A generation passes

Elizabeth Wilson passed away Tuesday in the same house, and in the very same room, in which she had been born nearly 100 years earlier. She had been the last surviving of R.G. and Voe (Calhoon) Partlow’s six children, and as her well written obituary says, with her death a generation passes away.

Her obituary can be found here.

Mrs. Wilson’s family kindly gave The Vindicator permission to publish photos from their family album, and in return we would like to share with them and with our readers some of the odds and ends found in early editions of the newspaper of the Partlow and Calhoon families and some of the articles mentioning Elizabeth.

There is hardly anything to be added to the Partlow family history that has not already been published. The news about them that is found in The Vindicator includes little that was big or dramatic. We will share it all the same because at the passing of a loved one, for awhile any small thing can seem precious.

While many editions of the newspaper from the 1920s and early 1930s are missing, from what survives of them Elizabeth Partlow seems to have escaped The Vindicator’s attention for most of her first 16 years. She is mentioned, but not by name in the Sept. 24, 1920 edition, which reported, “Born—Friday, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Partlow.”

After that, there is nothing about her until she shows up as a guest at a birthday party in 1936.

In the Feb. 12, 1936 edition with her sister Rose performing a piano duet for the Liberty P.T.A.

In April of that year, the Panther Prattle column mentions, “Miss Head, Flo and Mildred Fisher, and Elizabeth Partlow spent Saturday in Huntsville because of the typing contest.”

Small town newspapers reported even the minutia of daily life back then. Reading old copies of The Vindicator we can learn that Elizabeth Partlow went swimming at the Fisher’s pool Friday morning, Aug. 21, 1936. In November, she went with other members of her class to the Texas Centennial celebrations. From the May 26, 1937 edition we can learn that the previous Thursday she watched the movie “Charlie Chan at the Olympics” and then had ice cream. We might not care to learn any of that, but if we do, it’s there to be found in Liberty’s official newspaper of record.

The Panther Prattle column in the Dec. 9, 1936 edition included a section headed, “Know Your Seniors,” and it reads in part, “Elizabeth Partlow, an honor student in the senior class, has black hair, brown eyes, weighs about 100 pounds, and is about five feet five inches tall. Her favorite subjects are Shorthand and Civics, her hobby is skating, and she plays the piano for past time. She is as popular as she is smart.”

She played guard on Liberty’s girls basketball team. Liberty played a pre-season practice game against Dayton and beat them 31 to 2. The following April she received a varsity sweater.

Elizabeth was graduated from Liberty High School third in her class, edged out of the salutatorian spot only by the final examination scores, which put Velma Lois Brown slightly ahead of her.

Her parents had made the paper often.

The Jan. 12, 1900 edition of the newspaper reported the grades received by Liberty school children at the end of the first term. Among them, Voe Calhoon, a third-grader, had a first term average of 99. Her third-grade classmate and future husband, Gerald Partlow had an 87.

By 1907, Gerald Partlow was attending school in San Antonio. The Aug. 13, 1909 edition reported “Gerald Partlow is spending the week at Corpus Christi, with the Epworth Leaguers.” In 1912, he won for best Duroc-Jersey sow at the county fair.

In 1905, Voe Calhoon attended school in San Marcos. The Dec. 19, 1905 edition reported her visit home for the holidays, and also included her in a society column, saying, “Monday evening the ‘smart set’ ‘surprised’ Miss Voe Calhoon and just such fun was never before thought of.”

The Jan. 8, 1909 edition said, “Miss Voe Calhoon, the pretty, popular assistant to postmaster Calhoon, has returned from a week’s vacation spent at Sour Lake.”

At the January 1911 meeting of the Trivium Club “Miss Voe Calhoon have a most interesting paper on the Historic and Dramatic Time of the Play, Henry VIII.”

Gerald and Voe’s marriage was reported in the Nov. 29, 1912 edition. See the attached images for that article, along with one on Elizabeth and Howard Wilson’s wedding, and one on Gerald and Voe's golden anniversary, plus a few of Elizabeth's recipes.

Mrs. Wilson’s funeral is 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 1, at First United Methodist Church in Liberty.