The Senior Class

The students of Westminster College had nicknames for each of the class levels. The Seniors were "The Managers", the juniors were "The Tankers". because there is no mention of other students in the yearbook, I must assume at this point (and yes, I am looking for verification) that this was a two-year college. I will

I also need to note at this time that one of the hometowns listed for many of the students is spelled "Cooledge", Texas. The correct spelling is Coolidge. According to texasescapes.com, "Like several Texas towns we could name, Coolidge was misspelled for awhile. It went by the name Cooledge for 27 years - from 1903 to 1930. President Calvin Coolidge was president from 1923 to 1929 - and seeing his name in print so often may have led someone to investigate." I will continue to refer to the town as it is spelled in the yearbook, for consistency's sake.

Let's begin with the seniors, or “The Managers”

William J Gillespie, from Cooledge, Texas

Hazel Cooper, from Dawson, Texas

Anna Blanche Ogilvie, from Cooledge, Texas

J. Howard Driver, from Cooledge, Texas

Aubrey Mason, from Delia, Texas

W. M. Bryant, from Mertens, Texas

Hollie F. Irvin, from Cale, Arkansas

Margaret Brummett, from Wortham, Texas

Gladys Lee, from Wortham, Texas

Evora Wofford, from Cooledge, Texas

Virgil Rogers, from Cooledge, Texas

Evelyn Bounds, from Tehuacana, Texas

Zora Hoover, from Tehuacana, Texas

Clyde E. Shelton, from Currie, Texas

Ruth Milburn, from Tehuacana, Texas

Una Vay Summers, from Wortham, Texas

Anna Mae Williams, from Mexia, Texas

Mildred Fannin, from Tehuacana, Texas

Virgil B. Moody, from Tehuacana, Texas

Mysteries to be solved...

On my way home yesterday, I decided that I deserved a few minutes of down time. I thought that poking through an antique shop was just the thing to do the trick.

Winding through the maze of rooms at “Hole in the Wall Antiques”, I happily browsed through cabinets of china, bins of costume jewelry, and stacks of new and old books. I filed through a small basket of antique photos, looking for any identifying names on the backs…but no luck. It always makes me a bit sad to think of pictures like these that should be with their families.

Just as I was about to leave (shockingly empty-handed!), I spotted an old yearbook. Oh, no. I have a weakness for them. And it was from a small Texas college in the 1920’s. How fun is that? I flipped through the pages, trying to talk myself out of buying a book that I had no personal connection to, but it was no use. To me it seemed to be page after page of mysteries to be solved. It’s the genealogist in me. It’s a sickness.

So up to the register I marched with this thin brown book.

“Buying ancestors?”, one of the ladies behind the counter asked.

“No, I have quite enough of my own. I just couldn’t resist.”, I replied.

I pointed out to the shopkeepers that it was from Tehuacana, Texas, and asked if either of them had ever heard of it. After exchanging a good laugh, they admitted that not only did they not know where it was but they couldn’t even pronounce it.

No matter. My friends don’t call me the Google Queen for nothing. I knew that I would find out exactly where it was (or had been) as soon as I got home to my laptop.

Background F.Y.I.:

Tehuacana is in Limestone County, Texas at North Highway 171 and FM 638. 6 miles northwest of Mexia (pronounced “ma-hay-a” for those of you unfamiliar with the quaint town), 6 miles east of Coolidge, 41 miles southeast of Hillsboro, 46 miles east of Waco and 36 miles south of Corsicana. In 2000, the population was 307. So there! It does still exist. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the college, but more about that later.

So here I am: a strange yearbook in my hands and lots of little mysteries to solve. I hope that you’ll want to come along on the ride (however short or long it may be), and perhaps…just perhaps…someone out there trying to climb their family tree will find some little tidbit I run across to be helpful.