|
Bethel
Community was across the highway from Olfen.
Going from Ballinger
on the Paint Rock Highway, Bethel is to the left, and directly opposite
was a road that led to Rowena.
I remember people referring to that as "over behind Rowena." Olfen
was located to the right a little farther down the road. Bethel had
a school that was a rock building. The land was donated by the Wilde
family, and when the school closed, the land went back to them. The
building burned a number of years back and Rick Smith wrote an article
about it in his column in the San Angelo Standard-Times.
When I went to Bethel School from 1st through 8th grades, there
were three teachers. Miss Pearl Holton taught grades 1-3 for many
years and taught all those Bethel kids how to read. What a contribution
to society. Mrs. Leora Richardson taught grades 4-6, and the 7-8th
grade teacher was also the principal, and he drove a school bus. Mr.
Pearson and Mr. Elliott were the two I remember.
An interesting detail was that we were not allowed to take books home!
No homework in those days!! We had to have work to do during class
while the teacher was working with another grade level. One time I
got in trouble for slipping a book home in my drawstring bag, and
someone told on me. My Daddy was on the school board for years, so
sometimes I would be accused of getting favors, but the way I remember
it, I had to "toe the line", even more so than other kids.
The school was the hub of the community. We had plays, domino parties,
ice cream socials and other community gatherings. We had great times
at recess, playing softball, swinging, making playhouses, playing
"Red Rover" and hide-and-seek and in the spring gathering buttercups
and stringing them on the stem of another plant that grew in the pastures
and had a long stem with a brown button on top. We made hundreds of
necklaces and bracelets out of them.
My
favorite story from Bethel School was that of watching the romance
blossom between Miss Pearl and the postman, who was a widower. She
had never been married. We noticied that we seemed to be dismissed
for recess every day just about the time the postman arrived to fill
the mailboxes located at the Bethel intersection. We would hide and
watch as Miss Pearl made her way around the building so she could
wave to him when he made his stop. They eventually married and spent
several happy retirement years together.
The school had coal stoves which were pot-bellied stoves surrounded
by a large circular metal sheeting, so we wouldn't get too close and
get burned. It was a treat when it was our turn to go gather a shuttle
of coal to be ready for tomorrow's fire. That and getting to go beat
the erasers on the side of the coal building to clean them on Fridays.
There
were two churches, Baptist and Methodist. The Baptist church
had a pastor who came on 1st and 3rd Sundays from Hardin-Simmons,
where he was a student. The Methodist church had a pastor who had
a dual charge with Norton, and he came to Bethel on 2nd and 5th Sundays.
One of the families in the church invited the preacher home with them
for Sunday dinner. Both congregations went to their own church for
Sunday School, and then moved to whichever church had the pastor that
day. The host church would sing songs until the other group arrived.
Consequently the Baptists sat on one side and the Methodists sat on
one side, because of the coming-in late.
A funny story was told at my Daddy's funeral by one of those former
student pastors. He said the men of the community all gathered to
put a new roof on the Baptist church. Someone said, Where should we
start?" My dad in his dry humor said, "Well, since the Methodists
are afraid of water, I guess we should start on the Methodist side."
I remember that the Baptists didn't have Holy Communion very often,
but when they did they didn't offer it to the Methodists, because
they observe closed communion. The Methodists, however, have open
table, and would offer to pass the communion plate to the visitors.
I can still see my Daddy shake his head, and the communion plate didn't
come down our row. Even then, I thought something was wrong with this
picture, so as an adult, I am a good Methodist.
Following church there was quite a social time of visiting and catching
up on all the news. Many people in the Community attended these two
churches. Often I would go home with my friends, or they with me,
and we would play hard all afternoon, then go home with our parents
following the evening service. It was great fun, because we didn't
live very close to each other, and we couldn't just go over to play
during the week.
One special memory is that of Easter Sunday when we went to the Methodist
Church for sunrise service. The chancel area would have three wooden
crosses and sheets draped over cardboard boxes stacked to make the
hillside. The service would end just as the sun rose, so we had gotten
up very early to attend this special service. Then we would be dismissed
to go out and hunt Easter eggs that someone had hidden while we were
inside. Following this, we ate breakfast, and stayed around until
Sunday School time at our respective churches. It was a very special
occasion, and I can't remember who was responsible for setting it
all up. It just happened - in my young perspective.
The Baptist church eventually closed and the building was donated
to a church in town to be used for a Spanish-speaking congregation.
The Methodist church stayed open several more years. In fact, I think
it is very admirable that one of my schoolmates was responsible for
tithing to keep the little Bethel Church open for several years, because
he felt his parents would not drive into Ballinger
to worship.
One
other story -- on the farm/ranch where we lived there was once a one-room
school called Davis School. My mother taught there when she
was a bride and moved there. She had no formal education, but took
a test to give her certification to teach. It was unusual for married
women to teach, but since transportation was not good, she was needed.
One day one of her students came up to her desk to tell her he/she
was sick to his stomach, and promptly threw up on her desk. My mother
was barely pregnant, so she threw up with him! That ended her career.
Pregnant women certainly were not allowed to teach.
What a great life. When I completed eighth grade the school closed,
and everyone had to ride the bus all the way into Ballinger.
I feel sorry for the younger kids who missed the Bethel School experience.
The town of Pony was in the middle of this community. The row of mailboxes
were a common visiting place if you got there early before the mailman
arrived.
All of this may not be relevant, but I have certainly enjoyed remembering
and writing it.
©Shirley Thompson Mohler
Garland, Texas
They
Shoe Horses, Don't They? Guest Column |
Bethel Community,
Texas Chronicles
Subject: Miss
Pearl Holton
I just came across this story by Shirley Mohler, where she mentions
a romance between her primary school teacher, Miss Pearl Holton and
the postman. That postman is my grandfather, Ross Alexander Smith.
Miss Pearl became his 2nd wife after his first wife passed away. I
met her a number of times in Texas when I was a boy.
I'd be interested if Shirley Mohler has any more infomation on Miss
Pearl. I'm pretty sure she passed away in 1974 (see https://www.findagrave.com)
I'm now trying to contact the Find a Grave website to add her to my
grandfather's page https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54915659
Any further information you or Shirley could pass on would be most
appreciated.
- Kind regards, Geoff Smith, September 10, 2017 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
