Individual Details
Minnie Lucille Saunders
(OCTOBER 23, 1891 - AUGUST 3, 1948)
Events
| Birth | OCTOBER 23, 1891 | Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas |  |  | |
| Marriage | DECEMBER 12, 1911 | Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas - Gussie Gibson "Gip" Johnson | | | |
| Census | 1920 | McGregor, McLennan County, Texas | | | |
| Miscellaneous | 1922 - 1925 | Oil Boom - Smackover, Union County, Arkansas | | | |
| Census | 1930 | McGregor, McLennan County, Texas | | | |
| Miscellaneous | CA, 1930 | Family Story -Panthers - John Ealy and Mary Frances Coleman Johnson's Home, Oglesby, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Miscellaneous | CA, 1930 | Childhood Memories - Oglesby, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Divorce | JULY 23, 1937 | Coryell County, Texas - Gussie Gibson "Gip" Johnson | | | |
| Death | AUGUST 3, 1948 | N. 10th Street., Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Miscellaneous | AUGUST 3, 1948 | Texas Death Certificate - Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Burial | Aft AUGUST 3, 1948 | City Cemetery, Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Miscellaneous | Aft AUGUST 3, 1948 | Find A Grave Memorial - City Cemetery, Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas | | | |
| Alt name | Minnie Lucille Johnson | | |||
| Miscellaneous | Lady Bird Johnson - Oglesby, Coryell County, Texas | | |
Families
| Spouse | Gussie Gibson "Gip" Johnson (1892 - 1959) |
| Child | Mary Doris Johnson (1918 - 1933) |
| Child | Evelyn Estelle Johnson (1920 - 2009) |
| Child | Helen Marie Johnson (1925 - 2018) |
| Father | Thomas Alexander Saunders (1865 - 1937) |
| Mother | Mary Exah Hampton (1870 - 1955) |
| Sibling | James Riley Saunders (1900 - 1957) |
| Sibling | Hazel Glee Saunders (1908 - 1975) |
Notes
Birth
Family records and Texas Birth Certificate of daughter, Mary Doris johnson show that she was born in Gatesville, Texas.Marriage
The marriage record of Gibson Johnson and Minnie Saunders is recorded in the Coryell County, Texas Marriage Records, Marriage Book 8, p. 353.They were married on 12-12-1912 by Clovis Chappel.
Census
The 1920 McLennan County, Texas, U.S. Federal Census shows:Gibson Johnson, 27, b. TX, father b. TX, mother b. AR, cattle dealer
Minnie, wife, 27, b. TX, father b. TX, mother b. TX
Dorris, daughter, 1yr. and 3 mos., b. TX
Miscellaneous
Between about 1922 and 1925 Minnie Saunders Johnson and her husband Gussie Gibson Johnson lived in Smackover, Union County, Arkansas, during the oil boom in that county.G.G. Jonhson worked for his great-uncle, William A. "Uncle Billy" McKenzie as a supervisor for Uncle Billy's oil interests.
The oil wells came in without much control and oil was spewed into the air causing oil to be deposited on everything including the wash hanging on outside lines to dry.
The oil wealth in the small town resulted in small wooden shanties to be stocked with the finest merchandise as the newly wealthy residents spent their oil boom income. Most of the people who owned the oil producing property were simple country folks who suddenly were thruest into a new way of life.
Census
The 1930 McGregor, McLennan County, Texas, U.S. Federal Census shows:Gibson Johnson, 38, b. TX. father b. TX, mother b. TX, car salesman
Minnie, wife, 38, b. TX, father b. TX, mother b. TX
Doris, daughter, 11, b. TX
Evelyn, daughter, 9, b. TX
Helen M., 4, b. TX
Miscellaneous
Evelyn Johnson Lawrence related this story about her mother [Minnie Saunders Johnson.]" Mama would say she could hear a 'panther' crying like a woman at night and would pull the furniture against the doors to protect them from it. I think she may have just used the panther as a way to scare us into the house at night.
We also put the furniture in front of the doors when a dust storm blew in."
Miscellaneous
Evelyn Johnson Lawrence remembered her mother Minnie Saunders Johnson telling these stories about her mother's childhood.Aunt Harriet [Squyres], a black woman who worked for her grandfather [James Read Saunders] both as a slave and later as a free domestic house keeper, would fix biscuits with butter and sugar for Minnie's afternoon snack, but Minnie refused to take them from Aunt Harriet's hand even after Harriet showed Minnie that her hands were pink inside just like hers. Minnie wouldn't take the biscuit until Harriet put it down on the table for her.
Aunt Harriet also taught Minnie how to tie knots using the blind cards at her grandfather Saunders' home. Harriet would say that those were the same blind cards she used to teach Minnie's father [Thomas A. Saunders] how to tie knots.
Divorce
The divorce of G. G. Johnson and Minnie Johnson was filed in Coryell County, Texas, on 7-23-1937.G. G. Johnson was to pay child support of $10.00 per month until his daughter Helen Johnson reached the age of 16.
Custody of their two living children, Evelyn and Helen Johnson was given to Minnie Johnson.
Death
She died at her mother's home on N. 10th Street, Gatesville, Texas, at 8:30 A.M.Cause of death: Carcenoma Aegunaid, 2 and 1/2 years duration
(death certificate notation).
Miscellaneous
Minnie Lucille Johnson's Texas Death Certificate includes the following:Birth: 10-23-1891 in Texa
Death: 8-3-1948 in Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas
Father: T. A. Saunders
Mother: Exah Hampton
Burial: Gatesville
Informant: Mrs. L. E. Kincannon
Burial
Minnie Saunders Johnson is buried in the Thomas A. Saunders plot in the City Cemetery, Gatesville, Texas, beside her parents.Miscellaneous
Her Find A Grave Memorial is #44718584.The memorial has a tombstone photograph showing the dates 10-23-1891 and 8-3-1948.
Miscellaneous
In Evelyn Johnson Lawrence's Family History there is a story about Minnie Saunders Johnson meeting Lady Bird Johnson at the John E. Johnson farm in Oglesby.Evelyn Johnson Lawrence wrote, "One day as I came home from school I noticed a very sporty little car with a 'mother-in-law' seat parked over at Grandpa Johnson's. That night at the supper table Mama mentioned 'That young woman I met this afternoon has the oddest name, Lady Bird.' The visitors in the pretty car were Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36th President and his wife. My father and LBJ were cousins."
Endnotes
1. Evelyn Johnson Lawrence, Family History, Recipient: Sherry Lawrence, Author Address: Gatesville, TX, Recipient Address: Gatesville, TX (2002), Family History Compiled by Evelyn Lawrence from personal communications, family bibles,etc..
2. Texas Deaths 1890-1976, FamilySearch Website, Digital images of original record, www.familysearch.org.
3. Mary Dorris Johnson, birth certificate (24 November 1918), State of Texas State of Texas, U.S.A., Austin, Travis County, Texas.
4. Evelyn Johnson Lawrence, Family History, Recipient: Sherry Lawrence, Author Address: Gatesville, TX, Recipient Address: Gatesville, TX (2002), Family History Compiled by Evelyn Lawrence from personal communications, family bibles,etc..
5. Coryell County, Texas Marriage Records, Gatesville, Texas..
6. 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Record Type: microfilm image, Ancestry.com Website, www.ancestry.com..
7. "Conversation with Helen Johnson Huckins," 2015 by Sherry Lawrence, Telephone conversation; Minnie Lucille Saunders Johnson told this story to her daughter Helen Johnson Huckins..
8. 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Record Type: microfilm image, Ancestry.com Website, www.ancestry.com..
9. "Conversation with Evelyn Estelle (Johnson) Lawrence," 24 December 2003 by Sherry Lawrence, Written notes; Evelyn Johnson Lawrence experienced the related stories in person..
10. "Conversation with Evelyn Estelle (Johnson) Lawrence," 24 December 2003 by Sherry Lawrence, Written notes; Evelyn Johnson Lawrence experienced the related stories in person..
11. Coryell County, Texas, Divorce Records. Copy of Original. Sherry Lawrence's Genealogy Records..
12. Evelyn Johnson Lawrence, Family History, Recipient: Sherry Lawrence, Author Address: Gatesville, TX, Recipient Address: Gatesville, TX (2002), Family History Compiled by Evelyn Lawrence from personal communications, family bibles,etc..
13. Texas Deaths 1890-1976, FamilySearch Website, Digital images of original record, www.familysearch.org.
14. Texas Deaths 1890-1976, FamilySearch Website, Digital images of original record, www.familysearch.org.
15. Find A Grave Web Site, Url: www.findagrave.com.
16. Find A Grave Web Site, Url: www.findagrave.com.
17. Evelyn Johnson Lawrence, Family History, Recipient: Sherry Lawrence, Author Address: Gatesville, TX, Recipient Address: Gatesville, TX (2002), Family History Compiled by Evelyn Lawrence from personal communications, family bibles,etc..
18. Evelyn Johnson Lawrence, Family History, Recipient: Sherry Lawrence, Author Address: Gatesville, TX, Recipient Address: Gatesville, TX (2002).