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HomeMy WebLinkAboutErma F. Jefferson RESUME ERMA F. JEFFERSON 4320 S. CONGRESS AVENUE, APARTMENT #3109 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78745 512- 462 -0417 1- 888 - 637 -4500 Date of Birth: June 8, 1940 Divorced: Mother of four, two living children. Secondary Education: Graduated E. A. Kemp High School, Bryan, Texas in June of 1958. Editor of annual, president of student council and valedictorian. Higher Education: Lack 15 hours obtaining a degree from Texas A &M University with a major in political science and a minor I sociology. (I lack statistical analysis for political science majors, last semester of Spanish and biology.) I returned to school as a student older than average. My first course at Texas A &M was in COBALT (old computer science technique). I was one of the first black women to attend Texas A &M after women other than the daughters of faculty and foreign students. Previous Employment: March 19, 1991 to September 8, 1998: Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA): When I began working for the agency in 1991, it was for the Texas Department of Community Affairs, (TDCA). In 1992, the Department of Housing (TDH) and TDCA were combined through a legislative act and became the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). I was first hired by the Department to be a financial monitor in the Community Services section. My primary duty was to conduct on -site financial monitoring of Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds and Energy Assistance funds. These funds are allocated to Community Action Agencies across the state of Texas. There were approximately 54 agencies when I began working for the Department in 1991. (There are fewer today.) There are 254 counties in Texas. The CAAs were based on the proverty population of those counties that were in Statistical Metropolitan Areas and those that were not in SMAs. The funds originate from the Housing and Human Services Department and the Energy Department. They flow directly from the Governor's office to TDHCA. The job did not require that I be an accountant. Most of the skills that are required to conduct an on -site financial review of Community Action Agencies (CAA) are people skills and a modicum of financial record keeping experience. There were instances where the Director of an agency was the highest paid official in the county. There were specific federal guidelines for how funds dispensed to CAAs were to be spent. Community Service Block Grants began during the Johnson administration. Funds were sent to CAAS to help alleviate proverty. Examples of specific work performed: 1. Conducted on -site in depth financial review of assigned contractors for compliance with federal and state regulations /requirements. The monitoring encompassed a comprehensive review a comprehensive review of the contractor's financial system, expenditures, support documentation, journals and ledgers. 2. Prepared reports that addressed non - compliance of financial findings, required corrective actions and recommendations for all contracts reviewed. 3. Responded in writing to contractor's regarding monitoring reports and correspondence. 4. Responded to contractor's and target populations inquires. 5. Developed and provided training and technical assistance to assigned contractors' staff. 6. Assisted in development of program policy documents. 7. Provided training and technical assistance to assigned contractor's staff as applicable. 8. Assisted in the development and preparation of financial training materials for contractors. 9. Participated in the development of financial monitoring instruments. 10.Provided fiscal training at statewide workshops. 11.Provided technical assistance to computerized subgrantee's fiscal systems. 12.Provided technical assistance to subgrantees that needed to change or improve their financial record keeping systems. 13.Detected and made reports of questionable erroneous transactions or recordings to supervisor. 14.Performed all or any combinations of tasks to verify accuracy and conformance of accounting records such as " verify ledger accounts, reconcile cash with bank statements, prepared adjusting entries to make records conform with acceptable standards; verified classification codes of transactions. 15.Verified the allowability as a proper charge to program costs under all applicable conditions of the grant award. 16. Worked in conjunction with representatives of local, state and federal agencies. 17.Advised interested parties of requirements, liabilities, and penalties, and recommendations improved accounting systems. 18.Participated in team monitoring visits. 19.Assisted in budget preparation and justification. Assisted technical staff in compiling and analyzing data, in making calculations, and in preparing reports. In early 1992, after TDCA and TDH were combined, I was transferred from being a financial monitor for CSBG to becoming a financial monitor for the Compliance Division that was newly formed. The Compliance Division had two (2) focuses, federal funding, (CSBG, Energy Assistance, Homeless funding, Weatherization. etc) and the housing component. When the Department signed the memorandum of understanding with the Resolution Trust Corporation, I became a compliance monitor for housing specially. Over the years, my specific responsibility as a compliance monitor was to perform advanced monitoring of properties under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), Affordable Housing Program, HOME, and Housing Trust Programs. My work involved administrative and field reviews of housing projects to ascertain if housing was being provided to eligible persons. I worked under the supervision of the Compliance Program Manager, with wide latitude for use of independent technical judgment. Some of the examples of the work performed were: 1. Acted as liaison between Compliance Manager and on -site personnel. 2. Assisted in reviews of administrative reports to determine violation of directives and guidelines relating to multiple programs. 3. Analyzed reports and supporting documentation to identify reports and supporting documentation to identify adequate internal controls and accountability of program participants. 4. Tracked and logged receipts, reviews and level of compliance of reports. 5. Assisted in field visits, examining incoming reports, and eligibility determinations for compliance with the terms of programs and Department policy. 6. Generated correspondence relating to audit exceptions by defining errors and recommending appropriate remedies to supervisor. 7. Tracked responses to discrepancies noted in desk or field reviews. 8. Transmitted unresolved problems to compliance supervisor. 9. Complied statistical data on applicants and recipients of the programs. 10.Prepared regular reports, which were of a quality sufficient for evidence in cases of non - compliance, summarizing desk and field reviews performed findings, conclusions and recommendations. 11.Assisted in the development of policies, procedures, training tools and program manuals relating to monitoring and enforcement. 12.Provided technical assistance to participants relating to program procedures. 13.Researched legal, technical or policy issues as directed. Performed related work as assigned. When I resigned from the Department, I was one of the trainers for the Affordable Housing Program seminars that were held in Austin, Dallas and Houston. I began training immediately after the Compliance staff was trained by individuals who wrote the AHDP manual. (They suggested to Amy that I probably would be someone she should consider as a trainer.) Over the years that I was involved with training, I never got adverse evaluations, because it is my philosophy that the trainer has to be aware of the attendees. Dress, speech and behavior are factors that one should consider when speaking before group. I completed the Certified Occupancy Specialist (COS) course, so am certified with basic knowledge of Section 8 occupancy requirements Previous Employment: I worked for the Texas Employees Retirement System from 1985 to 1991. I was primarily responsible for assisting retirees and new employees of the State of Texas with their health, life, and disability insurance programs. I was responsible for instituting the COBRA insurance when it became effective. One of my other responsibilities was to correspond with judicial and legislative retirees regarding their insurance. 1982 to 1985: Between these years I worked for several political candidates campaigns. I also worked for the Texas Comptroller's office as tax enforcement Officer. My key responsibility was to collect income taxes for five counties. (Individuals pay taxes when they purchase products, goods or services from merchants). It is the responsibility of the merchants to submit the taxes they have collected to the Comptroller's office monthly. Many of the providers of services fail to submit the taxes. It was the responsibility of the enforcement officer to both go on site and collect the taxes if at all possible. The enforcement officer could estimate the merchant's taxes, levy funds from their accounts, freeze their accounts, etc. Prior to that time I worked at Texas A &M University in the Insurance Division. I counseled active employees and retirees about their insurance coverage. 1958 -1972: Worked for J.C. Penney Company. Started working right after graduation from high school. Begin as a maid in Bryan, when I left J.C. Penney's in 1972, I was the supervisor of merchandize records in Beaumont. I was selected Woman of the Year of Brazos County in 1982, I think. Is this sufficient? I sent you this over the internet. Hope it arrived without problems. Send the reviews again, the ink is now changed. Thanks. Being a Teenager in the 1950's Interview of my grandmother, Erma Faye Jefferson 1. During this time what were some of the events or newspaper headlines? Answer: Some of the events during the 1950's were the death of former President Truman. The election of Texan Dwight David Eisenhower (Ike) as president, the launching of "Sputnik ", by the Russians. Hawaii and Alaska becoming the 49 and 50` states. 2. What was a normal teenager's day like? Answer: My life as a normal teenager was going to school during the regular school year, during the summer all of us (my classmates and peers) went to the cotton fields and chopped, picked and pulled cotton. We got paid for doing field -work, so that's the way I and my mother paid for my and my brother and sister's school clothes. We went to the movies on Saturday and went to church on Wednesday night and practically all day on Sunday. We celebrated "juneteenth' more than we celebrated the 4th of July. For "juneteenth" we barbecued lamb, beef, goat, pork, and chicken. My grandmother prepared cookies, cakes and pies for about a week before the date. On "juneteenth" she made banana pudding, potato salad, and all kinds of fresh vegetables from her garden. After we ate we would all go out back to the field and play softball. My grandmother was the best player on the team. Then we would all sit in the front yard and hand cranked ice - creme, with the rock salt on top of the ice. We played games (Annie —Over; throwing the ball over the house and if you caught it you would run around and try to catch the other team); hide and go -seek, dominoes and different card games such as "Old Maid ". While we were playing games, one individual was cranking the ice- creme. When night came, we would shoot fireworks. We lived in the country so, there were no laws prohibiting our shooting fireworks. My grandmother was so agile and alert that she excelled over her children and grand- children in everything we did. At Christmas it was usually to cold for us to go outside, so we sat beside the fire in the wood stove and played some of the same games inside the house. My grandmother and mother washed our clothes on a rub -board until we got a washing machine with a wringer. One of my tasks was to carry the water from the tank, (a natural small lake). We didn't have a refrigerator like everyone has today, we had an ice -box, that blocks of ice were placed in. We did not have electricity until I was a junior in high school. I remember when we walked to Bryan from Booneville every Saturday night to watch my Aunt Frankie's television when she purchased the first one. My grandmother liked to watch wrestling, so we watched it. One of the famous wrestlers in the 50's was a wrestler named "Gorgeous George ". Wrestling was not as violent as it is today. We did not have a car, so after wrestling we walked back to Booneville. We didn't have electric irons. We had irons (smoothing irons they were called) that you placed on the coals from the wood heater and ironed. 3. What were some of the fads and clothing style in the 1950's? Answer: We wore circle skirts with three or four wide slips that made the skirt stand out real far. I remember that the hula hoop was one of the fads we had. There were not many fads, because we all had very simple life styles. We did try to dress like the teens, in Philadelphia, who appeared on American Bandstand. Girls went to the beauty parlor to have their hair pressed and curled for special occasions. Boys wore their hair conked (they processed it with lye and eggs and it made it slick and wavy). We wore saddle shoes or penny loafers with socks on a regular basis. I remember that Lily Ice Creme Company in Bryan, begin putting pictures of movie stars on the lids of the little Dixie cups and we collected and traded them. 4. What were education and school like? Answer: I attended an all -black elementary school (Carver on Martin Luther King today, when I attended school the street was named West 19 I also attended an all black high school (the site of R. C. Neal Elementary today, then the name was Kemp High). I think that my education was superb. I graduated as valedictorian, was president of the student council and editor of the yearbook. I was also class president during our junior year. I graduated from Kemp High in 1958 and I am and will always be proud of the education I received. You have to remember that we did not have new books, we had the books that had been used by the students at Stephen F. Austin the previous year. Even the band uniforms and instruments had been used by someone else before they were assigned to Kemp. We did not have tennis courts, volleyball courts, physics labs; we had one chemistry teacher. My chemistry teacher still lives today, she is in her 90's. In order to graduate we had to identify the "unknown ". She would give us a liquid that we had to identify it; it could be water or a chemical, but, before we could march across the stage and receive our diploma, we had to test the liquid and be able to tell her what it was. My teachers lived in my neighborhood, and attended my church, knew my mother, so they were an integral part of my life. We were permitted to be punished by the teachers and actually preferred their punishment to our parent's. We dreaded teachers having to report that we had disobeyed them or broken any of their rules and regulations because the punishment by our parents would be worse than any punishment the teachers might or would inflict upon us. We had championship football, track, baseball and basketball teams. Our girl's basketball team, track and softball teams were also champions. We did not participate in tennis and golf. We played teams in Austin, Galveston, Waco, and Corpus Christi. We always ended up going to state to defend our records. Many of the schools we met in athletic competition had more students and were more urban than Kemp, however, we held our own. We played against Lincoln High (the black high school in College Station) and defeated them in all sports practically every year 5. What were some of the TV programs that came on that you enjoyed? Answer: The most enjoyable program was "American Bandstand" hosted by Dick Clark. We were so proud when the first black teens were finally allowed to be regular participants. We rushed home from school each day to see what the latest dances were and what musical group would be performing. Other programs that we watched were Gunsmoke, Rawhide, I Love Lucy, Lawrence Welk, Hee Haw, Jack Benny, George and Gracie Allen, the Loretta Young Show, Red Skeleton, Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan (on Sunday night), Julia (with Diane Carroll, the first black to have a sit -com), Amos and Andy, I've Got A Secret, To Tell the Truth, 60 Minutes, What's My Line ?, the Tonight Show hosted by Jack Parr, Steve Allen, and later Johnny Carson. We also watched the first show that show that Johnny Carson hosted, Who Do You Trust ?. We were addicted to the soap operas of the day, which were believe it or not, Guiding Light, Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow, etc. 6. What were some rock groups and singing groups in the 1950's? Answer: Well, we didn't call them rock groups, they were singing groups. We preferred rhythm and blues. The major groups were the Supremes, the Platters, Lionel Richie, James Brown, Little Richard, the Sherell's, Martha and the Van Dellas, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Marian Anderson, Kate Smith, Sam Cooke, Brook Benton, the Four Tops, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, JR, Carol Burnett, Julie Andrews, Nat King Cole, Mery Griffin, Patti Page, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Elvis Presley and B. B. King to name just a few. 7. Were there any other kind of slang words like "square" used in the 1950's. Answer: There probably were, however, I remember "cool" and "groovy ". 8. Does any important films or movies come to mind? Answer: One of the movies I remember was "the Ten Commandments" with Burt Lancaster, I remember it so well, because as was customary in the 1950's, there was only one movie theater that blacks could attend, it was the Palace and we had to sit in the balcony. However, when "The Ten Commandments" came to town, we were permitted to go to the Queen Theater to see it, but we still had to sit in the balcony. Of course there were the movies with Al Jolson and Step -in- Fetchit. These were movies with blacks portrayed in very demeaning roles. Another movie that I remember from the 50's was "Johnny Belinda" starring Jane Wyman, the first wife of Ronald Reagan. During the 1950's there were serials playing in the movie theaters. We saw Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Tom Mix, Gabby Hayes all western movie stars. The most amazing thing about these movies was that the male star never kissed the female star, they kissed their horses instead. The final frame of the movie would leave the stars in very dangerous situations and you just had to go the next week to see if the star survived. 9. Where did you and other friends hang out together? Answer: There was no hanging out. There were no malls in the 50's. We went to downtown Bryan on Saturday to the Palace Theater to see movies. Other times we hung out at our different churches. We spent most of our leisure time at each other's homes. My house was one of the major places for my friends to come. My mother would let us play cards, dominoes, and later we would make French fries, go to Shipley's Do -Nuts and return to the house. She didn't mind my having company as long as they were polite. She was so encouraging as a matter of fact, one Christmas she had my uncle build me a huge Ping -Pong table. I remember that one of the fun things my friends and I did was to go to the "holiness" church on Sunday night, stand outside and watch them shout and beat the tambourines until midnight. 10. What were some of the hobbies that you did when you had free time? Answer: I guess that you could call me the first "nerd" or "geek ". I loved to read, play "bid whist ", dominoes and talk. MY LIFE STORY This is to be given to my grandchildren and great grand children after I am dead or if I survive and decide to publish it as a story. My first memories are of me my mother Ella Mae Parker, my sister Theresa and myself, Erma Faye. I was born on June 8, 1940. The doctor's wife's name was Irma. So I winded up with the name of Irma Faye Loud. You will later learn that when I was in approximately the fifth grade at Carver elementary in Bryan, Texas, I began spelling my name with an "E ". My family has always called me "Faye ". My friends throughout high school called me "Erma Faye ". I suppose the reason that my friends in school called me Erma Faye, was because there were so many of us in my class with the name of Erma or Faye, there was Erma Jean Hawkins, Vivian Faye Littleton, and there were probably more, that I'll add later. Later when I got my divorce from Jesse James Jefferson, Jr., (four Js), the friends and associates that I met have always called me Erma. I know immediately when I meet a friend where they fit into my life, because of the way they address me. My name is Erma Faye Jefferson; it used to be Erma Faye Loud or Erma Faye Heads (Hedge). I was bom on June 8, 1940 in rural Bryan near the Booneville Cemetery. Booneville is where the city of Bryan was supposed to be, but the railroad came through Bryan, so Booneville later became like the "Black Community ". (My mother's name is Ella Mae (Loud) Parker, April 10, 1923. My father's name is Tommie Heads, Jr. July 2, 1920. My parents were not married to each other; however, there was no time that my father denied my existence. The story that has been told is that when it was discovered that my mother was pregnant, my father offered to marry my mother, but she said no because she did not want to move to Houston. I am the oldest child of both my mother and my father. My mother later had four more children. Ernest Marie (I could not say Ernest Marie so we called her Theresa). She was born on July 18, 1943. Then Mama waited for approximately 13 years and had another child, Barbara Ann. Ann's birthday is December 25, 1956. Leonard Charles was born on January 17, 1957. Elsie Kay, my baby sister was born on December. Theresa and Charles have predeceased me. My father either had or claims so many children that I can not name them all. (As a matter of fact, if I get into a long conversation with him, he'll tell me of all of his children, sometimes there are additions that he has never mentioned previously). The funny thing is that when he was incarnated for many years, there were times that he would name his children and it always seemed that there were more then there were the last time he told me about all of my sisters and brothers. I finally drew a line in the sand and told him that if he told me of any other children, they were his, but were not related to me. I do know of Tommie, Charles, Florine and Bobbie Jean (they were born to my stepmother Florence). There is another sister whose name is Rosetta. If I write a lot I'll probably get around to writing about Rosetta, because I know a little about her. She was in our lives for approximately 10 or 12 years and then she disappeared from our lives. I believe that she disappeared from our lives because she was embarrassed because our father finally got out of the Texas Department of Corrections. He spent many years in TDC after he killed my stepmother and three other people. I have always called my father by his name and never called him Dad or Father. I call him Tommie Jr. He claims that there were times before he got involved in his troubles that when I asked him for something, I would call him Father. I do not ever remember that, but if he says it's true, then maybe it is. He frequently tells me that I had a brother who was younger than me whose name was Tommie Jr. Later in life he finally made me recognize who this individual was. The Tommie Jr., that he claims was his son, I knew as Tommie Jr., Henderson. We were raised as cousins. I keep telling Tommie Jr., my father that I can never think of this individual as no more than a cousin, because that's the way I was raised. The funny thing is that Tommie Jr., Henderson finally met Tommie Jr., Heads when they were both incarnated at TDC. Later they both were released from TDC around the same time. I'll write about this because, I'll probably forget it if I don't now. Tommie Jr., Henderson died and Tommie Jr., Heads was on his head to go to the funeral of his oldest son. When he walked into the funeral home and went to sit with the family, with his chest probably sticking out, he was really hurt when his name was not on the program as the father. I still maintain that Tommie Jr., Henderson was my cousin. I called his mother cousin Hattie Mae. She was the second or third cousin of my mother and her sisters. I am the mother of four children. There are two that are deceased and two that are living. My oldest son is Lawrence Gene Heads, November 8, 1958. My oldest daughter, Ella Denise Heads Foster was born April 30, 1960. My son Milton Roy Heads was born August 1961, right near the time that Hurricane Carla was striking the Texas Coast. My last daughter Michelle LaShawn Jefferson was born February 17, 1967. Milton Roy lived about six months. He was born in August and he died the middle of January. It was cold. My children and I lived on McCulloch Street in Bryan. I had taken Milton Roy to the doctor three times that week and each time the doctor changed his medicine. I had gotten him up to dress him and return to the doctor, however, he was not feeling well. I gave him a bottle. He threw up whatever he took of the bottle, and took his last gasp. I called my mother who lived across the way from me and we called the funeral home. They would take him out of my arms and lay him down and I would go back and pick him up. It was a very cold day in January when we buried him. It was so cold that when we went to the funeral home to see how they had prepared him, I went to J.C. Penney's and brought some more blankets to place in the coffin with him. I just though that it would be cold when they placed him in the ground. My youngest daughter Michelle LaShawn Jefferson died in 1987. Michelle was premature at birth. She was the only one of my four children who was born in a hospital. I was always afraid of going to the hospital. I talked my mother into letting me have my first born Lawrence at home, instead of at a birthing hospital or the major hospital which was St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan. There was another hospital in Bryan, named Bryan Hospital, however, black folks were not allowed there, or if they were it required that we give them a huge deposit prior to being admitted. So I had my first three children at home with the help of a mid -wife. The difference was that I was permitted to walk around as long as I wanted to, until the pains became so severe that there was nothing else to do but go to bed. I remember that the mid -wife would stick camphor under my nose and the pains would come quicker. Lawrence was born on a Saturday night, right after Lawrence Welk (bubbles and accordion) was on TV. Denise's birth was really not that difficult, I remember very little about her birth. I do remember that I was up washing her diapers and her brother's within two weeks of her birth. None of my children weighed seven pounds. They all weighed six pounds some ounces. She was named for my mother. We have always called her "Dinky ". The nickname, "Dinky ", was given to her by my brother Leonard Charles. He used to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings; there was a cartoon with a character that was a duck, named "Dinky ". So today, she is called "Dinky ". Charles always so that Dinky was taken care of, if there was something happening on the street and everyone would take off to see what was happening, he would grab "Dinky" and along they would go with her on his hip. I always wanted her to be called Denise. Charles also liked to kiss her on the forehead. He would kiss her and kiss her. One of the funniest things about "Dinky" was that she never crawled. She scooted around on her butt until she decided one day to walk. Milton Roy was born during the horrible hurricane "Carla ". The rain was so heavy that it nearly came into the house. When you use a mid -wife, when the pains are getting fairly close, someone in the family goes to get the mid -wife and bring her to the house. We lived on Saunders Street in Bryan. The rain would probably have come in the house; however, there were several steps that extended before the entryway. Milton Roy had been delivered before the mid -wife got to the house. All she had to do was cut the navel string and clean her and me up and her work was done. Michelle was born at St. Joseph Hospital. My doctor was Joseph Geppart. I was in labor for hours, which was unusual for someone having her fourth child. She was breech and premature. She was approximately two or three months premature. She was probably premature because her father Jesse James Jefferson, Jr. was abusive and we had had problems all during the pregnancy. She weighed 4 pounds and some ounces. The doctor had told me that we were going to have to make a decision, whether he could save my life or hers. Fortunately she was born. She was immediately placed in an incubator. They sent me home within two days. I would go to the hospital every day to see about my child. It was really strange to be home without my baby. She stayed in the incubator for approximately three weeks. The nurses and doctors informed me that she was having seizures in the incubator. When we would go to see her, sometimes she would have been so active that she would have moved toward the glass and would seem to be having problems breathing. Finally, I convinced the doctor that I could take care of her as well as they did. We went home with a prescription for her seizures. We were informed by the doctor's after it seemed that Michelle was not thriving the way my other children had that she was retarded and that we should place her on a waiting list to be placed in a children's home. I never considered that possibility for the first 15 years of her life. Michelle died on November 1987. She was 21 years old. She was retarded, but she never failed to live her life to the fullest. She had several operations on her eyes, because she was diagnosed with droopy eyelids. The lashes on her eyes were so long that they would sometimes grow underneath. She had most of her surgery at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. Probably the first memory that I actually recall from my childhood is when my mother, my sister, Theresa and I arrived at the train station in Bryan, late at night. It was probably after midnight and there was a very dim light of the platform. It was scary, dark and dreary. The only people getting off the train were a casket and us. My mother was never one of the bravest people in the world so we were all standing on the platform shaking. I do not know why my grandfather, Arthur Jackson was not there to pick us up. We probably stayed there until he came to pick us up. If I remember correctly, we were coming from Monahans, Texas that is out in the Panhandle. I don't know how old I was; I just know that that is the first thing that I remember. We were coming back to Bryan to visit my Grandmother, Elsie Robertson Loud Jackson, January 4, 1902. She is now deceased. We always called her "Mother ". My mother's children call her "Mama ". My children call my mother "Big Mama ". My grandchildren also call my mother "Big Mama ". My grandmother never wanted to be called grandmother. My grandmother was a twin. Her twin brother's name was Elzie Robertson. We called him "Uncle Boozie ". He never married and we do not know where he is or if he is still living. My grandmother was one of several children born of slaves in Brazos County. Her oldest brother's name was Milton, and there was a brother who moved to Palestine, that I have never met. There was a sister named "Drucilla ". We called her Aunt Drew. She was the child of my great grand mother and a white man. She was very fair of skin. She passed for white during some of her lifetime. She died when I was real young. My grandmother married John Robert Loud. There were three children born to them, there was Naomi Loud Griffen, august 27, 1920, my mother Ella Mae Loud Parker and their baby sister, Jessie Mary Loud Anderson. They were born in Roby, Texas. The marriage did not last long after the children were born and Mother moved them back to Bryan. She later married, Arthur Jackson and lived in Booneville. I remember that we called my step grandfather "Pop ". He was a carpenter and a painter. I remember going with him on Sunday evenings in his Model T riding in the seat with just him and myself. We would go to the beer joints and the people in the places would give me money and buy me ice cream. I would come back be full as a "tick" and have lots of money.