TJ Hill was born in Texas and grew up as a farmer, migrant farm worker, sharecropper, and moonshiner. In 1917, he enlisted as a US Army private in World War I. He returned to Texas after the war to marry his sweetheart, Ida May. She gave him five sons: Willie, known as "Cotton," the twins Clinton and Quinton, Hubert, and a last boy who died in infancy affectionately known as "Teddy Bear." Ida May died of TB in 1935 leaving TJ to care for his growing boys, the youngest only 5 years old. In a memorable journey, he and his children and their pet pig, Nancy, walked across Texas from the panhandle to a town near the eastern border to escape a child protection agent who wanted to remove the boys to foster homes and subsequent adoption. The family was poor, but self-reliant and feisty, with TJ guiding them successfully through the Depression and World War II into happy lives as productive adults.
TJ Hill was born in Texas and grew up as a farmer, migrant farm worker, sharecropper, and moonshiner. In 1917, he enlisted as a US Army private in World War I. He returned to Texas after the war to marry his sweetheart, Ida May. She gave him five sons: Willie, known as "Cotton," the twins Clinton and Quinton, Hubert, and a last boy who died in infancy affectionately known as "Teddy Bear." Ida May died of TB in 1935 leaving TJ to care for his growing boys, the youngest only 5 years old. In a memorable journey, he and his children and their pet pig, Nancy, walked across Texas from the panhandle to a town near the eastern border to escape a child protection agent who wanted to remove the boys to foster homes and subsequent adoption. The family was poor, but self-reliant and feisty, with TJ guiding them successfully through the Depression and World War II into happy lives as productive adults.
Bio by: PerseidsGirl
Inscription
Texas Pvt 5 Development Bn WW I
