Moving to Commerce

After Papa died the three women kept the store going for a while. Lura taught school nearby. I think she had a car. Guess they sold it eventually and leased the farm.

In 1923, they all moved to Commerce. Commerce was much larger than Murchison and the university—East Texas State Teacher’s College—brought many people there. The railroad was also very important. The Cotton Belt ran between Texarkana and elsewhere through to Dallas. Fort Worth became the largest railroad terminal in the state about that time.

In Commerce, Lura and Mother taught in country schools. One could teach then with a high school education and a few hours training. I don’t how Mother and Lura commuted to their work. At one time Mother taught three miles out in the country and she would walk with her suitcase on Sunday afternoon, stay with a local family, and walk home on Friday afternoon.

In the summer, Lura and Mother went to East Texas State Teacher’s College. Mother and all of her kin had quite a struggle to earn their degrees. She finally got a Bachelor’s degree from ETSTC. So did Aunt Lura, their brother Uncle Dan and his wife Aunt Velma, and Aunt Sister’s daughters, Ethel and Agnes. Uncle Dan eventually earned his Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.