COUNTY LIFE
Search for tombstone’s home finally concludes
(Left) Jeanette Findley and her mother, Jean Miller, the last remaining relative of Ila Mae’s generation, stand with the tombstone. (Photo by Dani Blackburn)
By DANI BLACKBURN
A little girl’s original 97-year-old tombstone is being returned to her grave after a decade’s long search for the owner.
The only little girl in a family full of boys, Ila Mae Miller was born April 21, 1911 as the oldest child of John and Dena Miller.
She passed away just shy of her eighth birthday on Jan. 16, 1919, from the Spanish Influenza. The autopsy showed the little girl had pneumonia in two of her lungs.
Her original tombstone, believed to have been stolen, sat in the evidence room of the old Montague County jailhouse. When the new jail was built in 1980, the tombstone was left behind in what became the Old Jail Museum.
The stone has sat all alone at the bottom of the metal staircase, waiting to be returned where it belonged.
That search was over this week as descendants traveled from Oregon to retrieve the stone for Ila Mae. Read the full feature in the weekend News.
Top photo: Jeanette Findley smiles as she touches her ancestor’s long lost tombstone. (Photo by Dani Blackburn)
Due to high lake levels at Lake Amon G. Carter, the Jim Bowie Days Association organizers announced Friday the tournament has been postponed and a new date will be named soon.
Texas AgriLife Extension will host a July workshop on July 26, Preserving the Harvest, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the United Presbyterian Church of Montague County, 300 W. Nelson.
This four-part series will teach and review the food preservation processes including water bathing, pickling, dehydrating and pressure canning. This program will have both education and hands-on activities with take-home practice.
Seating is limited so call the extension office to register at 894-4831.
The 2025 Pioneer Court will be led by Joan Cantwell as the pioneer queen, with Duchesses Bill Ann Jones and Sue Swint.
A coronation of the court will be at 2:30 p.m. on June 27 at the Bowie Community Center. The public is invited to attend the crowning followed by a reception hosted by the Amity Club of Bowie.
Meet the ladies of the Pioneer Court in the Thursday Bowie News. Coming next week the young ladies competing for Miss Jim Bowie Days and Little Miss.
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