Following his November 4, 1949 marriage to Grace Troxell, the couple spent the 1950s traveling back and forth from their home in Austin, Texas (above), to their families’ homes in Texas, Iowa, and Nebraska. Most of the items this time don’t need much comment.
1950, Sept. 6 – Beatrice [Nebraska] Daily Sun:
Buys Theater
Buys Theater—Irvin Beck, mayor of Wilber, has purchased the Moon Theater from Mrs. Truett Vinson of Brownwood, Tex. The theater has been operated by Jerry Horacek and was formerly operated by W. M. Troxell. The theater will be closed from Sept. 11 to 14 for cleaning and re-equipping and will reopen Friday, Sept. 15.
1953, March 22 – Brownwood Bulletin:
Mrs. Vinson Is Celebrating 90th Birthday
Mrs. Wade D. Vinson, 1818 Coggin, who has been seriously ill for the past ten days, is quietly observing her ninetieth birthday today at her home. Born near Goldwater, Ala., during the Civil War, Mrs. Vinson was married to the late Rev. Wade D. Vinson in 1890. He died here in 1931.
The family moved to Brownwood in 1899 and with the exception of ten years has resided here since that time. Rev. Vinson entered Howard Payne College and served as field representative for the college in the administration of Professor J. H. Grove.
Before her marriage Mrs. Vinson was Abbazena Comer. She has four children: Miss Lena Vinson of Brownwood, Mrs. Mark A. Wilson of Big Lake, Truett Vinson of Austin and Mrs. David B. Chancellor of Alexandria, Virginia. She also has two grandchildren, Mrs. William Goree of McCamey and Mrs. Sanford Brown of Big Lake, and one great-grandchild, Paul Ray George.
I. O. Comer of Brownwood is a nephew. At the dedication service Saturday at Howard Payne College, an apartment in the Ministerial Courts was dedicated to Mrs. Vinson’s late husband. Mrs. Wilson of Big Lake, Mr. and Mrs. Truett Vinson of Austin are here for the occasion.
1953, May 24 – Brownwood Bulletin:
Edward Laffman, HPC, Receives Vinson Award
Rev. Edward Laffman, a World War II veteran who entered Howard Payne College on examination, was the recipient of the Vinson Award at the Joint commencement exercises of Howard Payne and Daniel Baker Friday night. The Vinson Award is a Biblical Commentary given annually by Truett Vinson and Miss Lena Vinson to the ordained Baptist minister having the highest scholastic standing of all ordained Baptist ministers in the senior class for the year.
Rev. Laffman entered Howard Payne by taking an examination. He had attended the James Monroe High School, Bronx, New York City, for three years. He was a pilot Instructor in the Air Force in World War II and attended Howard Payne under the G. I. Bill of Rights program. He is now pastor of the Baptist Church at Mercury. The late Rev. Wade D. Vinson, father of the donors of this award, was pastor of the same church more than 40 years ago. Rev. Laffman also served as pastor of the Stoddard Mission of the Coggin Avenue Baptist Church since entering Howard Payne.
The award recipient had 114 honor points for his senior year, and a total of 365 since entering Howard Payne. Only 120 honor points are required for graduation. He plans to enter the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N. C., this fall.
1953, July 22 – Brownwood Bulletin:
Relatives Return Home After Mrs. Vinson’s Funeral Service
Relatives, who have returned to their homes after attending Mrs. Wade D. Vinson’s funeral Friday, are Truett Vinson of Austin, Mrs. Mark A. Wilson of Big Lake; Mrs. William Goree and son, Paul, Fort Stockton; Mrs. Eva Laws, Cisco; Miss Sue Steele of Dallas. Other relatives, who attended the funeral, and are visiting relatives here are Mrs. David B. Chancellor of Alexandria, Va., and A. H. Comer of Fort Worth.
1954, July 22 – Malvern [Iowa] Leader:
News of Malvernians
Mrs. Frank Churchill came Friday for a visit of several weeks in the W. A. Caldwell home here and H. L. Nims home at Strahan. She has been in Lincoln with Mr. and Mrs. Glen Moomaw for several weeks after spending the winter in Texas, with Mr. and Mrs. Truett Vinson of Austin and with Mr. and Mrs. B. N. Thompson of Ft. Worth.
1955, April 5 – Yellow Jacket:
Registration at College Becoming a Family Affair for “Miss Lena”
Signing up new students at Howard Payne College is getting to be a family affair for Miss Lena Vinson, HPC office secretary. Last month she registered Nathan Dyer, a cousin from Lubbock, her 15th relative to enroll for classes at Howard Payne since the school opened in 1889.
Other relatives enrolled at HPC have included her father, two sisters, her brother, a niece, a nephew, a brother-in-law, a sister-in-law, and six other cousins. Miss Lena’s father, the late Rev. Wade D. Vinson, enrolled as a ministerial student during the early days of the college. Miss Lena herself first enrolled at Howard Payne as a child in 1900—in Mrs. J. H. Grove’s primary department. She was again enrolled in 1918 as a regular college student.
Her other relatives who have been students at HPC are as follows: two sisters, Mrs. Mark A. Wilson (the former Grady Vinson), Big Lake, and Mrs. David B. Chancellor (the former Blanche Vinson), Alexandria, Va.; a brother, Truett Vinson, Austin; a brother-in-law, the late Mark A. Wilson; a sister-in-law, Mrs. Truett Vinson, Austin; a niece, Ruth Wilson Goree, Fort Stockton; and six other cousins: I. O. Comer, Brownwood; Mrs. Eva Fisher Laws, Cisco; Mrs. Willie Gene Fisher Syler, Amarillo; F. E. Fisher, Dublin; Ronald Comer, Colorado City; and Eby Dyer of Lubbock.
Nathan Dyer, the cousin who registered last month, was the last student to enroll for the spring semester. He was serving with the U. S. Army in Germany until his discharge, and barely made it to HPC before the spring enrollment deadline.
Nathan is the grandson of the late Rev. Hood Vinson, well known leader in this section during the early part of this century. Miss Lena Vinson became office secretary at Howard Payne in 1934 and has enrolled some 20,000 students since that time. “Several of that number have been relatives,” she says.
