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Note: Obituary from Dalhart Texan: Walter P. and Mettie I. James Walter P. and Mettie I James with their three older children, Jesse, Walter Jr., (Peachie), and Andy, moved to Cimarron County in 1912. They first lived northwest of Kerrick on the north side of the Beaver near Sampsel. Walter's family, originally from Virginia, had come by ship to Galveston in 1872. They traveled overland by ox-drawn wagons to near Dallas and later moved to Oklahoma Territory, where Walter was born. Mettie's family, the William Taylors, came from Tennessee by railroad to Oklaunion, Tex., then to Altus in 1892. There Walter and Mettie met and were married in 1902. He had filed on land north of Dalhart the previous year for his mother, himself and others. Soon he, his mother, and brother, Andy, established a ranch that extended into Oklahoma, and it was on the north headquarters that they moved in 1912. There they had good friendly neighbors, such as the Cayton's, Kilmer's, Stephenson's, Fellows, Cryer's, Garlington's and Bulls. These were the happiest years of their married life. The cowboys were especially attentive to the children and Jesse accepted responsibilities and carried them out well at a very early age. Tom and Frank were born on the place near Sampsel. Then the James' moved four miles west to a spot where Conrad later stood. It was there that Joe Bob, Newt, and at last after seven sons, the daughter, Fannie Sue, were born. The school-age children rode horses to school, carrying their lunches in tin buckets. Some of their dearest friends were the teachers who came home with the children for the night. A few of these were Gladys Fellows Finch, Pauline and Elvaree Moore, Zumie Enlow and a Miss Record. There being no Baptist church near, they attended the Methodist church, Walter was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge in Boise City. Many near catastrophes occurred during those years. Not the least of these being the boys falling out of open cars. Mettie never learned to drive. Often the cars were stuck in the sand or mud and she and the children would hop out and start pushing. Seemed she had supernatural strength in her ninety-odd pounds when Walter insisted she drive and he push. In 1917 he gave her a car. She read the instruction book, took Jesse out and taught him to drive, and for many years reared her own chauffeurs. Mettie had the dreadful flu in 1918. The doctor came and stayed until she was well, making his calls from there. That was also a bad year for ranchers. Many cattle froze to death. The hands spent the days skinning the dead cattle, shipping their hides to Stratford. During these years her brother, Joe Taylor and his family, and her sister, Fannie Elms and her family, had moved into the area. The supplies for the camps were brought out from Stratford, but the household shopping was done at Sampsel and Garlington. In 1922 the James moved into Stratford to be nearer schools. Here Louis and Lois were born. The summers were spent near Kerrick until during the depression they made a permanent move to Kerrick. In 1935 Walter died and Mettie continued farming and ranching with the help of her sons. In 1951 she again moved to Cimarron County and remained here until her death in 1975. She was preceded in death by two children, Peachie and Fannie Sue. Three sons live in Colorado: Jesse in Colorado Springs, Tom at Eads, and Louis (Buddy) at Karval. Newt is at Kerrick, Tex., and Andy Frank, Joe Bob and Lois Garner at Boise City. The brother, Andy, who came to Dalhart with Walter, has a grandson and his family in Cimarron County. He is Don Bowers, manger of Boise City Feed Yard.
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