Dr. Grady Early, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, taught math and computer science at Texas State University for 29 years, serving briefly as interim chair of the newly-formed Computer Science department. After retirement, Early began researching his family history and gained some familiarity with various research tools: ancestry, familysearch, newspapers, San Marcos Record archives, findagrave and many more. This made it easy for him to segue into the histories of non-family members, which is how he began to write a story about Southwest Texas Normal in San Marcos, also known as San Marcos Normal, which is now Texas State University. This series highlighted the first staff at Southwest Texas Normal, but he felt he would be remiss in concentrating on the faculty without considering the students who fell under their sway. While he declined to do bios on them all, one student, because of her personal background and her success as a music educator, stands out — Elfleda.
Elfleda was born in 1888 and was the eldest of four children born to Elbridge Gerry Littlejohn Jr. and Mary Helen Cullens.
Her siblings were Harry Fendley, born in 1890, Sarah Helen, born in 1892, and Liska, born in 1894.
Elbridge was a noted Texas writer and educator. Educated at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, TN, and at Add-Ran College, now part of TCU in Fort Worth. In 1883, he became a teacher in the Galveston public schools where he soon, 1890, became a principal, then, in 1924, superintendent of the Galveston Schools, a position which he held almost to his death in 1935.
In September of 1905, Elfleda enrolled at Southwest Texas Normal in San Marcos. Almost immediately, Principal Tom Harris received a rather poignant letter from Elbridge: “My dear Sir: “My daughter, Elfleda, enrolls at your school today. I trust that you will find her a satisfactory student, and that she, by faithful attention to her work, will reflect credit on herself and the Normal.
“I should be pleased to have an occasional report of her standing if, from your multiplicity of duties, you can find time to drop me a line.
“Very truly yours, E.G. Littlejohn” Does this letter reflect normal parental concern, or an instance of “helicopter parent” syndrome?
Life is directed by events great and small. For the Littlejohn family, it was a great event.
The first tropical cyclone of 1900 was observed by a ship east of the Windward Islands. By Sept. 6, it had developed into a hurricane. It peaked as a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 mph, and made landfall south of Houston, on Sept. 8, crossing Galveston Island and West Bay and passing southwest of the city of Galveston.
The devastation was enormous. The death toll will never be known; estimates range from eight to 12 thousand. It seems probable that many others, left homeless, abandoned Galveston, never to return. But Galveston was and is a very attractive and resilient city. The 1900 decennial census counted 44,116 inhabitants. Despite the loss of life and emigration, the 1910 census counted 44,479 inhabitants.
The Littlejohns lived on Q 1/2 Street, about 10 blocks from the seawall, which did not exist in 1900, in a house which still stands.
After the hurricane, 8-year-old Sarah Helen wrote, in pencil on lined notepaper, an account of her experiences in the storm. She writes in great detail of the family’s experiences inside their house but also of what she observed outside.
“And the next morning we saw a dead body right in front of our house. There were two of them, a Negro man and a white girl.”
Sarah was very well educated for an eight year old; she wrote “draught” with no hesitation nor slip of pencil. The house was flooded; “the mud and slime was plentiful. … The water went down very rapidly and soon it was daylight Sunday morning. We looked out of the window and of all the beautiful homes that were between our house and the beach, not one was left. It was just a clean sweep, nothing but desolation. … Well we got started [to her aunt’s house], and we had to go over piles of debris and you know we saw dead bodies and carcasses all the way and the sights were awful. … Our house stood very well. I don’t know when we will get away or if we will get away from Galveston at all. Papa has to teach school and we have to be here with him. It looks like Galveston could not be visited twice by a storm. I hope it will never happen again.”
Indeed, Elbridge and Mary stayed in Galveston until their deaths. The children were another story. Elfleda spent most of her career at Kent State University in Ohio. Harry married Hildur Sophia Askeborn and moved to New York where he died. Sarah Helen married John Keith Torbert and moved to New Jersey. Liska married Daniel Chauncey McCoy and moved to Ohio.
Elfleda received her primary and secondary education in Galveston, then enrolled at SWTN where she spent one year, graduating in 1906.
She was not a shrinking violet; she was secretary of the Shakespearean Club and a member of the Nymph Basketball team. She was personable enough that the editors of the yearbook did not shy from poking fun, even putting words in her mouth: “That isn’t the way we do in Galveston,” or “the first time he [Mr. Stanfield] explained about diacritical marks there wasn’t a dry eye in the room — why even Littlejohn quit giggling long enough to shed a few tears.” There was even a bit of doggerel.
“Here’s to the girl, whose heart and soul are the light and life of each spell she pursues.”
By 1910, Elfleda was back in Galveston as a school teacher. In 1911, she was supervisor of music in Galveston’s public schools and director of the Galveston Choral Club. By 1920, she was a teacher for the state school inspection service. By 1930, she was a music teacher at Kent State where she remained until her retirement in 1953 when she returned to Galveston. But extensive travels abroad kept her from Galveston for months at a time.
In 1964, Elfleda was in Maplewood, NJ, where Sarah Helen and John Keith lived. On Jan. 22, she died. Her body was returned to Galveston where she is buried beside Elbridge.
More information about her grave can be found at Findagrave # 17730895.
Elfleda Littlejohn
