Wadsworth Family History & Genealogy

My Great Grandfather was Solomon Andrew Wadsworth of Zephyr. He was called “Andy” and lived in and also owned a local mercantile in Zephyr for a time.

Solomon Andrew Wadsworth was b. 4 July 1855, in Birmingham, Jefferson Co, Alabama, to William Wadsworth and Temperance Martin. Solomon d. 14 Apr 1929, in Gorman, Eastland Co, TX. He was buried the 15 April, 1929 in Zephyr Cemetery. Solomon married Kizzie Jane Reynolds 22 September 1875 in either Oak Branch, Titus Co, or Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX. This is to be verified on a later visit to Brown Co.

Kizzie Jane Reynolds was b. 15 May 1858, in Mt. Pleasant, Titus Co, TX, to Thomas D. Reynolds and Mary A. Bynum. Kizzie Jane d. 15 September, 1931, in Baird, Callahan Co, TX. She was buried 16 September, 1931, and is buried next to Solomon in the Zephyr Cemetery.

Solomon and Kizzie had 8 children:
1. James Calvin Wadsworth, b. 7 June, 1878 in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX, d. 14 Jun 1878 in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX.
2. 2. William Truman Wadsworth, b. 8 February, 1880, in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX, d. 1 Sep 1916 in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX. He married Leila May Beckham Dillingham, 19 Dec 1906 in Brown Co, TX.
3. 3. Walter Ellis Wadsworth, b. 12 December, 1882, in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX, d. 29 October 1924 in Odessa, Ector Co, TX. He married Sarah Elizabeth Hatley, 13 September, 1903, in Oneonta, Blount Co, AL. They had 7 children, all born in Zephyr. Bertha Mae, Vera Irene, Altha Foline, Walter Ellis Jr., Wilna Odessa, Lola Belle, and Paul Amos.
4. Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wadsworth, b. 24 June, 1885, in Mountain Peak, Ellis Co, TX, d. 28 March, 1965, in Abilene, Taylor Co, TX. She married Noah H. Hatley, 25 June, 1919 in Turkey Peak, Brown Co, TX. They had 3 children all born in Brown Co. Noah H. Jr., Aron W., and Elbert A.
5. Lola Lee Wadsworth, b. 29 June, 1889 in Zephyr, Brown Co, TX, d. 25 August, 1897 in Zephyr, Brown Co, TX.
6. Fannie Ada Wadsworth, b. 16 July, 1891 in Zephyr, Brown Co, TX, d. 30 August, 1933, in Abilene, Taylor Co, TX. She married Willis H. Hatley, 1904, in Brown Co, TX. They had 4 children, all born in TX. Eddie, Velma, Ozela, and Florine.
7. Nugent Turner Wadsworth, b. 12 November, 1893, in Zephyr, Brown Co, TX, d. 10 September, 1974, in San Angelo, Tom Green Co, TX. He married Jessie T. Trimble in 1914. They had one child, born in TX. Shirley.

8. Vina Mae Wadsworth – my grandmother – b. 26 August, 1897, in Zephyr, Brown Co, TX, d. 1 January, 1974, in Del Rio, Val Verde Co, TX. She married Eddie Bee Beaty, 15 April, 1913, in Comanche, Comanche Co, TX. They had 8 children, all born in TX. Iva Pearl, Eddie Nugent – my father, Elbert Wayne, Otha Dewitt, Norma Mae, Harold Eugene (nicknamed Preacher), Hazel Monette, and Joyce Virginia. All are deceased.

In the 1870 census it is shown that Solomon was residing with the family of Jesse Bynum of Blount County, Alabama and undoubtedly traveled with them to Texas in 1872. The Bynum’s settled in NW Ellis County, with numerous other Blount County families. Jesse’s cousin, the Reverend Asa Bynum (1806-1886) was one of the first to settle the area and erected a Methodist Church at what is known as Oak Branch Campground, about 5 miles SW of Waxahachie (spelling). Jesse Bynum, son of Asa and Rebecca Murphree, b. 31 July, 1871 in Tennessee, d. 18 November, 1897, Mountain Peak, Ellis County, TX, and is buried in the Mountain Peak Cemetery. He married Eliza Clowdus, b. 17 November, 1836 in Blount County, Alabama. She is the mother of Sarah “Sallie” Clowdus.
S.A. (Andy) first appears on Ellis County Tax rolls in 1881 with 2 Horses or Mules, valued at $65, one Cow $10, and a Wagon $20. Ellis County Deed Records (V.40/217) shows he paid $90 to his father in law for 36 acres of land in the David Reynolds (AKA A. Stewart) head right 26, January 1881. On 14 Nov, 1881, Andy and Kizzie Wadsworth sold this land to Kizzie’s brother, John C. Reynolds for $360 cash and notes (V.40/218). This land was located on the waters of South Creek about 3 miles SE of the Cemetery at Mountain Peak where Kizzie’s sister was b. April 1881.
Andy last appears on Ellis Co. Tax roles in 1886 with 4 Horses $120, 4 Cows and a wagon $40. Not long after this, the family removed to Brown County settling on a 150 acre farm 1 mile S of Zephyr, TX. Andy joined the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Zephyr Lodge #591 and received his Masonic Degrees 30 January, 27 February, and 26 March, 1904. He served as Titer in 1904, 1908, 1909 and 1914, and as Stewart from 1905-1906. He demitted (left) Zephyr Lodge, 28 November, 1925 and died four years later in Eastland County, TX.


1910 Census, TX, Brown, 4th precinct, page 170, roll 1:
WADSWORTH, Solomon A: Male, Race W, Head, age 54, Married, Years presently married - 34, born AL, father born GA, mother born GA, Speaks English, Trade Retail – Merchant, Nature of Trade – Groceries, Worked for his own account, Able to read and write, Owns his home free, it was a Farm house, Farm Schedule number was 15.
WADSWORTH, Kizzie J: Female, Race W, Wife, age 51, Married, Years presently married – 34, Natural born children – 8, Number now living – 6, born AL, father born AL, mother born AL, Speaks English, housewife, Able to Read and Write.
Next door to Pleasant J. Couch and John Nation.

1920 Census, TX, Brown, Justice Precinct #4:
WADSWORTH, Solomon A: Head, Owned his home, Male, Race White, Age 64, Married, Able to Read and Write, Born AL, father born GA, mother born GA, Speaks English, Trade - Farmer on a General Farm and working on his own account.
WADSWORTH, Kizzie J.: Wife, Race White, Age 61, Married, Able to Read and Write, Born AL, father born AL, mother born AL, Speaks English, Trade - Housewife.
Next door to M.S. Chisner and Son Turner N. Wadsworth.

History by Norma Mae Beaty Crye, her daughter:
Vina Mae Wadsworth was born the 26th of Aug 1897, about one mile from Zephyr, on a farm in Brown Co, TX. She was the eighth and youngest child of Solomon Andrew Wadsworth and Kizzie Jane Reynolds.
Her brothers and sisters in order of birth, were James Calvin, William Truman, Walter Ellis, Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie), Lola Lee, Fannie Ada, Nugent Turner, and Vina Mae, my mother, who was the eighth child and baby of the family.
It was a dismal day, in the Wadsworth home, when mother was born. Her lovely little red headed, eight year old sister, Lola Lee was a victim of typhoid fever and was a corpse in the house. Her sister Lizzie, and brother, Walter, were also ill from the same disease and not expected to live.
Some of mothers happiest hours as a child, were spent with her catalog friends. They were the paper dolls cut from castaway catalogs. She had a very dear friend, by the name of Lucy McMurray, who was born on the same day as she. They celebrated all their birthdays together; however, Lucy moved away when they were about seven. No doubt this was a real tragedy to mom, for she was never to see her little friend again.
Mama enjoyed a substantial life, because her father was co owner of a Mercantile Store when she was born. It was not always so in the Wadsworth household. Her mother and dad began their marriage with the bare necessities of life. They often cooked pinto beans without any "sowbelly', or grease of any kind to make them more palatable. Corn bread was the companion food to their beans. That no doubt, was as dry and tasteless as the beans. Grandpaw’s meager beginning made him a frugal man. He was able, with time and hard work to amass some substantial holdings by the time the children were grown. I'm sure that the old cliche, 'Waste Not' were not only familiar words to him, but it was a way of life.
Grandpaw used the traditional horse and plow to till the ground. He owned one farm in 1907 that he sold to a family by the name of Graves. The old family home is still known as the Graves place. It's interesting to note that there were Grave’s families in Blount Co, AL, for that was where the Wadsworth’s and Bynum’s lived before coming to TX.
Sometime, through the years, Grandpaw Wadsworth bought a mercantile store in partnership with Wood Shelton in Zephyr. They sold groceries, dry goods, windmills, and all the practical necessities of life. They could even provide caskets for those who had passed away.
During his lifetime, Grandpaw, not only owned the Mercantile Store in Zephyr, but he owned other property there and a blackland farm. One of the farms east of Zephyr, which he owned, was known as the Davis place. In about 1907 when they sold their place outside town, they moved into a rented house while their large, roomy, two story home was being built. On the lower level of the new dwelling were two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and hallways. There was one large open bedroom on the second level. One of the great and rare family occasions was when her father brought a block of ice home, and Grannie Kizzie made a cedar bucket full of lemonade and put it on the wash stand in the hallway.
On the 30th of May 1900 not to long after they moved into their new home, a cyclone hit Zephyr. The locomotive like sound came from the direction of the railroad tracks which were west of town. A train had just gone out, and the noise covered the sound of the approaching storm. The noise continued to increase, and when mom’s dad went to investigate, he discovered that the cyclone was upon them. There was no time to call the family together for refuge in the cellar; it was about half a block from the house. Uncle Walter and Aunt Sarah Wadsworth, and one of the VanZandt boys, had come into town on Saturday to stay all night. Thus they were present during the ensuing tragedy. There were many visitors in town that night. Thad Cagle, his wife and their two children were all killed in the disaster.
Lightening and rain followed closely in the wake of the cyclone and the large mercantile store was ignited by a streak of lightening. The fire was a great blessing to those who were working in the area. It illuminated the surrounding scene, where they were attempting to pick up the dead and injured. Those who had been killed were stretched out on the Wadsworth’s front porch, and the injured filled all their beds. Mama slept through the entire storm to awaken to the havoc left by the monstrous wind. There was a mother, and two of her children brought into the house during the storm. One of the children died later of whooping cough, while mom stood by and watched.
Daddy was living on a farm, with his parents, when the cyclone struck. After the storm the Beaty’s moved into a house behind the Wadsworth home. Mom and dad started writing notes to each other, and daddy’s sister Ethel would deliver them. There were times when they would hide them under a rock to be retrieved later.
Mama was not permitted to go with boys in their buggies. The only place she was allowed to date was when she went to church. She attended Sunday school regularly when she was a child and teenager. Her mom saw to it that she always went to church, although they didn't always attend with her. In the summer months, there was a large revival tent set up across the street from the church. It was during one of those meetings that mom became a member of the Methodist Church. Mama remembered hearing Grandpaw Beaty for he was a traveling preacher. Zephyr was one of his charges, where he was the pastor of that small community. He often traveled in his buggy in extremely cold temperatures during the winter months. At times he would carry a bottle of hot peppersauce to drink to keep his cold blood circulating and warm.
When mom was older, on Saturdays, she would hitch the horse to the buggy and travel the seven or eight miles to Turkey Peak to visit her cousin’s., Dee and Vinie Maynor. She was good friends with their daughters, Elinor and Berri. The three would go to church together, before mom returned home.
One Saturday in April 1913, while mama’s dad and mother were away, mama, Nugent, and Berri Maynor were left at home to take care of the livestock. Mama and daddy decided they would elope. When Uncle Nugent was in town that Saturday morning, mom, dad, and Berri started for Thrifty, where dad’s family lived at the time. Grandpaw Beaty was pastor of the Methodist Church there. Mom and dad spent Saturday and Sunday night at Thrifty. On a very chilly Monday morning, they got up before daylight and went to Coleman. When Uncle Nugent learned that they had run away, he called everyplace to tell them not to issue a marriage license. The two runaways left Coleman and went back to Thrifty, where they changed clothes and started for Comanche. They stopped at Martha Scott’s , at Blanket, and stayed Monday night. The horse had given out by this time so they left the animal and caught the train. Tuesday morning they went on to the courthouse. They discovered that Grandmaw and Grandpaw Beaty would have to come to Comanche to sign for dad, since he wasn't 21. Mom was also underage, so Berri Maynor had to sign for her. The journey continued, when they left for Comanche in the buggy. They arrived in town during the night. When Grannie and Grandpaw Beaty arrived, they found mother and daddy swinging in the front porch swing. Tom Rutherford, who was a distant cousin of Grandmaw Beatys kept the court house open. Mom and dad were married by him in the Clerks office on the 15th of April 1913. They stayed all night at Toms and the next day they went back to Thrifty to dads home and spent a few days there.
Daddy had a crop in the ground at Zephyr on Grandpaw Beatys farm. In a few days after their marriage, they went over there to stay. They were there only three or four months when the farm was sold. Subsequently the young couple moved to Brownwood and rented two rooms for $3.00 a month. They both went to work for the Walker Smith wholesale Candy Company. Dad made $1.25 for a 10 hour day running a peanut machine. Mama did several things about the place and usually made more money than dad. Their mode of transportation was a bicycle on which they both rode. Mama sat on the frame while daddy pumped the bike.
One of the relatives, said in April of 1988 that the general consensus of the family and acquaintances, was that Grandpaw Solomon Andrew Wadsworth needn't have been so autocratic, because he had married the money which he had.

People rarely see the whole picture of things,
or the labor involved and the blessings it brings.
My granddad knew that and had a good head on his shoulders,
for he got where he was by being frugal, smarter, and bolder.

Written by Norma Mae Beaty Crye, as told to her by her mother, written in Nov 1988.


J.P. Beaty is also mentioned in this book. He was my Great Grandfather. His son was Eddie Bee Beaty who married Vina Mae Wadsworth, my grandparents.

John Patrick Beaty was born to Edward Beatty and Sara Jane Pearce, b. 19 October, 1855, in Edna or Texanna, Jackson Co, TX, d. 26 May 1936 in Del Rio, Val Verde Co, TX. He married Mary Thomas Wilhelm 18 January, 1877 in Jackson Co, TX. Mary Thomas was b. 27 November, 1860 in Cameron, Milam Co, TX, d. 9 February, 1938 in Del Rio, Val Verde Co, TX. Both are buried in Westlawn Cemetery in Del Rio. John and Sara had 12 children, all born in TX. Baby Girl, Birdie Idella, Bula and Eula (twins), Etta Lee, Willard Norman, Carl, Marvin Edward, Eddie Bee – my grandfather, Willis Mead, Jonnie Ethel, and Robert Hilton.


Source - Record of Funeral - Date May 26, 1936, page 62, Del Rio, TX - Del Rio Funeral Home:
John Patrick Beaty
The record shows he was born in Jackson Co, TX, was white, and his residence at the time of his death was Highway 90 - Waterloo. Funeral charges went to Simpson and Beaty of Del Rio. John Patrick’s occupation was listed as ex-minister. Death date was May 26, 1936. Date of birth was Oct 19, 1855. He was 80 yrs 7 months and 7 days old when he died. His funeral was held on May 27, 1936, with L.C. Beaseley clergyman of Del Rio. John Patrick died at home. The physician who certified his death was Thomas Johnson of Del Rio. John Patrick’s father was listed as Edward Beaty with no record of his birthplace. His mother was listed with maiden name as Matilda Pierce with no record of her birthplace. He had a homemade casket manufactured by Del Rio Lumber Co. and he was buried at Westlawn Cemetery on W. 2nd St in Del Rio, TX. His funeral consisted of a hearse for $20.00, Personal Service charge of $10.00, Opening of Grave or Tomb charge of $8.50 and Cemetery Equipment charge of $11.50, grand total of $50.00. His funeral charges were paid in four installments of June 24, $9.86, Aug 4, $19.87, Sept 15, $9.86, and Oct 17, $10.41 which paid off the balance due.

John Patrick Beaty, who was born 19 October 1855 in Jackson Co, TX, was born to a Methodist couple by the name of Edward Beatty and Sarah Jane Pearce. Edward and Sarah Jane, daughter of Jesse Pearce and Nancy Williams, were married 11 June 1840 in Jackson Co, TX. (Marr. Recds. of Early Texas 1824-1846, Ft. Worth Genealogical Society 1971)
John Patrick's father, Edward Beatty, was a large land holder near Edna, Jackson Co, TX. He managed his huge acreage with the help of his many Negro slaves. He may be found in the 1850 slave schedule census with his many blacks who belonged to him. They are designated by sex and age only. It was said that Edward Beatty was also a shoe cobbler, and that he made the families shoes.
John Patrick was the fourth child of seven children. He was of medium to stocky Scotch-Irish stature, good looking with a regal bearing. He was about 5 ft 9 or 10 inches tall. He had kind steel blue eyes and had the respect of his contemporaries including those of his family members.
He was married 18 Jan 1877 in Jackson County to Mary Thomas Wilhelm, daughter of Jeremiah Monroe Wilhelm and Emilie Jane Rogers.
Willard Beaty, one of his sons, was about 6 weeks old when John Patrick and Mary Thomas moved in 1888 from Bell Co, TX to Comanche Co, TX. There were three families who moved to Comanche at the same time. They were Matilda (Mattie) and Will Wilhelm, Harriett, and Edward Beatty and Mary Thomas (Mollie) and John Patrick.
John Patrick became interested in the ministry and was ordained a Methodist Minister when he was about 28 years of age. One of his first churches was in Milam Co. Others, where he was pastor, were in Indian Creek, Lampkin, Pettit, Hebron, Fellowship and Harmony Communities in Comanche Co.
Ministers, at that time, usually had two or three churches which were commonly known as their charges. They were evangelists, and in John's era, they traveled by horse and buggy. John Patrick often traveled when it was very cold and carried a bottle of hot Peppersauce to drink to keep him warm. He retired from the ministry when he was in his sixties and moved to Brown Co, TX. John was an active Mason as well and serving on school boards as trustee.
Two of John Patrick’s sons, Willard and Willis followed in their fathers footsteps and became preachers. Willard was ordained a Methodist Minister, and Willis became a Pentecostal Preacher. Willard stopped preaching and moved to Ardmore, OK., where he was a police guard in a prison.
In 1921, Willis Beaty was connected with The United Pentecostal Church in Zephyr, TX and he was also a pastor in 1957. They lived in the Harmony community, where the PFJC Pentecost later became the United Pentecostal.
It was the 21st of March 1921 when John and Mary's farm home was razed by fire and destroyed all they owned. This resulted in them spending their last years living with first one then another of their children. John died in Del Rio, TX on May 26, 1936 while living with his daughter. His daughter and son in law, Birdie and Walt Simpson, lived at the time on Highway 90 East. Mollie died at the same residence and they are both buried in Del Rio on the same plot with their son, Hilton, who preceeded them in death.
Notes: Audrey Beaty 103 Bluffside Drive, San Antonio, TX 78227

National Funeral Record - page 170 from Del Rio Funeral Home, Del Rio, TX.
Eddie Bee Beaty
Bee died in Val Verde, Del Rio, TX at Val Verde Memorial Hospital. He lived in Del Rio 29 years. His residence was listed as Del Rio Val Verde Co, TX, on Garza Lane. He was listed as Married, Male, White married to Vina Mae Beaty. Date of death was Feb 19, 1962. He was born Feb 2, 1895. He was 66 years 11 months and 27 days old when he died. He was born in Comanche Co, TX. He was retired. Father was J.P. Beaty and mother was Mary T. Wilhelm. Mrs Eddie B. Beaty of Garza Lane gave this information. Embalmers signature was G.W.Cox, license no 1891. Certifying Doctor was George Herrmann of Del Rio. The funeral was held Feb 21, 1962 in the Chapel and he was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Del Rio. He had 2 police escorts. Rev Bill Gunkel was the clergyman, of Quemado, TX Methodist Church. His casket was silver metal Sealer manufactured by Capitol Casket Co. Relatives listed were Wife Vina Mae Beaty of Del Rio, Sons: E.N. Beaty of Del Rio, E.W. Beaty of Kemah, TX, O.D. Beaty of Del Rio, H. E. Beaty of Kemah, TX and daughters: Mrs Norma Crye of Del Rio, Mrs Joyce Guillory of Del Rio. Brothers were Marvin Beaty of Oklahoma, Willis Beaty of Comanche TX. Sisters were Mrs J.L. Williams of Quemado, TX, Mrs Geo. Allen of San Antonio. The funeral was paid in full.

History by Norma Mae Beaty Crye his daughter:
Eddie Bee Beaty, my father, was born 22 Feb 1895 in Comanche, Comanche Co, TX. He was the nineth child of John Patrick Beaty and Mary Thomas Wilhelm. He was one of thirteen children who were born to this strong and gifted family. Daddy was known as "Bee" to family members, and later in life he was called "Pete" Beaty by his friends. His father was an old time Methodist Minister as well as a farmer. Daddy's father was known near and far for his powerful and stirring sermons. His mother was an exceptional homemaker. Their doors were always open, and the pot continually boiled for their many interesting visitors. Traveling gospel preachers, of all denominations, found a haven of comfort in their home.
Daddy used to exchange notes with his childhood sweetheart, my mother, Vina Mae Wadsworth. Dad's sister, Ethel, played cupid for their clandestine love affair. She was emissary by carrying the love notes to mom and dad after they had hidden them in an old hollow log.
Grannie Beaty was a dark headed, dark eyed brunette, and a very beautiful woman. She was extremely strong willed and had a fiery temper. She most likely picked up the genes of her Jackson forbearers. Grandpaw Beaty was stocky, good looking, and blue eyed, with light brown hair. Most of the Beaty children appear to exemplify the Beaty side of the family in appearance. Daddy was no exception. He had the same square and stubborn jaw line of his progenitors. Mom once said that dad's hair was mousy gray colored when he was young. He had his father's steel blue eyes and a strong muscular frame of five feet nine inches tall.
He fell in love with his childhood sweetheart. When he was 18 years old and she was 15, they eloped in Comanche, TX on the 15 April 1913. They became the parents of four sons and four daughters. In order of birth was Iva Pearl, Eddie Nugent, Elbert Wayne, Otha DeWitt, Norma Mae, Harold Eugene (Preacher), Hazel Monette and Joyce Virginia. Mom's beautiful brunette coloring and dad's predominant Irish genes blended in a melting pot appearance in all their children. Some were tall and some short. Some brown haired and some very dark headed. Likewise were their eyes. Iva, Joyce and Hazel each had dad's blue eyes, while Nugent, Wayne, Otha, Eugene and I had the brown eyes of our mother.
Daddy spent his first year or so farming, then he and mama got a job in a candy factory at Brownwood TX. Their mode of transportation was by bicycle. Since no self respecting lady would straddle a bike, Mom sat in front of dad on the main frame while dad pumped the two wheeler.
In the twenties dad worked as section foreman for the Cotton-Belt RR in Hamilton and Oglesby. Joe Draper, of Oglesby TX told me several years ago, that they made home brew in the tool shed behind the section house on the RR at Oglesby. That was done in their more prosperous times. They capped it for a time until they realized that it was being consumed as fast as it came off. During the depression years dad was unemployed and suffered the agonies of deprivation as millions of others. He made boot leg whiskey to augment the income of his large family. Later in McGregor dad rigged u a hot pit bath in which to scald pigs as they were slaughtered. He did this for others as well as the family. I shall never forget watching as they raised a goat high in the air as it bleated out "mama" as clearly as a child. This testifies of his creative ideas and abilities to keep his family from starvation.
In McGregor, on the 1st of January, 1933, they lost their beautiful little 3 year old daughter, Hazel, of pneumonia. I stood in the room as she drew her last gasping breath. I also lay in the same room while she was born. I 'm sure that Aunt Etta and mama thought that I was fast asleep on a cot as Hazel made her entrance into the world. It was in the 30's that dad sent mom and his children to Del Rio to stay for a time with his sisters. We stayed on highway 90 for a few months with Aunt Birdie and Uncle Walter Simpson. Later we stayed in town with Aunt Etta and Uncle Jesse Williams. Nugent was yet in his teens and was the one who drove the old truck in which we traveled. He left behind his teen aged sweetheart, Gracie Gilliland, better known as "Sweetie" to Iva and all her friends. He ventured forth as duty called by his family. It seemed a very long journey to Otha, Preacher and I who rode atop the household goods in the back of the old truck.
At sometime in the intervening years, we moved into a rented house down the road from Uncle Walt's and Aunt Birdie's. Across the road was the windmill and water tank. We used to have to bring the cow across the road from the pasture. One day they didn't get along quite as fast as they should have. A soldier from Ft. Clark, in a fast moving auto, totaled out our milk supply.
Dad worked for some time as a butcher in the Piggly Wiggly store on Main St. in Del Rio. At the time we lived on 3rd St in the old house that Uncle Walt Simpson had built many years before. The house was just across from the Osgood place. Many years later Robert and I bought the house, and we moved mom's trailer into the back lot.
Mama and Daddy and family moved from there to the Moegelin acreage and built a tent like home. It was framed like a house but was covered in paraffin treated ducking. Dad applied paraffin to water proof the material. One of the most exciting events, while we lived there was when a rattle snake stole into the house.
It was also while we lived there that they lost their daughter, Iva Pearl. She was so young and the light of her brothers and sisters eyes. They received word by telegram that Iva was sick, so Nugent, mama, and daddy left right away for McGregor. She was already dead when they arrived thereon the 6 November 1936. She was still living with her husband, Jack Polston, and their two small children, Bernice and Gladys. Mama and daddy got in touch with the Moegelins and asked them to bring the rest of the children to McGregor for the funeral.
But times were hard, and Bill and Etta Mae didn't feel that they could make the long and arduous trip. Thus our dear sister was put to rest without us being able to attend her funeral. How grieved Otha and I were. Preacher was probably too young at the time for him to know a lot about what was happening. She was such a special sister to all of us, and we loved her very much. Bernice had just started to school and her mother had made her such pretty dresses, so she could change her twice a day. Gladys, who was younger has few memories of her mother. What a tragedy for this young husband and family. Jack never got over the loss of his young wife even though he married a nice young woman by the name of Mildred Norman.
It was about 1937 or 1938 that dad started cutting cedar posts for the surrounding ranchers. He eventually bought him a couple of trucks and hired two men to help him. One of the young men, Carl Farless, who seemed like family, was afflicted with epilepsy. The hired hands lived with us when they made their many visits home from the Cedar Brakes. The ranches, which the cedar was on, were in the Nueces River area outside Brackettville. The family helped dad with these endeavors. Otha helped with the cutting, and I helped by carrying the posts through the undergrowth to the truck. Preacher helped at times also. I don't ever remember a time when I worked harder than when I had to carry the heavy poles up and down the brushy ravines. I would often balance them on my shoulder as I had seen Daddy and Otha do.
It was about 1944 that the family lost all their belongings from a fire which quickly razed the dwelling. Dad built the house from the ground up. He went to the tank form, which was behind our house, and pulled out of the rubble the oil soaked 1X12's. When the house ignited into flames, it became a raging inferno. The home was located just down the road from Bill Moegelins house on Highway 90. After the house burned, they moved into the Moegelin place which Otha had purchased.
Eventually mom and dad moved to Baytown, TX where he and Wayne pursued a vocation of fishing in the coastal waters. Under the pressure of the family who were concerned with daddy’s safety, mom and dad moved back to Del Rio to the East Highway 90 home. The house was situated just west of the old Bill Moegelin place. Our family built the place in their declining years. It was an attractive, lumber frame with white asbestos shingles. Nugent now owned this acreage after having bought it from Otha. It was a comfortable house but had deteriorated somewhat while it was rented. Elva and I helped them to remodel after they returned. We decided to paint the living room pink. While we were mixing colors we kept adding red to the small swatch we were doing for a sample. When we got through we had the most shocking rose pink any one had ever seen. It was blinding and almost as bad from the street as from the interior. Poor mom and dad had to live in that awful living room until they sold the house. It never occurred to us to repaint it. Dad’s favorite color was orchid, so we painted their bedroom a beautiful hue. I guess when dad got tired of the living room he could go to the bedroom to rest his eyes.
Nugent sold his house to Sheriff Richter. That was when dad and mom moved to the old house just below our farm. We owned fifteen acres that lay between the Cinegas Creek and the Rio Grande River. Dad did much of the farming, and one year we had several acres of tomatoes which put on pounds of tomato’s to the vine. They were the talk of the Quemado Valley farmers. One farmer came out to the farm to try to find out what we did to make such a profuse crop. We had put about a table spoon of phosphorus to each plant. Then we prayed for the divine intervention of a kind creator to help us. The farm prospered under the hands of my able and capable father and those of my husband Robert.
The family loved to visit the farm where they enjoyed a feasting from mama’s ample table. They were able to follow their favorite past time of fishing in the murky waters of the Rio Grande. Their house and ours were confortably situated on the banks of the Cinegas Creek. We had an irrigation pump on the creek to nourish the dry sandy loam. I planted yellow and orange varigated canna flowers on the banks of the creek and they rewarded us with their profuse blooms in summer months. Eddie Don, my sister Joyce's son who lived with his grandparents, Elizabeth Ann, my brother Eddie Nugent’s daughter, and our son Larry, loved playing in and on the banks of the creek. They spent many days in the company of their best friend, Don Tody. Don Tody was the son of an Air Force officer at Laughlin AFB and a member of the L.D.S. Church to which Robert and I belonged.
While living in this choice country setting, my father passed away on the 19th of Feb 1962. I noticed him holding his left arm for several days as though in pain. It is now obvious to me that his heart was in trouble. He had a sick spell, which no one took too seriously, and then a brief time later he had a full fledged heart attack. He continued to suffer some heart damage with each small occurrence. He spent about two weeks in the Del Rio hospital before he passed away.

Gone was my father but not forgotten
Of his flesh and blood, I was begotten
Tears flooded my eyes, as I felt the grief
Consolation was a stranger
and there was no relief.
It's a pity and shame we rarely share our love
'Til it is too late, and our kin called above.
Written by Norma Mae Beaty Crye 1984

There is a family rumor that my grandmother, Vina Mae, was of American Indian heritage. This is something she fervently denied. Family members all said she was ashamed of this and would deny it until the day she died, which she did. This rumor has therefore not been proven as fact, to this day.
I grew up around my grandmother, Vina Mae, she was a very private person, and did not share much information about her family or the life she lived while growing up. She was a dour woman, who hardly ever smiled, came from an affluent family, married a poor man who doted on her, and lived a poor life for many years. She was very family oriented though, and lived out her days close to her children and their families.
I have posted a few photos for you to see, what I have of the old family members.
This is a bit of what I have on the Wadsworth and Beaty family. It is incomplete, as genealogies usually are. Some of the dates and places may be in error. Most of my information comes from family members and what I could find on the internet in the census pages. Where I only listed names of children, I did not list their birth or death information as some are still living.