Family History Notes

By Reba Singleton Smith 1968

Abey Houston and Clara Launis (Eppler) Smith--My parents.

AHS was born 12 November 1871, at Cane Hill, Washington County, Arkansas -- a few miles west of Fayetteville. The family moved frequently, and I do not know all of the moves. In May 1876 they moved to Coryell County, Texas. In November 1884, h is father, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, became a missionary to the Chickasaw Indians and the family moved to the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. They lived at, or near, Buckhorn stage station, in what is not Murray County, Oklahoma, a few miles from Sulphur.

The family farmed for a living, as the church payments to the missionary father were insufficient for a large family. At some time prior to 1895, the family moved again, to Sallisaw, in the Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory. They were living here at the time AHS and Clara Lannie (Launis) Eppler were married.

Clara Lannie (Launis) was born July 29, 1870, on a farm in Scott county, Arkansas, near the village of Farmer, later named Abbot, Arkansas. She lived on this farm until she married AHS, on 8 September 1895. Her father was a Methodist minister , as well as a farmer and saddle-maker.

After marriage, AH & CLS lived on a farm near Sallisaw -- the "old Harrison place". I was born there on 6 September 1896. The attending physician was Mamma's uncle, Dr. Jonathan Eppler. He was assisted by Papa's Grandmother, Ann (Eppler) Cole , who saved my life, as I was apparently still-born. Arlie was also born at this place, or another farm near Sallisaw, 17 July 1898.

In 1898, Grandfather Smith and his family moved back to the Chickasaw Nation, to the Gilsonite mines community, not far from Buckhorn and Sulphur. We followed them in January 1899, arriving a few days after Grandfather died on 27 January 1899. He was buried in the Buckhorn cemetery.

My earliest recollection is of our being camped in a tent, across a small creek from the little house where Grandmother smith, Aunt Dovie, Uncle Evert, and uncle Edgar, were living. I clearly recall being there one day when Aunt Dovie was building a fire at the wash pot in the back yard. A few weeks later we moved into a small house in the same mining community, where Papa set up a blacksmith shop at the roadside. I remember the forge and the huge hand-operated bellows, and watching him shoe horses and shrink steel tires onto wagon wheels. He made me a little hatchet and, for Arlie, a small hammer.

Alsie was born at this house on 4 April 1900. By this time, I had learned to read from a many-paged "chart", which contained pictures, alphabet, and simple sentences --a primer of sorts.

It was at this house, also, where Alsie, at eight months of age, began to walk and pulled a cup of scalding hot coffee off the table, badly burning her right arm. Arlie and his small dog formed the habit, that summer of running away to a home but was cured by the simple method of switching his bare legs every step of the way back home.

In the winter of 1900-1901, AHS built the first two rooms of a house at the town of Sulphur and we moved into it before it was finished. At first we had to get our water from a spring about a block away, but had a well drilled by Mr. Cy Perkins that spring, very conveniently located in the back yard.

Mamma caught Alsie -- at ten months age -- half way up a ladder leaning against the house. While standing too close, as Papa built some back steps to the house, I was struck in the forehead by the blade of the hatchet he was using, causing great excitement for a while.

Mr. and Mrs. S.E. John, who operated a restaurant in town, were our neighbors across the street. They became "Uncle John and Aunt John" to us. They later moved to Handley, Texas, where I saw "Aunt John" one time, in 1915.

At this time, Papa was working steadily as a carpenter, and doing some small contract work. We had a buggy for fast transportation while the wagon was for hauling. While living at this place, we made visits to Mill Creek, where Grandmother was now living. Uncle Jonathan (Dr. Eppler) and Aunt Ida, and their son Fred, were also living in Mill Creek.

Another time we visited Uncle Lewis and his family, who were living at Wapanucka, forty or fifty miles from Sulphur.

Earnest (Hobart Earnest Smith) was born at this first house in Sulphur -- on Christmas Day 1901. Not long after this, Papa built us a larger house several blocks away, and sold this first house to the Moore family. Their baby girl was Beatrice who became (later) the favorite playmate of Earnest.

At the second house, our nearest neighbors were Uncle Jim and Aunt Teel Ryan -- as Irish as their name. He was a Civil War Veteran, an unreconstructed Rebel, who had thoroughly enjoyed the four years of fighting the “damyankees".

Grandfather and Grandmother Eppler visited us while we lived here. His brothers John and Dr. Jonathan also came at that time. Because of a slump in building -- or maybe just for a change -- Papa decided to farm again, in 1904. He moved to the "old tie house", near the Gilsonite mines, where he farmed about 40 acres. The "tie house" was built of old railroad ties set vertically, stockade fashion, to form the walls.

About this time, perhaps causing the move to the "tie house", the Federal Government took all of the area of Sulphur, where we had been living, as part of the land used in creating Platt National Park, formed for preserving a number of mineral springs.

He moved back to Sulphur in the winter of 1904-05, to a house on the southwest side of town -- not far from the "Bromide Spring" in the new Park. Don Wayland Smith was born at the second home in Sulphur on 12 November 1903 --Papa's Birthday. After moving back to the southwest side, Ivan Horace Smith was born, on 28 October 1905.

Earnest died, 20 April 1906, and was buried in Sulphur cemetery.

While living at this place, we made a trip back to Grandfather's farm in Scott County, Arkansas, and, on another occasion, we visited Uncle Albert Eppler's family at Lebanon, near Madill, Oklahoma.

In January 1907, we moved to Snyder, Texas, which was "booming" as a result of a railroad being built. As a building contractor, Papa built many of the new business buildings as well as many homes. He arrived in the town after an all-day ride on the "stage" -- a three-seated-hack -- from Colorado City, which was the nearest rail-point on the A&P Railroad. 27 January 1907 was the date.

He lived in a tent for several weeks while Papa built us a house in his "spare time" from his building business. Dr. Sy Perkins had brought his well-drilling equipment from Sulphur, and he drilled our well. The Bolin family, formerly of Sulphur, who had been living for several years near Tulia, Texas, bought a lot across the street from us, and Papa built them a house.

Albert Lee Smith was born here on 7 April 1908.

A year or two after the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad had built into Snyder, a branch of the Santa Fe was built through Snyder and our house was taken in acquiring the right-of-way. We moved to a new home on the west side of town, where Rosa Elizabeth Smith was born, 3 January 1910.

In the meantime, Papa had bought a 160-acre farm about five miles northwest of Snyder, and we had lived there part of the year 1909. We lived there again during most of 1911 and 1912. Mary Helen Smith was born on this farm on 20 November 1911.

In December 1912, we moved back to Snyder from the farm, to a house in northeast part of town, where we lived until the spring of 1918 -- the longest we had ever lived in one place during my parents married life --up to that time. There were born Annie Ruth Smith, on 16 September 1914, and Clara Eppler Smith, on 12 April 1916. While we lived here, the three oldest children went through our high-school years.

In late spring 1918, the family moved to Lubbock, temporarily, while Papa built a building for a firm in Abernathy, Texas. By this time the war (World War I) had practically shut down private construction work and Papa went to Fort Worth to work on various army camps there. I followed in the early part of September after failing to get into officer training corps of University of Cincinnati -- on account of my draft status -- and the family arrived in Fort Worth in the latter part of September. We first lived at 2514 Lincoln Avenue. The war was over on 11 November 1918. (My draft induction papers arrived that day, but Uncle Sam didn't want me the next day.)

Grandmother Eppler came to live with us in the fall of 1918. She died 28 February 1919, and was buried in Mount Olivet cemetery in Fort Worth. (Grandfather had died 15 May 1916, and was buried at Abbott, Arkansas.)

Alsie was married 25 May 1919, to Thomas Earl Thorp, at the home on Lincoln Avenue. They went to Earl's home in Balmorhea, Texas, to live.

In the fall of 1919, the family moved to 1404 Harrington Avenue, Fort Worth, where the lived until early 1929; the longest period in any one place during their married life. During this time, four other of the children were married: Reba to Ruth Eleanore Bigbee, 24 November 1921; Don to Pauline Poston, 1 January 1925; Ivan to Opal Hitt, 8 October 1925; Arlie to Ortell Smith, 11 October 1925; and Albert to Thelma Walker, 17 May 1928.

As Papa's business prospered, he added many improvements and additional room to the house so that it finally was much too big and barny for the reduced size of the family. They moved to 3429 North Littlejohn in early 1929 and remained there until Papa's death on 7 May 1931.

In 1929, Papa expanded his business, building a lumber yard and a planing mill. The early part of the depression did not hurt him too much, but a bank failure in 1930 took most of his ready cash and dried up his credit. Then illness and the deepening depression prevented him from consolidating his business and clearing up his debts. Consequently, after his death, it took most of his accumulated property to pay all debts and leave Mamma with one clear property -- the house at 3412 Hanger Street. She moved there before the end of 1931 and lived there until her death on 27 May 1964.

During these 33 years, changes in the family occurred. Reba was divorced in February 1935, and married Arline Yeary on 17 August 1935. Ivan was twice divorced and remarried twice - to Margaret Pool, and last to Lynn Grawunder.

Mary Helen married Raymond M. Craver, 31 March 1931, a few weeks before Papa's death. Clara married Thomas A. Keenan, 21 December 1935; Betty (Rosa Elizabeth) married Leon H. Terrell, 23 December 1935, in Cali, Colombia, S.A.; and Annie Ruth married Samuel Randolph Chambers, 4 September 1936. Don died 7 September 1955.

Many grand- and great-grandchildren were born during these years. At the time of her death, Mamma's living descendents and the current in-laws totaled 110 people, it I have not made an error in counting. Mamma lived alone for the last fifteen years of her life. When past 89, in January 1960, she had a probable stroke, did suffer a severe fall, and had to be cared for, by help in the home, or in nursing homes, until she died.

Abey Houston Smith and Clara Launis Eppler Smith are buried beside each other in the southeast corner of "Goliad Lawn-30" of Mount Olivet cemetery, in Fort Worth. In the same plot are Johnny Hitt -- brother of Opal --and Albert Lee Smith III --Al's baby. In the next area north, "Sam Houston-31" is Yandall C. Woodfin grandfather of Dorothy Diane Woodfin Smith -- Steve's wife. In the next one north, "David Crockett-32", are buried Grandmother Eppler and Daisy Eppler Cox -- one of Uncle Albert's children.

For the record, there remain 8 vacant grave spaces at Papa's plot, and 3 vacant spaces at Grandmother Eppler's plot. (Daisy is in adjoining plot.)

Note to Alicia: (14 September 1968) (my 24th grandchild)

As of this writing, you have two parents and four grandparents living. Your great-grandmother Woodfin is still living.

You have three great-grandparents and one great-great-grandmother buried in Mount Olivet. In Anneta cemetery in Parker County, you have two great-grandparents, two great-great-grandparents, and two great-great-great-grandparents. In Weatherford cemetery, Parker County, you have two great-great-grandparents. And in Willow Springs cemetery, Parker County, you have four great-great-great- grandparents.

Many of your Woodfin ancestors are buried in Fosterville, Tennessee. Many Eppler-Smith-Cole ancestors are in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. One great-great-grandfather is in Oklahoma and his wife is buried at Snyder, Texas.

These are only a few of a vast family. Hordes of others preceded them, hundreds of uncles, cousins, and aunts, are now living and there will be untold thousands more to follow as time goes on. Most of them have been -- or will be -- good citizens, good parents, honest and industrious, who helped in their small way to make this a better world for Alicia and the rest of her generation. The few who have failed or have fallen are a very small percentage of the total. You can be proud of a sound, though strictly middle-class, family heritage.

signed by

Grandfather Smith.

Family History Notes

By Reba Singleton Smith

Eppler family (-- no date given on this one.)

So far as I have been able to learn, the original Epplers in America were George and Adam, probably brothers but may have been first cousins, who came to America about 1734 and settled in Pennsylvania. They were undoubtedly of German origin, although it is not clear what part of Germany they came from. Most of the sources say they came from Saxony; others give Alsace as their home province.

It is equally unclear WHY they left their homeland. Religious persecution of Protestants, by Catholic rulers, is given as one cause; another, and more likely, reason is that they were simply adventurous youngsters wanting the excitement of living in the new world. Whether they were sons of a German nobleman, as some claim, or not, is immaterial. There can be little doubt that they were of good character, certainly intelligent, and unquestionably energetic -- all of them qualities that marked most of the early immigrants to this country.

Another tradition in the family is that George, and probably Adam, were soldiers in General James Wolfe's army at the taking of Quebec on 18 September 1759. George is supposed to have been decorated for his services in this battle. To me, there may be some valid objections to the accuracy of this story. If George was 25 years of age --as usually stated -- when he arrived in America, and if he arrived in 1734, he would have been about fifty years old at the time of the Battle of Quebec.

Even if we assume that he was younger when he came to this country -- say 20 years old -- and if we assume further that it may have been as late as 1740 when he arrived, he still would have been 39 years old in 1759 --still rather old for a soldier in the British Army of those times.

I have speculated that the persistence of the tradition must indicate some truth in the story, but have wondered if perhaps the members of the family at Quebec may not have been SONS of George and/or Adam. The time element would make this a much more plausible account. Of course, we can never know for sure. George and Adam both married in Pennsylvania. Each named one some John. Adam's John, according to Mrs. Knudson's History, was a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army. In the Eppler Family chart I have shown Adam's line as far as I could -- to Rev. W.A.Galt, of Decatur, Illinois. (That is more than 40 years ago.) I will not mention this parallel line of Epplers -- or Epler, as they spell it -- any further in these notes.

George Eppler is said to have had at least one daughter who married a man named Miles, traditionally the ancestors of Gen. Nelson A. Miles. Nothing is known of other sons or daughters, except the John, mentioned above. This John married Margaret Muller and, some time prior to the Revolution, moved to Abingdon, Virginia. John and Margaret lived to be quite old, both probably dying after the family migration to Carroll County, Missouri.

Margaret Muller Eppler is reputed to have been affectionately known as "Mother Margaret" to friends and family alike.

Almost nothing has been learned, to my knowledge, about Margaret, or her antecedents. Some sources say that her name was Miller, instead of Muller. This is doubtful, but may have resulted from the sound of the German "umlaut u", in Muller, which frequently is sounded almost like the English "i". One anecdote about John Eppler should be told here. He possessed a pair of silver knee-buckles (ornamental buckles worn at the knees of the short breeches worn in Colonial times). Ann Eppler, a great-grand-daughter of John Eppler, told HER grand-daughter, Ola Dove Smith, that John gave HER one of the buckles, and gave the other to her brother William, at the time they left Missouri to move to Arkansas. They were small children at that time, probably did not appreciate the value of the items, and had let them disappear completely long before she related the story to her grand-daughter.

Among the children born to John and Margaret Eppler, in Abingdon, Virginia, was Jonathan Eppler. He was born during or soon after the Revolution. Little is known of his early life.

At this point, I wish to mention a somewhat remarkable co-incidence. Abingdon is in the southwestern "tip" of Virginia. A few miles away is the eastern "tip" of Tennessee. A few miles farther south is the western end of North Carolina, with South Carolina lying still farther to the south. The village of Ninety-six, where the British had a military prison in the early years of the Revolution, is about 160 airline miles from Abingdon. The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is about 210 miles from Abingdon. (Ninety-six is in South Carolina.)

Within this comparatively small area of 4 states, more than 20 families lived, at one time or another, who later became related to the present generations of the Eppler-Smith-Yeary families. Jonathan Eppler, early in the nineteenth century, married Elsie Thomas, whose father Isaac Thomas, who was a famous scout, soldier, and "Indian Trader". Unverified, at this writing, is the record of Isaac Thomas' father being Col. John Thomas, of King's mountain fame.

One anecdote of Col. John Thomas and his wife Jane, is told in the book, "King's Mountain and It's Heroes", available in most libraries. Because of his activities in helping the settlers in resisting the British and Tories, Col. Thomas was captured and imprisoned at Ninety-sis. On one occasion Jane rode horseback from their home at Fair Forest to visit him. While there, she heard the wives of some of the Tory leaders describing an intended ambush of American recruits who were being drilled at Cedar Springs by her son, Col. John Thomas, Jr. She slipped away, saddled her horse and rode the more than sixty miles to Cedar Springs, to warn her son. The Tory attack was repulsed with heavy losses, and with only a few of the patriots killed.

Later, Col. Thomas, Sr., was one of the leaders of the battle of King's Mountain.

Jonathan and Elsie Thomas Eppler were the parents of eight sons and two daughters. Isaac and John, probably twins, were the oldest. Others, not necessarily in the order listed, were Henry, Marcus, George, Jonathan, William and Miles, sons, and Ann and Salome, the daughters. Ann and Salome married brothers, A.J., and J.M. Speegle respectively.

William was bitten by a family pet dog, when 12 years of age, and died of rabies. Legend has it that, in his worst paroxysms it took two strong men to hold him in bed. This tragic affair occurred after the family had moved to Missouri, I believe.

The family moved to Carroll County, Missouri, in the early, or middle 1820's. Here the youngest son, Miles, was born. Here also most of the older children were married. John married Alcie Elizabeth Booth. Isaac's wife's name has not been handed down. Both brothers had several children born while they lived in Missouri.

A family quarrel, which must have been exceedingly bitter, disrupted the family. Rev. Henry Eppler, one of the older children, and a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, became an ardent abolitionist and argued violently with his father Jonathan over the question of slavery. Eventually, Jonathan moved to Arkansas, along with all of the other sons and their families. I am not sure if the daughters and their husbands went along. Probably they did, as legend has it that Henry never afterward had any direct communication with the rest of the family.

About 1921, while visiting Aunt Dovie in San Antonio, Texas, I became acquainted with a family of Speegles. Mrs. Speegle had been Ivy Eppler, a daughter of Clark Eppler, who was a son of Rev. Henry Eppler. Mr. Speegle was a grandson of A.J. and Ann Eppler Speegle. They had three children: Gilbert, Ivy Hazel, and Arthur.

Several years later, Aunt Dovie became acquainted with an aunt of Mrs. Ivy Eppler Speegle, named Geneva Eppler Shanks. She was the youngest daughter of Rev. Henry Eppler. Mrs. Shanks was a teacher, living in Mexico City, and was visiting her niece at the time. Of Isaac Eppler's children, at least William and Ann were born in Missouri, as they were given the silver knee buckles by their great-grandfather John Eppler. Of John and Alcie Elizabeth Booth Eppler's children, several were born in Missouri, but my grandfather Wylie Clark Eppler, born 12 January 1836, is the only one I am sure about.

After the move to Arkansas, the family spread out over several contiguous counties in the west edge of the state. Crawford County, with Van Buren as county seat; Sebastian County, with Fort Smith; and Scott County, with Waldron, were the principal ones. John and Alcie settled in Scott County. My grandfather's farm of about 100 acres was between Mansfield and Waldron, a short distance from the present village of Abbott, Arkansas. I do not know if his land was a part of John's land, or was bought separately, and perhaps at some distance from his father's property.

John and Alcie Elizabeth Booth Eppler were the parents of nine children, so far as my records show. I do not know the order in which they were born, so show them by name only.

Wylie Clark Eppler, my grandfather, born in Carroll County, Missouri.

Dr. Jonathan Eppler and John Eppler, were older, I think, and so would have been born in Missouri also. I remember both of these brothers of my grandfather quite well.

Henry, Elizabeth, Marcus, Rufus -- later of Henrietta, Clay County, Texas --Murray, and William, complete the list.

Rev. Wylie Clark Eppler married Dorcas Eliza Sorrels in 1856. She was a daughter of Dr. James Sorrels and Mary Eliza Henthorne Sorrels, of Scott County. (At least two of Dorcas' brothers -- Warren and Royston --were also physicians.) Wylie and Dorcas were the parents of twelve children:

John Melvin Eppler, b. 1857, d. 1907, m. Lucinda Buckner DeArmon.

James Albert Eppler, b. 1859, m. Frances Russell Holly.

Mary Ann Elizabeth Eppler, b. 1861, d. 1944, m. J.M. Crabtree.

Royston Rufus Warren Eppler, b. 1863, d. 1864.

Emily Bradley Eppler, b. 1866, d. 1907, m. Levi Perry Boren.

Dora Benton Eppler, b. 1868, m. Lewis Carpenter.

Clara Launis Eppler, b. 1870, d. 1964, m. Abey Houston Smih.

George Pierce Eppler, b. 1872, m. Dora Chamberlain.

Wylie Irvin Eppler, b. 1874, m. Anna Graves.

William Lee Eppler, b. 1877, m. Josephine Hunter.

Martha Alice Eppler, b. 1880, m. Thomas Bagwell.

Jamima Ruth Eppler, b. 1882, m. James Matthis.

(Uncle Will (William Lee) is the only one still living in early 1968.)

(Wylie born 12 January 1836, died 15 May 1916 -- Dorcas born 17 December 1838 -- in Scott County -- died 28 February 1919, Ft. Worth, Texas.)

Clara Launis and Abey Houston Smith were my parents -- see Smith Charts.

Back to ISAAC EPPLER, son of Jonathan and Elsie Thomas Eppler: He was married twice -- names of both wives now lost. By his first marriage, he was the father of William, John, Miles, Ales, Samuel, and Ann Eppler. Ann was born 24 January 1834, died in 1898. She was married in 1850 to Lewis Francis Cole, born in Illinois, who had moved to Scott County, Arkansas, at age 15. Of five children born to the Cole's, only two lived to be grown:

Elizabeth Catherine Cole, b 21 November 1851, d. 17 September 1918, m. Joseph James Smith 3 August 1866 - see Smith Charts.

William Miles Cole born about 1875 -- died about 1895.

By his second marriage, Isaac was the father of Bennet, Dora, Thomas, Robert, and Susie Eppler. I have no data for them.

Joseph James and Catherine Cole Smith were the parents of nine children, six of whom lived to be grown. One of them was my father, Abey Houston Smith.

Isaac Eppler was my great-great-grandfather on my father's side, and Isaac's twin brother, John Eppler, was my great-grandfather on my mother's side of the family. My parents were fourth cousins.

Lewis Francis Cole was a Union soldier in the Civil War. His (later) son-in-law was a Confederate soldier.

Rev. Wylie Clark Eppler, Mother's father, was a Methodist minister, a farmer, and a saddle maker. During the Civil War, as a Confederate soldier, he was shot through both lower lungs, from side to side, and was sent home to die. But he recovered and lived for more than fifty years longer. I remember him as a slender, small man -- about 5-feet 6-

inches high and weighing about 150 pounds. He had "twinkling eyes" -- I don't remember their color. He wore a full beard and mustache.

He was a Master Mason. He gave Mother his Masonic "Monitor", which I have seen many times. She gave it, in turn, to my brother Don after he joined the Lodge. I have not seen it since Don's death, but suppose it is still among his effects.

On one visit we made to Grandfather Eppler's home, my brother Arlie and I wanted to taste his chewing tobacco -home grown and cured. I spit mine out immediately and was slightly ill, but Arlie chewed his, swallowed it and asked for more!

Instead of a last illness, Grandfather was sitting on the porch, talking with one of his sons, when he half rose, said, "Catch me", and died instantly. Lucky man!

Some of his children were not so fortunate. Uncle Melvin had a long illness from something similar to bone cancer, before he died. I saw him a few months before his death, and he looked like a slightly animated skeleton. My mother, Clara Launis, had a slight stroke -- apparently -- and fell, injuring her hip and her head, at age 89. This was in January 1960, and she was bed-fast most of the time from then until her death on 27 May 1964.

Grandmother Dorcas Eppler was a tall slender woman, with snapping black eyes, clearly indicating her part-French ancestry. Her hair had very little gray in it when she died at age 80. She was living with us --latter part of 1918 and first 2 months of 1919 -- when she died 28 February 1919, during the influenza epidemic. I recall seeing her once when she was startled out of her sleep. She sat up in bed and called, "Oh, Wylie!" Mother said that was what she always said, when she was startled or scared.

My mother, Clara Launis Eppler Smith, was 5-feet 2-inches tall and probably never weighed more than 100 pounds until late middle age, when she became quite stout. In her eighties, she lost this surplus weight, and weighed about 100 pounds again for several years.

(Note - MEW): Actually Grandmother was only five feet tall, because she was continually sidling up to me, looking down on me, and proclaiming that I could not be FIVE feet because she was! And she was right, for I was only four-feet-eleven and 3/4!)

When Mother was a young girl, the family was still using homespun and woven cloth for much of their needs. She herself helped with the carding and spinning of both cotton and wool, but did not do any weaving, which was Grandmother's job. I have seen the big "cards", which were used for combing and rolling the fibers, but the spinning wheel and loom had disappeared.

In the latter part of 1891, Mother made a special quilt, with the intention of entering it as an exhibit in the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She failed to get it exhibited, but kept it the rest of her life. It now belongs to my sister Alsie Thorp, who lives in California. The quilt was pieced from several colors, in a regular block pattern. It contains more than thirty-four thousand pieces -- each less than one-half inch square. It required two months of labor and 60 spools of thread to make it.

Although raised a Methodist, Mother joined her husband's church, the Cumberland Presbyterian, after her marriage, and remained in that church the rest of her life.

Among other family traditions, I remember particularly, although I cannot recollect details, that the farmers of the family, and others as well, to a lesser extent, followed the moon's phases for planting, etc., and would not start a new project, such as a move to another location, except on the "increase" of the moon. To begin a task while the moon was waning was to invite disaster.

Mrs. Geneva Eppler Shanks told Aunt Dovie that her grandfather Jonathan Eppler (husband of Elsie Thomas) could speak German but refused to do so. He would not allow it to be taught to his children. Apparently his father, old John, preferred to speak German, and would have taught it to his grandchildren.

Ann Eppler Cole, daughter of Isaac, was my great-grandmother. She was present and assisted at my birth, and probably saved my life as I was apparently still-born. She refused to believe it, and finally revived me. Dr. Jonathan Eppler, brother of Wylie Clark Eppler, and my great-uncle, was the attending physician.

Both my grandfathers were preachers -- Grandfather Eppler in the Methodist, and Grandfather Smith in the Cumberland Presbyterian, churches. Both had handsomely bound, large Bibles. I do not know what went with either of them, although I have seen them on a number of occasions.

I have heard of a large family Bible belonging to Jonathan Eppler, father of Isaac, John, et al., but I have never seen it, so far as I can remember now. Some say that it was printed in German and that it was brought to America by one of the first Epplers. I have no knowledge of the facts.