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After living in rented houses for a few years, the entire family was pleased that our parents bought a home on a "hill" opposite the home of Ben and Ellen Sims who were to play a vital part in our lives as friends and neighbors.

Our parents taught us responsibility by putting us on our own to do various tasks and work assigned us. We each started helping in the printing office in Eden, first in folding the papers after they came off the press. In Eden I was promoted to be the" devil." I wore a heavy ducking apron to partially protect my clothes. I stood on a box and rolled the roller first over a slab of marble with printer's ink smeared all over it; then rolled the rollers across the forms before each page was run through the press.

In 1912 I was sent to Paint Rock to help in the Herald printing office before the family moved over.

One summer they sent my sister back to Eden after we had moved to Paint Rock to help put out the Eden Echo. Llewellyn stayed in the Cope home. She developed an aversion toward her surroundings and the work and got very homesick. At home when her chore was to sweep the house she had a habit of leaving the trash on the back porch. She promised never to do that again if they would let her come home. She was soon back with us. We each learned to set type and as we grew older, to distribute type. Dodson loved job work. To each of us, running the job press was fun.

Papa was appointed postmaster of Paint Rock and served as such during eight years under President Wilson. The post office and Concho Herald were in the same building. I worked in the post office quite a bit after school hours. Dodson enjoyed the printing office work. Or at least he had a job there ever waiting, waiting!!

Llewellyn worked some in the H. H. Ratchford Grocery store. Nile worked during his high school years helping in the City Drug store which was owned by Mr. Maxwell. Nile also learned to play the cornet quite well.

Times were changing when we moved to the home on the hill near the Sims family. We had electric lights, water piped in, a kitchen sink, an electric stove, and electric toaster, etc. By then we had a complete bathroom too.

We all loved the Concho River - a beautiful clear blue-green water abounding in blue and yellow catfish, perch, crappie, eel and drum. We children took to the water and soon learned to swim with help of friends.

There is a dam, about a mile from the center of Paint Rock, that is about four feet high, over which the bluish-green water flows. A pool below it was and is delightful for swimming. There are large areas of water-behind and below the dam. Many people are attracted to the fishing on the Concho.

It has been only two or three decades ago that there was a constant flow of water over the dam. In the past I have seen the river bed dry about even with the Painted Bluffs. But since a water conservation project built dams on the three head water branches of the Concho River in the San Angelo area, water is now released into the main Concho perodically. Thus there is a constant flow of water over the dam.

The young people of Paint Rock often had dam (not damn) suppers at the dam, and we all loved to go there for clean, wholesome fun. When I visited in Paint Rock in October of 1977, my hostess, Miss Wyma Davis, fixed a lunch one evening and the two of us went to the river and had a dam supper - such good food, a pleasant time, and delightful memories.

Throughout the years of growing up Dodson and I often went fishing at the dam. We used cane poles with earthworms for bait. Caught fish, too. Sometimes trout lines were strung and we caught fish on them.

In the fall of each year we children would go to “Ballard's Pasture” to gather pecans. Nile was too young to walk so we would pull him in a little red wagon. We would gather a gallon or two at a time. We picked them up in the green hulls and then had stained fingers after hulling them and putting them on the flat roof of a chicken house to dry out for several days. Thanks to the Ballards for not objecting.

Papa was elected lay leader in the Paint Rock Methodist Church. As such he often held funerals. While holding a funeral service once his eye glasses fell from his hand into the grave while it was being filled with dirt, and the glasses were buried. Nile, about five, saw them fall in but was to timid to disrupt the proceedings. Papa also filled the pulpit on occasions or when called upon to do so as a lay leader.

It was in 1924 that Papa was elected County Judge and Ex Officio County Superintendent of Schools of Concho County. He and each member of his family as well as scores of friends were pleased that the Concho County voters honored and trusted him with this high office.

An interesting article from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram dated Jan. 6, 1925.

He was happy in this work and made painstaking efforts to render just decisions and to work for the commonwealth of his fellow man. He was pleased to be doing his very best for the welfare of the schools of the county, also.

It was with great pride that he saw the first country school units of credit come into affiliation.

Papa was reelected uncontested to a second term as County Judge and Ex-Officio County Superintendent in 1927. He had served half a term when he was stricken with his fatal illness.

My father and mother each lived to see each of their children in satisfactory and nobel positions in life.

My half-brother, John, became a civil engineer. He had two years in the University of Alabama and then graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison Wisconsin. He was an employee of the Lone Star Gas Pipeline Company for 30 years before retirement. For a time he was located at the Lone Star Gas Plant in Petrolia, Clay County, Texas. He designed and constructed the first swinging gas pipeline bridge in the world, across the Wichita River near Byers, Texas. He is now deceased since May 11, 1961.

Llewellyn Broyles went to a business college in Modesto California and enjoyed a successful life before and after her marriage to George H. Brown, who is now deceased. She lives in a retirement home in San Rafael, California near her only child. Grace Mary Brown Terrell. Grace and husband Paul and their three children are giving Llewellyn, age 78, tender loving care.

Dodson Broyles went one year to Midland Christian College in Midland, Texas. He became a printer by trade and worked on newspapers in New York City, Abilene, Texas and Houston, Texas. He followed in his father's vocation. He is now deceased since October 8, 1978, at age 76 years.

Nile C. Broyles was in McMurry college when Papa was promoted on beyond the mystic veil. Nile attended McMurry a couple of years. He turned to the newspaper business and became editor and publisher of the Rowena Press, a country newspaper of Runnels County. He had a regular column he called "Willie's Wanderings Round Rowena." Where he got the name "Willie, I do not know. But each week it was cleverly written and always included funny items about the family.

A few years later Nile studied, took state examinations, and became a pharmaceutical chemist and then a detail man. He is deceased since Jan. 17, 1970.

The writer of this article taught two years in Millersview, Concho County, Texas on a second grade county certificate. I had just turned eighteen in August, 1916. My salary was $50.00 per month. The second year the school was cut to a six month term because of the depression and a shortage of funds. I was lucky to be employed by Ellen Sims' mother, the late Mrs. Cora Hartgrove, who then lived on a ranch close to Millersview, as tutor for her children - Wilson in the fifth grade and Hattie Rue in the seventh grade. Mrs. Hartgrove wanted the two children to finish their respective grades for the year.

That summer of 1918 Reverend Jones, President of Midland Junior College was out scouting for students and visited in the Hartgrove home in Millersview. Mrs. Hartgrove recommended me as a prospect. Mr. Jones interviewed me then, and offered me a job as librarian to pay my tuition and board. I borrowed $500 from Mr. Hugh G. Maclean, a good friend of our family who lived in Eden. There was no note, no written agreement but I paid back every penny.

So to Midland College I went for two years, graduating with honors in 1920. That fall I began teaching in Live Oak School in a rural area near Eden, Concho County, Texas. There I met "the man of my life,” Emet Middleton Hall, who was the principal of the Live Oak School. On June 15, 1921 we were married in my Paint Rock home with only the family present which at that time included Mama, Papa, Llewellyn, Nile and Aunt Florence. Emit and I left shortly in his Model T Ford Coupe for Galveston, Texas, via San Angelo, Texas. As we were leaving, my sister Llewellyn, was sitting on the steps weeping as if she'd never see me again.

My father was a familiar figure at the local, district, and annual conference of the Methodist Church. About two weeks before he "sailed through the purple twilight," he went from Paint Rock to Corpus Christi as a delegate to the annual conference. He returned home with much enthusiasm over the reports at the conference and was pleased with its accomplishments. He was charge lay leader of our church - the highest lay office in the church. (John S. Broyles also served as charge lay leader in First Methodist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana.)

We received a call from Mama the first week of November in 1927 telling us that Papa had had a stroke and to come at once. We lived in Winters, Texas at that time - only a thirty mile drive to Paint Rock. Emit and I with our five year old son Broyles were soon there. Five days later Papa breathed his last. We five children gathered: John S., Llewellyn, Dodson, Nile, and I, with our mates, were there with Mama. Other relatives, a host of friends, and citizens from all the area attended Papa's last services, first in the Paint Rock Methodist Church and then at the cemetery where the beautiful Masonic rites were held by the graveside of D. C. Broyles on November 11, 1927. Llewellyn Brown stayed with Mama to help bring to a close the pending affairs of Papa's business. She returned home to Modesto, California six weeks later.

Our mother now alone adjusted in a marvelous way. Since the Concho Herald was under lease to Papa's nephew, Findley Cope, she decided to close her home and go to Abilene, Texas to be near Dodson and Ovella Broyles. Later she went to Houston, Texas for several months. She did two very thoughtful things while in Houston. She secured a birth certificate for each of her children and had color photographs made for each of us. The pictures were a wonderful likeness of her showing her beauty and strong character.

After several months of rest and probably "restlessness" she was glad to get back to her home on the "hill" in west Paint Rock. Here she found peace and contentment among friends and in familiar surroundings. How my mother loved that home! She had house plants and her yard to care for and keep up. The soil "on the Hill" was thin and hard. But she succeeded in growing many "blossoming" plants and vines. She eventually put out bermuda grass until it covered her yard. We warned her about the constant care bermuda takes. But a grass covered lawn was what she wanted, and it did enhance the appearance of her surroundings.

Mama, now near fifty years of age, took over the management and running of the Concho Herald. It was hard for her to get efficient and reliable help. Finally, after many trials and errors of using first one and then another she found Mr. C. A. Lamb, who proved to be efficient, and Mama and he ran the paper several years.

Mr. Lamb was listed in the "mast head" of the Herald as editor; my mother was listed as owner and publisher. Actually Mama was "news gatherer," typesetter, and type distributor; she kept books and paid bills. She also was solicitor for advertising not only in Paint Rock, but in San Angelo, Ballinger, and the surrounding area. Here's what her son Nile had to say in his "Willie's Wanderings Round Rowena" - his special column in the Rowena Press:

Once when my mother desperately needed help she called on our son Broyles Hall. He had worked one summer under his uncle on the Rowena Press. So he went to Paint Rock and worked between school terms. Below is his uncle's comment under "Willie’s Wanderings."

A follow-up a few years later
during World War II, 6-7-45.

In September of 1936 the Concho River was on a rampage due to deluges of water coming from the San Angelo area. The river waters were so forceful that the approaches of both ends of the bridge across the river at Paint Rock were washed out. All communications to or from Paint Rock were cut off. Below is a condensed report of Nile Broyles, editor of "Willie's Wanderings Round Rowena" in the Rowena Press dated September 14, 1936;

"Dodson Broyles, wife Ovella and little daughter, Patricia June, got worried about our mother, Mrs. Bertie Broyles, Paint Rock newspaper woman. The Abilene family got in their car with a gallon of drinking water and headed for the Concho Capitol. They found the river approaches washed out. They parked their car for the night, took their seventeen-month-old daughter and the gallon of water and climbed an improvised ladder made of wire fencing which was approximately 18 feet high, crossed the swollen Concho on the main span of the bridge and decended on the Paint Rock side by the same means. They spent Saturday night with our mother, returning to Rowena for a short visit in our home Sunday. They said that Sunday morning a family was all dressed up and crossed the bridge to attend church."
" Our mother's home in Paint Rock is located on the highest point and Thursday night of the flood she was able to furnish shelter and beds for many who were le_s fortunate, including one Mexican and his wife. ----The San Angelo Standard Times estimated 100,000 sightseers for the day.---"

Throughout the twenty years Mama was a widow in Paint Rock she succeeded in keeping her family together by instigating and carrying out family reunions for either all or part of the family. During one Thanksgiving holiday season Nile and family took Mama to Houston where they were guests of the Dodson Broyles and John S. Broyles families - both sons were living there at the time. All eleven enjoyed holiday foods with each family and had a good time.

One summer Llewellyn and George Brown were in Texas visiting. Dodson and Ovella Broyles had us to meet them at their cottage on Caney Creek which was one mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Gathered there was Mama, the Browns, Nile Broyles, Emet and Grace Hall. Dodson and Ovella were the perfect host and hostess. We fished, swam, relaxed, and took rides in Dodson's fancy new 20 foot motor boat after removing our shoes at his request. We ate the delicious fish we caught and a huge pineapple upside down cake stands out in my memory.

Again Mama went with Nile and family one weekend. This time they had the John S. and Dodson Broyles families who lived in Houston meet them in San Antonio. They reported a grand time visiting places of interest in the city and the magnificent scenery to and from Paint Rock, Texas, in the "Hill Country."

The summer of 1941 Mama was hostess to all the Broyles family in her home in Paint Rock. We held a devotional in memory of Papa. Mama had had a kid barbecued in Ballinger and had all the trimmings ready. We enjoyed swimming below the dam, visiting and resting. Ellen Sims and her mother, Mrs. Hartgrove, entertained all of us one evening - a very nice affair. It's nice to remember too that Ellen Sims and her mother, honored both Llewellyn and me with lovely bridal parties before each of our marriages.

One very memorable reunion was held in San Antonio, Texas in 1949. By this time Nile was a traveling pharmaceutical detail man. Knowing the motels of San Antonio, he reserved special units to accomodate each family. There were tables, benches, and rock furnaces under beautiful shade trees. We all took food prepared at home. Each family unit had its own breakfast. Thus any who wanted to could sleep late. Our children were mostly teenagers. The girls wore dresses that compared with the "new look" of 1978. We especially enjoyed the beautiful San Antonio River and walkways across it for picture taking.

Time moved on. The Concho Herald came off the press regularly each Thursday as the years went by. A big event took place on October 11, 1940. The Golden Anniversary edition of the Concho Herald came off the press. It contained sixteen pages of writeups, articles, and pictures of the history, growth, progress and welfare of the wonderful people of Paint Rock, the county and the area.

The featured article on the "painted rocks" for which the town was named was well done and appreciated by all. The following is one of several comments by newspaper editors of the surrounding area on the special edition.

In the early part of the 40's Mama's health began to fail. She had a light stroke and was hospitalized in Ballinger a short time. Mr. P. M. Nelson had worked with Mama for two years. On Jan 9, 1941 she leased the Herald to him and she retired. She lived alone in her beloved home about six years. By then the Paint Rock population and businesses had dwindled. There were no deliveries of groceries or milk; no drug store, no doctor or hospital closer than Ballinger - fifteen miles away.

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