Obituary - Ruth Greve

I had the pleasure of working in the same office with Ruth for two years at Perry Equipment Co. in Mineral Wells, Texas. We were distant relatives but only in genealogical lineage. You see, My father, Bob Erwin, and Ruth shared the same aunt and uncle, Horace and Grace Erwin Morrow. The family ties were obvious to both of us having the same interest in family members, our great heritage, and belief in God. Two offices down the hall from me, she was more than a close coworker and friend, she was family to me and she treated me that way. Ruth was the happiest person I ever worked with. She would smile each day and give everyone encouragement, even on her worst days. And, Ruth had her share of bad days with health problems. She suffered from migraine headaches along with the symptoms of high blood pressure. Yet, she would manage a smile and suffer her pain in silence. Ruth was a great friend, a wonderful person, and a christian lady... and I will remember her always. Randall Erwin (click the COMMENTS link shown below to add your comments)

MILLER FAMILY REUNION 2007

The MILLER FAMILY REUNION was held on Sunday October 23rd at Burkie Thornton's house on Lake Palo Pinto. High winds didn't slow down any one. Max Wheeler and Theo Miller picked guitars while children played football and ladies prepared food. And, it was some mighty good eating too! THE MILLER FAMILY REUNION of 2007 THE MILLER and TAYLOR FAMILY REUNION of 1939 It was suggested that these two photos be placed in the TIME CAPSULE as part of the Palo Pinto County Sesquicentennial. I think it's a good idea. Click on the comments tag below and give us your idea.

The Moose Are Loose - by Julie Filkes

It's cousin Julie, Una Taylor's grand daughter. It's getting nice and cool Here in Maine. David and I went on a nature walk last Saturday and saw the pretty leaves. We went walking in a nature refuge and rounded a bend by the lake and saw 2 moose in the water!

Thought I would share the pictures with you. I wish I could have gotten the moose clearer but my progressive bifocals don't let me see that clear anyway.
Hope you enjoy them and we are doing fine and would love visitors. We won't get back to Texas until Christmas 2008 when we pick our daughter Kira up. We will drop in for a quick visit. Kira is on a mission for our church and is in Utah for 18 months.

Miss you

Julie

Taylor Reunion

Thank you, Kenneth and Sharon, for a wonderful time at the Taylor reunion. We enjoyed shaking hands and dominoes and it was sure good to see everybody... also the food was great!

Taylor Deer Camp

Taylor annual Deer Camp will begin on Friday, November 2nd and last all weekend.
Relatives and Friends are always welcome.

LANDRETH REUNION Luncheon - June 9th

(This is where we list our covered-dish) In a memo (Click here to read the memo) from the Directors of the Landreth Cemetery Trust, a reunion and covered-dish luncheon has been announced for Saturday, the 9th of June. Family members and supporters will be briefed on the current financial status of the Trust, along with, open discussions concerning the future direction of the cemetery. Don't forget to sign the register when you get to the Landreth Reunion. That way, you will receive future mailings of the Landreth Reunion newsletters. It was suggested that we pose for a group photograph and that a copy be placed in the Palo Pinto, Texas Sesquicentennial TIME CAPSULE. (See the Blog entry below.) Grilled chicken and cold drinks will be provided. So, put together some dishes you like with that particular entree. And in the ole Geupel tradition, the luncheon will be prepared and served by the best cooks in Texas! BAR NONE! I know because I've eaten at many of them and consider myself an expert (the eating part - not the cookin' part.) Make your plans now to attend the Landreth Reunion. If you need additional information concerning the meeting, please call Kenneth Taylor at 940-769-3076 or 817-475-0591, or the offices of the NATTY TATTLER at 940-859-3380. Since Bob Erwin is cookin' the chickens, I thought we'd list the dishes we're going to bring, so that there will be no duplications. Click the word: COMMENT shown below, and then list your covered dish where eveyone can read it... and that way, nobody brings the same thing.

The Palo Pinto SesquicentennialTIME CAPSULE

WHAT SCHOULD THE ERWIN AND GEUPEL FAMILY ALBUM CONTRIBUTE TO THE TIME CAPSULE?
The Palo Pinto, Texas Sesquicentennial (<-click to see) will be celebrated throughout the year of 2007 (see your Natty Tattler each month for these events.) One of these scheduled activities is a Time Capsule to be buried on the courthouse lawn in January 2008 and to be opened in 2017. It will include current events, family stories and letters from school children. What should we contribute to the Time Capsule? Click the COMMENTS link below and make your suggestion.

Are There Any HALLs Out There?

After hunting and searching for weeks, we found where Peter and Susannah Hall were buried. I took Mother and Dad (Wynell and Bob Erwin) to Paradise Cemetery in Paradise, Texas where we quickly located the graves. You can see the photographs at (click ->) Peter and Susannah's web site On our way home we talked about Peter and Susannah and we couldn't remember very many Hall kinfolk still living. That's why we're asking: ARE THERE ANY HALLs OUT THERE? Here's a brief history about them: CAPTAIN PETER AND SUSANNAH HALL Peter Hall knew horse flesh. And that, along with his equestrian skills, was what mounted cavalry wanted, -- which was why they asked him to join. So, he went with his friends and neighbors to Weatherford, and on the 31st of March 1862, Peter enlisted into Company 'E' of the 19th Texas Cavalry (but most just called it: Burford's Regiment). Then, on April the 6th 1862, New Orleans fell to the enemy at a terrible cost of both military and civilian lives. It was a deadly invasion with such violent carnage and destruction folks panicked and escaped into Texas. They knew their safety wasn't guaranteed and it was only a matter of time before Galveston would befall the same deadly fate as did New Orleans. It was desperate times when Peter was forced, like many, to defend his; family, 'neighbors in Parker County', and fellow Texans from the Yankee invasion. He didn't hesitate when his young eighteen year old son, John asked if he could go... Peter took the boy with him and together they saw the most fierce of battles fighting in the western theater. Father and son fought side-by-side at Mill Creek Bridge, Pleasant Hill, Jenkin's Ferry all of which spread across our vast nation from northern Missouri to the Louisiana coast. During the war, commanders learned of Peter's skills to preach the gospel and he was quickly assigned double duty as both Cavalryman and Chaplin. Later, the assignment earned him a promotion to Captain and from that day forward he was affectionately known to all as just, "Captain Pete". But, Peter preferred the title of Chaplin. Back at home, while the Captain and John were off fighting the war, Susannah fought to keep the ranch going. In the absence of her husband, she sold the horse ranch and moved to a new location in Parker County in an area called Silver Creek. No one knows how she did it, but she must have been a strong and determined lady to have moved a large horse ranch with only her children to help her. Edward, a feisty youngster, wasn't much help at only eight years of age. So the task of moving their ranch fell on the strong physical attributes of his older brothers Isaac, David, and Benjamin. The three teenage boys took the challenge and moved lock, stock, and barrel to their new home in Silver Creek, which was a much improved ranch with more acreage and better fields. (It is noted here that their new ranch in Silver Creek was later sold to the Leonard Brothers of Leonard's Department Store in Ft. Worth, and the ranch remains to this day a large "working" horse ranch.) Captain Peter and his son John surrendered with their Regiment at Galveston, Texas on the 2nd of June 1865 and mustered out of the Confederacy. They raised their right hands to swear allegiance to the Union, signed a Pledge, and then they rode straight home from the war uninjured. Peter joined his beloved Susannah where they continued their life's work on the ranch going about raising nine children. He also continued his work as a surveyor and preacher until his death on the 21st of December 1884 at the city of Paradise in Wise County, Texas. Susannah passed away on the 23rd of June 1904 at the city of Carter in Parker County, Texas. Interment for both Captain Peter and Susannah are at the Paradise Cemetery. Sources: (1) Publication, History of Parker County as written by Montez Wren and Gladys Hall Westbrook (biographical data and homestead locations) (2) Hill County College Confederate Research Center (War Department records - enlistment records - troop movements) (3) Weatherford Public Library (copies of handwritten correspondence between Peter and Susannah during the war) (4) Family Stories (personal information - children - records of birth, marriage, death and interment) My name is Randall Scott Erwin, the G-G-G-Grandson of Peter and Susannah. My father, Bob Erwin's mother was, Lera Williams Erwin, and her mother was Pearl Hall Williams. Pearl's father was Ed Hall, the son of Peter and Susannah. Do you have information you want to share with us about Peter and Susannah? Are you a Hall? Do you know a Hall descendant? -- Then click on the word COMMENTS below, and let us know about you.

Was SARAH GEUPEL of Cherokee Descent?

Not all agree that Sarah Atline (Griffin) Geupel is Cherokee. Those who believe that John Geupel married a full blood Cherokee Indian have produced substantial records, (yet circumstantial evidence) to support their belief, which would persuade most any judge and jury that it’s a fact. On the other hand, there are skeptics who are not in agreement, and with just cause. In review of a persuasive argument by Norman and Vickie (Ramsey) Alford, (Vickie is Sarah Geupel’s G-G-G-Granddaughter) they lay out census records with unquestionable relationships to a Timothy Griffin family. These Griffins lived next-door (so to speak) to the Geupel’s in 1870 Cleburne, Texas where census records are enumerated from house –to- house. Family stories coincide with the 1870s census records in an exact match to position Timothy, and Sarah as siblings in the right place at the right time. Records kept by Wynell (Odom) Erwin (Wynell is Sarah’s G-G-Granddaughter) have documented these family stories in numerous interviews with Geupel descendants, from Oklahoma to Florida, all of which proclaim the grandfather of Timothy T. Griffin (brother of Sarah Geupel) as a one-time Chief of the Cherokee Indians. In my own research, Cherokee Indians confined to the Army Reservation (now the state of Oklahoma) were listed in a census and made available at the Weatherford, Texas public library. These listings indicated a family of Griffins had survived the Trail Of Tears in the 1836 march from Alabama -to- Oklahoma. These Griffins could be the parents or grandparents of Sarah Geupel. In other research, I found where the Jacksboro, Texas: FRONTIER ECHO (a local newspaper published in 1911) reported a John Geupel and daughter Dora Miller were escorted by a cousin Tim Griffin on a trek to Oklahoma for a visit with John Geupel Jr. and that all had returned home safely. Again, further evidence of the 'Griffin' connection. However, skeptics claim the Griffins were not of Cherokee descent where nothing but stories support this theory. Truly, there is no hard and fast evidence to this end. Only the stories handed down from generation –to- generation makes this claim. Which we know can be of dubious content often filled with exaggerations and innuendos. The surname 'Griffin' itself comes under question when Sarah's maiden name is listed by a different spelling: 'Griffen', 'Grifuth', and 'Grifeth'. In this case, it would only be coincidental that a family of Griffins lived next door to her in 1870 Cleburne. Further, some census records have shown Sarah to place her state of origin to be Georgia and not from Alabama where the Griffins were known to reside. There are as many opinions on this subject as there are family members who descend from Sarah Atline Geupel, each with their own facts that carry the discussion to a persuasive conclusion. I’ve yet to decide. (Click on the photo to read more about Sarah Geupel.) Some kinfolk simply point to her dark skin and high cheekbones to prove their case while others scoff at such unscientific methods. Is Sarah a Cherokee? Do you think there will ever be a conclusion to this issue? What do some of our kinfolks say? Or, does Grandpa Geupel have it right when he says: It don't make no hoot. What do YOU say? (click the COMMENTS shown below)