CHARLES A. AND FRANCES VANIS

The following bio was taken from page 416 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

Texas living is new to Charles and me although for eleven years we have owned property in this state and had been coming and going until September 1978 when we made our residence in Rusk County permanent. Our son, Harrell Charles Vanis, has lived on the ranch since 1968. We came here from a farm in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Our diversified farming operation in Ohio included forty acres of concord grapes, a milking herd of cattle, and three hundred laying hens and the raising of as much feed as possible. Finally we narrowed this down to only the grapes and built an eighteen-hole golf course on the two hundred and twelve acres.

Why did we move to Texas? Although the southern shores of Lake Erie are beautiful and comfortable in summer, the area is in the Snow Belt. Then too, our only child, Harrell, is a pilot for Texas International and resides in Texas. The third reason is that we fell in love with East Texas and its people. We found three hundred acres overlooking Lake Striker and the beautiful surrounding country-side. Moving was not easy, but our East Texas living is most enjoyable.

Our son is an ambitious, hard-working man with time to spare from piloting. He has some of the best-registered Black Brangus Cattle in the breed. He raises hydroponic tomatoes, hanging baskets and foliage plants in his greenhouse operation. He is married Claudia Lynn Beck, whose parents are natives of East Texas. Claudia was born in Marshall, Texas. She is a language teacher in Henderson High School. Claudia and Harrell have two children: Harrell Charles, Jr., age three; and Victoria Lynn, age one and one-half. By a previous marriage, Harrell has a daughter, Laura, age thirteen.

Charles’ parents were born in Maszutkinia, Poland. His father, Charles Peter, was a member of the military in Poland. He came to this country, disembarking in New York on April 15, 1899. Charles’ mother, Victoria, came to New York and married Charles Peter in 1902. Victoria’s mother was Rosalia Ruszewka-Kojak and her father was Andrew Kojak.

My parents were James Elic Harrell and Lovisa Healy-Harrell. The Harrell family entered this country in 1660. John Harrell came from Suffolk, England and finally settled in Suffolk, Virginia. About 1800 one branch of the family migrated westward into Tennessee Territory, settling in what is now Simpson County, Kentucky and Galatin County, Tennessee. Cader Harrell and his wife, Polly Garrison-Harrell, entered Illinois in 1819, the year Illinois came into statehood. Many of their descendants continue to live in White County Illinois.

The Healy family came to this country about 1640. William was the first; he came to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1809, Calvin Healy married Mary Olin in Canton, New York, thereby uniting two of the Colonies’ oldest families. John Olin was the first in the Olin family to come to America. In 1678 he was shanghaied on the coast of Wales, forced to serve on a British ship and landed in Boston Harbor. He left ship at the earliest opportunity and went to East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Before the Revolutionary War, living conditions on the East Coast were not good. The people were oppressed by the British and many families moved westward. The Healy family went to Canton, New York. The Olin family left Warwick, Rhode Island and went to Shaftsbury, Vermont for a generation and then on to Canton, New York.

It is a long way from Wales, Ireland, England and Poland to East Texas. It took many generations, but here we are in this beautiful country, among the most friendly people.

Submitted by Frances Harrell Vanis