Marriage 1 : Alice Mabel TUTT , b. 09 October 1864
Marriage 1 : Jesse B. PIERCE , b. 1861, d. 1918
Marriage 1 : ? CUMMINS
Marriage 1 : ? DAUGHERTY
Marriage 1 : ? BARTLETT
Marriage 1 : Naomi Ann REEVES m. 27 August 1872 Clinton, Texas, b. 27 October 1852
Marriage 1 : Icil "Ice" Burchett REEVES, Rep. , b. 29 April 1861, d. 02 August 1934
Notes:
Goebel Reeves, [was a] Sherman-born entertainer who became a hobo known as ?The Texas Drifter.? Goebel�s parents were Icil Burchett Reeves and Alice Tutt Reeves. His grandparents, Arthur D. and Mary Anne ?Polly? Burchett Reeves came to Texas in 1883 from Kentucky by covered wagon long with George�s parents. Icil and Alice had six children.
A 1934 newspaper article located by Fred talked about Icil�s term in the Texas Legislature. Fred had been attempting to verify that information, but had been unable to do so. We lucked out when we checked and found that the statement is true. Icil, a Democrat from District 42, Sherman, served in the House of Representatives from 1913 to 1921.
Icil�s grandson, Delas, said in the Grayson History book that Icil became known as ?Ice Berg? because of a political incident during the time he served in the legislature. Delas said Icil composed and helped pass House Bill 73 advocating a home for feeble-minded. Governor Jim Ferguson signed the Bill and under today�s guidance of Mental Health Mental Retardation, it is referred to as ?State Schools,? according to Delas.
Another statement that Icil had been a mayor of Sherman before going to Austin turned our to be unverifiable. The Sherman City Clerk�s office did some research for us to find if and when Icil was mayor. No Reeves was found as mayor of councilman all the way back to the 1850s.
It seems that Goebel�s elaborations began with his birth as he said he was born and raised on a cattle ranch near Pecos and rode the range with cowboys who taught him to shoot and ride. Not true. He was born in Sherman and did spend time on nearby farms and ranches that belonged to relatives. His sister verified this fact to Fred.
She said he tormented her uncle�s goats, roped the pigs like they were steers and gorged on chocolate ice cream at the family reunion picnic.
Goebel wasn�t the only Reeves to have that musical talent. His sister, Hila (also known as Stormy) Weathers was a pianist with several years of conservancy training. She also played the trumpet and cello and wrote and directed musical comedies.
Sister, Ima Bess Hughes became an established Dallas artist and Delas became a county judge in Nolan County. Goebel�s mother, Alice Reeves, also a musician, taught voice and piano in Sherman, where she was active in the Baptist Church, where Goebel first started singing. Hila, in her interview said ?we didn�t have baby sitters in those days.? He also could play the trumpet.
When Goebel was about 15 years old, Icil, newly elected to the legislature, moved the family to Austin and Goebel became a pageboy in the legislature. Up to that point it is believed that Goebel was an average teenager with a big heart. It was here that his life changed.
His sister told the story of Goebel wandering down a street near the railroad yards in a new topcoat that his parents had given him for Christmas. He saw a shivering hobo, the first drifter he had ever seen, and felt empathy for him. Goebel caught up with the hobo as they entered the ?jungle? (the hobo encampment down by the tracks under a bridge) and gave the man his coat, much to the dismay of his parents. From that time on, he was ?hooked? on hobos, his sister said.
Icil and Alice hoped that the pageboy experience would change Goebel�s outlook and prepare him for a professional career. They provided him with a tutor and he eventually acquired a couple of years of college. But he preferred to yodel, sing and play his guitar.
Between legislative terms the Reeves family came back to Sherman, where Icil went back to his job as a traveling shoe salesman and Alice resumed her music teaching.
By 1917 Goebel had joined the Army, where he was wounded while fighting on the front lines in Europe during World War II. He was discharged in 1921 and despite his middle-class upbringing became a hobo known as ?The Texas Drifter.?
He wrote most of the songs that he sang and most reflected his life as a hobo. He never made it big as a songwriter even though he wrote one of Woody Guthrie�s signature songs, ?Hobo�s Lullaby.? Legend has it that he taught Jimmy Rodgers to yodel, but this may be another one of Goebel�s imaginary feats.
It was after a stint in the Merchant Marines that Goebel connected up with ?Red River Valley? a tune that still is well loved. The song was published often throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Goebel took the song and adapted his own salute to his birthplace not far from the Red River, with ?Bright Sherman Valley.? The song still is being sung by western groups today, albums of which still are available on the Internet.
Goebel developed heart problems in the 1950s and died of a heart attack in 1969 in the Long Beach Veteran�s Hospital.
Notes:
SSN 455-01-8405
Marriage 1 : ? WEATHERS m. 04 August 1914
Marriage 1 : Hila "Stormy" REEVES m. 04 August 1914
Marriage 1 : ? HUGHES
Marriage 1 : Ima Bess REEVES
Notes:
464-03-6053
Marriage 1 : Delas Leon REEVES, Sr. Judge , b. 03 December 1894, d. 07 March 1967
Marriage 1 : Virginia Arlee REEVES , b. 14 February 1869, d. aft. 1921
Marriage 1 : Lucretia "Ella" REEVES , b. 13 May 1867, d. aft. 1921
Marriage 1 : Myrtie Lee REEVES , b. 05 August 1873, d. aft. 1921
Marriage 1 : Amelia REEVES , b. 17 February 1875, d. aft. 1921
Marriage 1 : Elizabeth "Betsy" HENRY
Marriage 1 : Tyre REEVES m. 25 April 1816 Wilkes County, Georgia, b. 14 August 1793, d. 29 July 1873
Marriage 1 : Arthur Smith WRIGHT m. 15 September 1839 Meriwether County, Georgia, b. 04 November 1815
Marriage 1 : Theresa Caroline REEVES m. 15 September 1839 Meriwether County, Georgia, b. 29 August 1820
Marriage 1 : Malachi REEVES, Sr. , b. 1711, d. 1798
Marriage 1 : Michael Edward BAUER m. 17 October 2009 Heinz Chapel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Marriage 1 : Anthony Cook CLEMMENS, Rev. m. 17 February 1826 Lafeyette County, Missouri, b. 27 November 1801, d. 18 October 1881
Marriage 1 : Larkin BROYLES
Marriage 1 : Jesse Green CLEMMENS m. 14 February 1864 Andrew County, Missouri, b. 14 December 1835, d. 30 April 1929
Marriage 1 : Mary Ann ANDERSON m. 20 August 1857 Andrew County, Missouri, b. March 1837, d. bef. 1930
Notes:
1860's -Civil War Pension Index Card
Name: Caleb M. Clemmens
Rank: [BLANK]
Company: L
Regiment: 1
State: Missouri
Arm of Service: Cavalry
Date of Filing:
State/Arm of Service:
Company/Regiment:
Publication Title: Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900
NARA Publication Number: T289
Publisher: National Archives and Records Administration
Collection Title: Civil War Pensions
Marriage 1 : Caleb (Charles) M. CLEMMENS m. 20 August 1857 Andrew County, Missouri, b. 1832, d. bef. 1900
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