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Ninety-Nine CountingMrs. Allie Simmons Wilkerson was entertained on her ninety-ninth birthday, Sunday, October 6 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Alma Harper, 503 Williams Street. .,Mrs. Wilkerson has vivid memories of pioneer days in Texas. She recalls the terror she felt on a trip by wagon into Indian Territory to pick wild grapes. Red River rose during the night, and when they attempted to cross the next morning, they found the wagon being swept down stream. A man in the party stood up on the spring seat, shouted and whipped the horses until they pulled them out. Throughout the ordeal Allie wrapped her skinny legs around a barrel of grapes and hung on.Allie remembers living in a half dug-out near Claude, Texas in 1892 when her father took his family there to homestead land. Wells and stock tanks had to be dug and sod plowed before the blizzards came, so housing had to be provided for family and livestock quickly.She remembers when Mr. Monnig carried his merchandise from farm to farm in a wagon, when calico cost five cents a yard and gingham ten cents, when women who bobbed their hair were thought to have lowered their moral values.Allie also recalls when gold was used to pay debts.A trip to the bank required a day lost from work, so her father who owned a thrashing machine, and needed money daily to pay the w-orkers, usually got enough gold to last awhile. He buried it in the garden and dug up only as much as he neeaed. There w'ere always transient workers of unknown character about, so a trip to the field to carry the money sack to her father was a frightening experience for a little girl, but Allie never backed down.She giggles like a school irl when she tells about er pranks. A young man who worked on the farm and lived with her family had a habit of wearing his pants too short. One night after he had retired, her brothers tossed his pants down the stairs to Allie and her sisters. The sewed red ruffles on them and tossed them back. The next morning the young man came to breakfast grinning and strutting in his red ruffled pants.Before she left, Allie sat down at the piano to play a tune.Family and friends came from Brighton, Colorado, Fort worth, Euless, Weatherford, Waco, Hillsboro, Whitney, Newark, Bedford, Rhome, Austin and Longview to help create a happy day she said she'd remember all her life. She's looking forward to her hundredth birthday.
Newspaper Details
Grandview Tribune
Grandview, Texas, US
Fri, Oct 11, 1985
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jimmy L.
SE 06 Sep 2017
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