BESSIE MAUDE (NIX) MASSINGILL

Across the Fence 



By Arvord Abernethy 

Our church holds services each month in three of the rest homes in Hamilton. When we go to the Hamilton Nursing Home we will always see one lady there dressed as neat as a pin, waiting and ready to enjoy the service. Should you judge her by the interest and enjoyment she gets, you could easily misjudge her age. She is Mrs. David (Bessie) Massingill who is as alert as a sixty year old, but she is now well into her 95th year. 

She and David were our good neighbors when we lived out at the ranch, but at these services I never have time to visit with her. Last week I made an appointment and went by and had a nice, enjoyable visit with her. 

Bessie was born on Valentine’s Day about three miles from Dublin, Texas in 1889. When she was quite young, her father heard of the good cotton country down in Wharton County, so they moved down there. She remembers how pretty their crop looked one year and how happy they were for it, but later in the season that new pest, the boll weevil hit and wiped out their crop. 

They moved back to Hamilton County in 1900 and settled in the Elza community. She remembers going to school in the new building which had recently been built. Then they moved to one of the Gann farms located in the present Providence community. 

Bessie’s school here was the Leon school which was a one room rock building that was heated by a large fireplace at one end. She remembers the occasion when Pearl Lackey backed up too close to the fireplace and caught her dress on fire. Her teacher, Miss Euna Toland, was approaching, Pearl ran for her and Miss Euns threw a coat around and put out the flames, but it was too late. The burns were so severe that she passed away that night. 

I asked her about some of her courtship with David. With a twinkle in her eye and with the shyness of a young teenager, she first said that maybe she shouldn’t tell about it, but then she began. She said that she noticed that David had been eyeing her for some time. One night they were to have a party at Cubbie Haile’s who lived in the old Groomer house. The Groomer house is the two story rock house on the former Johnny Harris place that I have told you about before. Anyway David and his niece came by Bessie’s home in a wagon and David sent his niece down to see if Bessie would ride to the party with them. She was a little hesitant at first, but decided to go. So, with a walk back to the wagon and a climb up the wheel to the spring seat, a romance and marriage began that lasted for 65 years shortly before David’s passing in 1981. 

To this union was born two children, Jack and Charlie Lucille. They had the misfortune of losing Charlie Lucille as a teenager by appendicitis. Some time later they adopted Margaret Richardson, then a six year old girl, whom we now know as Mrs. Paul Massingill, a nurse at the Hamilton General Hospital. 

The Massingill home was right on the banks of the Leon River, so I asked Bessie about their fishing experiences. She said that David was never much of a fisherman, but they were fortunate in that most of the people who came to fish there would divide their catch with them. There is a short bend in the river just below the house and one of the deepest holes in the river is there. Some large fish have been caught out of it. One of the main fishermen who came down there was the late Mr. Carpenter, the barber. Often his wife would come with him and she and Bessie would sit in their car and visit. 

Bessie remembers the big flood on the Leon in 1908 and again in 1918. At one of those times, a relative had passed away and the only way across the river was the railroad trestle. They were taken to the trestle and walked across it, and she remembers that Marion Anderson picked them up and took them to the funeral and then back to the trestle for their walk back across. 

One occasion we got to be with David and Bessie was at the brush arbor revivals at Providence Church. She was one of the charter members of that church, so it has meant much to her life. 

Bessie, may you have many more happy Valentine’s Days. 

 Shared by Roy Ables

ACROSS THE FENCE