My grandparents, Henry Clay Fletcher and his wife Effie Lillian 
Lawrence Fletcher, lived near Gentrys Mill in Hamilton Co, TX from the
early 1900's to about 1929. 
My mother Edith, born in 1914, was one of nine children and some of her
earliest memories were of the cattle ranch where her father was 
overseer. Later, Henry and Effie bought a small farm and all the 
children were expected to help with the chores and the farm work. The 
other children were Dee, b. 1905, Jewell, b. 1907, Clay, b. 1909, 
Connie, b. 1912, Ima, b. 1917, Theodore b. in 1920, Alyeen b. 1922 and 
Ella Bee b. 1931. 
Effie was an expert seamstress and made all the clothes for her large 
family.
Once a week she baked cookies and put them in a large flour sack that 
hung by the kitchen door. By the end of each week the cookie sack was 
empty. 
The children went to school in Hamilton County where my Mother and her 
brothers and sisters completed 8th grade. Grandma Effie was a member of
the Baptist Church and made sure the children went to Sunday School 
even when she could not go. My Mother liked Sundays best when her 
mother would hitch up the buggy and drive the children to church. 
[When Grandma couldn't go, the children walked.]
The Fletchers moved from Hamilton Co to Roosevelt County in New Mexico 
in 1929. During World War II they moved to California. 
   Henry Clay Fletcher was born in Ennis, Ellis Co, in 1882 to Benjamin 
Patton Fletcher and Mary [Molly] Virginia Dotson Fletcher. He died in 
San Bernardino County,CA in 1952 at 70 years of age. 
   Effie Lillian Lawrence was born in Gonzales Co in 1885 to Franklin 
Wilson Lawrence and Terece "Jane" Gregory. She lived to the age of 97 
years and died in 1983 in San Bernardino County, CA. They are buried in
Montecito Memorial Cemetery, Loma Linda, San Bernardino County, CA. 

Submitted by:
Juanita Thinnes (a daughter and granddaughter)
Riverside, CA
October 1998

Posted: 15 October 1998