Nannie Gertrude Fuller was born to a family where the boys were the most important. It didn't help that she grew to be 6 feet tall by the time she was 17. Her elder brother Howard Burge Fuller was accidentally shot and killed at the age of 19 and neither Gertrude nor her mother ever got over it. Gertrude said she was the star of the girls basketball team because of her height; she was very athletic throughout her school years. She became a school teacher because she felt she would never marry given her extreme height. However, she did indeed meet a young man named James Henry Bolch and they married in May, 1914. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary the year she died.
Because of her experiences as a child, she felt all girls/women should educate themselves, learn to be independent and to be able to support themselves. She made learning her life long pursuit; she was an inspiration to all of us.
She is still missed.
The following is exactly how Grandma Bolch wrote her life story. Punctuation, capitalization, etc., exactly as she wrote it.
Autobiography of Mrs. J. H. Bolch nee Nannie Gertrude Fuller
"From what my maternal aunt has told me I was not a very welcome addition to the family of S. A. (Sam) and Minnie Elizabeth (Wright) Fuller. There was a son already and his mother adored him. When my coming foretold itself and she had to wean her beloved son she resented me and I was not too welcome. I was born in the piney woods of East Texas four miles south of Annona, Red River County Texas on the Cheyne farm. My brother Howard Burge Fuller was eighteen months older than I was. We were always inseperable companions until his death at the age of nineteen in nineteen hundred and fourteen. We played together, started to school at the same time altho he was older we washed dishes together until he began to think he was a man and too old to wash dishes.
The date of my birth was November second, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
In nineteen hundred our family moved into the town of Annona where we lived for many years, our father working for Stiles Bros. Dept. Store. everything from cradles to caskets. Groceries, hardware, dry goods, few drugs available then.
We started to school at a private school taught by Mrs. J. M. Senter middle aged lady of very estimable character. I give her credit for teaching me more than reading and writing. a love of literature and good classics at that. she taught me my music notes on the piano. The school had all ages as pupils. we opened each morning with prayer, closed each afternoon with prayer. We got everything here that was good. A certain sum was paid each month for all this instruction. Mrs. Senter finally quit teaching and we had to go to the public school - but our back ground
remained with us all our lives. I played basket ball which was not looked on with much approval in those days and some opposition also. we wore large baggy bloomers (black) and a dress made sailor style with a square collar black trimmed in gold. I was a guard, being large and also very active. My school days are very precious to me Being a good student, loving to read and study and I had no trouble making good grades.
In 1913 I took the County examination for teachers and passed. In November started teaching a country school Russell's Chapel not far from town. There I met my future husband James Henry Bolch and we were married in 1914. thus ending my teaching, as my first child was born in 1915
This marriage has endured for almost sixty-two years. This is being written April 17, 1976 and thus only one month till our sixty-second anniversary.
In 1919 we came to West Texas following my father-in-law out here We had three children just stair steps but very nice lovable children I have lived in all sorts of houses and all kind of places. We reared four children all who still live. A grandaughter died December third nineteen hundred and seventy-two. A son-in-law died Dec. 22, 1974 My mother died August 1931 from cancer and my father April 1945, from heart attack, was found dead one morning by my sister where he lived, at Annona.
There were twelve of my brothers and sisters including me, two babies died before they were three months old. Earl Alexander Fuller in October 1898, Mary Rebecca Fuller March 1908 My older brother as I have already written died in 1914.
There are nine of us still living one at Irving. one at Dallas, one at Grand Prairie, one at Tyler, one at Annona two at Clarksville, one at Arlington and me in West Texas."
Because of her experiences as a child, she felt all girls/women should educate themselves, learn to be independent and to be able to support themselves. She made learning her life long pursuit; she was an inspiration to all of us.
She is still missed.
The following is exactly how Grandma Bolch wrote her life story. Punctuation, capitalization, etc., exactly as she wrote it.
Autobiography of Mrs. J. H. Bolch nee Nannie Gertrude Fuller
"From what my maternal aunt has told me I was not a very welcome addition to the family of S. A. (Sam) and Minnie Elizabeth (Wright) Fuller. There was a son already and his mother adored him. When my coming foretold itself and she had to wean her beloved son she resented me and I was not too welcome. I was born in the piney woods of East Texas four miles south of Annona, Red River County Texas on the Cheyne farm. My brother Howard Burge Fuller was eighteen months older than I was. We were always inseperable companions until his death at the age of nineteen in nineteen hundred and fourteen. We played together, started to school at the same time altho he was older we washed dishes together until he began to think he was a man and too old to wash dishes.
The date of my birth was November second, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
In nineteen hundred our family moved into the town of Annona where we lived for many years, our father working for Stiles Bros. Dept. Store. everything from cradles to caskets. Groceries, hardware, dry goods, few drugs available then.
We started to school at a private school taught by Mrs. J. M. Senter middle aged lady of very estimable character. I give her credit for teaching me more than reading and writing. a love of literature and good classics at that. she taught me my music notes on the piano. The school had all ages as pupils. we opened each morning with prayer, closed each afternoon with prayer. We got everything here that was good. A certain sum was paid each month for all this instruction. Mrs. Senter finally quit teaching and we had to go to the public school - but our back ground
remained with us all our lives. I played basket ball which was not looked on with much approval in those days and some opposition also. we wore large baggy bloomers (black) and a dress made sailor style with a square collar black trimmed in gold. I was a guard, being large and also very active. My school days are very precious to me Being a good student, loving to read and study and I had no trouble making good grades.
In 1913 I took the County examination for teachers and passed. In November started teaching a country school Russell's Chapel not far from town. There I met my future husband James Henry Bolch and we were married in 1914. thus ending my teaching, as my first child was born in 1915
This marriage has endured for almost sixty-two years. This is being written April 17, 1976 and thus only one month till our sixty-second anniversary.
In 1919 we came to West Texas following my father-in-law out here We had three children just stair steps but very nice lovable children I have lived in all sorts of houses and all kind of places. We reared four children all who still live. A grandaughter died December third nineteen hundred and seventy-two. A son-in-law died Dec. 22, 1974 My mother died August 1931 from cancer and my father April 1945, from heart attack, was found dead one morning by my sister where he lived, at Annona.
There were twelve of my brothers and sisters including me, two babies died before they were three months old. Earl Alexander Fuller in October 1898, Mary Rebecca Fuller March 1908 My older brother as I have already written died in 1914.
There are nine of us still living one at Irving. one at Dallas, one at Grand Prairie, one at Tyler, one at Annona two at Clarksville, one at Arlington and me in West Texas."
Nannie Gertrude Fuller was born to a family where the boys were the most important. It didn't help that she grew to be 6 feet tall by the time she was 17. Her elder brother Howard Burge Fuller was accidentally shot and killed at the age of 19 and neither Gertrude nor her mother ever got over it. Gertrude said she was the star of the girls basketball team because of her height; she was very athletic throughout her school years. She became a school teacher because she felt she would never marry given her extreme height. However, she did indeed meet a young man named James Henry Bolch and they married in May, 1914. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary the year she died.
Because of her experiences as a child, she felt all girls/women should educate themselves, learn to be independent and to be able to support themselves. She made learning her life long pursuit; she was an inspiration to all of us.
She is still missed.
The following is exactly how Grandma Bolch wrote her life story. Punctuation, capitalization, etc., exactly as she wrote it.
Autobiography of Mrs. J. H. Bolch nee Nannie Gertrude Fuller
"From what my maternal aunt has told me I was not a very welcome addition to the family of S. A. (Sam) and Minnie Elizabeth (Wright) Fuller. There was a son already and his mother adored him. When my coming foretold itself and she had to wean her beloved son she resented me and I was not too welcome. I was born in the piney woods of East Texas four miles south of Annona, Red River County Texas on the Cheyne farm. My brother Howard Burge Fuller was eighteen months older than I was. We were always inseperable companions until his death at the age of nineteen in nineteen hundred and fourteen. We played together, started to school at the same time altho he was older we washed dishes together until he began to think he was a man and too old to wash dishes.
The date of my birth was November second, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
In nineteen hundred our family moved into the town of Annona where we lived for many years, our father working for Stiles Bros. Dept. Store. everything from cradles to caskets. Groceries, hardware, dry goods, few drugs available then.
We started to school at a private school taught by Mrs. J. M. Senter middle aged lady of very estimable character. I give her credit for teaching me more than reading and writing. a love of literature and good classics at that. she taught me my music notes on the piano. The school had all ages as pupils. we opened each morning with prayer, closed each afternoon with prayer. We got everything here that was good. A certain sum was paid each month for all this instruction. Mrs. Senter finally quit teaching and we had to go to the public school - but our back ground
remained with us all our lives. I played basket ball which was not looked on with much approval in those days and some opposition also. we wore large baggy bloomers (black) and a dress made sailor style with a square collar black trimmed in gold. I was a guard, being large and also very active. My school days are very precious to me Being a good student, loving to read and study and I had no trouble making good grades.
In 1913 I took the County examination for teachers and passed. In November started teaching a country school Russell's Chapel not far from town. There I met my future husband James Henry Bolch and we were married in 1914. thus ending my teaching, as my first child was born in 1915
This marriage has endured for almost sixty-two years. This is being written April 17, 1976 and thus only one month till our sixty-second anniversary.
In 1919 we came to West Texas following my father-in-law out here We had three children just stair steps but very nice lovable children I have lived in all sorts of houses and all kind of places. We reared four children all who still live. A grandaughter died December third nineteen hundred and seventy-two. A son-in-law died Dec. 22, 1974 My mother died August 1931 from cancer and my father April 1945, from heart attack, was found dead one morning by my sister where he lived, at Annona.
There were twelve of my brothers and sisters including me, two babies died before they were three months old. Earl Alexander Fuller in October 1898, Mary Rebecca Fuller March 1908 My older brother as I have already written died in 1914.
There are nine of us still living one at Irving. one at Dallas, one at Grand Prairie, one at Tyler, one at Annona two at Clarksville, one at Arlington and me in West Texas."
Because of her experiences as a child, she felt all girls/women should educate themselves, learn to be independent and to be able to support themselves. She made learning her life long pursuit; she was an inspiration to all of us.
She is still missed.
The following is exactly how Grandma Bolch wrote her life story. Punctuation, capitalization, etc., exactly as she wrote it.
Autobiography of Mrs. J. H. Bolch nee Nannie Gertrude Fuller
"From what my maternal aunt has told me I was not a very welcome addition to the family of S. A. (Sam) and Minnie Elizabeth (Wright) Fuller. There was a son already and his mother adored him. When my coming foretold itself and she had to wean her beloved son she resented me and I was not too welcome. I was born in the piney woods of East Texas four miles south of Annona, Red River County Texas on the Cheyne farm. My brother Howard Burge Fuller was eighteen months older than I was. We were always inseperable companions until his death at the age of nineteen in nineteen hundred and fourteen. We played together, started to school at the same time altho he was older we washed dishes together until he began to think he was a man and too old to wash dishes.
The date of my birth was November second, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
In nineteen hundred our family moved into the town of Annona where we lived for many years, our father working for Stiles Bros. Dept. Store. everything from cradles to caskets. Groceries, hardware, dry goods, few drugs available then.
We started to school at a private school taught by Mrs. J. M. Senter middle aged lady of very estimable character. I give her credit for teaching me more than reading and writing. a love of literature and good classics at that. she taught me my music notes on the piano. The school had all ages as pupils. we opened each morning with prayer, closed each afternoon with prayer. We got everything here that was good. A certain sum was paid each month for all this instruction. Mrs. Senter finally quit teaching and we had to go to the public school - but our back ground
remained with us all our lives. I played basket ball which was not looked on with much approval in those days and some opposition also. we wore large baggy bloomers (black) and a dress made sailor style with a square collar black trimmed in gold. I was a guard, being large and also very active. My school days are very precious to me Being a good student, loving to read and study and I had no trouble making good grades.
In 1913 I took the County examination for teachers and passed. In November started teaching a country school Russell's Chapel not far from town. There I met my future husband James Henry Bolch and we were married in 1914. thus ending my teaching, as my first child was born in 1915
This marriage has endured for almost sixty-two years. This is being written April 17, 1976 and thus only one month till our sixty-second anniversary.
In 1919 we came to West Texas following my father-in-law out here We had three children just stair steps but very nice lovable children I have lived in all sorts of houses and all kind of places. We reared four children all who still live. A grandaughter died December third nineteen hundred and seventy-two. A son-in-law died Dec. 22, 1974 My mother died August 1931 from cancer and my father April 1945, from heart attack, was found dead one morning by my sister where he lived, at Annona.
There were twelve of my brothers and sisters including me, two babies died before they were three months old. Earl Alexander Fuller in October 1898, Mary Rebecca Fuller March 1908 My older brother as I have already written died in 1914.
There are nine of us still living one at Irving. one at Dallas, one at Grand Prairie, one at Tyler, one at Annona two at Clarksville, one at Arlington and me in West Texas."
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