The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 65, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 16, 1995 Page: 1 of 14
fourteen pages : ill. ; page 21 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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See Page 3
School district
See TESTIMONY, Page 14A
See SCHOOL, Page 11A
Sheriff Buck Cross
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to seek re-election
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See TWINS, Page 8A
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See COUNTY, Page 14A
Mary E. C. Rives
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Vol 118 - No 65
© 1995 The Gilmer Mirror
Testimony begins
in Johnson trial
Investments, roads
get county attention
THE REECE TWINS, Samuel and Lorelei, were picked recently as
calendar personalities for the 1996 “Multiple Madness” calendar.
Midweek
Edition
bond of Louie M. English, who
recently retired from the DPS
after 25 years of service and went
to work as bailiff for the 115th
Samuel and Lorelei Reece,
almost two, whose parents are
always invested its money in
bank certificates of deposit and
will continue its conservative
approach, according to the court.
“We just have to state this is
what we are going to do,” said
•r
H.
‘ 2
rate which would trigger a tax
rollback is $1.349173.
Superintendent Mike Ogg
said “we will probably have to
raise taxes. Local values are up,
ORAN M. ROBERTS, who was to become governor of Texas, was
teaching law at the Looney School when Mary E C Rives lived in
Gilmer and became friends with him and his wife At right, Mrs J
P Ford may have been the “Mrs. Ford" that Mrs Rives referred to
in her diary. J. P Ford built the Upshur County courthouse on a
$6,500 contract in 1871 (this building burned in 1888.) Two doctor
brothers, George and Alexander Ford, also lived in Gilmer and
treated Mrs Rives and her children for various illnesses
northeast ofGilmer, are charged
in the murder of Sharon Ann
Montgomery.
According to the indictments
against the Johnsons, the men
are accused of pushing Ms. Mont-
gomery out of a car on Foxglove
Road on or about Aug. 14, 1993,
leaving her in a remote area and
Ucmssc 908 « ssmg asdlena
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this week indicate.
The way it breaks down, by
district, follows (all rates are per
$100 assessed valuation):
• Gilmer ISD—The effective
tax rate (required to fund the
same budget as the current fis-
By MAC OVERTON
The trial of two Upshur
County men, accused in the
murder of a Gilmer woman, be-
gan Tuesday in 115th District
Court in Gilmer, Judge Lauren
Parish presiding.
Eric Lamont Johnson, 23, and
his cousin Patrick Okeith
I
I
ported missing by a relative Sept.
7, 1993.
Testimony was heard Tues-
day from the chief investigator
on the case, the Dallas County
Medical Examiner, and a foren-
sic anthropologist.
Ms. Montgomery’s bones had
been found scattered over a 15-
Energy and utility companies
once again dominated the list of
Upshur County’s top property
taxpayers
According to certified figures
released by the Upshur County
Appraisal District, Exxon once
again topped the list, with total
taxable value of $47,302,293.
The figures were based on calcu-
lations performed as of June 28.
Goldston Oil Corp., which is
constructing a new gas plant
southeast of Gilmer, had a valu-
ation of $41,868,213.
Verado Energy Inc. was in
third place, with value of
$13,211,093.
Others in the top 20, and their
taxable values, included:
4. Upshur-Rural Electric Co-
See ENERGY, Page 14A
Upshur County Sheriff R.D.
“Buck” Cross announced Mon-
day that he will seek re-election
in 1996.
First elected in 1988, Cross
took office Jan. 1, 1989. In the
1988 election, Cross received
more votes that anyone ever re-
ceived for the office. He was re-
elected in 1992.
A Department of Public Safety
Trooper for 28 years, he retired
from that position to run for sher-
iff the first time.
“I was the first officer in Up-
shur County to receive the Mas-
Mirror Photo/Mac Overton
SCHOOL DAYS began for children in most Upshur County Schools this week. Here, Ashley Boettcher, left
foreground, and Brittanie Burks and Brittanie's mother Cindy get directions to classrooms from Gilmer
Elementary Principal Pat Camp and diagnostician Sharon Lusk as G ilmer classes resume Tuesday. Ashley
is a first grader and Brittanie is a second grader
1
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Conclusion of series based on 1868-70 Gilmer diary
J.
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Meet the Lions
Union Grove Lions will hold a “Blue and White” scrim-
mage game Friday, Aug. 18, at 5 p.m.
Following the game everyone is invited to “Meet the Li-
ons.” A hot dog supper will be served from 7 to 8 p.m., with a
lock-in following from 8 to 12 p.m.
Youth Soccer sign-ups
Upshur County Youth Soccer final discount sign-up is
Saturday, Aug. 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yamboree
grounds for boys and girls ages 4 and up. A birth certificate
will be required.
Union Hill Bulldog boosters
The Union Hill Bulldog Booster Club will meet at 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 18, to discuss projects and activities for the new
school year and to elect officers.
Little League football sign-ups
Little League Football season sign-ups will be held Fri-
day, Aug. 18, at the Yamboree pavillion from 5 to 7 p.m.,
and on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 4 to 7 pin. Registration for
the year will be $30 per boy. Those registering must present
a birth certificate at sign-up. All boys signing up must be
accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For more information contact Steve Gregory at 734-7919.
Gilmer sales
tax rebate
up slightly
The city of Gilmer received a
sales tax rebate from the State
Comptroller’s Office this time of
$78,918.97, up 0.31 percent from
this time last year’s payment of
$78,671 62 For the year its pay-
ments total $506,628.63, up 3.65
percent from this time last year’s
amount of $488,766.40.
Ore City’s rebate of $4,371.61
was down 20.79 percent from
this time last year’s payment of
See SALES TAX, Page 8A
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Besureand
shoff downtown
Sidewvalk savings
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Energy firms,
utilities top 1
taxpayers here
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as Southern ‘true woman'
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ter Police Certificate award, he
said. he also holds an instructor
certificate.
An Upshur County native,
Cross, 62, was bom in a sawmill
camp near the Grice commu-
nity. He attended Gilmer schools
and was graduated from Kilgore
College. He attended Lamar
University for two years. After
serving two years in the U.S.
Army, he entered the Depart-
ment of Public Safety in 1959,
completing the Homer Garrison
DPS Academy and has over
See CROSS, Page 5A
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which ended in Texas when Gov. Richard Coke took over the
office of governor in 1874 from the Unionist, E J. Davis?
Very little, actually, about the political and economic life of
the community as a whole, but Mrs. Rives’ writings provide a
unique window onto the life of a privileged woman who had the
means to give her children the best education available in those
unstable times.
During her Gilmer years she became close friends with the
aristocratic Oran M. Roberts family, among other notable Tex-
ans drawn here by the magnetic Professor Morgan Looney
By the time he was elected governor of Texas in 1879, O. M.
Roberts was known as “The Old Alcalde.” According to T. R.
Fehrenbach in his history, “Lone Star,” Roberts sparked the
1861 Texas secession convention. In 1866 he was elected one of
two U. S. senators from Texas But neither he nor the other
elected representatives of that year could take the “ironclad
oath” that they had never supported the Confederacy And that,
Fehrenbach wrote, was what the Radical Republican-domi
noted Congress required
As soon as Richard Coke became governor he appointed () M
Roberts chief justice of the Supreme Court. Before then. Recon-
struction politics having deprived him ofhis career, Mr Roberts
took a position as teacher of law at the Looney School
Mrs. Rives’ diary reflects what current historians call the
See RIVES, Page 5A
Johnson, 24, both of the Lone endangering her, causing her
Pine community about 8 miles death. The woman had been re-
tax hike likely
Loss of mineral values will cal year) is $1 275694. The total
cause most school districts in current tax rate is $1.2700. The
Upshur County to consider tax maximum rate unless the school
increases to fund their 1995-96 district publishes notices and
budgets, statements published holds hearings is$l.313964 The
EDITOR’S NOTE: Morgan H. Looney’s private school, a
Gilmer institution from 1861 to 1871, began when Prof Looney
took over the Gilmer Masonic Male Academy, which Bethesda
Lodge No. 142 had started in 1854 it was one of the most
successful schools of its time, attracting many students who later
became well known Texas leaders. The following is the conclusion
of a series of articles based on a diary kept in 1868-1870 by Mary
Elizabeth Carter Rives, a widow living in Shreveport who brought
her children here to attend the school in 1868.
The diary is part of the Southern Historical Collection housed
at the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina in
Chapel Hill. It was discovered by Dr Pat Gantt in the course of
research there, and she brought it to the attention of Sally Greene
of Chapel Hill The Mirror subsequently acquired a microfilm
copy of the diary.
By SARAH GREENE
The diary Mrs Rives kept during the t wo years she lived in
Gilmer, 1868 1870, ended abruptly on July 28, 1869 with this
entry: “We broke up house keeping and moved to Mrs.
Black’s to board.”
Three weeks earlier, “Aunt Becky,” the family’s Negro cook,
died after a week’s sickness. On July 9 Mrs Rives wrote: “All the
family gone to see Aunt B. buried.”
What does her diary tell us about life in Upshur County
during the midst of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period.
-briefly spenkind
Upshur twins selected
for calendar picture
By JIMMY BROWN Jeff and Gina Reece of Gilmer
A pair of about the cutest are the only twins from Texas
twins in Upshur County were selected after a national compq
recently selected by a California tition for the Multiple Madness
organization as "Twins of the calendar which is distributed
Month” for the organization’s nationally by the organization
“Multiple Madness” calendar for through catalogs, mail order
the month of June, 1996. companies and various
We dr es ay August 16, 1995
, a#.
Upshur County Commission- Pct. 1 Comm. Gaddis Lindsey,
ers Court tabled almost as many Commissioners then ap-
matters on its agenda as it took proved the County Indigent
action on in its regular session Health Officer attending a meet-
held Monday morning. ing in Fort Worth next month.
After the court approved pay- Then Pct. 3 Comm. David
mentofbills and payroll changes, Loyd told his fellow governing
County Treasurer Myra Harris officials of a request by citizens
appeared before commissioners in a community south of Big
to notify them of changes in state Sandy to maintain a road known
law passed by the recently-con- as Eaves Road.
eluded session of the Legisla- “It’s a dirt road at this point,”
ture. he said.
The changes require all tax- The request was approved,
ing entities in the state to fully but Pct. 2 Comm. Tommy
disclose where their money is Stanley voted no.
invested besides in banks by All permit applications for use
Sept. 1. The reforms grew out of of Upshur County roads and
the Orange County, Calif., fi- right of way were approved.
nancial derivatives scandal. Commissioners unanimously
However.UpshurCountyhas approved the deputation and
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Overton, Mac. The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 65, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 16, 1995, newspaper, August 16, 1995; Gilmer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1479020/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Upshur County Library.