Eliza Patten circa 1911, originally uploaded by AfroPix.
My grandmother, Eliza Mae Patten Washington,, was born in Evergreen, Texas, in an unincorporated part of San Jacinto County. About 65 miles or so north of Houston, the town was named for its forest of evergreen trees. When my grandmother lived there only about 50-100 people lived there, too. This picture of her as a baby suggests that they had some money. Her Father, Mason Barnett Patten, was a railroad porter. Her mother, Pauline Garza, a school teacher.
