Individual Details
Leona Hays Connally
(26 Jun 1896 - 28 Sep 1980)
The following sources provide the June 26, 1896 birth date for Leona:
Author: Howard F. Horner
Title: GEDCOM File : a16847.ged
Note:
2306 Oak Drive
Ijamsville, MD 21754
Date: 24 May 1999
Author: Lucy Nesmith
Title: GEDCOM File : thenesmith.ged
Note:
ljohnston@seagatereporting.com
Date: 17 Mar 2002
In a phone conversation with Don Scott (the son of Leona's sister Opal Connally Scott) on February 24, 2003, Don provided examples of the sayings and stories for which Leona was well known:
1. Upon talking to someone shortly after the birth of her first child, Worthie Elwood Briles, Leona said that if you didn't have a baby before you were married a year, it probably meant that "you knew too much."
2. During a conversation with a family member following the funeral of one of her siblings, Leona is reported to have said that she wondered which of her siblings would be "the last leaf on the tree."
Several of her sayings that I (Susan Briles Kniebes) remember follow:
1. Someone lived so far out in the country that Leona said that they "used owls for chickens and coons for watchdogs."
2. (I heard this from my father Worthie Elwood Briles, but assume that his mother was the original source.) Someone is so stupid that they "couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."
3. (Again, I heard from my father, but assume that Grandmother was the original source.) Someone is as "useless as tits on a bull."
4. When you complained that you couldn't find something that was in plain site, Grandmother would say, "If it were a snake, you'd be dead!"
Susan Briles Kniebes has transcribed a number of tapes of her Grandmother Leona talking with various relatives, primarily about her childhood in Ellis County and about various Briles and Connally relatives. Anyone interested in the transcriptions of those tapes should contact Susan. They are MUCH too lengthy to include here.
The Tuesday, November 2, 1965 issue of "The Waxahachie Daily Light" contains an article titled "50-Year Class Celebrates Homecoming With Events." The article is about the special observances for the 1915 Class of Waxahachie High School and lists those in attendance, including "Leona Connally Briles and Mr. Briles, Fort Worth."
In a P.S. to her handwritten responses to a letter containing genealogy question sent her by Sara Briles Moriarty dated February 10, 1982, Cordie Miller, the wife of Arley Miller, the step-son of Jasper Briles, Cordie provides the following information about Leona:
"Leona was really a good friend, and I still miss her letters. She and I wrote to each other about 35 years. And I guess I have seen all of Leona's children except Jeannie. We hear from Jeanie at Christmas time."
The Social Security Death Index agrees with the birth and death dates given above, but mistakenly says that she died in Forth Worth. Her SS Card # was 454-17-2265
Author: Howard F. Horner
Title: GEDCOM File : a16847.ged
Note:
2306 Oak Drive
Ijamsville, MD 21754
Date: 24 May 1999
Author: Lucy Nesmith
Title: GEDCOM File : thenesmith.ged
Note:
ljohnston@seagatereporting.com
Date: 17 Mar 2002
In a phone conversation with Don Scott (the son of Leona's sister Opal Connally Scott) on February 24, 2003, Don provided examples of the sayings and stories for which Leona was well known:
1. Upon talking to someone shortly after the birth of her first child, Worthie Elwood Briles, Leona said that if you didn't have a baby before you were married a year, it probably meant that "you knew too much."
2. During a conversation with a family member following the funeral of one of her siblings, Leona is reported to have said that she wondered which of her siblings would be "the last leaf on the tree."
Several of her sayings that I (Susan Briles Kniebes) remember follow:
1. Someone lived so far out in the country that Leona said that they "used owls for chickens and coons for watchdogs."
2. (I heard this from my father Worthie Elwood Briles, but assume that his mother was the original source.) Someone is so stupid that they "couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."
3. (Again, I heard from my father, but assume that Grandmother was the original source.) Someone is as "useless as tits on a bull."
4. When you complained that you couldn't find something that was in plain site, Grandmother would say, "If it were a snake, you'd be dead!"
Susan Briles Kniebes has transcribed a number of tapes of her Grandmother Leona talking with various relatives, primarily about her childhood in Ellis County and about various Briles and Connally relatives. Anyone interested in the transcriptions of those tapes should contact Susan. They are MUCH too lengthy to include here.
The Tuesday, November 2, 1965 issue of "The Waxahachie Daily Light" contains an article titled "50-Year Class Celebrates Homecoming With Events." The article is about the special observances for the 1915 Class of Waxahachie High School and lists those in attendance, including "Leona Connally Briles and Mr. Briles, Fort Worth."
In a P.S. to her handwritten responses to a letter containing genealogy question sent her by Sara Briles Moriarty dated February 10, 1982, Cordie Miller, the wife of Arley Miller, the step-son of Jasper Briles, Cordie provides the following information about Leona:
"Leona was really a good friend, and I still miss her letters. She and I wrote to each other about 35 years. And I guess I have seen all of Leona's children except Jeannie. We hear from Jeanie at Christmas time."
The Social Security Death Index agrees with the birth and death dates given above, but mistakenly says that she died in Forth Worth. Her SS Card # was 454-17-2265
Events
| Birth | 26 Jun 1896 | Forreston, Ellis County, Texas |  | ||
| Marriage | 1 Mar 1917 | Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas - Worthie Harwood Briles | | ||
| Death | 28 Sep 1980 | Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee | | ||
| Burial | Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas | |
Families
| Spouse | Worthie Harwood Briles (1894 - 1979) |
| Child | Worthie Elwood Briles (1918 - 2016) |
| Child | Connally Oran Briles (1919 - 2010) |
| Child | Bonnie Bell Briles (1922 - 2014) |
| Child | Van Gordon Briles (1926 - 1990) |
| Child | Jack David Briles (1930 - 2005) |
| Child | Leona Jean "Jeanie" Briles (1935 - 2020) |
Endnotes
1. Volume 2 of Ellis County, Texas Cemetery Records, Hillcrest Burial Park & Mountain Peak Cemetery.
2. Transcription of July 24, 1980, Tape of Conversation Between Leona Hays Connally Briles and Her Granddaughter Sara Jean B.
3. Information obtained from Jeanie Briles Cookston in email dated March 29, 2004.
4. Information obtained from Jeanie Briles Cookston in email dated March 29, 2004.
5. Volume 2 of Ellis County, Texas Cemetery Records, Hillcrest Burial Park & Mountain Peak Cemetery.