ALRONZO (RONDA) BUSBY

The following bio was taken from page 138 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

The parents of Alronzo (better known as Ronda) were Joe Busby and Hessell Armstrong Busby, who were also the parents of four other sons and two daughters. All grew up in Rusk County where the family owned a large plantation, which now has several gas and oil wells.

Ronda married Annie Maude Dunklin, daughter of Nealy and Elizabeth Roman Dunklin, also plantation owners. There were nine children in the Dunklin family.

Ronda and Maude had four children, two of whom died in infancy. The couple settled in Pirtle, where they bought a home and farmed. Maude died, leaving two small children, Otto Lafayette and Maygene. Ronda taught his son to farm. Then Ronda went into the blacksmith business, and sometimes Lafayette would help him in the shop. Later Ronda married Pearl Whittington Dunklin. He continued his work at farming and blacksmithing.

As a boy Lafayette had a number of cousins. He loved to spend a few days with them and his friends. In summer time the boys had fun in the swimming hole. Lafayette also fished a lot. In winter months he cut wood for the fireplace and the cook stove, working a lot of times with neighbors. He liked to hunt rabbits and squirrels.

During World War II, Lafayette was drafted into the U. S. Army and spent several months in the service. He sent his father money to help live on and to take care of the house. On his return he farmed for a while and then worked on the county roads for six years. He continued to help care for his father and stepmother until his father went to work for the county.

Lafayette went back to farming and married Mary Gladys Waller. The couple had no children. They farmed and raised cows and chickens. Their hobby was fishing. They moved into a two-room house on the place, which was owned by his real parents. They lived in it for two years and then built more onto the house.

After Ronda’s death, Lafayette and Gladys looked after his stepmother as long as she was able to live at her home next to them. They continued farming and Gladys also worked as a housekeeper and then did other jobs for neighbors until Lafayette became disabled. Then the oil wells came in, and they lived mostly on oil money until Lafayette became sixty-five and drew a Veterans Administration pension. His health grew worse, and Gladys nursed him until his death, March 23, 1980. He had lived his entire life in Rusk County and had gone to school at Pirtle. His widow continues to live in the home she and her husband had shared.

Submitted by Gladys Busby