Judy Chapman Hall

My Granny
Barcie Lee Motsenbocker Chapman
Daughter of Ollie Holt & John Motsenbocker
Wife of TF Chapman
Mother of Donald, Ed & Cathy Chapman

My Granny was the best story teller & every night when I would crawl into bed I would ask her to tell me a story, then afterwards- beg for just one more, then one more. Most of the stories where about her life growing up. In June of 1985 I ask my dear granny to please write some of her stories in a journal for me so that I might pass them on to my children. What follows is from that journal


I will write about our families first then if any room is left, I will write some things that happened thru the years.

I'll write first, about my self, your granny, Barcie Lee Motsenbocker Chapman.

My mother, Ollie Holt lived on the farm where Jimmy Garrett lives now. Her father Robert Holt owned that farm.
My father, John Motsenbocker lived where the wolf family lives, a little way down the road. It was called the valley. John & Ollie married in the spring of 1912. John was 18 & Olllie was 17 years old. The lived in a little house on grandpa Holts place. I was born there May 22,1913.
We moved to a little place, Envil, near Marietta, Oklahoma. Joe was born Oct. 17,1915. We moved back to Wise County then moved to Pindall Arkansas for 2 years,then to Bridgeport in Wise County. Lavonne (Mrs. Ray Singleton) was born May 29,1921.Oleta (Mrs.Joe Nix was born April 14,1924.Ralph was born September 10,1926. My darling baby sister Doris (Mrs Truman Cocanougher) was born October 12,1930.
Joe,Lavonne and I went to school at Grub Hill. I went to school at Paradise & finished High School at Bridgeport. I also went to North Texas University and completed 45 term hours of collage work, which intitled me (at that time) to teach elementary school, but I got Married!

Your Grandfather T.F.Chapman was born December 24,1913 to Ellie Cox and Will Chapman they lived on a farm in Grub Hill Community,Bridgeport,Texas. His mother had been married to Charlie Forster. She had T.F. ,half sister,Esther Forster. She had one son C.F. Byers. he lives in Tucon Arizona, Where Esther died. Will & Ellie had Ermal (Mrs Fyrl Morrison) & Willie which they called Duggie, Duggie died as a young man.
Q.L. Chapman married Thelma Cupel
Homer Chapman married Hazel Blackmon.
They went to Grub Hill school, they moved to Shamrock Texas when T.F was 8 years old.
When T.F. was 18 years old, he came back to Wise County. He lived with Ermal & Fyrl Morrison.

One day I pointed my finger and winked at him and he fell in love with me. We got married July 6,1933. Brother John Readell married us.
Ernest Baugh, T.F. Cousin, & my half aunt Pearl Holt Baugh, went with us and witnessed the ceramony.
We went out to Shamrock Texas and picked cotton,also over to Slidell to pick cotton & gather corn. This is the way we go a little nest egg to start our life together. Ermal & Fyrl Morrison lived on Mr. & Mrs Chapmans farm & they gave us a 2 room apartment in their house and we lived there. Donald was born on June 4, 1934. Moma & dad lived on the Jones place and that is where Donald was born. When Donald was about three months old, T.F. was laid off his job. So we packed up his model T ford, one seat with a bed on the back like truck, and went to Shamrock. We had $7.00 to make the trip. It was a good thing Doanld was not a bottle baby!
We finally rented a farm near Leala & Shamrock. Here Barbara Lee was born December 7,1937. She & Donald got the whooping cough somewhere. We lost Barbara. She died Febuary 4,1938. This was a very sad time.
We came back to Wise County. Farmed a little then, T.F. got a job at the brick plant. Eddie was born December 27,1939.Then when Eddie was 12 1/2 years old and Donald was 18, just graduated from high school. Cathy Lynne was born June 9,1952 .Donald said I was the only pregnant mother at the graduating exercise!


more to come later....

Grandparents Effie Faye & Joseph Mosenbocker
poems
Our Early Years
The Cole Farm