The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 2016 Page: 2 of 18
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Gilmer Mirror and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Upshur County Library.
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Page 2A — THE GILMER MIRROR, Gilmer, Texas May 12, 2016
Reflecting m
By JOYCE PAYNE
Gerald Payne and his
family owned and lived on
240 acres located along Hwy.
2088, one mile west of the Oak
Hill Baptist Church.
Gerald is the nephew of
Jess, Ray and Gertie Payne
who are well remembered by
old timers who were earlier
settlers here, as the Paynes
were.
This is their story, as well
as Gerald’s, about how he
enj oyed his early years at the
relative’s house visiting and
running through the woods
barefoot.
The Paynes (also Grandpa
Payne) lived in an old-timey
house, the style of which was
popular in those days.
It was a dog-trot structure,
never painted, no electricity
nor modern conveniences,
but made comfortable with a
fireplace and wood-burning
cookstove.
One night in the early
1930s, the house caught fire
in the wee hours of morning.
The house was ablaze, but
everyone got out safely.
Uncle Ray grabbed his
shotgun and shot several
times into the air to alert the
neighbors.
Their closest neighbors
were the Claude Bowden
family, Buck Davises’ and
Jeff Nelson, who ran a little
store nearby. These were
some of the people who came
to help.
By the next day they had
made plans for everyone
to help build a new house.
Uncle Jess bought supplies
and everyone pitched in to
do the labor.
At the end of two weeks
a new house had been com-
pleted. Still no electricity or
running water, but they were
happy to have a comfortable
house to live in.
Then Uncle Jess decided
they needed a radio. Not
many had radios in those
days. Later when Gerald
came to visit, he was amazed
at the antennas and wires on
top of the house and huge
stacks of batteries, larger
than the radio, near the
radio.
Gerald recalls (when he
was a boy) how he followed
Jess, Ray and Gertie across
the pasture to the cotton
patch to chop cotton.
They harnessed Kate and
Rose, their work mules, for
Uncle Jess to plow out the
rows while Ray, Gertie and
Gerald thinned out the cot-
ton. (That is, if they didn’t
catch Gerald building ‘frog
houses’ in the dirt instead
of hoeing).
Here is one example of
how generous these people
were: They planted an acre
or so of purple hull peas and
invited the neighbors to pick
what they wanted. Gerald,
unaware of this practice, saw
strangers picking peas one
day and he ran fast through
the woods to tell them some-
one was stealing peas. They
had a good laugh, telling
him that the neighbors were
invited to pick peas.
In the new house, there
was a huge wood-burning
stove. They would fire it up
each day with pine kindling
and wood that they chopped.
When Gerald was there it
was his ‘privilege’ to keep the
wood box full. Aunt Gertie
was a good cook and always
had a big meal cooked.
Gerald and Ray brought in
quail they had just killed and
dressed. Fried quail, with
a big skillet of gravy, was
mouth-watering. Along with
the quail and gravy, there
were big ‘cat-head-biscuits
cooked in a pan Gerald de-
scribed “as half the size of
a tennis court.”
Uncle Ray had a bird-
Church to host special summer series
By Phillip Williams
The Graceton Church
of Christ will host a spe-
cial summer series on
Wednesday nights, with
visiting speakers discuss-
ing an aspect of the topic
“More About Jesus Would
I Know.”
The series is scheduled
each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
from June 1 through Aug.
24 except June 22, when the
congregation will be hosting
Vacation Bible School. The
church meets on FM Road
1972 at the intersection of
Lazy Daisy Road in the Di-
ana area.
By Phillip Williams
A former Gilmer Indepen-
dent School District aide was
sentenced to two concurrent
50-year prison terms last
week after pleading guilty
to two counts of aggravated
sexual assault of a child, said
Upshur County District At-
torney Billy Byrd.
Orlandos Lugene Johnson,
48, of Gilmer, was sentenced
May 3 by visiting Judge Wil-
liam Porter in 115th District
Court, Byrd said in a news
release the next day. The
offenses occurred when the
male child was under age 14,
the prosecutor said.
Johnson, a GISD employee
m? Mivrwt
P.O. Box 250
Gilmer, Texas 75644-0250
(903) 843-2503
ISSN No. 8750-0884
Established as
The Texas Mirror
in Gilmer in 1877
The Gilmer Mirror is published weekly each
Thursday by GREENEWAY ENTERPRISES,
INC.
Subscriptions are $31 a year in Upshur,
Gregg, Morris and Camp Counties and $36
elsewhere in Texas. Periodicals postage paid
at Gilmer, Texas USPS No, 218720.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
address listed above.
William R. Greene
Publisher
Sarah L. Greene
Publisher Emerita
Vic Parker
Editor
Suzanne Patterson
Advertising Manager
ERRORS REPORTED TO THE PUBLISHER
WILL BE CORRECTED IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Parts, Supplies & Accessories
Plumbing'MeterLoops
Anchors'Roof Coats'Skirting
Doors'Etc.
Cly Mobile Home Sales
Old CoffeeviMd.' Gilmer
(903)797-6525
The June schedule of
speakers and topics includes
Robert Stapleton of Bedford,
“More About Jesus Would I
Know.” June 1; J.J. Hendrix
of Mt. Pleasant, “The Pre-
Incarnate Jesus” on June 8;
Mark Engel, minister of the
Gilmer Church of Christ,
“The Incarnate Jesus” on
June 15; Heath Stapleton
of Bedford, “The Historical
Jesus” on June 29.
The July schedule in-
cludes Doyle Bruce, minis-
ter of the Jefferson Church
of Christ, “The Miracle
Working Jesus” on July 6;
Clint Brown of Farmers-
ville, “The Compassionate
for more than 20 years, was
accused of sexually molest-
ing the youth from the time
the boy was 12 in 2004 until he
was 17, and all the incidents
but one occurred at school,
Byrd said.
Johnson was arrested
April 1, 2015, in Gilmer ISD
superintendent Rick Albrit-
ton’s office after the victim
reported the abuse the pre-
vious month, officials said.
The victim did so while he
was in a mental health facil-
ity after attempting suicide,
Byrd said.
Albritton said the day after
the sentencing that Johnson
was put on unpaid leave at
the time of his arrest, and
terminated about 30 days
later when a grand jury
indicted him. He had been
a special needs aide and in-
school suspension aide, the
Jesus” on July 13; Kennon
Olison Sr., “The Master
Teacher Jesus” on July 20;
Richard Stevens of Dallas,
“The Soul Saving Jesus” on
July 27.
The August schedule
includes Mike Hisaw of
Mesquite, “The Crucified
Jesus” on Aug. 3; Larry
Evans of Texarkana, “The
Resurrected Jesus” on Aug.
10; Steven Hetherington
of Hubbard, “The Body/
Church of Jesus” on Aug.
17; Kris Groda of Mt. Pleas-
ant, “Continuing the Work
of Jesus/His Hands and His
Feet” on Aug. 24.
For more information,
superintendent said.
Last year, Albritton said
Johnson had passed a crimi-
nal background check given
all school employees.
As a result of Johnson’s
arrest, the superintendent
said last week, the school
district implemented a policy
prohibiting situations where
only one adult is in the pres-
ence of only one child.
“We do everything we can
to prevent it (child abuse),”
Albritton said.
Johnson must serve at
least 25 years — half his
sentence — before being con-
sidered for parole, Byrd said.
If and when paroled, he must
register as a sex offender for
the rest of his life, the district
attorney added.
Longview attorney Clem-
ent Dunn represented John-
son.
contact the church at 903-
797-2673. Jason Stapleton
is minister of the congre-
gation.
Annual meeting
scheduled by
WM cemetery
By Phillip Williams
The West Mountain Cem-
etery Association will hold its
annual meeting at the rural
Upshur County cemetery on
U.S. 271 Sunday, May 15.
Members are asked to bring
two dishes of vegetables, salad
or dessert for the 12:45 p.m.
lunch under the pavilion (meat
will be provided.) A business
meeting and program will
follow.
Donations to the asso-
ciation will be accepted at
Sunday’s gathering since the
group assesses no monthly
fees or yearly dues to maintain
the cemetery.
The association wants to
create a recipe book detailing
some history of the cemetery
and individuals buried there,
so members are asked to bring
their favorite family recipes
to the meeting or mail them
to the association at P.O. Box
206, Gilmer, Texas 75644.
“Tell us whose recipe it is
and how this has become an
important part of your family
history, associated with those
buried in the cemetery,” the
association said in a letter to
members.
Danny Johnson is president
of the organization, which
maintains the cemetery be-
tween Gilmer and Gladewa-
ter.
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Former GISD aide sentenced
Johnson gets concurrent 50-year terms
dog that he had raised and
trained and was just part
of the family. He could see
them with guns and he was
ready to go to work hunting
birds. One day, as they went
across the pasture to hunt,
the dog was running ahead.
They could see that he was
caught in the barbed wire
fence. He seemed to fall down
on his side. That was when
they realized that the doghad
caught the scent of the quail
and was pointing them as he
lay on the ground. The birds
flew, but the dog was all right.
Such a smart dog.
The Paynes were friends
with Grady Lansdale, a
well-known gospel singer,
who lived in the community,
and friend of the Stamps
Quartet. The Paynes’ bird-
dog disappeared one day.
Grady had told the Stamps
friends about how smart a
dog ‘Pooch’ was and about
him being missing.
One day as they were lis-
tening to the Gospel Hour
on the radio, the announcer
came on to speak and an-
nounced “Bulletin! Ray
Paynes’s birddog of Bettie,
Texas has gone missing, If
anyone sees a stray birddog
of this description (then he
described the dog) please
call immediately. He goes
by the name of “Pooch.”
What a surprise for them.
Although everyone was sad
about the dog, they burst out
laughing. Sadly. Pooch was
never found.
Jess, Ray and Gertie Payne
loved and admired their
neighbors. They were dear
folks. One of Gerald’s earli-
est memories is of “old man
Jeffie Nelson” who owned a
small grocery store up the
road. Jess and Ray would
give Gerald a few cents and
allow him to go to the store
alone. He was only seven and
the road was hot and sandy
in the summer, but he was
not afraid. He would buy
a sack of candy for himself
and sometimes a pack of Bull
Durham for Uncle Ray.
Uncle Jeffie was quite a
character and loved an audi-
ence. He bragged a lot about
how agile he was for his old
age. Once he was telling these
stories to Jess and laughing
and clowning. He did a little
jig on the porch, when all of
a sudden a board broke and
Uncle Jessie fell through the
floor and broke his leg.
One night the Nelson’s
house, which was near the
store, caught on fire. Mrs.
Nelson was wheelchair-
bound and Mr. Nelson could
not save her. After that Mr.
Nelson was alone. No one
remembers where he went
after that.
Another couple Gerald
remembers was Uncle Josh
and Aunt Jenny. No rela-
tion, but everyone spoke of
them that way. Their home
was near the cotton gin and
Jeffie’s store. They had a
grown-up son who walked
up the road almost every day
about sundown.
Gerald remembers how
he would hear him coming
always singing “She’s No-
body’s Darlin’ But Mine.”
To this day, it is a haunting
refrain in Gerald’s memory.
Nobody seemed to know
where he was going or why.
Other neighbors were
Claude Bowden and his
wife, Bertha. They had two
daughters, Claudine and
Sara. Mr. Claude was well-
remembered and loved for
his generosity and help to
anyone who needed it.
Gerald remembers these
dear people and how close
they all were to the Payne
family.
Jess, Ray and Gertie were
good Christian people and
always helped many friends
in the community. They were
active members of the Oak
Hill Baptist Church. Jess and
Ray died before Gertie. She
married a life-long friend,
Aubrey Johnson, of the Bet-
tie community.
Before Gertie died she
left a substantial amount of
money to help build a new
church for Oak Hill. It is a
testament of her love to the
church, that now stands high
on a hill one mile from the
Payne Ranch, where Gerald
and I now live.
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Parker, Vic. The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 2016, newspaper, May 12, 2016; Gilmer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth879318/m1/2/?q=Homecoming+queen+1966+North+Texas+State+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Upshur County Library.