Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 90
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and her husband would come to their Bosque
County land at Fairview to hide from the law.
They lived in a log cabin on the creek that ran
through their property. Belle who was born
Myra Belle Shirley had an illegitimate son by
Cole Younger but Jim Reid lived with Belle
and the boy was called Edd Reid. Belle also
had a daughter, Pearl. In 1880 she was
married to Sam Starr, and he was killed in a
gun battle in 1886. She was killed in 1889.
Belle would neighbor with the Conines and
even used their sewing machine. It was said
they were friendly people. The log cabin has
been torn down, but a rose bush still blooms
there, Belle's favorite flower.
The Fairview Church celebrated its 50th
Anniversary in 1939 with 150 known to
register. By 1965, 25 of these people were
deceased.
The Merrivale School was consolidated
with Valley Mills in 1949. The old school
being of no need, and a better church needed,
the construction of a new church began in
1955. W.R. Gloff, W.P. Downey, and Dick
Blassingame served as committeemen with
the late Homer Whitney as lead carpenter.
Community men donated their labor and the
ladies drew nails from the old lumber.
Services were held during the building
period in a vacant house. In December, the
church was still not finished but even so, the
Christmas program was held there. The old
piano had been refinished to look like a
million dollars. It was loaded into a pickup
to drive to the church, but as the vehicle
moved forward, the piano moved out, des-
troying it. But God supplied the need with a
new piano. In January, 1956, the church was
finished and Rev. James Sistrunk became
pastor.
On April, 1956, the Fairview Baptist
Church was dedicated and lunch was served
at the church. Since then, the church has
added a steeple, carpet was laid, and central
air and heat were added. In 1983 a new water
line was placed in the church and water was
piped into the cemetery. It became a fulltime
church with morning services only. Rev. J.C.
Salley of Waco has been pastor since October,
1973. Revival meetings are held each year in
July.
Memories of some of the early settlers still
linger: the Will Downeys, R.M. Joneses, P.J.
McMillans, Arthur Whites, Voiles Brothers,
Eugene Wagleys, Eck Lees, Martin Johnsons,
Craig Logans, J.A. McMillans, Jim McMil-
lans, Arthur Beardens, F.D. Beardens, T.A.
Blassingames, Ulas Jones, Kimbroughs, Ru-
fus Hutchinson, Clarence Kellum, Charlie
Ludwigs, and A.L. Siepert. Though these
memories remain dear, there is a new look in
Fairview with new homes and new residents.
This writer desires to mention a few
residents and tell what they do now that
cotton picking and turkey raising days are in
the past: (1) Erich Thiele is our "Leap Year
baby," born 72 years ago but only having
celebrated 18 birthdays. He and Eunice, his
wife, owned and operated the Thiele Grocery
for 41 years. Their son, Dan and his wife,
Joyce, are the new owners. (2) Our commu-
nity twins are W.P. and P.R. Downey, 83
years old. W.P. is retired after 33 years as
road forman for Bosque County in Precinct
3 while P.R.'s childhood dream came true at
age 72 when he bought the motorcycle he'd
always wanted. (3) Fern Downey White is
President of the First National Bank of
Valley Mills. (4) Melba Moore owns andGREENOCK
Gip Smith Home, now owned by the Dick
Blassingames.
operates the Blue Top Country Cottage. She
and her husband, Tom, and his brother, J.R.
and Dorothy Moore own the old R.M. Jones
farm. (5) Helen Blassingame was Fairview's
community correspondent for more than 40
years for The Clifton Record and is now
writing for the Valley Mills Tribune. (7) Mrs.
Jim McMillan, age 91, is our oldest resident.
It is of interest to this writer that her
granddaddy, the late James A. McMillan,
helped to haul stones to build the Capitol in
Austin.
On Mrs. T.A. Blassingame's farm, you will
see new homes built and occupied by the
Wayne and Roger Blassingame families. On
the late Arthur White's farm, a new home is
owned and enjoyed by the Willard Deasons,
and on one of the Frank Neills' farms stands
a new home occupied by the Arnold Clem-
ents. The old home place has been remodeled
by the Lou Hilliards. The late Will Downey
home stands vacant today as does the home
of the late P.M. McMillan. The Wendell
Bearden home stands near his father's home
on the A.R. Bearden farm. The home on the
Scott farm was replaced by the Tye Whites.
Though yesteryears hold treasured memo-
ries, there are many beautiful memories to
grasp and hold onto today. Fairview is a good
place to live; it is a place where you can see
so far that it offers a good fair view to
everywhere!
by Helen Blassingame
zC46
Greenock was a community about 15 miles
east of Valley Mills near the Brazos River and
some three miles north of the Wortham Bend
area.
Gus Elrod ran a general store for a number
of years and there was a blacksmith shop, a
school, a Baptist church, and a post office.
The post office was established January 1,
1882 with Susan V. Green as the first
postmaster. It was discontinued June 6, 1916.
Some say the name was given because some
green oaks grew nearby.
In the early 1890s a school was established
and was still being used as late as 1916 or
maybe a year or so later. Possibly as many as
35 children attended school at any given time.
Greenock also had a school for black children
with D.F. Wilson as the teacher for the school
year of 1914-1915. In 1915-1916 Mrs. E.L.E.
Downing was the teacher. Greenock was
school district 39.
by Mrs. H.W. Johnson
LANE'S CHAPEL
C47Lane's Chapel Church.
Lane's Chapel is a small community ten
miles southwest of Clifton and nine miles
northwest of Valley Mills. It consisted of a
school and a church set in a farming area.
The religious, educational, and social mov-
ements pertaining to the settling of Hollis
Prairie, as it was first known, centered
around these families: John R. Cox, Joshua
McCuistion, John R. Lane and sons Radford,
Elzie, and Irvin, Jonathan Dansby, John
Robertson, and Russell Williams.
The first schoolhouse was a one-room log
cabin built in 1876. A few years later a one-
room frame building was built to replace the
log cabin. All the children walked to school;
often this was several miles. They carried
their lunch in a paper bag or a tin syrup
bucket.
In 1905 there were plans to move the school
to where it would be in the center of the
community. Elzie Lane donated four acres of
land for the new schoolhouse to be built on.
This building was used until 1915 when a new
brick building of two rooms replaced the old
frame building.
Some of the teachers were J.C. Hughes and
Jimmie Lomax of Meridian. Others were
Mary Lane, a Miss Younger, George Lane,
Alta Barnett, Willie Robertson, a Mr. Steel,90
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Bosque County History Book Committee. Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas), book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91038/m1/106/?q=campbell: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.