Notes by Lucille Clepper Mehrkam:

William Wesley Morris “Bill” Clepper was born 3 Mch. 1872 Montgomery Co., Tx.; son of Charles Duncan and Mary Jane (Mc Alpine) Clepper, Sr.; died 9 July 1936 Hockley, Waller, Tx.; buried Macedonia-Springer Cemetery.

Married 1 Aug. 1894 Waller Co., Tx. to Maggie Lee Forehand; born 27 Sept. 1876 near Hillsboro, Hill, Tx.; daughter of James Wesley Forehand and Louise Virginia Stifflemire. Maggie was born near Ft. Graham where Wm.’s Great Grandfather P.James Klepper lived. So it would seem that the Forehand’s and Clepper’s were neighbors, not only in Tenessee but in Texas. Maggie died 27 Jan. 1968 Hempstead Hospital, Waller Co., Tx.; buried Macedonia-Springer Cemetery.

Bill moved from Montgomery Co. to Grimes Co. with his father ca 1878 and on into Waller Co. ca 1891 and share cropped with his Uncle Lorenzo Dow Clepper; He purchased a farm in the N. Minionde Survey and resided there until his death. A pear orchard planted by “Bill” in 1896 remains, in part, on the place today.

The day school was out my brothers, Edgar, James and I headed to Grandma’s and stayed until the day before school started. Grandpa loved to squirrel hunt and always had one of the best hunting dogs in the county. He had lots of goats and sheep. The lead goat always had a bell and since his hearing was poor, he would take one of my brothers or me when he went looking for the goats, so we could hear the bell. He always had his old gun and his hunting dog with him, and sometime we would be gone most of the day. On the day my oldest brother was 15 he came to Houston and purchased a hearing aid. We lived near the RR tracks and I remember how thrilled he was to be able to hear a train whistle. He was so excited he could not wait to get home and hear Maggie’s voice, but when he reach home grandmother was in the garden and as he started toward the garden, he had a heart attack and died. He was loved by all his children and grandchildren.

Grandmother’s house was the meeting place for all the Clepper cousins. She cooked over an old wood stove, and always had lots of good food. In the evening we would set out on the old back porch and she would tell us about the Indians and wolves. Ernestine remembers when she was tiny, Grandma rocked her to sleep, yodeling the famous “Cattle Call”. No one else could sing and yodel that tune quite like she did.

After Grandfather’s death she sold the home place to daughter, Elma and moved to Waller. She always said that she was not going to leave anything for her children to fight over. If she had $.50 left when she died, she was going to swallow it and take it with her. A few months before she died she started giving all her personal things to different members of the family as they came by. She always made you feel welcome and loved. She was a very special person.

Children all born Hockley, Waller, Tx.
Baby Clepper b. & d. 1895; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery.
Baby Clepper b. & d 1897; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery.
Nola Elma Clepper b. 1 Nov. 1898.
James Duncan Clepper b. 1 Sept. 1901.
Baby Clepper b. & d. 1902; buried Macedonia-Spring Cemetery.
William Wesley Clepper b. 27 Oct. 1905.
Ada Leona Clepper b. 28 June 1908.
Luda May Clepper b. 31 May 1911.
Lemuel “Lem” Clepper b. 22 Jan. 1914.
Verlene Gertrude Clepper b. 12 Oct. 1917.

REFERENCE:
Waller Co. Marriage Bk. 3 pg. 224; Waller Co. Land Records; James W. Forehand
Bible; 1880 Grimes Co., Tx.; 1900-1910 Waller Co., Tx. Censuses; Waller, Grimes
and Montgomery Co. Histories; Birth and Death records of Texas; Death Notice-
Houston Press, Houston Post and Waller Citizen; Waller Co. Tax Records 1897-1910.