W. P. BRIGHTWELL

The following bio was taken from page 123 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Charles Brightwell and his wife, Margaret Caroline Bell Brightwell, came to Rusk County, Texas from Macon, Georgia, bringing their young family with them. They had five sons – William Peter, Rueben, John, Earl, and Charlie – and one daughter, Lissie. Charles Brightwell was a Baptist preacher as well as a farmer. As each of these children reached twenty-one years of age or married, their parents gave them fifty acres of land.

William, the oldest son, met a beautiful young lady at one of the churches back in Georgia where his father was holding a meeting. When the family moved to Texas, he was sure that he had met back in Georgia the young lady that he wanted to marry. He started corresponding with Carry Arah Adner Drummond. Later William went back to Silver Springs, Georgia, which was a small community near Rome, Georgia, and he and Miss Drummond were married. They left by train for Texas, where they built a modest home. They gradually purchased more land joining them in the Leveretts Chapel Community of Rusk County.

William and Arah Brightwell had eleven children: Walter Jesse, John Homer, Fannie Arah Isabell, William Nathan, Roy Vinson, Ollie Thomas, Mary Malissa (Mollie), Leona, Ernest Bennett, Nettie Oleta, and Elsie Jewel. After his father died, William’s mother, Caroline, lived in William and Arah’s home for sixteen years.

Mr. Brightwell was a prosperous farmer, growing grains, peanuts, cotton, cane, and all varieties of fruit that were suitable for that area, as well as a large pecan orchard. It was not unusual to have three fruit orchards and three gardens growing at one time, preserving the produce in various ways to feed his family.

Mrs. Brightwell would card the cotton, spin it into thread, then weave it into material for her family. She taught this art to her older daughters. Quilting parties were nothing unusual in this home when ladies of the community would bring their materials and work.

The fall of the year was always something special. As the peanuts were harvested, there would be frequent candy making parties. Syrup making time would be special, too, as this was a good time to have a "taffy pulling party." The family made syrup for the public also.

The sawmill was not a fun time but hard as well as dangerous work, and we younger children were not permitted to be around when it was in operation. Once a log chain broke and the log rolled back onto Mr. Brightwell’s foot, crushing his ankle. From that time on everyone dreaded to see the mill start up.

Mrs. Brightwtwell raised chickens, ducks, geese, guineas and turkeys. These were sold to Schuster Produce Company in Shreveport, Louisiana. She also grew peas, peanuts, potatoes and pecans.

Hay bailing and pea thrashing were busy times around the farm, and peanut picking time too.

Sons Homer and Roy both died when they were nineteen years old. Walter married Beatrice Nixon and they had fourteen children. Nathan married Ella Mae Taylor, and they had four children; then he married Mary Williams, and they had two sons. Ollie married Clara Billingsy, and they had one son. Bennett and his wife, Fay Mikel, had two children. Fannie and her husband, Walter Grimes, had two children. Mollie married William H. Odom, Sr. and they had four children. Leona and her husband Bradford Gramling had two children. Oleta married Frank Wright and they had four children. Elsie Jewel married Antonio Roddy Mora.

Submitted by Jewel Mora