adopted Foster and Edna as his parents - they gave him a sense of stability, warmth and love that he had not found in his own home. Foster was not a wealthy man, but my father said that Foster gave him the most precious and priceless gift - his love and devotion to his family. Foster also passed down his belief in how a woman should be treated. However, Foster did get aggravated with Sam from time to time and coined a name he used for him on those occasions "Wham Sam Damuel". The first time he visited my parents after they were married, my mother started to take the trash out, and Foster said "Wham Sam Damuel - I don't ever want to see you let my daughter take the trash out!". That wasn't "woman's" work. After that my mother was never allowed to do any "dirty work". My father did all the dirty work, which included:
Cleaning the oven
Cleaning the refrigerator
Taking up wax off the floors (in those days, the floors were moped, then waxed - the wax would build up and start to turn yellow. About twice a year, it had to be taken up. This involved pouring a liquid wax solvent on the floor, letting it sit for a bit, then using metal spatula's to scrape it up - it was a miserable all day task)
Yard work - if she wanted flowers, she'd have to tell him where to plant them.
Putting gas in the cars
Cleaning the cars and so on.
If she started to do something my Dad felt was "dirty work", he'd say Honey, let me do that - Foster would come down here and get me if I let you do it. Little bits and notes from my mother and grandmother:
Foster was a house painter most of the time they were married and didn't make much money, so my Grandmother always had to work. Foster felt bad about that and tried to make up for it. There was no air conditioning in those days, so most days when they got home from work, my grandfather would have my grandmother take off her work clothes and lay on the bed in her slip and turn the fans on her so she could rest and cool off while he made dinner. My mother said he made the best-fried chicken in the world. The night before he was going to cook chicken, he'd soak it in salt water. He said it drew the fat off, made it tender and taste good. Foster was not a drinker. My Grandmother said that Foster told her he'd had a taste of whiskey when he was young and it was the best thing he ever tasted. He said anyone who liked the taste that much could get in real trouble. So, he never again tasted whiskey or any hard liquor. My father said they went a very few times over to the other side of town to get a glass of beer - but only 1 glass. It had to be far from home because he didn't want his wife to see him out drinking and he had to have a lot of mints afterwards cause he didn't want to go home smelling of spirits. My mother said he played the guitar and sang to them. They would have a big roaring fire and he would sing songs to them. She sang the same songs to us. Mom searched and found the music to many of them a few years before she passed on. Among those songs were: Mademoiselle from Armetieres; The Roving Gambler; Yankee Doodle; Little Brown Jug; Casey Jones; Rye Whiskey; Old Dan Tucker; The Dying Cowboy; Soldier, Soldier; The Blue-Tailed Fly; and Stay In Your Own Backyard. Two of her (and later mine) favorites were:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BREAK THE NEWS TO MOTHER - A sentimental ballad of earlier years, made popular by the Spanish-American War:
While the shot and shell were screaming upon the battlefield;
The boys in blue were fighting their noble flag to shield;
Came a cry from their brave captain, "Look boys! Our flag is down;
Who'll volunteer to save it from disgrace?"
"I will," a young voice shouted, I'll bring it back or die;"
Then sprang into the thickest of the fray;
Saved the flag but gave his young life; all for his country's sake.
They brought him back and softly heard him say;
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
From afar a noted gen 'ral had witnessed his brave deed.
"Who saved our flag? Speak up, lads; 'twas noble, brave indeed.
"There he lies, sir," said the captain, he's sinking very fast,"
Then slowly turned away to hide a tear.
The gene 'ral, in a moment, knelt down beside the boy,
Then gave a cry that touch'd all hearts that day,
"It's my son, my brave young hero; I thought you safe at home.
"Forgive me, Father, for I ran away.
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second song was found in a book of Texas Folk Songs with the following notation: This song is no doubt of fairly recent composition; the theme and language seem to place it in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
JACK AND JOE
Three years ago Jack and Joe set sail across the foam,
Each vowed a fortune he would make
Before returning home.
Jack was the first to earn his wealth,
Set sail for home one day,
As the pals shook hands to say good-bye,
Joe could only say:
Chorus:
Give my love to Nellie Jack,
Kiss her once for me;
The sweetest girl in all the world,
I know you'll say tis she.
Treat her kindly Jack, old pal,
And tell her I am well.
His parting words were "Don't forget
To give my love to Nell".
Three years had passed when Joe at last
Had earned his wealth for life;
Set sail for home across the foam
To make sweet Nell his wife.
There he learned that Jack and Nell
One year ago had wed;
It was then he spoke the first regret
That he had ever said:
Chorus again.
They chanced to meet upon the street;
Joe said, "You selfish elf,
The next time I learn to love a girl
I'll kiss her for myself;
But all is fair in love and war
And you and Nell have wed -
I won't be angry, Jack, old pal,"
And thus again he said:
Chorus again.
My dear mother had the worst singing voice in the world (which I inherited), but when I was a child I loved hearing her sing these songs, and when my children were very little, I sang them to them. My grandmother's parents were farmers in Searcy, Arkansas, and among other things raised peanuts. They would send big sacks of peanuts to them. My mother often said that one of her most favorite memories of growing up was sitting around the fireplace roasting peanuts and listening to her Daddy play the guitar and sing. I don't know if I ever actually heard my Grandfather singing or playing the guitar….there are some pictures of me when I was little with a guitar on a bed, but I don't know who it belonged to…or just felt the emotion from my mother recollecting her father sing, but hearing these songs always made me feel close to him. Now, with both my Mother and Grandfather gone, these old songs are somehow comforting.
He loved to play dominos and was according to my grandmother and mother the best domino player there ever was. They said he took risks no one could believe and always won. Later when my Grandmother would play dominos at a family get-to-gather and get a good hand, she'd say, oh, I wish Foster were here cause he would really enjoy this one. I don't remember her ever playing dominos that she didn't bring up Foster.
When my mother cooked something that really came out well, she'd say, if my Daddy was here, he's say: "Kiddo, you stubbed your toe on that one".
My Grandmother said that in his youth, a friend of my Grandfather's approached him about investing in a business venture. My grandfather scoffed and told him it was a crazy idea. His name was Kodak. I've never researched when and where Kodak was when he started his business, so have no idea if this is true.
In 1906, his parents purchased a house in the Thorpe Addition of Corsicana, Navarro County, TX. The house cost $850, they paid an $80 down-payment, with installments to be made in the amount of $10 a month at 10% interest. After his father died, his mother couldn't afford to make the payments anymore. In 1919, his sister, Beulah, paid off the $450.00 mortgage for her mother. In 1925, Beulah gave her mother another $900.00 to have a new house built on the same lot. $700 was to be used for materials and $200.00 for labor. Foster tore down the old house and built the new one. After his father's death, he did all the repair work and maintenance at his mother's house to include repainting the outside when needed, plumbing and whatever. In 1928, his sister Beulah, for whatever reasons, had Foster sign a quitclaim deed forever relinquishing any rights to his mother's house. In the same year, Beulah sold the house to her mother for $10.00 provided that her mother pay off the loans against the house in the amount of $830.00. I've always wondered about the circumstances around these transactions. How did Betty develop an income that would allow her to assume this note? Why did Beulah want Foster to sign off any inheritable right to the house? I don't know what happened as far as ownership of the house after Betty passed on, but it was still standing and occupied the last time I was there with my mother about 1990. He never got a driver's license. Story is he was stopped by a policeman once and asked to show his driver's license. He told the officer he had been driving longer than he'd been alive - they didn't require a driver's license then and he wasn't about to get one now. The officer told him to slow down a bit and go on about his business.
He didn't like telephones. He would call someone, tell them what he wanted and hang-up. No hello, goodbye - just a short statement of what he had to say. Mom said he would call, ask if they were coming to dinner on Friday, she'd say yes and he'd hang up. His children learned that when they called him, they better get their message out quick cause if he thought they were done, he'd hang up. My mother and aunt told a story about a phone call he made one day. They were in the bedroom and heard his conversation. He apparently dialed a disconnected number and got a recording. He thought it was a real person, and politely told her it was not a disconnected number and could she please connect him. Of course, the recording kept repeating, and he kept asking her to quit repeating the same thing and listen to what he was saying. My mother and aunt said they were crying from laughing so hard at his repeated efforts to be polite to this woman who wouldn't quit saying the same thing. They said he spent a good fifteen minutes trying to get this lady to listen to him. He farmed part of his life, was a salesman, worked in construction and was a house painter. He was in the Texas Guard. He was stationed in San Antonio, TX and at the Gravity Rifle Camp in Virginia. I don't know what years. I have pictures of him in those 2 places with notations on the back of the photos.
My Grandmother bought a little 2 bedroom house in Dallas after he passed on. In the "back bedroom" was a closet that had a box in it with things that belonged to Foster. As long as I can remember, when I was in that room, I felt like he was in the closet. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, but on almost every trip back there seemed to be a time when my Grandmother and I were alone and we would do two things. She had a hope chest where she kept old things that belonged to her and other members of her family that had passed on, and my grandfather's box. We would go through those things and talk about the people who owned these things. I have some of the things - others I don't know what happened to, but I remember them well…
A broken plastic monkey. (in my possession) His nickname was Monkey. I never knew why.
A little jewelry box with his last pack of cigarettes containing 2 camel non-filter cigarettes.
His cigarette lighter. It was a rectangular shape with rounded smooth ends. It was brass and had carvings on it.
His hair brush (in my possession).
His button hook. (in my possession). A metal hook with an ivory handle. In his time men wore high boots with many buttons. The hook was used to pull the button loops over the buttons.
His hair clippers. (in my possession). These are heavy manual metal clippers.
A plastic box with two yellowed carved dice. (in my son Kenny's possession). I don't know how or when he used these, but my son asked me for them one day. He has them on display in his home.
A small suit. When his son Billy was born, he took an old suit of his and handmade a suit for his little son.
Several carved wooden stars. I don't remember why he made these. My mother painted one of them several years ago with scenes from Texas and gave it to her mother. I have all of them.
There were also many of his clothes, but they were gone when I got the box. In my Grandmother's kitchen, the water heater stood exposed in the corner. On top of it she kept a piece of wood. My grandfather had picked it up out of their yard and brought it in because it looked like a snake. When I got married, my Grandmother gave me one of my Grandfather's work shirts. It is a white long-sleeved shirt, long yellowed, with spots of paint on it. She said it was a reminder that my Grandfather loved me very much and that he was always with me. It has hung in my closet, amongst my clothing since I was 18. I liked the sentiment. When my parents passed on, I took one article of each of their clothing and hung them in my closet too.
I have warm and affectionate remembrances of my Grandfather. Although I was only 6 when he passed on, he was a major impact to my childhood by his strong influence on my parents and the frequently recalled memories by my parents and Grandmother. Linda Carol Graves Walker 2002
Documents in my possession for William Foster Karnes:
Note - Also see documents for Jacob Lee Karnes
1908 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, W Foster, carp
6 Jan 1908 Marriage License
W F Karnes and Bettie Rogers
1922 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F, salesman City Book Store
1924 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F. salsn West-Marks Co (Inc), rms 1441 W 1st av
1928 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes W Foster r1901 W 13th
1 Sep 1929 Marriage License
Granted to W. F. Karnes, age 47, of Navarro Co, TX and Edna LorenaHanson, age 25, of White Co, AR
1936 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F (Edna) pntr h1603 W 9th Av
WWII Era
War Ration Book, No. 3 for William F. Karnes
17 Feb 1956
Death Certificate with following facts:
Birth: 15 Oct 1882 in TN
Occupation: Painter
Fathers name: Jacob Karnes born in TN
Mothers name: Betty Foster born in TN
Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage
Antecedent Causes: Generalized Arteriosclerosis of 10 years duration
William Foster KARNES SR
My Grandfather - William Foster Karnes - "Foster"
There is a picture of him sitting on the floor feeding me mashed bananas. I have often heard the story about him coming home from work and sitting on the floor to feed me. I was probably under 2 when the picture was taken, so don't really remember it except as a warm memory evoked when I see the picture. I do remember him being sick. He was bedridden and he used to tell me stories. I don't remember the stories (sure wish I did!), but I remember spending long afternoons sitting beside him in bed and talking with him. I can still see him in his bed. I remember when he died. I was 6 and I was very sad. For whatever reason, my parents decided I was too young to go to the funeral. I remember being very hurt that from my view, everyone was going to say goodbye to my grandfather and I wasn't going get to tell him bye. My parents left my 2 sisters and me at a friend's house (Betty and Leslie Clark - Leslie was a high school friend of my folks). Betty gave us candy corn to eat. I felt grief stricken at being given candy while everyone was saying goodbye to my Grandfather. I just couldn't eat candy on a day like this. I took my candy outside and went off by myself. I dug a hole in the ground and put the candy in the hole and covered it up. I cried while I was doing it and told my Grandfather goodbye. It was my way of burying him. Funny, I remember this as if it just happened yesterday.
I know more about him from my mother, father and grandmother. They all had such fond memories of him and frequently talked about him all their lives. He was married four times. His first wife was Martha Elizabeth Rogers. They had a daughter named Vivian Lee in 1909 and another daughter named Flossie Mae in March of 1912. Within 2 months of Flossie's birth, Martha contracted spinal mennigitis. They lived out in the country, some 20 miles from town. My grandfather decided to go to town on horseback and get the doctor. By the time he got home, Martha was dead. He had no way of watching after the two little girls and working, so two of his sisters took in his daughters and raised them. The second marriage was to a Mrs. Mae Nichols. It was said that the main reason he married her was to have a mother for his little girls and he brought them back home to live with him. The story is that they only were married for about 6 or 8 weeks when he found out that she had been a prostitute and was out selling herself. He didn't want any part of that, so they divorced and the little girls went back to live with their Aunts. One story about Mae, is that years later my Uncle (William Foster Karnes, named after his father) was installing cable and gave Mae a business card. She looked at the name and asked him who his father was. He told her, and she said, Goodness - I was married to your father once!
The third marriage was to Hazel Shaver. In 1989 my mother (Laurie Jeanne Karnes - daughter of William Foster Karnes) tracked Hazel Shaver down, visited with her and wrote the following based on her visit:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"His third wife was Hazel Shaver. She was a friend of the family. Foster was 41 years old and Hazel was 17 years old. He was driving by the high school one afternoon and it was raining. He saw Hazel coming out of the school, so he offered her a ride home so she wouldn't have to walk in the rain. After that, he would pick her up pretty often and drive her home.
Someone in the family saw them together several times and told Hazel she could not see Foster Karnes anymore, he was too old for her. Hazel said she was not seeing him, they were just friends and nothing was going on with them, but that he was taking her home from school. Hazel told them to mind their own business, she would see who she wanted too. The next time she saw Foster, she told him what was being said to her. Foster asked her if she thought she was too young for him and she said no. So, he said, "Do you want to get married?" and she said Yes. So, they went straight down to the courthouse and got married that afternoon.
They lived together for two years and Hazel met a man close to her own age and fell in love. She divorced Foster in 1925 and married Ed Wilson. Hazel and Ed had several children and lived together for over forty years when Ed died.
When Foster and Hazel met, Foster was selling Victrolas for The City Bookstore in Corsicana. He would take his record players and a stack of records to people's houses and do demonstrations. He also would demonstrate them at Saturday night dances on Beacon Street. Hazel has told me while she was married to Foster, they never missed a dance. That Foster could dance up and storm and did not sit out any dance.
She told me they had a good relationship while they were married, but that Foster was just too old for her and she probably would not have married him had she not been harassed into it. When I met Hazel, I found her to be a lovely person and easy to talk to. I visited her in her home in Corsicana in 1989. She was 84 years old then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My grandmother, Edna Lorena Hanson, lived in Searcy, AR and went to Corsicana to visit some relatives. She was supposed to stay for 2 weeks, but she decided to stay on and got a job at the Navarro Hotel (torn down many years ago) as a waitress. My grandfather came in one day and she waited on him. On that first visit, he told her he was going to marry her. Of course she laughed - she had just met the man. She went back to Arkansas after a few weeks and stayed home for a little while, but then ended up going back to Corsicana and -marrying that man. My grandmother was 25 when they got married. He was 46 and had been married 3 times before. Her family wasn't too happy about it at the time, but soon met Foster and they got on well. They had 3 children and lived together until he passed away in 1956. Although my Grandmother lived many years after my grandfather, she would never date other men. She said Foster had put on her a pedestal and treated her like a queen. A person was lucky to get that once in their life and no one could ever replace him. She said to me many times when I was growing up: "You can be a young man's slave or an old man's sweetheart, I was lucky enough to be a sweetheart".
There is evidence of affection between them from the only surviving letter from my Grandmother to my Grandfather around 1933-34. She used to have a box, securely taped and wrapped with twine of letters between them, but she destroyed it because those were "private" letters. This is the only one that I know of that survived. It was found in her things after she passed on. Grandmother was visiting her parents in Searcy. (Spacing and spelling as in the letter).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday nite.
Dearest Honey,
Sure do wish I was with you now. It sure is hot here. Went to Doniphan lake this afternoon. Just as we started home it started hailing and raining. We stopped at a lady's house until it stopped. I never saw such rain and wind. Blew several trees down. But it never rained a drop here. Billy and Laurie Jeanne wanted to go see Gini this afternoon.
Sure wish I was coming home tomorrow but I hated to tell Popa I would not wait until Sunday when he wanted to come down.
We spent the day with Mrs. Wilson yesterday. Mary is pregnant. She sure has fallen off a lot since she married and had to do some work.
Sure is a long time 'till Sunday but guess I can manage someway.
We love you lots.
Edna, Billy & Laurie Jeanne
When anyone asks L.J. where her Daddy is, she says - Work - Little Rock. They haven't objected to any of the groceries I have bought.
I love you Honey
Your Sweet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My father (Sam Houston Graves) met my mother's brother (William Foster Karnes Jr. - Billy) when he was about 14. They became fast buddies and Sam fell in love with Billy's family, including his little sister! Sam did not have a very good childhood. His father was an alcoholic and had left home when he was very young and his mother having been through some tragic events and wasn't very stable. She shifted Sam around a lot between relatives. The Karnes family was a refuge for him. In every aspect of the word, he adopted Foster and Edna as his parents - they gave him a sense of stability, warmth and love that he had not found in his own home. Foster was not a wealthy man, but my father said that Foster gave him the most precious and priceless gift - his love and devotion to his family. Foster also passed down his belief in how a woman should be treated. However, Foster did get aggravated with Sam from time to time and coined a name he used for him on those occasions "Wham Sam Damuel". The first time he visited my parents after they were married, my mother started to take the trash out, and Foster said "Wham Sam Damuel - I don't ever want to see you let my daughter take the trash out!". That wasn't "woman's" work. After that my mother was never allowed to do any "dirty work". My father did all the dirty work, which included:
Cleaning the oven
Cleaning the refrigerator
Taking up wax off the floors (in those days, the floors were moped, then waxed - the wax would build up and start to turn yellow. About twice a year, it had to be taken up. This involved pouring a liquid wax solvent on the floor, letting it sit for a bit, then using metal spatula's to scrape it up - it was a miserable all day task)
Yard work - if she wanted flowers, she'd have to tell him where to plant them.
Putting gas in the cars
Cleaning the cars and so on.
If she started to do something my Dad felt was "dirty work", he'd say Honey, let me do that - Foster would come down here and get me if I let you do it. Little bits and notes from my mother and grandmother:
Foster was a house painter most of the time they were married and didn't make much money, so my Grandmother always had to work. Foster felt bad about that and tried to make up for it. There was no air conditioning in those days, so most days when they got home from work, my grandfather would have my grandmother take off her work clothes and lay on the bed in her slip and turn the fans on her so she could rest and cool off while he made dinner. My mother said he made the best-fried chicken in the world. The night before he was going to cook chicken, he'd soak it in salt water. He said it drew the fat off, made it tender and taste good. Foster was not a drinker. My Grandmother said that Foster told her he'd had a taste of whiskey when he was young and it was the best thing he ever tasted. He said anyone who liked the taste that much could get in real trouble. So, he never again tasted whiskey or any hard liquor. My father said they went a very few times over to the other side of town to get a glass of beer - but only 1 glass. It had to be far from home because he didn't want his wife to see him out drinking and he had to have a lot of mints afterwards cause he didn't want to go home smelling of spirits. My mother said he played the guitar and sang to them. They would have a big roaring fire and he would sing songs to them. She sang the same songs to us. Mom searched and found the music to many of them a few years before she passed on. Among those songs were: Mademoiselle from Armetieres; The Roving Gambler; Yankee Doodle; Little Brown Jug; Casey Jones; Rye Whiskey; Old Dan Tucker; The Dying Cowboy; Soldier, Soldier; The Blue-Tailed Fly; and Stay In Your Own Backyard. Two of her (and later mine) favorites were:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BREAK THE NEWS TO MOTHER - A sentimental ballad of earlier years, made popular by the Spanish-American War:
While the shot and shell were screaming upon the battlefield;
The boys in blue were fighting their noble flag to shield;
Came a cry from their brave captain, "Look boys! Our flag is down;
Who'll volunteer to save it from disgrace?"
"I will," a young voice shouted, I'll bring it back or die;"
Then sprang into the thickest of the fray;
Saved the flag but gave his young life; all for his country's sake.
They brought him back and softly heard him say;
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
From afar a noted gen 'ral had witnessed his brave deed.
"Who saved our flag? Speak up, lads; 'twas noble, brave indeed.
"There he lies, sir," said the captain, he's sinking very fast,"
Then slowly turned away to hide a tear.
The gene 'ral, in a moment, knelt down beside the boy,
Then gave a cry that touch'd all hearts that day,
"It's my son, my brave young hero; I thought you safe at home.
"Forgive me, Father, for I ran away.
Refrain:
"Just break the news to Mother; She knows how dear I love her,
And tell her not to wait for me, For I'm not coming home.
Just say there is no other, Can take the place of Mother;
Then kiss her dear, sweet lips for me, And break the news to her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second song was found in a book of Texas Folk Songs with the following notation: This song is no doubt of fairly recent composition; the theme and language seem to place it in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
JACK AND JOE
Three years ago Jack and Joe set sail across the foam,
Each vowed a fortune he would make
Before returning home.
Jack was the first to earn his wealth,
Set sail for home one day,
As the pals shook hands to say good-bye,
Joe could only say:
Chorus:
Give my love to Nellie Jack,
Kiss her once for me;
The sweetest girl in all the world,
I know you'll say tis she.
Treat her kindly Jack, old pal,
And tell her I am well.
His parting words were "Don't forget
To give my love to Nell".
Three years had passed when Joe at last
Had earned his wealth for life;
Set sail for home across the foam
To make sweet Nell his wife.
There he learned that Jack and Nell
One year ago had wed;
It was then he spoke the first regret
That he had ever said:
Chorus again.
They chanced to meet upon the street;
Joe said, "You selfish elf,
The next time I learn to love a girl
I'll kiss her for myself;
But all is fair in love and war
And you and Nell have wed -
I won't be angry, Jack, old pal,"
And thus again he said:
Chorus again.
My dear mother had the worst singing voice in the world (which I inherited), but when I was a child I loved hearing her sing these songs, and when my children were very little, I sang them to them. My grandmother's parents were farmers in Searcy, Arkansas, and among other things raised peanuts. They would send big sacks of peanuts to them. My mother often said that one of her most favorite memories of growing up was sitting around the fireplace roasting peanuts and listening to her Daddy play the guitar and sing. I don't know if I ever actually heard my Grandfather singing or playing the guitar….there are some pictures of me when I was little with a guitar on a bed, but I don't know who it belonged to…or just felt the emotion from my mother recollecting her father sing, but hearing these songs always made me feel close to him. Now, with both my Mother and Grandfather gone, these old songs are somehow comforting.
He loved to play dominos and was according to my grandmother and mother the best domino player there ever was. They said he took risks no one could believe and always won. Later when my Grandmother would play dominos at a family get-to-gather and get a good hand, she'd say, oh, I wish Foster were here cause he would really enjoy this one. I don't remember her ever playing dominos that she didn't bring up Foster.
When my mother cooked something that really came out well, she'd say, if my Daddy was here, he's say: "Kiddo, you stubbed your toe on that one".
My Grandmother said that in his youth, a friend of my Grandfather's approached him about investing in a business venture. My grandfather scoffed and told him it was a crazy idea. His name was Kodak. I've never researched when and where Kodak was when he started his business, so have no idea if this is true.
In 1906, his parents purchased a house in the Thorpe Addition of Corsicana, Navarro County, TX. The house cost $850, they paid an $80 down-payment, with installments to be made in the amount of $10 a month at 10% interest. After his father died, his mother couldn't afford to make the payments anymore. In 1919, his sister, Beulah, paid off the $450.00 mortgage for her mother. In 1925, Beulah gave her mother another $900.00 to have a new house built on the same lot. $700 was to be used for materials and $200.00 for labor. Foster tore down the old house and built the new one. After his father's death, he did all the repair work and maintenance at his mother's house to include repainting the outside when needed, plumbing and whatever. In 1928, his sister Beulah, for whatever reasons, had Foster sign a quitclaim deed forever relinquishing any rights to his mother's house. In the same year, Beulah sold the house to her mother for $10.00 provided that her mother pay off the loans against the house in the amount of $830.00. I've always wondered about the circumstances around these transactions. How did Betty develop an income that would allow her to assume this note? Why did Beulah want Foster to sign off any inheritable right to the house? I don't know what happened as far as ownership of the house after Betty passed on, but it was still standing and occupied the last time I was there with my mother about 1990. He never got a driver's license. Story is he was stopped by a policeman once and asked to show his driver's license. He told the officer he had been driving longer than he'd been alive - they didn't require a driver's license then and he wasn't about to get one now. The officer told him to slow down a bit and go on about his business.
He didn't like telephones. He would call someone, tell them what he wanted and hang-up. No hello, goodbye - just a short statement of what he had to say. Mom said he would call, ask if they were coming to dinner on Friday, she'd say yes and he'd hang up. His children learned that when they called him, they better get their message out quick cause if he thought they were done, he'd hang up. My mother and aunt told a story about a phone call he made one day. They were in the bedroom and heard his conversation. He apparently dialed a disconnected number and got a recording. He thought it was a real person, and politely told her it was not a disconnected number and could she please connect him. Of course, the recording kept repeating, and he kept asking her to quit repeating the same thing and listen to what he was saying. My mother and aunt said they were crying from laughing so hard at his repeated efforts to be polite to this woman who wouldn't quit saying the same thing. They said he spent a good fifteen minutes trying to get this lady to listen to him. He farmed part of his life, was a salesman, worked in construction and was a house painter. He was in the Texas Guard. He was stationed in San Antonio, TX and at the Gravity Rifle Camp in Virginia. I don't know what years. I have pictures of him in those 2 places with notations on the back of the photos.
My Grandmother bought a little 2 bedroom house in Dallas after he passed on. In the "back bedroom" was a closet that had a box in it with things that belonged to Foster. As long as I can remember, when I was in that room, I felt like he was in the closet. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, but on almost every trip back there seemed to be a time when my Grandmother and I were alone and we would do two things. She had a hope chest where she kept old things that belonged to her and other members of her family that had passed on, and my grandfather's box. We would go through those things and talk about the people who owned these things. I have some of the things - others I don't know what happened to, but I remember them well…
A broken plastic monkey. (in my possession) His nickname was Monkey. I never knew why.
A little jewelry box with his last pack of cigarettes containing 2 camel non-filter cigarettes.
His cigarette lighter. It was a rectangular shape with rounded smooth ends. It was brass and had carvings on it.
His hair brush (in my possession).
His button hook. (in my possession). A metal hook with an ivory handle. In his time men wore high boots with many buttons. The hook was used to pull the button loops over the buttons.
His hair clippers. (in my possession). These are heavy manual metal clippers.
A plastic box with two yellowed carved dice. (in my son Kenny's possession). I don't know how or when he used these, but my son asked me for them one day. He has them on display in his home.
A small suit. When his son Billy was born, he took an old suit of his and handmade a suit for his little son.
Several carved wooden stars. I don't remember why he made these. My mother painted one of them several years ago with scenes from Texas and gave it to her mother. I have all of them.
There were also many of his clothes, but they were gone when I got the box. In my Grandmother's kitchen, the water heater stood exposed in the corner. On top of it she kept a piece of wood. My grandfather had picked it up out of their yard and brought it in because it looked like a snake. When I got married, my Grandmother gave me one of my Grandfather's work shirts. It is a white long-sleeved shirt, long yellowed, with spots of paint on it. She said it was a reminder that my Grandfather loved me very much and that he was always with me. It has hung in my closet, amongst my clothing since I was 18. I liked the sentiment. When my parents passed on, I took one article of each of their clothing and hung them in my closet too.
I have warm and affectionate remembrances of my Grandfather. Although I was only 6 when he passed on, he was a major impact to my childhood by his strong influence on my parents and the frequently recalled memories by my parents and Grandmother. Linda Carol Graves Walker 2002
Documents in my possession for William Foster Karnes:
Note - Also see documents for Jacob Lee Karnes
1908 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, W Foster, carp
6 Jan 1908 Marriage License
W F Karnes and Bettie Rogers
1922 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F, salesman City Book Store
1924 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F. salsn West-Marks Co (Inc), rms 1441 W 1st av
1928 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes W Foster r1901 W 13th
1 Sep 1929 Marriage License
Granted to W. F. Karnes, age 47, of Navarro Co, TX and Edna LorenaHanson, age 25, of White Co, AR
1936 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, Wm F (Edna) pntr h1603 W 9th Av
WWII Era
War Ration Book, No. 3 for William F. Karnes
17 Feb 1956
Death Certificate with following facts:
Birth: 15 Oct 1882 in TN
Occupation: Painter
Fathers name: Jacob Karnes born in TN
Mothers name: Betty Foster born in TN
Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage
Antecedent Causes: Generalized Arteriosclerosis of 10 years duration
Edna Lorena HANSON
The following was a speech given entitled "This Is Your Life" at Edna's retirement from Zales Jewelry Corporation:
She was born 27 April, 1904 in a double log cabin on the farm of her great grand-parents, John S. and Sarah Jane McDearman. About a mile and a half outside of Judsonia, Arkansas. She was born in the same cabin her Father and two of her aunts were born in.
She moved to Searcy, Arkansas when she was five years old with her parents, Orlando Bruce and Martha Hanson. After moving to Searcy,four more girls were born to the Hanson family.
She started to Searcy elementary school in 1910. She attended first through the eighth grade and went to Searcy High for four years where she graduated in 1923. She attended one semester at the State Teachers college but due to family fiances was unable to continue her college education.
She became a member of the Church of Christ in Corsicana, Texas in1934 and was a faithful member the remainder of her life, attending each service held, twice on Sunday and every Sunday evening.
She became a member of Credit Women International in Dallas, Texas in July 1964. She served on the board of directors twice, and as parliamentarian twice. She was treasurer, second vice-president, which incurs compiling news letters and a bulletin called the DinnerBell. She would have been president the following year, but declined because she was retiring.
If I were to make the statement, "Edna doesn't eat fat meat", your reaction would probably be, "So what, lots of people don't eat fat meat," But there is a story behind why Edna doesn't eat fat meat.
When Edna was born, her Mother and Dad lived on a farm and they had a pig. Behind the kitchen stove was a bucket in which table scraps and cooking scraps were kept until it was time to "slop" the pig, thus, it was known as the "slop bucket". When Edna was crawling, her Mother found her behind the stove happily chewing on a piece of fat meat she had fished from the slop bucket. The punishment was not recorded, but it must have been effective because never again has she taken a bite of fat meat.
She learned that day that there are things that nice people do, and things that nice people don't do. Thus her training began at a very early age to make her the nice person she is today. Rule number one: "DON'T EAT LIKE A PIG".
I don't think Edna ever really wanted to be a child. She first wanted to be a big girl, and then a young lady. When other kids enjoyed going barefooted, she preferred to have shoes on. And when other kids enjoyed hard physical activity with ball games, jump rope, hop scotch, she had rather be learning to embroider, sew, and crochet. Her desireto be a big girl earned her her only nickname. One night her Mother was frying meat for supper and Edna was begging to help, so with a little boost from her Mother, she took the fork and turned the meat over in the pan. She ran to meet her daddy with the remark "Oh Papa, I'm you biggy long girl what can turn over the meat", so, to her dad she was always "Biggy Long Girl". Well, she never did get very long. And since the word "big" is a comparative word--what can you say.
You may or may not know that Edna has a bad temper. It got her in trouble a few times as a child but when it flared up too much, another part of her anatomy got a little flare up too, so she learned that controlling her temper could be important. But, two very important aspects of her life have been brought about initially because of her temper.
As a young lady, Edna was working in Little Rock, Arkansas, in a cafeteria. One day she got mad and walked off the job. Before anyone knew what was up, she was on her way to Corsicana to visit relatives. She decided to stay awhile and got a job at the Navarro Hotel Coffee Shop. She worked there for about a month and got mad again and went back to her home in Searcy, Arkansas. But, while in Corsicana, she had met Foster Karnes. He wouldn't give up Edna and wrote to her almost daily. Two months after going back to Searcy, Edna and Foster met in Texarcana, Arkansas and married the first of September, 1929. To them were born Billy, Laurie Jeanne and Betty. So you could say the reason Billy, Laurie Jeanne and Betty are here is because one day Mother got mad.
After Edna and Foster married, they lived in Corsicana where Billy was born. They went to Searcy, Arkansas to visit Edna's family while she was expecting Laurie Jeanne and the doctor up there told Foster not to try to go back to Texas because the baby might be born on the way, so that is why Laurie Jeanne was born in Searcy. Then, they decided to live in Little Rock, but that only lasted six months and then they went back to Corsicana where Betty was born.
Corsicana was a small town and I guess Foster had a hard time supporting his family there. So when Betty was 2 years old, Laurie Jeanne was 5 years old, and Billy 6, they decided to move to Dallas, a lot bigger town where Foster could find work easier. He was a painter and a paper hanger and did a little carpenter work. Edna spent the next few years being a housewife and taking care of her children.
She always went back to Searcy for two weeks in the summer time to visit her family. That was the best part of the year for the kid swith the exception of Christmas when there was always a sack of peanuts from Granddad Hanson. There were roasted over an open fire on cold nights. Foster would sing songs, roast peanuts and everyone would have a good time.
Edna never left her kids with a baby sitter. Where ever she went, she always took her kids with her, so she made some pleasant memories for all the kids of visiting friends, playing in parks and going to Sunday School and Church.
She liked to cook and was a good cook. She made suppertime a fun time. There was always fun talk and laughing and game playing after supper was over and the table cleared.
Edna and Foster lived together for over 30 years and only one time had an argument or fuss on any kind. When they were first married, they got into an argument and Edna looked at Foster and said, "This is silly, we didn't get married to fight", so that was the one and only time they had any kind of disagreement.
Edna and Foster filled the house with a closeness and feeling of Love and Togetherness that friends and neighbors said they almost envied us.
A few years later, with the children in school, Edna decided to go to work to help her family financially. She got a job as a saleslady in a Dallas department store. This particular store had some peculiar rules, such as, an employee couldn't shop in the store unless they had a hat on. These rules rankled dear Edna until she got mad enough to quit. Then, she went to work in the lunchroom of James Fannin grade school. I guess she didn't like serving lunch to a bunch of kids, so she applied for a job with Zales Jewelry store as a sales lady. She went to the Elm Street store and was told that there were no openings in sales, but they badly needed someone for office work. She declined because she had no clerical training, but her interviewer asked if she could add two and two. She said she could, and he said, "we can use you". So, she went to work for Zales adding two and two and two and two and she kept on adding two and two for the next twenty-seven years when she retired as credit manager for their Oak Cliff Store.
She bought the house she is still living in in 1960 and since her retirement has done a little traveling, a lot of visiting the sick in hospitals, attending church and Ladies Bible class on Tuesday mornings. She baked cookies and cake for other people when their birthdays came up, cooked food and took it to the sick, worked in in her yard. She likes for things to look clean and neat as was shown in her early years of growing up.
We Love you, EDNA HANSON KARNES.
The childhood stories came from Odette Hanson a long time ago. They were written down when Edna retired from Zales.
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Documents in my possession for Edna:
1928 Corsicana City Directory
Hanson Edna cashr JM Dyer D G Co r2020 W 15th av
1 Sep 1929 Marriage License
Granted to W. F. Karnes, age 47, of Navarro Co, TX and Edna Lorena Hanson, age 25, of White Co, AR
Many other documents too numerous to list - she is my Grandmother and I have many of her old bills, check books, savings passbooks and so on.
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"Mama",
written by her daughter
Laurie Jeanne Karnes Graves
Edna Lorena Hanson, better known as "Mama", was the first child of Orlando Bruce Hanson and Martha Emily Dodd Hanson. She was born in Judsonia, Arkansas in the same log cabin her father and Aunt Emma were born in. The cabin was on the farm of her great-grandparents, John Smith McDearman and Sarah Jane Travis McDearman. It was a forty acre farm they had homesteaded in 1870. Mama lived there until she was 2 1/2 years old, when her parents moved to West Point, about four miles from Judsonia, where her sister, Etta Mae, was born. Although Mama was Grandma Hanson's first child, she couldn't think of a name that she thought was pretty enough, so a neighbor gave her the name of Edna Lorena. A few years later, the neighbor moved to West Point. Orlando was working in West Point at that time, and he walked 4 miles to work each way. One day the old neighbor gave him a little red rocking chair for Edna. He sat the rocker on his shoulders and walked the 4 miles home so his little girl could get her rocking chair. When Mae was about a year old, they moved back to the farm and lived there until Mama was five years old, then they moved to Searcy - three miles from Judsonia. So, they lived close enough that she still got to spend a lot of time visiting her great-grandparents. They lived on West Race Street when she was five, later moved to Arch Street and then to 908 E. Market. The girls used to walk 2 1/2 blocks to a log house and buy a quart of milk for 10 cents from a neighbor. The house is still there (in 1992) , but has been stuccoed over. Mama started to school in September, 1910 at Searcy Grammer School. She had the measles and whooping cough both while she was in the first grade, but her class grades stayed high despite the number of days she missed. She graduated from Searcy High in 1923 with several honors. She went one semester to the state teachers college because she loved school so much, she wanted to teach. Her parents told her that her sister Odette wanted to be a nurse and they couldn't afford to keep them both at college, so Mama dropped out. Mama rememered her first day at school. She wore a white pique dress with pink ribbons. Her teacher borrowed a book from her and Mama was too bashful to ask for it back, so Grandma Hanson had to go to school and ask for Edna's book back. She also wore a white pique dress for her baccalaureate services when she graduated from high school. The services were held in the First Christian Church in Searcy. Mrs. Howell was Mamas Sunday School teacher. They went the First Christian Church. Mama changed to the Church of Christ after she was grown and visiting relatives in Corsicanna, TX. While Mama was working at a coffee shop in Little Rock, AR, her and a friend went to have their palms read. The lady told her she would soon go on a short trip to visit relatives, but she would change her mind and stay longer than she intended. She would meet the man she would marry, have 3 kids, and they would live together about 30 years. She said they would never have a lot financially, but they wold have a happy marriage. Mama always said everything the palm reader told her came true. Soon after, she got mad at work, quit and decided to go for a 2 week visit to Corsicanna to see relatives. Once she got there, she decided to stay longer and got a job at the Navarro Hotel Coffee Shop. William Foster Karnes came in one morning, took one look at her and told her: "You better run fast, cause I'm going to marry you". She laughed at him and said "I don't think so". Three months later, they married!
Mama called her father "Papa". He wanted to be a farmer like his father and grandfather, but couldn't seem to make a good enough living for his family, so he went to work for a Mr. Bowden painting houses. He eventually started doing carpentry work along with painting. Ultimately, he opened his own contracting business. He built one of the Baptist churches in Searcy and several two story houses. Many of the houses he built are still in existance and occupied. He stayed busy and made good money all during World War II. He died Feb 17, 1948 from a brain tumor. When Mama and her sisters were all still little, their parents would go outside in the evening and play ball with them. They were doing that one evening when a gander got ahold of Mae's dress and wouldn't let go. Her parents thought it was funny and started laughing. Mae got mad and started crying cause she didn't like being laughed at. She said Grandma Hanson made everyone stop laughing at Mae.
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MY GRANDMOTHER
She was an enigma. A very modern woman in that she held a responsible job for years; dressed in the latest fashions; hair and nails immaculacy cared for; bought her own home after my Grandfather passed; and served as an officer in work-related organizations. Yet there was a mysterious old world air about her. Prim and proper are words that come to mind with all the graciousness of old Southern gentility. I don't imagine she ever made an impolite comment to anyone or about anyone her whole life. Family lore says that she only swatted one of her grandchildren one time. That was when my brother called her “Grandma”. Make no mistake about it, she was “Grandmother” and it was disrespectful to call her anything else.
Her person, house and lawn were all meticulously cared for. She had a big yard with massive flowerbeds containing many plants that originated with cuttings from her mother's and Grandmothers plants. There were blooms all season long. There was a big mimosa tree in the front yard that all the kids climbed. My sister and I snapped pictures and felt warmed by watching our kids climb the same tree we did as children. She had a huge Catawba tree in the back yard. My brother started it. When he was little, he told my Grandmother he was going to give her a new tree, and stuck a stick in the ground he had picked up from a nearby park. I don't know what she did to it, but it grew into a beautiful tree that shaded a third of her back yard. When my sister bought her house, she got a cutting from that tree and now also has a big tree. If you have never seen a Catawba tree, they are beautiful. Very large heart shaped leaves, with showy white blossoms in the spring and in winter it produces foot long bean pods that dangle down like something out of a cartoon. I always thought it looked like a tree from a Walt Disney movie. It was magical, just like my Grandmother.
She never drove a car. I always thought that was so odd. She took the bus to work and anywhere else she wanted to go. I asked her once if she ever learned to drive and all she would say is no, no need to. The bus stop was across the street from her house, so it was very convenient. She never bought a washer and dryer. There were connections in her house. There was an alley behind her house and she would pack her laundry on a little wheeled luggage cart and walk down to the Laundromat, except for underwear of course. Underwear was all hand laundered, whites were washed, then boiled on the stove in bleach water and washed again. According to her, it was the only way to really get them clean. Her whites were, like everything else about her, absolutely spotless and the whitest white possible. She had a little rack that hung over the bathtub to dry them in winter. In summer, they were hung on the laundry line outside. She said nothing like bleach and sun to keep your whites looking right.
One time she asked me what color someone's eyes were. I was astonished at the question. It was someone she had seen several times. I commented that of course she had seen them. She said, “No, I don't look into people's eyes. It's disrespectful”. I asked her what color my eyes were. She replied that they were blue, but she only knew that because she had been told they were blue. I was very intrigued - what a Victorian attitude! I watched her closely after that. She was very circumspect about it, but I saw quite clearly that she really never looked at anyone directly in the face. She had the most profound respect for the property of others. Two family stories depict this. My father was in the Air Force when I was young, so we traveled around a lot. But, every vacation or holiday was spent at my Grandmother's. On a summer visit when I was little, for whatever reason, I wrapped 2 Popsicle sticks in a Kleenex and put it in her refrigerator. Several months later we returned and my mother opened the refrigerator. She asked my Grandmother why she had this strange item in there. She said those were Linda's and I must have put them there for a reason and might want them on my next visit! My parents stayed with my Grandmother for a couple of weeks before they were transferred to Hawaii. They had brought laundry soap with them, and didn't bother to pack the box because there was only enough left for one load of laundry. When they arrived in Hawaii, my mother discovered that she had only one of her house slippers. Sure enough, 3 years later when they returned, my grandmother gave them their laundry soap and the one slipper left behind. When asked why she didn't just finish the box of laundry powder, she, of course, told them because it wasn't hers.
She had a cedar chest in her bedroom. A real one made out of cedar with that wonderful smell. On every visit, no matter how long the stay, she and I would sneak off in the bedroom, shut the door, and she would open the cedar chest and pull out the things in there and tell me stories about the items and who they belonged too. They were the same stories every time, but I never tired of them. Throughout my life, the smell of cedar brings instant vivid memories of her. She talked mostly about her Grandma Mac (Sarah Jane Travis McDearman). She had a deep abiding respect for her. She had survived the Civil War, had 7 children, lost one at the tender age of 2, and had one daughter who was mentally retarded. Then the awful years came about. In 1879, she lost a 5 month-old grandchild; in January of 1882, she lost that child's mother, Mary at age 22, and just 3 months later, lost another of her young daughters, Mattie who died at age 18. A few years later, her husband lost his eyesight in a freak accident. They owned a large strawberry farm in Arkansas. She continued to manage the farm, her household and all the people within which by now included her grandson Orlando Bruce Hanson. And she talked about her father's mother, Mary Angeline McDearman Hanson. My Grandmother called her poor little Mary Angeline. Mary lost her first son, John Wesley Hanson when he was just 5 months old. Then, when her second son was 10 months old, Mary succumbed to red measles. Her picture was in the chest, and although my Grandmother never knew her, it was clear that her Grandmother had transferred a strong feeling of love for Mary. I always felt like I knew Mary somehow. And poor little Matttie, who died of a fever in the spring at the age of 18, just 2 months after her sister Mary. And she would talk about her little sister, Julia who died when she was just 2 years old. She always told the story that their mother had been playing with little Julia at a mirror and she had put her hand on it leaving a print. For months after her death, her mother wouldn't let anyone wash the little print away. She called many people by their first and middle names. She didn't see the point in giving people 2 names if you weren't going to use them, although if they had a nickname, she sometimes used that. I am Linda Carol, and she never failed to call me that. She's the only person I've ever known who used both names like that. I hear her voice now, Linda Carol, Terry Joe, Laurie Jeanne, Debra Kay, Betty Jeanne. She even addressed her letters to me as Linda Carol.
I didn't live near her until 1983. But, we visited often and I always felt close to her. After I married, she called me every month and would talk for 2 or 3 hours each time. And she wrote long letters frequently. She was the ultimate gift person. Grandmother's packages were most special treats wherever we were. At Christmas, along with other things, came home baked goodies. Divinity and sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies and German fruitcake. It was the best! Her fruitcake was made with several different preserves and didn't contain those yucky bits of dried fruit so typical of fruitcake. It had an indescribable moist fruity flavor. When I turned 13, my parents decided that as a teenager, I needed my own room. At the time blue was my favorite color, so they painted the room blue. Then a huge box came from my Grandmother with literally everything to decorate my room. I'll never forget it. A blue dust ruffle with a blue and white quilted topper and shams, white calico curtains, lacey white throw pillows, a pole lamp for the bedside with white shades, 2 sets of coordinating sheets, a new blue clock radio, blue perfume bottles and a dresser set of matching brush, comb and mirror with delicate white and blue flowers enameled on the backs. It was all so beautiful and I used it for years. After I married, her boxes would have presents for everyone, something for the household like a new iron or crockpot, the requisite goodies, 2 sets of sheets, a dozen pair of fancy underwear for me and a new nightgown. The nightgowns were always long and feminine. She firmly believed that women wore only pretty or fancy as she called it underwear when they were married. I was over 40 before I ever bought a set of sheets or underwear! My husband was from Oregon and she worried that at Thanksgiving, I would be stuck with that Yankee bread dressing, so she would make a dry mixture of southern cornbread dressing and have it expressed shipped to me every year along with instructions for completing it. She spent hours wrapping her presents. They were beautiful packages, with all sorts of special bows and trimmings. I have an ivy plant that originated from her father's Grandmother! Over the years, it has traveled around the country, been stuck in a moving van for a week, left without water when I was out of town, a pet rabbit once ate it down to about 2 inches. No matter what it survives. I have cut off pieces and given them to my children. It's our enduring legacy, having a piece of that ivy. She was a faithful member of the Church of Christ and studied the bible all her life. Ladies Bible Class was a big event for her, and when we visited, we went with her. My sister and I still giggle at remembrances of the “Spring Extravaganza” held every year, where, in our memory, variety acts were very poorly performed and it was all we could do to keep from laughing out loud. One year was particularly bad, the lady sitting in front of us was wearing a wig, and it was very crooked. We couldn't contain ourselves, and got a strong glare from our Grandmother. But, she silenced a little giggle too. We dreaded it, but wouldn't have not gone with her for anything in the world. She once redecorated her living room in a color scheme of gray, white and black. The carpet was gray, the furniture was gray and the drapes were black and white. She brought home this absolutely horrible artificial flower arrangement - during the time when very large ornate arrangements with feathers was fashionable. It had lots of white and black feathers. No one liked it but her, but of course no one would dare tell her. She had it for several years. It finally outlived its day and got stuck in storage for a while. Then her church was having a white elephant sale. She took it along and got my parents and aunt and uncle to go to the sale with her. The flowers were given away as a booby prize….I don't remember which one of them got stuck with her flower arrangement, but one did, and the others thought it quite funny. On the next birthday in the family, they received the flower arrangement. Thus, it was traded around for a few years. Whoever had the next birthday or anniversary - got the flowers. Many great times were had over those silly flowers. But, the best part is my Grandmother would always say, in her most Victorian voice, “I don't know why they think that's so funny”. Finally, a great-aunt, who lived in New Jersey, made the mistake of bemoaning over the phone how much fun they all had living together in Texas, and sure enough, on her next birthday, the flowers were sent to New Jersey. In summing up, I just can't think of anything that she did that wasn't done very well. She was an excellent role model for little girls growing up, prim and proper, and yet not underneath! Very loving. I was lucky to have her in my life and I miss her every day.
Linda Graves Walker 2002
Nellie Allen (Tubba) KARNES
Documents in my possession for Nellie Allen Karnes:
1953 Postcard sent to brother William Foster Karnes:
Dear Folks,
Laurie seemed very pleased to get your card. She is entirely bed-fast now, but has rested better today after (???). Her appetiteis very poor, but all in all, there seems to be some slight improvement. Laurie is to take blood count tomorrow to see if transfusion is needed. I have asked Thelma to phone you more info to save writing same thing twice. Surely hope you are all O.K. Beulah is fine, so am I. Surely hope you are all O-K.
Love to all,
Tubba
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1930 Census, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas. Enumeration District: 57-34, Sheet Number 26B, Enumeration Date: 11 Apr 1930, Block 867. (Address may bew 1217 Washington Street).
Evans, Nellie, head, home rented for $25, owns a radio set, female, age 42, divorced, able to read and write, b. Texas, father b. Tennessee, mother b. Tennessee, Occupation: Marker, Industry: Laundry, wage earner, employed.
Ozella, daughter, age 18
Leland, son, age 12
William, son, age 9
Karnes, Martha, mother, age 70, widowed, b. Tennessee, both parents b. Tennessee
Dawson, Margaret, roomer, age 45, widow, b. Texas, parents both born in Texas.
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Earl Vista WILSON
Documents in my possession for Earl V Wilson:
16 Apr 1919
Service Record for WWI
Enlisted: 4 Jun 1917
Served Overseas: 31 Jul 1918 - 17 Mar 1919
Honorable Discharge: 16 Apr 1919
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1928 Corsicana City Directory
Wilson Earl V (Winnie L) lab R E Layton h922 S28th
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1920 Census, Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas. Enumeration District: 145, Sheet # 9A, Enumeration Day: 7 Jan 1920, household # 190.
Wilson, Earl V., head, age 26, b. Texas, both parents b. Texas, Occupation: Barfronter??, Industry: Oil Company, Wage worker.
Winnie L., wife, age 20, b. Texas, father b. Texas, both parents b. Tennesee
Karnes, Elizabeth M.E., mother, age 60, b. Tennessee, both parents b. Tennessee
Foster, Annie E., grandmother, age 79, b. Tennessee, both parents b. North Carolina
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1930 Census, Ward 2 (Pct), Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas. Enumeration District: 175, Sheet # 13B, Enumeration Date: 14 Apr 1930
Wilson, Earl V. , head, owns home values at $2800, age 37, married first at age 25, b. Texas, parents both born in Texas, Occupation: Moulder, Industry: Iron Factory. Veteran: Yes, War of Expedition: WW. (Note, he was a veteran of WWI, it doesn't say WWI because this is in 1930 and WWII hadn't happened yet!)
Winnie L., wife, age 31, age at first marriage 19, born in Texas, both parents b. Tennessee.
Earl V. Jr, son, age 10, attending school
Carson A., son, age 8, attending school
Harold V., son, age 3
Karnes, Martha E., mother-in-law, age 72, widowed, age at first marriage 17, b. Tennessee, both parents b. Tennessee
Winnie Lee KARNES
I remember going to her house to visit when I was a child. There was always a lot of food and my father insisted we eat whatever she put on our plates, and she really filled them up! She had a big kitchen and everyone was always in the kitchen at a large dinning room table and it seemed she was always cooking. She really enjoyed cooking big meals and she was an excellent cook. She was always smiling and happyto see everyone fed. One time when we were visiting, she got up early on Sunday morning and cooked several pies for lunch after church. She went off to church leaving the warm pies on the dinning room table. My parents and my uncle and aunt all got up after she left and camei nto the kitchen to see and smell these hot pies on the table. Theycouldn't resist, and everyone ate hot pie. When she came home, she just laughed at them and went right to making more pies for lunch.
She had a huge collection of pencils. As I recall, it seemed they were stored in a large box, hundreds and hundreds of different pencils from all over the world and all different. She would take out the box and put it on the floor in her bedroom and all the kids would play with the pencils. I was fascinated with them. Her house was neat and tidy, as she would say, and it always felt warm and happy and filledwith the aromas of good food cooking.
Documents in my possession for Winnie Lee Karnes:
1928 Corsicana City Directory
Wilson Earl V (Winnie L) lab R E Layton h922 S28th
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1930 Census, Ward 2 (Pct), Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas. Enumeration District: 175, Sheet # 13B, Enumeration Date: 14 Apr 1930
Wilson, Earl V. , head, owns home values at $2800, age 37, married first at age 25, b. Texas, parents both born in Texas, Occupation: Moulder, Industry: Iron Factory. Veteran: Yes, War of Expedition: WW. (Note, he was a veteran of WWI, it doesn't say WWI because this is in 1930 and WWII hadn't happened yet!)
Winnie L., wife, age 31, age at first marriage 19, born in Texas, both parents b. Tennessee.
Earl V. Jr, son, age 10, attending school
Carson A., son, age 8, attending school
Harold V., son, age 3
Karnes, Martha E., mother-in-law, age 72, widowed, age at first marriage 17, b. Tennessee, both parents b. Tennessee
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1966
Obviously, Winnie had a sense of humor. She put the following message on a torn piece of cardboard and actually mailed it to her brother (it's stamped and postmarked!)
Ain't got no money
Times is hard
Cai'nt even ford no "greeten card"
just send you this line
To say, The Birthday gift is fine
And hope you'll B my
Valintine
Lov - Winnie
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22 Sep 1978 Funeral Record
Winnie Lee Karnes Wilson
Occupation: Housewife
Place of Birth: Corsicana, TX
Date of Birth: 10 Jan 1899
Date of Death: 22 Sep 1978
Age: 79
Survivors: 3 sons
Mr. Carson A. Wilson of Dallas, TX
Mr. Earl V. Wilson, Jr. of Dallas, TX
Mr. Harold V. Wilson of Houston, TX
8 grandchildren
7 great grandchildren
Thomas Jefferson KARNES
He went by the nickname Jeff. Documents in my possession for Thomas Jefferson Karnes:
1908 Corsicana City Directory
Karnes, T Jefferson, car repr
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1930 Census, Ward of City 2 (PT), Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, Enumeration District: 175, Sheet # 13B, Enumeration Date: 14 Apr 1930, Household #304
Karnes, Thom. J, head, rent $3.00 a month, age 49, age at first marriage: 35, b. Tennessee, father b. Tennessee, mother b. United States, Occupation: Boiler Maker, Industry: Mechanic Shop, unemployed, not a veteran
Cora E., wife, age 32, age at first marriage 18, b. Tennessee, both parents born in Alabama.
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6 Apr 1932 Western Union Telegram (I have the original telegram)
Sent to Foster Karnes at 1417 Lock St, Little Rock, Arkansas:
Jeff was killed by train this afternoon, Robt Layton
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