Johnston, William E. and Sarah

Lea County Families and History, Then and Now, Vol II, 1984

By: Sarah Johnston Wallace

     Wm. Ernest Johnston and Sarah Lila Robinson were married in Houston, Texas on April 26, 1924, and moved to Ranger, Texas in 1926. Ernest was employed by Prairie Oil & Gas Co., later merging with Sinclair Oil Company.

     We were the parents of three children, all born in Ranger, Texas. Like all oilfield families, we moved. First to Breckenridge, Texas in 1935, and Olney, Texas in 1939, and on to New Mexico in 1940, where I still live.

     I remember when we came to Monument to see where we would live, and OH, what a let down. It was cold rainy Sunday morning in October. I did not see a living person; the only thing I could see was the Indian on the monument. Looking west, I thought, rather wistfully. At that time, it stood in the middle of the road in front of the post office.

     There were two churched, a Baptist and a Church of Christ. We drove around for awhile, and when we came back there were a few cars gathered around he church buildings. We attended the Church of Christ, and about the first person I saw was Victor Short, and, looking around, there was Alta, with the boys Jimmy and David. That was a blessing, as we had known them when we all lived in Ranger.

     We only lived in Monument for a year, and moved to Oil Center, where we lived for 25 years on the E.C. Adkins lease, about a half mile from the heart of the village. We attended church and school in Eunice. All three children graduated from there.

     Church and school work kept us busy. Ernest served as Elder in the Eunice Church of Christ for 26 years.

     I bought the Oil Center cafe from Mr. and Mrs. McElroy in late 1951, and that kept me pretty busy for over 20 years. A the family was all about gone from the home, I needed something to keep busy. I met wonderful people while I was in the business. Most everyone who worked in the area of the oil field knew that Thursday was enchilada day at the Oil Center Cafe.

     I enjoyed every year that I was there. There were many camps around at that time. Everyone came by for coffee and conversation when it was time to come to the post office. More deer, elk, antelope and quail were bagged over coffee than anywhere in New Mexico, before and after hunting season. Ernest was quite a hunter so he enjoyed all the stories.

     He retired in 1966, and we moved to Eunice where I still live. He only lived ten months after he retired, passing away on March 3, 1967.

     Our children are: (1) Betty Johnson Cummings who married Jackie Cummings of Decatur, Texas. They had one daughter, Suzanne, who is now deceased. (2) Eugina Johnston Pierce married Ray A. Pierce and lives in Eunice. They have three children, Jeannette Pierce Throneberry married Larry Throneberry and they lived in Roswell New Mexico. They have two children Melinda and Nathan. William A. Pierce and his wife Peggy Dickson, have one daughter, Jennifer, and they live in Weatherford Oklahoma. Cynthia Pierce Sims married Floyd Sims of Eunice. (3) Our son, William Edwin (Ed) Johnston and his wife, Francis, live in Monument, and they have three children, Keith Johnston and his wife Brenda live in Plainview, Texas. Their daughter, DeEtta Johnston Duff and her husband Mike live in Hobbs. Kyle Johnston, age eleven, lives at home and attends school in Hobs.

     All my grandchildren are natives, and I hope they will help make Lea County, New Mexico  better place to live. I am a 76 year old grandmother, and very proud to be called, Mammaw.

     I married B. F. Wallace of Seminole, Texas in 1971, and have three stepchildren, whom I love very much: Barbara Ward and family of Hobbs; Bill Wallace and family of Artesia, New Mexico and Vicki Bean and family of Hobbs.