General Notes

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John came to Milam County with his parents when they returned from one
year in Coryell County. They returned to the Gardner area where his
father Bryant bought a farm and gin. When John was about eight years old
they moved to San Gabriel, where Bryant rented the Worley farm about a
mile down the river. His mother died when he was ten years old. Both of
his grandfathers were native to South Carolina.
When John was courting Lula Florence Ponton in the summer of 1906 a
cousin of his that he did not know, Faustena Olive Johnson visited the
family. She was from Hillsboro, Texas and the granddaughter of John
William Spradley. While she was there John and Lula were invited to an
ice cream party of young couples. Faustena wanted to go with them, and
they wanted to go without her. They did not like company on a date, but
since she was a visiting guest they took her along. They were a long time
getting over being interfered with.
On November 11, 1906 John and Lula were married at the home of the bride,
the daughter of Joseph (Joe) P. Ponton, Jr. and Martha Caroline Parker,
two early Texas pioneer families. He was the son of Dr. Joel Ponton, a
doctor, minister and Texan soldier with Sam Houston, in Harrisburg for
the Battle of San Janinto, and grandson of William Ponton who was killed
March 20, 1834, in Gonszales County, Texas by a band of roving Indians.
Martha C. was the daughter of Willis Parker and Louisa Jane Larrison and
granddaughter of Wiley Parker who was in Sam Houston's Army at Harrisburg
for the battle of San Jacinto, and the son of Jesse Parker who was
representing Sabine area in the 1835 Committe meeting. Jesse lived March
12, 1822 in the Sabine area. Wiley parker was married in 1825 to Lucinda
Fulcher the daughter of Francis Fulcher. Louisa Jane Larrison was the
daughter of Daniel Larrison who funished corn to the North Carolina
Militia on the way to joining Sam Houston's Army. John Fulcher who
settled in Milay County in 1835 was the grea-Uncle of Lula Ponton.
John and Lula had one son B. Elmer Spradley while they were living on
the Worley place, then moved to Thorndale. John worked for a dray line
there. In 1913 they moved to the farm in Lee County to get the children
of town. To this union were born ten children.
John and Lula are both buried in the Forrest Park Lawndale Cemetery
in Houston, Texas.
While they lived in San Gabriel he traded at Hicks Hardware in
Rockdale for several years. He would buy on credit during the year and
paid up each fall. During the depression after 1900 Hicks Hardware would
not give his credit any longer so he quit trading with them. He went over
to Thorndale and traded with Gus Newton who gave him credit with the
Thorndale Mercantile. He traded there until he moved to Lee County in
1913. He drove a dray wagon for them in 1912. He worked for Jess Hyde on
a drayline. Then he worked in a cafe a short time and did some carpentry
work. In the winter of 1913 they moved to the farm in Lee County near
Lexington on the Dowdy place. He raised a crop two years and moved to the
Hunt place, now owned by his brother-in-law Salathiel S. Bownds and
sister Anna Lou, in 1915. In 1938 after twenty five years of farming he
moved to Wichita Falls, Wichita Co., TX where he operated a service
station and did labor jobs. In 1942 he moved to Houston and workedat
Hughes Tool Company on the rock bit assembly line.
He was a small man of 5'6" tall and 130 pounds, brown eyes and
beautiful black wavy hair. He started smoking Bull Durham tobacco
cigarettes when he was about 9 years old. Emphysema started bothering him
when he was 61 years old and when he was about seventy his doctor told
him if he wised to live more than a year longer he would have to quit
cigarettes. He quit them but said he never got to where he did not wish
he could have one.
John Spradley was never one to join a lot of organizations.