Ralph E. Harter (1896)

Born 18 Jan 1896 in Orchard, TX

Ancestors

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Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

User ID

User ID: 77F9CFD40A74D611831A14A4FAC000008728

Data Changed

Data Changed:

Date: 11 Aug 2012

Prior to import, this record was last changed 11 Aug 2012.

Note

Note: As of 1982 he was President of the American Dahlia Society, Inc.

Event

Event: World War I, 1917 to 1918

Type: Mil. Service

Event: Presbyterian Church

Type: Church

Marriage

Husband: James Riley Harter

Wife: Sarah Jane Mikesell

Child: Charles Severe Harter

Child: Ralph E. Harter

Child: Blanch Mabel Harter

Note: MR. AND MRS. J.R. HARTER

An interview with their son, Charley Harter Feb. 24, 1969, by Mrs Clyde Warwick

Mr. and Mrs J.R. Harter moved to Canyon in 1892, from Truby, Jones County, Texas. They were born in Randolph County, Indiana and had moved to Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas. They were induced to move to Truby by the promise of a business and a residential lot if they would come, stay and help build the town. Their son Charley, was a small child when they moved to Truby. Neither of them liked it in Truby, so in 1892 they moved to Canyon.

They bought the 1800 block on 8th Ave. and built and lived in a half dugout until they could build a small two-room frame house. Charley Harter remembers they had to prop it on all four sides with four by fours to keep the wind from blowing it over. They planted salt cedar all along the block and some fruit trees. Mr. Harter had dug a well and put up a large overhead tank and Charley says he had to carry water to these trees. Mr. and Mrs. W.R. (Bill) Crow bought the northwest corner of this block in 1938. The Harters had added two more rooms to the house and the Crows have added, improved and modernized the house, excavated the basement, making it into a full basement living room. Mrs. Crow says some of the salt cedar are living and one pear tree, gnarled, twisted and weather-beaten, still is a thing of beauty when it blooms and bears delicious pears every year.

Mr. Harter conferred with Mrs. Pius Friemel in Umbarger about his fruit trees and they exchanged ideas on plants and trees.

When they first came they attended union services and Sunday School in the Court House. They were members of the Methodist Church.

Mr. Harter, a blacksmith, worked for John Knight, who had the only Blacksmith shop in Canyon. Later he bought the shop from John Knight and operated it until he sold to O.A. May. The Blacksmith shop was on "Smoky Row" just east of the "Big Four" Mercantile store, where Anderson's Appliance is now, 1701 5th Ave. This Blacksmith shop had been started before there was a Canyon by A.L. Hammond and that was the first business in Canyon. The shop was later moved to 1412 5th Ave. and is now Art Robert's Welding Shop.

When Mr. Harter bought the Blacksmith shop there was much freighting to and from Amarillo as far south as Big Springs. If a horse needed shoeing, the harness mended or some repair on the wagon, the freighter would leave his wagons, bring the horse, harness or wagon part to the blacksmith shop, staying until they were repaired. When he returned to his wagons everything was just as he left it - not a thing disturbed or stolen.

Mr. Harter sold his shop to O.A. May and they homesteaded in New Mexico. They had stayed only two years in New Mexico when they returned to Canyon where they lived until their late years. Then they, with their daughter Blanch, returned to Indiana. All three are deceased and interred in Indiana.

The Harters had three children: Charley, born in Indiana, Ralph (Pete) born in Truby, and Blanch born in Canyon. All three children attended Canyon schools. Charley remembers two teachers he was very fond of: Ona Long, daughter of a pioneer, now Mrs. J.H. Stephenson of Happy, and Florence Thompson, daughter of Nix Thompson the fourth family to come to Canyon, now Mrs. Florence Stephenson, of Canyon.

Ralph lives in Palo Alto, California. Charley is the only one who remained in Canyon. He worked as a barber for 35 years, and then moved to a stockfarm southwest of Canyon, where Mr. and Mrs. Harter live today. Mr. Harter said in the early days all his regular customers owned their own shaving mugs, He said he had quite an array of shaving mugs in his shop. Some quite fancy.

When they started to build the first Normal building, in the spring of 1910, Charley Harter helped dig the basement, using a team of horses that belonged to Dr. Moody, a dentist in Canyon. One horse was blind. He had learned to be guided by the reins and Charley said, "He stepped down into that pit and out as spry as any horse and did a good days work."

Charley Harter and Linnie Cowan were married in 1915. Linnie Cowan had come from Tahoka to attend W.T. Mr. Harter said when they were married he rented two rooms over the First National bank building for .00 per mnth with all bills paid. A few years later they built a four-room house on the northeast corner of the block his father owned. Jim and Sterling Coffee built the house and it cost ,432.70.

The Harters have four children: Cowen lives in Fort Worth, Lynette Bentley lives in Dallas, William C. Harter served in World War II. He married Gretchen Marie Andrews of Texline. They taught for 19 years in Borger and in 1968 built a home one mile north of McCormick Road. William is principal of Wilson Elementary school in Amarillo and Gretchen teaches in Belmar school in Amarillo. Dorthea married Hud Prichard and they live in Panama. The Harters have 12 grandchildren.

Mrs. Harter became librarian of the West Texas Training School in 1918. Later she taught English and Math in the training School. After the Training School moved to the Canyon Public School, she was lIbrarian of the Elementary school, retiring in 1964. After she retired she accepted a position in the W.T. Library for three years, retiring in 1968. Mrs. Harter earned her B.A. in Speech and her M.A. in Education from W.T. and her M.A. in Library Science fri mthe University of Denver.

Mrs. Harter is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Harter is a member of the Methodist Church but attends the Baptist Church with Mrs. Harter. Mrs. Harter is a member of Chi Omega, Alpha Psi Omega, a Speech Fraternity and of Delta Kappa Gamma, Woman's Education sorority.

William Harter has one son, Hal, who is a freshmen in W. T. He is the great-grandson of Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Harter.

Marriage:

Date: 14 OCT 1892

Place: Randolph Co., IN

Sources

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Robert Harter for creating WikiTree profile Harter-768 through the import of harter.ged on Nov 8, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Robert and others.