From Tales & Trails of Bailey County, the First 70 Years, Taylor Publishing Co, Dallas, TX 1988
Jesse McCaleb and twin brother James Newton "Jim" the 7th and 8th children of Newton and Ella Frances (Rotten) Murrah were born August 6, 1885 in Grimes County, Texas. Newton was born in Autauga County, Alabama February 20, 1836. He served in the Confederate Army in the 1860s. Newton and Ella were married December 7, 1871 at Houston, Texas. They lived on a farm in Grimes County and he worked as a cotton gin mechanic.
Newton died July 19, 1897 and the family struggled to exist on the farm. One letter indicates their concern for winter meat as the old sow had died but they had made a good potato crop. Members of the family migrated westward into Jack and Knox Counties. Jesse with his mother and two sisters came to Lynn County near Tahoka in 1909. Ella Murrah died August 19, 1916 and is buried with other family members there.
Jesse was married to Eva Bartley January 14, 1915 at Tahoka. Eva was the daughter of L.R. and Margaret Fergurson Bartley born December 3, 1896 in Grayson County. To this union was born five boys and two girls. following a disasterous drought in 1917 Jesse and Eva moved to Iowa Park where he worked in the oil fields for six years.
The Murrah family came to Muleshoe January 1, 1925 and moved into a one room house five miles northwest of town on the D.E. Layne farm adjoining 80 acres Jesse had bought. An additional two room box-strip house was built to accommodate the family. Two attempts at irrigated farming were failures and was not tried again for several years. The family got its mail at Hurley where the mail bag was thrown from the moving train and outgoing mail was retrieved by a mechanical arm.
In 1927 Jesse went in contract to operate school buses for the Muleshoe school district. For the next seventeen years the family life was a combination of farming and bus driving. Eva, her father, Jesse's brother Hill, one of Eva's uncles and other relatives were involved in bus driving many of those years. Only one day of this time, during a raging blizzard did the buses fail to run. The first ten years of this period the buses were the only transportation the family had. The buses also served as supplementary transportation for many people along the school routes, extra curricular activities and other community events.
The Murrahs bought the first rubber tired Farmall tractor sold by E.R. Hart Company of Muleshoe. The performance of that tractor was of great interest to the entire community.
Two of the Murrah sons served in World War II, Claudis in the Philippines and A.L. in Germany. A.L. was married to Betty Rackley, Claudis to Maxine Daily, Dalton to Audeen Smith, Gordon to Ada Hogan, and Dorothy to Wayne Stark. Jesse and Jerene never married. (Submitted by Gordon Murrah)
Jesse McCaleb and twin brother James Newton "Jim" the 7th and 8th children of Newton and Ella Frances (Rotten) Murrah were born August 6, 1885 in Grimes County, Texas. Newton was born in Autauga County, Alabama February 20, 1836. He served in the Confederate Army in the 1860s. Newton and Ella were married December 7, 1871 at Houston, Texas. They lived on a farm in Grimes County and he worked as a cotton gin mechanic.
Newton died July 19, 1897 and the family struggled to exist on the farm. One letter indicates their concern for winter meat as the old sow had died but they had made a good potato crop. Members of the family migrated westward into Jack and Knox Counties. Jesse with his mother and two sisters came to Lynn County near Tahoka in 1909. Ella Murrah died August 19, 1916 and is buried with other family members there.
Jesse was married to Eva Bartley January 14, 1915 at Tahoka. Eva was the daughter of L.R. and Margaret Fergurson Bartley born December 3, 1896 in Grayson County. To this union was born five boys and two girls. following a disasterous drought in 1917 Jesse and Eva moved to Iowa Park where he worked in the oil fields for six years.
The Murrah family came to Muleshoe January 1, 1925 and moved into a one room house five miles northwest of town on the D.E. Layne farm adjoining 80 acres Jesse had bought. An additional two room box-strip house was built to accommodate the family. Two attempts at irrigated farming were failures and was not tried again for several years. The family got its mail at Hurley where the mail bag was thrown from the moving train and outgoing mail was retrieved by a mechanical arm.
In 1927 Jesse went in contract to operate school buses for the Muleshoe school district. For the next seventeen years the family life was a combination of farming and bus driving. Eva, her father, Jesse's brother Hill, one of Eva's uncles and other relatives were involved in bus driving many of those years. Only one day of this time, during a raging blizzard did the buses fail to run. The first ten years of this period the buses were the only transportation the family had. The buses also served as supplementary transportation for many people along the school routes, extra curricular activities and other community events.
The Murrahs bought the first rubber tired Farmall tractor sold by E.R. Hart Company of Muleshoe. The performance of that tractor was of great interest to the entire community.
Two of the Murrah sons served in World War II, Claudis in the Philippines and A.L. in Germany. A.L. was married to Betty Rackley, Claudis to Maxine Daily, Dalton to Audeen Smith, Gordon to Ada Hogan, and Dorothy to Wayne Stark. Jesse and Jerene never married. (Submitted by Gordon Murrah)
From Tales & Trails of Bailey County, the First 70 Years, Taylor Publishing Co, Dallas, TX 1988
Jesse McCaleb and twin brother James Newton "Jim" the 7th and 8th children of Newton and Ella Frances (Rotten) Murrah were born August 6, 1885 in Grimes County, Texas. Newton was born in Autauga County, Alabama February 20, 1836. He served in the Confederate Army in the 1860s. Newton and Ella were married December 7, 1871 at Houston, Texas. They lived on a farm in Grimes County and he worked as a cotton gin mechanic.
Newton died July 19, 1897 and the family struggled to exist on the farm. One letter indicates their concern for winter meat as the old sow had died but they had made a good potato crop. Members of the family migrated westward into Jack and Knox Counties. Jesse with his mother and two sisters came to Lynn County near Tahoka in 1909. Ella Murrah died August 19, 1916 and is buried with other family members there.
Jesse was married to Eva Bartley January 14, 1915 at Tahoka. Eva was the daughter of L.R. and Margaret Fergurson Bartley born December 3, 1896 in Grayson County. To this union was born five boys and two girls. following a disasterous drought in 1917 Jesse and Eva moved to Iowa Park where he worked in the oil fields for six years.
The Murrah family came to Muleshoe January 1, 1925 and moved into a one room house five miles northwest of town on the D.E. Layne farm adjoining 80 acres Jesse had bought. An additional two room box-strip house was built to accommodate the family. Two attempts at irrigated farming were failures and was not tried again for several years. The family got its mail at Hurley where the mail bag was thrown from the moving train and outgoing mail was retrieved by a mechanical arm.
In 1927 Jesse went in contract to operate school buses for the Muleshoe school district. For the next seventeen years the family life was a combination of farming and bus driving. Eva, her father, Jesse's brother Hill, one of Eva's uncles and other relatives were involved in bus driving many of those years. Only one day of this time, during a raging blizzard did the buses fail to run. The first ten years of this period the buses were the only transportation the family had. The buses also served as supplementary transportation for many people along the school routes, extra curricular activities and other community events.
The Murrahs bought the first rubber tired Farmall tractor sold by E.R. Hart Company of Muleshoe. The performance of that tractor was of great interest to the entire community.
Two of the Murrah sons served in World War II, Claudis in the Philippines and A.L. in Germany. A.L. was married to Betty Rackley, Claudis to Maxine Daily, Dalton to Audeen Smith, Gordon to Ada Hogan, and Dorothy to Wayne Stark. Jesse and Jerene never married. (Submitted by Gordon Murrah)
Jesse McCaleb and twin brother James Newton "Jim" the 7th and 8th children of Newton and Ella Frances (Rotten) Murrah were born August 6, 1885 in Grimes County, Texas. Newton was born in Autauga County, Alabama February 20, 1836. He served in the Confederate Army in the 1860s. Newton and Ella were married December 7, 1871 at Houston, Texas. They lived on a farm in Grimes County and he worked as a cotton gin mechanic.
Newton died July 19, 1897 and the family struggled to exist on the farm. One letter indicates their concern for winter meat as the old sow had died but they had made a good potato crop. Members of the family migrated westward into Jack and Knox Counties. Jesse with his mother and two sisters came to Lynn County near Tahoka in 1909. Ella Murrah died August 19, 1916 and is buried with other family members there.
Jesse was married to Eva Bartley January 14, 1915 at Tahoka. Eva was the daughter of L.R. and Margaret Fergurson Bartley born December 3, 1896 in Grayson County. To this union was born five boys and two girls. following a disasterous drought in 1917 Jesse and Eva moved to Iowa Park where he worked in the oil fields for six years.
The Murrah family came to Muleshoe January 1, 1925 and moved into a one room house five miles northwest of town on the D.E. Layne farm adjoining 80 acres Jesse had bought. An additional two room box-strip house was built to accommodate the family. Two attempts at irrigated farming were failures and was not tried again for several years. The family got its mail at Hurley where the mail bag was thrown from the moving train and outgoing mail was retrieved by a mechanical arm.
In 1927 Jesse went in contract to operate school buses for the Muleshoe school district. For the next seventeen years the family life was a combination of farming and bus driving. Eva, her father, Jesse's brother Hill, one of Eva's uncles and other relatives were involved in bus driving many of those years. Only one day of this time, during a raging blizzard did the buses fail to run. The first ten years of this period the buses were the only transportation the family had. The buses also served as supplementary transportation for many people along the school routes, extra curricular activities and other community events.
The Murrahs bought the first rubber tired Farmall tractor sold by E.R. Hart Company of Muleshoe. The performance of that tractor was of great interest to the entire community.
Two of the Murrah sons served in World War II, Claudis in the Philippines and A.L. in Germany. A.L. was married to Betty Rackley, Claudis to Maxine Daily, Dalton to Audeen Smith, Gordon to Ada Hogan, and Dorothy to Wayne Stark. Jesse and Jerene never married. (Submitted by Gordon Murrah)
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