Going Forward
With La Marque
By Bob Moore
Reprinted from The La Marque Times Circa 1963
IN THE MAIL comes an interesting letter and a book of poetry entitled [sic], "Challenge of the Seasons," recently published by Mrs. Dorothy Bettencourt Elfstrom, 3817 Ave. S. of Galveston.
While this column makes no claim to being a poetry critic, we were fascinated by some of La Marque's history that she mentioned in her letter.
We quote from her letter:
"My sister-in-law, Mrs. Lawrence Elfstrom (formerly Nina McNary) and their [sic] family, the McNarys, lived in La Marque for many years. I was born on Galveston Island and have lived there all of my life.
"I shall never forget my first visit in La Marque at the home of the McNarys. A handsome and courageous woman, 'Kate' widow and breadwinner for herself and five of her lovely daughters. You knew by the look of welcome on her face that Kate meant for you to pull up a chair the coffee pot was on the stove. The McNary home was on Lake Road, where there now stands a new Episcopal church. Across the street was the Margot Dairy, owned and operated by Catherine McNary Margot, the eldest McNary daughter, and her husband, Louie. Nina won first prize in a county-wide contest for her essay, 'Pioneer Family of Galveston County' concerning the Margot family."
After receiving Mrs. Elfstrom's letter we did a little detective work but had rather refer to it as clever reporting and located a daughter of the couple that operated the Margot Dairy, Mrs. Neal Durden [sic] of Texas City. She was kind enough to give us some additional information abou [sic] the McNary and Margot families.
Kate McNary, Mrs. Durden's [sic] grandmother, passed away three years ago in Galveston. Actually, she had a total of eight daughters, with five living at home with her in La Marque at the time Mrs. Elfstrom wrote about in her letter. Two of the daughters were married at that time and one deceased. Another daughter has since passed away. The six remaining McNary daughters and their places of residence are: Frances, Nina and Nellie, all of Galveston; Catherine of New Braunfels; Louise and Zola, both of Texas City. The two deceased daughters were Alice and Dora.
Mrs. Durden [sic], who is the former Anna Mae Margot, recalls helping operate the dairy before it was sold in 1943 [or 1944], with the new owner disbanding it. The McNary old homeplace was later sold and moved over on Magnolia St. There are three brothers and two sisters of the pioneer Margto [sic] family still residing in La Marque.
Our thanks to Mrs. Elfstrom for helping fill us in on some of La Marque's history, and we wish her a lot of success with her book of verse. Like we say, we are no judge, but it must be pretty good because the publishers, Naylor Co. of San Antonio, advise on the dust cover that she has sold to such publications as Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping magazines. A poet has to have plenty on the ball to get their [sic] in their publications. Copies of her book are available in area book stores [sic] and Rosenberg Public Library has purchased three copies. Mrs. Elfstrom advises she also composes songs, and two of them, "But I Can't Say Goodbye" and "You're Way Behind the Beat" are being played in a number of clubs.
Article sent to me by Buzz.
05/09/2002
