Aunt Tildy · Moore Family Stories

Aunt Tildy
Granmama and Grandad had 5 sons. Two died as babies. John drown in the Brazos
River when he was ten. Mote went to school in the new rock school in Mineral Wells,
as high as it went. Granmama wanted him to have a better education.
Aunt Tildy was Grandad's sister, Matilda Rogers. She lived in Birmingham, Alabama.

To finish high school, Mote went on the train to Birmingham and stayed with his Aunt
Tildy. She was much darker and showed more Indian, than Grandad. He was fair.

Once in a blue moon, in later years, Aunt Tildy and her daughter Lou would come
to visit us. Lou's husband was a train conductor and they could ride free.
He kept the job until he was old.

Aunt Tildy was real cranky. She would come in and throw up her hands,
"Get them kids out of here! Go outside and play!"

She lost her glasses. We were all there. Aunt Tildy had seen one of the kids pick them up.
We knew that Tid (rhymes with lid) had picked them up. but we knew that good little Tid,
wouldn't do anything wrong. Everything in Granmama's house was turned over.
Everybody was scared to death. Then somebody saw them--- stuck up, in her hair---
Us kids knew that we had to do what she said, and stay out of her way, when she come.
Tid was named after her Great Aunt Matilda

Aunt Tildy had four sons, all wealthy. They had shallow coal on their land.
One son was a lawyer and then later a Commander in the Navy.

Grandad had another sister, Aunt Mint (Minerva?) who came one time. She was a
little bitty woman. She had a beautiful daughter who came with her.
The daughter, she showed more Indian.

Grandad Going To Arkansas
Grandad would ride his horse to the railroad in town. He and his horse would go on
the train to Arkansas, and be gone for months at a time.
He would buy pore, stringy cows and some horses.
When he got enough to fill a railroad car, he would come home with them. The first
two trips he made, he rode his horse to Arkansas, and drove, and led the stock back.
Dad helped him, Granmama did sometimes.