WALKER - LAWSON
The following bio was taken from page 283 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.
Transcribed by Shirley Koym
Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of Texas
John Mitchell Lawson often said he was kin by blood or marriage to almost every family in east Texas. One cousin, Young Bell, had a ranch in West Texas and Daddy became a cowboy on his ranch. At a house party at Beatrice Dinwiddie’s home he met Rosa Lee Jeter Walker. John Mitchell and Rosa Lee were married July 9, 1924, on the front porch of George Franklin (Frank) Walker and Georgia Tee Hudgens, her adopted parents. Daddy worked on ranches and road construction and later he and Mother went back to Arlam to the farm Grandpa Young had given to Daddy’s parents. (See William Young story.) Mother had a white bulldog called “Devil Dog” that went everywhere with her and Daddy. Four children were born to this marriage, I, Sadie Ardean, born November 9, 1927, on Daddy’s twenty-seventh birthday. I married Robert Sherman Natusch and had three children, Lynda Louise, Robert Sherman, Jr., and Thomas Mitchell Natusch; John Mitchell, Jr., born April 30, 1925; Naomi Lawson Perry, born December 31, 1928; and Elmo Young Lawson, born March 21, 1931. We were all born at Big Mama and Grandpa’s home in Barstow, Texas. Several times we lived at the farm in Arlam for short periods of time. When Mother got homesick or pregnant, Big Mama and Grandpa came for us in their old touring car or Daddy took us back to Barstow. After Big Mama died, we came to spend the summer with Daddy and our stepmother, Belle. Daddy had remarried and they had three children, Joyce, Betty, and George H. (See Mayfield – Lawson Account.)
One time when we lived at the farm, Albert Sterling, ‘Papa’ Jeter, Mother’s father, lived with us. He was a large, handsome man with blonde hair and twinkling, sky blue eyes. He was the Watkins man for a while. He wore a watch chain across his vest and a “diamond” stickpin in his tie and whistled and twirled his cane as he walked. I remember him as a gift bearing, friendly person, but Grandpa Walker was the grandfather who raised us.
We went to school at the Arlam school where the Arlam Church is now located and the church was on the other side of the road. I remember political meetings and the tables made of planks, the speeches, the homemade ice cream, and the excitement to an eight year old – my first time for banana nut ice cream. I remember the school, with two rooms, that held the first to sixth grades on one side and everything else on the other. I remember recess with jumping boards and the big boys learning Morse code with flashlights. They were in two lines and flashed messages back and forth.
I remember my best friend, Peggy S. Satchelben, and eating fried sweet potatoes on her back porch, Santa Claus at the farm and fireplace for the good St. Nick to come down the chimney. Johnny had a piece of land Daddy gave him to claim and all the cotton made on that land bought all us boots, girls, too, that laced up and had a pocket on the top for a knife. We had understanding Sunday school teachers and Belle was harder to convince that we had to wear the boots to Sunday school instead of our shoes. We went to Grandma Young’s house on a Sunday and all I remember is the smell of the fire in the fireplace and a hug we received from her in the dimly lit room. She died soon after we went back to Barstow and that was the only time I remember seeing her. We went to Mama Betty’s house in town for a Fourth of July celebration. Dad’s sister Rubye, Sonny and Uncle Prentis Dumas came from Shreveport for the occasion. We had a tub filled with soft drinks iced down and we had homemade ice cream made in a syrup bucket with a bail, it was twirled in the packed ice until the cream was firm. Uncle Prentis made movies of us dancing and having fun.
Submitted by Sandy Lawson Natusch