C. R. (PETE) DURAN - JEWEL (BUCK) DURAN

 The following bio was taken from page 187 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

 Since Pete’s and Buck’s business lives were closely related, it will be less repetitious to write about them together.  In business dealing, Clyde Reagan was always C. R.; otherwise he was Pete; Jewel was Jewel in business, otherwise Buck.  In 1932, J. C. Duran having died in October 1931, Pete and Buck gradually took over management of the Mirtie Duran Farming and Cattle Business.  Meanwhile they went to school and started farming and cattle operations together.  They attended Kilgore Junior College and Stephen F. Austin University. They continued their farming and cattle business as equal partners through the years.  When the J. C. and Mirtie Duran Estate was divided in 1956, Pete and Buck received the “Old Durant Homestead” and tracts of land around it.  Both were active in agricultural related organizations.

 For several years Pete was a director of the board and was vice-chairman of the board for three years of the Farm Credit Banks of Texas, which consisted of Federal Land Bank, Bank of Co-operatives, and the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Houston.  He also helped organize the Rusk County Farm Bureau.

 Buck was active in the Rusk County Farm Bureau, being a charter member and serving as director and chairman of the board for many years.  He was active in the Rusk County Agricultural and Conservation Service, being on the County Committee now and for many previous years.

 On October 10, 1940, Pete married Phyll Phillips, the daughter of Rev. J. H. and Martha Elizabeth Phillips, pastor of the Pine Hill Methodist Church at the time the couple met and were married.  There were no children born to this union, but they have “fathered and mothered” the children of their brothers and sisters throughout the years.  Following Pete’s death in June 1980, Phyll moved from the old homestead to Henderson, where she currently resides.

 Buck, the eighth and youngest son of J. C. and Mirtie Duran, was the only son to serve in the armed forces.  He was drafted in 1942, positioned as a military policeman, and spent the last six months of his service on Tinian Island in the Pacific, with the 509^th Composite Group, which was based on Tinian for the purpose of bombing Japan.  While on guard duty on Monday, August 6, 1945, at 3:46 AM, he watched the loading of the first atomic bomb and the taking off of the “Enola Gay,” the plane piloted by Co. Paul W. Tibits, Jr., which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

While in the Army, Buck married Jess Willard Holder on May 31, 1943.  She was the daughter of Jess F. and Ada Pickron Holder of Pine Hill, who owned and operated the Pine Hill Telephone Company for thirty-seven years.  There were two children born to this union, Ada Susan on February 13, 1947 and Joe Franklin on July 12, 1948.

Susan married James Edward Taylor, the son of J. D. and Zella Garrison Taylor, of Chapman.  They have had three children.  They are Melissa Lynn (March 26, 1969-February 14, 1978); James Darin, February 13, 1971, and Shawn Edward, February 7, 1975.  Their home is now in the Chapman Community, Rusk County.

 In April 1976, Joe married Georganna Sue Appelbee, daughter of George and Evelyn Corry Appelbee of Chapman.  Joe and Sue now live at the “Old Duran Homestead,” and he is continuing the cattle operations that were started years ago by his father and uncle.

 Submitted by Susan Duran Taylor