TOM THREADGILL

The following bio was taken from page 412 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

Tom, son of James Arthur and Patrice Kyle Threadgill, has lived all of his life on the farm near Shiloh, where he was born in 1918. Part of this land was owned and farmed by his grandfather, Thomas Coke Threadgill, who came to the Shiloh Community from Meriwether County, Georgia in 1876, then bought his land in 1882.

Tom went to grade school at Shiloh with his brothers and sisters and later played basketball at Mt. Enterprise, where he graduated.

During World War II, Tom was in the services at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells, and finally at Camp Howze in Gainesville, Texas. After this stint of service, Tom returned to the farm where his mother was alone after his father’s death in 1943. He bought cattle and raised crops and later managed the adjoining land and cattle owned by his brother, Jackson, who lived in Dallas.

In 1950, the old Threadgill home was torn down and all of the large family joined together to build a new, warmer house on the same site. The brothers and sisters, with their families, would come often, and it became a tradition that, all who could, gathered at the homeplace for Thanksgiving dinner at "Grannie’s" house.

Another busy time was the preparation for the Fourth of July picnic at Shiloh—called the "do-hi" by the youngest children, who felt the importance of the occasion but were too young to say the words. The "do-hi" meant much work for those who lived in the community. Tom, with his father and brothers, hauled water from Clear Branch, in barrels, to be used in the refreshment stands for drinking and making lemonade for the hundreds who would come from far and near.

This big picnic is said to have grown from the times when a few families began to pack a lunch and go to clean the church grounds and the small cemetery.

Tom lives alone on the homeplace, not far from his sister, Carrie Patrick. He and Carrie help each other, as both have cattle to tend, fences to mend, and all the other chores that go with farm life.

The family does not come so often as they did while Granny lived, but each Thanksgiving, they all arrive to visit and recall old times here in this place where their beloved parents spent their lives caring for the land, their children, and their community. (See related stories)

Submitted by Doris Threadgill