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Note: From the May 22, 1995 letter from Jo Knox Marcia: "I do not know justwhen Edward and Betty Bettie Tipton moved to the old Knox homestead withGrandmother and Granddaddy Bob (Robert Archibald Knox and Fannie MillsWilliams Knox) but it was probably when Frances (born 1914) was a smallchild. I suspect that Granddaddy Bob needed help in running the farm.Carolyn, or Bobbie as she was called (born 1918) was the next child.She was three years older than I, and Charlotte, or Todd (born 1922) isa year younger. Their last child, a son Edward Jr., was always calledSonny.
The big farm house that Granddaddy Bob built in 1898 burned in 1927, Ithink. Papa and all his brothers and sisters were born in the originallog house that Great-GrandPa built when he settled in Texas (WilliamAlexander Knox Sr.). I suspect that it was more than just a "cabin," orthat it had been added on to over the years. (Archie believes W. A. Sr.was well-off; we think he brought slaves to Texas.) The kitchen was ina separate building in back of the house. When Uncle Lawrence was abouta year old, the family moved out of the log house into another house onthe property and the log house was demolished. A big two-story housewas built on the site. Papa always said that Granddaddy Bob had had thelumber hauled in from Galveston.
One of my few memories of the house is of walking up and down thestairs. Another is of the playroom just over the kitchen. Uncle EdTipton, or Uncle Pete as we called him, loved to hunt and fish. He alsoplayed the fiddle, and when I was a small child visiting the farm hewould, after supper, frequently tune his fiddle and play. I canremember hearing "Turkey in the Straw", "Pop Goes the Weasel," and othertunes. He was a lot of fun and would tease us, but he also was astickler for obedience. i can remember his use of a razor strop on Toddand me once when we disobeyed him.
During the depression, in the early 1930's I think, farming became sodifficult that Aunt Bettie and Uncle Pete Tipton moved into Giddings.He got a job as an auto mechanic and she kept a boarding house. Butboth were fun-loving individuals who loved people and always had a crowdof people, usually young people, around them. Their home was agathering place for people of all ages. They later moved to San Marcos,probably during World War II, and after Todd married Bob Cummings, whogrew up in Mosheim. They moved Mosheim where they had a little store.
The farm is no longer in the family. Another house was built on thesite of the one that burned, but it was a single story house. After theTiptons moved to town, the farm may have been rented to tenant, but I'mnot sure. Finally, Uncle Bill (William Alexander Knox III) Papa'syounger brother, moved to the farm from Rocksprings and tried ranchingfor a few years. He couldn't make a go of it either, so Papa, who wasthe Administrator of the estate, decided to sell the property and dividethe proceeds among the heirs. It was sold in the 1940's, I believe."
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