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 will highlight the first staff at Southwest Texas Normal.
According to the 1907 Pedagogue, Lillie Terrell Shaver was “A proper noun; third person; plural number; objective case; object of Freshman conversation, is also used as [a] preposition to introduce Freshman to Junior.”
Lillie Terrell was born 1855 in San Francisco, California, the daughter of James Epaminondas Terrell and Rebecca Ann Love. By the 1860 census, Ann, Lillie, and a second child Gertrude, born 1859 also in San Francisco, were in San Augustine, Texas, where two more children were born: Whitfield in 1861 and Conrad in 1862. Meanwhile James went to Dallas where, in 1862, he enlisted in the Confederate army. Enlisting as a private, he was soon the company adjutant, keeping track of paperwork. It appears that James died in Natchez, Miss., in 1864, an appearance not supported by much hard evidence. In 1870, Rebecca, a widow, and the four children were in Kaufman County.
In about 1871, Lillie went to the brand new Presbyterian Trinity University that had been established at Tehuacana. There, she met Robert Alexander Shaver. Both graduated in 1817, the first graduating class, and they married shortly after graduation. In short order, they had two children: P.J. in 1878 and Melvin in 1880. Then tragedy struck; in 1882 Robert died of pneumonia. Ten years later, Rebecca died.
Lillie secured a teaching certificate and taught in Austin and Greenville before joining the first 17 at Southwest Texas Normal where she was assistant to J.E. Blair, headmaster of the department of English. For much of her SWTN career, she lived, close to work, at 209 West Hopkins Street, now occupied by a parking lot across the street from the little H-E-B.
P.J. earned his M.D. degree at UT, then returned to San Marcos where he practiced for many years. Conrad joined the U.S. Weather Service and became chief meteorologist at the El Paso weather station.
Lillie developed several passions in life.
There are numerous mentions of visits back and forth with sister Gertrude in Dallas and son Melvin in El Paso. Naturally, she saw son P.J. quite often as he also lived in San Marcos. Toward the end of her life, Lillie moved in with Gertrude in Dallas.
Education was never far from her mind. She received an Master of Arts in 1894 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1904 from Trinity and a B.A. from U.T. in 1913.
Lillie was active in various clubs and professional organizations. She was an honorary member of the Sorosis club, which she represented at the general federation of women’s clubs in Chautauqua, New York. She attended and spoke at various teachers’ groups, including the State Teachers’ Association. In St. Louis, she read her paper “Spanish Mission Music” to the National Music Teachers’ Association. In 1919, she was recommended for, and became, the president of the Fifth District Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.
In 1916, SWT Normal College created the position Dean of Women and selected Lillie to fill it, a position she held until her retirement in 1921.
In 1920, Lillie received a life membership certificate from the State Congress of Mothers. Lillie was a charter member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. In 1925, she was elected third vice president.
In 1923, Lillie presented a historical pageant at Chautauqua, NY: “Texas Under Six Flags.”
In 1925, she and everyone else suffered another name change: SWT Normal College became SWT State Teachers College.
During Lillie’s tenure at the college, she traveled extensively, partly for graduate study, partly to see the country. She spent several summers in Chautauqua, New York. Immediately after completing the 1903-1904 school year, she, along with Maggie Hines, Annie Pearsall and Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Palmer, spent August of 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1922, Lillie, sister Gertrude, nephew Stephen and niece Gertrude sailed to Europe.
Happily, travel and education often overlapped. In 1919, while Dean of Women, Lillie attended the National Education Association meeting in Chicago, Illinois. She had also done graduate work at the University of Colorado and at Columbia University in New York, New York.
Lillie’s true passion was Texas history, particularly Texas folklore. At the Texas Folk Lore Society meeting in 1916, she presented “The Choctaw Indian Traditions,” and in 1925, it was a combination of two tales – “The Legend of San Marcos” and “The Legend of Tehuacana.”
Perhaps her most important publication was “Flashlights on Texas,” co-authored with Willie Williamson Rogers, wife of George Amazon Rogers, in 1928. She was b. Willie Lee Williamson. When she married George Amazon “Ama” Rogers, she became Willie Williamson Rogers. The book is still available in reprint.
As Lillie aged, she began to slow down, but not much. In 1934 Lillie gave an invited talk “Texas History and Biographers” to the Sorosis club. The next month, she attended the 65th annual commencement exercises at Trinity University.
Lillie had attended the 61st annual commencement when she was chair of the 1875 class reunion. But 1934 was to outshine that visit. She was presented with an honorary Doctor of Literature degree, D. Litt., the first woman to receive any kind of honorary degree from Trinity.
In 1941, Lillie died in Dallas. Students remember Mrs. Shaver, who was forever “getting up” plays and entertainments and who scoured town and countryside for flowers to decorate the auditorium.
More information about her grave can be found at Findagrave # 121998278. Check out the virtual cemetery of the complete first faculty at findagrave.com/ virtual- cemetery/193 4255
