March 6, 1836 Tapley Holland died at The Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a

pivotal event in the Texas Revolution.

Dr. V.M. Holland never found a link in his Holland family research to Tapley Holland who died at The Alamo on March 6, 1836. What seems to be true is that Colonel William B. Travis, who commanded the Alamo never drew a line in the sand and asked for volunteers to defend The Alamo to their death; therefore, Tapley Holland never stepped across it saying, "I regret having but one life to give for Texas!"

HOLLAND, TAPLEY (1810–1836). Tapley Holland, Alamo defender, one of six children of Margaret (Buck) and Francis Holland, was born in Ohio in 1810. His father had migrated from Canada to Louisiana and moved to Texas in 1822 as one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred settlers. Tapley Holland, a resident of the Washington Municipality (present-day Grimes County), took part in the siege of Bexar. Later he served in the Alamo garrison as a member of Capt. William R. Carey's artillery company. Tapley Holland died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990).

My father, Dr. V.M. Hollland, of Fairplay, Texas was born today.

His father was David Mordie Holland. His mother was Louise Allison. Into a farming family in Fairplay, Texas, which is between Carthage, Texas and Henderson, Texas, he was the oldest of five children.

He is shown here with his family in Hobbs, New Mexico, where he was a physician, next to him is his son Frederick Leon Holland, his wife Evangeline Neal Dennard Holland, who is holding his daughter Mary Marie Holland. Dad was 72 when he died. What my mother told me was that he had been working out at the farm at Fairplay clearing a blocked sewage line to a septic tank on a white house where Bob Tatum, who was laying claim to being one of Mother's Dennard relatives,  and his  aging mother were staying. It was a cold October day and dad had gotten back after dark and was sitting in the kitchen drinking hot tea when he died suddenly and quickly in his work overalls and muddy farm boots, in his own home. This blog is dedicated to Dr. V.M. Holland, who grew up in East Texas, traveled around the world in the US Navy during World War II and ended up back in Panola County with the neighbors and family he grew up with during the Great Depression of 20th Century America. He was a young man during WWII and joined what has been called "The Greatest Generation" however, he would have argued with that assessment of his generation.

Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth, Sister-in-Law to Dr. V. M. Holland

Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth

"Streaks Across The Sky"

by Jessie Jo Wedgeworth © 2013
from from her book Chimes of Time: A Collection of Poems

This morning-blue sky
Is overlaid with light streaks,
As tiny specks move swiftly
In the endless vastness,
Criss-cross to form contrails,
Which puff full, then,
Pushed by wind currents,
Break into thin wisps
And drift away into farther blue;
Streaks left as jets pass through.

What streaks do I leave, passing?

Occasional clean streaks
Sweeping dirty floors
Swiping spotted windows
Swishing dusty furniture

Little streaks of cheer
Cover others’ heartaches
Carry their loads
Comfort their souls

Is this all I can do?

My Prayer —
Please help me,
Speck that I am,
Leave meaningful streaks
Across the arch of my existence.


NOTE: my Aunt Jessie Jo was buried on the 10th Anniversity of  the tragic lost of  the shuttle Columbia, which broke apart as it re-entered the atmosphere and streaked across the Texas skies. Burned parts of the shattered spacecraft rained down across a broad expanses, much of it centered over Hemphill, Texas.

Jessie Dennard and family, c. 1930  based on the image of  Hilda Dennard (  85 in 2013) who appears to be  between 1 and 2 in this photo in the arms of her mother. Marion Dennard holding the doll in the front row thinks that is a good date for this photo, which shows Jessie Jo Dennard between her older step-sister Evangeline Neal Dennard ( to become Dr. V. M. Holland 's wife) and her younger brother James Dennard.

Like most members of both the Dennard and the Wedgeworth families, I have always felt close to my Aunt Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth.  Her son Tracy Wedgeworth (Denny) was like my brother when I was grewing up as a boy up in Panola County. Her husband Tracy Wedgeworth (Uncle Tracy)  was one of the greatest men I have every known in my life. I used to follow him around like a puppy on trips to the dairy barn,  where I listen to the sounds of his voice and the sounds of the dairy and the smell of his pipe smoke and the cows with their feed, to the pasture to help out a cow having troubles with calfing, to a haunted house in a tractor pulled hay wagon one night, to have a gilt serviced by a boar, and always back again to Aunt Jo's table for my first (and by means not last) cup of coffee at the age of four or five... Jo had the largest platter of fried eggs I had ever seen in my life at her breakfast table for hard working dairy hands.  Later she worked at First National Bank where she retired with plans to travel with Tracy... who then passed away. Her Nanna grandmother career kicked into high gear... and along with it came her passion for writing poems, short stories, observations on life in and around Panola county. Her books were published for awhile ( and she had a large email list following and won  regional awards for poetry and short stories. Those books, especially the Joisms Series, were very popular with my Mom, Evangeline Neal Dennard Holland, who was her older step-sister,  and with my Wife, Deborah Ann Richey McAlister Holland, who is also an author,  and her small, self published booklets can still find them in libraries if you look hard enough. And then her brilliant flame slowly went out that fueled her writing. Her life became very quite.  She was always so polite and courteous when we visited in those later years... she told me on one visit not long ago that "I am done with that [my writing] you will have to make do with what you've got." Then she smiled and asked about how I was doing and how my family was doing ... Her life story was a great one. I will have to do with what I got of it. Hope you were in it. I am glad to have been in her story among the histories of  East Texas.


Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth
http://www.hawthornfuneralhome.com/
July 1st, 1922 - January 30th, 2013

Obituary:

Quotes were writen by Jessie Jo Wedgewoth from her bio, "About Me" , from Chimes of Time: A Collection of Poems



"When I was born on a cotton farm near Terrell, Texas on a hot summer day in 1922, I was named after my grandfathers, Jesse Dennard and Joseph Heath. I have always been proud of my name.” Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth was born July 1, 1922. She was one of four children born to the marriage of Buford Leon Dennard and Loma Heath Dennard. “We moved to East Texas when I was twelve; two years later we settled in the Clayton Community, and I still live within two miles of that place, as the crow flies. I graduated from Carthage High School in 1939 and attended SFA at Nacogdoches.”


Jesse married Tracy Howard Wedgeworth November 27, 1940. “In WWlI my husband, Tracy, was drafted and with our two little girls, Peggy and Patsy, I lived with my parents at Irving. When my husband was discharged from the army, we returned to East Texas, bought land and operated a daiiy many years. Our son, Denny, was born during this time. We worked hard developing the lfe we wanted and we were a happy, close-knit family, with our home and church the center of our lives.” Mrs. Wedgeworth was a member of the Cedar Grove Baptist Church where she served as the church clerk for 50 years. “After our two daughters left for college, I began a career in banking, which lasted over twenty-three years.” Jesse worked for the First National Bank of Carthage. “This was a very educational and fulfilling experience. My husband died of lung cancer two months after I retired in 1987, and I seriously began writing poetry and articles to help heal the grief of being forced to carve a new life alone.” Mrs. Wedgeworth was a writer of Poetry and member of the Rusk County Poetry Society. She volunteered with the Panola County Historical and Genealogical Association in the Old Jail House [where she worked with Dr. V. M. Holland, her brother-in-law, on historical reseach of Panola County]. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, Tracy Wedgeworth in 1987, son-in-law, John Meek, sister, Evangeline Holland and brother, James C. Dennard.

Mrs. Wedgeworth is survived by her children, Peggy Wedgeworth of Nacogdoches, Patsy Waldrop and husband Doug of Carthage, Denny Wedgeworth and wjfè Barbara of Longview, brother, Robert H. Dennard and wfe Jane of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Dawn and Dan Killough, Abbie and J.P. of Winters, David Waidrop of Clayton and Fiancé Cris Barkowski of Bentonville, AR, stepdaughter, Madeline Lee of Pine Tree, Jessica and Kirk Carlisle, Anna Grace of Longview, Sabrina and Mark Westfall of Nacogdoches, step grandchildren, Jamie and Bart Eppenauer, Alex, Alyssa and Luke, Tern Lightfoot, Nolan and Pam Meek, Keith and Karen Meek, and Melanie.

Serving as pallbearers will be the Dennard and Wedgeworth nephews. The family
requests memorials to
 Cedar Grove Baptist Church, 1896 CR 106, Carthage, Texas
75633, Bethlehem Cemetery, 181 Emma Drive, Diana, Texas 75640, Marian Place
Assisted Living, 1690 NE Loop 59, Carthage, Texas 75633 or The Old Jail, 213 N.
Shelby, Carthage, Texas, 75633.


Funeral services for Mrs. Jessie Jo Dennard Wedgeworth, 90, of Carthage, Texas were held at  2:00 p.m. Friday, February 1, 2013 at the Cedar Grove Baptist Church with Rev. Freddy Mason and Rev. Dale Read officiating. Burial followed in the Bethlehem Cemetery under the direction of Hawthorn Funeral Home. Family visitation was on  Thursday 6-8:00 p.m. at the Wawthorn funeral home. Mrs. Wedgeworth died January 30, 2013 in Carthage, Texas.

Cemetery:
http://mapq.st/WDafJ8
Bethlehem Cemetery
1343 CR 108
Carthage, TX 75633

Books by Jessie Jo Wedgeworth (c) 2013

Chimes of Time: A Collection of Poems
http://books.google.com/books/about/Chimes_of_Time.html?id=BXvqtgAACAAJ

Joisms.

Joisms 2, Etc.
http://books.google.com/books/about/Joisms_II_Etc.html?id=piTeGwAACAAJ

A History of Cedar Grove Baptist Church
http://www.carthagetexas.com/center/churches/Cedar_Grove.htm

Bethlehem Cemetery, Genealogical Survey 1867-1990: Panola County, Texas

(c) Bethlehem Cemetery Association, 1990 - 114 pages

http://books.google.com/books/about/Bethlehem_Cemetery_Genealogical_Survey_1.html?id=nKiLHwAACAAJ







Sister to Robert H. Dennard , Fellow at IBM, inventor of DRAM

http://www.angelfire.com/games3/BKBT/bio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Dennard

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/dennard.htm

Travel back to 1940 and check in on family and friends... and trends 72 years later.

Dr. V. M. Holland loved to sit in his study at home, smoking a cigar, and studying copies of old US Censuses for details on his family and friends for his histories. Don't miss this opprotunity to read it for yourself online in your home today.

CLICK HERE: http://www.census.gov/1940census/

1940 Census http://www.census.gov/
The 1940 USA Census came at a momentous time in our Nation's history — as we recovered from the Great Depression and not long before our entry into World War II. It was also the first Census that looked deeper into the details of much of American life.

Sam L. Holland with his brothers and sister at his father's home in Fairplay, Texas

Leland, Sam, Bill and Margarite at Fairplay, TX

Leland Holland , Sam Holland, Bill Holland and Margarite Holland at the home of David M. Holland in Fairplay, TX

David Mordie Holland

Written by his son, Samuel L. Holland


Mordie was born in Carroll County, Tenn. Aug. 31, 1895 and died Aug. 8, 1972 in Panola County, Texas. He married Lois Elizabeth Allison April 28, 1917 in Panola County. His parents were Andrew Jackson Holland and Margaret Young Holland. When Mordie was quite young they moved to the farm where Adrain Holland now lives. They were living there in a log house in 1904 when his older brother Eddie died from congestive chills. They were at the same place in 1908 when his grandmother Martha Brigham Holland died in their home.

Then about 1915, after building a home in McLemoresville, Tenn. and moving there, the house burned and all family belongings were lost. These and other events caused serious setbacks in the family economy.

Mordie attended school in McLemoresville but on a part time basis some of the time due to the critical need for help on the farm. In spite of this he made the most of his schooling. At the time of his death, he could still name all of the bones of the human body by memory.

In 1916, about the time Mordie became 21, he packed all of his earthly belongings in a trunk and boarded the train for Beckville, Texas to join and work for his uncle in Panola County, Texas.

One glimpse of his wife to be and he hired on with her uncle in the same area. A little more than a year after Mordie left home, he was married to Lois Allison. She was a descendent of President James K. Polk and her grandfather was one of the original signers of the Texas Constitution.

Mordie became a highly respected farmer, rancher, builder, Sunday School Teacher, and served on numerous community and local government projects and committees.

As a rancher he was well known for his ability to make a horse, mule, cow or dog do what he wanted them to. Soon after he was married, he traded for a blue mare mule. She lived 35 years and was the only animal Mordie never conquered. The first time he rode her she jumped a fence and fell on him. She ran away at least once every spring, Mordie loved her for her spirit and she never failed him in a pulling contest, but she never consented to be ridden.

Mordie and Lois’s children are:
Virgil M. Holland married Evangeline Dennard.
Samuel L. Holland married Helen Holland.
Marguerite Holland married Edwin Botkin,
Leland R. Holland married June E. Pierce.
James H. Holland married Martha Flanigan.

Dr. V.M. Holland and his wife Evangeline, with his Uncle S.T. Allison organized major moment and restoration projects in the 50's like this one.

http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/Etx/Panola/cemetery/willfairplay.htm


Latitude: 32.1501615 Longitude: -94.5410376 USGS GNIS FID: 1350123

Fairplay, Panola Co. Cemeteries of TX

By Panola Co. Hist. & Genealogical Assn(1998)

Photos and submitted by Gloria B. Mayfield, Cemeteries of TX(2003)

Location:- North of US Highway 79, one mile west of Fairplay.- Situated on a hillside near the original home of Pivines and John Williams Families, where Panola County's first Methodist Church was organized by Littleton Fowler at the Williams Home.- A small weather worn replica of the log church building which once stood there is at the back of the cemetery; and an official marble stone marks the place where Bethel Church stood.- That church was later moved to Fairplay and it is active as Allison's Chapel.- -

In 1952, descendants and interested citizens erected a memorial gate and large marble monument, with this tribute; "In memory of our Pioneer Forefather, 1837 1922.- Remains of John Allison rest here;- He was Panola County's First County Judge.

In 1952 other graves were numbered and a small marker was placed by each grave, bearing the assigned- number.- At that time a large memorial stone was erected with identification for as many graves as descendants could secure.- There are seven graves either child or grandchild of John & Betty Williams, 4 slaves of the Allison's and at least 40 known unmarked grave.