Ashley Nicole McLemore

Notes:

San Augustine Tribune-Thursday, April 1, 1999, page 9

Broaddus Junior High Cheerleaders

These will be the Broaddus Junior High Cheerleaders for the upcoming 1999-2000 school year: Gena Sadler, Maria Collins, Mandie McLemore, Casi Sharp, Ashley McLemore, Alysia Williams, Kady Tarver, Kassi Holloway, Jessica Bennefield, and LaDonna Sowell. Anna Sharp is the sponsor for the Junior High Cheerleading squad.


Ashley Nicole McLemore

Obituary
Carroway Funeral Home

Funeral services for Ashley Nicole McLemore, 29, of Lufkin, will be held Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. in the Carroway Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Paul Mettlen and Dr. Charles L. Williams officiating. Interment will follow in Attoyac Cemetery.

Ashley was born September 10, 1984 in Nacogdoches, Texas, and died Sunday, January 12, 2014 in a Lufkin hospital from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

Ashley was a supervisor with McLemore Sandblasting and had lived in Lufkin most of her life. She loved spending time with her son, Brody. Ashley was a member of the First Apostolic Church of Burke.

Ashley is survived by her son, Brody Lynn Barker of Lufkin; mother, Becky Trinkle of Broaddus; father, Charles McLemore of Lufkin; sister, Amanda Lynn McLemore of Broaddus; nephew, Caysin Hamilton; brothers, Colton Paramore and Logan Paramore, both of Lufkin; uncles and aunts, Robert and Frances Scarber, Quita and Mike Smith, Elaine Vandiver, all of Broaddus, Necy and Mike Spittler of Anacoco, Louisiana, Kenneth Parker of Broaddus, Linda Michaelsky of Texas City, Steve Nash of Marble Falls, David Nash of Texas City, Misty and Bobby Williams of Broaddus, John and Cheryl Taylor of Murphy, North Carolina, and Bill Taylor of Carrollton; as well as numerous cousins and other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Laura B. Sublette and Clyde E. Trinkle; paternal grandparents, Lynn McLemore and June Yates; and uncles, Eddie Joe Parker and Gene Taylor.

Pallbearers will be Matthew Williams, Colten Williams, Robert Scarber, Chad Parker, Mike Spittler and Daniel Payne.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Apostolic Church of Burke, 158 FM 2108, Diboll, Texas 75941.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evening at the funeral home.

Memories and condolences may be added at www.carrowayfuneralhome.com.

Carroway Funeral Home, Lufkin, directors

Also published in the Sabine County Reporter, January 22, 2014, Page 13

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

1. Living

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

His original Texas Birth Certificate listed him as Dalton McLemore. He was not known by this name as he was growing up, and was dismayed to discover this years later. He told his niece, Melinda, that he legally changed his name to John Lynn. Perhaps he was initially named in honor of his mother's brother-in-law, Dalton Cousins.

The Texas Birth Certificate in the name Dalton showed that he was the sixth living of nine children in total born to his mother.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K6GV-FHK
Name: Dalton Mclemore
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 26 Dec 1932
Event Place: San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas, United States
Gender: Male
Father's Name: Vessie Eugine Mclemore
Mother's Name: Nina Ophelia Fuller
Certificate Number: 98874
Digital Folder Number: 005035230
Image Number: 01691
Collection: Vessie Eugine Mclemore in entry for Dalton Mclemore, "Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935"

Lynn served in the U.S. Army from January 24, 1955 to January 25, 1957, and was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington State.

He spent most of his working life as a welder in Texas and Oklahoma. He and his wife Bobbie retired to the family homestead in San Augustine in the mid 1980's, where he raised cattle, and was overseer of the timber and wildlife on McLemore farmstead.

Sabine County Reporter
September 19, 2007
Page 11

John Lynn McLemore

John Lynn McLemore, 74, of San Augustine died Sept. 13, 2007 in Lufkin.

He was born Dec. 26, 1932 in San Augustine to Vessie Eugene McLemore and Nina Ophelia Fuller McLemore. He was a rancher and a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was also a member of the Rosevine Church of God.

Survivors: wife, Bobbie McLemore of San Augustine; daughters, Lynda Sue Michaelski and husband Patrick of Clear Lake, Debbie McAdams of Lufkin, Dayna Martin and husband Nathaniel of Nacogdoches; sons, Steven Nash, and wife, Lori of Marble Falls, David Nash and wife, Jerri of Texas City, Charles Henry McLemore of Broaddus, Kenneth Edward McLemore of San Augustine, Ray Lyn Frederick and wife, Alicia of Wells; brother, Tom McLemore and wife Bonnie of Houston; sister, Evon Tisdale of Lufkin; 20 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Sunday, Sept. 16 at Wyman Roberts Memorial Chapel in San Augustine with Rev. Floyd Wright officiating. Interment followed at Rosevine Cemetery.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Fall 2007; note that the original obituary showed Lynn's daughter as Linda Sue McMichaelski, in error)

A similar obituary appeared in the September 20, 2007 issue of the San Augustine Tribune, page 10.

(Medical):Prostate Cancer

John married Selma June Sparks before 1960. Selma (daughter of Henry Jewel Sparks and Ednie E. Murray) was born on 2 Jun 1929 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas; died on 11 Sep 2002 in Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

June Nicklebur Yates

Services for June Nicklebur YATES, 73, of Lufkin will be held at 10:00 am Friday in the Gipson-Metcalf Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Freeman Bryant and Rev. Paul Mettler officiating. Interment will follow in the Whitehouse Cemetery.

Mrs. Yates was born June 2, 1929, in San Augustine, Texas the daughter of Ednie E. (MURRAY) and Henry Jewel SPARKS. She died Wednesday, September 11, 2002 at her residence.

Mrs. Yates was a retired LVN, and had been employed with Memorial Medical Center for more than ten years. She was a member of the United Pentecostal Church, and had resided in Lufkin for the past 14 years.

Survivors include her husband, Lyndon B. YATES of Broaddus; sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Frances SCARBER of Broaddus, Eddie and Brenda PARKER, Kenneth and Cathy PARKER, Charles McLEMORE and Stephanie BERRY, all of Lufkin, daughters and sons-in-law, Quita and Mike SMITH of Broaddus, Elaine PARKER of Lufkin, LaNiece and Mike SPLITTER of Louisiana, thirteen grandchildren, sixteen great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild; and sister Maggie LANDRUM of Chireno.

Pallbearers will be Roy Mettlen, Gus Brewer, Jerry Harvey, Homer Utley, Ricky Clark, and Randy Clark.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice in the Pines, 116 S. Raguet, Lufkin, Texas.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Thursday evening at the Gipson-Metcalf Funeral Home. Gipson-Metcalf Funeral Directors of Lufkin.

Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Research):
Census Listings:

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

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

(Medical):artherio sclerosis, hypertension

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

Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Medical):cerebral arteriosclerosis

Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Henry married Ednie E. Murray about 1928 in Texas. Ednie was born about 1911 in Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]