Timeline William Thomas Littlefield 1873-1959 and Sarah Jane Garner 1878-1964

Timeline William Thomas Littlefield 1873-1959 and Sarah Jane Garner 1878-1964

WT Lived in the Littlefield Community in Coryelle County TX (Near the present town of Izzoro near Killean) until after he was married at age 31 in 1904

Sarah Jane Garner was born in the Community of Tennessee Valley not fom from Topsy Texas. She was raised in the Littlefield Community.

1874 William Thomas born in Dangerfield, Morris Co Texas
1878 Sarah Jane born in Tennessee Valley, Bell Co, Texas
1880 Census Sara Bell Co Texas, Precint 1
1880  Census William in Coryell Co Texas
1900 Census William in Coryelle Co Texas
1904  Wlliam Thomas and Sarah Jane married in Topsy, Lampassas Co, Texas
1905  Exie was born in the Littlefield Community, Corell Co. Texas
1906 July, Gerald was born in Topsy, Lampassas Co. Texas
1906 They moved to Rotan, Fisher Co Texas
1907 in the Fall they moved to Meadow, Terry Co., Texas (Lee Morrow was landowner)
1908  May Tommie was born, Meadow, Terry Co. Texas
1909 October Maude and Myrtle born in Meadow, Terry Co. Texas (Mrytle died same day)
1910 Census in Curry Co NM
1910 Moved to Lovington NM territory, (Prairie View NM – Prairie View School was 1 ¼ mile from the Littlefield house. School founded in 1908
1911 July Bernice was born in Lovington NM
1913 February, Hershel was born in Lovington NM
1914 September, Clayton was born in Lovington NM
1915-1919 William Freighted from Tohoha (Lovington) NM to Segraves TX, 14 miles, with 3 wagons, 10 horses,
1916 November Verdie (sis) was born in Lovington NM
1916 William freighted their cotton to Tohoha
1918  Meadow Texas was moved, previous location 1 mile South 6 miles east
1919 Smith Donley Littlefield (Bud) born in Lovington NM
1920 Census in Lea County NM
1921 Docia born in Hagerman TX lived in Lovington NM
1922-1923 They moved and camped to pick apples and Cotton in Hagerman NM fall to spring
1925-1926 Grew cotton in Terry Co. TX, moved in covered wagon with 10 kids (Cheatie Bolin’s place)
1927 Moved to farm 2 ¼ mile SW of Meadow on 300 acres
1928 Moved to farm 7 miles NE of Meadow on 500 acres (Near Ropesville the Berry Place)
1930  Census in Terry Co, Texas Precint 2
1930-1933 farmed 640 acres, Tokio TX
1932 Farmed the Black Place in Happy TX
1934 Moved 1 mile south of Tokio TX 1320 acres for 1 year
1936  Bud moved to Pep, NM to live with Exie and her husband Ed Martin
1935-1939 moved 10 miles west and 5 miles south of Brownfield farmed 640 acres
1940 Census in Terry Co Texas Justice Precint
1942 Bought farm 11 miles west and 1 mile south of Brownfield
1948 Moved to Brownfield. Also had several rental houses in Brownfield
1951 Sold farm that was purchased in 1942

by Sherry

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

All of the classes and studying were finally over! I had 12 years of school, 4 years of collage under my belt , so I thought all the worrying about late or almost over-due assignments was over! Then after all that, the Air Force decided I needed to spend another 11 months learning to read, write and speak Russian. Then  6 more months of technical language training. A few weeks of various survival schools and then they sent me to Okinawa! Where they speak Japanese, not Russian or English! I tried 3 days of Japanese language classes, but was just tired of learning, memorizing and study! So on to the social life. I was finished learning,fed up with school!


There was very little public transportation available on Okinawa. (still isn't as of 2019.) The solution seemed to be to buy a local car from a military dude transferring out, clean it up, use it and resell it when you transferred out.

1973 Larry and Toyota Publica in Okinawa

So I bought the above Toyota Publica, a 3-door van. I think it was a 1964. It had a 2 cylinder air-cooled engine and only a 5 gallon gas tank. I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't much. It wasn't as clean as it looked. Okinawa had an inspection rule that if the car had any visible rust, it could not be licensed and had to be scrapped. So the first thing was to find some matching paint and disguise the few rust spots that had been hidden from me when I bought it. At least the Publica was a dull gray color so that made it easier.

 Driving in a foreign country comes with a learning curve. The lanes were not the US standard of 10 foot at the time, but less than 8 feet wide. It was scary until I got used to the fact that nearly all cars were only 5 feet wide. Also the fastest speed limit on the island was 35 mph. The main highway was a 4 -lane road running most of the length of the island. The occasional American dump truck would come by and everyone had to pull over to let it pass because it was one and a half lanes wide. The turns and corners were sharper too. We were afraid that after getting used to 35 seeming fast that we would be afraid to drive 70 when we got back home. But the car widths, lane widths and curve radius difference made it seem the same speed.

I made good use of  my spare time in Okinawa. First I took up flying radio controlled airplanes. The flying field was several miles up the island from my Air Force barracks and from where we worked on the Army base. So I put lots of miles on the car driving back and forth. I met another hobbyist at the RC field, Phil. He had a wife and 2 sons in off-base housing. More importantly, he had an extra room for model building. He also had a small car but mostly we took my car to the flying field. The Publica was small. Sitting in the drivers seat I could put my shoulder against the window and tough my fingers to the passenger window. Most of the planes we built would fit in the car with out trouble. Until we built a pair of scale Piper Cub planes. The wingspan was almost 12 feet., so we made them slip together in the middle. When I took it to the field I had to go by my self as when I put it in the car, the wing half rested against the inside of the windshield and just touched the back door, laying flat across the passenger seat.

Phil and I with our Piper Cub models at his house.

Larry and his Piper Cub model

After a few months with the RC planes, it seemed that I liked building them more than flying. Phil did too. One of the Army bases had an entire quonset hut dedicated to the model railroad club. So we joined the club and started building HO size trains and scenery. I enjoyed making the scenery. I made a trestle  about 6 feet long and 8 inches high. And a work train to scale. I once had color slides of the railroad club, but no more.

There were many trips to the flying field in that car, There were also quite a few sight-seeing trips with my Air Force linguist friends. But only 3 or 4 at a time as the car was too small.

I was there 16 months. I don't remember who I bought it from or who I sold it to when I left. I do remember the inspection, the RC planes and the trips up and down the island. It was a fun little car. Maybe part of the reason I liked it is it reminded me of the '39 Chevy panel truck I had in high school, only shrunk in the wash.