Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 468
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Robert S. Laurence Home, Iredell, 1908. Behind fence: James Edward Laurence, Lizzie Laurence Tidwell,
Minnie Laurence, Nancy Jane Laurence, William Benjamin Laurence, Nancy Elizabeth (Braizell)
Laurence, Rob S. Laurence, Allen Laurence. In front of fence: Madden Tidwell, Melvin Laurence, Hazel
Laurence, Grandma Braizell, Ray Tidwell, J.T. Laurence.LAURENCE, WILLIAM B.
F721William Benjamin Laurence and
Laurence-1909Oma Belle Fouts
was fired with wood. When the use of the
steam heat system was discontinued, a
fireplace was used for heating.
Another fascinating thing to the grand-
children was a tall milk house located behind
the home. The diary products were kept in
a vat with cool running water circulating
around the containers of milk, cream, and
butter. The containers were also covered with
a cloth that reached into the water and stayed
damp.
This farm was believed to be the site of
buried treasure. Treasure hunters were once
given permission to dig in a field of the farm.
We remember a big hole left by the seekers.
No treasure was found, but the hole remained
for many years.
Rob and Nancy had a family of four girls
and five boys. They were:
1. Lizzie, born in 1890. She married
Madden Tidwell and had one son, Ray. She
also reared a nephew, Laurence Harper.
2. William Lee Benjamin, born in 1882. He
married Oma Belle Fouts. They had four
children: Velva, Vera, John Robert and
Clyde. The W.B. Laurences moved to west
Texas and lived at Giles, Hedley, and Claude.
W.B. operated a business, then later became
a farmer-stockman.
3. Nancy Belle (Nannie), born in 1885,
worked in Dallas and also helped her parents
rear orphan grandchildren.
4. Robert Allen was born in 1887. He
married Pearl Ogle. They had one son, Oliver
Pearl. Pearl Ogle Laurence died following the
birth of the son. Allen later married Hettie
Ray. Allen worked in the oil fields.
5. James Edward, born in 1890, married
Mollie Ellis. They had three children: Opal,
Eddie B. and James Ray. Edd did county
road and highway work.
6. Minnie, born in 1892, married Miller
468Rose and had five children: Nolan, David,
James, John and Iva.
7. Melvin, born in 1897, married Marguer-
ite Ware. They had four children: Bobba Lou,
Elizabeth, Martha Jo, and C.M. Melvin
worked in the oil fields.
8. J.T., born in 1900, died at age eighteen.
9. Hazel, born in 1904, married Ray Harper
and had four children: Laurence, Madeline,
Mildred and Jonnie Jean. Hazel died at age
twenty-six, leaving four very small children.
Nancy (Nannie) deserves praise for her
part in the rearing of orphan children. When
Allen's wife died leaving a seven-day-old boy,
Oliver, the grandparents and Nannie took
him into the home and kept him until he
finished high school. Oliver says he thought
he had two mothers, Grandma and Aunt
Nannie.
When Hazel died, leaving four small
children, Lizzie took the boy, and the three
girls were taken into the home by Grandpa,
Grandma, and Aunt Nannie. When the
grandparents died, Nannie continued to keep
a home for the girls until they finished high
school.
Rob Laurence served as Sunday School
Superintendent at the Iredell Methodist
Church for seventeen years. His favorite
hymn was, "Life's Railway to Heaven."
Robert Laurence died in 1934. Nancy
Laurence died in 1935. Both are buried in the
Riverside Cemetery in Iredell.
by Mr. and Mrs. J. R. LaurenceW.B. Laurence was born in Alabama, 1882.
His parents were Robert S. and Nancy
Braizell Laurence. He had four brothers:
Allen, Edd, Melvin, and J.T. His four sisters
were: Lizzie Tidwell, Nannie Laurence, Min-
nie Rose, and Hazel Harper.
He was married in 1909 to Oma Belle
Fouts, daughter of John and Ann Fouts of the
Black Stump Valley and Chalk Mountain
area. They made their first home in the
Spring Creek community south of Iredell.
They later moved to a farm in the Black
Stump Valley community north of Iredell. In
1920 he moved by covered wagons to West
Texas-to Giles in Donley County. In 1921
he moved to Hedley, Texas, where they
reared and educated their children, each
completing high school in Hedley.
They were in business there for thirteen
years before moving to a farm in the Bray
community north of Hedley. In 1937 they
moved to a farm south of Claude, Texas,
where he was engaged in cattle raising and
wheat farming for twenty years.
Our parents were dedicated to one another
and enjoyed their family greatly. They were
two people to be proud of. Mother enjoyed
playing the piano and singing.
They had four children. Velva was born in
1910, and married A.M. Saunders in 1929.
They had four children: Hubert, Sharlene,
J.C. and Sue. Vera was born in 1911, and
married Herbert Clay in 1938. John Robert
was born in 1914, and married Mildred
Culwell in 1941. They had two boys, Joe and
Gary. Joe died in action with the U.S.
Marines in Vietnam in 1968. Clyde was born
in 1916, and was married to Jackie Shafer in
1963.
Daddy and Mother loved and enjoyed their
grandchildren. In 1958, our family circle was
broken when our father, W.B., was called to
his heavenly home at the age of 75. Mother,
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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/m1/484/?q=campbell: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.