Local history is interesting because it often comes from stories passed down over the years. The only problem is that the stories usually undergo some change with each generation of story tellers so that the current version is no where near that what actually occurred. But, that too, is part of the enjoyment of local history.
Hays County, where we live, is quite rich in history because it is sandwiched between Travis and Bexar Counties, both of which have their own rich history. Hays County has some local history in written form, but not nearly what it should have given its wealth of history.
Every so often, we encounter a unique opportunity to chat with someone who was pretty close to the situation which created the history.
We were cleaning up the front entrance when a truck stopped and the gentleman got out and walked to where we were working. He introduced himself, and I immediately recognized his name. He's the man that lives in the stone house----the house that was the old ranch house for the 1670 acres that eventually made up our community. This meeting was fortuitous as we had been thinking about some way that we could get to talk to him about history of the area. So here we are with the opportunity to gather some new information.
He bought that stone house in 1967 lived there for awhile, then sold it, probably on a land contract and then got it back when the buyer could not make payments any longer. So now he has the knowledge of the house since 1967 and since he bought it from the original owner, he has a pretty good handle on its history. One handoff of a historical account is not too bad---and he is the original story teller as well.
The house that he bought originally retained 40 acres of land around it when the balance of the ranchland sold to the developer. The house is on a high point of this rolling land. It has a windmill pumping water to tank made of stone. This water tank fed other stock tanks at lower levels with small pipes run along the ground. These more remote water tanks fed by pipe from the main tank near the house made it unnecessary to put up another windmill and kept the stock from milling around the house all day long.
The house had no electricity, thus the windmill was needed for pumping water. The lack of electricity also made entertaining difficult as playing cards by candlelight is not all that great. But then, its the 1920s. His story was leading up to telling us how LBJohnson will take care of the lack of electricity in a way most politicians were adept at doing personal projects like this.
The owner, M. E. Ruby, often played games of cards with his friends and his favorite friends were Lyndon Johnson and Frank Hamer. Now, we all know Lyndon Johnson, but many of us may not know of Frank Hamer. Hamer was a Texas Ranger and played a big part in the ending of the crime careers of Bonnie and Clyde. Johnson was obviously accustomed to social encounters with electricity because he lived "up town" in Austin and apparently got impatient with the progress of getting electricity to this remote area for his card playing. So, he pulled some strings, just as politicians are apt to do. Here's how the electrical service was constructed: The installers put up poles made of cedar tree trunks, screwed in a long screw, placed a coca cola bottle (maybe even a Big Red soda bottle as that was more in keeping with Texas traditions) over the screw so that now the soda bottle was serving as an insulator, then ran the wire some 2 miles to the nearest power. Now, they had electricity for their card games.
The house continues to be the setting for history creation. The current owner has established a cemetery in the front yard where now are interred the bodies of his mother and his exwife. He plans for his body to be buried there as well. We failed to ask how it came to be that his ex-wife is buried here. Its probably unlikely that they were divorced after her death.
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