The Heritage of Butler County, AL;
Carrie Dee Arant thought of South Butler County, Alabama as "home" until her death June 1, 1939 in Silver Lake, Van Zandt County, Texas. She was born October 2, 1870 in Lumber Mills (McKenzie) Alabama to Calvin Luther Arant and Emeline Americus McCormick, who died (Mar 28 1871) when Carrie Dee was just an infant.John Wesley Carpenter was born April 30, 1871 in Georgiana, Butler County, Alabama to Benjamin David Carpenter and Elizabeth Ware. John Wesley grew to young manhood in South Butler County but the desire to try his luck in Texas became irresistible. In the spring of 1893, at almost 21, he made the move settling first in Royce City, Texas where he nearly died with appendicitis but was nursed back to health by a distant cousin. That August he moved to Terrell, Texas, then on to Elmo in Kaufman County, Texas in January 1894. During this time his parents, along with his brother Will and his family, also came to Texas and bought a cotton gin. The year was very dry and they lost almost everything; thus, they moved back to Butler County, Alabama in a wagon with their household goods.
All the while John Wesley was courting Carrie Dee by mail. At last she agreed to move to Texas. He sold three bales of cotton, which netted $60, to finance the trip back to Butler County to claim his bride. Carrie Dee married January 12, 1895 at the Arant home in Lumber Mills, her longtime suitor John Wesley Carpenter. Tearful goodbyes were said to her father, her stepmother Mary Caroline (Williams) Arant who had raised her since she was two years old, her sisters, Armanta Verdilline, Elvie Petrona, Collie Salona and her half-sister and half-brothers, Eran Beatress, Steven Oliver, Jacob Calvin, and John Frank. Goodbye, also, to the lush greenery, sparkling creeks, friends and relatives at every turn, the South Butler Methodist Church (where she and John Wesley had been christened on the same day in 1872), leaving familiar things and traveling to Kaufman County, Texas, a strange place (perhaps unhealthy, John Wesley had come ill there), to make a new life. She soon learned that her new home had its own beauty. Fertile black soil, some trees (though not the dense, lush woods of Butler County), and long vistas across the prairie.Children of John Wesley and Carrie Dee (Arant) Carpenter were: Luther Calvin, born September 30, 1895, Roy Lee, born October 22, 1897, Edward H., born August 25, 1899, Scyrine Mae, born April 11, 1901, Hugo Wesley, born August 9, 1903, and Grace Maureen, born September 6, 1905. There was a typhoid epidemic in the Elmo community in 1904; Carrie Dee and Roy had typhoid fever twice, and Luther Calvin, the first born, died that November. Carrie Dee returned to McKenzie the winter of 1906 for the pending death of her father. Her brother, Frank Arant, came to Texas to help her on the trip with the five children. They bought two full fare train tickets, and the children rode free.
Carrie Dee packed a picnic basket with fried chicken, sweet potatoes, biscuits, which lasted the whole trip. The train station in Houston had flush toilets! They crossed the Mississippi River on a train barge, then changed train stations in New Orleans, crossed body water, and saw sailboats. It was an exciting trip for the Children. Calvin Luther Arant had come paralyzed and bedridden, but Carrie Dee was grateful to see him. They stayed in McKenzie until April then returned to Texas with Bertha McClure, Carrie Dee's niece, to help out. The next year in February there was a nearly unheard of long distance telephone call advising of the death of Calvin Luther Arant.The Carpenter family moved to Silver Lake in Van Zandt County, Texas in January 1908 in a boxcar on the Texas and Pacific Railroad. One half held the livestock, tended John Wesley and the boys; the other half held their worldly goods and the girls. Carrie Dee was never again to return to Butler County, Alabama, but John Wesley took Scyrine for a visit in the fall of 1917 when she is 16. This time they took the direct route to Shreveport, Louisiana, then to New Orleans where they changed from Texas and Pacific to L & N Railroad, then to Mobile and on to Butler County. They stayed with Frank Arant who had his mother Caroline living with him. They stayed with George and Armanta (Arant) McClure, George and "Tron" (Arant) Sellers, and barely in Florida with Ira and Collie (Arant) Moseley. Scyrine was given quite a rush by her boy cousins, but she told them that when she married she wanted to change her name. She always understood why her parents loved Butler County.
On the trip back to Texas they stopped in New Orleans and stayed at the St. Charles hotel, went to a vaudeville show, ate hot dogs, etc., all costing more than John Wesley had counted on. When they reached Shreveport he had to wire Carrie Dee for money for the rest of the train trip to Silver Lake. John Wesley was a farmer and beloved by all. He continued to live in Silver Lake until 1957 when he went to live with his daughter Scyrine in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. She had moved to Tyler from Great Neck, New York to be near her family after the death of her husband Robert Kirby Shirley in January 1956. John Wesley was still quite active physically and mentally, working in the garden and reading two newspapers a day, until he was well into his 90's. John Wesley Carpenter died in Tyler May 31, 1967, age 95, and is buried in the Silver Lake, Texas cemetery. Submitted by: Ruth and Robert K Shirley, Jr., 55 South Point, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39402. Sources: Bible records, Scyrine Carpenter Shirley (9011995) notes and records. Letters from John Wesley Carpenter to Carrie Dee Arant 1893-1895.
Carrie Dee Arant thought of South Butler County, Alabama as "home" until her death June 1, 1939 in Silver Lake, Van Zandt County, Texas. She was born October 2, 1870 in Lumber Mills (McKenzie) Alabama to Calvin Luther Arant and Emeline Americus McCormick, who died (Mar 28 1871) when Carrie Dee was just an infant.John Wesley Carpenter was born April 30, 1871 in Georgiana, Butler County, Alabama to Benjamin David Carpenter and Elizabeth Ware. John Wesley grew to young manhood in South Butler County but the desire to try his luck in Texas became irresistible. In the spring of 1893, at almost 21, he made the move settling first in Royce City, Texas where he nearly died with appendicitis but was nursed back to health by a distant cousin. That August he moved to Terrell, Texas, then on to Elmo in Kaufman County, Texas in January 1894. During this time his parents, along with his brother Will and his family, also came to Texas and bought a cotton gin. The year was very dry and they lost almost everything; thus, they moved back to Butler County, Alabama in a wagon with their household goods.
All the while John Wesley was courting Carrie Dee by mail. At last she agreed to move to Texas. He sold three bales of cotton, which netted $60, to finance the trip back to Butler County to claim his bride. Carrie Dee married January 12, 1895 at the Arant home in Lumber Mills, her longtime suitor John Wesley Carpenter. Tearful goodbyes were said to her father, her stepmother Mary Caroline (Williams) Arant who had raised her since she was two years old, her sisters, Armanta Verdilline, Elvie Petrona, Collie Salona and her half-sister and half-brothers, Eran Beatress, Steven Oliver, Jacob Calvin, and John Frank. Goodbye, also, to the lush greenery, sparkling creeks, friends and relatives at every turn, the South Butler Methodist Church (where she and John Wesley had been christened on the same day in 1872), leaving familiar things and traveling to Kaufman County, Texas, a strange place (perhaps unhealthy, John Wesley had come ill there), to make a new life. She soon learned that her new home had its own beauty. Fertile black soil, some trees (though not the dense, lush woods of Butler County), and long vistas across the prairie.Children of John Wesley and Carrie Dee (Arant) Carpenter were: Luther Calvin, born September 30, 1895, Roy Lee, born October 22, 1897, Edward H., born August 25, 1899, Scyrine Mae, born April 11, 1901, Hugo Wesley, born August 9, 1903, and Grace Maureen, born September 6, 1905. There was a typhoid epidemic in the Elmo community in 1904; Carrie Dee and Roy had typhoid fever twice, and Luther Calvin, the first born, died that November. Carrie Dee returned to McKenzie the winter of 1906 for the pending death of her father. Her brother, Frank Arant, came to Texas to help her on the trip with the five children. They bought two full fare train tickets, and the children rode free.
Carrie Dee packed a picnic basket with fried chicken, sweet potatoes, biscuits, which lasted the whole trip. The train station in Houston had flush toilets! They crossed the Mississippi River on a train barge, then changed train stations in New Orleans, crossed body water, and saw sailboats. It was an exciting trip for the Children. Calvin Luther Arant had come paralyzed and bedridden, but Carrie Dee was grateful to see him. They stayed in McKenzie until April then returned to Texas with Bertha McClure, Carrie Dee's niece, to help out. The next year in February there was a nearly unheard of long distance telephone call advising of the death of Calvin Luther Arant.The Carpenter family moved to Silver Lake in Van Zandt County, Texas in January 1908 in a boxcar on the Texas and Pacific Railroad. One half held the livestock, tended John Wesley and the boys; the other half held their worldly goods and the girls. Carrie Dee was never again to return to Butler County, Alabama, but John Wesley took Scyrine for a visit in the fall of 1917 when she is 16. This time they took the direct route to Shreveport, Louisiana, then to New Orleans where they changed from Texas and Pacific to L & N Railroad, then to Mobile and on to Butler County. They stayed with Frank Arant who had his mother Caroline living with him. They stayed with George and Armanta (Arant) McClure, George and "Tron" (Arant) Sellers, and barely in Florida with Ira and Collie (Arant) Moseley. Scyrine was given quite a rush by her boy cousins, but she told them that when she married she wanted to change her name. She always understood why her parents loved Butler County.
On the trip back to Texas they stopped in New Orleans and stayed at the St. Charles hotel, went to a vaudeville show, ate hot dogs, etc., all costing more than John Wesley had counted on. When they reached Shreveport he had to wire Carrie Dee for money for the rest of the train trip to Silver Lake. John Wesley was a farmer and beloved by all. He continued to live in Silver Lake until 1957 when he went to live with his daughter Scyrine in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. She had moved to Tyler from Great Neck, New York to be near her family after the death of her husband Robert Kirby Shirley in January 1956. John Wesley was still quite active physically and mentally, working in the garden and reading two newspapers a day, until he was well into his 90's. John Wesley Carpenter died in Tyler May 31, 1967, age 95, and is buried in the Silver Lake, Texas cemetery. Submitted by: Ruth and Robert K Shirley, Jr., 55 South Point, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39402. Sources: Bible records, Scyrine Carpenter Shirley (9011995) notes and records. Letters from John Wesley Carpenter to Carrie Dee Arant 1893-1895.
The Heritage of Butler County, AL;
Carrie Dee Arant thought of South Butler County, Alabama as "home" until her death June 1, 1939 in Silver Lake, Van Zandt County, Texas. She was born October 2, 1870 in Lumber Mills (McKenzie) Alabama to Calvin Luther Arant and Emeline Americus McCormick, who died (Mar 28 1871) when Carrie Dee was just an infant.John Wesley Carpenter was born April 30, 1871 in Georgiana, Butler County, Alabama to Benjamin David Carpenter and Elizabeth Ware. John Wesley grew to young manhood in South Butler County but the desire to try his luck in Texas became irresistible. In the spring of 1893, at almost 21, he made the move settling first in Royce City, Texas where he nearly died with appendicitis but was nursed back to health by a distant cousin. That August he moved to Terrell, Texas, then on to Elmo in Kaufman County, Texas in January 1894. During this time his parents, along with his brother Will and his family, also came to Texas and bought a cotton gin. The year was very dry and they lost almost everything; thus, they moved back to Butler County, Alabama in a wagon with their household goods.
All the while John Wesley was courting Carrie Dee by mail. At last she agreed to move to Texas. He sold three bales of cotton, which netted $60, to finance the trip back to Butler County to claim his bride. Carrie Dee married January 12, 1895 at the Arant home in Lumber Mills, her longtime suitor John Wesley Carpenter. Tearful goodbyes were said to her father, her stepmother Mary Caroline (Williams) Arant who had raised her since she was two years old, her sisters, Armanta Verdilline, Elvie Petrona, Collie Salona and her half-sister and half-brothers, Eran Beatress, Steven Oliver, Jacob Calvin, and John Frank. Goodbye, also, to the lush greenery, sparkling creeks, friends and relatives at every turn, the South Butler Methodist Church (where she and John Wesley had been christened on the same day in 1872), leaving familiar things and traveling to Kaufman County, Texas, a strange place (perhaps unhealthy, John Wesley had come ill there), to make a new life. She soon learned that her new home had its own beauty. Fertile black soil, some trees (though not the dense, lush woods of Butler County), and long vistas across the prairie.Children of John Wesley and Carrie Dee (Arant) Carpenter were: Luther Calvin, born September 30, 1895, Roy Lee, born October 22, 1897, Edward H., born August 25, 1899, Scyrine Mae, born April 11, 1901, Hugo Wesley, born August 9, 1903, and Grace Maureen, born September 6, 1905. There was a typhoid epidemic in the Elmo community in 1904; Carrie Dee and Roy had typhoid fever twice, and Luther Calvin, the first born, died that November. Carrie Dee returned to McKenzie the winter of 1906 for the pending death of her father. Her brother, Frank Arant, came to Texas to help her on the trip with the five children. They bought two full fare train tickets, and the children rode free.
Carrie Dee packed a picnic basket with fried chicken, sweet potatoes, biscuits, which lasted the whole trip. The train station in Houston had flush toilets! They crossed the Mississippi River on a train barge, then changed train stations in New Orleans, crossed body water, and saw sailboats. It was an exciting trip for the Children. Calvin Luther Arant had come paralyzed and bedridden, but Carrie Dee was grateful to see him. They stayed in McKenzie until April then returned to Texas with Bertha McClure, Carrie Dee's niece, to help out. The next year in February there was a nearly unheard of long distance telephone call advising of the death of Calvin Luther Arant.The Carpenter family moved to Silver Lake in Van Zandt County, Texas in January 1908 in a boxcar on the Texas and Pacific Railroad. One half held the livestock, tended John Wesley and the boys; the other half held their worldly goods and the girls. Carrie Dee was never again to return to Butler County, Alabama, but John Wesley took Scyrine for a visit in the fall of 1917 when she is 16. This time they took the direct route to Shreveport, Louisiana, then to New Orleans where they changed from Texas and Pacific to L & N Railroad, then to Mobile and on to Butler County. They stayed with Frank Arant who had his mother Caroline living with him. They stayed with George and Armanta (Arant) McClure, George and "Tron" (Arant) Sellers, and barely in Florida with Ira and Collie (Arant) Moseley. Scyrine was given quite a rush by her boy cousins, but she told them that when she married she wanted to change her name. She always understood why her parents loved Butler County.
On the trip back to Texas they stopped in New Orleans and stayed at the St. Charles hotel, went to a vaudeville show, ate hot dogs, etc., all costing more than John Wesley had counted on. When they reached Shreveport he had to wire Carrie Dee for money for the rest of the train trip to Silver Lake. John Wesley was a farmer and beloved by all. He continued to live in Silver Lake until 1957 when he went to live with his daughter Scyrine in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. She had moved to Tyler from Great Neck, New York to be near her family after the death of her husband Robert Kirby Shirley in January 1956. John Wesley was still quite active physically and mentally, working in the garden and reading two newspapers a day, until he was well into his 90's. John Wesley Carpenter died in Tyler May 31, 1967, age 95, and is buried in the Silver Lake, Texas cemetery. Submitted by: Ruth and Robert K Shirley, Jr., 55 South Point, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39402. Sources: Bible records, Scyrine Carpenter Shirley (9011995) notes and records. Letters from John Wesley Carpenter to Carrie Dee Arant 1893-1895.
Carrie Dee Arant thought of South Butler County, Alabama as "home" until her death June 1, 1939 in Silver Lake, Van Zandt County, Texas. She was born October 2, 1870 in Lumber Mills (McKenzie) Alabama to Calvin Luther Arant and Emeline Americus McCormick, who died (Mar 28 1871) when Carrie Dee was just an infant.John Wesley Carpenter was born April 30, 1871 in Georgiana, Butler County, Alabama to Benjamin David Carpenter and Elizabeth Ware. John Wesley grew to young manhood in South Butler County but the desire to try his luck in Texas became irresistible. In the spring of 1893, at almost 21, he made the move settling first in Royce City, Texas where he nearly died with appendicitis but was nursed back to health by a distant cousin. That August he moved to Terrell, Texas, then on to Elmo in Kaufman County, Texas in January 1894. During this time his parents, along with his brother Will and his family, also came to Texas and bought a cotton gin. The year was very dry and they lost almost everything; thus, they moved back to Butler County, Alabama in a wagon with their household goods.
All the while John Wesley was courting Carrie Dee by mail. At last she agreed to move to Texas. He sold three bales of cotton, which netted $60, to finance the trip back to Butler County to claim his bride. Carrie Dee married January 12, 1895 at the Arant home in Lumber Mills, her longtime suitor John Wesley Carpenter. Tearful goodbyes were said to her father, her stepmother Mary Caroline (Williams) Arant who had raised her since she was two years old, her sisters, Armanta Verdilline, Elvie Petrona, Collie Salona and her half-sister and half-brothers, Eran Beatress, Steven Oliver, Jacob Calvin, and John Frank. Goodbye, also, to the lush greenery, sparkling creeks, friends and relatives at every turn, the South Butler Methodist Church (where she and John Wesley had been christened on the same day in 1872), leaving familiar things and traveling to Kaufman County, Texas, a strange place (perhaps unhealthy, John Wesley had come ill there), to make a new life. She soon learned that her new home had its own beauty. Fertile black soil, some trees (though not the dense, lush woods of Butler County), and long vistas across the prairie.Children of John Wesley and Carrie Dee (Arant) Carpenter were: Luther Calvin, born September 30, 1895, Roy Lee, born October 22, 1897, Edward H., born August 25, 1899, Scyrine Mae, born April 11, 1901, Hugo Wesley, born August 9, 1903, and Grace Maureen, born September 6, 1905. There was a typhoid epidemic in the Elmo community in 1904; Carrie Dee and Roy had typhoid fever twice, and Luther Calvin, the first born, died that November. Carrie Dee returned to McKenzie the winter of 1906 for the pending death of her father. Her brother, Frank Arant, came to Texas to help her on the trip with the five children. They bought two full fare train tickets, and the children rode free.
Carrie Dee packed a picnic basket with fried chicken, sweet potatoes, biscuits, which lasted the whole trip. The train station in Houston had flush toilets! They crossed the Mississippi River on a train barge, then changed train stations in New Orleans, crossed body water, and saw sailboats. It was an exciting trip for the Children. Calvin Luther Arant had come paralyzed and bedridden, but Carrie Dee was grateful to see him. They stayed in McKenzie until April then returned to Texas with Bertha McClure, Carrie Dee's niece, to help out. The next year in February there was a nearly unheard of long distance telephone call advising of the death of Calvin Luther Arant.The Carpenter family moved to Silver Lake in Van Zandt County, Texas in January 1908 in a boxcar on the Texas and Pacific Railroad. One half held the livestock, tended John Wesley and the boys; the other half held their worldly goods and the girls. Carrie Dee was never again to return to Butler County, Alabama, but John Wesley took Scyrine for a visit in the fall of 1917 when she is 16. This time they took the direct route to Shreveport, Louisiana, then to New Orleans where they changed from Texas and Pacific to L & N Railroad, then to Mobile and on to Butler County. They stayed with Frank Arant who had his mother Caroline living with him. They stayed with George and Armanta (Arant) McClure, George and "Tron" (Arant) Sellers, and barely in Florida with Ira and Collie (Arant) Moseley. Scyrine was given quite a rush by her boy cousins, but she told them that when she married she wanted to change her name. She always understood why her parents loved Butler County.
On the trip back to Texas they stopped in New Orleans and stayed at the St. Charles hotel, went to a vaudeville show, ate hot dogs, etc., all costing more than John Wesley had counted on. When they reached Shreveport he had to wire Carrie Dee for money for the rest of the train trip to Silver Lake. John Wesley was a farmer and beloved by all. He continued to live in Silver Lake until 1957 when he went to live with his daughter Scyrine in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. She had moved to Tyler from Great Neck, New York to be near her family after the death of her husband Robert Kirby Shirley in January 1956. John Wesley was still quite active physically and mentally, working in the garden and reading two newspapers a day, until he was well into his 90's. John Wesley Carpenter died in Tyler May 31, 1967, age 95, and is buried in the Silver Lake, Texas cemetery. Submitted by: Ruth and Robert K Shirley, Jr., 55 South Point, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39402. Sources: Bible records, Scyrine Carpenter Shirley (9011995) notes and records. Letters from John Wesley Carpenter to Carrie Dee Arant 1893-1895.
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