Ike & Addie Thomes Whitaker
Ike & Addie Thomes Whitaker Family History
Amanda Ella married Sampson Tye (Sampy) who was a “prosperous farmer” and a carpenter known for craftsmanship. He built the Tom Whitaker home with Eric Davidson, his wife’s brother-in-law and also a cabin for Carl Whitaker Truman, and Isaac M. (Ike). Rica, nicknamed by her father, had one son, Bill Washburn. Dan L. married Maude Graham and had three daughters: Evelyn, Byrle, and Carl (a). Dan was killed in 1932 and Maude later remarried Mr. Smith. Olive (011ie) married Eli Willis and they had one child, Nellie. Malcolm Wallace (Mal) married May Francis (Mollie) Fulton. Their four children include daughters Jack and Laverne and sons, Malcolm and Carlton. Desdimona (Des) married Earl Hollis and had three sons: Earl, Tom Ed, and Norman Ray. After Earl, Sr.’s death, Des married L.C. Ayers. Tom married Ella Wyche, known by the family as “Aunt Ella Wyche” to differentiate from Ella Tyer. Tom worked at the Houston Post Office and eventually returned to Grapeland, built a two-story home, and worked at the Palestine Post Office until his retirement. Marshall Norman and Edith Steward Whitaker had four children: Mary Jack, Harry Willis, Norma and Norman (Happy). Willis married Rosa Branch and adopted a son, Billy, and raised a niece and nephew of Rosa’s. Willis was an oil painting hobbyist and worked for a Port Arthur oil company. Billy presented the Evergreen Cemetery with a sign in memory of his parents. Carl married Lottie Walton of Grapeland and was employed by the Missouri Pacific railroad from 1926 until retirement in1962. He and Lottie had a small farm and raised cattle near Percilia, but lived in Palestine most of their lives. Nell Sue, their only daughter, married Elmo Moore in 1945 and had three daughters: Beth, Carla and Kelly. Robbie Mae married Eric M. Davidson, and their marriage lasted 61 years. Their children are Wade Donald, Norma Lavenia and Charles Robert. Their six granddaughters are Sandra, Pamela, Janet, Debbie, Deena and Desiree. Raymond Hansford (Reg) married Ozell Davis, and they farmed in Grapeland between the Sammy Tyer place and the Tom Whitaker place. Before returning to farming, Reg worked in Port Arthur in oil, and he and Ozell lived for a time in Louisiana. Their children are Jerry, who was a Houston police officer before he returned to Grapeland to build a home and begin a Christmas tree farm on the family land, and Wanda Joy, who was voted “Most Beautiful” in her graduating class at Grapeland High. Jerry had four children and Wanda, two.