Our paternal great grandparents came directly from Ireland to this country. Our father, Henry Shaw, son of Charley and Martha Shaw came from Macon, Georgia to Able, Alabama, where he met our mother, Laura Alice Holland, daughter of Woodard and Alice Nixon Holland. They were married December 17, 1899. Our father was a farmer and day laborer. After two years, their first born, Joseph came along and lived only eight months. About two years later another little boy, Charley was born and lived 3 years. Then came a little sister, Alice, who was literally carried on a pillow for two years. She did live and 1897 came to Texas with her parents. Alice married Chester Spence. They had one child, C. B. Spence. C. B. married Jimmie Gallant and they have two children. The Shaws came by train to McGregor, Texas, where they lived for about 5 years. Soon after moving to Texas, another baby girl, Lara, was born. This child lived only 3 months. About 11/2 years later, a boy, Harvey, was born. He got into all the things the others missed. Harvey Shaw (died 1984) married Adele Willis. They had three children, H. L., Dell Dene and Charles. H. L. Shaw married Era Smith. They had two children, Neva and Bobby. Neva Shaw married Charles Kincaid and they have one child, Amelia. Bobby Shaw married Jill Mosley and they have 2 children, Nathan and Holly. Dell Dene Shaw,daughter of Harvey Shaw, married Perry McClain and they had two children, Shirley and Charles Everett. Shirley McClain married Charles Parmley and they have 2 children,Karen and Bryan. Charles Everett Mclain married Sheila Ruby and they have three children, Johnny,Jason and Jamie.Charles Shaw,son of Harvey Shaw, married Virginia Carney and had 2 children, Sherry and Chuck. He then married Gail Watkins. Sherry Shaw married Stanley Greene and they have two children, Robin and Josh. Chuck Shaw married Sherry Meador and they have 3 children, Shelly, Casey and Brandon Lee. Two years after the birth of Harvey Shaw, Henry J. and Laura Alice Shaw welcomed their third girl, Gertie. She didn’t miss much. She grew up and married Andrew Spence. They had one child, A. J. Spence (d.1984). A. J. married Bert Carter and they had 2 children, Andrea Jeanine (Scooter) and Leah Sue. “Scooter” married David Kempf and has a son, Dylan. Leah married Mike Richmond and they have a daughter, Ashley. The child bit got to be pretty routine for Henry J. and Laura Alice Shaw and after two more years another girl, Dana, came along. Dana married Earl Elliott and had two children, James Earl and Jerry (d. 1967). James Earl Elliott married Valorie Skidmore and they have four children: Leah, Lynn, Lori and Jay. Laura Alice had another boy, Albert, in 1907. In 1928 he married Ida Barnes and they had three children, Don, of Anchorage, Alaska, Albert Neal of Sante Fe, New Mexico and Bettye who is Mrs. Kenneth Graham. Albert died in 1956 and his widow continued to live in New Mexico where they had raised their family until her death. Henry J. Shaw sometimes found work in town. This brought in added funds that was sorely needed for this little army. In 1909 (the year of Halleys Comet), Elzy was born. Larry (d.1975) married Nita Schanfish. They had 3 children, Larry, James and Dina. Dina married Curtis Cheatham. Ronnie Shaw married Linda Ledford and they have 3 children, Gina, Shawn and Todd. Madra married Sammy Payne and they have three children, Sandi, Sherry and Shannon. Sandi married Scott Huff and they have a son. It was in 1909, that our father bought our first home, known as the ‘old Guice place’ near Guiceland. About two years later he sold this and bought a larger farm, known as the John Morehead place. It was here in 1912, Edd was born. Edd Shaw married Kelena Sharp and they had 3 children, Henry Lee, Edd Jr. and Judy. Henry Lee married Joan Chapman and they had two sons, Gary and Randy. In a second marriage to Marilyn Lea Marshall, Henry Lee had two more sons, Mark and Kelly. Edd Jr. married Velletta Wills of Tyler. They are the parents of three children, Kristi, John and Jason. Judy married Harold Goar Jr. and they have 2 children, David and Susan. David is married to the former Stacie Rooney. In all these years, we had pretty well learned what it meant for the dinner bell to ring for my father and not for lunch. We always found a new baby at home when we went in from work. About three years later the old bell sounded again. This time, we found that the new one was Rose (and what a rose). Rose (d.1985) married Penny Herod (d.1975) and they had 2 children, Sandra and Nancy. Sandra married Weldon Kerby and they have 2 children, D’Linda Kay and Jeffrey Scott. D’Linda married Wayne Mahaffey.Nancy married Dan Craven and they have 2 children, Dan Lee and Penny Lynn. The old bell was not ringing so often any more and for the last time, it sounded for Clara Baby (the last of the Mohicans). Clara married Jack Spence and they had one child Jackie. Jackie married Sandy and they have two children. Our father’s main livelihood was from the farm, although he did other things to supplement the bank account. Some of these were running the press at the Mose Spence Gin, running a service car and for several years was Deputy Sheriff for this area under the administration of Deb Hale and Euel Baker. He died in September, 1953, and our lovely mother followed him in September, 1960.They lived; they loved,  They toiled, they taught. The life we had Could not be bought.