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Would anybody have connection with Ruby J. Boyd, b. Feb.. 19, 1932 , wife of Dale Boyd, the married April 4, 1953. It is believed she has Choate connections but my information can not place her with a family. Judy
> [CHOATE] About being a Choate
What a beautiful little story. My maternal grandmother was a Choate, and she
exhibited the qualities you mention... I remember how she spoke so fondly of
"Cousin So&So" and "Sister So&So", and she was so proud of her family. Thank
you for sharing this letter with us.
Mary
I thought it might be interesting for any new members of the list to
read a short letter my one aunt had written years ago about the
Choates. It has no particular genealogical information, but it
discusses the "being" of a Choate. I hope you all enjoy it, even as a
second reading.
Antoinette Daugherty Huff
25 Sept 1969
"And why do you consider yourself a Choate?" Let me tell you why. The
Choates are a clan. They have never broken the thread of that strong
clan feeling that each member is important, that each member belongs,
and is to be loved and protected as you care for your self. I have
tried to analyze this. The Withrows drift apart. The Daughertys
separate, the Cravens are loners, and only the Choate blood consistently
clings to their own.
Since coming here (Ada, Oklahoma) I have observed this branch. They are
uneducated but they have an inborn gentility about them that no amount
of cultivation could give them. It's impossible to put that kind of
cloak on, some time your armor will crack and the crudeness will show
through. But not the Choates. They are kind, and gentle, always quiet,
calm and self-possessed. They are always in command of themseles and
the situation. Old Cousin Dan Lyons once long ago (He could neither
read or write yet he was an itinerate preacher.) came to Ada to visit
us. He didn't know how or where to find us. But with the true
instincts of a gentleman he went to the Oklahoma State Bank, asked for
the president, Haskell Huddlestone, and inquired where I could be
found. I told Mr. Huddleston I would be right down. And he said,
"He'll be here in my office." Greatness recognizes greatness. Hack
Huddleston was a gentleman from Tennessee. Their real stations in life
were not as far apart as it might appear at first glance.
Let one of them be in trouble and they gather to a man, quietly , no
noise, but in understanding and ready. Warren told this story, that his
father had told to him.
"Two or three Choates were returning home to Central Texas at the close
of the Civil War. They stopped at the Country Store for some food and
while eating, some other men, also eating their lunch, were telling in
loud voices about a hanging they had done. They said one of the men
they had hanged had been a Choate. The Choate "Kin" continued to eat
quietly. When they were finished they paid their bill and rode off.
The next morning when the community awakened, the men who had told of
the hanging were themselves found hanging from a tree. The Choats were
never seen or heard of again. It was a baffling mystery what had happened."
Davie Crocket (a Choate) was killed at the Alamo. David Choate was
killed at the battle of San Jacinto. Monroe Choate drove one of the
first herds to Dodge City. Two of his sons are buried in Boot Hill.
(Maybe one was taken back to Beeville, Texas.)
Grandpa loved the Choats as long as he lived and Grandma always hated
"them ol' Choates" because they drank a little whiskey now and then and
she wanted to keep him away from contamination, but he never stopped
loving the Choates.
I see strains of the same characteristics in Mama. Stronger than in any
of the rest of her brothers and sisters. She knows she is stronger than
anyone else, so she is. She knows she is more dignified than anyone
else, so she is. She knows she is more virtuous than anyone else, so
she is. She knows she is more honest, freer from hypocrisy than anyone
else, so she is. She knows she is a lady, so she is. She knows she has
no guile, no deviousness, so she hasn't. She knows she is the tallest
tree in the forrest, so she is. All these things she knows about
herself and "so she is."
I have decided much of this came from Grandpa and the Choates. One of
them could be a hobo on a railroad track, yet in his mind and heart
would be the equal of Kings. and "so he would be." Maybe this doesn't
make sense, but I have sensed this quality in all of us.
Antoinette D. Huff