James Calvin Lewellen & Family
By Dorothy Toliver Hartsfield

Some time in the year 1905, my grandfather, James Calvin "Cal" Lewellen, saw the possibilities
for agricultural development in this section of West Texas.   He left Temple by train and traveled
 to Stamford, Texas, with all their cattle and horses.   He bought several hundred acres of land
 in the Roberts Community of Haskell County, then he hauled lumber by wagon from
Stamford, Texas, to his farm, and built the home.  (I have a vague memory of this home as
a small child).   When the home was completed, his wife, Maud, and their five children
came by train to this new frontier.  Clarence, born Feb 17, 1895, Frank, born Jan 11 1897,
Beulah (my Mother) born Sep 29, 1899, Ivy born Jan 27, 1902 and Henry born Feb 3, 1905
were the children.   There were no roads, only the railroad to Stamford.   They went through the
country by wagon from Stamford to the home in far, far away West Texas, that none, except my grandfather had ever seen.   My Mother's grandparents, Columbus Scott Lewellen and
Darcus Koger Lewellen, knew that this part of West Texas was sparsely populated and filled with
wild animals and she knew in her heart that the wolves would eat the little grandchildren.

My grandparents had other children born after they moved to Haskell County and they were the following: Lillian born Apr 26, 1907, Clifford Eugene (whom I am named after) born Jun 27, 1911,
and their youngest who was Dorothy Nell, (I am also her namesake) born on
Frank's 20th birthday, Jan 11, 1917.

Henry died as a young man in February 1928, the year before I was born.   I remember the green roadster that sat in my grandparent's back yard behind a smokehouse under a big tree, that
belonged to him.   Our grandparents would not let us play in or around it, and it just
deteriorated away.    It was there till both of them died.

Here's a little more about my grandfather, Cal Lewellen:   During his long residence in the Roberts Community, he acquired substantial farm holdings in that section of the county where he was
also an active and respected leader in community and church affairs.   He was a member of the Baptist Faith (so was my grandmother) for more than a half century.   He helped organize
and was a charter member of, the Roberts Baptist Church.   He was elected Commissioner of Precinct No. Two in 1916 and served several terms in that capacity.   During that time he was instrumental in establishing a better road system in the precinct and county and sponsored
worthy measures to aid in the development of the county.   Following his retirement from
the office, he devoted his entire time to his farming interest until his death in 1938.

Dorothy Toliver Hartsfield
Copyright © August 3, 2006