CHARLENE COX
FARMERS BRANCH
Basketball IV; Majorette III; Drum Major '47, '48; Choral Club; Annual Staff; Sophomore Secretary; Junior Reporter; Student Council; Paper Staff

Growing Up in Farmers Branch
by Charline Cox Shehane


My parents, Bill and Vera Cox, moved to a farm located at Marsh Lane and Valley View Lane with their two little boys, Bob & Nubbin. They moved on to the farm, owned by A W Perry, in December of 1928. Just two weeks after they moved to Farmers Branch, my older sister, Maurine, was born on December 31, 1928. The winter, I’m told, was long, hard and very cold. The old farm house had some window panes missing, so Daddy put large pieces of cardboard in the window frames, but at night the mules would come up to the house and eat the cardboard. You can imagine how cold it got before the cardboard could be replaced! Mother said that they had to break the ice at the creek to get water to wash the clothes.

Two years later, on Sunday, September 7, 1930, I was born. Daddy went into Carrollton to get Dr. Frank to come and deliver me. I was born while Daddy was gone, so the Doctor only charged my Daddy $5.00 for coming to our house. He cut the umbilical cord and said that I was fine and that Mother was fine, also.

Farming was so hard during the Depression, that there wasn’t much money in circulation to buy very much. My Daddy had to use wire to hold the soles on his shoe tops so he could have work shoes. Everyone was having a very hard time during those years.
My parents left the farm when R. B. George bought the land. They moved into the town of Farmers Branch in the fall of 1932. They were able to rent a nice place and Daddy got a job with the County, driving a gravel truck. That job provided us with money to pay house rent and buy groceries and clothes that we needed.

My earliest memories of my childhood were the nice people that were our neighbors. Everyone helped each other out when there was a need.

My parents always raised a hog for us to have meat for the winter. A hog could weigh up to 900 to 1000 pounds. All the family & neighbors would come when “hog-killing time” started. They usually shot the hog, then hung it from a large tree limb to butcher it. Remember now, the winters were long and very cold, so we had time to “cure” the meat and hang it in the “Smoke House”.

My parents joined the First Baptist Church in 1933. Mother was raised a Methodist, but when my oldest brother, Bob was saved, my Mother joined the Baptist Faith and was baptized, too.
I remember my Beginner Teacher, Mrs. Maude Dodson. She was such a good teacher and such a nice lady. She was the wife of Farmers Branch’s first mayor, William Dodson. The parkway in front of the First Baptist Church that leads to the City Hall is named for him.

I remember how special that my parents tried to make Christmas for us. Daddy would buy bushel baskets of fruit for us and Mother made all kinds of candy, cookies and cakes for us to enjoy.
I remember one Christmas especially. I was about four to five years old and I got a Shirley Temple doll and it was dressed exactly like a little black, red and white plaid dress that Maurine and I also got.

I always hung one of Daddy’s black socks behind the stove and I would get a lot of goodies in my sock on Christmas Eve. It was such a fun time for all of us.

Another thing always happened during those cold winters. We had a water tower that furnished water to the people and it had a constant drip. When the temperature would get below freezing, the drip would start to freeze. I remember seeing it get as long as ten feet or more. It also took a long time for the ice to melt.

There were four little grocery stores in Farmers Branch. Mrs. Corbet’s store was located at Valley View and Denton Drive. The other three were on Denton Drive. Mr. “Red” Stringfellow, Mr. Jerry Putman and Mr. Bob McClary owned the other three. The Post office was located in the back of Mr. McClary’s store. Mrs. Dena Butts was our Post Mistress during that time. She worked there for a long time.

Since my parents were both from large families, we always had company on Sundays. Some of them would come for Sunday dinner, too. I had so many cousins to grow up with. It was wonderful!
World War II started on December 7, 1941 and before it was over, all the young men in Farmers Branch served in the Military. We have an Honor Roll in the Century Room at the First Baptist Church that has all the young men’s names on it that served during the War. Some families, like the Rowes and Marcom’s had as many as four of their sons serving at the same time.

Richard Caulk, whose mother and sister were members of First Baptist Church, was the only one that didn’t return home. He wasn’t a member of the Church, but his name was included, anyway.

I attended Farmers Branch Elementary School from first grade through the eighth grade. I had some wonderful teachers that were really dedicated to helping us learn. I remember Ressie Thompson was my first grade teacher and Angie Butler was my second grade teacher. They really drilled us in phonics and spelling. That made reading easier for all of us.

Mother ran the little “Lunch Room” for awhile. Plate lunches were 25 cents and a little bottle of milk or orange juice was 3 cents. The Lunch Room was a little white building at the back of the School. I always enjoyed school so very much.

After graduating from the eighth grade, we transferred to Carrollton for our four years of High School. I graduated from Carrollton High School in May of 1948.

Looking back over the years, I had a very good life, good friends and good neighbors. I’m thankful to God for letting me be born in Farmers Branch. I love this town.

I married Ray Shehane (also born and raised in Farmers Branch) on May 29, 1948. We moved to Carrollton on January 21, 1950, and I still reside in Carrollton.

 

COX-SHEHANE VOWS ARE SOLEMNIZED IN FARMERS BRANCH

Miss Charline Cox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Cox of Farmers Branch, became the bride of Ray Marshall Shehane, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Shehane, Farmers Branch, in a ceremony held Saturday evening.
The Rev. Gola B. Bailey, pastor of the Farmers Branch Baptist Chruch, read the marriage vows, and the music was given by Miss Mary Edith Bailey and Arthur Cook.
Given in marriage by her brother, Robert Cox, the bride wore a white crepe dress with white accessories and her flowers were orchids. Mrs. Maurine Pollard of Farmers Branch was matron of honor, and Miss Doris Jean Cox of Farmers Branch, Mrs. Rita Cox of Carrollton and Mrs. Richard McLaughton of Dallas were bridesmaids. Jimmy Ray Shehane of Farmers Branch and John Wayne Shehane of Garland were ring bearers.  R. D. Shehane of Garland was best man. Serving as groomsmen were Richard McLaughton, Dallas, W. J. Rowe and Paul McLester, both of Farmers Branch, and ushers were Murrell Cox, Dallas, and G. W. Pollard, Farmers Branch.
The bride is a former student of Carrollton High School and her husband attended North Dallas High School and is now a junior at SMU.  He served with the army two years as a paratrooper.

The Carrollton Chronicle - Friday, June 4, 1948

Hilltop Memorial Park, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas