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Samuel Monroe Baxter, a farmer at Glenn was the 3rd of six children born to George Marion and Roda Anett Pugh Baxter.
Sam´s family had left Palestone, Texas where his dad was born in 1858, stopped off in Mena, Arkansas for a while (and buried 2 year old Thomas Paul there), then moved on to Oklahoma and settled near a little town Moral (so named by founder because he vowed there would never be a saloon in the town). Sam was born here September 22, 1888.
Mother "Annie" died when Sam was about 7. Father George was a Baptist preacher but after his wife´s death, he quit preaching, married Mary Ann Chandler, a widow with 3 children and they had a son.
Sam left home when he was 15. He came to Snyder, Texas, got a job and bought a mule. He had hardly begun his "independent life" when word came that his little sister, Lizzie had been badly burned. He caught a train back to Oklahoma, but Lizzie had died before he arrived.
In June, 1908, Sam wrote a post card from Sayre, Oklahoma to a Miss May Webb, Grimes, Oklahoma saying "Don´t listen or you´ll hear it.".
Sam and Beulah May Webb were married January 9, 1909 in Sayre.
May was born November 3, 1888 in Limestone County, Texas, 5th of 11 children born to James Daniel and Nancy Catherine Bural Webb. Her ancestors had moved west with the frontier, coming to Hopkins County, Texas, in 1846 from Cole County, Missouri, then settling in Limestone County in 1848.
Her family moved to Jayton (Kent County) by February, 1890 and on to Oklahoma about 1899. Both of May´s parents are buried in Girard Cemetery.
In 1916, Sam put May and four children on the train in Oklahoma bound for Texas. He drove the team of mules through. They stopped in Lubbock for 1 year, spent the drought year of 1917 in Leatherwood Community, then bought 160 acres at Glenn for $720 down and a total of $3600 from Matador Land and Cattle Company. The land had to be cleared. 1950-59, May and Sam lived in Seymour. Moving back, they lived out their lives "at home". Sam died May 1, 1973, and May died December 20, 1980. Both are buried at Afton Cemetery alongside Baby Lena and eldest son, Paul.
Their other children are: Anna (widow of Daniel Rodriques) of Afton; Johnie (married Nelle Formby) of Elsinore, California; Nora (widow of Jack Barnett) of Plainview; Lizzie Lou of Afton; Edith (married Wilburn England) of Plainview; Della Dean (married Raymond Jackson) of Afton; Sidney (married Jean Hinson) died 1978 - buried in Odessa; Leo (married Jan Ragland) of Plainview; Doris (married Clarence Gaither) of Plainview; Dee (married Catherine Loibl) of Derby, Kansas.
Neighbors were the Dunlaps, Calverts, Norris, Hammocks, Smiths, Hinson, and Batemans.
Source: Dickens County History...its Land and People © Dickens Historical Commission; Printer: Craftsman Inc. Lubbock, Texas 1986
Funeral services for Mrs. Samuel M. (May) Baxter, 92, of Afton were conducted at 2 p.m. Friday, December 19, at the Afton Baptist Church. The Rev. Victor Crabtree and Rev. Raleigh Adcock officiated.
Burial was in the Afton Cemetery under the direction of Seigler Funeral Home of Matador.
A native of Limestone County, TX, Mrs. Baxter passed away Wednesday in her home, west of Afton, following a lengthy illness.
The former Beulah May Webb married Samuel Monroe Baxter on January 19, 1909 in Sayre, OK. In 1917, they moved to Dickens County and farmed. Mr. Baxter passed away on May 1, 1973.
She was a member of the Afton Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by two sons; Paul and Sidney and one daughter, Lena.
Mrs. Baxter is survived by three sons: John of Lake Elsimore, CA, Dee of Wichita, KS, and Leo of Plainview; six daughters: Mrs. Anna Rodrigues and Mrs. Dumont (Lizzie) Bridge of Afton; Mrs. Nora Barnett, Mrs. Edith England, and Mrs. Doris Gaither of Plainview, and Mrs. Della Jackson of Lubbock; 31 grandchildren, a number of great grandchildren and several great-great grandchildren.
Grandsons served as pallbearers.
©The Texas Spur, December 25, 1980
© Dickens County Historical Commission 1997-2022
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