Henry Martin McLendon & Melinda Caroline Heath

(This information, written in 1974, was provided by Paul Jauch, grandson of Rev. John Franklin McLendon. Mr. Jauch has done extensive family research.)

My father Henry Martin McLendon was born October 21, 1868 in Pike County, Alabama. He came to Antioch, Texas with his mother and father when only six weeks of age. They moved to Clayton, Texas when he was still a young boy. My mother Melinda Caroline Heath was born November 2, 1874 in Clayton, Texas. They were married on November 2, 1874 in Clayton, Texas. They were married on November 5, 1890 in Clayton, Texas when he was 22 and she 16. He was slender, about six feet tall, and had blue eyes and hair with a slight reddish tint. His hare turned completely grey when he was in his early forties. She was medium built, about five feet four inches tall, and had blue eyes and dark hair.

For a description of my father and mother's romance and life together, the following is quoted verbatim from a letter which my father wrote to me on January 7, 1933 when he was 64:

"Dear Jesse, You asked me how to tell you about the environment under which your mother and I grew up. I will try as best I can. We were country folks and had as much fun and enjoyment as any city children could possible have. We were sweethearts when we were children in school I would carry red apples and peaches to school and give here, and when I got a little money I would buy candy and carry it to school  and give her. When when was 13 years old I asked her if she loved me and would marry me and each other and she said yes. So we were engages. We were true to each other and never had any other lovers. When she was 16 years old we were married and there never was a happier couple than we were. We lived together almost 16 years and she died. It broke my spirits and I have never gotten entirely over it. Our environment was love for each other. I don't know whether this is what you want me to write or not. No man ever  loved a woman more than I loved you mother and the love was mutual. I hope and pray your will be as ours was. If so, you will be happy."

They commenced their married life on a farm which they purchased in a community just outside Clayton, Texas called Heath Town for my mother's family. My mother's brothers, Jim, Oscar and Jesse Heath, and my father's brother, Walter McLendon, also had farms in the community. My sisters, Lummie Maude McLendon and Winnie Bury McLendon, and I, Jesse Heath, McLendon, were born on this farm; Lummie on October 22, 1891, Winnie on February 18, 1894, and I on February 20, 1900.

Except for illness of my mother this was a happy period in our lives. When I was five months old she was stricken with Typhoid fever.

In 1901, my father and mother sold their farm in order that my father might go into the sawmill business with Mr. hugh Morrison. Their first mill was in Timpson, Texas. They then opened a mill in Cushing, Texas wehre our family lived until 1910. The mill in Cushing provided much of the lumber for the homes in that part of the state, as well as the ties for the railroads that were then being built.

Those were indeed happy and prosperous times for our family. In Cushing, in addition to their mill, my father and motehr acquired three residences, a cotton yard and a farm. As an example of their prosperity, my father told me that he cleared $900.00 the month that my mother died which was a great deal of money for that period. Obviously, we loved Cushing very much. Our friends were numerous and our social life was all that could be desired. It has always been a great satisfaction to me to know that we were living under such happy circumstances when my mother passed away.

On July 31, 1905, when I was 5 years of age, my mother gave birth to another son, John Franklin McLendon. Complications followed the birth, and two weeks later, on August 16, 105, she died at age 30. My father took her body by wagon, which was the only means of transportation at that time, to Clayton, Texas where she was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Bethel Baptist Church.

The sudden and unexpected death of my mother left my father disconsolate. His sister Della Turner took baby John Franklin to Garrison, Texas to live with her and her family.  She kept him until in death some nine months later. Since our father's sawmill required that he be away from home much of the time, my sisters Lummie and Winnie and I moved into our grandfather John Franklin McLendon and step-grandmother's home. Their home was next to ours. We remained with them until our father married Miss Lulu Annie Welch of Zion Hill, Rusk County, Texas. They were married on June 3, 1906.

My sisters and I called our stepmother Miss Lulu. This was at her request. She was a loyal and devoted wife to our father and worth mother of her children.

My father and Miss Lulu had three children. They were Ruby Adele (called Adele by the family) born November 17, 1908 in Cushing, Texas; John  Benjamin (called J. B. by the family) born February 3, 1910 also in Cushing, Texas; and Ida Mae born January 20, 1913 in Clayton, Texas. It was my job to ride horseback for the doctor when Ida Mae was born which was an experience I shall never forget. Although half sisters and half brother, my sisters Lummie and Winnie and I always have had the same love for them as we have had for each other.

As a result of the financial panic of 1906, our father's business gradually declined. He and Mr. Morrison dissolved their partnership. In 1910, hoping to recapture some of the happiness of his boyhood, he traded at a considerable loss his holdings in Cushing for a farm in Clayton, Texas. When we moved, my sister Lummie was 19 and teaching her first school. My sister Winnie was 16 and had to leave a serious romance. I was 10. Adele and J. B. were infants. Ida Mae had not yet been born.

In Clayton, we lived the life of the average farmer family in the area at the time. This was a life of hard work for all the family. Six days a week, work would begin at sunrise and end at sunset. Sunday was a day of worship in which all the members of the family participated. Sermons would last two hours or longer. Boys could not start school until the crops had been harvested which was in later October and they had to leave school in early March to start spring ploughing. In spite of these restrictions I learned a great deal at the school in Clayton. Cotton was the only product that could be sold and the monetary return was meager. My sister Lummie augmented our family income by teaching rural schools in the area. None of the farm homes had modern facilities, such as electricity and running water, nor, strange as it may seem today, did homes have clothes closets. These were the day before oil was discovered in the area. In spite of these inconveniences, the families lived well since they grew in large quantities almost every thing they needed.

Shortly after we moved to Clayton, my father became Justice of the Peace. this was an interesting experience for him as well as for me, since I was permitted to observe some of his court trials.

He alos woned and operated a small general merchandise store for a short time.

I lived and worked with my father on the farm until the summer of 19154. At this time, I left home at age 15 to live with my Uncle Ben and Aunt Kate McLendon in Alto, Texas. The purpose of my going to Alto was to attend high school. Except for visits, I never again lived in my father's home.

Sometime after I left my father's home in Clayton, my sisters Lummie and Winnie married Clayton boys. Lummie married Lloyd Minter. She died on November 14, 1932 in Marshall, Texas and is buried in Clayton cemetery. They had four children: Lloyd Donald Minter, James Carel Minter, Henry Mack Minter, and Mary Linda Minter.

Winnie married Bonar Ross. He died in 1946. They had one daughter, Imogene Ross. Today, May 1974, Winnie lives in Marshall, Texas with her daughter now Imogene Ross Majors.

After my sisters Lummie and Winnie married, my father and stepmother sold their farm in Clayton and moved in Timpson, Texas where he again operated a sawmill. The mill was destroyed by fire after he had operated it only a few months. He then rented land and farmed until his health forced his to quit work. After he quit work and untill his death, he and my stepmother lived primarily on subsistence from their children and a small pension.

All three of the younger children, Adele, J. B. and Ida Mae, graduated from the Timpson High School. They also left home while my father and stepmother lived in Timpson.

Adele attended the Baptist College in Jacksonville, Texas. After graduation, she went to the LaJarita Ranch in South Texas to teach school. While there she married Steve Cavazos. They soon moved to the King Ranch, Kingsville, Texas where Steve became a foreman. They had one son, Stephen Allen Cavazos.

J. B. came to San Francisco to live with me. While in San Francisco he attended the University of San Francisco Law School. After graduation, he married Gertrude Cannon and went with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He then, in the following order, resigned from the FBI t go with the Chicago Crime Commission, resigned from the Chico Crime Commission to pen his won investigative business in Chicago, sold his business in Chicago and moved to California where he went with Anheuser-Busch, Inc. in Los Angeles, moved to Houston, Texas to open and manage the Anheuser-Busch Plant in Houston, resigned from Anheuser-Busch, Inc. and returned to Los Angeles where today he is with the Hughes Aircraft Co. J. B. and Gertrude have three children: Kathleen Margaret McLendon, John Patrick McLendon and Michael Joseph McLendon.

Ida Mae came to San Francisco to live with my wife and me. While in San Francisco she attended Miss Miller's Business College and also met her future husband, Joseph Jauch, an employee of the Bank of America. After a year in San Francisco she went to Marshall, Texas where she and Joe were married. They have two children, Marcia Adele Jauch Cortopassi and Paul Maurice Jauch.

In 1930, my father and stepmother moved to Marshall, Texas where sisters Lummie and Winnie were then living. My father died in Marshall on December 5, 1937 at age 69. He is buried with my mother in the cemetery at Clayton, Texas.

After my father's death, my stepmother lived half of the time with my sister Adele on the King Ranch in Texas and the other half with my sister Ida Mae in San Francisco. She died on March 30, 1955 in San Francisco and is buried in the cemetery in Clayton, Texas.

References:
My father Henry Martin McLendon
My stepmother Lulu Annie McLendon
My sisters: Lummie Maude Minter, Winnie Byrd Ross, Ruby Adele Cavazos, Ida Mae Jauch
My brother John Benjamin (J. B.)
My personal knowledge