dialectal "from the home" /of the home

[Wilson Gray]

On Nov 22, 2004, at 7:32 AM, Bethany K. Dumas wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Bethany K. Dumas" <dumasb at UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: dialectal "from the home" /of the home
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> On Sun, 21 Nov 2004, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>>> I have assised in the burial of a number of Texans, all dead, but
>>> never
>>> with the assistance of the Texas State Police. When did this
>>> custom begin?
>>
>> Perhaps the question is, rather, "When did it end?" At my
>> grandfather's
>> funeral, the presence of the state-police escort was not considered to
>> be worthy of comment. In 1956, the presence of the Texas State Police
>> at a large gathering of black people would more likely have caused
>> panic, let alone comment, unless it was an ordinary occurrence,
>> expected under the circumstances. And an escort by the state police
>> was
>> not a service that the state of Texas would have provided to black
>> people and denied to white people.
>
> Interesting - the custom must have varied by county, The burials I
> referenced began in the early 1950s.
>
> Thanks,
> Bethany
>

In the _early_ '50's? That's surprising! Were the funerals in a dry
county or a wet one? Marshall's both the county seat of a _dry_ county
_and_ the home of the East Texas Babdis (i.e. Baptist) University,
Hence, it's a more Christian location than some other towns and most
cities in Texas, not to mention that my grandfather was himself a
minister. Given the generally high level of holiness in the region and
on this occasion, perhaps the Lord God of Hosts Himself spake unto some
desk sergeant at the local state-police barracks.;-)

-Wilson