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Wilks Family Texas Pictures

W. W. Wilks & Erie Catharine Taylor Family

W. W. Wilks, abt age 20, ca 1905	Erie Catharine Taylor Wilks, abt 1906, age 25

Grandfather William Wesley Whiteside Wilks (1884-1946)	Grandmother Erie Catharine Taylor Wilks (1881-1951)

Erie kept a Journal we are fortunate to have. Her life was interesting, but hard. At times she also kept a diary. Having little time and little paper, her daily entries usually consisted of the work accomplished.

For example, her tasks in February 1918 (during World War I) were typical and illustrate the unrelenting labor required of a farm wife and mother, in addition to caring for children and feeding her family:

(1) Helped move the fodder from stall to the crib and patched pants. (2) Fixed my dress and wrote to Jenkins [her brother in the Navy]. (3) Sunday, went to see Mrs. Parmer in afternoon. (4) Helped shell a turn of corn and made soap. (5) Made hominy & threshed out beans & mended Myrl's shoes. (6) Washed and cut Grandpa's hair. (7) Ironed and helped Willie fix the stall door and set out 1 gal. of onion sets. (8) George and Ben Wilks came. I sewed some. (9) Sewed. (10) Sunday. (11) Moved Grandpa's bed in his room, set out 1/2 gal. of onions and fixed the toilet door. Fixed Dale's shoes. Fixed some hen nests. (12) Washed. (13) Worked at Red Cross, gave ten cts. (14) Made 3 ambulance pillows and sewed on my waist. (15) Ironed. Edna came in afternoon. (16) Patched stockings. (17) Sunday. (18) Eyes too sore to work. Children all had German measles. (19) Hauled dirt. Made a flower bed. Filled tubs and planted tomatoes, pepper and cabbage seed. (20) Helped kill red shoat and rendered lard. . . .

Sep 1937 at Pebble Mound home ~ Standing: W. W. "Willie" Wilks, wife Erie Taylor Wilks, Karl Wilks, Reta Wilks Ross, Vane Wilks. Front row: Myrl Wilks McLean (shortly after she married Blake McLean), Voy Wilks, Kirby Wilks, and Dale Wilks

1941	1942
1942 Kirby, W. W., and Voy Wilks	May 13, 1943, with Dale, home on leave

1946 ~ This may be the last picture taken of Grandpapa W. W. Wilks before he died, 26 Nov

1949, Erie Catharine Taylor Wilks, with granddaughter Joy McLean behind her

After the death of W. W. Wilks on 26 Nov 1946, Erie and Kirby, her youngest child, continued living together until 2-3 years after he married 25 Sep 1948 and brought his bride Rita Merle Stroud home. The old house was drafty, without electricity or bathroom, so they wanted to build a new house. Voy and Erie's other children built a little house for her next to his at Carbon, where he ran a laundry.

They had seven children:

1. Karl Glyn Wilks, b. 10 Jul 1906, Chalk Mtn.

2. Marl Vane Wilks, b. 19 Jun 1909, Chalk Mtn.

3. Rita Verd Wilks, b. 5 Jul 1911, Chalk Mtn.

4. Dale Taylor Wilks, b. 18 Apr 1914, Danville, AR.

5. Myrl Jean Wilks (living)

6. Gwyn Voy Wilks, b. 17 Dec 1920, Donley Co., TX, d. 14 Mar 2010

7. Kirby Kimmel Wilks (living)

Karl Glyn Wilks, 1929 (1906-1991)	M. Vane Wilks, 1934 (1909-1980)	Reta Vird Wilks (Ross Howell) (1911-1994)

Dale Taylor Wilks, 1936 (1914-1992)	Myrl Jean Wilks (McLean), 1936	Gwyn Voy Wilks, 1942	Kirby Kimmel Wilks, 1942

Erie died 30 Aug 1951 in the Gorman Hospital following a stroke. She was buried beside her late husband, next to his parents' graves in the Chalk Mtn. Cemetery.

Erie's grave, 31 Aug 1951, her children and their spouses, L to R: Charlie & Reta Ross, Blake & Myrl McLean, Cora Wilks, Reta Merle Stroud Wilks, Karl Wilks, Kirby, Dale, Myrtle, Loma, Voy, and Vane Wilks

31 Aug 1951, Erie'sher grandhildren at her grave, L to R: Glyn Wilks (son of Karl) & wife Joyce, Douglas Wilks (son of Karl), Koleta & Laquita Wilks (daughters of Vane), Barbara, Sheron & Joy McLean (daughters of Myrl Wilks), Doris Ross (daughter of Reta Wilks), Nell Wilks (daughter of Karl), Ronald & Editha Wilks (children of Vane), Monte & Jerry Ross (sons of Reta), Don & David Wilks (sons of Karl). The infant held by Sheron was probably Voy's daughter Ruth, and the two small children in front of Douglas were Dale's son Charles & Voy's daughter Beth

More W. W. Wilks Family Pix

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Page Updated 26 Nov 2011