Individual Details
(May 8, 1880 - December 31, 1971)
Frank Affie Parson was born in Wise County and came to Coleman County in the late 1880s. I was told that he was about 7 or 8 at that time. His dad ran a grocery store in Trickham for a while. Grandpa often told stories to us to keep us entertained. Some of the stories are a great strech of the imagination. He told of the time he and his brother James Milton (Jim) went into town (Trickham) for some fireworks for Forth of July celebration. The were on their way out of town when they spotted some Indians on horseback, heading through, apparently going back to Oklahoma Territory and the reservation. Jim (grandpa said) decided it would be fun to fire a roman candle at them. The Indians didn't think it was very funny and chased them around the area. Well, after dark the came out of hiding and went home. Another story Grandpa told was about the time when he got his first horse. He said it was a young black horse, just about the most beautiful thing on earth. Grandpa was about 12 at this time, and Jim was about 4 years older. Jim was courting this young lady down the creek (Mukewater)and was going to go see her after chores. Grandpa being younger and slower at chores was left behind. After he finished he decided to go riding. Out in the barn he found Jim's horse in the lot, but his horse was gone. He knew what Jim had done so he jumped on Jim's horse and headed down the creek. He said he knew where they would be riding so he waited beside the trail. Intending to do bodily harm to his big brother. While waiting beside the trail he discovered a bunch of cockleburrs. (For those who don't know what a cockleburr is, it a very stickery seed pod that grows on stalks . They often grow taller than a mans head.) As he waited he gathered a large handful of burrs. When Jim and his lady came down the trail, not paying attention to anything but each other, Grandpa snuck up behind the black horse, raised his tail, stuck in the wad of burrs and yanked the tail down. The horse unloaded Jim. Grandpa unsaddled the horse, jumped on and beat a hasty retreat. He told us Uncle Jim was after him for several days. Another tale he told about the Mukewater area was about singing class. Grandpa had a good voice when I knew him. He told us about when he was in singing school. He said that they had been studying and he would sing "do ra mi fa sol la ti da" - all the notes and some songs. On the night of the recital, all the families were gathered in the church. A long table and chair had been set up for a make-shift stage. Each child had a song to sing and were to start off with the scale. There had been some trouble that day between two families. (Grandpa could remember the names, I have forgotten.) But according to him both were a bunch of hulligans. The children started doing their show (probably in Alphabetical order) each doing their part. When it was Grandpa's turn, "I climbed up on the stage keeping my back straight as we had been taught. I stood up staight, faced the audience, bowed to them, and started" "Do Ra Mi Sol -- and about this time the door burst open - they shot out the lamps and I fell off that table." "I was under there til the trouble was over. I never did get to finish my piece." I can put his actions on paper, but to watch while he told this story was funny. He ask several of us graandkids if we knew how the Santa Anna Mountains came to be. None of us had any idea at that time. So he told us. In the early years there was a need for water in the area so Grandpa and an old man north of town by the name of Joe Brooks decided to dig the Jim Ned Creek, needing a place to pile the dirt and rocks. With a wheelbarrow they piled all the rocks and dirt up and those piles became the Santa Anna Mountains. We believed it. Another tale was how the gap got in the mountains. When the cattle drives were moving north, the trail went just east of the east mountain. Once when a huge herd of cattle were moving north, they passed the ...
Events
| Birth | May 8, 1880 | Wise County, Texas | | | |
| Marriage | April 28, 1901 | Coleman County, Texas - Louisa Josephine "Lou" Cupps | | | |
| Death | December 31, 1971 | Brownwood, Brown County, Texas | | | |
| Burial | | Cleveland Cemetery, Coleman County, Texas | | | |
Families