The Further Adventures of mmm

Trip journal, musings, updates on my life

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Day 1: August 4, 2011

Greetings from Columbus, Texas, y'all. My brother Roger and I are on a roadtrip across TX at probably the hottest, and definitely the driest, time of year we could pick. Actually, the time picked us. Roger has a conference in San Antonio, and I decided to join him so we could go on a family history search.

Our dad was born in Texas, something he wasn't proud of, for whatever reason. His Texas years weren't a happy memory for him. His mother Pearl died in Orange, Texas, during the 1918 influenza pandemic. She was only 24 years old. Judging by her letters, she was a fun, funny young woman who doted on her little boy.

Dad was born in Goliad, Texas, which is southeast of San Antonio. At some point, he and his parents moved to a town in western Louisiana, most likely so my grandfather could find work. He was a laborer, probably doing mostly carpentry work, and it doesn't sound as if there was a lot of work to be had in those days, at least in that area. In 1917, the family moved to Orange, Texas, where my grandfather went to work in the shipyard at Port Arthur.