William Rufus Henderson and Dora Ladona Bilberry Henderson, Mother and Father of Luther were married Dec. 23, 1895. Rufus was born in Mason Co. and came to Spur in 1909. His ancestors were English. Dora came from Tennessee. She traveled by ferry boat to Galveston when she was 8 years old. Her family was Dutch. Rufus and Dora farmed all their married years. The couple had 4 sons and 3 daughters; James Thomas (Bud), Viola Cordell (Sister), Luther Jackson (Luke), Anna Estelle (Stella), William Rufus Jr. (Bill) Lettie Charlotte, and E.L.
Luke was born in Peacock, Texas (Stonewall Co.) Sept. 20, 1903. He was born in a half dugout. Luke remembers that when the family moved, they traveled in covered wagons camping along the way. When he was 8 they moved to Kent Co. and then on to Spur in Dickens Co. when he was 12. He went to school in the Steel Hill Community. He drove horse and buggy for his teacher Addie Mae Wells for three years.
Luke married Obera Christine Cross Nov. 14, 1926. Christine (Sug) was born in Callahan Co. (Cross Plains) May 7, 1911. She was the daughter of George Robert (Bob) Cross and Herod Ann (Polk) Wright Cross. Sug has 2 sisters and 1 brother: Lorendia Bell (Sis) Mitchell of Fresno, Calif., Robert Calvin (Son) of Morton, Texas, and Vera Tom (Tommie) Lynch of Sacramento, Calif.
After Luke and Sug married they settled in Spur where they farmed. Due to bad crops they quit farming and went into the laundry business. In another venture they were partners with Seamon Reynolds in the O.K. Tire and Rubber Welders Store.
Luke remembers about the year 1934 he helped build Jones Stadium and football field. The workers hauled sand and gravel by horse drawn wagons. The seating section was blasted out of the hillside by dynamite.
The family moved to Jayton in 1940. They stayed only a short time before moving back to Spur. The moving fever caught up with them again and in 1946 they moved to Ralls, Texas. Upon their arrival in Ralls they bought a blacksmith shop but later went into the laundry business.
The couple have three living children. A son Kenneth Jackson born in 1932 lived only 7 days (buried in Espuela Cemetery, Dickens County). They lost a son who died at birth and a premature infant daughter.
Norma Ruth was born Aug. 10, 1929 in Steel Hill Community. At that time the nation was in a great depression. After graduating from Ralls High School, Ruth married Elmer Dalton Norris July 19, 1947. They have made their home in Ralls all their married years. They are in the Texaco Wholesale and Retail Business. Dalton and Ruth have three children.
Wylie Dean was born Dec. 20, 1931 in Spur at Steel Hill. After graduating from Ralls High School he enlisted in the Air Force, taking his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Eventually he was stationed in Tacoma, Washington. After his discharge in 1955 he went into the laundry business with his parents in Ralls. He married Billie Jean Crabb McHam in 1957. Dean has 3 step children.
Cleo Ramona was born June 13, 1933 in Spur. Cleo is living in Sherman, Texas. She is an L.V.N. working in Shady Oaks Nursing Home. Cleo Pettit Black has 4 children.
Luke had to retire at an early age due to bad health. They moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1965 Sug went to nursing school earning her L.V.N. License. Sug worked at Methodist Hospital in Lubbock until her retirement. They now live in Lubbock.
The family has many fond memories of their early years in Spur.
Submitted by: Norma Ruth Henderson Norris
Services for Luther Jackson Henderson, 83, of Ralls were held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, 1987 in the Ralls First Baptist Church with Rev. Tommy Henderson, a Baptist minister from Spur officiating.Burial followed in the Ralls Cemetery under direction of Carter-Adams Funeral Home.
Mr. Henderson was pronounced dead at 9:20 p.m., Monday, April 27, 1987, at White River Lake by Justice of the Peace Clyde Davis. Judge Davis ruled natural causes in the death. Mr. Henderson was born September 20, 1903 in Stonewall County, Texas. He married Obera Christine Cross November 14, 1926 in Spur, Texas. He was a member of the Ralls First Baptist Church. A former blacksmith in Ralls, he also formerly operated the Laundry in Ralls and Spur. He was also a farmer in the Spur area. He moved to Ralls in 1946 from Spur.
Survivors include wife: Obera Henderson of Ralls; 1 son: Dean Henderson of Conroe, Texas; 2 daughters: Ruth Norris of Ralls and Cleo Black of Sherman, Texas; 8 grandchildren; 3 step-grandchildren; 4 great grandchildren; 4 step great grandchildren.
Grandsons served as pallbearers.
Crosby County News & Crosbyton Review, April 30, 1987
Record provided by Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum
transcribed by Linda Fox Hughes
RALLS (Special) - Services for Obera Christine Henderson, 77, of Ralls will be at 11 a.m. today in First Baptist Church with the Rev. Fred Meeks, interim pastor, officiating.the Rev. Tommy Henderson of Spur will assist.
Burial will be in Ralls Cemetery under direction of Carter-Adams Funeral Home.
She died at 3;30 p.m. Thursday in Lubbock´s Methodist Hospital after a lengthy illness.
She was born in Callahan County and moved from Spur to Ralls in 1946. She married Luther J. Henderson on Nov. 14, 1926, in Spur. He died on April 27, 1987. She and her husband owned and operated laundries in Ralls and Spur. She was a member of First Baptist Church.
Survivors include a son, Dean of Conroe; two daughters, Ruth Norris of Ralls and Cleo Black of Sherman; two sisters, Lorendia Belle Mitchell of Fresno, Calif., and Tommie Lynch of Sacramento, Calif.; eight grandchildren; three step grandchildren; six great grandchildren; and four step great grandchildren.
Lubbock Avalanche Journal, June 2, 1988
Record provided by Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum
transcribed by Linda Fox Hughes
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