[Rebels1972] Emma Sansom Marker, Gilmer, TX Courthouse Lawn

[Fred Atkinson]

> Thanks Fred !! The pictures are great.Just think. You are more than
likely
> the ONLY Sansom alum to be at that place !! Ever !! How cool ! Wish
you
> could have gotten someone to snap a photo with You in it also.Anyway,
thanks
> again. How is the new job ? Keep me posted, Regards , Coop ----- 

    Well, Coop.  It was really an honor to visit her, I must say.  I
found myself thinking about how many lives that lady touched [mine
included] and how much better off those whose lives she touched really
were.  The numbers had to be quite high (I wouldn't even venture to take
a guess).  But there was no one else there to take a shot of me by the
grave, Coop.  The church was empty, too.  I would have liked that
picture of me and Emma.

    If any of you are running across I-20 in Eastern Texas, get off in a
little town called 'Longview'.  Find Gilmer Street and follow it all the
way to Gilmer, Texas (it's not all that far).  Turn left on Highway 151
when you dead end into Gilmer (you'll see the Executive Inn at that
intersection).  Go towards Big Sandy, Texas on Highway 151 until you get
to Highway 1002 (it's a fair drive).  Make a right on Highway 1002 and
go exactly ten miles.  You will then intersect with Highway 49.  Once
you make a right on 49, that cemetary is next to a church that is less
than one half mile down the road on the left.

    I had previously spoken (by telephone) with a lady who was a member
of that church.  She said that cemetary is open for anyone to visit
anytime they want to.  So open the gate and go right in.  There are two
gates into it.

    If you go into the entrance with the board to the right of it (it's
on the right in the picture of the entrance I sent you.  It is the board
that shows who is in which grave), make an immediate right and follow
the fence.  When you come to the corner of the fence, don't turn but
just keep going straight up the hill.  You will find her in the Johnson
family plots (remember that she married a soldier named C. B. Johnson).

    So now you all know how to locate Emma Sansom.

    If you want to find the marker on the courthouse lawn, instead of
turning left on 151 when you come into Gilmer, turn right and go to the
next stop light.  Make a left at that light.  You will see the
courthouse on the right a little ways down.  Park in front of it.

    You will see a big piece of artillery sitting out by the street.
The marker is behind it.  Each side of it honors a different person (and
I was only interested in Emma so I can't remember who the other person
was, so don't ask me).  It refers to her as 'The Sunbonnet Heroine of
the Confederacy'.

    I spoke with a lady when I stopped at The Executive Inn.  She told
me that they celebrate Emma Sansom in Gilmer.  In fact, they had just
had a celebration honoring her a few weeks before I arrived there.
Unlike Social Circle, it appears many people in that area know who she
was.

    Coop, the job is off to a good start.  I've been on it for two
weeks.  The people are exceptionally nice and friendly as well as very
supportive.

    I saw my first road runner as I went in the gate to work a couple of
days ago.  The road runner is the state bird of New Mexico.  It is
popular here because the road runner eats rattlesnakes and scorpions
(both of which are somewhat overabundant in New Mexico).  The road
runner is welcome to a free meal in most everyone's neighborhood for
very obvious reasons.

    The city of Las Cruces has about ninety thousand people in it.  The
county of Doña Ana has a total of one hundred and eighty thousand
(including the people of the city of Las Cruces).  There are a lot of
Spanish people and Native Americans here.  There are surprisingly few
black people in this area.  I was looking at the population statistics
of the area and blacks are very few and far between according to those
stats.

    There are mountains in almost every direction from town.  There is
one set of mountains they call the 'Organs' because they look like a
bunch of pipes from a pipe organ.  Look at
http://www.organmountainphotos.com/trip.html and see for yourselves.

    We are about thirty-eight hundred feet above sea level, by the way.

    I arrived here at the beginning of the monsoon season.  When we get
a good monsoon, it cools us down as much as twenty degrees.  But the
temperature works its way back up over a period of a few days.  They
tell me we get three hundred and thirty days of sunshine per year.  The
heat is very dry (very little humidity here).  So it never feels as hot
as it does in Gadsden in the summertime.

    And I'm sure I'll learn more about the area as time goes by.

    Hope all of you are doing well.  I heard that they fixed Emma's
finger (on the statue).  How could anyone do such a low down thing as
break off her finger?  I hope they find those responsible.

    Regards,



                                                            Fred