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| Birth Date: Nov 30, 1901 | Birth Date: Feb 15, 1902 | |
| Death Date: Mar 22, 1991 | Death Date: Feb 18, 1992 |
I was born in Tennessee near Sweetwater Nov. 3, 1901. I went to school in a one-room school house where one teacher taught seven grades. The first two or three years I never had a tablet. The first few grades used a slate. We would write on it, work our arithmetic, and then hand it to the teacher. After she looked at our work, we would erase it and start over. I also went to high school in Sweetwater.I came to Texas near Bridgeport in 1919 with a friend. We worked for Texas Pipeline Co. for awhile, then we went to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, working in wheat harvest. I remember how hot it was in those old header barges. I made $7 for 12 hours work. After harvest was over, we went back home to go to school. My father was a farmer and had a dairy. Every morning before breakfast, we milked cows by a lantern.
In 1925, I came to Ralls where I was in the grocery business with C.A. Bennett. On Apr. 30, 1927, I married his daughter, Mabel. She was born Feb. 15, 1902, in Collin Co. and first attended school in Copeville, TX. She moved to Ralls with her parents in November, 1911. Her father was an early-day merchant in Ralls.
When we were married, she had two sons by a previous marriage, Harold (6) and Warren Moore (3). They both started to school at Owens and went to high school at Ralls.
We had Sunday School in one room of the schoolhouse for a short time. Mabel was the first Sunday School superintendent and also taught a class. In 1929, Ralls School District built an auditorium for Owens community. We had church and Sunday School in it. The Methodist church had a preacher two Sundays a month and the Baptist had two Sundays, but we all worked together. When the school was moved to Ralls, we moved our membership to First Methodist Church in Ralls where Mabel and I still attend.
The first store at Owens was built in 1925 by F.E. Watkins.It was a box and strip building, about 20x30 feet. He sold it to Mr. Baldwin and in May, 1927, my wife and I purchased it and operated it for about 20 years. In 1928 we built a new store out of brick and tile. It was used until about 1950 and torn down when the road was paved. Our store was the meeting place for the community.
Some of the early families of the community were: the Sam B. Anthonys, W.W.Anthonys, D.Y. Blantons, J.E. Evatts, Rufus Jordans, and others.
Even through the depressions, hail, tornadoes, and droughts we had a good living. It was hard work, but in sorrow and happy times, we never gave up.
(Written by Ben Brakebill)Source: The Crosby County History Book 1876-1977
RALLS (Special) - Services for Benjamin Franklin Brakebill, 89, of Ralls will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Ralls First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Vernon O´Kelly, pastor of Dimmit First United Methodist Church, officiating. Assisting will be the Rev. Russ Byard, pastor of Ralls First United Methodist Church.Burial will be in Ralls Cemetery under direction of Carter-Adams Funeral Home.
Mr. Brakebill died at 11 p.m. Friday in Methodist Hospital in Lubbock after a lengthy illness.
He was born in Sweetwater, Tenn. He married Mabel Bennett on April 30, 1927, in Crowell. He was a member of Ralls First United Methodist Church, Farmers Union and was a former board member of Owens Co-op Cotton Gin.
He owned and operated a grocery store in Owens from 1927 to 1943 and then farmed until he retired. He moved to Ralls in 1927 from Sweetwater, Tenn.
Survivors include his wife; three sons, Marwin Brakebill of Lubbock and Harold Moore and Warren Moore, both of Ralls; a brother, Arthur of Crosbyton; a sister, Ruth Dwyer of Knoxville, Tenn.; six grandchildren; and 12 great grandchildren.
Lubbock Avalanche Journal, March 24, 1991
Record provided by Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum
Mabel Corine Brakebill - 90, of Ralls. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, February 20, 1992, at the Ralls First United Methodist Church with Rev. Mike Struve, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in the Ralls Cemetery under the direction of Carter-Adams Funeral Home of Ralls.Mrs. Brakebill died at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, 1992, at her Ralls residence. Justice of the Peace James Isbell ruled her death due to natural causes. She was born Feb. 15, 1902, at Cokeville, TX, and married Jack Moore in 1919 in Crowell, TX. He died in 1926. She married Benjamin Franklin Brakebill April 30, 1927, in Crowell. He died Mar. 22, 1991. She moved to the Ralls area in 1912. Mrs. Brakebill was a homemaker and a member of the Ralls First United Methodist church.
Survivors include three sons, Marvin Brakebill of Lubbock, Harold Moore and Warren Moore, both of Ralls; two sisters, Eunice Walter of Lubbock and Myrtle Griffin of Lamesa; eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be Gary Jordan, Jimmy Moore, Don Crump, George Brakebill, James Chote, and Jimmy Strange.
Source: Lubbock Avalanche Journal February 1992
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