Collingsworth County 1890-1984 Page: 307

                                
S' evolution. His 2 grandfathers were wounded in
 e Civil War, fighting for the Confederacy. R.L.
was wounded during 2 crashes while flying 16
bomber mission during WW II for the Royal AF
Bomber Command. His spent 22 months as a
bomber pilot before being discharged in 1942 as a
4   disabled veteran.
. .    The parents of R.L. were Robert H. and Lutie
=__'  ay  Gresham Templeton. His brothers and sisters were
Robert N., Idabel (Minter), Lois (Scott), John
Worth and Pat Neff; the last two brothers were
i :                  killed during WW II during bombing raids in
England and France respectively.
His wife is the former Travis Tenison, daughter of
Robert and Ruby Tenison of Dozier. Her sisters are
Mae (Hutchings) and Billye (Castleberry). Both
R.L. and Travis graduated from Wellington High
School. They have had two sons: Pat Neff who was
.    killed in 1958 in a freak auto crash in Wellington;
-         and Robert Lee who was born in 1959 and went to
Texas State Tennis finals in 1977 won 2nd. He
Lutie Gresham Templeton, May, 1937 (after son's graduation)  Texas State Tennis finals in 1977 won 2nd. He
R.H. Templeton.                         married Jan Phipps October 2, 1981, lives in Ama-
rillo, and works for Southwestern Public Service
see, he began a law course in Tennessee, but lack  Company.
of money prevented completion of it. This was  R.L. is an organic fruit farmer and was a Little
when he came to Texas as a teacher for 3 years.  League baseball coach. He served as Representa-
Then he completed a law course in 1904 at Texas  tive during the 50th State Legislature, served 10
State University; coming west and landed in Wel- years as County Judge, has been the County
lington with 7 books, a trunk and $35 in cash. At Attorney, and has practiced law in his hometown
once he opened an office and was appointed  of Wellington for 38 years. Within the past 8 years,
county attorney for 3 years. Then he and his broth- R.L. has published 8 books on Young Heroes and
er opened a law office together. He was elected is working on two more at this time.
county Judge.                             Travis has helped her husband in his law office
He helped to organize the waterworks, he and many years, has been a salesperson and a model
his brother owned the water plant. Robert helped for local stores. She has been active in the 1954
orgainze both the Wellington State and City State Study Club, of which she is a past president. R.L.
Banks; he owned the Wellington Times, the first  Templeton
newspaper, until he helped with a charter with the
Wellington Leader paper. He was a Methodist and
member of Woodmen of the World.
In 1908 Templeton married Lutie Gresham of  Rufus Lee Templeton was born in Lincoln Coun-
Point, the daughter of Newton Gresham who  ty, Tennessee, August 28, 1883, to Robert H. and
founded the Farmers Union. She had helped in her Frances Walker Templeton. Spending his boy-
father's newspaper in Point. The couple rode the  hood on a farm, with a country school education,
train to Memphis and caught a "mail hack" to Wel- he attended college at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
lington, and soon Lutie was made editor of the He began teaching in his native county and Warren
Wellington Times newspaper, as well as taking an County, Kentucky. In 1901, he came to Texas
active part in politics. She spoke at bridge clubs where he taught school in Denton County. By
and pie suppers on behalf of her chosen politi-  1908, he was superintendent of the Canyon
cians.                                  schools.
Their children included Robert Newton, Isabel
(Minter), Lois (Scott), John Worth (killed in an
air crash in WW II) , R.L. (who still lives in Welling-
ton and has been County Attorney, County Judge,
and practiced law 38 years as his father had
done) ; and Pat Neff (killed in a plane crash in WW
II in England).
Lutie Templeton was a double Gold Star Mother
during World War II. At the time of his death in
1939, Robert Templeton owned 19 business build-
ings and 21 farms. He is buried in family plot in Fair-
view Cemetery. The Depression took away all his
property. Lutie died in Picton, Texas, Aug. 1973.
R.L. Templeton
R.L. Templeton
R.L. Templeton came from a long line of families
that have participated in World Wars. His great-
great-grandfather, John D. Templeton, was killed
in the battle of Kings Mountain in the American

Pat Neff (age 14) and R.L. Templeton (age 17), May, 1937

State Representative R.L. Templeton and Cleo Templeton,
1912-1918
A scholar, R.L. graduated from Law School of
the University of Texas in 1910 with an LLB
degree, finishing the three year course in two
years. He joined his brother, R.H. Templeton, in
Wellington, Texas, to form the Templeton & Tem-
pleton Law Firm. For two years he served as coun-
ty attorney. In 1912, he was elected to state repre-
sentative for the 124th District, serving in that
office six years.
Cleopatra Small was born in Dawson, Alabama,
May 16, 1886, to E.H. and Olivia Furr Small. She
moved with her parents to the Aberdeen Commu-
nity, Collingsworth County, Texas, in 1891. She
attended Indian Creek school in the county and
Goodnight Baptist College, graduating with the

degree of Mistress of English Literature. After
graduation she worked in her father's general store
in Shamrock.
R.L. and Cleo were married July 15, 1912, mak-
ing their home in Wellington. They had two daugh-
ters, Mary Frances and Elliott Olivia. During the
years, a nephew and two nieces lived with them to
attend school.
Their home was comfortable with a coal floor
furnace, an automatic ABC washing machine, a
White Frost refrigerator with revolving shelves and
ice cold running water, a Gulbransen player piano,
bookcases filled with books, a screened sleeping
porch, and a two-car garage. Their yard had
cedar, catalpa, apple, pear, peach, cherry, and
apricot trees. Flower beds abounded with roses,
violets, cannas, daisies, lilacs, sweet peas, peo-
nies, grapevine, and honeysuckle. Raspberries,
blackberries, asparagus, and other vegetables
grew in their garden.
In 1921, R. L. was appointed first district judge of
the 100th. Judicial District by Governor Pat Neff.
He served in that office until his death, March 14,
1927.
R.L. and Cleo were members of First United
Methodist Church, Wellington. Raised a Presbyte-
rian, Cleo joined the Methodist Church where R.L.
was a lay leader and Sunday School teacher. She
was active in the church as long as her health per-
mitted.
Active in civic affairs, R.L. was a member of
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of
Pythias, and Modern Woodmen of America. Cleo
was a charter member of the Domestic Science
Study Club, P.T.A., B. & P.W., and W.S.C.S.
A devoted father, R.L. was loved by his daugh-
ters and neighborhood children. Sunday after-
noons found him on the front porch surrounded by
children as he read aloud the Sunday "funny
papers." Summer afternoons the yard often was
filled with children eating watermelon.
Numerous times the family traveled to Tennes-
see by train. In 1925, they drove to Tennessee in a
Model T Ford. While visiting R. L.'s father near Flint-
ville, a sensational evolution trial was in session at
Dayton, Tennessee. William Jennings Bryan, a
Bible fundamentalist, assisted in the prosecution,
and Clarence Darrow, an agnostic, defended J.T.
Scopes, accused teacher of evolution. On a Satur-
day afternoon, with court recessed, Bryan was
scheduled to speak at a County Fair in Winchester.
The Templetons drove to Winchester and heard
Bryan speak. The next day the Templetons were
stunned to read in the newspaper that Bryan had
died in his sleep at Dayton, July 26, 1925.
Following R.L.'s death, Cleo, with quiet dignity,
managed their estate through the Great Depres-
sion, sending her daughters through college. For
five years she was administrator of the State Wel-
fare Office in Wellington, helping others.
Cleo died February 11, 1960. R.L. and Cleo are
buried in Wellington's Fairview Cemetery. Olivia
Hill
William Grady Templeton
William Grady Templeton, called Grady, was a
resident of Collingsworth County only three years,
1920-1923, but always retained a warm interest in
the area. He was in Wellington attending school
while living with his uncles, R.H. and R.L. Temple-
ton, longtime members of the Wellington Bar.
Born April 27, 1903 near Bowie in Montague
County, Texas where his father was in the cotton
gin business, he moved to Tennessee until his
death January 13, 1982. He was the son of William
Eden Templeton and Orphia Speck Templeton.
A graduate of St. Andrews School in Sewanee,
Tennessee, he held also the LLb degree but did not
practice law. He was employed by Internal Reve-
nue Service in Nashville until retirement in 1973.
He was a veteran of U.S. Naval Service in World
War II, and was a member of the Church of Christ.
He was married to Katherine Burnett and they
have one child, Don Templeton. Katherine Burnett
Templeton resides at 2703 Overhill Drive, Nash-
ville, Tennessee 37214.