Carole Sikes Artist / Writer in Austin, Texas

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about “PA and MA” Ferguson? Because Texas was an agrarian state, James Ferguson (1871-1944) took on the nickname name “Farmer Jim” and made his first run for public office while only in his 40s. He became governor of Texas. Born on a farm near Salado, Texas, he was kicked out of a prestigious school when he was 16, wandered in the west for several years, then returned to be a lawyer. He never attended a law school but passed the bar with help from friends of his circuit riding father. James is described as “magnetic, grandiose, a bully and a crook.” (*) By contrast his wife, Miriam Amanda Wallace (1875-1961) was introverted, apolitical, and daughter of a nearby rancher/preacher. “Even if I had the right to vote I wouldn’t do it” she said. Ferguson posed as a Democrat-populist farmer but he had a chauffeur. His wife’s money bought a big house, a farm and interest in a bank. As an anti-prohibitionist, campaign money came from brewers. Speeches were drafted on pages fro...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW about the Texas State Cemetery? If you read Michael Barnes’ two recent features about the cemetery in the Austin American Statesman you already know more than I can add. Perhaps an impetus for his article was journalist Julian Read’s recent interment there. Julian was a resident in Westminster Retirement Community. He is certainly not the only, nor will he be the last Westminster resident to be recognized for public service with a resting place in our beautiful State Cemetery.________ Huge trees shade the gravesites of individuals who have made both major and minor marks in the history books of Texas. Stephen F. Austin’s remains were transported from his sister’s land and reinterred in the city named for him.________ Early settler Joseph Wilbarger lived many years after Indians scalped him and left him to die near the Colorado River. His remains are in the cemetery. There is a monument honoring Susanna Dickinson, survivor of the Alamo, but she is buried at nearby Oakw...