Charles was born in Mississippi in 1865 to James F. Bunt of North Carolina and Caroline Barnes of Dekalb County, Georgia. Some of his brothers & sisters were twin girls Ellene & Ladene, Thomas, Wash, & John.

Sallie Fletcher Conn was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on December 20, 1872 to James Stewart Conn and Frances (Fanny) Ellis. Sallie's father, James S. Conn, was born in 1846 in Tennesee to James Conn & Martha C. Stewart. Martha's family tree has been traced back to 1660 Scottland.

Sallie's mother was pure Cherokee originating in Mississippi. I am still on the trail of her complete heritage. According to family history she was born to a mother that walked the trail of tears. Fanny died when her children were still very young. Sallie and her siblings; Lula, Walter, Narsey, Maude, Mattie & Molly were raised by a step-mother. According to Sallie, her father was very strict and got angry with her once when she used the hem of her dress as a pot holder to open the oven, "it wasn't lady like." James later took up with "that wida Brown" as grandma Bunt used to say. James Stewart Conn is buried in the "Brown" family plot, just feet from his daughter Sally Bunt, in Camp County, TX.

James Bunt listed his occupation as a "steam mill sawyer" in Miss. He died in a steam mill accident before 1880. Caroline was raising her nephews William, Winona & Joseph along with most of her own kids by then and is listed as a widow in the 1880 Tishomingo County, MS census. The boys were probably the children of her sister Sarah and Joseph Bunt, Jame's younger brother. Caroline moved her family to Texas and is listed on the 1900 Federal Census living with Charles and his family in Camp County. Charles was 1 of 9 children, according to the census taker only 3 of them were still living. Caroline suffered severe burns when she was taking food out to the field hands who were burning the fields and her skirts caught on fire. She died 3 days later.

Charles met and married Sallie while still living in Miss. They had 12 children; Leahr (Lelia) 1896, Carrie (Jim Kate) 1899, Myrtle 1895 (died at age 18), Lessie (Cora) 1897, Dora (Ludora) 1898, Charles Knox 1903, twins Fannie Lou (died at age 3) & Mary Sue 1906, Clarence 1908, W. Sherman 1910, Henry 1912 (died as an infant), & Noble 1916.

I always thought it was odd how my grandmothers family would often call each other by names other than their given names. For instance, my grandmother was Ludora or Dora. She always called her daughter Melba Jean even though her middle name was Louise. They called Cora--Lessie and Carrie--Jim Kate, names that don't even remotely sound like a nick name. And Leahr from Lelia? The boys (and the youngest) were spared this confusion and called by their given names except for Charlie who was better known as Buddy.

Lessie, Dora, Leahr, Mary Sue, & Jim Kate

During this time in Texas, men out numbered women to the tune of 236 to 1. The Bunt girls had their share of eligible young suiters and one by one they married and moved away from home. All were born pioneer women who were to come of age during the new womens revolution. Shortened hair and skirts along with the right to vote set the beginning of the "roaring 20's."

Charles & Sallie were farmers and Charles was active in the Republican party of Texas. He read his newspaper everyday and kept up with local politics. He died in 1923 from what is said to have been complications due to diabetes. Sallie lived to age 93 and died in a hospital in Albuquerque from complications of a broken hip. She had slipped on a rug while staying at the house of her daughter Lessie.