JOEL EMORY RAINS

 The following bio was taken from page 354 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator 

Joel Emory Rains of Shelby County married Mary Estella (Mollie) Coats of Nacogdoches County.  They moved their six children –Wyman, Villa, Jessie, Ruby, and Jonie -- to Rusk County in 1927.  They settled near Mt. Enterprise since their Nacogdoches County farm was to far from school for the children to walk and in those days there were no school buses.

 Our childhood days were very busy and happy.  We all had our chores to do and knew when and how to do them.  We also worked two farms, our own in Nacogdoches County and the one rented in Rusk County where we lived.

 With two model T Ford trucks, my father and brothers hauled timber and gravel and cut and hauled mine props, railroad cross ties, etc. between farming seasons.

 One vivid memory stands out above the rest.  Our flat bed Model T. Ford truck served to take all the neighbors to the County Fair, circus, church meetings, and whatever.  Adults set around in the flat bed with feet hanging off, while children sat in the middle, all on quilts.  If “old Henry,” as Daddy called the truck, wouldn’t make it up the hill, there were plenty of people to push.

 Without radio and TV, we made our own entertainment with piano, guitars, violin and singing.

 A picture of my great-great-uncle, Judge Emory Rains, hangs in the Rains County Courthouse in the town of Emory, which is named for him.  He was born in 1800 in Tennessee and came to Texas, Shelby County about 1820.  Emory Rains was chief counselor for the Moderators in Shelby County War between the Regulators and Moderators 1841-1842.  He was also a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas and one of the immortal seven who stood with Sam Houston against secession.

 My grandmother, Mary Lena Muller Rains, was the daughter of Joseph Fidell Muller, who came to Texas from Hofels, Switzerland.  On his grave marker in Nacogdoches County is written his Nofels, Switzerland address and 1834-1815, the Swiss method of giving dates (in reverse).

 I, Ruby Rains Little, married Virgil H. Little, son of George Robert Little and  Hettie Rainwater Little, lifetime residents of Rusk County, Wood Glen Community.  It is said that the Rainwaters and Rains were originally of the same family and part Indian.  My grandfather, John Duncan Rains of Shelby County, had a sister named “America.”  She married Marcus Mills, grandfather and grandmother of John Mills of Rusk County.  Our son, John Paul Little, named his baby after his grandfather, George Robert Little. 

 Submitted by Ruby Rains Little