Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 310

                                
GIGSTAD FAMILY
F411
In January 1941, the Walter T. Gigstad
family arrived in Clifton, Texas. Walter
Gigstad had received a call to be Pastor of
Trinity Lutheran Church in Clifton.
Walter Gigstad and his wife, Selma Win-
dingstad, were natives of Wisconsin, whose
ancestors had come from Norway. Most of
our relatives and friends lived in Wisconsin,
so it was with mixed emotions, but a strong
convction that God would use our family in
Clifton, that prompted us to move.
We had no idea what we would find in
moving to Texas. The only true information
we had received about Clifton, was through
Walter Maakestad, then Pastor of St. Olaf's
Lutheran Church in Cransfills Gap, who had
visited his old college classmate, a year or two
earlier.
On January 3, 1941, Walter and Selma,
with five of the seven children, started on the
1200 mile trip to Clifton. This was an
adventurous journey for a family who had
heard Texas portrayed as the "Wild and
Wooly West". Suspense mounted as the
family drove along.
A sigh of relief was almost audible from all
seven of us who were packed into the 1941
Hudson. Not only were we happy to have
finally arrived, but the beauty of the country-
side, the progessiveness of the town, and most
of all, the friendliness of the people who
greeted us, made us feel welcome and happy
to make Clifton our home.
Since the new parsonage was not yet
completed, some of us stayed with the W.A.
Wegner family. My brothers, Gulbrand and
Wally, stayed with the Oris Pierson family.
Walter T. Gigstad was born 1889 on a farm
near Valders, Wisconsin. Selma Windingstad
was born 1891; her parents also were farmers
in the Valders community.
In 1914 Walter and Selma were married.
To this union were born seven children:
Gulbrand Gigstad (1916) of Arizona; Marie,
Mrs. James Harvick II(1918) of Houston;
Jordice G. Browning (1921) of Connecticut;
Walter T.W. Gigstad (1922-1943) gave his life
in the service of his country as a member of
the U.S. Navy in World War II; Karen, Mrs.
William H. Martin (1925) of Midland, Texas;
Constance, Mrs. Gordon Smith (1929) of
Gatesville, Texas; Audni, Mrs. George H.
Hacke (1935) of Midland.
Following his graduation from Luther
Seminary, at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1920,
Walter's first call was to Beach, North
Dakota where he served five congregations in
addition to the one in Beach. He served other
churches in Wisconsin.
While in Clifton, Walter Gigstad was an
active member of the Clifton Lions Club. He
was a member of the E.L.C. Home Mission
Committee of the Iowa District for eight
years. He served as President of the Clifton
Junior College Board of Trustees for eleven
years. He was a member of the Texas
Lutheran College Board of Regents for ten
years; he also served as Circuit President of
the E.L.C. both in Wisconsin and in Texas.
Mrs. Gigstad, in addition to being a good
mother, and a loving and supportive wife, was
active in church and civic affairs. She was
President of the W.M.F., a member of the
senior choir, active in youth groups: Luther
League, L.D.R., teacher of a Sunday School
310

class and the Junior Confirmation class. She
worked with the Civic Improvement Society
and the P.T.A. in Clifton.
In 1957, Walter and Selma moved to El
Paso where he did the ground work to
establish a new mission congregation in that
city. In 1960 Walter accepted a call to Osage,
Iowa, as assistant pastor.
He accepted a call to be the chaplain for the
Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home in 1962. He
continued to served in that capacity until his
death. During the time Walter served as
chaplain, Selma was involved in the work of
the Home.
Selma Gigstad died in Clifton in 1967.
Walter remained active in the community
and the work of the Clifton Lutheran Sunset
Home until his death in 1971.
One reason the remaining members of the
Gigstad family continue to feel a close tie to
Clifton, is because our parents and brother
are buried in the Clifton Lutheran Cemetery.
We cherish our many friends in Clifton and
the memories of the years spent in that
community.
by Karen Martin
GILLIAM, J. P., REV. AND MRS.
F412

4
,y

Rev. and Mrs. John P. Gilliam, 1903
Both natives of Tennessee and born in the
year 1854, Reverend and Mrs. J.P. Gilliam
moved to Texas in 1903 and adopted this
state, and especially Bosque County, as their
permanent home. Brother Gilliam, as he was
affectionately known, first came to Texas to
conduct a series of revival meetings, and here
he found relief from the severe asthma
attacks he had been suffering in Tennessee.
It was in 1909 that he first held a revival
meeting in Clifton at the First Baptist
Church. He declined a call to pastor that
church at that time because he was then
serving with the Missionary Board of the
Baptist Church in Texas. Frequent visits to
Clifton where the A.G. Gilliam family lived
afforded this couple an opportunity to make
many friends here, and in 1920 the Reverend
J.P. Gilliam accepted the call to become
pastor of the First Baptist Church.

An active sportsman, Brother Gilliam
found this county a paradise. He enjoyed
fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. A
typical day found him rising at 4:00 a.m. to
read his Bible and study for his sermons. By
daybreak he was ready to go fishing or
hunting, and he always returned with game
which he shared with friends. His afternoons
were spent visiting members of his church
and in further study. A life-long hunting
companion was the late John Nance Garner,
Vice President of the United States. Each
deer season found them meeting at Uvalde,
Texas for their annual hunt. Two men could
not have been more opposite in temperment
and character, except that they shared the joy
of hunting, and they had respect for each
other.
Brother Gilliam was an outstanding
"Scripturenarian," with an amazing memory
that could place chapter and verse correctly.
At Wednesday evening prayer meetings, he
often played a game with his congregation,
asking them to read a portion of scripture
from anywhere in the Bible to him. Then he
would tell them the exact book, chapter, and
verse, and most often could go on reciting the
scripture from memory. He was very ecumen-
ical in spirit and cherished his friends in
different denominations.
After leaving Clifton, Brother Gilliam
served as pastor of several central Texas
churches before he retired in 1930 and moved
back to Clifton to spend his last years near
the family of his son, and in an area where he
could continue to hunt and fish. When it was
no longer advisable for him to drive a car,
Brother Gilliam bought a gentle horse which
he rode out into the country to pursue his
beloved sports. When he was almost eighty-
five years old he went for his last happy
horseback ride, when the animal slipped on
wet pavement and fell. The injuries he
sustained at this advanced age led to his
death in 1939.
Mrs. J.P. Gilliam, born Sarah Belle Par-
due, was a quiet, gentle woman who never
took any position of leadership in the church,
but she was totally supportive of her hus-
band's ministry, and she made for him a
home that was truly a haven. All who came
to seek Brother Gilliam's help were first
welcomed into their home by the gracious
smile of his wife. Theirs was a marriage of
perfect complements-this active, gregar-
ious, eager man and his quiet, serene, under-
standing lady.
Children of this couple were Arthur G.
Gilliam, Ivy Gilliam Cage, Mattie Gilliam
Binford, and John Paul Gilliam. Descendants
who still live in Bosque County are grand-
daughters Grace Gilliam Parks and Nell
Gilliam Jenson and great-grandchildren
Patsy Parks Rickels, Tom Gilliam Parks and
John Phil Gilliam.
The Reverend and Mrs. John Philip Gil-
liam are buried in Hico, Texas.
by Mrs. J. Bruce Parks
GILLIAM, ARTHUR G. AND BESS
CONNOLLY
F413
Often accredited with being the man who
put Bosque County on wheels, Arthur Gibson
Gilliam was one of the earliest car dealers in

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