ALEXANDER-VELVIN

The following bio was taken from page 420 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

I, Shannon Alexander Velvin, graduated from Henderson High School in 1932 and married Flake A. Velvin in 1934. He was a veteran of World War II and owned a freight and transportation line.

Flake and I have one daughter, Sandra Jane, who graduated from Henderson High School here. She obtained her B.S. and M.S. degrees in education from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. She teaches second grade at Carlisle Independent School District at Price.

Sandra married William Alva Ross on August 5, 1961 in the First Presbyterian Church in Henderson. They have one daughter, Shannon Renee, born February 10, 1968, in the St. John’s Hospital in Oxnard, California. Renee’s father died in the same hospital in Oxnard. Sandra married William Ashby, December 28, 1979. My parents were Charles T. and Eunice Yandle Alexander. They were married in 1911 and had two daughters and one son: me, Shannon; Jane, who died at the age of seven in 1929; and Charles Richard, who served in World War II and the Korean Conflict. He has worked with the Harris Printing Company since his teens and is happy when planting a garden, mowing grass, and especially when deer season comes.

Charles T. Alexander’s parents were James Andrew and Emiline Summers, who were married in Tarrant County, Texas. James’ parents were Charles Moore and Diadema Robinson Alexander. Diadema was the daughter of C.A. and Elizabeth Robinson of Minville, Tennessee. Charles Moore and his wife were both born in Georgia.

My father, Charles T. Alexander, was a farmer, cottenweigh and buyer here in Henderson. My mother was a schoolteacher, Eunice Yandle Alexander, whose parents were John H. Yandle and Janie Brown. Janie was the daughter of Nancy Jane Cook and Richard Brown. (See Richard Brown family)

Eunice had two brothers and three sisters. The first brother, Luther Whitfield, married Birdie Copeland, and they had one daughter, Elizabeth. After Birdie died in 1938, Whit married Margaret Hartley Todd. Whit is a World War I veteran and later drove the school bus in Henderson. Richard B. married Gertie Ballow. Of the three sisters, Bernice never married. Veasy married Herman Adams, a schoolteacher. Floyd married Shafter Adams. Herman and Shafter were cousins.

Gloster (Glen) Velvin married Lillie Wines Higgins. Her parents were Becky McLoughlin and John Higgins of Arkansas. Beck’s parents were John and Polly McLoughlin of Alabama.

The children of Gloster (Glen) and Lillie Wines Higgins Velvin were: Flake A., who married Shannon Alexander; Buster Wayne, who married Christine Hodges; Edgar Glen, who married Nell Ray Hall; J.F., who married Margaret Munsell; Sybil S., who married Adelaide Manning; and Gloster (Glen), who married Louise Stanfield.

Gloster (Glen) was a bookkeeper, a schoolteacher, and the owner of a freight line and a grocery store. He also served as Justice of the Peace in Henderson. Four of Gloster (Glen) and Lillie’s sons served in World War II; Flake, Buster, Edgar, and Sybil.

Submitted by Mrs. F.A. Velvin