Estacado is native soil for all the children of the Nat Fox family. All of them were born at Estacado and all attended school there.Their father, Nat Fox (1879-1934) came to Estacado with his father, Albert A. Fox, from Oklahoma Territory in 1887. Their mother, Gussie Ellis (1879-1929), arrived with her parents, Steve and Jennie Ellis from Collin County in the same year.
Nat farmed, ranched, ran a general store, and later in life, did some wildcatting for oil. He was a gifted athlete and excelled at baseball, once being offered a scholarship at West Texas State College at Canyon. He played on and managed several amateur teams in the area. Most of his children inherited their father's love of sports and sons Dip and Clarence once played on the same team with their Dad.
Nat and Gussie had nine children.
Clarence (1901-1983) spent much of his life in the oil business at Albany. He married Jo Holloway n 1935 and they had a son, Richard born in 1936, also of Albany.
Leonard Nathan (1902-1967) had farming interests in the area and lived at Idalou for many years. He married Margaret Dodson in 1927. Their two daughters, Betty Owens of Tahoka and Bobbie Andrews of Brownfield, each have two children.
Jennie Iona (1904-1956) married Fayette Merchant in 1926. They had two daughters, Angie Beth Clark of Odessa and Gussie Mae McClellan of Lubbock, each of whom also has two children.
Dollie Elizabeth "Tince", born 1906, has lived in Lubbock for more than 40 years. She married in 1935 to Bob Bowron, a band leader and director for small schools. They had two children, Bobbie (Mary Bob) who married Bill Eddins in 1946 from North Richland Hills. They have one son, Leslie Harden Bowron, who lives near Shallowater, has one child.
Charles "Dip", born 1907, farmed at Estacado for many years. He married the former Jennie Lynn Michael in 1930, they now live in Lorenzo. Their daughter, Mickey Hargrove, has two children. Dip now spends much of his time on the golf course and also devotes many hours to maintaining the Estacado Cemetery.
Sam Ellis, born 1909, married Vere Kerr. Their son, Stanley, who lives in Dallas, has two children. Sam lives at Muleshoe, where he has been a Texaco distributor for many years.
Gladys Mae (1911-1950) married Harry McDonald in 1935 and live in Arvin, California. California. They had one daughter, Natalie Rodriquez of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
John Dillard "J.D." (1915-1985) was in the irrigation pump business at Petersburg for much of his life. He and his wife, the former Roxie Hildreth married 1936, had two sons, Troy, and Jim Nathan of Petersburg, Texas, and daughter, Tylene Heard of Kansas City, MO.
Laird Hardin "Doc", born 1915, lives in Lubbock. He married Betty Alexander and they have a son, Steve. Doc was in the pump business with J.D. and his brother-in-law, Bob Bowron, for a number of years. He now is retired.
Submitted by Joe W. BrownEstacado Cradle of Culture and Civilization on the Staked Plains of Texas by John Cooper Jenkins ©1986.
"Once Upon A Plain" by Carroll Wayne Wallace, Sr. and Sydna E. Wallace ©2000
Gussie, daughter of Stephen R. and Jennie [Michael] ELLIS, came to Estacado in 1887 and as a very small child, settled with them near the Quaker town. She received her limited education in the short-term school of the immediate vicinity. Gussie married Nat Fox, a young man of the community, and they settled in the village, where their nine children were born. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters. The sons are: Clarence, Leonard, Sam, Charlie, J.D., and Laird. The daughters are: Jennie, who is Mrs. Fayette Merchant; Dollie Elizabeth, Mrs. Bob Boren; Gladys, who married and moved to Bakersfield, CA.All of the sons and two daughters live near where they were born. Gussie was never found wanting when measured by the standards of goodness and righteousness and believed that in raising her children in the way they should go that they would not depart from it.
Gussie and Nat did not live to a ripe old age. However, they did see the fruits of their labors in the grand Christian character reflected in the lives of their children, and they were satisfied.
Source: Source: "Through the Years, A History of Crosby County, Texas" by Nellie Witt Spikes and Temple Ann Ellis ©1951; The Naylor Company, San Antonio, Texas
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