Martha Rogers Grenley
from an email


Dear Sir,

I have just read your Web Site as it was just added to The Shelby County H1storical Society Web Site to which I subscribe. When I turned on the site this morning I was surprised to see they had added your site. So I have been reading all of it and now sit here with tears in my eyes. I was not involved in the the tragedy but was close to a lot of people who were.

At the time I was 13 years old in the 7th grade in Center, Texas, Shelby County. I can't remember exactly how I found out about the tragedy but was sick at heart to hear it. My half sister, Mary Rogers, was a music teacher in Overton, Texas. We went to Overton and New London the next day to see her and the wrecked school. I found a stray piece of paper that was someone's homework that I picked up and kept for years. She also played for one of the churches--I think it was the Methodist--and therefore was called on to play for funerals. She played for several funerals everyday for days and days and was completely exhausted before she was through, It was a very sad ordeal for her to go through.

In the fall of 1941 I left to go to college at Texas State College For Women (now Texas Womens University) in Denton, Texas. My roommate, Ruth Utsey--later Mrs. Jack Berry--was from New London. She did not live in New London at the time of the tragedy. However there were quite a few girls there that had lived there and had relatives killed. My memory fails me and I can't remember all the names. One was Corrine Miller and another was Mildred Walker. They were all a very close group of girls.

My name was Martha Rogers before I was married. If anyone sees this and remembers me I would appreciate hearing from them. It was so interesting and also very sad to read of that horrible tragedy.

Martha Rogers Grenley
168 Elkins Circle
Folsom, Ca. 95630
916-985-7925
"Martha Grenley" mgr23@sbcglobal.net