Person:Sallie Dewitt (1)

Sallie, a genalogical hobbyist, gathered information about her Hudson & DeWitt (paternal side) and the Vest and Simpson (maternal side) lines and published it in 1981. She did a lot of her own research, but also used information passed to her from Mary Ellen DeWitt Baker (who she called 'Aunt Kid') about the Hudson and DeWitt lines. She resided in Raymondville, Texas at the time her genealogy was published, and she sent copies to all family members.

One of Sallie's fond childhood memories was when sister Louella (Deedee) DeWitt Simpson sent her a much-wanted dress for the school play. Sallie recalls, "Everyone in the family had wet eyes the little child was so happy with her present." Sallie loved to perform and she describes playing a Hawiian guitar on the radio in Fort Smith, Arkansas when she was only 8 years old. She later studied piano at San Perlita High School when the family moved from Arkansas to Texas. During WWII she sang solo in the University of Texas at Austin's UFO show. The shows were given at Camp Swift and Fort Hood and Sallie descibes them as one of her life's highlights!

Sallie attended the University of Texas, in Austin in the early 1940's. She describes herself as a 'professional woman' in the 1981 Genealogy she prepared. She attended schools at Rye Hill (Arkansas) and graduated high school in San Perlita, Texas. She got her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1944. She attended Massey Business Colege in Houston in 1956 and the University of Houston in 1970-71. She became a certified Professional Secretary in 1972 and a Texas Real Estate broker in 1980.

Before marriage, Sallie worked in Corpus Christi for Braniff Airways, Southern Alkali Corporation and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She met Lewis Butler of Houston when he moved to Corpus as the advertising manager of the new Fedway store and bought 103 pages of advertising in the Caller-Times. After marriage, the Butlers moved to Houston in the Fall of 1955, when Lewis was appointed as the advertising director of Levy's of Houston (1200 block of Main Street). Sallie worked for Humble Oil and Refining Company (now Exxon) for 17 1/2 years as the secretary to the chief geologist and geophysicist.

After her divorce she worked as the secretary to the division geologist in Corpus. In about 1966 she bought a house at 3748 Aransas. When the Corpus exploration office closed, she moved back to Houston to work on the 39th floor of the Exxon building. She returned to Corpus in 1972 after a trip to Europe with her aunt, Mary Ellen Baker (Aunt Kid), and took a job with Atlantic Richfield Co. ARCO offerred her a transfer to Houston which she turned down, preferring to remain in south Texas where she worked for the Hawn Brothers (George and John). In November 1976 she moved to Raymondville to be with her father, and she worked as the executive secretary to the general manager of Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc. She became interested in real estate and passed her broker's test in 1980. She retired from the Telephone Cooperative in 1988, and remained active in real estate as owner/broker of DeWitt Real Estate in Raymondville.

Jerry D. Abshier, his wife Christi and young son Kye visited Sallie (his great-aunt) during a trip to Texas in 1999. She was a very gracious host and allowed us to stay with her in the house she inherited from her father Lee. She set up a fabulous luncheon at the King Ranch with her nephew Amos Thompson DeWitt, who owned the hunting lease for that area. It was a memorable visit indeed.

Sallie was interred at the Raymondville Memorial Park Cemetery in Raymondville, Texas on June 9, 2005. Duddleston Funeral Home in Raymondville handled the funeral arrangements. Sallie has a trunk which Lee DeWitt used while attending college in Little Rock, which once belonged to Sallie Ann Hudson DeWitt. The trunk was passed on to nephew Jerry Treston Abshier in 2006, when Sallie's belongings were distributed by a lottery after her death.

1. ↑ Abshier, Jerry D., personal knowledge.
2. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
   ppg. 25, 42, 93.
3. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
   ppg. 25, 42, 93.
4. ↑ DeWitt, Sallie Lee; Obituary. (unknown newspaper, unknown date).
5. ↑ Ellen DeWitt Baker. Family Bible - Barbara (Beachum) Kanipe. (Presented as a gift on 5/25/1956).
6. ↑ DeWitt, Sallie Lee; Obituary. (unknown newspaper, unknown date).
7. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
   pg. 44.
8. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
   pg. 43.
9. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
   pg. 43.
10. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
    pg. 43.
11. ↑ DeWitt, Sallie Lee; Obituary. (unknown newspaper, unknown date).
12. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
    pg. 43.
13. ↑ DeWitt, Sallie Lee; Obituary. (unknown newspaper, unknown date).
14. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
    pg. 18.
15. ↑ Sallie Lee DeWitt. Research by Sallie DeWitt. (1981)
    pg. 43.