Ida Beulah Melton (Jan 23, 1886 – Aug 18, 1972) married William Thomas (Terrell) Cherry (Aug 10, 1880 – June 14 1970) on Oct 20, 1901 in Benton County, Tennessee. On the 1910 census, the family lived in Quail, Collinsworth Co, Texas with Laura, John and Louis Cherry. He is listed as a stock farmer.
From the Moore Family Bible courtesy of Kimberc09 on Ancestry.com.
William Thomas (Terrell) Cherry born Aug 10, 1880 in Tennessee, died June 14 1970 in Lubbock, TX. William married Ida Beulah Melton in Oct. 20, 1901 in Belton, Tennessee. Ida was born Jan 23, 1886 in Big Sandy, Benton Co., TN. She died Aug 18, 1972 in Lubbock, TX. Burial for both William and Ida is Quail Cemetery, Quail, Collingsworth Co., Tx.
William and Ida’s first born was Laura Jane on April 8, 1905 in Big Sandy, Tennessee. Laura was still very small when William and Ida Cherry moved from Tennessee. They packed their belongings and moved by train to Collingsworth Co., TX and settled in the Quail community. Several friends and relatives from Tennessee had already settled in this community, including Laura’s maternal grandparents. Hughey and Mattie Jane Pierce. Among those from Tennessee who had settled in the Quail area were the families of Bud Farmer and Jim Pierce.
Laura attended Marella School. Other children were born to William and Ida while they lived in the Quail area. John Vernon was born April 12, 1907. Thomas Louie was born 1908. Another daughter , Lois was born 1910. Two more sons were born, Edgar Franklin July 16, 1913 and William Terrell 1915.
In 1918, the Cherry family again packed all of their farm equipment, household goods, and livestock in a boxcar and shipped them to Texline, New Mexico. The family drove an old Maxwell automobile to their new location of Springfield, Colorado. William and his oldest son, John, rented a wagon and a team of horses in Springfield and went to Texline to get the family’s belongings.
Another daughter, Ethel was born in 1919, in Springfield, Colorado. After two years in Colorado the family decided to move back to Texas. They packed their belongings into two covered wagons and made the trip back to Texas. After seven days of traveling, they arrived in Leila Lake, Texas, in Donnelly County, in time to work in the cotton harvest for several weeks. They then went on to Quail. Here they settled on a farm adjacent to the farm of J.W.L. Cook, father of James Curtis Cook.
Uncle Willie Cherry, whose gruff manner was only a front for a gentle heart. It is still said in the Melton family that all babies would leave their mothers’ arms to go to his. The writer (Herman E Melton) remembers as a child being fascinated with his talk. His very, very earliest recollections consists of Uncle Willie holding him in his lap and placing his little hands on the steering wheel of a model T Ford and driving from “Uncle” Sam Weaver’s farm to the Merc.
Uncle Willie and Aunt Ida had some handsome children. Ethel was once chosen “Miss Shamrock.” Ed was a great athlete; at Hardin-Simmons University as a football player he was chosen Little All-American Fullback. W.T. Jr, was a graduate of Kelly and Randolph Field and as a flyer achieved much success. He had an outstanding war record. As the pilot of Eddie Rickenbacker’s plane, he pancaked a bomber into the South Pacific and spent 21 days on a raft. He received world-wide publicity when found. During the war, he served as a ferry pilot and also “flew the hum” in Asian. Bill has logged thousands of hours as an American Airlines pilot.
One summer the Willie Melton’s and Willie Cherry’s took a trip to the Arkansas and Missouri Ozarks in two Model T Fords. The stories of this trip could comprise a book. Poor Lois spent her time taking care of the young ones. It is invariably mentioned when the infrequent contacts between the two families are make to this day.
James Curtis Cook (Jim) and Laura Cherry were married on November 13, 1921, in the parsonage of the First Baptist Church in Wellington, TX.
The young couple lived with Jim’s parents for awhile at Quail. Jim took a teaching position in the Marella School where C.M. Weaver was Principal.
On July 30, 1925, William and Ida became parents of twins, a son, Paul Lawrence and a daughter, Pauline Florence. This family was still living at Quail.
Ida Beulah and William Terrell Cherry in 1901.
William and Ida settled in Quail, Collinsworth Co, Texas. He died at the age of 89 on June 14, 1970 in Lubbock, Texas and is buried in Quail Cemetery.
Quail lies in Collinsworth County, in the eastern panhandle of Texas.
William and Ida had nine children: Laura Jane Cook, John Vernon, Thomas Louis Cherry, Lois Murry, Edgar Franklin, William Terrell, Ethel Pace, twins Paul Lawrence and Pauline Florence Smith.
1912, Quail, Texas. Pictured here are Lois, Ida, Laura, Thomas, Edgar and John.
This photo depicts William and Ida Cherry with Pauline, Ethel and Paul about 1923.
1927. Cherry Children left to right: Ethel, Paul, Lois, John, Thomas, Pauline, Laura, Edgar, William
In 1930, the family lived on S Dalhart St in Wellington, Collinsworth, Texas. At that time, William was a laborer who did odd jobs. Youngest son Paul died of endocarditis on May 15, 1933 in Shamrock, Texas. He is buried at the Quail cemetery. On the WWII registration card, William is listed as a farmer in Quail, Collinsworth Co, Texas. In 1954, he is listed as a yardman in the city directory.
Laura Jane Cherry married James Curtis Cook on Nov 13, 1921. They had six children, James D, Lloyd F, Louis Vernon, Eugene W, Vada and Zada (twin girls). Robie remembers visiting them in Lubbock. Laura loved to crochet, and made fun of Robie when she pointed her finger to hold the thread; “What’s you pointing at?” Robie remembers that Laura and James had twin beds in their master bedroom. Jim desperately loved her, you could just tell how much they cared for each other.
John Vernon Cherry (April 12, 1907 – Feb 3, 1993) married Mildred Frances Self (Nov 3, 1917 – Mar 6, 2003 in Big Spring, Howard Co, TX). He served in the army in WWII. They had no children. John Cherry is remembered for his participation in numerous telephoned musical concerts. The three, which also included brother Hobart, would gather around the Pierce’s telephone and call sister Marie. To the accompaniment of John’s guitar, the three voices harmonized on current ballads for Marie’s benefit and also hopefully for the benefit of other eavesdroppers on the rural party line.
Thomas Louis Cherry (Nov 20, 1908 – Apr 16, 2001) married Hazel Lorene Self (Jan 30, 1920 – Nov 14, 1997) on May 6, 1943 in Jackson, Oklahoma.
Lois ‘Mimi’ Cherry (Nov 4, 1910 – Oct 10, 2000) married Loye Lee Murry (Sep 29, 1907 – Mar 24, 1983) in 1927 in Shamrock, Wheeler Co, Tx.
Edgar Franklin Cherry (Jul 16, 1913 – Nov 11, 1985 in San Angelo, TX) married Zonetta Moore (Jan 15, 1923 – Apr 19, 2014) on Nov 21, 1943. They had a daughter, Frankie Faye Cherry, who first married JD Musgrove as a junior in high school. She died at age 23 in a car accident in Dallas, TX (one daughter Kimberly Wagoner). Edgar and Zonetta had a second daughter, Patricia Cherry (Stewart). Zonetta and Edgar Cherry divorced in 1960. She later married Dillard Lee Dorland on Apr 14, 1960, divorcing him for the second time in the early 80’s. Edgar married Ellen Francis Darden on May 5, 1972.
William Terrell Cherry Jr (Sep 6, 1915 – Sep 2, 2000) married Bobbie Lee Hunter on Oct 23, 1938 in Nuevo Laredo, TX. They were stationed at Randolph AFB in 1940, San Antonio, TX. and had one daughter Paula D Cherry. They divorced Jul 19, 1977 in Tarrant Co, TX.
