Ed and Annie Ruth Babineaux with Essie
Jenkins |
Essie's
Story
By Patrick Martin
Essie Mae Jenkins, at 39-years-old, moved from
Rusk to Kerrville in 1928 seeking
refuge from a troubled second marriage. This trouble came to a head when
Essie's oldest son, Nolan Martin, was involved in a violent altercation with
Essie's husband, Walker Jenkins; it seems 19-year-old Nolan wanted to borrow
the family car and Mr. Jenkins would not allow it. A fight ensued wherein
Nolan was stabbed in the back with a knife and Mr. Jenkins was severely
beaten with an axe handle.
Essie's younger brother, William "Johnie" Bartholomew, was already
living in
Kerrville; he had moved there from Angelina County to seek treatment at the
newly-built VA hospital. Johnie's lungs had been damaged in a
mustard gas
attack in France during World War I. After moving to Kerrville, Johnie
supported himself by gambling and operating several pool halls in town.
After the fight between Nolan and Mr. Jenkins, Essie and her three teenaged
sons moved in with Johnie at his home on Lytle Street until Essie could find
a job and rent a house of her own. Essie quickly found a job as an
orderly
at the VA hospital and started renting a house where present day Highway 27
intersects with Riverside Drive. Essie's youngest son Clyde moved in with
her, while her other two sons Nolan and Jack remained with Johnie.
Things soon began to look up for Essie; she met a kind man named Edwin
Babineaux, whose wife had recently died and left him to raise several young
children. Edwin operated a barber shop in town and intended to marry Essie
once her divorce became final.
Sadly, this was not to be. On the evening of Saturday, May 18th, 1929,
Edwin's two teenaged daughters, Myrtle and Bernice and their infant sister
Annie Ruth, drove to Essie's house for a visit. They parked their car across
the street from the house. At around 8 o'clock PM, little Annie ran out
the
door to get in the car. Just at that moment, a sedan sped around the
corner.
Essie saw it coming and ran after Annie, reaching her at the same time as
the sedan. Essie had managed to snatch the child from in front of the
car's
bumper but she was too late. Essie was slammed to the ground by the car's
bumper and then dragged for a considerable distance before the car came to a
stop. The toddler was hit by the car's windshield and thrown into the air.
Local resident Van Goff was driving by at the time and rushed Annie to the
hospital in his car, but both victims were killed instantly.
The driver of the sedan, 21-year-old Raymond Douglas, was charged with two
counts of murder but it seems the charges were later dropped. Nolan
Martin
remained in Kerrville and later became Chief of the city's fire department.
Essie was buried in an unmarked grave at Center Point Cemetery. However,
with the kind help of researcher Gloria Dozier and cemetery caretaker Guy
Burney, Essie's great-grandson, Patrick Martin, was able to locate the grave
site and purchase a marker bearing the inscription "John 15:13".
That verse reads: "Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
©
2004 Patrick Martin
Essie's brother, Johnie Bartholomew |
Essie's Stone at Center Point Cemetery
Kerr County, Texas
|
Essie's Obituary and the Article About
the Accident
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Patrick
M. Martin webpage
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