"We do not want the old to be sharper than we. It is bad enough that they were there first, and got the best things."Gore Vidal, Burr
The author is the youngest of five children born to Kay Parrak (1899-1973) and Pearl Marie Hoover Brantner (1903-2002) and this is the story of their life. The first chapter narrates their ancestry and the following chapters relate their early life and marriage in Dickens County, Texas, their farm life "up on the Plains" in Lamb County, and their mid-late life in Kent and Dickens counties.
The book was published loose-leaf in 1998 and distributed to family members. There are no printed copies available. This website was originally intended as a vehicle for downloading the original book. That plan was dropped because future revisions will not be included in the original book.
Because Chapter One is primarily ancestral, is is largly unrevised and out-of-date. I encourage the reader to go to the genealogical information. If any of the chapters are revised, the "Contents" page below will indicate the date of the revision.
Most of the Brantners in Texas are descendants of George H. Brantner who came from Maryland via St. Louis, Missouri and Decatur County, Tennessee. All children born to the union of George H. and Susannah Lambkin Brantner stayed in East Texas, except Ambrose Lee Brantner, my grandfather, who eventually (in 1900) settled in the Red Mud Community that straddles the West Texas counties of Dickens and Kent. Ambrose Lee Brantner and Eugenia Emiline Smith had eight children.
Marie Hoover was the oldest of fourteen children born to Alonzo Marion and Ada Belle Embry Hoover. Alonzo's parents, David and Mary Jane Scott Hoover had matriculated from Benton County, Arkansas to Erath County, Texas. Alonzo likewise left East Texas in 1914 and settled in Dickens County, Texas. Ada Belle Embry Hoover was the daughter of William Alexander Embry and Cora Ophelia Snow, who came to East Texas from Embry, Webster County, Mississippi.
You are encouraged to read the Prologue and Introduction, which are linked in the Contents table below.
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"We do not want the old to be sharper than we. It is bad enough that they were there first, and got the best things." |
ABOUT FOOTNOTES IN THE BOOK:
They are linked to endnotes. At the endnote, right-click the mouse and click "back."
| CONTENTS | ||
| Dedication | ||
| Prologue | ||
| Introduction | ||
| 1 Beginnings | . . . . . Revised July 2001 . . . . . | 1785-1889 |
| 2 Early Dickens County | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1890-1899 |
| 3 A New Century A New Land | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1900-1910 |
| 4 The Second Decade At Red Mud | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1911-1920 |
| 5 Leaving and Cleaving | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1921-1928 |
| 6 "Up On The Plains" | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1929-1930 |
| 7 The Early Thirties | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1931-1935 |
| 8 Then Came The Big War | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1936-1945 |
| 9 Below The Caprock Again | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1945-1954 |
| 10 The Later Years | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1955-1986 |
| 11 "And So" | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | |
| Appendix | . . . . . Revised July 2001 . . . . . . | |
| Bibliography | ||
| Home |