The Homeplace

The Blackwell property included most of the intersection of mile 5 leading from downtown Weslaco, north to Elsa, and mile 10 which ran east and west. Mile 5 was a major 2 lane road, which was widened sometime in the late 1950s. While the widening was going on we took the opportunity to   play in the big dirt piles and in the big concrete pipes that were lying along the roadside for weeks. It was a sad day when the construction was complete and our temporary playground was no longer there. Mile 10 was just slightly wider than a single lane road. When two cars came towards each other, each would have to pull over to the side of the road as they passed each other. That's just the way it was.

Tompa and Granny's house was set back from the intersection quite a bit. It was on the southwest corner.There was a small pasture at the exact corner of the two roads and a corral behind that. Their house was to one side of the corral. Their front yard had a circular drive that led up to the front porch and then back out to the road.

Also beside the corral were some outbuildings, including an old outhouse which stood beside a tall tree. Someone had tied a rope to a high branch in the tree so that if you climbed up onto the outhouse (there was a fence alongside to help) you could grab the rope and swing off the roof out into space. Then you'd come crashing back onto the outhouse roof and could sometimes managed to regain your position on top of the roof without falling to the ground.

Also on the property was a long U-shaped concrete canal that occasionally had water in it, but mostly only a little sludge in the bottom. The lip of the concrete U stuck up  2" or 3" above ground and was maybe 2" or 3" wide. It was fun to try to balance while walking on that lip without either falling into the canal or off the other side onto the dirt bank. In either case you'd end up with some abrasions or at least some stickers. We also enjoyed running inside the canal, which was probably 3' deep. But in order not to step in the sludge it was necessary to run from side to side, jumping over the sludge as you went. Took a certain amount of skill to do that without ending up with stinky mud on your feet. And since we didn't always wear shoes, mud wasn't a good thing.

Another attraction on our homeplace playground was what we called the Tall Texan. It was a giant cottonwood tree, at least 40' high or more. We all climbed it from time to time, although it wasn't my favorite thing to do because there were sometimes ants also climbing it. Once you got up there you could sit on a branch and see for miles and miles, or so it felt like. Why none of us fell and broke a neck is beyond me.

Royce and Margueritte's house was on the southeast corner, but there was also a pasture between the house and the actual corner. A big pasture surrounded the back of their house and led to the barn, which was maybe 1/2 mile away.

And on the northwest corner sat Weldon and Dorothy's house. Their house wasn't separated from the corner by much, just the yard. There was a playhouse in the yard not to far from the roads. It had been built by Dorothy's dad, Tom Anderson, who owned a lumber yard a mile or so away. In back of their house was a field that at first held a citrus grove. After a hard freeze, the trees were removed and various things were grown, cotton, corn, maize, etc. There were always citrus trees in the back yard though, and a lemon tree right by the back door. So anytime we wanted lemonade or lemon in our tea, all we had to do was reach out the backdoor and pluck one.

The property on the northeast corner was not owned by the Blackwells, although I always thought it should have been. Then the whole thing could have been called Blackwell Corners, which I thought had a certain nice ring to it.

Less than 1/4 mile down the road from Tompa and Granny's was Grandma Lacy's house, also surrounded by a field. And another 1/4 mile away was the home of Tom and E.W. Anderson, Dorothy's parents. One story is about Mike, who at the age of about 2 decided to go visit Grandma Lacy. Trouble is he didn't tell anyone what was on his mind. He just walked out of Granny's house one day when no one was looking, walked that 1/4 mile down the busy road without getting hit by a truck, walked in her back door, through the house, and out the front door, and right on back home again. Grandma Lacy said he walked right through the house without saying a word. She went out to the road to watch and see that he got home ok. The grownups probably didn't even miss him and nothing bad happened, but the story could have had a much different ending.

All this area was our growing up place. We never knocked on doors growing up. Just came on in. Your house was my house, and my house was your house, and shoes were optional. It was a fine way for us kids to live.

Roland

Pop (Weldon) always praised his big brother, Roland, to the skies. He seemed to be the perfect person who always stood up for and was kind to his little brother, no matter what. Apparently he was very good at football and got a scholarship to Stephen F. Austin college. The way I heard it Roland was very dedicated and played in the cold rain even though he was ill. He came down with pneumonia and died at the young age of 20 or 21 in 1931. Later I realized that there must be more to it than that because Tompa and Granny had taken him to Arizona to a sanatorium for awhile. It didn't help and they brought him back to Weslaco where he died. I may be wrong, but it sounds like he probably had tuberculosis and not just pneumonia. Anyway,  it must have been a terrible blow to his entire family. I know it was to Pop, especially since he looked up to Roland as the perfect big brother.

I may not be totally accurate on my dates, ages, and the name of the college. If you know differently please correct me.

Memories of Granny

Granny (Emma Elizabeth) was always a lot of fun. She let us girls do whatever in her house. She had a 4 poster double bed covered with a big fluffy feather mattress. She didn't seem to mind that we got on that bed and rolled around, jumped up and down, and had wrestling matches. I remember having a jar of peanut butter and a spoon on the dresser next to the bed. When the "bell" rang to end a round of wrestling I'd go back to the jar and lick off a spoonful of peanut butter before the "bell" rang again. No telling if some peanut butter didn't end up on the covers. Granny also let us play beauty shop with her as the victim, er, client. We were allowed to brush her long hair and twist it up on top of her head or braid it or whatever. We could put powder and rouge and lipstick on her, usually in copious amounts. She didn't mind looking like a demented clown as long as we were kept busy happily dolling her up. 

Mom told me that Granny wasn't much of a housekeeper. When she was young she much preferred to be outside with the chickens or in the garden to being inside doing cleaning and cooking, so her mother and big sister just let her. After she was grown and had her own family she didn't change much, although she did learn to make great pies. However, being organized and neat wasn't in her nature. She told my mother that she wished she could just have a bunch of pegs on the wall all around her bedroom where she could hang her clothes instead of having to put them on hangers in the closet or folded in drawers. As the mother of 4 rowdy boys, it's probably just as well she wasn't a neatnik. 

She and Tompa liked to play dominos and card games, but were notorious cheats. Better not leave the room or you'd come back to find that "someone" had moved the dominoes or peeked at your card hand. And Granny had zero patience or self-control when it came to gift wrap. She wanted to know what was in a present NOW, not wait till Christmas morning. You could always count on the gift wrap on a present to be partly torn open because she had been snooping trying to see what was inside. She wasn't very good at repairing the damage once she'd snooped. We could always tell.

Granny liked to sleep with her head covered up. In fact sometimes she'd be sitting on the back porch watching tv with a blanket over her head but her face peeking out. And she loved to self-medicate. A trip to the drugstore for over-the-counter remedies was among her favorite things. Weldon inherited this love of OTC shopping and had drawers and bathroom cabinets full of all kinds of cures for his various ailments, real and imagined.

 Sometime in the 1960s Granny suffered a stroke that slowed down her speech and ability to get around very well. Not long after she had another stroke that paralyzed her totally. All she could move were her eyes. Tompa took care of her at home for years with the help of a couple of nurses who were there part of the time. We really didn't know if Granny had any idea who we were or what we were saying when we visited, and it was hard to see her lying there totally inert. What a sad ending for such a fun-loving lady. She was 84 when she passed away.

Nancy

adding to the card playing story.........Carol and I would spend entire afternoons playing canasta with them.  Tompa and I were always partners and he insisted that we face north and south because that was his lucky direction. I took that explanation without question, but later I wondered if there were other advantages, like being able to see Granny 's or Carol's hands better......When we didn't win, Tompa would have a hard time containing his anger.  He just KNEW that they cheated somehow, because WE were the superior players..........Carol and Granny just giggled with delight....which irritated Tompa more.......

  this is where we need Carol's version of this story.....

  I do remember us spending the night with Granny and sleeping in the feather bed.  Remember the little red, metal suitcases she gave us one xmas?  They were alike except for the teddybear on the front.  We packed these cases and brought them to spend the night.

 Do you remember the next morning?  The bedroom was next to the kitchen and there was much noise with the making of breadfast.I recall homemade biscuits with butter and syrup combined.  tompa would say that the biscuit to syrup ratio didn't come out even as an excuse to get another serving.  Also recall thick bacon and sometimes cream gravy .  Any leftover biscuits and bacon sat on the stove covered with a dishcloth.   One could snitch a biscuit any time of the day.....great snack

Patty

Tommy and TomPa Aug 1973

Thomas Blackwell Family Tree

Emma Elzabeth Gooch Family Tree

kidnapper

I confess. I was a 5 year old kidnapper. My mom took me with her down the road about a mile to visit with Mrs. Hubbard and her 3 kids, Mary Lou, Martha, and Jimbo. Jimbo was maybe two younger than I. We were having a great time playing while the adults chatted, but it was time to go home all too soon. I was not ready to stop playing yet so I managed to somehow smuggle Jimbo into the backseat of Mom's car. She had no idea we had a stowaway until we got home and he popped up with a big grin on his little face. I thought we'd be able to just keep on playing, but alas, that's not what happened. Mom phoned Mrs. Hubbard, who hadn't even had time to miss him. She came and took him home, much to my disappointment. I don't remember getting into trouble over this. Maybe Mom thought it was funny enough to let it slide.

Nancy