abilenet August 13th, 2008
Judge K. K. Legett, one of the most prominent of the Taylor county pioneers, was born in Arkansas, November 6, 1857. He received his early education in the public schools, mostly in the country, but since completing that early struggle with the “Three R’s”, he has been constantly acquiring increased knowledge through numerous post-graduate courses in the great “school of experience.”
He began reading law in his youth at Cleburne, and without attending any law schools, he was admitted to practice in July, 1879. Four months later, on Nov. 12, 1879, he came to Taylor county, a year after the county was organized, and located in Buffalo Gap. It was then the only town in the county.
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abilenet August 3rd, 2008
I’ve just learned of the loss of Juanita Daniel Zachry. Mrs. Zachry was the premier historian for Abilene and Taylor County, an author of many other stories in books and magazines, and by all accounts a wonderful person. I never had the chance to meet Mrs. Zachry but her books on local history inspired me, in part, to learn more about Abilene and Taylor County and to consider sharing those stories with folks outside the immediate area. There is no person that has contributed more to local history than Mrs. Zachry. Her loss will be felt by many in the area and around the world.
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abilenet June 2nd, 2008
I recently sat down with Joy Wiley of the Abilene Public Library, at which time she told me that the Texas State Genelogical Society is coming to Abilene for their annual conference. This conference, the 48th, is hosted by the West Texas Genealogical Society and will take place at the MCM Elegante Suites, 4250 Ridgemont Drive here in Abilene, on October 24th and 25, 2008. The conference will host a number of vendors as well as experts in the genealogical arena. Listen in on this conversation as Joy explains what will be available at the conference to amateur and professional genealogists alike.
Joy Wiley on Texas State Genealogical Society Conference [6:50m]:
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abilenet May 20th, 2008
I recently had the privilege to assist in an interview with Sharon Spinks, the author of a book about her grand-father-in-law, Arthur Hill, titled,
Law on the Last Frontier. The interviewer, “Texana Review” owner and moderator Ed Blackburn, talks with Sharon about why she wrote this book, the stories in the book and, of course, Arthur Hill. Join us for this enlightening interview with Sharon Spinks, Ed Blackburn and yours truly behind the camera.
See this podcast at http://texanareview.typepad.com/posts/2008/05/sharon-spinks-t.html
abilenet March 6th, 2008
While researching the episode “Trouble in Buffalo Gap” on this website, I found a reference to Floyd Earl on another web page. I was interested in how Floyd ended up in a story on a website that allows authors to share their stories over the internet so I went in search of this author. Her name is Mary Milstead and she wrote a short-story titled “Ruined” in which the main character takes to spending time at the grave site of Floyd Earl, meditating on her own life. After nearly six months of searching, I was finally able to track down the author, Mary Milstead, and have a conversation with her through email about how she ended up having Floyd Earl in her story and whether or not there was a family connection between her and Mr. Earl. Unfortunately, I have to report that the inclusion of Floyd Earl in her story is purely coincidental. While Mary has family in the Buffalo Gap, Texas area, she merely picked the name Floyd Earl from the cemetery list of Buffalo Gap because she liked the way it sounded. I don’t mind saying that was a real bummer for me. Be that as it may, I found Mary’s story, “Ruined,” to be a well written story and a pleasure to read. As the story does include a real-life historical character from Taylor County’s rich historical heritage, I would encourage you to read this story and some of the Ms. Milstead’s other works. You can link to the story “Ruined” at the
this web site and can see all her stories at her
personal blog.
