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L.C. (Loise Clifton) Greear was born May 18, 1907 in Ballinger, Runnels Co., Texas. He was Scotch-Irish, Cherokee, and probably German-Dutch on the Burgoon side of his family. His parents were Thomas Joseph Monroe Greear and Sarah Vashtie (Burgoon) Greear from the Grapevine Prairie area of Tarrant Co., Texas. They divorced around 1917.
L.C. Greear came to Lampasas with his mother and siblings when he was around 7 years old. He attended the Lampasas public school until he moved to Burnet Co. when he was almost 14.
In 1921, L.C. Greear moved to Burnet Co. with his mother and stepfather, John Henry Jernigan. L.C. lived in Burnet Co. for the next 26 years. He attended Langford School in rural Burnet Co., and was baptized by Reverend George Brown in Rocky Creek after a revival at Langford, which also doubled as a church. Before before marrying Alma Smith, he farmed for his stepfather on the E. Babe Smith, Sr. place near Oakalla, Texas. Loise and Alma were married by Reverend George Brown at the home of Mrs. George Brown, Sr. in east Lampasas on Dec. 10, 1932.
Alma, wife of L.C. Greear, was born Feb. 18, 1909 at the Christian James place on the Lampasas River, 5 miles west of Oakalla on the Oakalla-Lampasas Rd., Burnet Co., Texas. Her ancestors came from the hills of Tennessee and were some of the first settlers in the Oakalla area. Alma and her sister Mae, attended the County Line School between Kempner and Oakalla and then later, the Oakalla School. Alma was baptized in Rocky Creek near the Oakalla bridge when she was around 15.
Alma (Smith) Greear's parents were: George Thomas (Tom) Smith, b. May 11, 1873, Burnet Co., Texas, m. Dec. 2, 1906 by Constable C.C. Stewart in Briggs, Burnet Co., Texas, d. Dec. 5, 1945, King Daughters Hospital, Temple, Texas, buried--Smith Cemetery, Burnet Co., Texas; Sarah Valentine (Sally) Piper, b. Feb. 14, 1876, Burnet Co., Texas, d. June 24, 1957, Lampasas, Texas, buried--Smith Cemetery.
Alma (Smith) Greear's grandparents on her father's side were: John Able (Jack) Smith, b. May 1, 1832 in Tennessee, m. Sept. 3, 1868, d. Aug. 7, 1908, Burnet Co., Texas at home place where he settled after coming to Texas, buried --Smith Cemetery, Burnet Co., Texas; Martha Carolina Spradlin, b. Sept 12, 1851, (she would have been 17 and he 36 when they married in 1868; they came to Texas from Tennessee in a covered wagon a few years later after the birth of their first child John), d. July 7, 1927 at their home place, Burnet Co., Texas, buried--Smith Cemetery.
Martha Carolina (Spradlin) Smith served as a midwife, and assisted the sick whenever she was needed, besides caring for her own 8 children. She knew all the old folk medicine remedies and home cures in an area where medical knowledge and doctors were scarce.
Alma (Smith) Greear's grandparents on her mother's side were: James Alexander Piper, served in Company G, 19th Texas Cavalry, Confederate States Army, d. Aug. 18, 1917, Burnet Co., Texas, buried--Smith Cemetery; Margaret A. (Landrum) Piper, b. March 24, 1852 in Alabama, d. April 15, 1925, Burnet Co., Texas, buried--Smith Cemetery.
Since numerous references are made to the Smith Cemetery, it seems that some mention of it should be made for posterity. The land for this family cemetery was donated by Jim Smith (Jim Dandy), brother of John Able (Jack) Smith. He chose an elevated area of his land where he could see the cattle and deer grazing and told his family that was where he wanted to be buried. It is located off Farm to Market Rd. 963 in a remote area of northeast Burnet Co. on the Moten Ranch southwest of Oakalla.
Children born to Loise Clifton Greear and Alma (Smith) Greear were: Thomas Ray, b. Jan. 25, 1935, at the Stapp place, Burnet Co.. Texas, m. Shirley Ann Fisk (b. Sept. 11, 1936, Coryell Co., Texas) Oct. 29, 1955, McGregor, Texas; Joyce Ann, b. Feb 16, 1941, Rollins Brook Hospital, Lampasas, Texas, m. Tyrone Wayne Baker (b. July 25, 1938, McLean Co., North Dakota) Nov. 11, 1961, Lampasas, Texas.
In early 1945 L.C. and Alma and their 2 children moved to the Greenwood Ranch near Oakalla, Texas. L.C. worked the ranch for the owner Edward R. Greenwood, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts. On Nov. 26, 1947 they moved to their home on Nix Rd. in west Lampasas. It was at this time that Loise Greear became a machinery operator for the Lampasas Co. Soil Conservation District, building stock tanks, terraces, and knocking brush for land owners in the county. He did this work for around 15 years, then in 1963 when the Lampasas Nursing Home opened he and Alma worked there. Later they worked as custodians, under Reverend Adrian Coleman, at the First Baptist Church where they were members.
Their 2 children, Thomas Ray and Joyce Ann, attended the Lampasas public schools from 1st grade thru 12th grade graduation. Thomas and his family live in Mesa, Arizona; Joyce and her family live in Dallas, Texas.
L.C. and Alma both loved being outdoors and close to nature. Their favorite pastimes were fishing and working with their flowers, yard, garden, and fruit trees. She liked to sew and embroidery, and he was good at refinishing, repairing, and making things. His family is especially proud of some beautiful braided rugs which he made.
Loise Clifton Greear passed away Dec. 13, 1983 at Scott & White Hospital, Temple, Texas, and is buried at the Smith Cemetery. (Alma Passed away Sept. 18, 1995 at a nursing home in Garland, TX . She is buried with the rest of her family in the Smith cemetery.
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