Fourth of July at the Colony

Here’s another video from the Wilson family video archive from July 1941 (I think). More to come!

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Birthdays at the Colony

Here are some photos of two birthday parties at the Colony courtesy of my mother, Flossy Wilson Delgado and my cousin, Catherine Austin Thomas. I believe my mom received these pictures from someone else but I need to clarify that. Do you have memories of birthday parties at the Colony?

The next two photos were taken during the early 1940’s.

A Birthday Party at the Colony

At the Birthday Party Part 2

From Catherine Austin Thomas, two photos from her son Bill’s birthday in Avalos as they visited over a long holiday. Bill celebrated his 3rd birthday on August 1, 1953 and a pinata was in order!

Bill Thomas, August 1, 1953, 3rd Birthday

Front row, from left to right:
One of Emilio Navarro’s twin sons, Elizabeth (Libby) Thomas stealing the show, Bill Thomas, unknown, another Navarro twin.
Second row:
Unknown, unknown, Ron Thomas, unknown, unknown.

3rd Birthday for Bill Thomas in Avalos Colony

The Austin Family…A Few More Words

My cousin, Catherine Austin Thomas, sent me a lovely write-up about her parents, John Fuller Austin, Jr. and Nellie Wilson.

John Fuller Austin, Jr.

She begins, “My father was born in 1896 in Murray, Utah while his father was working at the smelter there. His father, a Yale grad, had sense to have the doctor sign a letter so stating because Utah had not yet become a state! After moving to Everett, WA for a few years he moved with his mother and father to Monterrey, Mexico – Fundicion #3– an AS&RCO refinery. While there, his mother found that she loved a Mr. Brown who worked in the office! After the divorce, Grandfather went back to Connecticut and married a childhood sweetheart! She was the wonderful Grandmother that I knew. Dad had tutors and then went to Peacock Military School in San Antonio. Later he went to prep school at Kent in Connecticut. Kent is still an excellent school and our granddaughter is now going there! Her home is in New York City. From there Dad went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT. Then he returned to Mexico where he would spend the rest of his working career—36 years with AS&RCO.”

Nellie Wilson Austin

“Mother was born in Cordova, Veracruz, Mexico. Her father had come to Mexico along with all of his family from Durham, England. William Wilson met Catherine Decker who had come for a visit in Mexico City from her home in Luxembourg. They were married and then moved to Monterrey where he worked for AS&RCO. Mom was five years younger than my father but they knew each other as children because Grandfather Austin stayed in Mexico until after the Revolution was well under way. The trains and shipments of ore were badly affected by the fighting. My mother studied to be a bilingual secretary in Mexico City. She never worked for AS&RCO. She worked in Mexico City. Her father died in 1927 and at that time Grandmother Wilson began working for the company running the small hotel and furnishing all the food to the hospital. She became well known for the food she prepared and all the expatriates in Mexico knew her. I would say that she cooked in many languages! From her time in Europe she could cook French and German foods, because of her English husband, she could cook English dishes and of course from her time in Mexico she could cook Mexican dishes. All the while knowing how to please the American palates. In all of these cuisines she excelled. In other words, Grandmother Wilson was the best cook I have ever known, by far!”

“Dad and Mother were married in Laredo, TX in 1922. Dad had come from school to work in Matehuala and had transferred to Monterrey. My sister Grace was born in Monterrey in 1924. Several years later he was transferred to San Luis Potosi where i was born in 1927. My brother, John Fuller Austin III, was born there also in 1931. Soon after his arrival we moved to Chihuahua where he remained happily until 1960. My parents retired to live in Dallas to be near my sister and my brother.”

The Austin’s – An ASARCO Family

A remembrance of life in the Colony by Catherine Austin Thomas, who lived in the Colony from 1931-1948.

Long ago and far away, I was born the second child to Nellie Wilson Austin and John Fuller Austin, Jr. on July 8, 1927.

Grace, Catherine and Juanito Austin in 1934

I was born at the ASARCO Colony in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. I do not remember much about that colony because we moved to Chihuahua when I was only four years old! In Avalos I found my Eden. This was the American colony for ASARCO, at the lead smelter about eight miles from Chihuahua City.

We first lived in both sides of a duplex which was next to the L. B. Harrison family. Uncle Larry and Aunt Elsie, as we called them, had adopted Syble Bonnell who was a niece of Mrs. Harrison. She was my sister Grace’s best friend. Oh how they loved to tease me. My earliest memory was when they called me from Syble’s house and had my Nani put me up to the phone that was high on the wall. I was so scared of this magical instrument I was crying.

From those days a part of me has remained in the colony. I tell people I grew up in Paradise—so it was to me. All of the children in the colony played from after breakfast until bedtime, stopping only for meals. We played children’s games, teenage games, and as it would follow, adult games. I was blessed to have parents who loved one another and who loved us dearly. In fact, until J. K. Hardy divorced his darling wife, Celia, I knew of no other divorce. At about that time, Dorothy and Bill Bradford had their marriage unravel.

As we lived in an area about the size of a large city block which was surrounded by an eight foot high adobe wall with broken glass shards on the top and one gate to the outside world which was always guarded by an armed guard, we found our fun in simple games. On the grounds of the two-room school house we would cross the teeter totters and play for hours. We played prisoners base and kick the can and loved to be very competitive with marbles.

Marble Shooters

Some of the kids became very good shooters. We would jump rope for hours on end. One Christmas I received a game of Pollyanna. I played this game so often that Pollyanna soon became my nickname! Stilts were another favorite of mine. We were able to have them made at the plant and the footrests were 24 inches high! The best time with them was after the gardens had been watered when we would go into them with our stilts and see who could sink the deepest and still remain standing when we pulled out. This always brought notices from the manager asking our parents to keep the children from further damaging the gardens in such a way!

At different periods in my childhood, I had as many as five cousins living in the colony. They were all from my Grandmother Wilson’s family. Since they were all younger than I was, they were not a part of my gang.

Some of the games we played have had long lasting and worthwhile benefits. Tennis and swimming were among those. Bill Lust and Bill Harris have recently been inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in Waco, Texas. Manuel Bremer was the winner in the swimming contest for speed after age 65. he had put together enough kilometers at his club in Mexico City to circumnavigate the globe (400075.0 kilometers). The boys in my age group, Frank, Charlie and Manuel Bremer, Bill Maxwell, Jimmy Leasure, Jim Myers, and Bill Martin were swimmers without peer. They also knew how to get our towels into the swimming pool. After the towels were wet the boys would snap them on our bare legs. I remember how this would sting so badly. We complained but nothing would keep us from the swimming pool!

Kids at the Pool

We went to the pool at 9:00 a.m. when the lifeguard opened the door and stayed until noon. In my family I was expected to be dressed and ready for lunch no later than 12:15. The company whistle blew at 12:00 so we knew what the time was. At 2:00 we would be back at the pool for another three hours. My genetic background is all English, so I have suffered the consequences of cumulative sun damage. I did not know this when I was a youngster spending so much time in the sun. However, knowing what I know now, I would not have changed a thing!

At the Club, we had two bowling lanes. The pins were set manually. The boys would talk us into setting up the pins for them with the promise that they would then set them up for us. Many an evening we would be left with no boys to set up the pins!

As we became teenagers we had crushes on the boys—one at a time. I was so mad about Billy Martin at one point that I could hardly see straight. I have always been sad that he died before I could tell him how I adored him.

All of the young men who were American citizens volunteered for service in the U. S. during World War II. We were very fortunate to have lost only one young man—Richard Harris. John Seaver served in the British Navy.

Avalos Smelter School

Our two room school served us well. My father who was always interested in the education of his children, was the voluntary head of the school. He hired the teachers and was able to find very good and responsible young women from the Eastern schools as that was where he had studied at MIT. He chose the curriculum, with the help of an educator in Connecticut. He instilled in me a love of learning and to this day I love to study and take classes. I loved our little school and have only pleasant memories of it. However, in 1939 the Mexican government would no longer allow an outside professional to work in Mexico if a person residing in the country could fill the job. And so my sister, my brother and I went off to the States to school, coming home whenever we had a holiday and for the summer.

When my group of friends, Heather Seaver, Anita Maxwell primarily, were teenagers, we started going to the Casino in downtown Chihuahua on Sunday afternoons to the informal dances. The boys from the Colony did not go because they were not members—we went because girls were not required to be members. The dancing was wonderful and there was always a full orchestra. Some of the wonderful Mexican young men would come to the Colony in the evening to visit us. We just talked and flirted by the cars—no heavy breathing in those days.

By now our interest in childhood games was diminishing. I sometimes helped paint the empty egg shells for the Easter morning hunt.

The Austin Family - Juanito, Nellie, Catherine, John and Grace

Our parents had saved shells for several months and had many to paint, fill with confetti, seal, and store for hiding. On the Fourth of July there were races, a very large barbeque lunch, and swimming competitions. At night the biggest celebration was for adults—a dance at the Club with a full orchestra.

Every year we would go back to Connecticut to visit my father’s family. I adored my grandfather and we had a special bond between us.

My life has been truly blessed. Since I graduated from the University of Texas and married Wilton E. Thomas, I have traveled the world and and been on every continent. We have four wonderful children and their spouses who have given us eleven grandchildren. Tom and I have been married for 63 years and remain very active. As long as I live, I will tell people I grew up in Paradise.

My Family…the Morris and Wilson Sides

This video shot around 1941 by my grandparents, Renie and Catherine Wilson, shows children at play during a birthday party (including my mom Flossy Wilson and my aunt Catina Wilson) and a few members of the Morris and Wilson sides of my family.

• Fred Wilhelmi, first cousin to my mother Flossy and my aunt Catina Wilson, and son of Julia Morris
• William James Morris, my great-grandfather
• Catherine Morris Wilson, my grandmother and daughter of William James Morris
• Julia Morris, my great-aunt and mother to Fred Wilhelmi
• Catherine Decker Wilson, my great-grandmother and mother to Renie Wilson
• Nellie or Cora Wilson with I believe their spouse
• Renie Wilson, my grandfather
• Other children and adults I need help identifying

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Avalos Picnic in the 1940’s

UPDATE: I’ve edited the video below to slow it down a bit so faces are more visible. This process extended the length of the video and I’ve now uploaded it in two parts. The video below comes from home movies taken by my grandparents, Renie and Catherine Wilson, when they lived in the Avalos Colony. I believe this video was shot in the early 1940’s. If you recognize anyone in the film, please let me know! I hope you enjoy it.

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The Ávalos Smelter Club

This photo taken a few years ago and courtesy of Eduardo Uranga, Jr., shows the Ávalos Smelter Club. Do you have stories about the Club you’d like to share?

Ávalos Smelter Club

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Smelter Hospital in Ávalos

A view of the Smelter Hospital taken during the 1994 Ávalos Reunion. Do you have photos or stories about the hospital you’d like to share?

The Smelter Hospital in 1994

Ávalos Smelter School

This undated photo shared by Catherine Austin Thomas shows the Ávalos Smelter School. On the back of the photo she said, “The wonderful Ávalos school. Dad was the one who hired the teachers and set the curriculum. We had to be good–well sorta!”

Ávalos Smelter School

A Blog to Visit

Family and friends,

In recent posts, I’ve highlighted photos shared by Eduardo Uranga, Jr.

Eduardo shared a link to his personal blog, URANGAcuarelas and there I discovered that he is an accomplished watercolor artist. Eduardo told me that Ávalos…Te Recuerdo had inspired him to create watercolors of the Colony. I was thrilled!

Within Eduardo’s blog, is a link to another of his blogs where he will post photos of his watercolors. I believe you’ll be very pleased with the photos of two of his current watercolors, “Entrada a la Colonia Avalos” and “Quinta 15″. I also found the header of this blog particularly interesting, as it is a hand-drawn map of the Colony. You can find the Colony watercolors at Colonia Avalos.