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The Hornsbys have been successful in many areas and longevity is part of their heritage. Myrtle is currently the oldest living member of the clan and she may also be the oldest resident of Hyde Park. A visit with Myrtle Callan is a living history lesson. When she was born at home in Hornsby Bend in 1902, Travis County was agricultural. Her grandfather was a Travis County Sheriff and her father was a County Tax Collector. "Everybody knew everybody and the only phone lines were party lines." She is still mentally alert and gives vivid descriptions of some of the changes she has witnessed. In her childhood, horses and buggies were still the most popular modes of local transportation and there were posts for tying horses in front of the downtown Austin National Bank. One day while riding in a car with her niece, the niece asked her Aunt Myrtle for directions. She replied,"just take East Avenue". The niece replied, "Aunt Myrtle, I've been all over Austin and never heard of East Avenue. Aunt Myrtle said," I think they call it I-35 now". |
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Myrtle taught at the Texas State School for the Deaf for 30 years. She was also a charter member of Wilshire Presbyterian Church. She has outlived all her doctors, her dentist, and her beautician. She never spent a day in the hospital until she was 95. Myrtle moved to Hyde Park with her husband Joseph Callan one Easter weekend in the 1950's. She remembers moving in on Saturday and then seeing children hunting Easter eggs all over Hyde Park the next morning. Mr. Woodburn, who owned the house that is now a B and B, was her neighbor. On July 6 Dixie and Charles Patterson will host the family reunion which will celebrate Myrtle's birthday and the 170th anniversary of the founding of Hornsby Bend. The Pattersons expect 450 people at their Wimberley home. It should be quite a celebration because the Hornsbys have a lot of history to commemorate. Although they are known locally as early pioneers and leading citizens for the past 170 years, some Hornsbys are of national renown. Baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby grew up in Hornsby Bend and was a member of the local clan. |
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Much has been written about the Hornsbys. If you would like more stories and
pictures, you might begin by going to the internet and checking out
www.hornsbys.org/hornsbybend/ and
www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp? i=67b0de21b3030a0cc40f. Who would have
thought in 1902 that Myrtle's birthdays would one day be featured on the World
Wide Web!
- Sharon Majors Shipe Park PoolSummer of 2002 Schedule
Friday, May 24th - Sunday, August 18th
Wading Pool: (Now chlorinated!) |
Pecan Press -- July, 2002 -- Page 3