March 7, 2025
It’s already the third month of 2025. Are your calendar events being entered quickly for the remainder of the year?
I have been away since November. Hope your holidays were as delightful as were mine. With the new year came new blog ideas. I have decided to take an indepth look at some of the characters in Heart of Texas and Seasons of the Sun. The first one, of course, will be the head of the Bailey family…Franklin Stuart Bailey.
Franklin Stuart was born in 1877 to Stuart Cameron Bailey and Beatrice (Bessie) Long Bailey. Eight years later his sister Lorna Joelle was born. The Bailey family lived two doors down from the Bond family. Franklin’s best friend was Ernest (Ernie), Maggie’s brother. Initially Maggie was just Ernie’s kid sister, and the boys did everything possible to overlook her existence. During their teen years, Franklin suddenly saw Maggie as if for the first time. She was no longer just a kid.
Franklin attended the College of Pharmacy in Galveston. Upon hearing his father had died unexpectedly, he immediately returned home. With his only thoughts of caring for his mother and younger sister, he planned to withdraw from college. Bessie refused Franklin to make such a sacrifice. Bessie’s aunt and uncle who lived in Boise City, Oklahoma, begged for her and Lorna to come live with them. Bessie sold the house and several pieces of furniture, packed essentials and moved to Oklahoma. Lorna was twelve at the time.
Maggie was very supportive and encouraging when Franklin was home after his father died. Their relationship grew from childhood friends to be long-lasting soulmates. They married in 1908, and there their story begins.
After reading about Franklin in my books, what is your opinion of him as a Christian, a businessman, a husband, a father, and a grandfather? How would you describe him?
Now I’ll share some fun facts you may not know:
In the late 19th century, drugstores were proof that a town was civilized. The town’s physician was relieved for the help. The location of the drugstore was easily detectable by a barber’s pole, or a mortar and pestle painted on a sign. Prohibition was a reason for soda fountains to be placed in drugstores. Pharmacies could legally possess ethyl alcohol. In 1914, drugs could be ordered from Sears and Roebuck catalog. A baby syrup actually had opium and alcohol in it. Wonder how many frantic mamas ordered that syrup for colicky babies? After WWII, paperback book racks appeared in many stores providing books and outside viewpoints beyond the reach of the censorship of the town’s librarian. Before capsules were made, pharmacists placed compound powders in paper envelopes and folded over the top.
We’ve come a long way.