Otis and Ellie JACOBS

The following bio was taken from page 258 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

Virgil Otis Jacobs and I, Ellie Mae Jones, were married September 8, 1923, in Henderson, Texas. We were married for forty years when Otis passed away with a heart attack while driving home from the doctor’s office on February 26, 1963. Otis was the son of George and Sylvia Perkins Jacobs. George and Sylvia lived in the Jacobs community and were the parents of eleven children. The children all attended Jacobs School. My parents were Joseph Anse Jones and Mary Ann Catherine Grindle Jones. My grandparents were Henry and Hannah Duckett Grindle. My mother and father had seven children: two boys, Luther and Oscar, and five girls, Ezzie, Luna, Dollie, Irene, and me. All are still living except our brother, Oscar. I was four years old when my parents moved by train from Lumpkin County, Georgia to Rusk County. Times were hard in Georgia; my father had been working for fifty cents a day. My grandparents had already moved to Texas, and at their urging we came also. I loved to visit my grandparents and was spending a week with them when I met Otis. After Otis and I were married, we lived on the old Jacobs’ place in the Grandview Community. Later we bought a place in Laneville and lived there for many years. Three children were born to us: a son, Neal, who lives in Alaska; two daughters, Mary Jo (Mrs. Elton Farmer) and Sylvia (Mrs. Max Moore), both living in Houston. We also have eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. I enjoy working in my yard, crocheting, and visiting with my family and friends. I am a member of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Written by Ellie Jacobs