Bar B Que
and
Good Times
7 Days a Week
306 E. San Antonio, Marfa
432.729.4499
Marfa
Table
seasonal * fresh * local
byob * we cater
fri - mon * 6:30-9pm
109 south highland
marfa, texas
512.944.2307
marfatable.com
HENRY
BETH
HOGG
Photo courtesy of Bill Smith
This photo, originally an ID for welder’s school in Houston
around 1942, was nicknamed “Henry the Riveter” by Jim
Street, the Sanderson newspaper editor.
by Barbara Novovitch
B ack in the 40s, she was
“Rosie the Riveter,”
working at the Brown
and Root shipyard in Houston
as an electric welder. She even
had a man’s name – Henry,
and some people still call her
Hank. And in a thank-you letter
to the editor of Sanderson’s
newspaper, after scores of the
town’s present and past citizens
stopped by on the weekend of
July 4th to celebrate her 90th
birthday, Henry Beth Hogg
wrote: “I’m shooting for a 100th
to see what it will be like.”
Henry Beth was named
after both grandfathers (each
named Henry) and both grand -
mothers, but as a child she
couldn’t pronounce Henry
Laurenza Elizabeth Abbott, “so
I shortened it to Henry Beth.”
She’s been honored by the
Terrell County Historical
Commission for her 10 years’
work as its chairman – during
which two Texas historical
markers were placed just outside
Sanderson, the first in 40
years – but her son says his
mom was never particularly a
A Life Well-Lived
student of history in her
younger days.
“She’s been a maker of history
– just a working lady trying
to make ends meet,” he said.
For 60-plus years she has participated
in, and often led, virtually
all of Sanderson’s community
activities – Little League,
PTA, American Legion Auxi -
liary, Eastern Star Auxiliary,
chamber of commerce, girls’
softball, the Rodeo Club, the
annual July 4th barbecue... the
list goes on and on, including
the Prickly Pear Pachanga festival
every October, which celebrates
the town’s recognition as
Texas’ Cactus Capital.
Her 90th birthday festivities
were actually a bit early – her
birthday was July 17 – but
Henry Beth is a town legend, so
her family decided to host the
party so that many former
Sanderson residents – who
often return for the mid-summer
holiday – could greet her
on Saturday July 2 at the Terrell
County Community Center.
“We served the last cakes at
10:30 that night, and the building
was full most of the time,”
she recalled happily. Her son,
John Dalton Hogg, said probably
40 family members were
there – and at least 100, perhaps
more, came by from the community
to offer congratulations.
It was a bit like when folks
returning after moving away
from Sanderson would come
into Kerr’s Mercantile to see
Henry Beth when she was the
cashier there for almost 40 years.
“Kids would come back to
town, and she was still in Kerr’s,
faithful as ever,” said John
Dalton Hogg, who retired to
Plano after 40 years as a locomotive
engineer with Southern
Pacific and Union Pacific.
When the railroad moved its
crew shifts west to Alpine it was a
big blow, he added, and when
the mercantile company closed,
it eliminated one-stop shopping.
“I love Sanderson,” sprightly
gray-haired Henry Beth said,
explaining that she and her
husband, Dalton Hogg, had
moved there from Houston on
Aug. 16, 1948.
“I remember the first time I
8
Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2011