Pate
Mrs. Mary Isabell Pate, 93, to Be Honored
by Pauline Naylor
There will be an informal family party Wednesday at the Eagle Mountain Lake home of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Reynolds in celebration of the 92rd birthday of Mrs. Mary Isabell Pate, mother of Mrs. Reynolds. It will not be a "small" party if all of Mrs. Pate's descendants should come, for she had six children, 15 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren. She also has three sister and two brothers and many nieces and nephews, the majority of whom live in Texas, which has been Mrs. Pate's home for 89 of her 93 years.
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Mrs. Pate is the oldest child 9of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Alexander Moore, who came to Texas from Tennessee, with a stop-over in Arkansas. Mary Isabell was 8 months old when the family left Tennessee and was about 4 years old when they came to Texas. She recalled last week, when the family was making plans for the birthday observance and asking her questions about her early years in Texas, that her family came from Arkansas by covered wagon and that they crossed the Red River on a ferry. Sometimes wagon trains had to wait until the river was low enough at certain points to make a crossing, but the Moore party had the convenience of a ferry.
The Moores were accompanied to Texas by Mrs. Moore's brother, Rev. Sam Ezell, his wife and their two sons. Rev. Mr. Ezell was a Presbyterian minister.
The Moore family went to Johnson Station in Tarrant County on the arrival in Texas in 1872. They stayed there one year, then moved to Collin County, to a farm near Prosper.. Mary Isabell and her brothers and sisters grew up in the farming areas of Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties. She went one year to a private school in Collin County taught by a Mr. Boram. Later there was a public school, and one year, Mrs. Pate recalls, her teacher was Miss Lee London.
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The Moores and the Londons became friends when the Moores arrived in Collin County during a big snow, and stopped at the London farm and asked permission to spend the night. The overnight stay extended to three weeks when Mrs. Moore developed a fever. Thereafter Mrs. Pate says, "The Moores and the Londons became lifelong friends."
Moore first rented a one-room house, close to the Good Hope Cemetery. The house had no floor, but the family was glad to have a room, for houses were few in those days.
"The big rain came in the night. Water was so deep in the house when we got up next morning our shoes were floating." Her father then bought a house consisting of two big rooms. The house was divided and one room sold to a Mr. Mayfield, who moved it in what now is known as the Nance farm. The other room was moved to the Moore farm. Her father hired a young man, Jim Abbott, to help him improve his land. Abbott's pay for fie years work was the land known as the Dubberly farm.
Mary Isabell Moore and Allen Crouch were married ct. 7, 1888. He died in 1902 and his widow continued to farm and raised their seven children. Boys and girls alike helped on the farm, raising food and feed crops and they "made out." A winter diet staple was the sweet potato crop. In 1913 Mrs. Crouch married Cornelius Pate. The marriage listed only a few years.
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Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties have been home to Mrs. Pate through the years, though she spent a short time in Indian Territory. One son, Joe Crouch, died in Oklahoma City in 1954. Two other sons are Roy H. Crouch of Spring Valley, Cal., and Leonard J. Crouch of Aztec, N. M. Daughters in addition to Mrs. Reynolds, with whom Mrs. Crouch now makes her home, are: Mrs. H. C. Dunn and Mrs. M. McLemore of Pilot Point and Mrs. S T. Hearne of Graham.
Other children still living are Mrs. R. H. Miller of Norman, Okla., Mrs. Willie Sparks of Archer City, Mrs. Musie Dubberly of Simms, John Moore of Shamrock and Jerry Moore of Denton.
by Pauline Naylor
There will be an informal family party Wednesday at the Eagle Mountain Lake home of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Reynolds in celebration of the 92rd birthday of Mrs. Mary Isabell Pate, mother of Mrs. Reynolds. It will not be a "small" party if all of Mrs. Pate's descendants should come, for she had six children, 15 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren. She also has three sister and two brothers and many nieces and nephews, the majority of whom live in Texas, which has been Mrs. Pate's home for 89 of her 93 years.
***
Mrs. Pate is the oldest child 9of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Alexander Moore, who came to Texas from Tennessee, with a stop-over in Arkansas. Mary Isabell was 8 months old when the family left Tennessee and was about 4 years old when they came to Texas. She recalled last week, when the family was making plans for the birthday observance and asking her questions about her early years in Texas, that her family came from Arkansas by covered wagon and that they crossed the Red River on a ferry. Sometimes wagon trains had to wait until the river was low enough at certain points to make a crossing, but the Moore party had the convenience of a ferry.
The Moores were accompanied to Texas by Mrs. Moore's brother, Rev. Sam Ezell, his wife and their two sons. Rev. Mr. Ezell was a Presbyterian minister.
The Moore family went to Johnson Station in Tarrant County on the arrival in Texas in 1872. They stayed there one year, then moved to Collin County, to a farm near Prosper.. Mary Isabell and her brothers and sisters grew up in the farming areas of Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties. She went one year to a private school in Collin County taught by a Mr. Boram. Later there was a public school, and one year, Mrs. Pate recalls, her teacher was Miss Lee London.
***
The Moores and the Londons became friends when the Moores arrived in Collin County during a big snow, and stopped at the London farm and asked permission to spend the night. The overnight stay extended to three weeks when Mrs. Moore developed a fever. Thereafter Mrs. Pate says, "The Moores and the Londons became lifelong friends."
Moore first rented a one-room house, close to the Good Hope Cemetery. The house had no floor, but the family was glad to have a room, for houses were few in those days.
"The big rain came in the night. Water was so deep in the house when we got up next morning our shoes were floating." Her father then bought a house consisting of two big rooms. The house was divided and one room sold to a Mr. Mayfield, who moved it in what now is known as the Nance farm. The other room was moved to the Moore farm. Her father hired a young man, Jim Abbott, to help him improve his land. Abbott's pay for fie years work was the land known as the Dubberly farm.
Mary Isabell Moore and Allen Crouch were married ct. 7, 1888. He died in 1902 and his widow continued to farm and raised their seven children. Boys and girls alike helped on the farm, raising food and feed crops and they "made out." A winter diet staple was the sweet potato crop. In 1913 Mrs. Crouch married Cornelius Pate. The marriage listed only a few years.
***
Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties have been home to Mrs. Pate through the years, though she spent a short time in Indian Territory. One son, Joe Crouch, died in Oklahoma City in 1954. Two other sons are Roy H. Crouch of Spring Valley, Cal., and Leonard J. Crouch of Aztec, N. M. Daughters in addition to Mrs. Reynolds, with whom Mrs. Crouch now makes her home, are: Mrs. H. C. Dunn and Mrs. M. McLemore of Pilot Point and Mrs. S T. Hearne of Graham.
Other children still living are Mrs. R. H. Miller of Norman, Okla., Mrs. Willie Sparks of Archer City, Mrs. Musie Dubberly of Simms, John Moore of Shamrock and Jerry Moore of Denton.
