|
A pioneer Crockett County lady, Mrs. Early (Beulah) Baggett, quietly celebrated her 94th birthday with friends and relavices coming during the day to help commemorate the occasion.
Born on a farm 5 July 1891, in Navarro County near Dawson, she is the daughter of the late Mr. And Mrs. James E. Kay. The Kays first came to Ozona in April of 1902, when Mrs. Baggett was eleven years old.
She was a fourth grader when she first moved here, and attended school in a wooden building, near where the present junior high school stands. Many children, including Mrs. Baggett, waded in the town water trough on the way home from school on hot summer days.
She married Early Baggett on 22 December 1909, and they moved to their ranch twelve miles south of Ozona. A beautiful ranch house, built in 1926, was the center of many get-togethers and parties over the years. Her nephew and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Baggett, Jr. are currently living in that home.
When Mrs. Baggett first came to Ozona, it was very small, and the courthouse had just been completed. A windmill and water trough stood where the Baptist Church presently is, and Mammy Kirkpatrick ran a hotel on the corner next to the water trough.
There were three saloons and a livery stable on another corner. Nearby stood Cooke’s meat market. There were two main stores. Cox’s and the Carmichael Perner store. A wooden plank fence surrounded the park, the center of many livestock sales and barbecues. “There was only one plank house across the draw, made of soto sticks and sacawesta,” Mrs. Baggett said.
Water had to be brought in with a bucket from a hose in the yard. “There was no running water in the homes,” she said.
Mrs. Baggett was an active gardener, and many of her friends and relatives have tasted her delicious homemade candy throughout the years. She was also interested in cooking and needlepoint and reading. Many generations of children have had their feet warmed by her intricately crocheted baby “booties”.
Mrs. Baggett and her late husband were charter members of the Friday Bridge Club and the Pioneer Dance Club. She has been active in the United Methodist Church for many years.
She was married for over sixty years, and currently lives in the home she and her late husband built in 1939. He died on 21 October 1978, after a lengthy illness.
|
