Brians Stories and General Information
(These stories were from members of the family)
Claude Brians: He was born October 20, 1893. He was the first born to Manalius Chapman Brians and Emma Lou Story. He married a woman who had one son by a previous marriage. To this union, three children were born: Walter Lee, Ralph and Wonell Brians. Claude was a veteran of WWI. He lived in Telephone, Texas for some years. Later he and his family lived in Dallas, TX. He died June 10, 1964 of lung cancer. He is buried in Bonham, TX.
Beulah Brians: First Daughter born to Manalius Chapman Brians and Emma Lou Story. Beulah was married twice. Her first husband was the son of an unwed mother. In those days, this caused a family to become outcasts in the community. M.C. being a very strict father refused to allow him to come into the house. Beulah was still welcome and made regular visits to her parents' home to visit her younger brother and sisters. Her husband would drive her to the gate in the wagon, let her out, then drive on. The road circled around the property of M.C. All the kids loved Beulah's husband, but were never allowed to visit him, so they would give Beulah a hurried greeting and run as fast as they could through the pasture and meet him as he followed the road around the property. He would stop and there they would have their visit. During the small pox epidemic, no one would go into a house where people were victims of the horrifying disease. People were left to themselves, sometimes even their relatives would not go to care for them. Beulah and her husband went into many homes to care for the dying. M.C. always said if Beulah contracted the disease he was going to go and take care of her. He was a hard man in many ways, but he had a deep and abiding love for each of his children. Beulah's husband did contract the disease and died. Beulah married again and had three sons and finally a daughter. Her second husband, Claudia Hagood, was killed by a hit-and-run driver, who was never found. On the day of the funeral, a package arrived with dress, hat, etc. for her to wear to the service. Some believe it came from the driver. Beulah worked at the laundry in Bonham, TX for the remainder of her life. She is buried in Bonham, TX.
Gracie Brians: She was born December 11, 1900, the fourth child of M.C. and Emma Brians. She married a Crawford, and they moved to a place called Bell's Garden, CA. They drove out in an old Model A. The trip must have taken many days through the mountains. Gracie had atleast two daughters and one son. She never did return, even for a visit. In the early years, times were hard and possibly not enough time or money for the trip. In later years, when her children would have brought her, her health was not good and the doctor would not allow her to come through the mountains or to fly. She died and is buried in California.
May Brians: She married at a young age. She had a son, Winfred Ray, by the time she was 15. Her husband was Walter Ray, who was a few years older than she. At the age of twenty, she became ill and was diagnosed as having a ruptured appendix. She was prepped for surgery and given ether to put her to sleep. She died from the ether and the surgery was never done. She left a five year old son and he stayed for a while with M.C. and family. He was very fond of Verna and Walter would probably have left him there except Verna was only 15 at the time and could not care for a child. Walter took Winfred and later remarried. He brought Winfred to visit his grandparents from time to time. M.C. told him his wife was welcome to come too, but Walter never brought her. Winfred grew up and lived in Fort Worth, TX and among other things was a member of the sheriff's posse in 1960. He later moved to Georgetown, TX. May Ray is buried in Bonham, TX.
Audry Brians: She was born November 18, 1905. She married Noah Lair of Charleston, TX. They had three sons and one daughter. One son died at an early age. He is buried in the Charleston Cemetery. In the late thirties, the family moved to California in search of work. There they did farm work, moving from one place to the other to gather fruits and vegetables. Noah left the family, and they were divorced. Audry was left with three children. They continued to work on the farms. Noah remarried but Audry never did. Before they divorced, they did make one or two trips back to visit their families in Charleston. Audry is buried in California.
Verna Brians: She was born in Guymon, OK February 17, 1908. She was the youngest daughter of M.C. and Emma. Like most older sisters in those days, Verna was expected to take care of Roy and Loyd, her younger brothers. When ever they cried or did something they were not supposed to do, it was Verna that was punished. M.C. sometimes came in from the field to find her unhappy because of punishment she had received, and would take her to the field with him, where she would sit on the end of the row while he plowed. Sometimes he would work on the plows and other equipment and would sit her up on the plow. It was just such a time that she fell off and cut her eye severely on the plow. She was about three years old at the time, which would have been before Loyd was born. The cut left her eye with damage to the nerve and she was always very self-conscience about the way she looked. Verna had a talent for music and was able to play any instrument. M.C. loved to bring home different instruments to see if she could play them. She played banjo, guitar, mandalin, accordian and even the fiddle, although she said sahe was never very good with that. She also played the organ or piano, whichever they had in the home at time. M.C. let her play with others for dances, which were popular get-togethers in those days. However, she was not allowed to dance. When Verna was about 15 or 16 years of age, the family moved to Longridge, a community south of Charleston, TX. There she became friends with Loretta Stubblefield. It was through this friendship they met their husbands. Roy, Verna's younger brother married Loretta, and Verna married Loretta's younger brother, Arnold Stubblefield. To this union two children were born, Bedena Fay and Jimmy Lee. Arnold and Verna moved to Pacio community in the thirties, where they farmed for fourty years. They moved to Cooper, TX when they retired. Verna died of a heart attack in her sleep, December 6, 1989. She is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Cooper, TX.
Roy Brians: He was born October 22, 1910. He was next to the youngest
child of M.C. and Emma. He moved to Delta County, TX with his family, probably
in his early teens. They settled in the community called Longridge, just
south of Charleston, TX. It was there he met and married Loretta Stubblefield.
They were married on May 17, 1930. To this union three children were born:
Joyce Nell Brians, Mary Lou Brians and Gary Neal Brians. Roy farmed in the
early years of his marriage. Later he went to different towns to work. Sometimes
the family went with him and sometimes they remained in Charleston, where
the girls attended school. During WWII, the family moved to Dallas, TX, where
he and Loretta both found work at North American, a defense company. After
the war, Roy started the work he had always loved. That of a carpenter. He
became one of the finest. He did work for the Caruths, one of the richest
families in the Dallas area at the time. Also, Colonel Bird, for whom he
helped build a club house. Another love of his life was cars and he was always
trading for a different one. He took great pride in the fact he could repair
almost any car he came in contact with. Many weekends were spent working
on cars, not only his but he kept most of the families car in good repair.
He was a very generous person. He gave of his time to help others and his
home was a home away from home for many people. Roy also loved music, and
sometimes played the guitar and sang. However, he loved most just to listen
to others. Carpenter work was very unsteady during the winter months, so
after much consideration, he went to work for Murdock Machinery in Irving,
TX. Roy was very proud of his grandchildren and would do anything for them. I can remember my mother telling me a story about when my sister and I were little and we had really pulled a good one. We were in my Mamaw's sewing room and had shredded most of her patterns. She and my mother felt that we should be punished for our actions. Papaw (Roy) picked up Joyce and I and proceded out the backdoor of the house. When my mother tried to follow him, he just said that if she took one step out the door that he would turn her over his knee and give her the spanking she had intended for his girls. He said that Mamaw should have had the patterns put up so we could not get to them and none of this would have happened. Of course, my mother did not ever go out the back door and we were never punished for any of it.
Loyd Brians: He was the youngest son of M.C and Emma and was born
May 26, 1913. His place of birth is not known. He did move to Delta county
with his folks when he was probably 13 or 14 years of age. He liked the other
boys left home at an early age. What he did before joining the army is not
known. He did join the army and fought in WWII. He was killed in action,
December 17, 1944. Many years later, a man who had fought with him told of
his bravery during the battle that took his life. He stood in the face of
the enemy, firing his machine gun and killing many men before he himself
was shot. He is buried in the Veteran's Cemetery in San Antonio, TX.
Roy and Loretta's Children
Joyce Nell Brians: She married Houston Cliff Simmons. To this union
two sons were born: Ricky Simmons and David Simmons. They are living in
Irving, TX.
Mary Lou Brians: She married Ray Wilson. Ray had two daughters from
a previous marriage: Sandra and Candice. Mary and Ray have lived in Arkansas
for many years and have raised chickens for different poultry companies.
Gary Neal Brians: He was born in Cooper, TX. on January 27, 1945.
Gary was married twice. His first wife's name was Lena Lockheart. His second
wife's name was Andra Fay Martin. They were married on December 10, 1966.
Gary and Andra's children are: Lora Loretta Brians, Joyce Marie Brians, Gary
Neal Brians, Jr. and Shirley Jean Brians. Gary joined the Air Force on November
30, 1962. He was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, Murphy Dome
Air Force Base in Alaska and then Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Through
the Air Force he obtained his GED and his operator's license to drive various
vehicles. He was discharged with an Honorable Discharge on November 29, 1968
Like his father, he was also very good at working on cars. He, too, kept
the families vehicles in good repair. He worked as a car and deisel mechanic,
machinist, security guard and his true love a truck driver. He loved seeing
the different parts of the country. It was this that took his life as well
on February 23, 1997. He was making a trip to El Paso, TX and was coming
down a hill on I-10 (mile marker 95) when he lost control of the truck. He
was piggy-backing 2 trucks on the truck he was driving. Later we were told
that the air lines for the brakes were not hooked up to the back two trucks.