HomeMy WebLinkAboutInterview with - Willie May Huffman Byers 1981 Interview with Willie May Huffman Byers
of Euless
by
Janet Hines
1981
Interview with Willie May Huffman Byers
of Euless
I first met Willie May Huffman Byers of February 6, 1981. She is
a very alert, active and interesting lady to talk with. When I asked
her if she was willing to be interviewed for this paper, she was at
once both interested and even eager. She is the kind of person that
you could just sit and talk with all day. She is very proud of both
Euless and her family. She now lives in the Trailwood addition of
Euless. While she is very active, her husband W. L. Byers recently
suffered a stroke and is recovering at home and doing quite well.
Willie loves to talk about her past life in Euless and was happy to
supply the following information.
Willie May Huffman Byers was born on October 15, 1902, to Cynthia
Elizabeth Fuller and Thomas Patton Huffman in a house on
Bedford-Euless Road. The house Willie was born in has been remodeled
and because it had to be taken off the road right-of-way, has been
moved to Vine Street in Euless. Her father, Thomas Patton Huffman, who
was county commissioner from 1910 to 1912, built another house in
Euless on the site that is now the Ector Square Apartment. Their land
also encompassed Trinity High School, (Willie wanted Trinity High to
be named Huffman High after her father) and the First Baptist Church
of Euless.
She went to school east of Euless and her brother and sisters
went to school in the old methodist church. She would walk from her
school to theirs so they could come home together. She attended high
school at South Euless. South Euless has served the community as a
first thru twelfth grade school and presently has been remodeled as an
elementary school. Because her father was a trustee of the school, she
was presented with the old cornerstone dated 1913. She has this
cornerstone inset in her present garage at her house in Trailwood.
Willie says that most of the shopping was done when the peddler
came around. But sometimes she would go with a friend of the family in
a buggy to Fort Worth. The friend would go to sell butter and eggs.
She also remembers that a jitney would run back and forth to Fort
Worth. A man furnished his car, people would would pay him and he
would take them so they could do their shopping.
When Willie's father was county commissioner he bought the only
grocery store then in Euless. It was located on the south west corner
of Highway 10 and South Main Street. He had a friend live at the store
and manage it for him.
Willie and her husband W. L. were married in 1926. They moved to
Dallas to be near his work, but didn't live there long, because
Willie's daddy was in poor health and they moved back to help him.
They ran a little dairy. They called the land that is now Trinity High
School, the new land and on this they planted crops which they sold at
market in Dallas. Sometimes they would have to stay in Dallas a day or
two until they sold their goods. They didn't do any big farming like
we do today.
W. L. Byers, originally from Georgia, worked for the Tarrant
County Government for twenty-five years. He retired from Tarrant
County Precinct #3.
According to Willie, most of the social life was centered around
church and school. Making molasses candy, entertainment programs, or
perhaps a chile supper encompassed most of the social activities. The
first church she attended was north of the present First Methodist
Church in Euless. It was in this building that she also went to
school. She remembers that the church had a pump organ and the wood
burner sat in the middle of the aisle. This was where she joined
church. She also had fond memories of the big banquets in the church
and the fun of decorating for them.
The two Byers children Billy and Mary French graduated from South
Euless. The classes were quite small in those days, with only seven in
Billy's graduating class and eight in Mary's. Willie was room mother
for Mary's class and recently attended a class reunion.
Willie has a sister, Hattie Himes, now living in Grapevine.
Hattie celebrated her 88th birthday on April 28, 1981. According to
Willie, she is still quite active and even makes some of her clothes.
Willie, now at 78, seems very content with her present life and
enjoys gardening and getting together with her family. She feels that
she had had a good life and is very proud of her family. She beams all
over with pride when she shows off her family pictures and is
successful in making one feel that she and her family are an example
of the good people that founded Euless, Texas.