Dimmit Count Mesquite Roots Pages 135-136 Samuel Henry Sr. and Mary Lee "Molly" Williams Anderson Family

Five generations of the Samuel Anderson family.  Great-grandmother Molly Williams Anderson; her son Sam H. Anderson (Jr.) and his sister Frances Anderson Madsen; grandson Samuel Miles Anderson Sr.; granddaughter Margaret Anderson Davisson; and great-granddaughter Jill Davisson.  (Photo courtesy Margaret Anderson Davisson and Sandra Anderson Wetzig)

Samuel Henry Anderson Sr. was born in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana in January of 1867,  He came to Texas with his parents during his early boyhood.  He worked in various occupations in east Texas, San Antonio, and La Salle County.  The last job he held, before he died, was as foreman of the Espejo Ranch in Webb County, Texas.
  Mary Lee Williams was the daughter of Frank and Elizabeth Hopkins Rae Williams.  Mary Lee or "Molly", as she was known, was born in 1871.
  Samuel and Mary Lee married December 23, 1887.  They lived in Carrizo Springs.
  The Andersons had five children:  Ernest Leland, twins Samuel Henry Jr. and Van Kellogg, Margaret Elizabeth, and Frances Lucille.
  Ernest Leland Anderson married Kathryn Hall and later Helmi Kramer (see separate story),
  Samuel Henry Anderson Jr. married Doris Culver (see separate story),
  Van Kellogg Anderson, twin of Sam Jr., died of pneumonia at the age of 23.
  Margaret Elizabeth Anderson died of tuberculosis when she was only 16.
  Frances Lucille Anderson married M. P. Madsen (see separate story).
  Grandmother Mary Lee Williams Anderson, known as "Aunt Molly", was a very witty and courageous woman.  Her husband Sam (no relation to the Sam Anderson who was a cattle buyer and lived on the top of the hill near the Catholic Church in Carrizo Springs) died on March 31, 1913, when he was 46 years old.  This left her with two little girls still to raise.  Within a year, however, Margaret died of tuberculosis and Van died of pneumonia.
  Then Aunt Molly's son Sam Jr. lost his wife.  He left Sammy and Margaret, not yet two and four year old, with Aunt Molly for her to care for them.  Aunt Molly's oldest son, Ernest Anderson, was married to Kathryn Hall, who was sick for many years, so Grandma Anderson kept their son, Leland, also.
  Judge Freegift Vandervoort, Aunty Molly's brother-in-law, was helpful in advising her.  Her two sisters, Sarah Williams Vandervoort and Margaret Elizabeth Rae Kellogg Williams, lived nearby.  They were a very close-knit family.  During the summer, all the relatives and any friends who wanted to join in would camp out on the Nueces River near the Barker Bridge.  They would stay a week or two, and the men would come out to join them on evenings or during the weekends.  They would bring out ice, fresh fruit, and vegetables from town.  The teenagers would ride up and down the river at night, playing guitars and banjo-ukes and singing.
  There were always three Christmas trees-one at Aunt Molly Anderson's, one at the Vandervoorts, and one out at the Williams Ranch.  All the kin would go to each.  There would be presents and food at each place and fireworks at the ranch, as well as "42" and dominoes and all other kinds of games.
  Mary Lee Williams Anderson died in San Antonio at the age of 94.  She and Samuel Henry Anderson Sr. are both buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Carrizo Springs.
                                                Margaret Anderson Davisson; Spring, Texas.