John Washington Bordeaux - pt. 3

August 1877

JUST THE FACTS

Birth :          Feb 3, 1853              Jackson Perish, Louisiana 

Death :        June 29, 1936          Coolidge, Pinal, Arizona

Burial:         Hot Springs Cem., Truth or Consequences, Sierra, NM

Parents :     James N Bordeaux and Mary Jane Harvill
Siblings:      Ann, Emma, George, Robert, William, I.T.

Wife :          Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams

Marriage:    Aug 29, 1877       Eastland Co. Texas 

Children:     Charles, Betty, Mary, Lula, Jim, Delana, 

                   Ellene, Dewey, Harvel



AND NOW FOR THE STORY    (Part 3)


April 1910
Walker Co. Texas 
Huntsville State Prison


Spending time in the work camp caused John's health to turn bad. All that hard physical labor just about did him in and it didn't help that the conditions at Huntsville were atrocious. Reform in the prison system was badly needed. But it didn't come soon enough to help John. When he came out of prison in 1912 he was left with a bad leg and a severe limp which caused him to use a crutch or cane for the rest of his life.

While John was in prison Louisa and the 5 younger kids were at home in Eastland running the farm which was a difficult task without him. When he was finally released things didn't get much easier. It seems the good life was over for John and Louisa, at least for awhile. 

John needed a fresh start after prison and there was only one way to get it.  He packed up his family and moved west to New Mexico. Leaving his Eastland home was a difficult but necessary decision.  Now he and Louisa could began again and to this end; John  bought a small farm in Lea Co. From this time on,  every year some of his older kids and their families would come from Texas at harvest time to help pick the crops.

June 1920
Lea Co.  New Mexico

But trouble still brewed.  In 1925 Louisa filed divorce papers and went to live with her daughter Lula in Lamesa Texas. A separation agreement was in the works to divide the land they owned. However, after several months the divorce was dropped and Louisa came back home to John. They reconciled and tried to get past the tragedy of the last few years.

John  eventually sold his farm in Eastland. But he still had his land and mineral rights in Lea Co. including his oil wells. Even so, he and his son Jim continued to buy and sell land.  All of this generated enough money to live on for the rest of his and Louisa's life.  


April 1930Hot Springs, 
Sierra, New Mexico

The Golden Years


As John and Louisa got older and all the kids were gone, it became clear that the farm life was too much for them. They moved to a small town in New Mexico called Hot Springs, later known as Truth or Consequences.  There they lived with their youngest son Nathan, his wife Pearl and their two grandchildren.  Life was easy.... Life was good again. The weather was good too and of course there was the warm spring water to soak in. That's what drew most people to Hot Springs in the first place. Maybe it would be good for John's leg.   

And as always, time marches on......and so....
It was  on a Sunday evening when John's beloved wife Louisa went to bed and passed away in her sleep. She died on May 13, 1935. The next morning when John found her; he was beside himself with sadness. Over the next few months his own health began to decline. It wasn't long before his son Nathan had to take him to a specialized care facility in Coolidge, Arizona. He was there for only six months before he passed away too, in June 1936. It was just barely over a year after Louisa's death.