THE FAMILY OF
James Claude Greening
& wife
Mary Lee Broach

this page created by Sadie Greening Sparks
copyright October 18, 2000


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taken 1940

                     
Spring, of 1940

JAMES CLAUDE GREENING WAS BORN JANUARY 30, 1907,  ABOUT 7 MILES EAST OF APPLEBY COMMUNITY, NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS ON THE PLACE HIS PARENTS SETTLED WHEN THEY CAME TO NACOGDOCHES  COUNTY FROM MANSFIELD, DESOTO PARISH, LA., IN THE YEAR 1898.    HE LIVED MOST OF HIS LIFE IN NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, WHERE HE DIED JUNE 12, 1984.  HE IS BURIED AT BETHEL CEMETERY, APPLEBY, NACOGDOCHES CO., TEXAS
HE WAS A DAIRYMAN, COMMERCIAL POULTRY GROWER,  FARMER, TIMBER MAN, AND AT ONE TIME WAS A TANK BUILDER IN NEW MEXICO, WEST TEXAS, AND FLORIDA.

ALL WHO KNEW HIM, CALLED HIM 'BONEY'.. HE WAS AN AVID FOX HUNTER IN HIS EARLY YEARS, AND SPENT MANY NIGHTS WITH HIS GOOD FRIEND, JOHN LIGHTFOOT, WHO WAS SHERIFF OF NACOGDOCHES COUNTY FOR MANY YEARS, LISTENING TO THEIR DOGS HOWL.   HE SPENT MANY DAYS LOOKING FOR ANY DOGS WHO DID NOT RETURN THE NIGHT BEFORE.

UNTIL THE LAST FEW YEARS OF HIS LIFE, HE WAS A DEDICATED DEER HUNTER.  BEFORE HUNTING WITH DOGS WAS OUTLAWED, HE OWNED SOME OF THE MOST PRIZED DEER HOUNDS, AND TREATED THOSE DOGS AS WELL AS HIS FAMILY!  HE WOULD PUT HIS CO-HUNTERS ON VARIOUS STANDS AND TAKE HIS DEER HOUNDS AND MAKE THE DRIVE, RUNNING THE DEER OUT BY THEM.  HE COULD GET ILL-TEMPERED IF THEY MISSED THEIR CHANCES TO SHOOT & KILL.  OVER THE YEARS, HE PROBABLY PAID A FEW FINES FOR KILLING THE WRONG SEX.

HE WAS ALSO KNOWN TO HAVE MADE A FEW BOTTLES  OF HOMEBREW, AND HOMEMADE  WINE FROM WILD GRAPES & MUSCADINES, PRIMARILY FOR HIS OWN USE,   AND THAT OF A FEW GOOD FRIENDS. .   I STILL HAVE HIS CROCK & BOTTLE CAPPER, WHICH HE RETIRED IN THE MID-1950's

HE MARRIED ON MARCH 31, 1930 IN NACOGDOCHES COUNTY BY THE REV. A. T. GARRARD TO MISS MARY LEE BROACH, WHO WAS THE DTR. OF OTIS ALLEN BROACH & RUTHIE LEE LAWS BROACH.  THE BROACH FAMILY WERE NEIGHBORS TO THE GREENING FAMILY FOR MANY YEARS, HAVING MOVED TO NACOGDOCHES COUNTY ABOUT 1918.

THE BROACH FAMILY ASSISTED OTHER PISGAH COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN BUILDING THE OLD PISGAH SCHOOL/CHURCH BUILDING  IN THE FALL OF 1918, AFTER THE CROPS WERE GATHERED,  ACCORDING TO UNCLE HERBERT POLK, WHOSE FAMILY LOCATED AT PISGAH ABOUT THE SAME TIME.  IT IS STILL STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS, BUT  IS IN GREAT DISREPAIR NOW AND IS DETERIORATING RAPIDLY. 

I RECALL THE OLD HARP SINGINGS BEING HELD AT PISGAH IN THE SUMMERS DURING THE 40'S AND 50'S, WITH DINNER ON THE GROUND.  ALL THE LADIES OF THE COMMUNITY WOULD COOK FOR THIS EVENT.  THERE WOULD BE ALL KINDS OF BAKED GOODS, WITH CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS & DRESSING,  AND OF COURSE ALL THE FRESH VEGETABLES THE FARMERS GREW.  THE SMALL CHILDREN HAD A WASH TUB FILLED WITH ICE AND ALL FLAVORS OF "SODA WATER" WHICH WE BOUGHT FOR A NICKEL.  I NEVER LEARNED TO APPRECIATE THE STYLE OF SINGING, PREFERRING MUSIC AND THE OLD TIME GOSPEL SINGINGS, HELD PRIMARILY AT BRILEY TOWN, BUT SOMETIMES AT CEDAR BLUFF, PISGAH, & BETHEL, BUT REALLY ENJOYED THE SOCIALIZING AND THE GOOD FOOD.  ONE OF MY FAVORITES WAS MRS. ALBERT WILLIAMS' CARAMEL PIE. 

MARY LEE BROACH WAS BORN JULY 19, 1915, IN MOUNT VERNON, FRANKLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, AND DIED APRIL 12, 1947, IN NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS.  BOTH ARE BURIED AT BETHEL CEMETERY, APPLEBY,  NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS.
THEY HAD 7 SONS AND 3 DTRS.

(1) MARY ELLEN GREENING Born Jan 23, 1931 Nacogdoches Co., Texas
    (M)  FLOYD OLIVER RAMBIN  They had 3 sons, 2 dtrs
    (1 son stillborn)  He worked for Wanda Petroleum  in Mt Enterprise, Rusk Co and later
    Bright  Coop Co, Nacogdoches, Tex. & was a commercial pullet & poultry grower.
      A. Linda Joyce Born Jan 19, 1949
          (M) Robert W. "Bobby" Nix, Rusk Co, Texas June 1, 1967
                1. Jason Todd Born July 11, 1974

B.  Patsy Ann Born Nov. 4, 1950
            (M) Donald Glen Hays  Rusk Co, Texas June 26, 1970 Rusk Co, Tex.
                1.   Donald Glen Born Mar. 29, 1972
                     (M) Chrystal Leigh Forrest, & have Brittany Nicole & Cody Lane
                2.   Christy Michelle Born Sept. 9, 1976

C.  son stillborn

D.  Floyd O Jr (Buddy) Born Oct. 27, 1953
            (M) Donna E. Reeves, 3/30/1973
                   1.  Shawn Born Sept. 23, 1976 (M) Brian Nemtschk and has 1 dtr. Madison
                   2.  Floyd O. III (Trey)

E.   Ricky Lynn Born Feb. 22, 1957
             (M) #1-Zelda Darlene Rogers, 4/29/1977
                    1. Natasha
             (M) #2 Marla  Eddings, 12/29/1983
                    2. Natalie

(2) JAMES ALLEN GREENING  Born July 2, 1932 Nacogdoches Co, Texas
(M) #1 Sept. 1955 Nacogdoches Co., Texas to Elizabeth Byrd
Jack worked for Bordens Milk Co for several years, and has been employed by Lone Star Steel for many years after. He is also a farmer. 
     A. Teresa Diann, 7/1/1956 Nacog. Co, Tex- 
          (M) Patrick S. Dehart, Sept 3, 1976 Liberty Co.
                 1. Jessica Dianna
                 2. John
                 3. James Samuel
     B.  Rebecca Ann, 2/18/1958 Nacog. Co. Tex- 
          (M) Michael R. Greer, Sept. 9, 1978 Liberty Co.
                 1. Christopher
                 2. David
                 3. Brian
     C. Paula Sue, 10/13/1964, Liberty Co, Tex-
         (M) Sidney A. Brewer, June 25, 1983 Montgomery Co,Tx.
                1. Shawna
                2. Zachary
(M) #2 Joyce Ann Stinnett December 23, 1972 Idabel, Oklahoma (He adopted her young son
     D.. Jamie Dwayne, born 12/29/1971
           (M) Kimberly E. Wells, Aug. 7, 1993 Travis Co, Tex.
                  1. Chelsea Arrabella
                  2. Phoebe Ann
     E.. Jill Yunetta, 4/8/1974 Gregg Co, Tex
           (M) James A. Guin May 10, 1991 Cass Co, Tx 
                  1. James Colby Guin
           Jill (M) #2 David Wayne Carney
                  2.  Zachary Jordan Asbury Carney

(3) GARY LYNN GREENING Born April 28, 1934, Nacogdoches County, Texas Died: Sept. 21, 1982 Angelina Co., Texas Buried: Garden of Memories, Hwy 59 South, Lufkin, Angelina Co., Texas
Gary worked for Lufkin Industries for many years.
(M) Gladys June Jordan, Angelina Co., Texas- June died 9/08/1997, Ang., Co, Texas
    A. Gary Lynn Jr.,  3/17/1959 Angelina Co, Tex
        (M) Tameshia L. Hough Aug. 25, 1979 Ang. Co,Tex (Div)
                1. Tyler Grant Born Oct. 17, 1985 Ang. Co.
                2.  Chase Jordan Born Feb. 19, 1991 Ang. Co

 B. Pate Jordan, 12/23/1964 -Single
       C. Marvin Norman, 11/17/1970, Ang. Co, Tex.
            (M) Ronna D. Dixon, July 3, 1997 Ang. Co. (Div)
                   1.  Jacqueline

(U S Navy Veteran, Korean Conflict, 4 yrs 4 mos  -U S S Kearsarge)

Gary L. Greening, Japan

(4) SADIE LORENE GREENING Born Sept. 20, 1936., Como, Hopkins Co., Texas
(M) April 29, 1955 Nacogdoches Co., Texas (Bethel Baptist Church by Rev. Bowers)
CLYDE HAROLD SPARKS (son of John Thomas Sparks & Bertie Polk).
Retired from USPS -Rural Mail Carrier

      A. Terry Odell , born 2/10/1956 (U S Postal Serv)
            (M) Susan Edyth Rhymes
                  1. Eric Stephen (M)

      a. William Stephen Sparks

      b. Paige Elizabeth Sparks
                   2. Brian Jacob (M) Heather

      a. Kerron Sparks b. Oct. 2007 Angelina Co, Tx
                   3.  Shelley Elisabeth (M) Chris
        4. Hannah Kristen (M) Cory
       B.  Michael Shane, born 10/19/1957 (Master Electrician)
            (M) Susan Wiseman
                  1.  Lindsey Janae
                  2.  Michael Shane II

      (M) #2 Elizabeth Thompson (She had 2 children Cody & Tiffany Thompson; Cody died November, 2008, in Virginia
       C. Loy Dean born 8/28/1959 (US Air Force, Ret)
            (M) Mayuree Jaelenwat  (from Thailand
                  1. Nicholas Sean
                  2.  Justin Read

      (M) #2 Windy (She had 1 dtr Melissa)
       D. Clyde Harold, Jr.  born 11/8/1964 (Nibco)
            (M) Arlene Joy Luke (Div.August 2, 1999 Nacogdoches Co, Tx 2 children
                  1.  Amelia Marie Sparks b. April 12, 1988 Nacogdoches Co., Tx
                  2.  Micah Caleb Sparks b. March 31, 1990 Nacogdoches Co, Tx

       (M) #2 Veronica Lynn Rector

  3. Nolan Wyatt Sparks July 30, 2004, Nacogdoches Co, Tx

             4. Shelby Kaylynn Sparks January 17, 2006 Nacogdoches Co, Tx

             5. Rylan Chase Sparks b. October 9, 2007 Nacogdoches Co, Tx

(5) MARGARETTE  GREENING Born June 27, 1938  Nacogdoches Co, Texas
(M) Sidney Charles Broussard June 25, 1960 Beaumont, Jefferson Co., Texas (Master Electrician)
      A.  Stacy Alan b. July 5, 1961 Orange Co, Tx (Div)
            (M) Melanie Van
                1.  Stephen Born May 13, 1986
                2.  Morgan Born Dec 8, 1988
      B. . Gina Alana b. August 28, 1964 Orange Co, Tx
                1.  has adopted son Nicholas
      C.  Angela Kay b. September 11, 1962 Orange Co, Tx

(6) MAYBURN GREENING Born December 30, 1939 Nacogdoches Co., Texas
(Texas Foundries, Lufkin, Texas)
(M) Martha Ann Tindal , June 4, 1966 San Diego, California - Martha Died Jan. 12, 1998 Ang. Co. Tex.
( U S Navy Veteran, 4 yrs. 4 mos. -spent his time on a destroyer)
     A. Mayburn Jr .(Guard,Texas State Prison System)
         (M) Linda Michelle Rushing, 2/17/1990 Angelina Co
               1.  Mayburn Cory, Born 10/22/1991 Ang. Co.
               2.  Bradi Nichole born 7/07.1994 Ang. Co.

 B. Tamara LaNita
         (M) Dennis R. Trahan July 22, 1995 Ang. Co (US Navy, Ret.)
               1.  Sara Leann Born August 26, 1997 Ang. Co.

(7) UNNAMED SON -stillborn 1941

(8) DONALD EVERETT GREENING Born March 3, 1943 Nacogdoches Co., Texas
(Retired from USPS-City Carrier) (U S Navy Veteran, 4 yrs. 4 mos. )
(M)  Darlene Isabel Wendt, August 16, 1963 Oxnard, California  (Had 1 son, Jefferson Thomas Greening born in Orange Co., Calif, Feb. 14,  1964, who died Galveston, Tex, 11/24/1990- -Did not marry

(9) HOMER LEE GREENING Born July 2, 1945 Nacogdoches Co., Texas
(Worked for Cameron Iron for many years)
(M) Lee Darlene Parker , Cleveland, Liberty Co., Texas April 17, 1965

      A. Melissa Darlene, born 5/31/1968
             (M) Thos. F. Howe, III Nov. 20, 1983 Liberty Co, Tx
                            1. Thomas Howe IV Born: Nov 1, 1984

      B.  Sharla Michelle 12/17/1970
            (M) Leslie B. Bittick, March 7, 1987 Liberty Co, Tex
                            1.  Matthew Born Oct 12, 1989
                            2.  Hannah Born Oct 13, 1998

Lee has an adopted son, Franklin Scott Jurecka, born Nov 25, 1964

(10) BOBBY STEPHEN GREENING Born April 12, 1947 Nacogdoches Co., Texas Died : January  23, 1950 Nacogdoches Co, Texas (Aunt Lola Greening Hancock had Bobby his entire life, our mother having died when he was born.  She had no children of her own, until 6 days prior to Bobby's death, she gave birth to the  first of her two dtrs, she having been married for 18 yrs.
Buried: Beside his parents, Bethel Cem., Appleby, Nacogdoches co, Texas

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1930 Nacogdoches Co, Texas Census Dist 22, Pt of Pct 8, RR 1, Appleby April 12, 1930 by John Weatherly, Enum HH 191-198
O A Broach 42 WM Tx Tx Tx farmer
Ruthie " 41 WF Tx Tx Tx wife
Nezzie " 12 WF Tx Tx Tx dtr
Odis " 10 WM Tx Tx Tx Son
C B " 8 WM Tx Tx Tx son
Gladis " 6 WF Tx Tx Tx dtr
Louis " 4 2/12 WM Tx Tx Tx son
HH 191-199
Claud Greening 23 WM Tx Tx Tx farmer
Mary " 14 WF Tx Tx Tx wife (Broach) newlywed
Marr 3/31/1930

Growing up on the farm was not easy, but we also had lots of fun.  There wasn't much money for foolishness, but we always had a red wagon and tricycles to ride when we were small, .and home made sling shots Dad helped the boys make using a piece of rubber from a tire tube.  At Christmas time, we took the mule and ground slide across the pasture, cut a large cedar and brought it home for Dad to set up.  We then decorated it with popcorn strings, construction paper ropes, and tinsel.  The boys got cap pistols, or a wagon and an occasional bicycle,  and the girls got a store bought doll, which Mother and Grandmother taught the girls how to make clothes for on their old treadle sewing machines.  Those old sewing machines also were kept busy sewing dresses for the girls of the family and shirts for the boys.

Mother and Grandmother also kept a quilt going at all times,  with the quilting frames hanging from the ceiling of the "front room"  which they raised at the end of the day.

We raised the majority of our food, and spent many long days preparing it for the year ahead.
We canned beef and pork, as well as using the smoke house to cure some of the pork.  We canned hundreds of cans of tomatoes and creamed corn using a sealer to close the cans, then boiling them in a wash pot.  The other vegetables were  put in jars and were pressure cooked.  Mother even made her own ketsup from home grown tomatoes, and several kinds of pickles..   We picked wild berries and plums which we made into jelly, as well as wild grapes, mayhaws, and muscadines.   And we always had plenty of peaches,  pears,  and figs to make preserves from.  One of my fondest memories was getting off the school bus to the smell of gingerbread or a jelly cake in the kitchen, along with fresh spare ribs, tenderloin,  or home-cured ham cooking, with home made biscuits.  Mother made her biscuits in a large wooden dough bowl with her fingers.

The boys went fishing and hunting with Dad and his brothers.  We had plenty of fish and game and once Dad brought home a soft-shell turtle that filled a #3 washtub, which mother fried.  It had white meat and tasted like chicken.

We raised our corn and Dad took some of it to the grist mill at Stockman to have it ground into cornmeal.  I still prefer this fresh meal for cornbread.  Some of the dried corn was used to make hominy, then canned for future  use.

  The only food we really had to buy was flour, sugar and leavenings, as we grew the rest. The dried peas and beans were packed in barrels, to supplement the canned goods over the winter.

One of the highlights of our childhood days was Mr. Laney Boyett making his weekly rounds with his grocery truck.  It was a pickup with a wooden body on it, lined with all kinds of things to spend a nickel on.  It usually took us 30 minutes to spend that nickel, but Mr. Boyett was always very patient.  He was in partnership in the grocery store on US Hwy 59 at Appleby, with his brother-in-law N F "Red" Burt.  That was one of our favorite places to go for ice cream cones.  Even into the 90's, my grandchildren loved to go there, as you could get 2 dips for a quarter.

There was no washing machine until I was thirteen years old, so washday was an all day affair.  We took the clothes to the nearby spring, where Mother built a fire under the wash pot and boiled the clothes in it, then removed them to the scrubbing tub, put them through two rinses, with bluing in the water for the white clothes.  They were put on the clothes lines to dry, and sometimes the extra clothes were put on a wire fence around the yard.   If a cloud came up, we had to carefully remove them and hang them in the "side room" on wires stretched from one corner to the opposite corner.  That is where the clothes were hung in cold weather to avoid having them freeze on the line.  There was always a baby in cloth diapers, so washday came often.  After we finished washing the clothes, all the small children lined up to take a bath in Mother's wash water, using home made lye soap, made from the renderings saved from hog-killings.  Mother was proud of her very white lye soap.  It made the bed sheets smell so clean.

I now use the old wash pot for a bird bath in my back yard.  I use the flat irons for bookends, and an old blue enameled gasoline iron for decor in the laundry room,  along with the rub board, used for scrubbing clothes..  The gasoline iron replaced the flat irons, and the electric iron replaced the gasoline iron.  We got our first electric iron about 1949.

For many years Mother cooked on a wood stove. Finally Dad bought her a kerosene stove.  I recall it caught on fire once, and he dragged it out on the back porch and kicked it into the yard, to keep the house from burning down.

All our lighting was by kerosene lamps most of my early childhood days,  or a lantern hung from the ceiling.  It was by these lamps and the light from the fireplace, we got our homework assignments.  Some of our neighbors had a carbide lighting system prior to electricity, but we never had one. We were able to get electricity in 1947.  I have Dad's deposit receipt for $5.00 to the Rural Electric Co-op. Those old kerosene lamps are still used during power outages. . They remind me of how lucky I am now.

I still have the old "punching stick" Mother used to remove the clothes from the wash pot, along with one of the old bluing bottles and an old brown bleach jug..  I also have the old churn and dasher used for making butter, with an old wooden butter mold.  I must add it is used only for decor.  Also,  an old wooden ice box, like the one we had on the back porch, along with the ice tongs and pick..  Dad had the ice route he made twice a week in the country.  If we ran out of ice, we let the milk down in the water bucket into the well water to keep it fresh.  I also recall Dad putting water melons in the well to cool them off before cutting.

We had a water pail and dipper on a shelf on the back porch for drinking water,  along with a bowl and pitcher for washing up.   Inside plumbing was late coming to our house.  Everyone I knew had the same.

We spent any time left over from chores on our home-made "flying jenny", or pushing our "paddle & wheels" made with a Prince Albert tobacco can flattened out and then the ends were curved upwards and nailed to a stick to make the paddle, and a iron ring off a wagon hub was used  for the wheel; pushing each other down a hill coiled up in a tractor tire, or building pine log houses in the woods; picking wild violets for Mother, chasing fireflies at dusk, playing hide-and-go-seek just after dark,  hooking a mule to our home-made cart, running foot-races, or riding persimmon trees to the ground.
The girls also played "jax' ,  hopscotch, or jumprope.

I distinctly recall one accident on the flying jenny.  My brother Gary was on one end and I was on the other, with a sibling doing the pushing to get us going very fast, when suddenly Gary's handle came off, and he sailed through the woods like a frisbee, hitting a tree, knocking the breath out of him.  Of course, my end hit the ground, skinning my legs.  When Gary regained his breath, the race was on, for the person he thought was responsible for the poor construction, and especially the ones who had laughed at him. The next day, the handle was reattached, with larger nails this time., and we we were riding again.

  When we were teenagers, we had "ring game parties" at our house and all our friends would take turns hosting these parties.  In the winter, we picked off peanuts in the hay loft and made peanut brittle, and had taffy-pullings using the cane syrup we made from the sugarcane we raised.  During the summer, Saturday nights were also filled with moonlight hayrides on the wagon behind a tractor,  or a pickup truck,  and Sunday afternoon with baseball games, riding horses, or going to the swimming hole.

We also had all those chores associated with farm life.  They helped to build character.
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this picture taken in the spring of 1940-J C Greening and wife Mary Lee, with following children:  left to right, back row- Mary Ellen,  middle row- Sadie, James Allen, Gary, -front row- Margarette and in mother's arms is Mayburn, abt 4 months old.


Mary Lee Broach, age 12 yrs
She was 4 mos' shy of 15 when she married.


Mary Lee Broach, 1918 (age 2 1/2 yrs)

 


Back row, James Allen "Jack" Greening, Mary E. Rambin
Center-l/r Margarette Broussard, Sadie Sparks, Don E Greening
Front, l/r Homer Lee, Gary L & Mayburn "Chuck" Greening
Picture made 1968

 

He married his second wife-Adell Conway Barr, November, 1949-they had no children


one of Dad's hunting trophies. abt 1960
w/him is Louise Buchanan Davis, step-dtr

 

  
 1972

Adell Conway, Barr, Greening
#2 wife of J. C. Greening (Ca 1972)
Married: 1949, Wid. of C. P. Barr
She was born July 19, 1908
She died Nov.29 , 1991-Bethel Cem., Appleby, Tx

After Dad closed his dairy, he kept his herd of beautiful black angus cattle until his health failed.  He spent many days sitting on the back screened porch, gazing at his cattle in the pasture.  He had a splendid lake stocked with catfish, which he fed everyday.  He would beat on a tin bucket, and the fish would come to the top of the water to feed.   He was particular about who he would allow to fish in the lake.  He didn't want his "pets" caught for food!


              1977