At the age of 81, as I look back, I realize that most of the Rains family connected with me know very little about Grandfather and Grandmother Rains - Wesley Eugene Rains and Laura Eugenia Henderson. They met at the point now known as El Paso, TX, when they were coming West on wagon trains. It was at this place that wagon trains from Tennessee (Wesley's home state) and Alabama (Laura's home state) met to form the Southern Trail to California. The young couple fell in love, married on January 1, 1882, in El Paso and then remained there. Wesley taught school there until at least September 27, 1882, when their first child was born. They were Methodists in faith.
Wesley Eugene Rains (blonde and blue eyed) was born in Purdy, Tennessee on June 9, 1858, went on to attend grammar school there and graduated from Fort Smith District High School. He became a teacher and taught school in Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico. He began farming in 1893. He added much to his education by being a voracious reader. His first time away from home was a three month walking tour of Arkansas when he was 16 years old. Being somewhat a loner, he became a desert pioneer. If he could hear his neighbors gun, they were too close so he would move on. He moved farther West each time and finally settled in Weed, New Mexico territory. Here, several of their children were born. He was an expert marksman and their life and food supply often depended on his skill (ammunition was expensive and hard to get so he didn't waste shots with misses). Wesley Eugene Rains died in Blythe, CA, in 1942.
Laura Eugenia Henderson Rains was born in Alabama on April 20, 1858 (the name of the town is not known). She had a county grade school education. She was a direct contrast to Wesley; she was vivacious, had sparkling black eyes, black hair and a wonderful sense of humor. He was so reticent that I can easily see how he was attracted to this outgoing young woman. She also had the gift of "rhyming" and often, as she talked with me, I listened with delight. If only I had known shorthand so I could have kept a record of some of it (rhymes).
They were married on January 1, 1882, at El Paso. Grandmother Rains gave birth to 13 children without the attention of any doctor and several time, without any neighbor woman to help. Two were still born, four lived only 3 or 4 months and seven grew to maturity. At present, 1978, only two remain alive; Johnie Perle Seward of Edmonds, WA, and William A Rains of Blythe, CA.
When I was privileged to meet Dad and Mother Rains, I was deeply impressed with his gentle courteous manners and his intelligence. I learned to love him deeply. It took a little longer to get to know Mother Rains really well, although, I was intrigued by her humor and her outspoken manner. She too became precious to me.
Continuing Grandfather Rains' Westward Movement, in 1909, his son Grove (later called Jack) was very ill and not expected to live. He had typhoid pneumonia. He lost the use of one lung. Dad Rains went to Arkansas where Jack had been working and when Jack was able to travel, he took him home to Weed, New Mexico. Fixing up a spring wagon (buckboard) with a bed in the back, he put Jack in the bed and took off for the desert, telling his wife that he would be back when Jack was either well or dead. The trip was successful. Jack began to improve and after a year of wandering, they arrived at Blythe in Palo Verde Valley, California. Dad saw the opportunity for successful farming and so staked out a farm about a mile West of Blythe on Hobsonway. Then he sent for his family; they came and they built an adobe house where the family took roots and became a part of the development of the area. Dad farmed until illness drained his strength and the farm was sold. Dad Rains died at Blythe in 1942. Mother Rains had already died in 1936. Both are buried at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles.