The Texas Connection

Meet the authors...


Peggy Jean McCleskey Broughton

Peggy She is a native Texan. Her grandparents were born in Texas and great-grandparents came to Erath County area of Texas soon after the Civil War from Georgia to escape the poverty and devastation of the War. Peggy attended the public schools of Hamilton County, Texas and completed commercial courses in Houston. Between 1970 and 1996, she was active in the Tax and Bookkeeping service that she and her husband owned. The service was sold in 1996 and this is the second time Peggy has retired. She has been active in the Methodist Churches where they lived and sang in the choirs. She studied voice with Lillis Watson in Tyler, for three years. She has directed cherub choirs in two of the churches. She was an active participant in and supporter of all her children’s activities: football, band, flag corps, etc. There were times when she made cookies or spaghetti for 500 people at a time and often drove her car for extra transportation for school trips. (Unfortunately, one time she got her car smashed by a school bus! She has been an active Girl Scout leader for the girls and active in Boy Scouts as well, serving as Den Leader and Den Leader Coach. Her ambition after raising her family and educating her children is to leave a record of her family for her grandchildren. You can learn more about Peggy, her family and her pets by visiting Peggy's Place.

Dolores Woodward Reed

Although a native resident of California, Dolores’ roots are in Texas. Her parents were both Texans, descended from a long line of patriotic, pioneering families who first immigrated from the British Isles to the Southern states, and eventually to the Republic of Texas. Her ancestors served not only in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, but in one of the last decisive battles for Texas independence, the Battle of San Jacinto. She is the great grand-daughter of Viola McCleskey, whose own great great great grandfather was James McCleskey (1755-1842), the earliest known immigrant of this McCleskey clan to America. She is currently researching the surnames of Woodward, Criswell, Neeley, Barnes, Gunter, Bryant, and McCleskey, all Texas families. She is the divorced mother of two married children and four grandchildren. She retired in 1987 after a career as an outside plant engineer for Pacific Bell for 23 years, and again in 1997 after ten years in pavement maintenance for the City of Garden Grove. In order of their importance, she enjoys spending time with her family and grandchildren, working on genealogy, traveling, writing, movies, and attending musical and cultural events. Favorite past times include making trips in her mini motorhome to bluegrass, Celtic, and folk music festivals; and camping with friends.

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