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Memories of Ennis

Elvis caused worry for Ennis PTA in 1956

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Elvis in Ennis?

Well, not quite. But his music and public image thoroughly upset a group of educators and parents of teenagers at a PTA conference here in town, according to a 1956 Associated Press report. All agreed it was the “desire to conform” that was causing teens to “join the squealing throng of Elvis admirers.” The issue was actually addressed as a serious mental health concern for Ennis high schoolers.

SMU Day

Fish tale

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Fish tale

UP International supplied the following brief to newspapers in 1937 about an event that took place at the old Ennis Country Club: “Ennis, Tex., April 21. Helpful hint to fishermen: Take up golf. Owen Satterfield of Ennis drove his ball from a tee at the Lakeside Country Club today. The ball fell in the lake and killed a fish.”

Can you hear me now?

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C.W. Duke of Ennis would have answered “yes” in 1930 when a plane ride reportedly restored his hearing. According to an AP release, Duke allowed a stunt pilot to go into a nose dive during a flight recommended to benefit – if not cure – the deafness in his left ear from which he had suffered for eight years. Duke told reporters on landing that his hearing had completely returned.

Humor on file: Some items of local levity

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Ennis people and events have often made regional, even national, news. And on occasion, a note of levity marked the various stories of local interest that appeared in daily and weekly newspapers across the country. A couple of years ago I first shared some of these funny bits from the past and I was asked recently to collect a few more. I was happy to oblige and in fact very much enjoyed turning up some of these new additions.

Old newspaper account tells story of 1903 murder

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In a 2018 edition of the Ennis News, the story of the 1903 murder of Ellis County landowner Josh Reagor was featured on the front page. As readers have expressed interest in seeing some of the actual news coverage of the case, I’m pleased to share this article that appeared in the Waxahachie Daily Light the day of the killing, December 16, 1903.

Reagor murderers caught, charged months later

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I thought I’d share in this edition of Town Topics a little further information on the Reagor murder case that forms the feature above. Here is a short news item that appeared in the Ennis Daily News on June 24, 1904, telling of the apprehension of two of the four men wanted in connection with Reagor’s killing.

Ennis’ Pearl Harbor soldier remembered

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was scheduled to run earlier this month in time for the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I received several requests from readers for it to rerun. I am sorry it is only now that I’m able to oblige.

Yesteryear: Ennis at Christmastime

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Thanks to Dane Williams for these two images. At left is a Christmas card that Katie Daffan sent to her friends, including Williams’ uncle Ford Curry. It contains a poem by “Miss Katie,” as she was known, first written by her in 1911. The photo at right was taken by Curry of Ennis Ave. at the corner of Main St. sometime in the late 1940s or early ‘50s. The shadow of the Sunbeam train can be seen at the left of the picture.

Daffan’s death and the demolition of her home

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Last week, we shared photos by local shutterbug Ford Curry of his final visit with author Katie Daffan just before her death in 1951, supplied by Curry’s nephew Dane Williams. Today we show you images again by Curry and loaned by Williams, of the burial of Daffan in Myrtle Cemetery (left) and the razing o her house on Dallas Street. Her home was dismantled in 1953 to make way for the Safeway grocery stor which was situated on her former property for many years.

Ford Curry took last photos of Katie Daffan

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These images were provided by Dane Williams, nephew of photographer Ford Curry. Curry visited local author and journalist Katie Daffan in May 1951. Long retired from her work as an editor for the Houston Chronicle, Daffan lived alone in her house on Dallas Street which was falling into disrepair. These are some of the pictures Curry took that day. They were the last photos taken of Daffan and her home while she was living. In fact, a few days after this session, she was struck by a car and seriously injured while crossing the street at the corner of Dallas and Baylor.