Individual Details
James Pulaski Hestand
(November 14, 1891 - July 10, 1979)
"Jim Hestand was a strong but gentle man who had worked hard all his life. He was cheerful and congenial, made friends easily, because he liked people. He told about when he was 9 years old he and his brother Doc, who was 11, would take a wagon and team of horses and an axe apiece and go to the woods and cut a wagon load of wood, take it to town and sell it for usually $2.50 and while in town go to the store and buy flour, salt, etc. and take home to their mother. They were the only two boys in a family of five girls, with the exception of younger brother Homer, who died with a ruptured appendix at age l7. Homer would have been three years old at the time of the wood cutting story.
"Jim didn't have much formal education. He could read slowly, and he comprehended well what he read, and he could write a good handwriting, but his spelling was strictly phonic. He said he went to school three years, but did not go all year any of the three years. He was good at math, and could do sums quickly in his head. His wife Dell taught him to do long division after they were married.
"During World War I he joined the army, but was discharged and sent home after a week because of his bad eye. His right eye had a distorted pupil, and he was almost blind in that eye. No one knows why the pupil was distorted, maybe a childbirth defect, or a fall or bump as a child.
"Jim farmed most of his early life, and after his marriage, he raised some stock, which he liked better than farming, but actually, he did both. He raised registered Duroc hogs and made some money with them during the hard times. He also had a Model T truck and hauled cotton bales and cotton seed from the Buford Gin to Colorado City for processing, and made a little money that way. During World War II he went to the west Texas oil fields and worked for Gulf Pipeline, while the young men were away in the services of their country. During that time his family, the ones still at home, stayed at the farm near Colorado City, and he would come home whenever he could on weekends, and sent money home on a regular basis to pay debts and live on. In the late l940's he put in a grade A dairy and he and Dell operated the dairy for about nine years. He closed the dairy when he was 65 and had become eligible for Social Security. Soon after that, at the age of 67 he started a whole new career--he became Veterans Administrator for Mitchell County, Texas, and had an office in the court house. He kept that job for twenty years, and received several commendations from the State Veterans Administration office in Austin for his job well done. He retired at the age of 87, less than a year before he died. He loved his court house job and had many friends there, which made his old age a happy time." (Mary Lightfoot, 1998.)
"Jim didn't have much formal education. He could read slowly, and he comprehended well what he read, and he could write a good handwriting, but his spelling was strictly phonic. He said he went to school three years, but did not go all year any of the three years. He was good at math, and could do sums quickly in his head. His wife Dell taught him to do long division after they were married.
"During World War I he joined the army, but was discharged and sent home after a week because of his bad eye. His right eye had a distorted pupil, and he was almost blind in that eye. No one knows why the pupil was distorted, maybe a childbirth defect, or a fall or bump as a child.
"Jim farmed most of his early life, and after his marriage, he raised some stock, which he liked better than farming, but actually, he did both. He raised registered Duroc hogs and made some money with them during the hard times. He also had a Model T truck and hauled cotton bales and cotton seed from the Buford Gin to Colorado City for processing, and made a little money that way. During World War II he went to the west Texas oil fields and worked for Gulf Pipeline, while the young men were away in the services of their country. During that time his family, the ones still at home, stayed at the farm near Colorado City, and he would come home whenever he could on weekends, and sent money home on a regular basis to pay debts and live on. In the late l940's he put in a grade A dairy and he and Dell operated the dairy for about nine years. He closed the dairy when he was 65 and had become eligible for Social Security. Soon after that, at the age of 67 he started a whole new career--he became Veterans Administrator for Mitchell County, Texas, and had an office in the court house. He kept that job for twenty years, and received several commendations from the State Veterans Administration office in Austin for his job well done. He retired at the age of 87, less than a year before he died. He loved his court house job and had many friends there, which made his old age a happy time." (Mary Lightfoot, 1998.)
Events
| Birth | November 14, 1891 | Hill County, Texas | |||
| Marriage | August 15, 1923 | Sweetwater, Nolan County, Texas - Julia Della Gist | |||
| Death | July 10, 1979 | Colorado City, Mitchell County, Texas | |||
| Burial | Colorado City Cemetery, Colorado City, Mitchell County, Texas |
Families
| Spouse | Julia Della Gist (1894 - 1977) |
| Child | Mary Beth Hestand (1925 - ) |
| Child | Wallace Gist Hestand (1926 - ) |
| Child | Jimmy Don Hestand (1931 - ) |
| Child | Charles Anthus Hestand (1934 - ) |
| Father | Ferdinand Pemberton Hestand (1856 - 1944) |
| Mother | Mary Elizabeth Hamilton (1859 - 1941) |