Scarber (Scarborough)

Thomas Scarborough
was probably born in Arkansas in 1847. Sometime in the late 1860's, he married Rebecca Lewis and they produced seven children. More than likely, Thomas moved in between Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territories many times throughout his life since he had children born in Arkansas, Texas and the Choctaw Nation.

According to the 1880 Lamar County, Texas, Federal Census, Thomas was a farmer whose father was born in Texas and mother was born in Missouri. If this is accurate, then Thomas' father would have been born in Mexican Texas during the 1820's.

Rufus Melvin Scarborough
was the oldest child of Thomas and Rebecca. He was born in Arkansas on 12 September 1870 and married Ida Rose Dumas in Lamar County, Texas, on 25 September 1892.

In 1880, Rufus listed his occupation as a farmworker, probably working his father's farm in Lamar County. After their marriage, Rufus and Ida relocated to a farm near Post Oak, Jack County, Texas, where they raised eleven children to adulthood.

According to family stories, the family changed the spelling of their name from Scarborough to Scarber after their move to Jack County. The story goes that there was another family in the area with the same spelling and the other family was 'rough'. Rufus did not want any confusion about their relationship so he changed his surname spelling to Scarber. {On a side note, this spelling change has caused no end to the difficulty in tracing this family line. Rufus alone spelled his name Scarborough, Scarbrough, Scarber and Scarbor. And this does not include the atrocious spelling of the census takers, tax collectors and just about everyone else.} Some, but not all, of Rufus' siblings also changed the spelling of their surname.

Rufus died in 1928 and, according to Hess Funeral Home records, his coffin cost $15.00 to make. Ida continued to live on her farm for many years afterwards until she became too old to work the land. She moved in with her children until she passed away on 6 August 1967 in Jacksboro, Texas.

"When I was either 4 or 5 years old, I remember going to Grandma Scarber's for Sunday dinner. The reason I remember it so well is that was the first time I heard a radio. It was a 'crystal set'. Someone had bought it for Uncle Virgil. He would let me listen with one of the ear phones while he listened on the other. It was really fascinating because he would move the needle on different places and get different stations." Granddaughter Leta Scarber

Benjamin Franklin Scarber
was the fifth child of Rufus and Ida and was born on 31 December 1902 in Newport, Jack County, Texas. Frank worked his father's farm until he married a neighbor's daughter, Buelah Mae Campsey (see Campsey), in April 1924. [On a side note, two of Rufus' sons married two Campsey daughters.] He then attempted to farm his own land but Frank was not necessarily the best farmer around. He would rather play guitar and have fun than spend the necessary time to make his farm profitable. These were also depression times and the farming business just was not worthwhile.

After trying to raise cotton and other produce, Frank decided that he and his family would be better served if he were to start roughnecking in the oil industry. Sometime in the mid-1930's, Frank and Buelah sold their land in Jack County and moved to Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas. Here, their four children went to school and Frank worked in the oilfield.

Frank never seemed quite to take to family life, though, and continued his hard drinking ways. Eventually, Frank and Buelah divorced. Sometime later, Frank re-married. He died in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, on 10 July 1986.

Leta Muriel Scarber
was the second child of Frank and Buelah. She spent several years during the depression times on a farm in Jack County, Texas, learning life the hard way. She married Howard Alton Goehring (see Goehring).