Armistead Family History #4 - Armisteads in England (Part 3)

                                                       Early Armisteads

James Charles Stuart was born on June 19, 1566 in Scotland.  His father was Lord Darnley and his mother was Mary Queen of Scots.  James' father was murdered in 1567, before James was even a year old.  His mother "was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne soon afterward due to her suspected involvement in the murder." (1) You'll also recall that Mary sought safety in England by seeking help from her cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England.  Instead of receiving help she was imprisoned and eventually executed.  When Mary abdicated the throne, James, at the age of 13 months, became King James VI of Scotland. (2)

Fast forward now, thirty-six years later, and Elizabeth, the Queen of England, dies childless.  King James the VI of Scotland becomes James I King of England.  This was the first time the two kingdoms were unified under one King.  James would be known as King James VI of Scotland and James I of England. Queen Mary must have been smiling somewhere.  Mary lost her kingdom but got the last laugh (sort of, she was dead after all) when her son took over for Elizabeth, the one who had her executed. With James' ascension to the throne, he began a long line of Stuart successors to the throne of England. (3)

Description:  King James I of England and VI of Scotland, by Daniel Mytens, 1621. National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 109
Date:  See description
Source:  Scanned from the book The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England by David Williamson, ISBN 1855142287.
Author:  Daniël Mijtens (circa 1590–circa 1647)  
Permission:   (Reusing this file) Reproduction of a painting that is in the public domain because of its age

King James was very well educated.  He was an accomplished writer and published several books.  Most of what he wrote was written as justification for his assertion of the Divine Right of Kings. (4)  Judgement by historians of James' rule has been mixed.  I'm going to point out a few things that I think had a major impact on history. I'll let you judge for yourself if James' reign was good or bad.

In 1606 King James chartered the Virginia Company of London.  It was formed as a company designed to make a profit for it's shareholders by founding an English Colony in America.  In 1607 the Virginia company landed 104 settlers in North America and named the new settlement "Jamestowne" in honor of King James. Jamestowne (the spelling later changed to Jamestown) was the first permanent English settlement on the American mainland.  Some historians called King James the "founding monarch of the United States". (5)

Description:  The seal of the London Company, also known as the Charter of the Virginia Company of London. The Latin phrase on the left oval "SIGILVM REGIS MAGNÆ BRITANIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ" means "Sign of the great king of Britain, Francia and Hibernia".
Date:  Between 1606 and 1624; originally uploaded to en.wikipedia on 16 August 2007.
Source:  Plates between pp. 29 and 30 of Wesley Frank Craven (1957, republished 11 April 2009) The Virginia Company of London, 1606–1624 [Jamestown 350th Anniversary historical booklet, no. 5], Williamsburg, Va.: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation (republished by Project Gutenberg as EBook #28555) OCLC: 22551439. The caption reads: "Virginia Seal. Courtesy Mrs. L. T. Jester and Mrs. P. W. Hiden." Image originally from the U.S. National Park Service Colonial Jamestown website accessed on 11 April 2004 (Internet archive of page text athttp://web.archive.org/ web/20040430213806/http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/VACompany.html.) Similar images of the seal can be seen athttp://www.preservationvirginia.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=22 and http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lordcornell/iwhr/va/via.htm. Transferred from en.wikipedia by Hejsa.
Author:  Probably the Virginia Company of London; original uploader was VirginiaProp at en.wikipedia.
Permission(Reusing this file):  This image is in the public domain due to its age.

OK, a show of hands now.  How many of you thought Plymouth, Massachusetts, was the first permanent settlement in North America?  Yes, I have my hand up too.  All I remember from school is talking about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock.  I guess they had a better public relations firm than Jamestown did.  More about this a little later but Plymouth, MA was not settled until 1620.  It was, however, the first permanent English settlement in New England but not in all of North America.  That distinction goes to Jamestown. Remember I told you to be careful about all of these places being "the first"?

In 1609 the Plantation of Ulster began.  For years England battled with Gaelic speaking clans in northern Ireland.  They were difficult if not impossible to manage for the English authorities.  Eventually England moved in with force and killed or pushed out most of these clans.  In 1609 northern Ireland was almost vacant.  King James wanted settlers to move into this area that were supportive of his rule.  He took over all the land in this area and re-distributed the land to new settlers from Scotland and northern England.  This is a very short description and an over simplification of a very important and complicated action.  Some say this action has had ramifications all the way to modern times.  The main reason I mention it is because, from what I have been able to find out, though I have not proven this, is that my Galbraith (later Galbreath) ancestors immigrated from Scotland to northern Ireland during the early or mid 1600s along with thousands of other people from Scotland.  These Scotsmen moved into virtually empty space and continued with their farming operations or working on farms just as they had in Scotland.  In other words, though they lived in Ireland now, they still considered themselves as being Scotsmen.  A century later these Scotsmen's descendants immigrated to the English Colonies in North America in large numbers. A large number settled in Pennsylvania, along with my ancestor, James Galbreath, in the early 1700s.  They later were called Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish by historians but as I mentioned above, the people themselves still called themselves Scotsmen or Scottish.  The historians were the ones that coined the Scotch-Irish term years later. (6)  So this action certainly had far reaching effect on me and my family.  But more on that at a future date, I hope, when I write about the Galbreath line of my family tree.

Description:  Map of Ulster 
Date:  5 February 2004 Morwen 200x249 (28005 bytes) (map)
Source:  Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here
Author:  User Morwen on en.wikipedia
Permission(Reusing this file):  Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The third action by King James the VI of Scotland and King James the I of England (boy that is a long title) that I will mention is one that everyone reading this already knows about and is probably very familiar with. In 1604 King James appointed 54 of the leading scholars in the kingdom to translate the bible into English. In 1611 the "Authorized Version of 1611" was published.  This translation became known as the King James Version of the Bible and eventually became the most popular version around the world. (7)  Indeed this version is still preferred by many even today.

King James died in 1625 at the age of 58.  Amazingly enough, royal power was passed orderly and peacefully to James' adult son, something that had not happened for some time.  Charles, the second son of James I, was born in 1600.  As the eldest surviving son he became King Charles I upon James' death.

Artist:  After Sir Anthony van Dyck
Title:  Portrait of King Charles I in his robes of state
Description:  Studio version of much copied original in the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle
Date:  1636
Medium:  oil
Current location:  Royal Collection    
Object history:  Earl of Sheffield; Listed for sale at London, Christie's, 25 November 1911, lot 117 (unsold); Sold at Parkenthorpe, London, 1912; Sold to Mrs. Whitelaw Reid at New York, Anderson Galleries, 15 May 1935, lots 1195-96; Acquired by Mrs. Elinor Dorrance Hill, Newport, Rhode Island, who gave it to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, Connecticut; Sold to anonymous buyer at New York, Christie's, 25 May 1999, lot 81 (as Workshop of van Dyck); Sold at New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2012 for $86,500
References:  http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org:8080/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=65046
Source/Photographer:  http://www.she-philosopher.com/gallery/lely.html (original upload); http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/important-old-master-paintings-n08825/lot.197.html (higher resolution upload)

Charles' reign was a turbulent one to say the least. It was marked by disagreement with Parliament, by religious upheaval, and by economic strife.  Through the years intense feelings over these issues built up and eventually led to civil war. The war was between Charles and Parliament.  (Again an over simplification for sake of time. Otherwise these blogs would be 100 pages long.)  Charles' forces were eventually defeated and Charles was captured and turned over to Parliament.  He was tried, convicted, and executed in 1649. (8) 

Has anyone been keeping count of how many Kings and Queens and assorted others have lost their heads during the 150 years I have written about? I don't remember how many either, but it has been a bunch.

Artist:  Paul Delaroche (1797–1856)
Title:   The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
Date:  1833
Medium:  oil on canvas
Accession number NG1909
Object history 1902: bequeathed to National Gallery by the Second Lord Cheylesmore
Inscriptions Signature and date
Source/Photographer The National Gallery online
Permission(Reusing this file) This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:  This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.
This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

I have followed the comings and goings of the heads of the nobility (that's a little pun there).  Now, I want to take a look at the rest of the country and see what life was like during the 1500s for the Armisteads and the various social classes.

There were four social classes at this time.  The Nobility, which I have talked about, the Gentry, the Yeoman, and finally the Laborer.  What was work like for the people in each social class?  What were the living conditions like?

By 1500 England had been settled for a long time, but there were large amounts of land still available to be populated.  Two centuries of plague had precipitated a sharp decline in populations and England was only starting to make its recovery.  England's population in 1500 was about two million.  This number would increase to five million by 1650.  In 1500 only one person in ten lived in a town in England.  Serfdom was starting to disappear but that did not change the fact most of the population, which was the Labor class, still worked for the Gentry and Yeoman classes.  After the dissolution of the priory's in 1536-40, more land was made available but the owners of land in the lowlands started to enclose areas for their exclusive use in raising sheep for wool, leather, and meat. These lands had previously been "commons" where the labor class grazed their livestock, maybe a cow or sheep, so they could have butter, milk, and cheese to sell. When the commons were enclosed, the labor class no longer had a place to raise their livestock.  Many left the farm and went to the towns to try to find a way to make a living. (9)

Labor/Poor Class.
http://sites.duke.edu/midsummer/category/background-information/social-cultural-and-economic-significance/    

The average lifespan was low in England.  Disease was the most prolific killer, particularly among the young. Poor sanitation contributed to this problem.  It was a struggle to live until you were 30, but if you did you had a good chance to make it to 60. (10)  "In 1555-59 bad harvests followed by another influenza like epidemic killed more than one in twenty of the English people."  "About half the people in England were poor." (11) They suffered from a lack of food, clothes, shoes, and in the city, from a lack of shelter.  In some parts of London 15 or 20 of the poor crammed into live in one room. Many were homeless.  In the countryside the poor were farm laborers.  Wages were low, with both parents and children doing what they could to survive. This is a quick snapshot of the labor class, the bottom of the social order. (12)  They lived difficult lives to say the least.

On the upper end of the scale, but just below the Nobility, was the Gentry Class.  The Nobility comprised only about 55 families in England and the Gentry Class comprised only about 5% of the population.  The Gentry Class also consisted of wealthy men and were large land holders. The lower classes looked up to the Gentry and Kings and Queens looked to the Gentry to enforce laws and maintain order.  They were appointed Justices of the Peace and Judges of the local courts.  They set the food prices and collected taxes, which were used to help the poor.  "Knights, Squires, Gentlemen, and Gentlewomen composed the Gentry social class." (13)

Gentry Class.
http://sites.duke.edu/midsummer/category/background-information/social-cultural-and-economic-significance/  

Making up the class below the Gentry, but above the Labor class, was the Yeoman. They were not rich like the Gentry nor poor like the Laborer.  Yeomen were considered the middle class of this time.  They owned land and were comfortable but they worked very hard to earn their living.  Though they lived a good life they were never-the-less still subject to ruin if disease struck their livestock or some other misfortune hit them. Besides being hard workers, the Yeomen also were generally very religious compared to the Gentry or Nobility.  This class included craftsmen, farmers, and tradesmen. (14)

Yeoman Class.
http://sites.duke.edu/midsummer/category/background-information/social-cultural-and-economic-significance/    

The Armisteads were in the Yeoman Class.  Robert, John, Roger, and Anthony were all farmers as indicated by their wills.  It appears that sheep raising was an important part of their farms.  Leeds, a town just a few miles south east of Kirk Deighton, was the wool center of England in the 1500s, so I would think sheep raising was prevalent in that area. Also, in the four wills I read, bushels of wheat and barley were bequeathed along with sheep, oxen, ploughs, and farming equipment.  That was in addition to their "farm holds, and leases". (15)

Though it seems that most of the early Armisteads were farmers, there were also a number of Armisteads in the Clergy.  There were also many Armisteads who were champions of education as indicated by the fact they were benefactors, Head Masters, and Governors of grammar schools in the area.

As a reminder, I am using the spelling of Armistead, but remember there were several different spellings in the records.  While I am on that subject, I want to quote from the website www.surnamedb.com.  It states, regarding the name of Armistead, "The unusual and interesting name, long associated with Yorkshire, is of medieval English origin, and is a topographical surname denoting residence by a hermit's cell.  The derivation is from the Middle English "(h)ermite", hermit, and "stede", place, ultimately from the Old French "ermite", and Olde English "stede".  The local pronunciation of the word "ermite" was "armit", hence the early phonetic spelling Armetstede..."  "The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Laurencias del Armetsted, which was dated 1379, in the 'Poll Tax Returns Records of Yorkshire', "...  "Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation.  In England this was known as Poll Tax." Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided obvious and convenient means of identification in the small communities of the Middle Ages." (16)

We know the Armisteads I have mentioned (Robert, John, Roger, Anthony, William) were all in Yorkshire near Kirk Deighton.  But where did their ancestors come from?  Did they move here from somewhere else? To try and pinpoint the Armisteads origins, I looked at a website by Kenrick Armitstead.  (Note the spelling of his name.)  In a very well written post on his site, Mr. Armitstead takes the name back to the ancient parish of Giggleswick. (My personal favorite parish in England.  I just love saying it!)  In his article Kenrick Armitstead states that Giggleswick is located in the West Riding of Yorkshire and that it was a Norse settlement.  The name means "the wick or village of Gikel". Also, he says "Astride the boundary between Giggleswick and Clapham, it's western neighbor, lies the farmhouse known as Armitstead.  There was originally a hamlet here, but all that remains of it is the farm together with outbuildings containing various remains of previous houses."  (17)  There must have also been a hermit cell near by to give the origin of the name but he doesn't mention one in this article.

Hermit Cell
http://www.misyononline.com/new/may-jun2013/peace-peace 

Again quoting from Mr. Armitstead's article regarding our previously mentioned Laurence de Armitstead.  "A Franklin (later this became Yeoman) was a farmer not of gentle birth who owned his own land, and in 1379 Laurence de Armitstead was the only Franklin in Giggleswick, the highest taxpayer in the village apart from Robert Stainford, the Lord of the Manor..." (18)

Kirk Deighton is located about 45 miles east of Giggleswick per google maps.  I would think that this distance would not have been too far to expect a younger son that did not inherit land to move there and try to get his start.  Kenrick Armiststead, however, advances the proposition that the Armitsteads worked for the noble Percy family or as he put it, "...were numbered among their retainers..."  In other words they owned some land and leased some land from the Percy family.  Because the Percy family was the primary land owner in Giggleswick and also in Kirk Deighton, some of the Armitsteads would have moved into the Kirk Deighton area to farm and work the Percy family's land.  (19)  This branch of the family in Kirk Deighton, at some point, began to spell their name as Armistead.  You may remember another connection I mentioned previously between these two parishes.  William Armistead of Kirk Deighton married Anne Ellis of Giggleswick.

On this map you can see Giggleswick, close to Settle, Kirk Deighton close to Wetherby, and Skipton, where Ermystead's Grammar School is located.  All located within a close proximity.  
Google Maps.

What conclusions can we draw from all this?  Probably not any absolutes but taken all together I think there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that my line of Armisteads goes back through Kirk Deighton and then to Giggleswick Parrish in England.

I think I have promised before to get to William and Anne, but then I have gotten long winded on something else.  Will I be writing about Anne Ellis and William Armistead next time?  Well, you'll just have to tune in and see for yourself.

References:
(1)  http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kinginde.htm
(2)  Ibid
(3)  Ibid
(4)  Ibid
(5)  Ibid
(6)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation_of_Ulster
(7)  http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kinginde.htm
(8)  http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon47.html
(9)  http://www.historytoday.com/steven-gunn/britain-1500
(10)  http://www.historytoday.com/steven-gunn/britain-1500
(11)  http://www.lukas-krumnacker.de/Englisch/British-history/1500-1750/index.htm
(12)  http://www.historytoday.com/steven-gunn/britain-1500
(13)  http://sites.duke.edu/midsummer/category/background-information/social-cultural-and-economic-significance/
(14)  Ibid
(15)  Harris, john Michael, Camberwell, London, England.  Article placed on the Enchanted World website:  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~enchantedworld/Armistead/index-english.htm
(16)  http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Armistead
(17)  http://www.fitzwalter.com/afh/Armitstead/armithist1.htm  
(18)  Ibid
(19)  Ibid

Texas History, Family History, and Scratching the Itch - #3

                                        Day Three:  Meeting Bill Schleede

March 7th was the third and last day of my trip.  Today I was to visit with Bill Schleede.  I had contacted Bill the week before about getting together and I had called him Wednesday evening to set up a time to meet. He graciously invited me to have breakfast with him at his home.  William Rudolph Schleede #3 is my first cousin once removed. His grandmother and my great-grandmother is Maria Theresia (Eigel) (Meixner) Schleede. Theresia's first husband, Frank Meixner, died in 1890 and she married William Rudolph Schleede #1.  Their only child was William Rudolph Schleede #2 and he is Bill's father.  I used #1 etc. because I do not know if they actually had the designation of I, II, and III or first, second, third.  I'll have to ask Bill the next time I talk to him.

Bill is in his late 80s and still lives on and runs his farm, which is located near the old home place where he grew up.  He lived next door to his grandmother Theresia until he was eight.  The old home place was passed down to his father and then to him.

Bill Schleede in front of his home March 7, 2013.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

I arrived at Bill's farm at 8:00 am as he had suggested.  His home is a very nice brick home he and his wife built.  Unfortunately his wife passed away several years ago.  Bill welcomed me and invited me inside.  Bill is slight in build, not as stocky as I remember my dad and granddad Meixner but about the same height. When I shook Bill's hand I could feel the strength in his handshake that only comes from a life filled with long days of hard work.  Also, I must say I was surprised when I met Bill because he does not look or act anywhere close to his age.

We drove by his old home place, but we were not able to drive out to it in my car.  You can see where his old house was located by the windmill right in the center of the photo, just above the tree line.

I expected that I would stay a couple hours at Bill's home but I ended up staying nearly six hours.  Bill busily worked at frying eggs and bacon and making toast while I sipped coffee.  Bill had many stories I had not heard before.  He is the only living person I know that knew great-grandmother Theresia personally. Theresia died many years before I was born.  I had always had the impression great-grandmother Theresia did not speak English, but Bill said she communicated with him in English quite well. He had many fond memories of his grandmother.  (I know it is confusing referring to my great-grandmother and his grandmother but hopefully you understand that I am referring to the same person, Theresia.

I have to say, Bill makes a great breakfast.  We ate and talked some more.  He talked about his grandparents and his parents.  Bill said his grandfather, William Rudolph Schleede #1, worked for my great-granddad Frank Meixner at Three Forks in Bell County.  He said Frank had been a butcher in the old country and he taught Rudolph how to butcher. From this story it makes sense to me that Rudolph was close to the family and it is easy to see why, when Frank died, Rudolph and Theresia married.  He was someone she knew and at this time in history a women's only avenue, after her husband died, was to get re-married as soon as possible.  Rudolph bought a farm soon after their marriage near Salado and the family moved there. Theresia and Rudolph only had one child together, Rudolph.  There were four Meixner children still at home.

In the coming years one daughter passed away in 1899.  As for the remaining children, Bill said, "The Schleede farm was small." and "There were few opportunities..." [there in Bell County].  Consequently, Frank (Jr.) had already left and moved to Elm Mott, sister Minnie married and moved to Levelland with her husband.  In Bill's words, "It was often in those days for young men to head for West Texas."  So Harmon went west to Concho County and Henry followed a few years later.  Bill also stated that it was not long before Harmon and Henry had a falling out and Henry moved away from Concho County.  All the Meixner children had left home by 1911 when Rudolph #1 died.  Rudolph #2 , only 17 years old, was the only child left at home.  Theresia was left with a farm with a mortgage and a 17 year old son to help her make ends meet. Rudolph #2 married five years later and lived, with his family, next door to his mother the rest of his life and took care of the farm.

As I stated earlier, Bill lived next door to Theresia and was present when she died in 1932.  Bill was only eight but still remembers it vividly.  Theresia had been working that day.  He said she shucked a whole tub of corn and was peeling pears.  She was standing at the door of her home with a bowl of pears in her hands. Suddenly she yelled and threw the bowl in the air.  Bill's dad ran to her and helped her to her chair and sent for the doctor.  Of course it took at least 45 minutes to notify the doctor and for him to get to the house out in the country.  Bill said, however, that she died in her chair long before the doctor arrived.  She apparently suffered a heart attack.  Theresia's funeral was held at the local Methodist Church.  A friend held the service and she was buried in the Salado Cemetery.

In 1934 Bill's dad used the lumber in Theresia's old house and built a new one for him and his family there at the same location.  This was the house Bill would grow up in.  He remembered it had no electricity and only cold water in the tub and sink.

Theresia Schleede's Family Bible.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

Old tin match box.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

Old lock.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

Beaded piece with Rudolph Schleede's initials dated 1875.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

Pair of old glasses.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

Along with the great stories and conversation, Bill brought out his grandmother's old family bible.  It was so fragile I did not attempt to even touch it but it was very interesting to see.  He did however, have several pages from the bible with information about the family that Theresia had written.  The pages were laminated and I was able to capture the pages with my portable scanner.  He brought out letters Theresia had kept that she received from her grandchildren.  He very generously said for me to keep the Meixner grandchildren letters.  I am extremely proud to have them and I have shared some with my cousin Claudia.

Copy of pages from Theresia Schleede's family bible.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

This is a sample of the letters written by Theresia's grandchildren that she saved.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

I wish I had taken a tape recorder with me on my visit.  I know I did not get everything written down that Bill and I talked about.  I had a fantastic day with Bill and I hope to get by to see him again soon. We ended our visit by driving to the Salado Cemetery and visiting the graves of his grandfather, Rudolph, and his grandmother Theresia (our common ancestor).  

The old step stone from Bill's old home where he grew up.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

William Rudolph Schleede on March 7, 2013.  Photographs property of Moody Meixner and are to be shared only by family.

I dropped Bill back by his house and he invited me in for a sandwich but I really needed to get going.  He showed me a rock on his front walkway that had been a stepping stone at his old home place.  I think it makes a nice reminder of his early life and I am sure it brings back many fond memories.  I took Bill's picture and shook his hand and headed out toward home.  I left with a great feeling. What a wonderful day!  So much great information, but most of all I had discovered a new relative and a new friend.

Texas History, Family History, and Scratching the Itch - #2

                             Day Two:  Liberty Hill, Georgetown, Belton, Temple

When I originally planned my trip, my second day included a stop in Georgetown and a short visit with a friend that I had worked with for many years at Mercedes Benz Credit. He retired the same year I did and I hadn't seen him in a long time.  Unfortunately he had already planned a trip out of town so I had to modify my plans.  As I was talking to Kay on the phone on the morning of day two, I mentioned to her my planned route.  This was March 6, 2013.  (The anniversary of the fall of the Alamo by the way.)  I told her I was going to go the back roads to Belton.  She looked at the route on her map and suggested I go a different route, one that led directly to Georgetown and then up I35 to Belton.  As I looked at the map I agreed that would be a good route.  I could stop off in Georgetown as originally planned but instead of a visit I could do a little family history work.  Georgetown is where my dad went to college at Southwestern University, completing both his undergraduate and Masters degrees there.  This is where my mom lived and worked and where mom and dad met, fell in love, and got married.

So as I looked along the route on the map, a funny thing happened, or as I like to say, I experienced a case of serendipity.  I like this word because it is fun to say:  S-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-y!  But, also, it is one of the most fun and exciting things that happens once in a while in genealogy.  Per Merriam-Webster the word means: "luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for", or as Wikipedia puts it: "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise".

At any rate I saw on the map the town of Liberty Hill.  I knew mom had graduated from Liberty Hill High School but in the back of my mind I had always seemed to think of it as the name of a high school, but not the name of a town.  Well, there it was, located right on my route to Georgetown. Now I could stop there and spend some time as well.

I had spent the night in Marble Falls, so Liberty Hill was only a short drive away.  Located on Highway 29, about halfway between Burnett and Georgetown, Liberty Hill seemed to me to be one of those small towns that was in that in-between stage of being small but being transformed into being large.  It is 15 miles from Georgetown and 33 miles from downtown Austin.  In the last 15-20 years it has grown from a population of 300 to around 1600 and is home to a 3-A high school and lots of construction.

The old downtown area of Liberty Hill.  I didn't visit the new area but I'm sure they have one.

As I drove past the city limit sign, I realized I had no idea where to go or what to do. Luckily I wandered into the old downtown area.  Of course other areas are growing and the old downtown is standing still.  I took some photographs of the old buildings and continued on.  A small sign on the side of the road alerted me to the direction of the United Methodist Church so I headed that way.  Founded in 1854 on a site a short distance away, construction started on this beautiful building in 1870 with additions being made in 1905, 1916, and 1954.  (Information from the Historical Marker.)  I'm thinking mom and her family went to church here.  There were some beautiful old homes around as well.

Liberty Hill United Methodist Church.  

Beautiful old home located in Liberty Hill, TX.

I tried to find the high school but I didn't have any luck.  Actually that isn't true, I did find the high school.  It was a big beautiful new high school and definitely not the school where mom went in the 1930s.  So, I gave up, thinking that the old school was most likely gone anyway, and started toward Georgetown.  But then I thought better of it and pulled to the side of the road.  I thought, "Darn it, I am here so I should work harder to find the school."  I turned around and headed back to town.  Just approaching town from the east I noticed a real estate office on the left side of the road so I pulled in.  What better person to know where things are than a real estate person.  I walked in and two very nice young ladies greeted me and asked how they could help me.  I told them that I had a strange request.  I said I was looking for the old high school where my mom (and some of her siblings) had attended high school back in the 30's.  One of the ladies said she would call her mom at home, saying she had lived there a long time and might know where the school had been. Indeed her mom did know and she gave me the information and the directions.  In addition they gave me directions to the library and said the librarian would have information about the history of the town.  It is always so nice to encounter friendly, helpful people.  I did not retain their names but if you every need help with real estate in Liberty Hill, stop by that little office on the south side of the road on the east side of town. It is right near the new high school.  You can't miss it.

Site of the old Liberty Hill High School in the 1930s.  In March of 2013 it was an Intermediate School.

The site of the old high school was the site of the present day Intermediate School.  They were still using this school in March of 2013.  In looking at the web site for Liberty Hill ISD it appears they have opened up a new intermediate school now.  I could not tell if there were any parts of this school that might have been a part of the building from back in the 1930s.  The main part of the school looked like it had been constructed maybe in the 50s but I am not much of a historian of architecture so I don't know for sure.  Maybe that first picture above is from the old building.  Frankly I didn't hang around the school taking pictures but only a few seconds.  I wasn't sure how it might appear for some old man to be loitering around the school all alone like that.  I could just see the police screeching up at any second.  It was still satisfying to just feel like I was at least at the location where mom went to school.

My mom's (Avis Galbreath) graduation announcement from Liberty Hill High School. Her brother G.J. Galbreath graduated the same year.

Liberty Hill High School Senior's class play, May 5, 1934.  Mom was Leonora Blackstone, a medium, per the above program.  Her brother G.J. was William Grayson, a millionaire broker.

Commencement and Baccalaureate programs for Liberty Hill High School, 1934.

Next I went by the library and had a very nice conversation with Sandy, the librarian.  She introduced me to a lady that was there working on genealogy.  This lady's brother was kind of the unofficial historian of Liberty Hill. She said she would have him look to see if he had an annual from that time frame when Mom was in hight school.  (Unfortunately this wasn't to be.)  I later sent them scans of graduation programs etc. shown above.  I hope they will become a part of the historical items they are gathering.

All in all a very nice morning in Liberty Hill, Texas.  I enjoyed very much being where mom spent part of her growing up years and visiting with the friendly people of Liberty Hill.  

Then I was off to Georgetown.  I located the courthouse and the square.  I ate a late lunch at Gumbo's at 701 South Main Street, on the northeast corner of the square.  (If I remember correctly.)  The food was excellent and great service.  Having been revived with a full belly of good food, I then toured the beautiful old courthouse.  I also visited the Williamson County museum located on the southwest corner of the square.

Williamson County Courthouse.

Williamson County Courthouse.

Williamson County Courthouse.  I wonder if my parents didn't have to come to the courthouse to get their marriage license.  I would think that they did.

Four sides of the Georgetown downtown square around the courthouse.  If I remember correctly, the top photograph shows the museum, which is located on the West  side of the square in the building on the far left.

Next I found Church Street and attempted to locate the house where mom lived with her family. Unfortunately, at the address for the house a new house had been built.  I must say it was not nearly as pretty and interesting as the old one.  Nor did it have any character.  Oh well, time moves on.

Galbreath family photograph in front of the old house on Church Street, Georgetown, TX. circa late 1930s.

Next I drove onto the Southwestern University campus and took some photographs. Also, went by and looked at the beautiful United Methodist Church.  Southwestern was the catalyst for my mom and dad meeting and eventually getting married.  Mom worked for a professor at Southwestern and dad was working on the campus when they first met. Dad also went to school with and was friends with some of Mom's brothers so he new they family as well.  Mom also worked at a Federal Government Sewing Room project and for a burger joint called Uncle Ed's.  I wish I could find these two locations but for now I have no idea where they are located.

Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX.

First United Methodist Church in Georgetown, TX.  Founded in 1849, this building was built in 1891-1893.  (From the Historical Marker above.)

Avis Galbreath and Harmon Meixner above on a date at the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, TX, in 1940.

Mom and Dad, Harmon and Avis (Galbreath) Meixner, on their wedding day 1940.

I made one last stop at a coffee house, again back on the square, (north side) called Cianfrani Coffee Company and picked up some coffee to go.  Sandy had recommended it to me when I told her I was going to Georgetown when I left Liberty Hill.  The coffee was good and kept me going strong the rest of the day. Now it was time to head north to Belton.

I can't resist taking a photo of the great old courthouse in Belton anytime I drive through downtown.

Belton is about 33 miles north of Georgetown.  I cruised into Belton and went downtown. I walked around a little taking some photographs and then I accidentally discovered the Bell County Museum.  I took a tour through the museum and found it to be very interesting.  By chance there was a traveling exhibit on President Abraham Lincoln at the museum that was down to the last day or two to be there.

From Belton I headed out on the 8 mile trip to Temple.  I checked into my hotel and decided I had not had enough for the day so I grabbed a bite to eat and some how found my way to the Temple Library.  Kay will be laughing as she reads this.  She knows that I never know where I am going, have a terrible sense of direction, and hate to stop to ask for directions. It was night and it took some doing for me to find the library but I did.  I had been told by some reliable folks the Temple Library had a good genealogy department and it did not disappoint.  I gathered some really good information on my Whiteley ancestors and kept at it until they shooed me out the door at 9:00 pm.  Well, actually they didn't have to run me off.  I was really tired by this time and I was ready to hit the hay.

Next time I will tell you about day three and my visit with Bill Schleede.