"The Sweetest Town in Texas" Honey Grove, Fannin County, Texas

Honey Grove is known as "The Sweetest Town in Texas." When settlers arrived, they found numerous bee hives in the county.

I never thought in a million years I would visit Texas. Just not a state I was interested in, even though my Dad was born and lived here until he was fourteen. Last year, my friend Lisa Gorrel and I decided to plan a trip for genealogy. We discovered we had ancestors in many of the same or nearby counties. The weather in Texas was too hot by the time we decided last year, so we decided to go in the spring of 2024. This way, we could also experience the wildflowers.

I have not written anything in quite a while, but I have not felt like writing anything until now. Last night, I had a dream about my dad. In the dream, I think he forgave me for something that happened in High School. I woke up feeling apprehensive and emotional. It was hard for me not to cry. This dream stuck with me all day.

The first place we visited was the Oakwood Cemetery. I have a cousin buried there who died four days after birth. She was my Uncle James and Aunt Ruby's firstborn, Brenda Gail Threet, b. 18 Jan 1949, d. 22 Jan 1949. James was my dad's oldest brother. My Aunt Ruby is still alive in her nineties and sharp as a tack. We found Brenda quickly. Her tombstone is very weathered and mossy. We bought a brush somewhere along our trip to use on tombstones. I used it to clean off dirt, and then Lisa poured water on the tombstone while I took photos. The photos turned out much better with the water. Later in the day, I texted one of the photos to Brenda's sister, Lisa (Threet) Clark. I received a text from my cousin, Lisa, thanking me. She also told me my Aunt Ruby still gets teary-eyed when discussing her.

From here, we headed into town and found the Honey Grove Library, which houses the Honey Grove Preservation League Library and has a preservation history room. My appointment with Barbara Caffee was at 1:00 p.m. Since I had some time, I walked the town square while Lisa stayed in the nice, cool library to work.

Aunt Ruby talked about the square the last time I visited her. She was from Bonham, Texas, and her family would go to the Honey Grove Square on Saturday. It was the thing to do. This is where she met my Uncle James. As I walked around the square, it was sad to see the buildings empty, dilapidated and in disrepair. One could still see the grand architecture of the buildings. I could only imagine what a beautiful place it was in its heyday. I was drawn to this building on the south corner with iron stairs on the side to the top floor. I took a few photos of the stairs because I loved the ironwork, and they seemed to be in great shape. I thought about climbing to the top, but not sure if they were still attached to the wall. I took photos of the post office, the old movie theatre, and a building that was in renovation. What I found really impressive is how the brick road around the square did not have any missing. Heavy trucks and trailers are not allowed, so I am sure that helps.

I returned to the library and worked on a few things while waiting for Barbara to arrive. She arrived on time, and we sat down to business. She talked about how she has lived in Honey Grove and how her husband is the mayor. She runs the preservation library and loves her town. One of the questions I asked was if the hospital my dad and his younger siblings were born in was still around, the Cappleman Maternity Ward Hospital. She said it was not, but it was located on the north side corner of the square, and the entrance was up the metal stairs on the side of the building to the second level. I took a photo of the same metal stairs earlier when walking around the square. No wonder I was "drawn" to the stairs....weird. Those poor pregnant women had to climb those stairs! Barbara looked for a log book from Dr. Cappleman's days of practice. She could not find it but knew she had it. She will email me when she finds it.

I looked through the yearbooks and found photos of my Aunt Sue (Wilma Sue), Uncle Sam, and Uncle Dean (Donal Dean). However, I could not find my Dad, which I found weird. The yearbooks also included grade school through high school. Barbara thought it was strange also, but maybe Myra Rodgers would have an idea. Myra is meeting us at 4:15. She has lived in Honey Grove her entire life and is a great town historian. She is familiar with the McCraw's Chapel area and knows the area where my Dad's family lived.

Barbara found one file folder of Dr. Cappleman's records. I searched through it and took a few photos, but unfortunately, nothing was on my family. Barbara brought a stack of books for me to look through, and what did I forget to do? Add them to my research log! Darn it. I have been so good on this trip.

Myra arrived on time and immediately pulled out her computer. She had found a 1950 census map for Honey Grove. Since she grew up in the area, she marked all the names of families for most of the houses. She knew all the families. She showed me where my family lived on the map. She pulled up a newspaper article from Newspapers.com that I had not seen before. It listed my Grandpa Bruce Threet as a pallbearer for a funeral in McCraw's Chapel. We talked about how I could not find my Dad in the yearbooks. She said, "Of course not. He would have attended the one-room schoolhouse in McCraw's Chapel." From there, he would have gone on to high school. By that time, Dad's family was moving to California. I see a timeline in my future.

After reviewing the map and neighbors, Myra took us to McCraw's Chapel. We followed her about three and a half miles south of Honey Grove to the McCraw's Chapel area. She knew where my family's home was and wanted to show me!!! She had me call her on her phone so she could point out where the school was, McCraw's Baptist Church, and the house Dad's family lived in on M. R. Terrell's farm. They rented a home beside the Terrells and farmed some of his land. A few Terrells are still in the area, and Myra will contact them to see if they remember anything about my family or heard stories. Hopefully, they will be willing to talk to me. From this area, Myra told us how to get to the highway leading us back to Bonham.

Barbara and Myra were awesome. They did everything to make my day in Honey Grove awesome. I can not thank them enough.

What an exciting day for me. Everything was so surreal. I had this wonderful, warm feeling in my soul, and it felt like my dad was with me the whole time.