03/17/04   

December 2002 - Northeast of Wheeler, Texas

The "Herchel Wilburn Whitener" Page!

Herchel Wilburn Whitener was born 23 May 1913 in Wheeler County Texas.  He was the first of four children born to Hiram Wesley and Flora Whitener.  He spent his early years on the Hiram Wesley homestead 1 mile east and 1.5 miles south of the community of Kelton in eastern Wheeler County Texas.  

This picture was taken in 1938 - Vivian, Wesley, Glen and Herchel.

This picture was taken Christmas 2001 - Herchel Whitener was 88 years old.

Our father was taken from our presence on Christmas Day in 2002.  He had repeatedly told his son, Glen - "I want to go back to Texas".  On December 31, Herchel was returned to his final rest at the Kelton Cemetery in Wheeler County Texas.  The place of his final rest overlooks the farm land where he began his life more than 89 years earlier.

As I looked across the open and sparsely wooded countryside, I recalled some of the stories he enjoyed telling about the difficult times of rural life without the benefit of modern technology.  Herchel was not much for idle conversation, but with some coaxing he did enjoy telling stories of  his childhood.

Mid 1920's - He described how, as a teenager, he would hitch a team of mules to the plow and spend many hours tilling the soil for a new crop of cotton.  He would remember the names and the nature or disposition of the mules.  I recall his description of one mule in particular, a large white and stubborn animal.  In the fall, he would travel with his father to Shamrock, Texas to deliver a load of cotton to the cotton gin.  Since the trip was approximately 15 miles, they would hitch up the mule team to the wagon load of cotton and leave around midnight on Friday in order to reach the town of Shamrock by daybreak on Saturday.  They would end up spending the day in Shamrock and return to the family farm on Sunday.

Late 1920's - He recounted for me the stories surrounding his time as a 16 year old boy.  He told of the time when the family moved to a small farm in the area of Sudan, Texas and his experiences with school and farming.  He described the nature of the area and the ever present "sand storms" which buried everything.  Once, he recounted the story of the time he "ran away" from home while living in Houston.  He wanted to return to Wheeler County to stay with his grandparents, Hiram Anthony and Francis Whitener.  He hooked up with another teenager and they made it as far as San Antonio.  In San Antonio, the two boys were picked up by police.  The local police in San Antonio contacted Herchel's father in Houston and Hiram Wesley made the trip to San Antonio to return Herchel to Houston.  Apparently, this was insufficient to prevent Herchel from "running away" again and this time he managed to hitch-hike his way to Wheeler.   

1930's - As a young man, during the depression years of the early 30's, Herchel would work on the government WPA projects in the Texas panhandle.  Teams of men would spend many hours planting trees as windbreaks to keep the fine soil from blowing away.  While working on the WPA projects he met his future brother-in-law, Shelby from Mobeetie, Texas.  Shelby invited him to the family home for dinner where he met Shelby's older sister, Vivian.  In 1933, Herchel and Vivian were married at Erik, Oklahoma, just across the state line from Wheeler County Texas.

This picture was taken in Levelland, Texas during the spring of 1950 - Herchel Whitener built this house in 1949 while working nights in the oilfields.  As teens and pre-teens, Glen, Wesley, and James "assisted" with the construction, however, we probably hindered more than helped.

  Updated as of:  03/17/04                                                                                                                                      Copyright © 2004 - RY2K Media