Jesse Gilbert Calaway (1901 - 1995)

Edgar Floyd Calaway 1877 - 1965 & Georgia Ann Medlock 1875 - 1962

I was born on June 26, 1918, in Bethesda, Arkansas to Edgar Floyd and Georgia Ann Medlock Calaway, the last of 8 children. At an early age (about 3 or 4) we came to Oklahoma in 4 covered wagons. It took us about 2 weeks on the road. We landed in Lawton, Oklahoma, as my Dad had a brother, Delbert Calaway (Uncle Deb as we called him) living there. As we left Arkansas, Clara Lela (the oldest of 8 children), her husband, Joe Brooks, and their son, Coy, were in one wagon. Ollie Opel and her husband, Jake McCarroll, were in another wagon. Jesse Gilbert, Richard James, Bernie Elizabeth, Addie Lee, myself, Mama and Dad were in the other two. After being in and around Lawton for sometime, my Dad's brother, Wade Calaaway,who had a plumbing shop in Temple wanted my Dad to move thee and work for him. We rented a farm just east of Temple. I was about 5 years old then. Richard, Ray, Addie and I started to school at Donley. We had to walk a mile and a half to school. My dad farmed for a while, then decided to move to town. While there, Bernie married Frank Vache. I was then in the third grade. Before we left the farm, Jesse had married Johnnie Evans. She died during childbirth, and Jesse decided to go up to Mounds, Oklahoma to work as a pipeline walker for my Mama's brother, Uncle Jess Medlock. He wanted us to move up there, and we did. Work wasn't as plentiful as he thought, so we decided to move back to Temple. We had a Model T Ford pickup which Richard drove with his dog, Tip, and a Model T Roadster which Ray & Addie were in, and a Model T touring car with Mama, Dad and me. It took us two days, driving from Mounds,Oklhoma, in a cold month of November. We stopped in Comanche to get warm. We went into a store on Main Street were my Dad met a man, Mr. Bristow, who said he owned a lot of property and could use a good carpenter and he had a house we could live in. So that is where we stayed instead of going back to Temple. In the meantime, Clara & Joe had moved back to Temple, and eventually Opal & Jake moved there also. Ray married Iva Holybee, Addie married Marvin Hollinsworth, and Richard married Ruth Neeley. On March 7, 1937 Jimmy and I were married. We were married 61 years before he passed away on March 25, 1998. We had one son, Loyd Lee, and one daughter, Patsy Ellen, born December 28, 1951, and passed away on December 29, 1951. I'm still living at age 87, in the same place, west of Comanche where Jimmy and I lived for over 50 years. Altha Calaway Benson Published 2005