Jessie William GENTRY

The following bio was taken from page 209 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

The ancestors of Jessie William (Bill) Gentry—William (Bill) Gentry, his wife, and four brothers and two sisters came from Kentucky by covered wagon to Savoy, Texas after the Civil War. The William Gentrys had two daughters and four sons. The oldest son, Richard A. (my father-in-law), married Nellie Raysdon in Van Alstyne, Texas, where the Gentrys moved. Two children were born to this union, Ollie and Jessie William (Bill), my husband.

Richard, his brother Eli, and their father were carpenters, and many homes in Grayson County were built by them.

Nellie Gentry died in childbirth in 1901 when Jessie William was born. The home place in Van Alstyne, where three generations have lived, is on "Gentry Street," named for the family.

My husband followed in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps, after serving in World War I, 1917, being the third generation to follow carpentry and become a master in his trade.

During the oil boom in Rusk County, J. W. (Bill) Gentry came to Henderson in 1931 where he and I met and married in 1934. My maiden name is Betrick B. Reese.

My ancestor, William Madison Reese of Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia, served in the Civil War in 1862. Another great-grandfather, Anderson Green Franklin, also served in the Civil War.

William M. Reese left a wife, Anna Meers, and two sons, William Henry and Perry. William Henry and Lynia Abagail were married in Georgia. Four sons and one daughter were born to this union. After his wife passed away, W. H. came to Texas in 1895, bringing the children to Grayson County where "cotton was king."

My father, Abraham Pinkney Reese, the oldest son, a teacher, taught in Gilmer and Big Sandy before moving to Rusk County where he taught at Leveretts Chapel and Ebenezer. He had married Lottie Bell Grigg in Grayson County in 1901. They later moved to Henderson and went into private business.

Henderson has been my home since I was four years of age, except for three years during the depression when we moved to Texas City and Galveston, where Bill did construction. After moving back, he did work on the Church of Christ here and in Jacksonville. He also did restoration work on the Howard-Dickinson House and helped build Safeway and many buildings in Kilgore, Longview, and surrounding towns for fifty years. He is now retired.

We have three daughters. Nelda Yvonne Redding married Dick Redding, and their daughters are Renee and Sharon of Pearland, Texas. Judy L. Davis married Jack W. Davis. Their daughter is Susan of Austin, Texas. Bobby Gail Lowe married Virgil D. Lowe, and they have two daughters, Kristi and Angie of Longview, Texas.

Nelda finished college at Nacogdoches and teaches in the Houston schools. Judy and Bobby Gail finished Kilgore College and have secretarial positions. All of the family are members of the First Baptist Church.

My hobbies are sewing, flowers, and genealogy. I have served as President of the Henderson Garden Club for six different years. I also served in offices in the United Daughters of the Confederacy and am a charter member of the Genealogy Society.

Written by Bea Reese Gentry