Mamma needs a marker
Submitted by jcht2010 on
By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
“She negotiated.”
They aren’t words often heard within the paragraphs of a story from the 19th century. In the 1800s, women were usually seen and not heard. Most of them could not read, and they certainly did not take part in many business dealings or negotiations.
“She” was Lucy Flournoy, and she was not one of those quiet, unassuming women. Today, she is known as the Mother of Edna.
“At age 40 she negotiated with the railroad to allow them to buy the right of way across her property, and to form a town on her property, ”said Roy Ortolon, Edna’s resident historical sleuth.
Some of that property would soon become Edna, Texas.
According to Ortolon, Flournoy was widowed at the age of 39 and became the sole owner of a the Lonestar Hotel in the town of Texana along with 4,428 acres of land which had been passed to her and her husband by her family. Flournoy made the deal with the railroad, and in a time when the railroad determined where towns cropped up, Edna was born.
The town of Texana died soon after Lucy had her hotel moved to Edna, and a man named Willie Wood opened a small store. The first train arrived in Edna from Rosenberg at 11:30 a.m. on July 2, 1882, and a celebration was held on the grounds of the Lonestar Hotel.
That day, the Selling of Lots, a scene now depicted in a mural in downtown Edna, took place, and people from all over the country bought property in the newly-formed Edna, Texas.
Ortolon learned recently that Lucy Devers Flournoy, Mother of Edna, is buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery – without a headstone or grave marker of any kind. In his mind, and the collective mind of the Texana Arts Council, this is a great wrong that needs to be righted, and they are asking for the help of Edna residents.
“We estimate the cost of the stone to be between $800 and $1,000, after the engraving and everything,” said Ortolon.
Ortolon, who is known in part for his presentations at the Texana Center for the Arts, called Edna 101, 102, and 103, is selling CDs of the presentations for $25 each, every penny of which goes to help pay for a grave marker for Lucy.
“What I’ve done is I’ve put everything I could find on the history of Edna on these CDs,” he said, “It’s got about 1300 or 1400 pictures on it, and I am selling them for $25. They’re for sale at the Texana Center for the Arts. All three programs are on it.”
For those who may just want to help donate without purchasing a CD, Ortolon said the Texana Arts Council will accept tax deductible donations at P.O. Box 1334, Edna TX, 77957.
“Please mark ‘for Lucy’ on all checks,” said Ortolon. “Any funds left over after we buy the marker will be donated to Memory Gardens.”
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