C. LARRY SMITH

The following bio was taken from page 388 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

Thomas J. and Lusenda Collins Gentry settled in the vicinity of the Liberty and Brooks communities. He was born in 1844 and died in 1909. She was born in 1862 and died in 1929. They are buried in Waldrop Cemetery. Their daughter, Bessie, married Lonnie Jesse Ross.

Benjamin Franklin Ross and his wife, Julie, had six children: Lum, William B., Eva, Bernie, Emmie D., and Lonnie Jesse. Lonnie (1889-1975) was born in Rusk County. He married Bessie Gentry (1894-1970). Both are buried in Waldrop Cemetery. To this union were born three boys—Loyd, Elroy, and Douglas. Douglas was born in 1917 and married Martha Johnson (1918). They had one child, Nancy Sue, who married C. Larry Smith, July 27, 1974.

Nancy’s great-grandparents on her mother’s side were John Johnson and Elsy Jane Hoyl Johnson and Matthew Waldrop (1865-1896) and his wife, Sarah Walling Waldrop (1866-1947). Her grandparents were John Richard Johnson (1883-1939) and Edna Waldrop Johnson (1889). To this union were born Martha Grace and Grady.

Douglas and Martha Ross are Baptists and leaders in the Brooks Baptist Church. For thirty years Douglas was employed by Skelly Oil Company which later merged with Getty Oil Company. He retired in March, 1980.

Nancy, born December 5, 1950, graduated from Beckville High School and received bachelor and master’s degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University. She is a third-grade teacher in Tatum school. Her particular talent in art is reflected in her teaching. She also demonstrates this talent in her needlepoint work and her decorations of cakes, etc.

Larry’s background is related in the history of the Curtis Smith family. He has two brothers, Ross Menefee and James Robert (Jim Bob). Ross Menefee was valedictorian of his high school graduating class, with a scholastic average of 97.2. He studied piano under Mrs. Ellen Cannon in Henderson and gave his own recital after finishing high school at Tatum. At Baylor University he was elected to the Student Congress and graduated Magna Cum Laude. He graduated with honors from The University of Texas School of Law. He was employed as an attorney with the Houston Law firm of Butler, Binion, Rich, Cook and Knapp and was later employed in the office of Exxon in Houston.

Jim Bob was a football letterman, a member of the debate team, and was in the cast of the one-act play that won district honors. He was president of the Beta Club. Jim Bob graduated from Marshall High School and The University of Texas. While attending the University he worked for his uncle in Oklahoma City and Williamsburg, Virginia for money to buy his first car. He is employed in the office of Hudson and Associates in Houston. He has traveled throughout the United States and Canada.

Larry was active as a leader of his age group throughout his public school career. He served as captain of the football team in his last year of high school. He was the leader in raising money to charter a bus to take his class to Washington, D.C. He received the American Farmer Degree at the Future Farmers Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. He taught school in Marshall for twelve years. He married Nancy Ross, a teacher in Tatum. They have three children: Susan Jessica, in kindergarten; Tate Ross, in Methodist pre-school in Henderson; and Curt Young, a rollicking eighteen-months-old. Larry now works in an office at Texas Utilities. He is secretary for Tatum Lions Club and administrative officer for the Tatum Fire Department. He is president of the Harmony Hill Cemetery Association. In fact, Larry is for anything that will improve Tatum. He has served on the City Council, and Nancy is now serving in this position. Larry and Nancy are Baptists and take their family to First Baptist Church in Tatum.

Submitted by Larry Smith